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 Reliability Checks on the Indo-US Stellar Spectral Library Using Artificial Neural Networks and Principal Component AnalysisThe Indo-US coudé feed stellar spectral library (CFLIB) madeavailable to the astronomical community recently by Valdes et al. (2004,ApJS, 152, 251) contains spectra of 1273 stars in the spectral region3460 to 9464Å at a high resolution of 1Å (FWHM) and a widerange of spectral types. Cross-checking the reliability of this databaseis an important and desirable exercise since a number of stars in thisdatabase have no known spectral types and a considerable fraction ofstars has not so complete coverage in the full wavelength region of3460-9464Å resulting in gaps ranging from a few Å to severaltens of Å. We use an automated classification scheme based onArtificial Neural Networks (ANN) to classify all 1273 stars in thedatabase. In addition, principal component analysis (PCA) is carried outto reduce the dimensionality of the data set before the spectra areclassified by the ANN. Most importantly, we have successfullydemonstrated employment of a variation of the PCA technique to restorethe missing data in a sample of 300 stars out of the CFLIB. The Effective Temperature Scale of Galactic Red Supergiants: Cool, but Not As Cool As We ThoughtWe use moderate-resolution optical spectrophotometry and the new MARCSstellar atmosphere models to determine the effective temperatures of 74Galactic red supergiants (RSGs). The stars are mostly members of OBassociations or clusters with known distances, allowing a criticalcomparison with modern stellar evolutionary tracks. We find we canachieve excellent matches between the observations and the reddenedmodel fluxes and molecular transitions, although the atomic lines Ca Iλ4226 and Ca II H and K are found to be unrealistically strong inthe models. Our new effective temperature scale is significantly warmerthan those in the literature, with the differences amounting to 400 Kfor the latest type M supergiants (i.e., M5 I). We show that the newlyderived temperatures and bolometric corrections give much betteragreement with stellar evolutionary tracks. This agreement provides acompletely independent verification of our new temperature scale. Thecombination of effective temperature and bolometric luminosities allowsus to calculate stellar radii; the coolest and most luminous stars (KWSgr, Case 75, KY Cyg, HD 206936=μ Cep) have radii of roughly 1500Rsolar (7 AU), in excellent accordance with the largeststellar radii predicted from current evolutionary theory, althoughsmaller than that found by others for the binary VV Cep and for thepeculiar star VY CMa. We find that similar results are obtained for theeffective temperatures and bolometric luminosities using only thedereddened V-K colors, providing a powerful demonstration of theself-consistency of the MARCS models. Local kinematics of K and M giants from CORAVEL/Hipparcos/Tycho-2 data. Revisiting the concept of superclustersThe availability of the Hipparcos Catalogue has triggered many kinematicand dynamical studies of the solar neighbourhood. Nevertheless, thosestudies generally lacked the third component of the space velocities,i.e., the radial velocities. This work presents the kinematic analysisof 5952 K and 739 M giants in the solar neighbourhood which includes forthe first time radial velocity data from a large survey performed withthe CORAVEL spectrovelocimeter. It also uses proper motions from theTycho-2 catalogue, which are expected to be more accurate than theHipparcos ones. An important by-product of this study is the observedfraction of only 5.7% of spectroscopic binaries among M giants ascompared to 13.7% for K giants. After excluding the binaries for whichno center-of-mass velocity could be estimated, 5311 K and 719 M giantsremain in the final sample. The UV-plane constructed from these datafor the stars with precise parallaxes (σπ/π≤20%) reveals a rich small-scale structure, with several clumpscorresponding to the Hercules stream, the Sirius moving group, and theHyades and Pleiades superclusters. A maximum-likelihood method, based ona Bayesian approach, has been applied to the data, in order to make fulluse of all the available stars (not only those with precise parallaxes)and to derive the kinematic properties of these subgroups. Isochrones inthe Hertzsprung-Russell diagram reveal a very wide range of ages forstars belonging to these groups. These groups are most probably relatedto the dynamical perturbation by transient spiral waves (as recentlymodelled by De Simone et al. \cite{Simone2004}) rather than to clusterremnants. A possible explanation for the presence of younggroup/clusters in the same area of the UV-plane is that they have beenput there by the spiral wave associated with their formation, while thekinematics of the older stars of our