text:
# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

It is not difficult to find in the animal kingdom species that live and work in sexual pairs, but sometimes have extra-pair relations. Biologists believe that these pairs are formed in order to better take care of the pups, and that the extra-pair relations have the genetic purpose to maximize the variability of their offspring or to produce some fitness benefit for them . The Scandinavian great reed warbler is one of the species that presents these extra-pair matings. However, independent of its origin (social or genetic), true monogamy seems to be rare in Nature.

The Penna model for biological ageing  is a Monte Carlo simulation technique based on the mutation accumulation hypothesis. It has successfully reproduced many different characteristics of living species, as the catastrophic senescence of pacific salmon , the inheritance of longevity  and the self-organization of female menopause . The extra-pair relations mentioned above have also been studied through this model . Martins and Penna have obtained that the offspring generated by extra-pair relations are genetically stronger and present a higher survival probability than those generated by social relations.

In this paper we are interested in using the Penna model to study the true monogamy, rarely found in Nature. One example is the California mouse. In this species a female is not able to sustain one to three pups alone. The pups are born at the coldest time of the year and depend on the parents body heat to survive. According to the biologist David Gubernick, as cited in Science , the situation is so dramatic that if the male leaves or is taken away, the female abandons or kills the pups. However, he also points out that other species of mice that live in the same environment are promiscuous. That is, the reason for true monogamy is still an open question under study. We have adopted the strategy of considering monogamy as a genetic trait, exclusively related to paternal care. Our assumption that male fidelity is genetically transmitted is analogous to the recent findings that the gene Mest regulates maternal care .

In the next section we explain the Penna model and how fidelity is introduced. In section 3 we present our results and in section 4 the conclusions.

## 2 The Sexual Penna model and Fidelity

We will now describe the sexual version of the Penna model; details and applications can be found, for instance, in references . The genome of each individual is represented by two bit-strings of 32 bits that are read in parallel; that is, there are 32 positions to be read, to each position corresponding two bits. One time-step corresponds to read one position of all the genomes. In this way, each individual can live at most for 32 time-steps (“years”). Genetic diseases are represented by bits 1. If an individual has two bits 1 (homozygotous) at the third position, for instance, it starts to suffer from a genetic disease at its third year of life. If it is an homozygotous position with two bits zero, no disease appears at that age. If the individual is heterozygotous in some position, it will get sick only if that position is a dominant one. The number of dominant genes and its randomly chosen positions are defined at the beginning of the simulation; they are the same for all individuals and remain constant. When the number of accumulated diseases of any individual reaches a threshold $`T`$, the individual dies.

The individuals may also be killed due to a lack of space and food, according to the logistic Verhulst factor $`V=1N(t)/N_{max}`$, where $`N(t)`$ is the current population size and $`N_{max}`$ the carrying capacity of the environment. At every time step and for each individual a random number between zero and 1 is generated and compared with $`V`$: if this number is greater than $`V`$, the individual dies independently of its age or number of accumulated diseases.

If a female succeeds in surviving until the minimum reproduction age $`R`$, it generates, with probability $`p`$, $`b`$ offspring every year. The female randomly chooses a male to mate, the age of which must also be greater or equal to $`R`$. The offspring genome is constructed from the parents’ ones; firstly the strings of the mother are randomly crossed, and a female gamete is produced. $`M_m`$ deleterious mutations are then randomly introduced. The same process occurs with the father’s genome (with $`M_f`$ mutations), and the union of the two remaining gametes form the new genome. Deleterious mutation means that if the randomly chosen bit of the parent genome is equal to 1, it remains 1 in the offspring genome, but if it is equal to zero in the parent genome, it is set to 1 in the baby genome. It is well known  that due to the dynamics of the model, the bits 1 accumulate, after many generations, at the end part of the genomes, that is, after the minimum reproduction age $`R`$. For this reason ageing appears: the survival probabilities decrease with age. The sex of the baby is randomly chosen, each one with probability $`50\%`$.

Let’s see now how fidelity is introduced. We assume that if a female reproduces this year, she spents the next two following years without reproducing. So we consider two time steps as the parental care period. Remembering that in our simulations the female choses the male, if the male is a faithful one, he will refuse, during this period, to mate any female that eventually choses him as a partner. The non-faithful male accepts any invitation, but his offspring still under parental care pay the price for the abandonment: they have an extra probability $`P_d`$ of dying. The male offspring of a faithful father will also be faithful, with probability $`P_f`$. This means that if the father is faithful and $`P_f=1`$, the male offspring will necessarily be faithful. $`P_f`$ is also the probability of a non-faithful male having a non-faithful offspring.

## 3 Results

We start our simulations with half of the males faithful and half non-faithful. In Fig.1 we show the final percentages (after many generations) of faithful males as a function of the offspring death probability $`P_d`$, for the cases where the male offspring inherits the father’s fidelity state with probability $`P_f=1`$ (full line) and with probability $`P_f=0.8`$ (dashed line). This last case means that the offspring of a faithful father has a $`20\%`$ probability of being non-faithful and vice-versa. From this figure we can see that as the death probability of the abandoned pups increases, the percentage of faithful fathers increases. From the solid curve it is easy to notice that there is a compromise between the lower reproduction rate of the faithful males and the death probability of the already born offspring abandoned by father: if $`P_d<0.3`$, a high reproduction rate dominates and after many generations the faithful males disappear from the population. However, for $`P_d=1`$ the opposite occurs, since there is a strong selection pressure against the non-faithful males to warrant the survival of the already born offspring.

From the dashed curve ($`P_f=0.8`$) it can be seen that for $`P_d=0`$ a high percentage (greater than $`20\%`$) of faithful males remains in the final population. The reason is that for $`P_d=0`$ there is no selection pressure. There is a probability that non-faithful males, which have a high reproduction rate, generate faithful offspring; these offspring are introduced into the population and, without any pressure, remain there. At this point ($`P_f=0.8`$ and $`P_d=0`$) we have computed which percentages of faithful males descend from faithful and non-faithul fathers. We have obtained that for the $`26.95\%`$ of faithful males that remain in the population, $`9.28\%`$ of them descend from faithful fathers and $`17.67\%`$ from non-faithful ones.

In Fig.2a we present the time evolution of the populations for $`P_f=1`$, and in Fig.2b for $`P_f=0.8`$. The inset show the final population sizes as a function of $`P_d`$. From Fig.2a it can be seen that the population sizes decrease until $`P_d=0.4`$ and then increase for increasing values of $`P_d`$, stabilizing around the same population size of $`P_d=0.3`$. For $`P_f=0.8`$ (Fig.2b) the population sizes decrease until $`P_d=0.7`$, and then stabilize around the same final size for increasing values of $`P_d`$.

Fig.3 shows the survival rates for $`P_f=1`$ and $`P_d=0.0`$ (circles), 0.5 (squares) and 0.9 (triangles). It can be noticed that for $`P_d=0.5`$ the child mortality is greater, since $`P_d`$ is already large and nearly $`50\%`$ of the males (see fig.1, solid curve) are not faithful. The results obtained for $`P_f=0.8`$ are similar.

The survival rate is defined, for a stable population, as the ratio

$$S(a)=N(a+1)/N(a),$$

where $`N(a)`$ is the number of individuals of age $`a`$. A stable population means that the number of individuals of any given age $`a`$ is constant in time. It is important to emphasize that all curves presented here correspond to already stable situations. To obtain each of them we simulated 20 different populations (samples) during 800,000 time steps, and averaged the final results. The parameters of the simulations are:

Initial population = 20,000 individuals (half for each sex);

Maximum population size $`N_{max}=200,000`$;

Limit number of allowed diseases $`T=3`$;

Minimum reproduction age $`R=10`$;

Probability to give birth $`p=0.5`$;

Number of offspring $`b=2`$;

Number of mutations at birth $`M_m=M_f=1`$;

Number of dominant positions = 6 (in 32).

## 4 Conclusions

We have used the Penna bit-string model for biological ageing to study the problem of true monogamy, rarely found in Nature. In our simulations a female that gives birth necessarily waits two time steps before giving birth again. We call this period the parental care period. A faithful father also cannot reproduce during this period, but a non-faithful one can accept any female that randomly choses him to mate, abandoning the pups already born. The abandoned pups have, as a consequence, an extra probability to die. In this way there is a competition between the reproduction rate and the death probability of already born pups. We show that depending on this death probability, nature may prefers a lower reproduction rate to warrant the survival of those babies already born. We consider the paternal fidelity an expression of paternal care, and so admit it as a genetic trait to be transmitted to the male offspring.

Acknowledgements: to P.M.C. de Oliveira and D. Stauffer for important discussions and a critical reading of the manuscript; to CNPq, CAPES and FAPERJ for financial support.

References

V. Morell, Science 281, 1983 (1998).

T.J.P. Penna, J.Stat.Phys. 78, 1629 (1995).

K.W. Wachter and C.E. Finch, Betwee Zeus and the Salmon. The Biodemography of Longevity, National Academy Press, Washington D.C.; T.J.P. Penna, S. Moss de Oliveira and D. Stauffer, Phys.Rev. E52, 3309 (1995).

P.M.C. de Oliveira, S. Moss de Oliveira, A.T. Bernardes and D. Stauffer, Lancet 352, 911 (1998).

S. Moss de Oliveira, P.M.C. de Oliveira and D. Stauffer, Evolution, Money, War and Computers, Teubner, Sttutgart-Leipzig (1999).

S.G.F. Martins and T.J.P. Penna, Int.J.Mod.Phys. C9, 491 (1998).

L. Lefebvre, S. Viville, S. C. Barton, F. Ishino, E.B. Keverne and M.A. Surani, Nature Genetics 20, 163 (1998).

R.S. Bridges, Nature Genetics 20, 108 (1998).

A.T. Bernardes, Annual Reviews of Computational Physics IV, edited by D. Stauffer, World Scientific, Singapore (1996).

