Surface photometry and radial color gradients of nearby luminous early-type galaxies in SDSS Stripe 82

We make use of the images from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe 82（Stripe 82） to present an analysis of r band surface brightness profiles and radial color gradients（g-r,u-r） in our sample of 111 nearby early-type galaxies（ETGs） .Thanks to the Stripe 82 images,each of which is co-added from about 50 single frames,we are able to pay special attention to the low-surface-brightness areas（LSB areas） of the galaxies.The LSB areas affect the Sérsic fittings and concentration indices by making both of the indices less than the typical values for ETGs.In the Sérsic fits to all the surface brightness profiles,we found some Sérsic indices that range from 1.5 to 2.5,much smaller than those of typical de Vaucouleur profiles and relatively close to those of exponential disks,and some others much larger than four but still with accurate fitting.Two galaxies cannot be fitted with a single Sérsic profile,but once we try double Sérsic profiles,the fittings are improved：one with a profile relatively close to the de Vaucouleur law in the inner area and a profile relatively close to an exponential law in the LSB area,the other with a nice fitting in the inner area but still having a failed fitting in the outer area.About 60%of the sample has negative color gradients（red-core） within 1.5Re,much more than the approximately 10%positive ones（blue-core） within the same radius.However,taking into account the LSB areas,we find that the color gradients are not necessarily monotonic：about one third of the red-core（or blue-core） galaxies have positive（or negative） color gradients in the outer areas. So LSB areas not only make ETGs’Sérsic profiles deviate from de Vaucouleur ones and shift to the disk end,but also reveal that quite a number of ETGs have opposite color gradients in inner and outer areas.These outcomes remind us of the necessity of double-Sérsic fitting.These LSB phenomena may be interpreted by mergers and thus have different metallicity in the outer areas.Isophotal parameters are also discussed briefly in this paper with the following conclusion：there are more disky nearby ETGs that are identified than boxy ones.

Photometric and Spectroscopic Study of Two Low Mass Ratio Contact Binary Systems:CRTS J225828.7-121122 and CRTSJ030053.5+230139

The study reports photometric and spectroscopic observations of two recently recognized contact binary systems.Both systems show total eclipses and analysis of the light curves indicates both have very low mass ratios of less than 0.3.We derive absolute parameters from color and distance based calibrations and show that,although both have low mass ratios,they are likely to be in a stable orbit and unlikely to merge.In other respects,both systems have characteristics similar to other contact binaries with the secondary larger and brighter than their main sequence counterparts and we also find that the secondary is considerably denser than the primary in both systems.

GLOBAL CONVERGENCE RESULTS OF A THREE TERM MEMORY GRADIENT METHOD WITH A NON-MONOTONE LINE SEARCH TECHNIQUE

In this paper, a new class of three term memory gradient method with non-monotone line search technique for unconstrained optimization is presented. Global convergence properties of the new methods are discussed. Combining the quasi-Newton method with the new method, the former is modified to have global convergence property. Numerical results show that the new algorithm is efficient.

Comparative study on efficacy of three sperm-separation techniques

Aim: To evaluate the comparative effectiveness of real-time sperm separation technique (Wang's tube method) andother two conventional methods in isolating high-quality sperm preparation, and to compare the spouse pregnancy ratein intrauterine insemination (IUI) with sperm preparations isolated by these methods. Methods: The effectivenessof the real-time sperm separation technique, the conventional swim-up and the Percoll discontinuous density gradientmethods in isolating sperm preparations from 60 infertile patients (20 with apparently normal semen and 40, abnormalsemen contaminated with microorganisms and other impurities) was evaluated and compared. The microorganisms to beremoved included bacteria, vires, Chlamydia trachomaticum, Ureaplsama urealyticum, etc. The spouse pregnancyrates in IUI with sperm preparations isolated by these three techniques from 80 oligoasthenoteratospermic patients werealso compared. Results: The quality (including the percentages of normal form, normal-chromatin and motilesperm, and the grade of motility) of sperm obtained by the real-time sperm separation technique was much higher ( P< 0.01) as compared with those by the other two methods. The Wang's tube method was also more effective in remov-ing microorganisms and other impurities. The method provided a higher IUI pregnancy rate than the other two spermseparation techniques ( P < 0.05). Conclusion: The real-time sperm separation technique is the most effectivemethod so far available in isolating high-quality sperm samples to be used in assisted reproduction.

