The history of an actively star-forming region, containing the young, open cluster NGC 2264, is examined in this thesis using UBVRIHα photographic plate material. After digitization and removal of the variable background from these plates, automatic detection and photometry algorithms yield magnitudes for a set of candidate low-mass cluster members. Using the photographic plates and a supplementary video camera Hα survey, these candidates are selected on the basis of their exhibiting significant Hα emission, large amplitude variability, or anomalously blue colors. To study the age spread in NGC 2264, a theoretical H-R diagram is constructed. Infrared photometry of 33 candidate members permits an evaluation of the bolometric luminosities of these stars; the unreddened (V - R) and (V - I) colors yield effective temperatures. The theoretical mass tracks and isochrones of Cohen and Kuhi (1979) are adopted and extrapolated to lower luminosities and temperatures. The effects of circumstellar dust and gas shells on the location of the NGC 2264 stars in the H-R diagram are examined. No systematic biases in the derived bolometric luminosities and temperatures are found. The optical and infrared excesses of these stars are found to be uncorrelated, requiring separate mechanisms for their generation. A gaseous envelope is most likely the source of the optical excess; thermal emission from hot dust most probably leads to the observed infrared excesses. An age spread for the low-mass NGC 2264 stars of ≳10⁷ years is indicated. Star formation in NGC 2264 is found to have proceeded sequentially as a function of mass and time. Low-mass star formation began ∼2-3 x 10⁷ years ago, peaked ∼4-5 x 10⁶ years ago, and declined thereafter. Star formation at successively higher masses has started, peaked, and then declined at successively younger ages. No significant differences are seen between the field and NGC 2264 luminosity functions to the faintest levels observed (Mᵥ ≈ +11). There is no evidence for a low-mass turnover in NGC 2264.

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In this thesis we describe the acquisition of high resolution time resolved spectropolarimetric observations of 7 (bright and well understood) Ap stars in Stokes IQUV using the ESPaDOnS and Narval spectropolarimeters at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope and the 2m Telescope Bernard Lyot at Pic du Midi Observatory. We compare these observations with those obtained a decade earlier using the MuSiCoS spectropolarimeter to confirm consistency with the older data and provide evidence that both ESPaDOnS and Narval perform as expected in all Stokes parameters. We demonstrate that our refined longitudinal magnetic field and linear polarisation measurements for these 7 stars are of much greater quality than was previously obtained with MuSiCoS and that the global magnetic properties of these stars are stable over a long timescale. The ultimate aim of these new data is to provide a basis from which mapping of both the magnetic field and abundance structures can be performed on our target stars. We then describe magnetic field mapping of the Ap star Alpha 2 CVn using these data. This mapping is achieved with the use of tomographic inversion of Doppler-broadened Stokes IQUV profiles of a large variety of spectral lines using the INVERS10 Magnetic Doppler imaging code. We show that not only are the new magnetic field maps of Alpha 2 CVn consistent with a previous generation of maps of Alpha 2 CVn, but that the same magnetic field topology can be derived from a variety of atomic line sets. This indicates that the magnetic field we derive for Alpha 2 CVn is a realistic representation of the star's true magnetic topology. Finally we investigate surface abundance structures for Alpha 2 CVn for various chemical elements. We investigate the correlation between the location of these abundance features and the magnetic field of Alpha 2 CVn. We will demonstrate that whilst the magnetic field plays a role in the formation of abundance structures, the current theoretical framework does not fully explain what we find from our maps. Ultimately this work motivates future mapping of Ap stars by confirming the reliability of both the instrument and associated data and the mapping technique itself. / Thesis (Ph.D, Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) -- Queen's University, 2014-05-27 14:14:25.813

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1977. / Bibliography: leaves 95-96. / Microfiche. / viii, 96 leaves ill

Typescript. / Bibliography: leaves 174-180. / Photocopy. / Microfilm. / xiii, 180 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm