Mira and semi-regular variable stars have been studied for centuries but continue to be enigmatic. One unsolved mystery is the presence of polarization from these stars. In particular, we present 40 years of polarization measurements for the prototype o Ceti and V CVn and find very different phenomena for each star. The polarization fraction and position angle for Mira is found to be small and highly variable. On the other hand, the polarization fraction for V CVn is large and variable, from 2-7%, and its position angle is approximately constant, suggesting a long-term asymmetric structure. We suggest a number of potential scenarios to explain these observations.

As a preliminary step in deducing Teff and log (g) of Mira variables as a function of phase, a comparison is made between spectra synthesized from LTE stellar atmosphere models and observed spectra. The observed spectra show obvious vanadium oxide (VO) absorption bands. However, the molecular line list used to produce the synthetic spectra does not include the bound-bound VO opacities. The wavenumbers, line oscillator strengths, and lowest energy levels are needed to calculate these opacities. The equations, constants, and experimentally determined factors required to calculate the line oscillator strengths and lowest energy levels from experimentally determined wavenumbers are presented. The effect of including the wavenumbers, line oscillator strengths, and lowest energy levels of the VO BX (0, 0) band are calculated and show the expected absorption features observed in the spectra of Mira variables. In the VO B-X (0, 0) band the line oscillator strengths range from about 0.05 to 3.

Ultraviolet spectra obtained with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) of two Mira-type variable stars, R Leo and R Hya, are presented, along with analysis providing information on their outer atmospheres. These high-dispersion spectra were taken with the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (HRS) in two spectral regions: 2320-2368 Å to record the C II] (UV0.01) multiplet and 2785-2835 Å to obtain the Mg II h and k lines. The R Hya spectrum was obtained at visual light phase 0.26 and shows a Mg II spectrum that is very clean, showing clear evidence for the overlying circumstellar absorption from Fe I (UV3) and Mn I (UV1) over the k line. The fluoresced Fe I (UV44) feature at 2824 Å is plainly visible in this spectrum, whereas past International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) observations of Mira variables at high dispersion were unable to record this feature. Remarkably, the newly identified fluoresced Fe I (UV45) feature near 2807 Å is seen in this spectrum. Until now, this line has been seen only in cool carbon stars with HST/HRS. This line is pumped by the thin C II] (UV0.01) emission line at 2325.5 Å. Two of the strongest C II] (UV0.01) lines near 2325 Å are plainly seen in this spectrum. This region of the spectrum, however, is dominated by the Si II] (UV0.01) line near 2335 Å, in contrast to that observed in the carbon stars and the non-Mira oxygen-rich red giant stars. Very weak Mg II lines are seen in the R Leo spectrum at phase 0.12. At this phase, these lines are typically absent in IUE spectra. Velocity shifts of emission features in the UV spectra of Mira variables are consistent with previously published hydrodynamic models of these stars. These velocities indicate, however, that the C II] (UV0.01) emission lines are not formed in the same atmospheric layers as the Mg II emission. The electron density deduced from the C II] (UV0.01) multiplet is ∼109 cm-3. Finally, the temperature-density structure of the semi-regular variable carbon stars is similar to the oxygen-rich Mira variables-both are hydrodynamic in nature; however, the carbon stars macroscopic velocity fields are not identical to the Mira stars in the atmosphere layers between the Mg II emission region and the circumstellar shell.

To search for phase lags in the optical-infrared light curves of asymptotic giant branch stars, we have compared infrared data from the COBE DIRBE satellite with optical light curves from the AAVSO and other sources. We found 17 examples of phase lags between the times of infrared and optical maximum, and 4 stars with no observed lags. There is a clear difference between the Mira variables and the semiregular variables in the sample, with the maximum in the optical preceding that in the near-infrared in the Miras, while in most of the semiregular variables no lags are observed. Comparison to published theoretical models indicates that the phase lags in the Miras are due to strong titanium oxide absorption in the visual at stellar maximum, and suggests that Miras pulsate in the fundamental mode, while at least some semiregular variables are first-overtone pulsators. There is a clear optical-near-infrared phase lag in the carbon-rich Mira V CrB; this is likely due to C 2 and CN absorption variations in the optical.

The mysteries of the interior structures of stars are being tackled with asteroseismology. The observable parameters of the surface pulsations of stars inform us of the interior characteristics of numerous classes of stars. The main-sequence gamma Doradus stars, just a little hotter than the Sun, offer the potential of determining stellar structure right down to the core. To determine the structural profile of a star, the observed frequencies and a full geometric description must be determined. This is only possible with long-term spectroscopic monitoring and careful analysis of the pulsation signature in spectral lines. This work seeks to identify the pulsational geometry of several gamma Doradus stars and to identify areas of improvement for current observation, analysis and modelling techniques. More than 4500 spectra were gathered on five stars for this purpose. For three stars a successful multi-frequency and mode identification solution was determined and significant progress has been made towards the understanding of a binary system involving a gammaDoradus star. A hybrid gamma Doradus/\delta Scuti pulsator was also intensely monitored and results from this work raise important questions about the classification of this type of star. Current analysis techniques were found to be fit-for-purpose for pure gamma Doradus stars, but stars with complexities such as hybrid pulsations and/or fast rotation require future development of the current models.

We present the COBE DIRBE Point Source Catalog, an all-sky catalog containing infrared photometry in 10 infrared bands from 1.25 to 240 μm for 11,788 of the brightest near and mid-infrared point sources in the sky. Since DIRBE had excellent temporal coverage (100-1900 independent measurements per object during the 10 month cryogenic mission), the Catalog also contains information about variability at each wavelength, including amplitudes of variation observed during the mission. Since the DIRBE spatial resolution is relatively poor (0°.7), we have carefully investigated the question of confusion and have flagged sources with infrared-bright companions within the DIRBE beam. In addition, we filtered the DIRBE light curves, for data points affected by companions outside of the main DIRBE beam but within the "sky" portion of the scan. At high Galactic latitudes (|b| > 5°), the Catalog contains essentially all of the unconfused sources with flux densities greater than 90, 60, 60, 50, 90, and 165 Jy at 1.25, 2.2, 3.5, 4.9, 12, and 25 μm, respectively, corresponding to magnitude limits of approximately 3.1, 2.6, 1.7, 1.3, -1.3, and -3.5. At longer wavelengths and in the Galactic plane, the completeness is less certain because of the large DIRBE beam and possible contributions from extended emission. The Catalog also contains the names of the sources in other catalogs, their spectral types, variability types, and whether or not the sources are known OH/IR stars. We discuss a few remarkable objects in the Catalog, including the extremely red object OH 231.8+4.2 (QX Pup), an asymptotic giant branch star in transition to a protoplanetary nebula, which has a DIRBE 25 μm amplitude of 0.29 ± 0.07 mag.