Price, RJ;
Crawford, IA;
Howarth, ID;
(2001)
δ Orionis: Further temporal variability and evidence for small-scale structure in the interstellar medium.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
, 321
(3)
553 - 558.
10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.04055.x.
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Abstract
We report here the detection of both spatial and temporal variations in interstellar absorption in the line of sight to δ Orionis. First, we present new high-resolution (R≈110 000) observations of the interstellar D lines of Na i towards both δ Ori A and C. Comparison of these spectra highlights variations in absorption between the two stars, indicative of small-scale spatial structure in the interstellar medium in this direction over distances of less than ≈15 000 au (the projected separation of the two stars). Components with the largest Na i column densities and lowest velocity dispersions are, in general, found to be subject to the greatest differences; in fact the narrowest component detected is only observed in one of the sightlines. This effect has also been reported by Meyer & Blades. Secondly, we present new ultra-high-resolution (R≈900 000) Na i D1 observations and high-resolution (R≈110 000) Ca ii H & K observations of δ Ori A which, through ultra-high-resolution work conducted between 1994 and 2000, has been shown to exhibit a time-variable interstellar Na i absorption component. These new observations, while revealing the further reduction in intensity of the time-variable Na i absorption, indicate constant Ca ii absorption over the same period. This results in a dramatic reduction in the Na°/Ca+ abundance ratio, perhaps indicating the line of sight to be gradually probing a less-dense outer region of an absorbing filament.
Type: | Article |
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Title: | δ Orionis: Further temporal variability and evidence for small-scale structure in the interstellar medium |
Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
DOI: | 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.04055.x |
Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.04055.x |
Language: | English |
Additional information: | © 2001 RAS Definitive versions of articles pre-2013 are available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2966, now published by http://mnras.oxfordjournals.org |
UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Physics and Astronomy |
URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1366148 |
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