Photometric investigation on the W-subtype contact binary V1197 Her

Multi-color light curves of V1197 Her were obtained with the 2.4 meter optical telescope at the Thai National Observatory and the Wilson-Devinney(W-D)program was used to model the observational light curves.The photometric solutions reveal that V1197 Her is a W-subtype shallow contact binary system with a mass ratio of q=2.61 and a fill-out factor of f=15.7%.The temperature difference between the primary star and secondary star is only 140 K in spite of the low degree of contact,which means that V1197 Her is not only in geometrical contact configuration but is also already under thermal contact status.The orbital inclination of V1197 Her is as high as i=82.7?,and the primary star is completely eclipsed at the primary minimum.The totally eclipsing characteristic implies that the determined physical parameters are highly reliable.The masses,radii and luminosities of the primary star(star 1)and secondary star(star2)are estimated to be M1=0.30(1)M⊙,M2=0.77(2)M⊙,R1=0.54(1)R⊙,R2=0.83(1)R⊙,L1=0.18(1)L⊙and L2=0.38(1)L⊙.The evolutionary statuses of the two component stars are drawn in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram,showing that the less massive but hotter primary star is more evolved than the secondary star.The period of V1197 Her is decreasing continuously at a rate of d P/dt=-2.58×10^-7 day·year^-1,which can be explained by mass transfer from the more massive star to the less massive one at a rate of dM2/dt=-1.61×10^-7 M⊙year^-1.The light curves of V1197 Her are reported to show the O’Connell effect.Thus,a cool spot is added to the more massive star to model the asymmetry in the light curves.

Study of photometric phase curve:assuming a cellinoid ellipsoid shape for asteroid(106)Dione

We carried out new photometric observations of asteroid （106） Dione at three apparitions （2004, 2012 and 2015） to understand its basic physical properties. Based on a new brightness model, new photometric observational data and published data of （106） Dione were analyzed to characterize the morphology of Dione＇s photometric phase curve. In this brightness model, a cellinoid ellipsoid shape and three-parameter （H, G1, G2） magnitude phase function system were involved. Such a model can not only solve the phase function system parameters of （106） Dione by considering an asymmetric shape of an asteroid, but also can be applied to more asteroids, especially those without enough photometric data to solve the convex shape. Using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo （MCMC） method, Dione＇s absolute magnitude of H = 7.66＋0.03-0.03 mag, and phase function parameters G1 = 0.682＋0.077-0.077 and G2 = 0.081＋0.042-0.042 were obtained. Simultaneously, Dione＇s simplistic shape, orientation of pole and rotation period were also determined preliminarily.

Two Novel Approaches for Photometric Redshift Estimation based on SDSS and 2MASS

We investigate two training-set methods; support vector machines （SVMs） and Kernel Regression （KR） for photometric redshift estimation with the data from the databases of Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5 and Two Micron All Sky Survey. We probe the performances of SVMs and KR for different input patterns. Our experiments show that with more parameters considered, the accuracy does not always increase, and only when appropriate parameters are chosen, the accuracy can improve. For different approaches, the best input pattern is different. With different parameters as input, the optimal bandwidth is dissimilar for KR. The rms errors of photometric redshifts based on SVM and KR methods are less than 0.03 and 0.02, respectively. Strengths and weaknesses of the two approaches are summarized. Compared to other methods of estimating photometric redshifts, they show their superiorities, especially KR, in terms of accuracy.

Photometric Calibration of the Lunar-based Ultraviolet Telescope for Its First Six Months of Operation on the Lunar Surface

We describe the photometric calibration of the Lunar-based Ultraviolet Telescope（LUT）, the first robotic astronomical telescope working on the lunar surface, for its first six months of operation on the lunar surface. Two spectral datasets（set A and B） from near-ultraviolet（NUV） to the optical band were constructed with 44 International Ultraviolet Explorer（IUE） standards, because of the LUT＇s relatively wide wavelength coverage. Set A was obtained by extrapolating the IUE NUV spectra（λ 〈 3200 ） to the optical band based upon the theoretical spectra of stellar atmosphere models. Set B was composed of theoretical spectra from 2000 to 8000 extracted from the same model grid. In total, seven standards have been observed in15 observational runs until May 2014. The calibration results show that the photometric performance of LUT is highly stable in its first six months of operation. The magnitude zero points obtained from the two spectral datasets are also consistent with each other, i.e., zp = 17.54 ± 0.09 mag（set A） and zp = 17.52 ± 0.07 mag（set B）.

