New and sensitive millimeter-wave and near-infrared observation have been performed in the central regions of the ρ Ophiuchi dark cloud. High spatial resolution observations of the optically thin C¹⁸O emission lines are shown to be free of self-absorption. They permit the first accurate determination of the distribution of molecular gas and allow us to estimate the mass and visual extinction in the cloud. A completely sampled near-infrared survey of a 105 sq. arcmin area which encloses the region of highest visual extinction has revealed twenty objects (sixteen were previously unknown). We show that these objects are young stars embedded in the cloud. Synthesizing our new observations with existing radio and infrared data, we have made a detailed study of the energetics and star formation process within the ρ Oph cloud. This dissertation concludes that the high temperatures of the molecular gas cannot be due to collisions with warm dust. The feasibility of alternate heat sources such as cosmic-ray ionization, shocks, and the distortion of magnetic fields are discussed. We derive high star formation efficiencies (32-46%) in the centrally condensed core of the ρ Oph cloud which suggests that it is forming a bound open cluster. The most consistent interpretation of our data requires that an efficient burst of star formation has produced a relatively large (with respect to the initial mass function) population of low luminosity stars in ρ Oph within the last 3 million years. At this present rate of star formation, most of the molecular gas will be converted into stars in about 10⁷ yr. yielding a bound cluster. Unless this rate rapidly decreases with time, the duration of star formation in the (rho) Oph cluster (10 million years) will be considerably shorter than that suggested for the Pleiades cluster (175 m. y). The lack of stars in the 3-10 M(⊙) range indicates that subsequent star formation must be dominated by more massive stars if the stellar mass spectrum of the ρ Oph cluster is to resemble that of the conventional initial mass function. The youth of the ρ Oph cluster suggests that it may be the most recent episode of star formation in the Sco-Cen OB association.

A debate has arisen concerning the fundamental nature of luminous blue variables (LBVs) and their role in stellar evolution. While Smith & Tombleson proposed that their isolated environments indicate that LBVs must be largely the product of binary evolution, Humphreys et al. have recently expressed the view that the traditional single-star view still holds if one appropriately selects a subsample of LBVs. This paper finds the claim of Humphreys et al. to be quantitatively unjustified. A statistical test of 'candidate' as opposed to 'confirmed' LBVs shows no significant difference (<1 sigma) between their environments. Even if the sample is further subdivided as proposed, the three most luminous LBVs are spatially dispersed similar to late O-type dwarfs, which have much longer median lifetimes than expected for classical LBVs. The lower luminosity LBVs have a distribution associated with red supergiants (RSGs), but these RSGs are dominated by stars of 10-15 M-circle dot initial mass, with much longer lifetimes than expected for those lower luminosity LBVs. If one's view is restricted to the highest luminosity LBVs, then the appropriate comparison is with early O-type stars that are their presumed progenitors; when this is done, it is clear that even the high-luminosity LBVs are more dispersed than expected. Humphreys et al. also suggest that velocities of LBVs support the single-star view, being inconsistent with runaways. A quantitative analysis of the radial velocity distribution of LBVS in M31 and M33 contradicts this; modest runway speeds expected from mass gainers in binary evolution are consistent with the observed velocities, although the data lack the precision to discriminate.