sample has also been disturbed bythe same wave. The emerging picture is thus one of dynamical streamspervading the solar neighbourhood and travelling in the Galaxy withsimilar space velocities. The term dynamical stream is more appropriatethan the traditional term supercluster since it involves stars ofdifferent ages, not born at the same place nor at the same time. Theposition of those streams in the UV-plane is responsible for the vertexdeviation of 16.2o ± 5.6o for the wholesample. Our study suggests that the vertex deviation for youngerpopulations could have the same dynamical origin. The underlyingvelocity ellipsoid, extracted by the maximum-likelihood method afterremoval of the streams, is not centered on the value commonly acceptedfor the radial antisolar motion: it is centered on < U > =-2.78±1.07 km s-1. However, the full data set(including the various streams) does yield the usual value for theradial solar motion, when properly accounting for the biases inherent tothis kind of analysis (namely, < U > = -10.25±0.15 kms-1). This discrepancy clearly raises the essential questionof how to derive the solar motion in the presence of dynamicalperturbations altering the kinematics of the solar neighbourhood: doesthere exist in the solar neighbourhood a subset of stars having no netradial motion which can be used as a reference against which to measurethe solar motion?Based on observations performed at the Swiss 1m-telescope at OHP,France, and on data from the ESA Hipparcos astrometry satellite.Full Table \ref{taba1} is only available in electronic form at the CDSvia anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/430/165} Detection of double stars with the use of Kyiv database of lunar occultationsOn the basis of 40-year series of observations of occultations of starsby the Moon from the Kyiv database, we found 83 stars which are likelyto be double ones. Additional components close to basic stars arerevealed for four known wide pair. The Indo-US Library of Coudé Feed Stellar SpectraWe have obtained spectra for 1273 stars using the 0.9 m coudéfeed telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. This telescope feedsthe coudé spectrograph of the 2.1 m telescope. The spectra havebeen obtained with the no. 5 camera of the coudé spectrograph anda Loral 3K×1K CCD. Two gratings have been used to provide spectralcoverage from 3460 to 9464 Å, at a resolution of ~1 Å FWHMand at an original dispersion of 0.44 Å pixel-1. For885 stars we have complete spectra over the entire 3460 to 9464 Åwavelength region (neglecting small gaps of less than 50 Å), andpartial spectral coverage for the remaining stars. The 1273 stars havebeen selected to provide broad coverage of the atmospheric parametersTeff, logg, and [Fe/H], as well as spectral type. The goal ofthe project is to provide a comprehensive library of stellar spectra foruse in the automated classification of stellar and galaxy spectra and ingalaxy population synthesis. In this paper we discuss thecharacteristics of the spectral library, viz., details of theobservations, data reduction procedures, and selection of stars. We alsopresent a few illustrations of the quality and information available inthe spectra. The first version of the complete spectral library is nowpublicly available from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory(NOAO) via ftp and http. Really Cool Stars and the Star Formation History at the Galactic CenterWe present λ/Δλ=550-1200 near-infrared H and Kspectra for a magnitude-limited sample of 79 asymptotic giant branch andcool supergiant stars in the central ~5 pc (diameter) of the Galaxy. Weuse a set of similar spectra obtained for solar neighborhood stars withknown Teff and Mbol that is in the same range asthe Galactic center (GC) sample to derive Teff andMbol for the GC sample. We then construct the H-R diagram forthe GC sample. Using an automated maximum likelihood routine, we derivea coarse star formation history of the GC. We find that (1) roughly 75%of the stars formed in the central few parsecs are older than 5 Gyr; (2)the star formation rate (SFR) is variable over time, with a roughly 4times higher SFR in the last 100 Myr compared to the average SFR; (3)our model can match dynamical limits on the total mass of stars formedonly by limiting the initial mass function to masses above 0.7Msolar (this could be a signature of mass segregation or ofthe bias toward massive star formation from the unique star formationconditions in the GC); (4) blue supergiants account for 12% of the totalsample observed, and the ratio of red to blue supergiants is roughly1.5; and (5) models with isochrones with [Fe/H]=0.0 over all ages fitthe stars in our H-R diagram better than models with lower [Fe/H] in theoldest age bins, consistent with the finding of Ramírez et al.that stars with ages between 10 Myr and 1 Gyr have solar [Fe/H]. The