J.S. Sa Martins and S. Moss de Oliveira, Int.J.Mod.Phys. C9, 421 (1998).

Figure Captions

Fig.1 - Final percentages of faithful males in the population as a function of the death probability of the abandoned pups. The solid line corresponds to the cases where the offspring fidelity state is the same of the father. The dashed line corresponds to the cases where the offspring inherit the same fidelity of the father with probability $`80\%`$.

Fig.2a - Time evolution of the populations (linear-log scale) for $`P_f=1`$ and different offspring death probabilities $`P_d`$. The inset shows the final population sizes as a function of $`P_d`$. For $`0.6P_d1`$ the final sizes are all very close to that for $`P_d=0.3`$.

Fig.2b - The same as Fig.2a for $`P_f=0.8`$.

Fig.3 - Survival rates as a function of age for $`P_f=1`$ and different values of $`P_d`$; circles correspond to $`P_d=0.1`$, squares to 0.5 and triangles to 0.9. A higher child mortality can be noticed for $`P_d=0.5`$.


format: text

text:
# Red Companions to a z=2.15 Radio Loud Quasar

## 1 Introduction

The selection of high redshift galaxies on the basis of their colours has been a growth industry over the last 5 years. Much of this work has concentrated on the selection of high (z$`>`$3) redshift objects through ‘dropout’ techniques. Such methods have had considerable success (eg. Steidel et al. 1999). However, many of these techniques are reliant on emission in the rest-frame ultraviolet. The UV emission from a galaxy can easily be dominated by a small burst of star formation, or alternatively obscured by a relatively small amount of dust. A population of older quiescent galaxies might thus coexist with the UV selected high redshift objects. Studies of the stellar populations in moderate redshift radio galaxies provide some support for this idea. A number of authors (eg. Stockton et al. (1995), Spinrad et al. (1997)) have shown that several radio galaxies have ages $`>`$3–5 Gyr at z$``$1.5, indicating that they must have formed at z$`>`$5. These results have even been used (Dunlop et al. 1996) to argue that $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ must be significantly less than 1.

Old galaxies at moderate redshift, passively evolving from z$`>`$5 to z=1.5 – 2.5, would appear as red objects, with R-K’ colours $`>`$4.5. There has been considerable interest in such red objects. Much of this work has centred on red objects found in the fields of known high redshift AGN (eg. Hu & Ridgeway (1994), Yamada et al., (1997)). A large survey of the environments of z=1–2 quasars (Hall et al., 1998) finds that such associations are quite common. The present paper attempts to push such studies above z=2. The alternative approach, to study red objects in the field, is also an active area with several surveys dedicated to or capable of finding such objects. See eg. Cohen et al. (1999), or Rigopoulou et al. (in preparation). Red objects need not be old, though. An alternative explanation is that they are heavily obscured, and may contain either a redenned AGN or massive starburst (eg. Dey et al., 1999, Egami et al., 1996). In this context it is interesting to note that several of the objects found in recent deep submm surveys have been identified with very red objects (Smail et al., 1999; Clements et al., in preparation).

Finding emission from the putative galaxies responsible for metal and damped-Ly$`\alpha `$ absorption line systems has been the goal of numerous observational programmes. At low redshift there has been considerable success in identifying the galaxies responsible for MgII absorption systems (Bergeron & Boisse, 1991; Steidel et al., 1997. At higher redshifts, interest has mostly focussed on the damped-Ly$`\alpha `$ absorption systems. Searches for line emission from such objects (eg. Bunker et al. 1999; Wolfe et al. 1992) has met with varying success (Leibundgut & Robertson, 1999). Fewer observers have looked in the continuum, but there have been some successes there as well. For example, Aragon-Salamanca et al. (1996) found close companions to 2 out of 10 quasars with damped absorbers in a K band survey. As yet there has been no spectroscopic confirmation of these identifications, but the broad characteristics of these objects, and the small fraction of damped absorbers detected, is consistent with plausible models for the evolution of the galaxies responsible (Mathlin et al., in preparation). Meanwhile, Aragon-Salamanca et al. (1994) looked for counterparts to multiple CIV absorbers lying at z$``$1.6, also using K band observations. They found an excess of K band objects near to the quasars, consistent with their being responsible for the CIV absorption. Once again, there is no spectroscopic confirmation of the assumed redshifts.

The present paper presents the first results of a programme aimed at finding quiescent objects at high redshift (z$``$2–2.5) using optical/IR colour selection techniques. Among the targets observed in an initial test programme was the radio loud quasar 1550-2655, selected as an example radio loud object. The rest of the paper is organised as follows. Section 2 describes our observations, data analysis and presents the results. Section 3 discusses these results and examines three possible origins for the red objects we have found to be associated with 1550-2655. Finally we draw our conclusions. We assume $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M`$ = 1, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$=0 and H0=100 kms-1Mpc-1 throughout this paper.

## 2 Observations and Results

As part of a programme to examine the role of quiescent galaxies at z=2–2.5, we observed the field surrounding the radio loud quasar 1550-2655. This object lies at a redshift of 2.15 and shows signs of associated Ly$`\alpha `$ absorption (Jauncey et al., 1984). Its spectrum also contains a CIV absorber at z=2.09. Observations were made at the 3.5m ESO NTT, and data reduction used standard IRAF and Eclipse routines.

The optical observations, in R band, were conducted in service mode on 20 August 1997 using the SUSI imager. This provides high resolution images, with a pixel size of 0.13”. A total integration time of 3600s was obtained on the source. This integration time was broken up into 12 subintegrations of 300s each, whose relative positions were shifted by up to 40” in a semi-random jitter pattern. These images were bias subtracted, flat fielded using a sky flat made on the twilight sky, then aligned and median combined to produce the final image. A residual gradient going from left to right across the image was apparent in the final data. This was removed by subtracting a low-order polynomial fitted to each horizontal row of pixels once detected objects had been masked off. The final R band image is shown in Figure 1a. Seeing was measured to be marginally subarcsecond on the final image.

The infrared data was obtained using the K’ filter on the SOFI infrared imager on 12 July 1998. The 3600s of integration were obtained in 60 one minute sub-integrations which themselves were the result of six 10s integrations. The 60 one minute sub-integrations were shifted relative to one another in a random 15” size dithering pattern to allow for sky background determination and subtraction. The flat field was obtained using a standard lamp ON $``$ lamp OFF dome flat. The data were reduced using the Eclipse package by Nick Devillard (1997). The algorithms used for reducing dithered infrared data in this package are detailed in Devillard (1999). In summary, the package allows for flat fielding with the preprepared flat, and conducts sky subtraction using a running average of 10 offset images. It then identifies sources on each image and uses a correlation technique to calculate the offsets between them. The separate subintegrations are then offset and combined to produce the final image. Seeing was measured in the final image to be $``$ 0.9”.

Photometric calibration used the Landolt standard (Landolt, 1992) PG1633+099C in R band, and the faint IR standards P499E and S875C at K’ (Cassali & Hawarden, 1992). Galactic extinction was corrected using values obtained from the NASA Extragalactic Database (NED).

After data reduction and flux calibration, the SUSI image, which has a resolution of 0.13”/pixel, was rebinned to match the 0.292”/pixel SOFI resolution, and the images were aligned. The final matched images were 67 by 88 arcseconds in size. The main limiting factor on this size was the small SUSI field of view and the dithering scheme used for the optical observations. We then used SExtractor to select objects detected at K’ and to extract their photometric properties in matched apertures in the two passbands. To qualify for detection, an object had to have a 1.5$`\sigma `$ significance flux in 10 connected pixels in the K’ band image (ie. $``$ 5$`\sigma `$ significance overall). This matched catalogue can then easily be searched for objects with specific colour criteria. We detected a total of 75 objects in K’ down to a limiting magnitude of $`20.5`$.

The catalogue was then searched for candidate red objects, with R-K’$`>`$4.5. We found five such objects in the catalogue, details of which are given in Table 1. Their positions are also shown in Figure 1, which shows both the R and K’ band images of the quasar field.

### 2.1 A Red Quasar Companion

Comparison of the R and K’ images of the quasar itself shows what would appear to be a red companion object — apparent as an extension in K, but absent in the R band image. The reality of this object was investigated by subtracting off the unresolved quasar contribution. This was achieved by selecting a star, with no close companions, in the observed field and using this as a PSF model. The central value of the PSF image was scaled to match that in the quasar image, and then the two images were subtracted. The companion was clearly visible in the K’-band PSF subtracted image, but was entirely absent in the R-band PSF subtracted image. The companion is marginally resolved, having a size of roughly 1.5 x 1 arcseconds, and is situated $``$2 arcseconds from the quasar. R and K’ magnitudes were extracted from the PSF subtracted image, indicating that the quasar companion is also red. Its details are included in Table 1.

## 3 Discussion

Until we can obtain spectroscopy for these objects, it is difficult to assess their importance or role in this system. There are three possible origins for these red objects: (1) they are associated with the quasar, lying at z=2.15; (2) they are associated with the CIV absorber at z=2.09; (3) they are foreground objects, unrelated to the quasar or CIV system. We will assess each of these alternatives in turn.

### 3.1 Association with the Quasar

The density of red objects in this field is surprisingly high - $`4\pm 1.5`$ arcmin-2 as opposed to the supposed global value of $`1\pm 0.3`$ arcmin-2 (Cohen et al. 1999). The density of red objects near to the quasar is significantly higher, with three of the red objects as well as the companion lying in a 0.25 arcmin-2 region near the quasar. This is certainly suggestive that there is some connection between the red objects and the AGN (or CIV system). Other studies have found a similar connection between red objects and AGN, especially radio loud AGN. Perhaps the largest survey to date is that of Hall et al. (1999) who obtained images of 31 z=1 – 2 radio loud quasars and found a significant excess of red galaxies around them. Interestingly they found two radial dependencies for this excess, one of which lies close to the quasar ($`<`$40”) and another more distant (40”–100”). This is perhaps reflected in the present study, with two red objects in the second class, further from the quasar, and the rest, including the close companion, within 40”. In this interpretation, the close companion would be $``$26kpc from the quasar, and would be about 20x15 kpc in size. Hydrogen in this object might be responsible for the associated absorption seen in the quasar spectrum.

If we take the redshift of the companion galaxies to be the same as the quasar, then the implied absolute magnitudes would be $``$-24 to -25, ie. about L (using the luminosity function of Mobasher et al., 1993 and converting to the assumed cosmology). This calculation of course ignores K-corrections, but these are expected to be quite low in the K-band. Cowie et al (1994) calculate K-corrections at z$``$2.1 to be less than 1 for all morphological classes from E to Irr. We also note that these results are not dissimilar to those of Francis et al. (1997) who uncovered a group of similarly red objects at z=2.38 associated with a cluster of quasar absorption line systems. K’ magnitudes for these objects are similar to, or brighter then, those of the objects discussed here. It is interesting to note that the Francis et al. objects are all Ly$`\alpha `$ emitters. If the present red objects have similar properties, then such line emission would make redshift determination much easier.

### 3.2 Association with the CIV Absorber

Many of the same comments regarding direct association with the quasar can be made regarding association with the CIV absorber: there is an unusually high density of red objects in this region suggesting some connection between them. Of particular interest here is the closeness of the quasar companion to the quasar - only $``$2” away, or 26kpc at the redshift of the CIV absorber, and with a size similar to that 7

given above. To date little is known about the nature of CIV absorbers, so the possible identification of the galaxy responsible for one is rather interesting. Previous work looking for emission lines from objects associated with damped and CIV absorbers (Mannucci et al., 1998) suggests that galaxies are more likely to cluster with absorbers than with quasars. If correct, this would suggest that the objects found here are more likely to be associated with the absorber than the quasar.

There has been a long and largely unsuccessful history of searches for emission from absorption line systems in quasars at large redshift. These have largely concentrated on emission lines, whether Ly$`\alpha `$ (eg. Leibundgut & Robertson, 1999), H$`\alpha `$, (eg. Bunker et al., 1999), or others, though work in the infrared continuum has perhaps shown greater success (see eg. Aragon-Salamanca et al., 1996, 1994). If the quasar companion in the present study is indeed responsible for the CIV absorption, then we may have an explanation for the failures. The object is both red and quite close to the quasar. Detection of the companion would require both good seeing (conditions for our own observations were sub-arcsecond) and observations in the near-IR as well as the ability to subtract off the quasar contribution. Sensitive infrared detectors have only recently become available at most observatories, while subarcsecond seeing is only rarely achieved. We might thus have been lucky in being able to detect the companion. New instruments, such as UFTI at UKIRT, which combines adaptive optics correction (regularly 0.5”) with a superb infrared imager, can regularly make such observations. This will hopefully allow us to make significant advances in our understanding of high redshift absorption line systems.

### 3.3 Foreground Contaminants

The possibility that the red objects are at an entirely different redshift to the quasar and absorber must still be considered while we do not have confirming redshift spectra. In this context it is salutary to note the lesson of the first VRO discovered (Hu & Ridgeway, 1994), known as HR10. This was found in the field of a z=3.79 quasar, but was later shown to have a redshift of 1.44 (Graham & Dey, 1996). However, the number density of red objects in their field was 0.9 arcmin-2 which matches the field density of red objects discussed by Cohen et al. (1999), and is lower than that found here.

## 4 Conclusions

At present there are several deficiencies in our data. Firstly we have only obtained limits on the objects R band magnitudes. We must detect them and measure, rather than limit, their R band magnitudes before we can properly determine their colours. Secondly we must obtain spectra for the objects so that we can actually determine, rather than speculate on, their redshift. However, the results presented here suggest that a larger survey of quasar environments, both with and without absorbers, using infrared imagers with adaptive optics correction might shed new light on galaxy populations at large redshift.
Acknowledgments This paper is based on observations made at the European Southern Observatory, Chile. It is a pleasure to thank Nick Devillard for his excellent Eclipse data reduction pipeline, and E. Bertin for SExtractor. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I would like to thank Amanda Baker and Garry Mathlin for useful discussions, and the anonymous referee for helpful comments on an earlier version. This work was supported in part by an ESO fellowship, EU TMR Network programme FMRX-CT96-0068 and by a PPARC postdoctoral grant.


text:
# Studying the Pulsation of Mira Variables in the Ultraviolet

## 1 Introduction

At some point in their lives, many if not most stars go through an unstable phase which leads to pulsation. There are many classes of these pulsating stars. Perhaps the most famous are the Cepheid variables, which are popular mostly because of their well-defined relationship between stellar luminosity and pulsation period (typically 5–50 days) that makes these stars very useful as distance indicators.

Mira variables are another important class of stellar pulsators, having long periods of 150–500 days and luminosities that vary by as much as 6–7 magnitudes from minimum to maximum. Miras are asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars with masses similar to that of the Sun. They have very massive, slow, cool winds, which produce a complex circumstellar environment. Observations of molecular CO lines show that Miras are often surrounded by molecular envelopes thousands of AU in diameter. These observations yield estimates of the wind termination velocity and total mass loss rate, which are typically of order 5 km s-1 and $`10^7`$ M yr-1, respectively (Young, 1995). The circumstellar envelopes are rich sites for dust formation and are often found to be sources of SiO, OH, and H2O maser emission (Diamond et al., 1994; Lopez et al., 1997).

The massive winds of Miras are believed to be driven by a combination of shocks induced by stellar pulsation, and dust formation (Bowen, 1988). The shocks lift a substantial amount of material up to 1–2 stellar radii above the surface of the star. Radiation pressure on dust formed in this material then pushes it away from the star. The pulsation-induced shocks not only assist in generating the massive winds of Miras, but they also determine the atmospheric structure of these stars to a large extent. Thus, understanding the nature of the shocks and measuring their properties is essential to understanding the physics of pulsation and mass loss from pulsating stars.

The ultraviolet spectral regime is an ideal place to study radiation from the shocks. Many UV emission lines are generated from immediately behind the shocks, which are potentially very useful diagnostics for various characteristics of the shocks. Foremost among these lines are the strong Mg II h & k lines at 2800 Å.

A large number of UV spectra of Miras have been taken by the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) over the years, and some of the basic characteristics of the Mg II h & k lines have been noted. It is known, for example, that the Mg II lines are not visible throughout part of the pulsation cycle. They typically appear at about pulsation phase $`\varphi =0.1`$, well after optical maximum ($`\varphi =0.0`$). The Mg II fluxes peak around $`\varphi =0.30.45`$ and then decrease until becoming undetectable at about $`\varphi =0.7`$ (Brugel, Willson, & Cadmus, 1986; Luttermoser, 1996).

For a set of LW-HI observations of S Car and R Car, Bookbinder, Brugel, & Brown (1990) showed that the Mg II h & k lines are blueshifted relative to the stellar rest frame by as much as 100 km s-1, and the h line is significantly stronger than the k line. Both of these properties are very difficult to explain, as the shock speeds should be much lower than 100 km s-1, and for other astronomical targets the k line is almost always found to be stronger than the h line (e.g. Robinson & Carpenter, 1995).

Clearly the unusual behavior of the Mg II lines of Miras should be looked at in more detail to understand the pulsation process. In this paper, we utilize the extensive IUE data sets that exist for 5 Miras to fully characterize the behavior of the ultraviolet emission of these stars. Many pulsation cycles are sampled for each star, allowing us to see how the UV emission lines behave from one cycle to the next.

## 2 The IUE Archival Data

We have searched the IUE database for Miras that have been extensively observed by the satellite. In this paper, we are only interested in Miras without companion stars that may be contaminating the UV spectrum. We are particularly interested in high resolution spectra taken with IUE’s long-wavelength cameras (i.e. LW-HI spectra). With these spectra, fully resolved profiles of detected emission lines (especially Mg II) can be analyzed. However, we also include low resolution, long-wavelength camera spectra (i.e. LW-LO spectra) in our analysis, which can at least be used to measure accurate fluxes of the Mg II lines and the background. We only consider large aperture data to ensure that our measured fluxes are accurate. Except for the Lyman-$`\alpha `$ line, which is blended with geocoronal emission, no emission lines are typically seen in Mira spectra taken with IUE’s short-wavelength SWP camera, so we are not interested in those data.

Table 1 lists the five Miras with the most extensive sets of IUE observations. (Actually, L2 Pup is a semi-regular variable star rather than a Mira, but it is a long-period pulsating star similar to Miras and it has a very large IUE dataset so we include it in our analysis.) The table gives the position, distance, center-of-mass radial velocity ($`V_{rad}`$), and pulsation period of each star. The distances were taken from the Hipparcos catalog (Perryman et al., 1997).

The center-of-mass radial velocities of these stars were taken from the SIMBAD database. However, deriving true systemic center-of-mass velocities is difficult for the pulsating Miras, because different spectral features observed for these stars exhibit different velocities, and these velocities are often found to vary during the pulsation cycle. The velocities in Table 1 are based on measurements of optical absorption lines of neutral atoms, which provide plausible values for $`V_{rad}`$. Other potential measures, such as various optical emission lines, molecular radio emission lines, and maser lines, are generally blueshifted relative to the neutral atomic absorption lines by roughly 5–10 km s-1. These features are probably formed either behind an outward moving shock or in the outer regions of the stellar atmosphere where the massive wind of the star is being accelerated (Joy, 1954; Merrill, 1960; Wallerstein, 1975; Gillet, 1988). Note that infrared CO emission lines, which can also be used to estimate stellar center-of-mass radial velocities, generally suggest velocities that are blueshifted relative to the optical velocities by $`5`$ km s-1 (Hinkle, 1978; Hinkle & Barnbaum, 1996; Hinkle, Lebzelter, & Scharlach, 1997).

In order to determine how UV emission varies during the pulsation cycle it is necessary to derive accurate pulsation phases, which requires knowledge of the pulsation period and a zero-phase date. All of the Miras in Table 1 have been monitored for many decades, and their average periods are well known. However, the periods of Miras can sometimes differ from this average. Therefore, in order to derive the most accurate phases, we sought to determine the average period and zero-phase of our Miras during IUE’s lifetime only (1978–1996).

The American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) has a long-term program to monitor hundreds of Miras using observations from amateur astronomers around the world (Mattei & Foster, 1997). Using AAVSO data obtained from the World Wide Web, we derived the pulsation periods listed in Table 1. The derived periods of S Car, R Car, and R Leo are within a day of the accepted long-term average values (see, e.g., Hirshfeld & Sinnott, 1985), but the derived period of L2 Pup is 4 days shorter and that of T Cep is 11 days longer. For these two stars, the accuracy of the computed pulsation phases is improved significantly with the use of the derived periods in Table 1. As mentioned above, L2 Pup is a semi-regular variable rather than a traditional Mira, but it is similar to Miras in other respects so it is included in our sample. Because of the irregularity of its period, the accuracy of the pulsation phases we derive is limited to about $`\pm 0.2`$. The pulsation of the other stars on our list is far more regular, and we estimate that the phases we use for these stars are accurate to within about $`\pm 0.05`$.

Table 1 lists the number of LW-HI and LW-LO spectra available for each star. In each case, the available data provide reasonably good coverage of at least 2–3 different pulsation cycles. The data were extracted from the IUE Final Archive. The spectra in the archive were processed using the NEWSIPS software, which became available near the end of the IUE’s 18-year lifetime in the mid-1990s. This software corrects the fixed pattern noise problem that plagued spectra processed with the older IUESIPS software, and improves signal-to-noise by up to a factor of 2 for high resolution spectra. The NEWSIPS software is described in detail by Nichols & Linsky (1996).

## 3 Data Analysis

### 3.1 The LW-LO Spectra

Figure 1 illustrates the behavior of the near UV spectrum of the Mira R Car during a typical pulsation cycle in 1986–1987. The primary spectral feature visible in the LW-LO spectra is the Mg II h & k feature at 2800 Å, which appears shortly after optical maximum, achieves a maximum flux around $`\varphi =0.40.5`$, and then declines. The Fe II UV1 multiplet lines at 2620 Å are also visible when Mg II is at its brightest.

We developed a semi-automated routine to measure the Mg II fluxes from the LW-LO spectra of our stars. For each spectrum, the underlying background flux is estimated using the flux in the surrounding spectral region. The reasonableness of this computed background is verified visually. After subtracting the background from the spectrum, the Mg II flux is then computed by direct integration. The error vector provided by the NEWSIPS software then allows us to estimate the 1 $`\sigma `$ uncertainty for this flux. Three spectra from R Leo show substantial background emission at an unexpected phase, which we believe indicates contamination by scattered solar light, so these spectra are not used.

In Figure 2, we plot the Mg II fluxes as a function of pulsation phase for all the stars in our sample. We use thick symbols to indicate Mg II lines with 3 or more pixels that have been flagged by NEWSIPS as being potentially inaccurate, usually due to overexposure. These fluxes should be considered more uncertain than the plotted 1 $`\sigma `$ error bars would suggest. In general, however, these fluxes are not wildly discrepant from fluxes of better exposed lines measured closely in time. Dashed lines connect points that are within the same pulsation cycle, excluding cases where the points are separated by over 0.4 phase.

Figure 2 shows that the pulsation cycles of each star are all consistent with the general rule of a flux maximum around $`\varphi =0.20.5`$. However, there are substantial flux differences from one cycle to the next. The R Car data set shows the most extreme such variability, with the Mg II fluxes reaching only about $`1\times 10^{13}`$ ergs cm-2 s-1 in one cycle and approaching $`1\times 10^{10}`$ ergs cm-2 s-1 during another. In contrast, the Mg II fluxes of S Car differ by less than an order of magnitude from one cycle to the next, this despite the fact that S Car has one of the largest IUE LW-LO databases. The other relatively short period pulsator in our sample, L2 Pup, seems to behave similarly. The data points show more scatter for L2 Pup, but this is probably due to inaccuracies in the estimated pulsation phases caused by the irregular period of this star (see §2). A comparison of L2 Pup’s Mg II and optical variability has been presented by Brugel, Willson, & Bowen (1990).

The phase of maximum Mg II flux differs somewhat for the five stars, with S Car appearing to have the earliest maximum and R Leo the latest. One of the brighter Mg II cycles of R Leo is particularly interesting for showing substantial Mg II flux very near optical maximum at $`\varphi =0.04`$ (observations LWP21679 and LWP21680). We generally do not detect significant Mg II flux this close to $`\varphi =0.0`$ for any of our stars (excluding L2 Pup because of its uncertain phases), but apparently there can be exceptions to this rule. By inspecting the AAVSO light curve we confirmed that the strong Mg II lines had in fact been observed very near optical maximum.

### 3.2 The LW-HI Spectra

#### 3.2.1 The Mg II h & k Lines

Turning our attention to the LW-HI spectra, in Figures 3–7 we display the observed Mg II h & k line profiles for the five stars in our sample. The k line is shown as a solid line and the h line is represented by a dotted line. The spectra are shown on a velocity scale in the stellar rest frame, assuming the stellar center-of-mass velocities listed in Table 1, and assuming rest wavelengths in air of 2802.705 Å and 2795.528 Å for the h and k lines, respectively. The date, time, and pulsation phase of each observation are indicated in the figures. Cosmic ray hits, which are apparent in the original spectra as very narrow, bright spectral features not observed in other spectra, have been identified and removed manually. One S Car spectrum with wildly discrepant properties (LWP12197) was removed from the analysis and is therefore not shown in Figure 5.

Many of the S Car spectra were taken with the star deliberately offset within IUE’s large aperture. This results in an inaccurate wavelength calibration. Fortunately, there is a set of nine observations taken on 1991 March 9–13 with different offsets (see Fig. 5). After measuring the centroids of the Mg II h line (see below), we were able to see from these data how the offsets affected the h line centroid and we used this information to correct the wavelengths of all the S Car spectra obtained with aperture offsets. The spectra in Figure 5 are the corrected spectra.

In almost every spectrum in Figures 3–7, the k line is contaminated by substantial absorption centered at a stellar rest frame velocity of about $`70`$ km s-1. This absorption is due to lines of Fe I and Mn I with rest wavelengths in air of 2795.005 Å and 2794.816 Å, respectively (Luttermoser et al., 1989; Luttermoser & Mahar, 1998). Because the mutilation of the k line by these overlying neutral absorbers is generally severe, we focus most of our attention on the more pristine h line.

Another concern is interstellar absorption, which should affect both the h and k lines at the same velocity. The one star whose spectrum we know will not be affected by the ISM is S Car, because its extremely large $`+289`$ km s-1 center-of-mass velocity will shift the Mg II lines well away from any ISM absorption. The h line of L2 Pup shows absorption at about $`40`$ km s-1 (see Fig. 7). The ISM velocity predicted for this line of sight by the local ISM flow vector of Lallement et al. (1995) is $`43`$ km s-1 after shifting to the stellar rest frame. Thus, it seems likely that this is indeed interstellar absorption, although for lines of sight as long as those towards the stars in our sample, ISM components could potentially be present with significantly different velocities than that predicted by the local flow vector.

The h lines of R Leo, R Car, and T Cep do not appear to be contaminated by any obvious ISM absorption features. For R Leo and T Cep, the ISM velocities predicted by the local flow vector ($`4`$ and $`+14`$ km s-1, respectively) suggest that the ISM absorption may lie outside of the observed Mg II emission (see Figs. 3 and 6). For the R Car line of sight, the local flow vector predicts ISM absorption at $`30`$ km s-1, which falls just within the red side of the h line. No obvious absorption is seen, however, suggesting that the ISM column density for this particular line of sight may be quite low. This is not necessarily unusual, as other lines of sight with distances of $`100`$ pc have been found to have very low H I column densities of $`10^{18}`$ cm-2 (Gry et al., 1995; Piskunov et al., 1997).

We will assume that the Mg II h line profiles of R Leo, R Car, and T Cep are at most only mildly affected by ISM absorption, meaning that for these three stars and S Car we can be reasonably confident that any substantial line profile differences we might find are due to intrinsic differences in the stellar spectra. The Mg II h line profiles of these four stars often appear to be slightly asymmetric, with a red side that is steeper than the blue side. Nevertheless, the profiles can be represented reasonably well as a Gaussian, and can therefore be quantified with Gaussian fits. We developed a semi-automated procedure to fit all Mg II h lines detected with enough signal-to-noise (S/N) for a meaningful fit to be performed. The quality of all fits was verified visually. For spectra without strong Mg II h lines, we estimated a line flux by direct integration as we did for the LW-LO spectra. For L2 Pup, we measured h line fluxes for all the spectra in this manner, since we could not accurately fit Gaussians to the ISM-contaminated line profiles observed for this star.

In Figures 8–10, we plot versus pulsation phase the Mg II h line fluxes, centroid velocities, and widths measured from the LW-HI spectra of the stars in our sample. As in Figure 2, dotted lines connect points within the same pulsation cycle, and thick data points indicate h lines with three or more pixels flagged as being overexposed. The 1 $`\sigma `$ uncertainties shown in the figure were estimated using the procedures outlined by Lenz & Ayres (1992). The flux variations seen in Figure 8 are essentially the same as those seen in the LW-LO data (see Fig. 2). Note once again how much the Mg II fluxes vary from one cycle to the next for R Car.

