ALBERT

Description: Continuum emission has been detected during 3.44-3.64 micron spectral region observations of Comets P/Brorsen-Metcalf, Okazaki-Levy-Rudenko, and Levy. The spatial brightness profile of the 3.52-micron emission feature was measured and found to be consistent with uniform outflow from a central, unresolved source; the molecule generating the emission is either directly sublimated from the cometary surface or is a short-lived parent specie's dissociation product. The modeled IR spectrum of CH3OH implies the consistency of the observed spectra with a methanol origin for the 3.52 emission.

Description: Observations of the potential optical counterparts of the unusual source IRAS 18333-2357 are reported. There are three distinct optical objects located within roughly 2 arcsec of the IR source: a red star, a very blue star, and an extended emission line nebulosity. IRAS 18333-2357 indeed appears to be physically associated with the Galactic globular cluster M22, and while it probably should be considered a PN, its very small nebular mass and extreme abundance anomalies are very unusual among known PNe. IRAS 18333-2357 does not appear to be at an early stage of PN evolution, but instead may be in a late stage. The lack of an associated radio or H-alpha source is the result of abundance anomalies in the source.

Description: K-band magnitudes of 211 carbon stars in the Galactic anticenter are presented. The surface density, brightness range, and observed colors of stars in the sample are discussed. It is suggested that the K-band extinction gradient in the Galactic plane near l = 180 deg is between 0.15 and 0.3/kpc. In contrast to the total density of stars, it is found that the density of high-luminosity carbon stars does not decrease in the anticenter region out to at least 3 kpc from the sun. It is proposed that this is due to the fact that lower metallicity stars spend more time as carbon stars compared to stars of solar metallicity. Also, it is shown that the average mass-loss rates from high-luminosity carbon stars in the anticenter direction appear to be lower by a factor of 1.7 than those for carbon stars in the solar neighborhood.

Description: We present 1-5 micrometer moderate- and high-resolution infrared spectra of the ONeMg nova V1974 (Nova Cygni 1992) obtained at multiple epochs during an approximately 500 day period after outburst. During the first 80 days, the spectra exhibited continuum emission from thermal bremsstrahlung (free-free radiation) with prominent recombination line emission from hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, and oxygen. The measurement Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) of these recombination lines suggests that the initial velocity of the ejecta was approximately equals 2400-3400 km/s. We estimate from the hydrogen recombination line ratios that the density of the ionized shell at this epoch was approximately equals 10(exp 9), with an effective electron temperature of approximately equals 5 x 10(exp 3) K. As the temporal evolution of the ejecta progressed, the hydrogen and helium lines diminished in intensity, and coronal lines of aluminum, calcium, magnesium, neon, and sulfur appeared by approximately day 80. The coronal line emission phase persisted for over 400 days. During this epoch, no significant dust formation occurred. We find that the ejecta of V1974 Cyg were overabundant in aluminum with respect to silicon by a factor of approximately equals 5 and in magnesium with respect to silicon by a factor of greater than or equal to 3 relative to the solar photosphere. Comparison of our observed overabundances with recent model predictions of elemental synthesis in ONeMg outbursts suggests that the accreted envelope on V1974 Cyg was close to solar composition and that the precursor ONeMg white dwarf had a mass of approximately equals 1 solar mass.

Description: The inefficiency of the stellar formation process leads rather generally to high residual dust densities, and so to the existence of infrared reflection nebulosity (IRN), in regions of star formation. Polarization images of several star-forming regions with mass outflows (GSS 30, S255, GL 5180, GL 2591, GGD 27, and NGC 7538) presented here: (1) establish the universality of bipolarity and of shell or cavity structure in the IRN consistent with that of CO outflow; (2) identify the source of the mass outflow in each case; (3) show that the opening angle near this central source is large; and (4) demonstrate several instances of multiple shells, probably arising from episodic mass loss. Astrometry of 2.2-micron sources with arcsecond accuracy identifies the illuminating source of each IRN uniquely with a compact H II region or a bright IR source. The polarization images provide strong evidence for large-scale dust toroids around each of these sources. The density and mass of these disks are estimated from the extinction through the disk.

Description: This paper presents results of NIR photometric observations of IRC + 10216 star during the time interval 1965-1990, which were combined with measurements of the circumstellar shell surrounding IRC + 10216 by IR speckle interferometry. Using these data together with published observations, a very precise light curve was constructed, demonstrating the occurrence of long-term changes in the circumstellar shell surrounding IRC + 10216. The observations are discussed in the framework of two alternatives: (1) the occurrence of dynamical changes in the shell and (2) blocking of the direct light from the star to a portion of the shell by intervening material.

Description: A K-band IR image of the z = 1.13 radio galaxy 3C 368, one of the brightest examples of the recently discovered phenomenon of alignment between the optical and radio axes of powerful distant radio galaxies, is presented. The observations show that the IR morphology is also elongated and aligned along the optical and radio axes, but is not coincident with the radio emission. Various mechanisms for producing the IR and optical flux and the resultant constraints on the origin of the alignment effect in high-redshift radio galaxies are discussed. The most likely explanation is that the emission is produced mainly by young stars formed by interaction of the radio source with the ISM. The IR flux is then interpreted as dominated by a population of red supergiants. Independent of the origin of the emission, the observed alignment implies that powerful radio galaxies at high redshifts are distant from giant ellipticals, even in the IR. Hence, attempts to derive a cosmological 'standard candle' using studies which combine these two types of galaxies are likely to be invalid.

Description: Published observational data (including IRAS observations) for a flux-limited sample of 215 Galactic carbon stars (CSs) selected from the 2-micron sky survey of Neugebauer and Leighton (1969) are compiled in extensive tables and graphs and analyzed statistically. The sample is found to penetrate a volume of radius 1.5 kpc, and the local CS space density and surface density are calculated as log rho0 (per cu kpc) = 2.0 + or - 0.4 and log N (per sq kpc) = 1.6 + or - 0.2, respectively. The total Galactic mass-return rate from these CSs is estimated as 0.013 solar mass/yr, implying a time scale of 0.1-1 Myr for the CS evolutionary phase and a mass of 1.2-1.6 solar mass for the (probably F-type) main-seqence progenitors of CSs.