The SAGE photometric survey: technical description

To investigate a huge sample of data related to the Stellar Abundance and Galactic Evolution(SAGE) survey in more detail, we are performing a northern sky photometric survey named SAGES with the SAGE photometric system.This system consists of eight filters: Str?mgren-u, SAGE-v, SDSS g, r, i, DDO-51, Hαwideand Hαnarrow, including three Sloan broadband filters, three intermediateband filters, two narrow-band filters and one newly-designed narrow-band filter.SAGES covers～12 000 square degrees of the northern sky with δ >-5°, excluding the Galactic disk(|b| < 10°) and the sky area 12 h <RA <18 h.The photometric detection limit depth at signal-to-noise ratio 5σ can be as deep as V～20 mag.SAGES will produce a photometric catalog with uniform depth for～500 million stars with atmospheric parameters including effective temperature Teff, surface gravity log g and metallicity[Fe/H], as well as interstellar extinction to each individual target.In this work, we will briefly introduce the SAGE photometric system, the SAGE survey and a preliminary test field of the open cluster NGC 6791 and its surroundings.

Long-term photometric study of a faint W UMa binary in the direction of M31

We carry out a re-analysis of the photometric data in Rclc bands which were taken during the Nainital Microlensing Survey from 1998 to 2002 with the aim to detect gravitational microlensing events in the direction of M31. Here, we do photometric analysis of a faint W UMa binary CSS_JO04259.3＋410629 identified in the target field. The orbital period of this star is found to be 0.266402±0.000018 d. The photometric mass ratio, q, is found to be 0.28±0.01. The photometric light curves are investigated using the Wilson-Devinney （WD） code and absolute parameters are determined using empirical relations which provide masses and radii of the binary as M1 = 1.19±0.09M⊙, M2 = 0.33±0.02M⊙ and R1 = 1.02±0.04R⊙, R2 = 0.58±0.08Re respectively based on Rc band data. Quite similar values are found by analyzing/c band data. From the photometric light curve examination, the star is understood to be a low mass-ratio overcontact binary of A-subtype with a high fill-out factor of about 47%. The binary system is found to be located approximately at a distance of 2.64±0.03 kpc having a separation of 2.01 ±0.05 Re between the two components.

Photometric studies of two W UMa type variables in the field of distant open cluster NGC 6866

We present photometric analysis of the two W UMa type binaries identified in the field of distant open star cluster NGC 6866. Although these systems, namely ID487 and ID494, were reported by Joshi et al., a detailed study of these stars has not been carried out before. The orbital periods of these stars are found to be 0.415110±0.000001 day and 0.366709±0.000004 day, respectively. Based on the photometric and infrared colors, we find their respective spectral types to be K0 and K3. The photometric light vari- ations of both stars show the O＇Connell effect which can be explained by employing a dark spot on the secondary components. The V and I band light curves are analyzed using the Wilson-Devinney （WD） code and relations given by Gazeas which yield radii and masses for the binary components of star ID487 of R1 = 1.24 ± 0.01R,R2 = 1.11 4- 0.02Re, and M1 = 1.24 ± 0.02Me, M2 = 0.96 ±0.05Me and for star ID494 of R1 = 1.22 ± 0.02Re, R2 = 0.81 4- 0.01 Re, and M1 = 1.20 4- 0.06 Me, M2 = 0.47 4- 0.01 Me.

Photometric redshift estimation for quasars by integration of KNN and SVM

The massive photometric data collected from multiple large-scale sky surveys offer significant opportunities for measuring distances of celestial objects by photometric redshifts. However, catastrophic failure is an unsolved problem with a long history and it still exists in the current photometric redshift estimation approaches （such as the k-nearest neighbor （KNN） algorithm）. In this paper, we propose a novel two-stage approach by integration of KNN and support vector machine （SVM） methods together. In the first stage, we apply the KNN algorithm to photometric data and estimate their corresponding Zphot. Our analysis has found two dense regions with catastrophic failure, one in the range of Zphot E [0.3, 1.2] and the other in the range of Zphot E [1.2, 2.1]. In the second stage, we map the photometric input pattern of points falling into the two ranges from their original attribute space into a high dimensional feature space by using a Gaussian kernel function from an SVM. In the high dimensional feature space, many outliers resulting from catastrophic failure by simple Euclidean distance computation in KNN can be identified by a classification hyperplane of SVM and can be further corrected. Experimental results based on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey （SDSS） quasar data show that the two-stage fusion approach can significantly mitigate catastrophic failure and improve the estimation accuracy of photometric redshifts of quasars. The percents in different /△z/ ranges and root mean square （rms） error by the integrated method are 83.47%, 89.83%, 90.90% and 0.192, respectively, compared to the results by KNN （71.96%, 83.78%, 89.73% and 0.204）.