Bookbinder et al. (1990) found that the Mg II lines in selected observations of S Car and R Car were substantially blueshifted. Figure 9 demonstrates that this behavior is common to all the Mg II lines observed by IUE for all the Miras in our sample. Furthermore, Figure 9 also reveals a strong correlation between line velocity and pulsation phase, in which the magnitude of the line blueshifts decreases with pulsation phase. For example, between $`\varphi =0.2`$ and $`\varphi =0.6`$ the line velocities of S Car change from about $`100`$ km s-1 to $`50`$ km s-1, and those of T Cep change from $`50`$ km s-1 to $`30`$ km s-1. Note that even though we are using Gaussians to fit the Mg II profiles, this does not imply that Mg II h & k are optically thin or that the large blueshifts of these lines actually represent gas velocities (see §3.2.2).

This velocity behavior exactly mimics the behavior of the optical Ca II H & K lines of Miras, which also have blueshifted velocities that typically change from about $`100`$ km s-1 to $`40`$ km s-1 between $`\varphi =0.2`$ and $`\varphi =0.6`$ (Merrill, 1952; Buscombe & Merrill, 1952). Thus, opacity effects and atmospheric flow fields appear to induce the same line behavior in both the Mg II and Ca II lines. Furthermore, many Cepheid variables appear to exhibit similar behavior, suggesting that these phase-dependent velocity variations may be typical for stellar pulsators in general (Merrill, 1960).

The data in Figure 9 suggest a possible correlation between pulsation period and line velocity, with the shortest period Mira in our sample (S Car) having the largest blueshifts, and the longest period star (T Cep) having the smallest. The R Car data suggest another possible correlation. For the pulsation cycle with the largest Mg II fluxes, the Mg II h lines of R Car are more blueshifted than they are during the weaker cycles. Unfortunately, our sample of stars and the number of well-sampled pulsation cycles per star is very small, making it difficult to truly establish these correlations.

Figure 10 demonstrates that a well-defined phase dependence also exists for the line widths, which are quantified in Figure 10 as full-widths-at-half-maxima (FWHM). The line width behavior is very similar for all the stars, with a decrease from about 70 km s-1 to 40 km s-1 between $`\varphi =0.2`$ and $`\varphi =0.6`$.

#### 3.2.2 Other Lines in the IUE LW-HI Spectra

The Mg II h & k lines are by far the brightest lines that appear in the LW-HI spectra of Miras, but they are not the only lines present. During pulsation cycles that produce strong Mg II lines, other lines also appear out of the background noise of the LW-HI spectra.

The largest Mg II fluxes observed for any star in our sample were observed during the 1989–90 pulsation cycle of R Car, during which Mg II h line fluxes reached up to $`5\times 10^{11}`$ ergs cm-2 s-1 (see Figs. 4 and 8). Figure 11 shows three sections of an LW-HI spectrum taken during this period. These sections contain all of the obvious real emission features apparent in the full spectrum. The expected line locations of several multiplets are indicated in the figure, which accounts for most of the observed emission features. The spectrum is dominated by several multiplets of Fe II lines (UV1, UV32, UV60, UV62, and UV63). The Mg II h & k (UV1) lines are of course apparent, as perhaps are two much weaker Mg II lines of the UV3 multiplet. The intersystem Al II\] (UV1) line at 2669.155 Å is easily visible. Luttermoser & Mahar (1998) observed the feature at 2823 Å in an HST/GHRS spectrum of the Mira R Hya, and identified it as an Fe I (UV44) 2823.276 Å line which is fluoresced by the Mg II k line. A couple other emission features in Figure 11 can also be identified with Fe I (UV44) lines.

The lines seen in Figure 11 have previously been observed in many IUE and HST/GHRS spectra of red giant stars (Judge & Jordan, 1991; Carpenter, Robinson, & Judge, 1995; Robinson, Carpenter, & Brown, 1998). The Al II\] line and most of the Fe II lines are formed by collisional excitation, as are the Mg II h & k lines, but Judge, Jordan, & Feldman (1992) find that the UV62 and UV63 multiplet lines of Fe II are excited by a combination of collisional excitation and photoexcitation by photospheric emission at optical wavelengths.

The flux behavior of all the lines in Figure 11 parallels that of Mg II, increasing to a maximum near $`\varphi =0.30.4`$ and then decreasing. Thus, the Fe II and Al II\] lines presumably originate in atmospheric locations similar to Mg II h & k. Note that many of the lines apparent in Figure 11 were only observed during this one particularly bright cycle of R Car, presumably being too weak to be detected during weaker cycles on R Car and the other stars. For a selection of the brightest emission lines, we used an automated fitting procedure like that described in §3.2.1 to fit Gaussians to the lines of all the stars in our sample, whenever the lines are clearly detected. The lines measured in this manner are listed in Table 2. For L2 Pup, no observed cycle was bright enough to detect any of these lines, and for S Car only the brightest Fe II line at 2625.667 Å could ever be clearly detected.

For the observations in which the lines are observed, we find that line flux ratios among the various Fe II lines are always similar to those seen in Figure 11, as are Mg II/Fe II flux ratios. For example, the (Mg II $`\lambda `$2803)/(Fe II $`\lambda `$2626) ratio is always about 20. The Fe II and Mg II/Fe II flux ratios found for the Miras are somewhat different from those observed in red giants, but not radically so.

However, the Fe II line profiles are very different. For normal red giant stars, most of the Fe II lines are clearly opacity broadened and have profiles very different from that of a simple Gaussian (Judge & Jordan, 1991; Carpenter et al., 1995). In contrast, the Fe II lines of Miras are very narrow, Gaussian-shaped emission features, with widths at or near the IUE’s instrumental resolution of $`0.2`$ Å. This is why we could accurately fit the lines with single Gaussians. The exception is the broader Fe II 2599.394 Å line, which should have the highest opacity of all the Fe II lines.

The widths and velocities of the lines listed in Table 2 do not appear to exhibit any substantial phase dependent behavior, in contrast to Mg II h & k. As an example, in Figure 12 we plot the velocities of the Fe II 2625.667 Å line as a function of pulsation phase for the four Miras in which this line was occasionally detected. Only S Car has a hint of phase dependence, with some evidence for a small increase in velocity with phase. Much of the scatter seen in Figure 12 could be due to uncertainties in target centering, which can induce systematic velocity errors of $`\pm 5`$ km s-1 (Wood & Ayres, 1995).

Since there is little if any phase dependence in the velocities of the lines listed in Table 2, we compute a weighted average and standard deviation for all the measurements of all the lines (Bevington & Robinson, 1992), and in Table 2 these velocities are listed for each Mira in our sample. For R Leo, R Car, and S Car, all of the lines are blueshifted $`515`$ km s-1. The Fe II 2599.394 Å line is once again an exception, showing significantly larger blueshifts.

The lines of T Cep behave differently, as they do not show systematic blueshifts relative to the star. The Mg II lines of T Cep are also not as blueshifted as the other stars (see §3.2.1 and Fig. 9). It is difficult to identify a reason for this difference in behavior, but perhaps the center-of-mass velocity we are assuming for this star is off by $`10`$ km s-1. The difficulties in defining center-of-mass velocities for Miras have already been discussed in §2.

The large blueshifts observed for the Mg II lines are unlikely to be direct measurements of outflow velocities. The shock velocities present in Miras are expected to be of order $`1020`$ km s-1, although this issue is still a matter of debate (Bowen, 1988; Gillet, 1988; Hinkle et al., 1997). Thus, the $`515`$ km s-1 blueshifts seen for most of the Fe II and Al II\] lines of R Leo, R Car, and S Car are more likely to be measuring the true outflow velocities of shocked material. The larger widths and blueshifts of the Mg II lines are probably due to opacity effects, similar to the findings of Judge et al. (1993) for non-Mira M-type giants. The similar behavior of the Fe II $`\lambda `$2599 line suggests that this line is influenced by similar opacity effects, which is reasonable since this line should have the highest opacity of any of the Fe II lines.

The other Fe II lines will have substantially lower optical depths than Mg II h & k and Fe II $`\lambda `$2599, and some may even be optically thin. The Al II\] $`\lambda `$2669 line should also have very low opacity, since it is a semi-forbidden transition. Thus, the Fe II and Al II\] line centroids should be more indicative of the true outflow velocities of the shocked material, and the line widths (which are actually unresolved) should be more indicative of turbulent velocities within the shocked material.

Interpreting the difference between the behavior of the Mg II lines and that of the less opaque lines could be very important for understanding the structure of the shocks propagating through Mira atmospheres. In future work, we hope to explore possible reasons why the Mg II lines are broader and more blueshifted than the less optically thick lines.

## 4 Summary

We have compiled IUE observations of 5 Mira variables with substantial IUE data sets in order to study the properties of emission lines seen in the UV spectra of these stars, which are believed to be formed behind outwardly propagating shocks in the atmospheres of these pulsating stars. Our findings are summarized as follows:

We confirm the phase-dependent Mg II flux behavior previously reported for Mira variables (e.g. Brugel et al., 1986), which is observed for all the pulsation cycles that we study: the Mg II flux rises after optical maximum, peaks near $`\varphi =0.20.5`$, and then decreases. For some Miras (e.g. R Car) the amount of Mg II flux produced during a pulsation cycle can vary by 2–3 orders of magnitude from one cycle to the next, while for others (e.g. S Car) the flux behavior is more consistent.

The Mg II k lines are almost always contaminated with circumstellar absorption lines of Fe I and Mn I, making analysis of the line profile very difficult.