Evolution of Massive Stars. I. Red Supergiants in the Magellanic CloudsWe investigate the red supergiant (RSG) content of the SMC and LMC usingmultiobject spectroscopy on a sample of red stars previously identifiedby BVR CCD photometry. We obtained high-accuracy (<1 kms-1) radial velocities for 118 red stars seen toward the SMCand 167 red stars seen toward the LMC, confirming most of these (89% and95%, respectively) as red supergiants. Spectral types were alsodetermined for most of these RSGs. We find that the distribution ofspectral types is skewed toward earlier type at lower metallicities: theaverage (median) spectral type is K5-K7 I in the SMC, M1 I in the LMC,and M2 I in the Milky Way. Our examination of the Kurucz ATLAS9 modelatmospheres suggests that the effect that metallicity has on theappearance on the TiO lines is probably sufficient to account for thiseffect, and we argue that RSGs in the Magellanic Clouds are 100 K (LMC)and 300 K (SMC) cooler than Galactic stars of the same spectral types.The colors of the Kurucz models are not consistent with thisinterpretation for the SMC, although other models (e.g., Bessell et al.)show good agreement. A finer grid of higher resolution synthetic spectraappropriate to cool supergiants is needed to better determine theeffective temperature scale. We compare the distribution of RSGs in theH-R diagram to that of various stellar evolutionary models; we find thatnone of the models produce RSGs as cool and luminous as what is actuallyobserved. This result is much larger than any uncertainty in theeffective temperature scale. We note that, were we to simply adopt theuncorrected Galactic effective scale for RSGs and apply this to oursample, then the SMC's RSGs would be underluminous compared with theLMC's, contrary to what we expect from stellar evolution considerations.In all of our H-R diagrams, however, there is an elegant sequence ofdecreasing effective temperatures with increasing luminosities;explaining this will be an important test of future stellar evolutionarymodels. Finally, we compute the blue-to-red supergiant ratio in the SMCand LMC, finding that the values are indistinguishable (~15) for the twoClouds. We emphasize that observed'' B/R values must be carefullydetermined if a comparison with that predicted by stellar models is tobe meaningful. The nonrotation Geneva models overestimate the number ofblue to red supergiants for the SMC, but underestimate it for the LMC;however, given the inability to produce high-luminosity RSGs in themodels that match what is observed in the H-R diagram, such adisagreement is not surprising. STELIB: A library of stellar spectra at R ~ 2000We present STELIB, a new spectroscopic stellar library, available athttp://webast.ast.obs-mip.fr/stelib. STELIB consists of an homogeneouslibrary of 249 stellar spectra in the visible range (3200 to 9500Å), with an intermediate spectral resolution (la 3 Å) andsampling (1 Å). This library includes stars of various spectraltypes and luminosity classes, spanning a relatively wide range inmetallicity. The spectral resolution, wavelength and spectral typecoverage of this library represents a substantial improvement overprevious libraries used in population synthesis models. The overallabsolute photometric uncertainty is 3%.Based on observations collected with the Jacobus Kaptein Telescope,(owned and operated jointly by the Particle Physics and AstronomyResearch Council of the UK, The Nederlandse Organisatie voorWetenschappelijk Onderzoek of The Netherlands and the Instituto deAstrofísica de Canarias of Spain and located in the SpanishObservatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos on La Palma which is operated bythe Instituto de AstrofÃ­sica de Canarias), the 2.3 mtelescope of the Australian National University at Siding Spring,Australia, and the VLT-UT1 Antu Telescope (ESO).Tables \ref{cat1} to \ref{cat6} and \ref{antab1} to A.7 are onlyavailable in electronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org. The StellarLibrary STELIB library is also available at the CDS, via anonymous ftpto cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/402/433 Hipparcos red stars in the HpV_T2 and V I_C systemsFor Hipparcos M, S, and C spectral type stars, we provide calibratedinstantaneous (epoch) Cousins V - I color indices using newly derivedHpV_T2 photometry. Three new sets of ground-based Cousins V I data havebeen obtained for more than 170 carbon and red M giants. These datasetsin combination with the published sources of V I photometry served toobtain the calibration curves linking Hipparcos/Tycho Hp-V_T2 with theCousins V - I index. In total, 321 carbon stars and 4464 M- and S-typestars have new V - I indices. The standard error of the mean V - I isabout 0.1 mag or better down to Hp~9 although it deteriorates rapidly atfainter magnitudes. These V - I indices can be used to verify thepublished Hipparcos V - I color indices. Thus, we have identified ahandful of new cases where, instead of the real target, a random fieldstar has been observed. A considerable fraction of the DMSA/C and DMSA/Vsolutions for red stars appear not to be warranted. Most likely suchspurious solutions may originate from usage of a heavily biased color inthe astrometric processing.Based on observations from the Hipparcos astrometric satellite operatedby the European Space Agency (ESA 1997).