Magnetorheological finishing of low-gradient curved surfaces based on four-axis linkage technique

Based on the distribution characteristic of magnetic field along the polish wheel,the four-axis linkage technique is advanced to replace a standard five-axis one to figure low-gradient optical surfaces with a raster tool-path in magnetorheological finishing(MRF).After introducing the fundaments of such simplification,the figuring reachability of a four-axis system for the low-gradient optics was theoretically analyzed.Further validation including magnetic field intensity and influence function characteristic was performed to establish its application.To demonstrate the correctness,feasibility and applicability of such technique,a K4 spherical part was figured by two iterations of MRF with surface form error improved to 0.219λPV and 0.027λRMS.Meanwhile,the surface roughness was also improved a lot in MRF process.These theoretical analyses and experimental results both indicate that high form accuracy and excellent surface quality can be obtained by using the four-axis linkage technique in the process of figuring low-gradient optical elements,and the four-axis linkage system undoubtedly is much more easy to control and much more economical.

BV(RI )c photometric study of three variable PMS stars in the field of V733 Cephei

This paper reports results from the first long-term BV(RI)c photometric CCD observations of three variable pre-main-sequence stars collected during the period from February 2007 to January 2020. The investigated stars are located in the field of the PMS star V733 Cep within the Cepheus OB3 association. All stars from our study show rapid photometric variability in all-optical passbands. In this paper, we describe and discuss the photometric behavior of these stars and the possible reasons for their variability. In the light variation of two of the stars, we found periodicity.

Study of photometric phase curve with new brightness model:refining phase function system parameters of asteroid(107)Camilla

We characterize the morphology of the photometric phase curve model of an asteroid with a three- parameter magnitude phase function H - G1 - G2 system by considering the effect of brightness variation arising from a triaxial ellipsoid representing the asteroid＇s shape. Applying this new model and a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method, we refine the photometric phase curve of asteroid （107） Camilla and obtain its absolute magnitude H = 7.026-0.054^＋0.052 mag, and phase function parameters G1=0.489-0.044^＋0.043 and G2 = 0.259-0.023^＋0.023.Meanwhile, we also determine （107） Camilla＇s orientation of pole （74.1°-4.5°^＋4.3°,50.2°-5.0°^＋5.4°）. with rotational period of 4.843928-0.000001^＋0.000001 h, and axial ratios a/b ： 1.409-0.020^＋0.020 And b/c =1.249-0.060^＋0.063. Furthermore, according to the values of phase function parameters G1 and G2, we infer that asteroid （107） Camilla is an X-type asteroid.

Estimating Photometric Redshifts with Artificial Neural Networks and Multi-Parameters

We calculate photometric redshifts from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 2 （SDSS DR2） Galaxy Sample using artificial neural networks （ANNs）. Different input sets based on various parameters （e.g. magnitude, color index, flux information） are explored. Mainly, parameters from broadband photometry are utilized and their performances in redshift prediction are compared. While any parameter may be easily incorporated in the input, our results indicate that using the dereddened magnitudes often produces more accurate photometric redshifts than using the Petrosian magnitudes or model magnitudes as input, but the model magnitudes are superior to the Petrosian magnitudes. Also, better performance resuits when more effective parameters are used in the training set. The method is tested on a sample of 79 346 galaxies from the SDSS DR2. When using 19 parameters based on the dereddened magnitudes, the rms error in redshift estimation is σz = 0.020184. The ANN is highly competitive tool compared to the traditional template-fitting methods when a large and representative training set is available.

Spectroscopic and photometric studies of a candidate pulsating star in an eclipsing binary:V948 Her

Eclipsing binary stars with a pulsating component are powerful tools that allow us to probe the stellar interior structure and the evolutionary statuses with a good accuracy. Therefore, in this study, spectroscopic and photometric examinations of an eclipsing binary system V948 Her are presented. The primary component of the system is classified to be a candidate 3 Scuti variable in the literature. The fundamental stellar, atmospheric and orbital parameters, and the surface abundance of the star were determined and the pulsation behaviour was investigated in this study. The orbital parameters were derived by the analysis of radial velocity and SuperWASP light curves. The spectral classification was found to be F2V. The initial atmospheric parameters of the primary component were derived by analysis of the spectral energy distribution and hydrogen lines. The final atmospheric parameters and chemical abundances of the primary component were obtained by using the method of spectrum synthesis. As a result, the final atmospheric parameters were determined as Teff= 7100±200 K, log 9= 4.34±0.1 cgs and ζ = 2.2 4± 0.2 km s^-1. The surface abundance was found to be similar to solar. The fundamental stellar parameters of both components were also obtained to be M = 1.722 4±0.123, 0.762 4± 0.020 Me, R = 1.655 4± 0.034,M,R= 0.689 ± 0.016 R for primary and secondary components, respectively. The pulsation characteristic of the primary component was examined using SuperWASP data and the pulsation period was found to be ~0.038 d. The position of the primary pulsating component was also obtained inside the instability strip of δ Sct stars. The primary component of V948 Her was defined to be a Sct variable.

Photometric analysis of two extreme low mass ratio contact binary systems

Multi-band photometry and light curve analysis for two newly recognized contact binary systems,TYC 6995-813-1 and NSVS 13602901,are presented.Both were found to be of extreme low mass ratios 0.11 and 0.17,respectively.The secondary components of both systems show evidence of considerable evolution with elevated densities as well as both luminosity and radii well above their main sequence counterparts.Even in the absence of significant spot activity,at least one of the systems,TYC 6995-813-1,displays features of magnetic and chromospheric activity.TYC 6995-813-1 is also determined to be a potential merger candidate with its current separation near the theoretical instability separation.

BVRI photometric observations,light curve solutions and orbital period analysis of BF Pav

A new ephemeris,period change analysis and light curve modeling of the W UMa-type eclipsing binary BF Pav are presented in this study.Light curves of the system taken in BVRI filters from two observatories,in Australia and Argentina,were modeled using the Wilson-Devinney code.The results of this analysis demonstrate that BF Pav is a contact binary system with a photometric mass ratio q=1.460 ± 0.014,a fillout factor f=12.5%,an inclination of 87.97 ± 0.45 deg and a cold spot on the secondary component.By applying the distance modulus formula,the distance of BF Pav was calculated to be d=268 ± 18 pc which is in good agreement with the Gaia EDR3 distance.We obtain an orbital period increase at a rate of 0.142 s century-1 due to a quadratic trend in the O-C diagram.Also,an alternative sudden period jump probably occurred which could be interpreted as a rapid mass transfer from the lower mass star to its companion of about ΔM=2.45 × 10-6 M⊙.Furthermore,there is an oscillatory behavior with a period of 18.3±0.3 yr.Since BF Pav does not seem to have significant magnetic activity,this behavior could be interpreted as the light-time effect caused by an undetected third body in this system.In this case,the probability for the third body to be a low mass star with M≥ 0.075 M⊙or a brown dwarf is 5.4% and 94.6% respectively.If we assume i’=90°,a3=8.04±0.33 AU.The mass of the secondary component was also determined following two different methods which result close to each other.

Photometric and Spectroscopic Analysis of LBV Candidate J004341.84+411112.0 in M31

We study Luminous Blue Variable(LBV)candidate J004341.84+411112.0 in the Andromeda galaxy.We present optical spectra of the object obtained with the 6 m telescope of BTA SAO RAS.The candidate shows typical LBV features in its spectra:broad and strong hydrogen lines and the He I lines with P Cygni profiles.Its remarkable spectral resemblance to the well known LBV P Cygni suggests a common nature of the objects and supports LBV classification of J004341.84+411112.0.We estimate the temperature,reddening,radius and luminosity of the star using its spectral energy distribution.Obtained bolometric luminosity of the candidate(M_(bol)=-10.41±0.12 mag)is quite similar to those of known LBV stars in the Andromeda galaxy.We analyzed a ten year light curve of the object in R filter.The candidate demonstrates photometric variations of the order of 0.4 mag,with an overall brightness increasing trendΔR>0.1 mag.Therewith,the corresponding color variations of the object are fully consistent with LBV behavior when a star become cooler and brighter in the optical spectral range with a nearly constant bolometric luminosity.LBV-type variability of the object,similarity of its spectrum and estimated luminosity to those of known LBVs allow us to classify J004341.84+411112.0 as an LBV.