The Mg II h line is always blueshifted, with the magnitude of the blueshift decreasing with pulsation phase. The blueshifts vary somewhat from star to star and cycle to cycle, but typical velocity changes are from $`70`$ km s-1 to $`40`$ km s-1 from $`\varphi =0.2`$ to $`\varphi =0.6`$. Note, however, that these line shifts do not represent the actual gas velocities at the formation depths of these lines, because of the high opacity of Mg II h & k. These velocity variations are very similar to those of the optical Ca II H & K lines.

The width of the Mg II h line decreases from about 70 km s-1 to 40 km s-1 between $`\varphi =0.2`$ and $`\varphi =0.6`$.

In addition to the Mg II lines, other lines of Fe II, Fe I, and Al II\] are also observed in IUE LW-HI spectra. The fluxes of these lines show the same phase-dependent behavior as the Mg II lines.

Unlike Mg II, these other emission lines tend to be very narrow and do not show phase-dependent velocity and width variations. Except for Fe II $`\lambda `$2599, the Fe II and Al II\] lines of most of the Miras show blueshifts of $`515`$ km s-1, which may indicate the flow velocity of the shocked material. In contrast, the lines of T Cep do not show any significant line shifts, although we speculate that perhaps this is due to an uncertain center-of-mass velocity for this star.

We would like to thank the referee, Dr. D. Luttermoser, for many useful comments on the manuscript. MK is a member of the Chandra X-ray Center, which is operated under contract NAS-839073, and is partially supported by NASA. In this research, we have used, and acknowledge with thanks, data from the AAVSO International Database, based on observations submitted to the AAVSO by variable star observers worldwide.


text:
# The CLEO III Upgrade

## 1 Introduction

The CLEO physics program is a broad effort that emphasizes the study of $`b`$ and $`c`$ quark decays, $`\tau `$ lepton decays and two photon mediated reactions. Data are collected at or slightly below the $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}(4S)`$ resonance ($`E5.3`$GeV) produced by $`e^+e^{}`$ collisions at the symmetric, one ring Cornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR).

Important elements of the CLEO physics program include studies of rare B decays, determination of CKM matrix elements, and possible observation of time-independent CP violation. Examples include a measurement of the ratio of CKM matrix elements $`V_{td}/V_{ts}`$ by measuring $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(B\rho \gamma )/\mathrm{\Gamma }(BK^{}\gamma )`$, a measurement of $`V_{ub}`$ by measuring $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(B\rho (\omega )l\nu )`$, and possible observation of $`CP`$ violation in $`BK\pi `$ decays. These examples, and others, involve rare reactions whose final states include pions and kaons. Large integrated luminosity and efficient charged hadron identification are necessary to reduce backgrounds, as well as statistical and systematic errors.

The CLEO III upgrade comprises two major efforts: an enhanced CLEO detector and an upgraded CESR. To substantially enlarge data sets, CESR is modified to boost its instantaneous luminosity to $`L2\times 10^{33}\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{sec}^1`$. To utilize the boost in integrated luminosity, key CLEO sub-detectors have been designed and installed to reduce physics backgrounds present in many CLEO analyses. CLEO III contains a new silicon tracking device, a new drift chamber and a novel dedicated particle identification device which replaces a time-of-flight counter. The trigger and data acquisition systems are upgraded to accommodate the higher data taking rate. There are minor modifications to the rest of the CLEO sub-detectors.

## 2 CESR Improvements

To increase the threshold for longitudinal beam instability, a past limitation to higher luminosity, and to provide adequate power to the larger amperage beams, CESR has replaced completely all of its room temperature 5-cell copper cavities in its RF system by 4 single cell superconducting cavities. These new cavities are designed to produce an accelerating gradient of $`10`$MV/m, allowing the bunch length in CESR to be reduced to $`13`$mm, to transmit $`325`$kW to the beam, and to raise the threshold for longitudinal instability above $`1`$A total beam current.

Installation of new interaction region (IR) optics is scheduled for the Spring of 2000 to reduce the amplitude of the vertical betatron function $`\beta `$ at the interaction point (IP) to $`\beta _v^{}=13`$mm. These optics are two pairs of a set of magnets consisting of a permanent quadrupole magnet and two superconducting (SC) quadrupoles. Each permanent neodymium iron boron magnet provides vertical focusing and is positioned just $`337`$mm from the IP. Most of the focusing is provided by the four identical SC magnets that can produce gradients up to $`48.4`$T/m at $`1225`$A. The entire set of IR optics is contained within $`\pm 2.55`$m of the IP. The proximity of the IR optics to the IP necessitates the installation of a new tracking system for CLEO since these new magnets intrude into the volume of CLEO’s former configuration.

After the upgrade, CESR will collide beams of 9 nine trains each, with each train composed of 5 bunches separated by $`14`$ns. The peak total beam current will be $`1`$A. Opposing beams will continue to circulate in a pretzel orbit scheme and will collide at the IP with a small horizontal crossing angle $`\theta _C=2.7`$mrad. The expected luminosity is $`L2\times 10^{33}\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{sec}^1`$.

## 3 Particle Identification

A fast ring imaging Cherenkov detector (RICH) is CLEO’s technology choice for particle identification (PID). The general scheme is shown in figure 1 where a charged hadron exits the IP, traverses a solid LiF radiator and produces Cherenkov photons in the familiar cone pattern. The Cherenkov cone expands in an uninstrumented volume outside the radiator before being intercepted by a thin multiwire proportional chamber (MWPC) filled with a photon conversion gas of triethylamine (TEA) and methane. The photoelectrons are amplified near the MWPC anode wires and the resultant charge is then capacitively coupled to cathode pads at the rear of the MWPC which are then read out by front end electronics. The Cherenkov angle is inferred from the pattern of hit cathode pads. The actual implementation of this scheme is shown in figure 2 where a quasi-cylinder of lithium fluoride (LiF) is surrounded at slightly larger radius by a quasi-cylinder of multi-wire proportional counters (MWPCs) with the same azimuthal symmetry. The device covers 80% of the solid angle.

The design goal for the RICH detector alone is to provide at least $`3\sigma `$ $`\pi /K`$ Cherenkov angle separation at momentum $`p=2.8`$GeV/c, the maximum possible for $`B`$ decay daughters at CLEO. Combining a RICH measurement with a current $`2\sigma `$ $`E/x`$ measurement from the drift chamber for particle momentum exceeding $`p=2.2`$GeV/c, the overall CLEO design goal is to provide $`>3.6\sigma `$ $`\pi /K`$ separation at high momentum. This corresponds to a Cherenkov angle resolution of 4 mrad per charged track, equivalent to an angular resolution of 14 mrad/photoelectron and 12 photoelectrons per track.

The radiator material is lithium fluoride (LiF) in the form of tiles with planar dimensions $`17\mathrm{cm}\times 17.5\mathrm{cm}`$ and mean thickness $`10`$mm. The tiles are arrayed in a regular pattern to form a quasi-cylinder of $`1.6`$m diameter and 30-fold azimuthal symmetry. LiF is selected to accommodate the narrow wavelength $`\lambda `$ region $`(135\mathrm{nm}<\lambda <165\mathrm{nm})`$ where the TEA-methane quantum efficiency is usable, to minimize the total radiation thickness in front of CLEO’s calorimeter, and to minimize the chromatic variation in the radiator index of refraction $`n(\lambda )`$, which directly affects the Cherenkov angle resolution.

The detected Cherenkov photon patterns form images in the MWPCs of conic sections distorted by refractive effects. Roughly half the Cherenkov cone is trapped inside a radiator crystal by total internal reflection (TIR). Indeed, if all radiator crystals were parallelepipeds, then charged tracks traveling at angle $`\theta =90^{}`$ with respect to the beamline would have all of their Cherenkov photons trapped inside a radiator crystal by TIR. To prevent this, all radiator crystals within $`\theta =90^{}\pm 22^{}`$ of the beamline have their top surface cut in a sawtooth pattern so that Cherenkov photons can strike the upper crystal surface at incidence angles below the critical value for TIR.

A cross-sectional view of one of the 30 MWPCs is shown in the upper portion of figure 2. Each MWPC has a $`250\times 20\mathrm{cm}^2`$ rectangular footprint with 70 Au-plated tungsten anode wires of $`20\mu `$m diameter running longitudinally. Its $`2`$mm thick front window is built from 8 rectangular ($`30\times 19\mathrm{cm}^2`$) $`\mathrm{CaF}_2`$ crystals that have $`100\mu `$m Ag silver traces applied to them. The MWPC cathode is a printed circuit board with $`7.5\times 8\mathrm{mm}^2`$ Au-plated Cu pads. The MWPC is run at a typical gain $`g4\times 10^4`$.

The RICH front end readout electronics is based on a dedicated 64-channel VLSI chip comprised of a preamplifier, a shaper with a programmable peaking time, sample and hold circuitry, and an analog output multiplexer. Through a via, each of the total 230,400 MWPC pads is connected to a preamplifier input channel. The low noise front end has a linear response for input signals up to $`3\times 10^5`$ electrons with a measured equivalent noise charge ENC, for detector capacitance $`C`$, $`\mathrm{ENC}=130e^{}+(9e^{}/\mathrm{pF})C150e^{}`$. The front end output is a differential current transmitted serially to off-detector data acquisition boards.

A test beam  performed with 100 Gev muons incident on planar and sawtooth radiator crystals imaged by 2 MWPCs yields, for the sawtooth crystal, a mean number of photoelectrons per track $`N_{PE}=13.5`$, a Cherenkov angle resolution per photoelectron $`\sigma _{PE}=10.2`$mrad, and an overall Cherenkov angle resolution per track $`\sigma _{TRK}=4.5`$mrad. Similar results are obtained for the planar crystal. For the CLEO detector itself, with has improved tracking and larger acceptance, we expect $`\sigma _{TRK}=2.9`$mrad, satisfying our design goal.