}\fnmsep\thanks{Table 7 is onlyavailable in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/397/997 New periodic variables from the Hipparcos epoch photometryTwo selection statistics are used to extract new candidate periodicvariables from the epoch photometry of the Hipparcos catalogue. Theprimary selection criterion is a signal-to-noise ratio. The dependenceof this statistic on the number of observations is calibrated usingabout 30000 randomly permuted Hipparcos data sets. A significance levelof 0.1 per cent is used to extract a first batch of candidate variables.The second criterion requires that the optimal frequency be unaffectedif the data are de-trended by low-order polynomials. We find 2675 newcandidate periodic variables, of which the majority (2082) are from theHipparcos`unsolved' variables. Potential problems with theinterpretation of the data (e.g. aliasing) are discussed. Aus der Sektion "Halb-und Unregelmassige".Not Available Long period variable stars: galactic populations and infrared luminosity calibrationsIn this paper HIPPARCOS astrometric and kinematic data are used tocalibrate both infrared luminosities and kinematical parameters of LongPeriod Variable stars (LPVs). Individual absolute K and IRAS 12 and 25luminosities of 800 LPVs are determined and made available in electronicform. The estimated mean kinematics is analyzed in terms of galacticpopulations. LPVs are found to belong to galactic populations rangingfrom the thin disk to the extended disk. An age range and a lower limitof the initial mass is given for stars of each population. A differenceof 1.3 mag in K for the upper limit of the Asymptotic Giant Branch isfound between the disk and old disk galactic populations, confirming itsdependence on the mass in the main sequence. LPVs with a thin envelopeare distinguished using the estimated mean IRAS luminosities. The levelof attraction (in the classification sense) of each group for the usualclassifying parameters of LPVs (variability and spectral types) isexamined. Table only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/374/968 or via ASTRIDdatabase (http://astrid.graal.univ-montp2.fr). Near-Infrared Classification Spectroscopy: J-Band Spectra of Fundamental MK StandardsWe present a catalog of J-band spectra for 88 fundamental MK standardstars observed at a resolving power of R~3000. This contribution servesas a companion atlas to the K-band spectra recently published by Wallace& Hinkle and the H-band atlas by Meyer and coworkers. We report datafrom 7400 to 9550 cm-1 (1.05-1.34 μm) for stars ofspectral types O7-M6 and luminosity classes I-V as defined in the MKsystem. In reducing these data, special care has been taken to removetime-variable telluric features of water vapor. We identify atomic andmolecular indexes that are both temperature and luminosity sensitivethat aid in the classification of stellar spectra in the J band. Inaddition to being useful in the classification of late-type stars, the Jband contains several features of interest in the study of early-typestellar photospheres. These data are available electronically foranonymous FTP in addition to being served on the World Wide Web. Observational investigation of mass loss of M supergiantsWe present the analysis of infrared photometry and millimeterspectroscopy of a sample of 74 late-type supergiants. These observationsare particularly suitable to study the mass loss and the circumstellarenvelopes of evolved massive stars. In particular, we quantify thecircumstellar infrared excess, the relation of mass loss with stellarproperties, using the K-[12] colour index as mass-loss indicator. We donot find any clear correlation between mass loss rate and luminosity. Wealso show that the K-band magnitude is a simple luminosity indicator,because of the relative constancy of the K-band bolometric correction.Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, LaSilla, Chile within program ESO 54.E-0914, and on observations collectedwith the IRAM 30m telescope. Tables A1 to A3 are only available inelectronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr(130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html CCD spectra of MK standards and a preliminary extension of the MK classification to the yellow-red region.Not Available The Infrared Spectral Classification of Oxygen-rich Dust ShellsThis paper presents infrared spectral classifications for a flux-limitedsample of 635 optically identified oxygen-rich variables includingsupergiants and sources on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). Severalclasses of spectra from oxygen-rich dust exist, and these can bearranged in a smoothly varying sequence of spectral shapes known as thesilicate dust sequence. Classification based on this sequence revealsseveral dependencies of the dust emission on the properties of thecentral star. Nearly all S stars show broad emission features fromalumina dust, while most of the supergiants exhibit classic featuresfrom amorphous silicate dust. Mira variables with symmetric light curvesgenerally show broad alumina emission, while those with more asymmetriclight curves show classic silicate emission. These differences may arisefrom differences in the photospheric C/O ratio. The luminosity index for M stars and the distance to the LMC.Not Available Quantitative spectral classification of galactic disc K-M stars from spectrophotometric measurementsNew spectral observations for 47 southern galactic red supergiantsobtained with the new RUBIKON spectrophotometer (developed at theAstronomisches Institut der Ruhr-Universitat Bochum) at the Bochum 61-cmtelescope on La Silla are presented. The spectra range from 4800 to 7700A and their resolution is 10 A. The mean error of absolute fluxes is0.028 mag and that of relative fluxes 0.021 mag. The spectra will beavailable at the Strasbourg Stellar Database (CDS). Together with datataken from recently published spectral catalogues, the new observationshave been used to define spectral indices as measures of the strengthsof the following features: Fe i+TiOalpha_1, Mgb+TiOalpha_0,NaD+TiOgamma'_1, TiOgamma'_0 and TiOgamma_1 systems. The indices havebeen checked against errors introduced by reductions, interstellarreddening and different resolutions of different spectral catalogues,and have been found to be very insensitive to all these effects.Therefore, different catalogues may be combined without any loss ofaccuracy and homogeneity. The mean error of a single index has beenfound to be 0.011 mag. For stars from K4 to M7, a strong temperaturedependence is found for all indices. For the Fe i+TiO and especially theMgb+TiO features, a strong dependence on luminosity has also beenobserved. These indices therefore have been combined to form aluminosity index, while the others together form a spectral index. Thecombined indices have been calibrated in terms of MK data using thestepwise linear regression technique, and may be used for quantitativetwo- dimensional spectral classification of late K- and M-type stars.The mean error of the classification is 0.6 of spectral subtype and 0.8of luminosity class, which is much higher than would be expected fromthe uncertainty of the indices alone (which, e.g., for an M4 giantcorrespond to an uncertainty of 0.1 of spectral subtype and 0.3 ofluminosity class). This may be explained by the uncertainty of theoriginal MK classifications and the variability of some programme stars. Classification and Identification of IRAS Sources with Low-Resolution SpectraIRAS low-resolution spectra were extracted for 11,224 IRAS sources.These spectra were classified into astrophysical classes, based on thepresence of emission and absorption features and on the shape of thecontinuum. Counterparts of these IRAS sources in existing optical andinfrared catalogs are identified, and their optical spectral types arelisted if they are known. The correlations between thephotospheric/optical and circumstellar/infrared classification arediscussed. A catalogue of [Fe/H] determinations: 1996 editionA fifth Edition of the Catalogue of [Fe/H] determinations is presentedherewith. It contains 5946 determinations for 3247 stars, including 751stars in 84 associations, clusters or galaxies. The literature iscomplete up to December 1995. The 700 bibliographical referencescorrespond to [Fe/H] determinations obtained from high resolutionspectroscopic observations and detailed analyses, most of them carriedout with the help of model-atmospheres. The Catalogue is made up ofthree formatted files: File 1: field stars, File 2: stars in galacticassociations and clusters, and stars in SMC, LMC, M33, File 3: numberedlist of bibliographical references The three files are only available inelectronic form at the Centre de Donnees Stellaires in Strasbourg, viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5), or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html The energy distribution in the visible spectrum for 27 class M giants and supergiantsNot Available Water Masers Associated with Circumstellar ShellsAbstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1996ApJS..106..579B&db_key=AST SiO Maser Sources in the Outer Disk of the GalaxyAbstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1996ApJS..106..463J&db_key=AST