The post-asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) phase is a short episode in the life of a star with mass between 0.8 to 8 M⊙. It comes after the AGB phase, and before the planetary nebula phase. A rapid change in many physical properties of a star is suggested to happen in this phase, for example the onset of jets. However, a lot of details are still unknown. In this thesis, three major problems are addressed: insufficient samples of post-AGB stars, identification of post-AGB stars, and the true status of a special class of objects called the “water fountains (WFs)”. WFs are evolved stars associated with high velocity collimated bipolar jets that can be traced by H2O maser emissions. For the first two problems, new searching criteria are introduced with two new maser surveys on oxygen-rich post-AGB stars. It is necessary to collect more samples of post-AGB stars for further studies. Nonetheless, there has been no systematic searching method because most of the post-AGB stars are dim in optical and near-infrared wavelengths, which increases the difficulty in identification. Maser thus becomes a good alternative tool. In the first survey which focused only on H2O masers, over 200 AGB or post-AGB star candidates have been selected and observed. Those candidates were mainly chosen by new colour criteria with the far-infrared AKARI data. In particular, four characteristic maser sources were found, and they are currently suggested as possible very young post-AGB stars. In the second survey, another 100 objects were observed in OH and/or H2O masers. Three possible high velocity objects were discovered, including a new rare member of WFs. The colour criteria are proved to be quite sensitive in distinguishing post-AGB stars from AGB stars or other types of objects, even though there are still some contamination from young stellar objects. A follow-up study shows that the Q-parameters are effective in isolating objects with spherical or aspherical envelopes, which are also useful in finding post-AGB stars. Regarding the third problem, one-dimensional radiative transfer models have been used to study the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of all known WFs. Owing to the young dynamical ages of the WF jets, it has been suggested that WFs represent the very early post-AGB phase, when the circumstellar envelopes started to depart from spherical symmetry. However, it is shown from the present SED study that WFs in fact could have various form of morphologies, some of them are even spherical which resemble the AGB stars. It implies that WFs do not necessary belong to the very early post-AGB phase, and the present interpretation on the WF status may not be entirely correct. / published_or_final_version / Physics / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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The relation between central or mean metallicity and luminosity in elliptical galaxies is a well observed phenomenon. Theoretical explanations proposed for this relation include scenarios in which peak metallicities are determined either by the epoch at which the remaining gas is expelled from the galaxy by supernova-driven winds, or by the efficiency of star formation following a series of mergers by small stellar/gaseous subsystems. These explanations suggest that an investigation of the metallicity-luminosity relation for spiral galaxies might have implications for galaxy formation models and for the origin of SO galaxies. The existing evidence concerning SO's points to a relation between mean metallicity and total luminosity. The problem of measuring metal abundances in the nuclei of spiral galaxies is that the line strength variations due to metallicity changes must be distinguished from those due to a filling in of the lines by the continuum from a young population. This was accomplished by measuring absorption line indices for Mg b and for a CN band at λ3880. Nuclear spectra of twenty ellipticals, obtained with a reticon detector, show these two indices to be well correlated for pure old populations; models including the effects of young stars show a very different trajectory for age effects. A procedure is thus defined for determining the metallicity of the population and the fraction of light coming from the young component, and this procedure is applied to observations of 25 spiral galaxies. A comparison of the results of this analysis with detailed population syntheses for six galaxies confirms the correctness of the procedure. In order to obtain bulge luminosities and bulge-to-disk ratios, photographic plates of twenty-two of the spirals were obtained. This material was digitized and reduced to a series of radial luminosity profiles for each galaxy. A procedure was established for decomposing the profiles into disk and bulge contributions. In addition to the desired gross parameters of the bulge and disk, the inclinations and true bulge flattenings for some of the galaxies are accurately determined. A discussion of the results of this analysis deals with the nature of departures from the exponential fitting function for some disks, a decomposition of the Hubble sequence into quantitative parameters, and the implication of the distribution of true bulge flattenings. The metallicities and luminosities are then combined, and two tests indicate that in spiral galaxies, central metallicity and bulge luminosity follow the same relation seen in ellipticals. The implications of this result are twofold. First, galaxy formation models in which the disk material can affect the processes which determine the central metallicity in the bulge are ruled out. Specifically, it is likely that the disks of spiral galaxies are not undergoing vigorous star formation at the time the bulge ceases forming stars. A picture in which the disk material has not yet accreted on to the galaxy at this time is also quite consistent. A somewhat more straightforward implication comes from a comparison of the results of this study with similar studies of SO galaxies. It is concluded that, aside from the uncertain effects of radial gradients, the evidence is inconsistent with the theory that most SO's were at one time spiral galaxies.

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Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references. / Electronic reproduction. / Also available by subscription via World Wide Web / xvii, 261 leaves, bound ill. (some col.) 29 cm

We present Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) observations of (CO)-C-12 2-1 emission from circumstellar material around the massive star Eta Carinae (eta Car). These observations reveal new structural details about the cool equatorial torus located similar to 4000 au from the star. The CO torus is not a complete azimuthal loop, but rather, is missing its near side, which appears to have been cleared away. The missing material matches the direction of apastron in the eccentric binary system, making it likely that eta Car's companion played an important role in disrupting portions of the torus soon after ejection. Molecular gas seen in ALMA data aligns well with the cool dust around eta Car previously observed in mid-infrared (IR) maps, whereas hot dust resides at the inner surface of the molecular torus. The CO also coincides with the spatial and velocity structure of near-IR H-2 emission. Together, these suggest that the CO torus seen by ALMA is actually the pinched waist of the Homunculus polar lobes, which glows brightly because it is close to the star and warmer than the poles. The near side of the torus appears to be a blowout, associated with fragmented equatorial ejecta. We discuss implications for the origin of various features north-west of the star. CO emission from the main torus implies a total gas mass in the range of 0.2-1 M-circle dot (possibly up to 5 M-circle dot or more, although with questionable assumptions). Deeper observations are needed to constrain CO emission from the cool polar lobes.

The Hubble Space Telescope archive contains a large collection of images of eta Carinae, and this paper analyses those most suitable for measuring its expanding Homunculus Nebula. Multiple intensity tracings through the Homunculus reveal the fractional increase in the overall size of the nebula; this avoids registration uncertainty, mitigates brightness fluctuations, and is independent of previous methods. Combining a 13 yr baseline ofWide Field Planetary Camera 2 images in the F631N filter, with a 4 yr baseline of Advanced Camera for Surveys/ High Resolution Channel images in the F550M filter, yields an ejection date (assuming linear motion) of 1847.1 (+/- 0.8 yr). This result improves the precision, but is in excellent agreement with the previous study by Morse et al., that used a shorter time baseline and a different analysis method. This more precise date is inconsistent with ejection during a periastron passage of the eccentric binary. Ejection occurred well into the main plateau of the Great Eruption, and not during the brief peaks in 1843 and 1838. The age uncertainty is dominated by a real spread in ages of various knots, and by some irregular brightness fluctuations. Several knots appear to have been ejected decades before or after the mean date, implying a complicated history of mass-loss episodes outside the main bright phase of the eruption. The extended history of mass ejection may have been largely erased by the passage of a shock through clumpy ejecta, as most material was swept into a thin shell with nearly uniform apparent age.

Thesis. 1976. B.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Bibliography: leaves 34-35. / B.S.