## 4 Central Drift Chamber

The CLEO III central wire tracker is a 47 layer drift chamber with wire layers extending radially from $`132`$mm to $`790`$mm. Outer cathode strips at $`797`$mm radius provide a final z-position measurement. The first 16 wire layers are axial and the remaining 31 layers are small angle ($`25`$mrad) stereo. Tungsten sense wires are $`20\mu `$m diameter and the aluminum field wires are $`110\mu `$m diameter. With a 3:1 field:sense wire ratio, the 9796 drift cells are nearly square with $`14`$mm width. The average chamber radiation thickness $`X/X_0=3.3\%`$ for normally incident particles. The drift gas is a 60:40 mixture of helium-propane, selected for its long radiation length ($`X_0>569`$m), and its favorable drift and ionization properties.

The mechanical structure of the chamber accommodates the close positioning of the final focus quadrupoles by having a stepped endplate to hold and position the axial wire layers. See figure 3. A conical endplate holds and positions the stereo wires. The wire tension is resisted solely by outer skins that hold the cathode strips. An inner tube provides a gas seal only.

Sense wire signals are read by preamplifiers that drive differential analog current signals to special purpose “time-charge-trigger” (TQT) front end boards that provide signals for timing, charge measurement and the trigger. Signals received by the TQT boards are split into parallel timing/charge and trigger paths. The boards have independent thresholds for the discriminated timing and trigger signals to permit a low trigger rate without degrading timing resolution. The output of the timing and charge-to-time circuits are multiplexed onto the same channel of a LeCroy 1877S Fastbus multi-hit TDC. The discriminated trigger signal is sent to the trigger system.

## 5 Silicon Vertex Detector

CLEO III includes a 4-layer barrel-style silicon strip vertex detector with double-sided sensor layers located at radii between $`2.5`$cm and $`10.1`$cm and covering 93% of the solid angle. To simplify overall ladder production, all 447 of the $`300\mu `$m thick sensors are identical and contain no coupling capacitors or bias resistors. Ladder lengths span $`16`$cm at the inner radius to $`53.3`$cm at the outer radius. The n-strips measure the $`r\varphi `$ coordinate and have a $`50\mu `$m pitch, while the p-strips measure the z-coordinate and have a $`100\mu `$m pitch. Considerable care has been taken to minimize sensor capacitance. Approximately $`125,000`$ total strips are read out.

The vertex detector mechanical design minimizes material in the fiducial region by placing the detector’s major mechanical support structure and readout electronics outside this volume. Ladders are mechanically stiffened by gluing V-shaped CVD diamond beams to them and are supported at their ends by copper end cones through kinematic mounts. A flexible kapton circuit electrically connects the sensors to the front end electronics mounted on BeO hybrids that are attached directly to the copper cones for efficient cooling. A thin carbon fiber tube joins the opposite copper end cones.

A signal-to-noise ratio $`S/N>15`$:1 for all sensor layers is the overall detector readout goal. The front end electronics is built from 3 different chips mounted on double-side hybrids. For detector biasing and decoupling, a special 128 channel $`R/C`$ chip is used with $`R=150\mathrm{M}\mathrm{\Omega }`$ and $`C=150`$pF. Sensor signals are amplified and shaped by a 128 channel multi-stage preamplifier/shaper with a $`125`$fF feedback capacitor, 200 mV/mip gain, and a $`2\mu `$s shaping time. The circuit includes a variable gain stage to accommodate the range in ladder capacitance due to different ladder lengths. The measured equivalent noise charge ENC for the preamplifier/shaper is, for sensor capacitance $`C`$, $`ENC150e^{}+(5.5e^{}/\mathrm{pF})C`$. The final front end chip is a 128 channel “SVX\_CLEO” digitizer/sparsifier based on the FNAL/LBL SVX\_II(b). This chip incorporates a comparator and an 8 bit ADC for each channel. The digitized results can then be sparsified using a chip-wide threshold before being readout serially by an off-detector VME-based data board.

## 6 Trigger System

The CLEO III trigger system has a single hardware level with a $`2\mu `$s trigger decision time. Since this is much longer than the $`14`$ns bunch-to-bunch-spacing, a trigger pipeline is used with all trigger processing done in $`42`$ns steps. The level 1 trigger information originates from just 2 detector subsystems: the central drift chamber and the calorimeter. The tracking trigger is built from an “axial” trigger, derived from hits on the 16 axial layers of the drift chamber, and a “stereo” trigger, derived from hits on the chamber’s 31 stereo layers. The calorimeter trigger is derived from energy deposition in the 7800 thalium doped CsI calorimeter crystals.

The relatively small number of axial wires (1696) permits the full set to be examined for all possible hit patterns caused by tracks with transverse momentum $`p_{}>200`$MeV/c. Up to two hits from a valid track can be missing from each of the inner and outer set of 8 wires. Hit patterns are compared against look-up tables for valid tracks using field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and up to two hits are allowed to be missing from each of the inner and outer set of 8 wires. Additional circuitry generates track count and topological information to correlate axial and stereo tracks.

The relatively large number of stereo wires (8384) does not make the wire-by-wire hit examination used for the axial layers practical. Instead, stereo wires are grouped into 4x4 arrays and then patterns of hit arrays are compared against those for valid tracks via FPGA lookup logic. Not all arrays along an arc need be hit to satisfy the logic which accommodates tracks with transverse momentum $`p_{}>250`$MeV/c.

The calorimeter trigger has been substantially upgraded to increase its efficiency, particularly at low energies. Previously, the light output from 16 crystals was summed and shaped, and then compared against low- and high-level energy thresholds. However, energy deposited in the calorimeter associated with a track is typically shared among several crystals. If these crystals lie on the border between adjacent groups of 16 crystals, then it is possible for the separate summed signals to fall below one or both of the thresholds. To eliminate this effect, additional ‘tiling’ circuitry is used to sum sets of 16 crystals into $`2\times 2`$ arrays or ‘tiles’ of 64 crystals who total signal is then compared against three thresholds. The tiles overlap so that the problem of energy sharing between crystals is eliminated. Other circuitry is used to properly rescale, if necessary, the apparent transverse shower size produced by the tiling circuitry.

## 7 Conclusion

The superconducting RF cavities, the RICH detector and the central drift chamber are all installed, and CESR and CLEO are now conducting an engineering run scheduled from November 1999 to February 2000. The major sub-detector not quite complete is the silicon vertex detector, due for installation in February 2000, after which physics running commences. The final focus quadrupoles for CESR are due in Spring 2000 and their installation is the final element of the complete CLEO/CESR upgrade.

## 8  Acknowledgments

The generous assistance of K. Ecklund, V. Fadeyev, R. Mountain and M. Selen in preparing this talk is appreciated.


text:
# The Schweizer-Middleditch star revisited

## 1 Introduction

SN 1006 was the brightest supernova witnessed in recorded history. The estimated peak magnitude (V$`=`$$``$9.5$`\pm `$1, Clark & Stephenson 1977), reported visibility for nearly two years, and the lack of a nearby OB association strongly suggests a Type Ia origin (SNIa, Minkowski 1966). Almost all current models of Type Ia supernova involve the nuclear explosion of a white dwarf induced by rapid mass accretion in a binary system. However, no stellar remnant from this supernova explosion has ever been conclusively identified, including a pulsar, or the remains of any companion star.

In 1980, Schweizer & Middleditch searched for just such a stellar remnant from SN 1006 and discovered a faint (V$`=`$16.7) blue star $``$2.5’ from the projected centre of the supernova remnant (SNR). They identified this object (now known as the Schweizer$``$Middleditch star, SM star or SM80) as a hot subdwarf sdOB star, and estimated its effective temperature Teff$`=`$38,500$`\pm `$4500K, and surface gravity log g$`=`$6.7$`\pm `$0.6. From an estimate of the absolute magnitude, Mv$`=`$6.2$`\pm `$1.8, Schweizer and Middleditch (1980) derived a distance to their subdwarf of 1.1 ($`+`$1.4, $``$0.6) kpc. Since chance projection seemed unlikely, and the distance estimate was in rough agreement with the then exisiting estimates of the distance to the SNR itself, Schweizer & Middleditch (1980) suggested that their subdwarf may in fact be the remnant star, or at least associated with it.

Savedoff and Van Horn (1982) later showed conclusively that the SM star could not be the remnant of the supernova itself, since the time to cool to the observed effective temperature was simply too long, $``$106 years compared to the SNR age of 103 years. However, this does not rule out the SM star as a stellar remnant of the donor star in a pre-SNIa interacting binary system.

Subsequent far ultra-violet (far-UV) observations with IUE and HST/FOS revealed the presence of strong Fe II and Si II, III and IV lines superimposed on the continuum of the SM star (Wu et al. 1983, Fesen et al. 1988, Wu et al. 1993). The iron lines have symmetrical velocity profiles, broadened up to $``$8000 km s-1 FWHM. The Si features are asymmetric, redshifted and centred at a radial velocity of $``$5000 km s-1. These features have been used to estimate the mass of iron in the remnant and to map the positions of various shock regions. Importantly, though, the presence of redshifted lines in the supernova ejecta suggests that the SM star must lie behind the SNR, since they are assumed to originate in material moving away from us on the far side of the remnant.

Measurements of the widths of these aborption lines, coupled with the angular size of the remnant, led Wu et al. (1993) to derive a lower limit to the SNR distance of 1.9 kpc. This contrasts strongly with the estimate of Willingale et al. (1995) of 0.7$`\pm `$0.1 kpc, derived from modelling X-ray emission detected in ROSAT PSPC observations. Therefore, we were motivated to re-observe and re-analyse the SM star in order to place tighter constraints on its distance, and hence on the distance to the SNR itself. Secondly, we learnt of the study by Wellstein et al. (1999) which suggests that the prior donor star in an SN Ia progenitor system (an interacting binary) may appear subsequently as a low mass hot subdwarf star. This new theoretical result re-opens the question first posed by Schweizer & Middleditch (1980) in the conclusion to their discovery paper: ”Can one component of a binary system that forms a Type Ia supernova end up being a hot subdwarf or white dwarf?”. In the light of Wellstein et al.’s recent work, we re-address this question.

## 2 Spectroscopy

The SM star was observed for a total of 4000 seconds on 1996 April 14 with the South African Astronomical Observatory’s 1.9-m Ratcliffe Telescope, the Unit spectrograph and the Reticon photon counting system (RPCS). The RPCS had two arrays, one which accumulates energy from the source, while the other records sky background through an adjacent aperture. The target was observed for 2000 seconds through one aperture, then for a further 2000 seconds through the second aperture, in order to average out variations between the two light paths. The grating (number 6) was blazed to cover a wavelength range of $``$3700Å$``$5200Å with a resolution of $``$4Å. Flat fields were obtained at the start and end of the night, and wavelength calibration was provided by a CuAr lamp, which was observed before and after the target. A blue spectro-photometric standard (LTT 6248) was also observed. The reduced, calibrated spectrum is shown in Fig. 1.

## 3 High speed photometry

Recently, multi-periodic pulsations have been discovered in a number of subdwarf sdB stars (the EC14026 stars, Kilkenny et al., 1997). Both radial and non-radial modes are present, although the cause of these pulsations is not fully understood. Theoretical studies have shown that these oscillations may be excited by an opacity bump due to heavy element ionization, giving rise to a metal-enrichment in this driving region (Charpinet et al., 1996). However, why pulsations are observed in some sdBs and not in others remains a mystery.

We observed the SM Star on 1999 September 4th with the South African Astronomical Observatory’s 0.75m telescope, together with the University of Cape Town’s CCD photometer in high speed mode, in order to search for pulsations. A $``$2600 second light curve was obtained, consisting of 20 second exposures separated by essentially zero seconds of dead time. Four comparison stars were also observed at the same time. The differential light curve is shown in Fig. 2. The SM star (star #8 in Fig. 2) shows no evidence of pulsations; the fluctuations in Fig. 2 are merely random noise. The amplitude spectrum (Fig. 3), which has been calculated out to the Nyquist frequency, also shows no evidence for pulsations. However, at V$``$16.7 we are clearly unable to detect fluctuations below $``$0.05 mags. with this telescope. Many of the known sdB pulsators vary at the level of 0.001$``$0.05 mags., and so clearly we cannot rule out low level pulsations in this object. We suggest that it should be re-observed on a larger telescope.

## 4 Analysis

### 4.1 Spectral analysis

The H Balmer series is visible in the calibrated optical spectrum (Fig. 1) to H11. HeI is detected at 4026Å, 4144Å, 4472Å and marginally at 4922Å. There is also a marginal detection of HeII at 4686Å.

A grid of synthetic spectra derived from H & He line blanketed NLTE model atmospheres (Napiwotzki 1997) was matched to the data to simultaneously determine the effective temperature, surface gravity and He abundance (see Heber et al. 1999). We find Teff$`=`$32,900K, log g$`=`$6.18 and log (N(He)$`/`$N(H))$`=`$$``$1.7. While formal statistical errors from the fitting procedure are relatively small (1$`\sigma `$: $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$(Teff$`=`$)=340K, $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$(log g)$`=`$$`\mathrm{\Delta }`$(log(He/H))$`=`$0.1dex), systematics dominate the error budget and are estimated from varying the spectral windows for the profile fitting and the continuum setting to be $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$(T$`\mathrm{\_}eff`$)$`=`$$`\pm `$1500K, $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$(log g)$`=`$$`\pm `$0.3 dex and $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$(log (N(He)$`/`$N(H))$`=`$$`\pm `$0.3 dex. These best-fit parameters are unchanged if Hϵ is omitted from the fit (since it might be contaminated by CaII). A more precise error estimate would, however, require repeat observations.

Therefore, we find that both the temperature and gravity are at the low end of the large range estimated by Schweizer & Middleditch (1980). With these parameters the SM star resembles an ordinary subdwarf B star close to the zero-age extended horizontal branch (ZAEHB).

### 4.2 Extinction

Using the Matthews & Sandage (1963) calibration, combined with our model fit parameters, we estimate the colour excess E(B-V)$`=`$0.16$`\pm `$0.02. From Whitford (1958) we then estimate the visual extinction Av$`=`$3.0$`\times `$E(B-V)$`=`$0.48$`\pm `$0.06. Schweizer & Middleditch measured the V magnitude from photoelectric photometry as 16.74$`\pm `$0.02. Therefore, we take the redening corrected magnitude as
V0$`=`$16.26$`\pm `$0.07.

### 4.3 Distance

Since bolometric corrections for hot subluminous stars are large and somewhat uncertain, we prefer not to make use of them for the distance determination. Instead we calculate the angular radius from the ratio of the observed (dereddened) flux at the effective wavelength of the V filter and the corresponding model flux. Assuming the canonical mass for hot subdwarf stars, M$`=`$0.5$`\mathrm{M}_{}`$, we determine the stellar radius from the gravity and finally derive the distance from the angular diameter and the stellar radius. We obtain a distance of d$`=`$1485pc which corresponds to an absolute magnitude of MV$`=`$5.4. However, the error on log g is large ($`\pm `$0.3 dex), translating to d$`=`$1050pc for log g$`=`$6.48, or d$`=`$2100pc for log g$`=`$5.88.

If the SM star has a much lower mass than usually assumed for these objects, as suggested by Wellstein et al. (1999), then the absolute magnitude will be lower and hence the star will be much closer to us. For example, if M$`=`$0.2$`\mathrm{M}_{}`$ then we find MV$`=`$6.4 and d$`=`$940pc (assuming log g$`=`$6.18). If M$`=`$0.1$`\mathrm{M}_{}`$, then MV$`=`$7.2 and d$`=`$650pc.

## 5 Discussion

A new analysis of the Schweizer-Middleditch star, a hot subdwarf which lies along the same line-of-sight as the centre of the SN1006 SNR, has allowed us to place tighter constraints on its atmospheric parameters, and re-assess its distance. Since Wellstein et al. (1999) have demonstrated that the remnant of the donor star in a pre-SNIa binary system could appear as a hot subdwarf, albeit with an abnormally low mass, we can now re-address Schweizer & Middleditch’s original question: is the SM star the stellar remnant of one component of the SNIa progenitor binary?

In order to begin answering this question, we need to convice ourselves that the SM star lies at the same distance as the SN1006 SNR. Unfortunately, there is a large range in the SNR distance estimates quoted in the literature. In Table 1, we list the various distance estimates to the SN1006 SNR itself and the method used to obtain that distance. Early estimates, based for example on the historical record of its brightness (e.g. Minkowski 1966) and early models of the X-ray emission, gave distances $``$1kpc. Most of the more recent estimates, based on a variety of theoretical models or measurements of e.g. the expansion velocity or proper motion of optical filaments, place the SNR at a distance of $``$1.5$``$2.0kpc. The one glaring exception is the estimate of Willigale et al. (1995), 0.7$`\pm `$0.1kpc, based on an analysis of the ROSAT PSPC X-ray image of the SNR.

We find the distance to the SM star 1050$`<`$d$`<`$2100 pc, assuming that it is an ordinary hot subdwarf. If Willingale et al’s distance estimate is correct, then the SM star would lie a long way behind the remnant. In order for it to lie within the remnant, it would have to be of unusually low mass. A mass of 0.1$``$0.2$`\mathrm{M}_{}`$ gives a distance compatible with Willingale et al’s estimate, and in that scenario the SM star could indeed then be a remnant of the donor star in an SNIa progenitor system.

However, if Willingale et al’s SNR distance estimate is wildly inaccurate, and the more conservative estimates of $``$1.5$``$2.0kpc are correct, then the SM star cannot be a low mass remnant of the donor star in a pre-SNIa binary.

In fact, there are two more compelling arguments against the SM star having any relation to SN1006. Firstly, it is located $``$2.5’ south of the projected centre of the remnant, and would have to possess a proper motion of 0.15” per year and a velocity of $``$800km sec-1 to have reached its current location. Unfortunately, the star simply does not possess this motion or velocity. Secondly, the presence of red-shifted metal absorption lines superimposed on the SM star’s UV spectrum strongly indicate that the star is behind the remnant, since these features almost certainly originate at a shock front on the remnant’s far side. Confirmation of this may come from observations of other nearby objects with strong UV fluxes and generally featureless far-UV continuums. Indeed, P.F. Winkler has an HST/STIS program to observe four such objects behind SN1006 during Cycle 8 (two QSOs and two A0 stars, program ID 8244), and one of these objects is even closer to the projected centre of SN1006 than the SM star. These targets are not scheduled to be observed until June-July 2000, but the detection of the same red-shifted features as seen in the SM star (and the non-detection of any additional features with separate velocities) would effectively rule out any exotic origin for these lines, and confirm the location of the SM star behind the SN1006 SNR.

Thus, the SM star can only be the remnant of the donor star in a pre-SNIa binary, such as might have produced SN1006, if the following four criteria are fulfilled: (1) The star has an unusually low mass for a hot subdwarf ($``$0.1$`\mathrm{M}_{}`$), (2) the low distance estimate to the SN1006 SNR of Willingale et al. (1995) is correct, (3) the red-shifted metal lines seen in the SM star’s far-UV spectrum originate somewhere other than on the far side of the SNR, and (4) the SM star has a high proper motion and transverse velocity. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, none of these conditions can convincingly shown to be true. However, the tighter constraint we have been able to place on the distance to the SM star in this analysis can now be used to place an upper limit on the distance to the SN1006 SNR itself, and hence constrain the models and methods used to estimate the distances of supernova remnants.

###### Acknowledgements.

MRB acknowledges the support of PPARC, UK. We thank Pete Wheatley (Leicester University) for generating the Fourier transform of the SM Star’s light curve.