NaI/KI scattering observations in circumstellar envelopes: constraints on ionization and mass-loss rates.We investigate KI or NaI fluorescent emission in circumstellar shells tostudy their ionization and mass-loss rates. First-time KI detectionsaround the mira-type stars W Hya and R Hya are presented. Together withthe previously analysed cases of α Ori, α Her and o Cet(Mauron and Caux 1992A&A...265..711M) and other observations, thisgives an extended sample of 10 envelopes which includes μ Cep, CETau, β Peg, ρ Per and g Her. A few non-detections are alsoconsidered. In order to compare observed with expected values of KIintensities, the ionization model of Glassgold and Huggins(1986ApJ...306..605G) is used, and the relevant parameters such asdistance d, mass-loss rate ˙(M), gas temperature, fractionalelectron abundance x_e_ and stellar photoionizing ratesGoplus _have to be known. Using data found in the literature,we estimate these parameters in detail for each case. The values of x_e_are obtained with a hypothesized simple rule based on the circumstellarabundance of molecules and grains which could lock electron donors,giving either x_e_~3x10^-4^ or ~2x10^-5^. The Goplus _valuesdepend on the rare ultraviolet spectrophotometric data available for redgiants. The kinetic temperature was assumed to be 30K at the probedimpact parameters r_obs_~0.5 to 5x10^16^cm. Despite real uncertainties,the predicted KI intensities with our best estimates of the parametersare in very reasonable agreement with observations in 8 cases in 10. Thelargest discrepancy concerns the red supergiant μ Cep (M2Ia): our KIdata suggest that, similar to α Ori, CO and dust are incompletelyformed; for this object we favor ˙(M)=5x10^-6^Msun_/yr.The wind of β Peg is the second case for which a larger mass-lossand/or a larger x_e_ than primarily believed is suggested, butconfirming observations are needed. Finally there is no indication thatK or Na might be depleted in silicate grains. Vitesses radiales. Catalogue WEB: Wilson Evans Batten. Subtittle: Radial velocities: The Wilson-Evans-Batten catalogue.We give a common version of the two catalogues of Mean Radial Velocitiesby Wilson (1963) and Evans (1978) to which we have added the catalogueof spectroscopic binary systems (Batten et al. 1989). For each star,when possible, we give: 1) an acronym to enter SIMBAD (Set ofIdentifications Measurements and Bibliography for Astronomical Data) ofthe CDS (Centre de Donnees Astronomiques de Strasbourg). 2) the numberHIC of the HIPPARCOS catalogue (Turon 1992). 3) the CCDM number(Catalogue des Composantes des etoiles Doubles et Multiples) byDommanget & Nys (1994). For the cluster stars, a precise study hasbeen done, on the identificator numbers. Numerous remarks point out theproblems we have had to deal with. NaI and KI scattering in circumstellar envelopes: new detections around giants and the NaI λ5896/KI λ7699 line ratio.We present new scattering measurements of KI or NaI in circumstellarenvelopes, with the discovery of emissions around β Peg(M2.5II-III), ρ Per (M4IIb-IIIa) and CE Tau (M2Iab-Ib), expanding onprevious detections to very low mass-loss rates(10^-9^Msun_/yr). Supplementary data for α Ori and μCep, and upper limits for TX Psc, Y CVn, ρ Cas and BU Gem are alsogiven. We homogeneously reanalysed the line surface brightnesses of theenvelopes in order to consider the NaI λ5896/KI λ7699 lineratio. This ratio is found to be around 3, within a factor of 2, for theenvelopes of μ Cep, α Her and o Ceti. It is considerablydifferent for α Ori, in the sense that NaI is about 80 times toofaint. CE Tau also seems to display a similar effect. Our analysissuggests that NaI interstellar absorption on the line of sight ofBetelgeuse is the simplest explanation, though not completelyconvincing. Despite its location in the galactic plane, the NaI-emittingshell around μ Cep would not be so strongly affected by interstellarNaI owing to a favourable Doppler shift. If the Betelgeuse NaI faintnessis due to such an interstellar mutilation (and possibly also toinhomogeneities in the envelopes and measurement errors), ourobservations strengthen the evidence for a low condensation of K and Nain oxygen-rich envelopes with moderate mass-loss rates (up to~2-4x10^-6^Msun_/yr). We briefly examine other possible,although less probable, explanations like some Na overabundance on μCep, or Na versus K differentiation, as found in comets. Elliptical Polarimetry of Eleven Luminous Late-Type VariablesInstrumentation has been developed to measure the normalized V Stokesvector coincident with the Q and U Stokes vectors of the filteredradiation field from a celestial source. The hybrid method developed tocalibrate the system used null-polarization standards for the systemoffset and linear polarization standards along with aquarter-wave-plate-induced rotation on the Poincar sphere for the systemgain. An observing program was completed that concentrated upon elevenLuminous Late-Type Variables (LLTVs). The program objects are 119 CETau, alpha Ori, 6 BU Gem, Psi^1 Aur, 72 Leo, V CVn, alpha Sco, alpha^1Her, mu Cep, VV Cep, and beta Peg. The data for the program objects showcircular polarization behavior that is as rich and as complex as wasalready known for the linear polarization. The infrared excesses of theLLTVs were used to place useful limits on the dust shell particlenumbers and masses. The calculations were accomplished by using thestellar flux at visible wavelengths to estimate and remove the stellarflux at infrared wavelengths. A Monte Carlo software model was developedto aid in the explanation of the observations. The model componentsinclude contributions from limb darkening, stellar spots,Rayleigh/Thomson scattering in the stellar atmosphere, Mie scatteringfrom multiple particle types in the dust shell, and interstellarbirefringence. The output of the software is an ensemble of maps whichdisplay the Stokes vectors and relative flux expected when looking atthe modelled object from any direction. It was concluded that the linearpolarization for most of the program objects arises from Rayleigh andThomson scattering in the atmosphere of the objects and from singlescattering by small silicate grains in the dust shells. The bulk of thecircular polarization arises from three mechanisms: 1) single scatteringof light linearly polarized in the stellar atmosphere and subsequentlyMie scattered by spherical or irregularly-shaped aligned particles, 2)magneto-emission arising from spots, and 3) interstellar birefringenceacting on an intrinsic stellar linear polarization. (SECTION:Dissertation Abstracts) The 1.5-1.7 micrometer spectrum of cool stars: Line identifications, indices for spectral classification and the stellar content of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068The first aim of this paper is to determine which lines or narrowmolecular bands in the H-band spectra of cool stars could be of interestfor the classification of K-M stars. For this purpose we present highquality, medium resolution (R approximates 1500) spectra of field stars(mostly K-M giants and supergiants) and compare them with detailedsynthetic spectra computed on the basis of existing model atmospheresfor red giants. The agreement between theoretical and observed spectrais good and virtually all the observed features can be accounted for bylines of (12)CO, (13)CO, OH, Mg, Al, Si, Ca and Fe. We analyze in detailthe relative contribution of these and other species and conclude thatthe feature at 1.62 micrometers which is weak in early K but very strongin late M stars, is mainly due to the CO(6-3) band-head, while that at1.59 micrometers, which is prominent in all stars later than G, isprimarily attributable to silicon up to early M types, while in late Mstars this feature is strongly contaminated by OH lines. We choose thesetwo features as 'spectral classificators' and measure their equivalentwidths in more than 40 G, K, M giants and supergiants. From these datait is found that CO 1.62 in giants increases rapidly and with arelatively small scatter going to later spectral types. Supergiants havedeeper CO(6-3) and display a larger scatter. The (1.62)/(2.29) ratiosteadily increases going to cooler stars but does not vary significantlywith luminosity class. A very useful ratio is (1.62)/(1.59) whichincreases by a large factor from early K to late M stars and couldtherefore be a powerful tool to identify and estimate the averagespectral type of cool stars in complex objects like active galaxynuclei. To demonstrate such a possibility we also present long slitspectra of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068 where the equivalent widths ofall stellar features are found to decrease in the central 4 arcsecaround the nucleus but the (1.62)/(1.59) ratio, and hence the averagestellar temperature, does not change significantly. The estimatedaverage spectral type is late-K which is compatible with either an oldand very metallic bulge population or a younger one associated with arecent starburst. These data also show that the non-stellar continuumaccounts for approximately 30% and approximately equal to or greaterthan 80% of the flux at 1.62 and 2.3 micrometers respectively in thecentral 4.4 arcsec. The features around 1.6 micrometers are thus muchless diluted than CO(2, 0) and hence offer advantages for studies of thestellar content in such objects. The non-stellar nuclear emission isvery red and most probably associated with a hot (T approximately equalor greater than 800 K) dust component. S stars: infrared colors, technetium, and binarityAbstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1993A&A...271..463J&db_key=AST
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