Related papers: What is the Shell Around R Coronae Borealis?
V532 Oph has been found to be a member of the rare, hydrogen-deficient R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars from new photometric and spectroscopic data reported in this paper. The lightcurve of V532 Oph shows the sudden, deep, irregularly spaced…
Decades after their discovery, only four hydrogen-deficient carbon (HdC) stars were known to have no circumstellar dust shell. This is in complete contrast to the $\sim$130 known Galactic HdC stars that are notorious for being heavy dust…
Radial-velocity observations made on more than a thousand nights are presented for the type star of the R Coronae Borealis (RCB) class. There are four principal sources: the Lick Observatory (1950-1953), the original Cambridge…
NSV 11154 has been confirmed as a new member of the rare hydrogen deficient R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars based on new photometric and spectroscopic data. Using new photometry, as well as archival plates from the Harvard archive, we have…
The surface abundances of extreme helium (EHe) and R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars are discussed in terms of the merger of a carbon-oxygen white dwarf with a helium white dwarf. The model is expressed as a linear mixture of the individual…
The R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars are hydrogen-deficient, variable stars that are most likely the result of He-CO WD mergers. They display extremely low oxygen isotopic ratios, 16O/18O ~ 1 - 10, 12C/13C>=100, and enhancements up to 2.6dex…
R Coronae Borealis stars (RCBs) are cool supergiants that display non-periodic deep dips in brightness. Recently, a group of `Hot RCB stars` has been discovered to be fast evolving across the HR diagram, as these stars leave the RCB region,…
The origin of R Coronae Borealis stars has been elusive for over 200 years. Currently, two theories for their formation have been presented. These are the Final Flash scenario, in which a dying asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star throws off…
The R Coronae Borealis (RCB) Star, V854 Cen, was not discovered until the 1980's even though it is 7th magnitude at maximum light. This is because it was in a faint state due to the presence of thick circumstellar dust clouds for nearly a…
Context: R Coronae Borealis (RCB) variables and their non-variable counterparts, the dustless Hydrogen-Deficient Carbon (dLHdC) stars have been known to exhibit enhanced s-processed material on their surfaces, especially Sr, Y, and Ba. No…
We present high-resolution (R~50,000) observations of near-IR transitions of CO and CN of the five known hydrogen-deficient carbon (HdC) stars and four R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars. We perform an abundance analysis of these stars by using…
R Coronae Borealis stars (RCB) are a rare type of evolved carbon-rich supergiant stars that are increasingly thought to result from the merger of two white dwarfs, called the Double degenerate scenario. This scenario is also studied as a…
Optical high-resolution spectra of the R Coronae Borealis star V CrA at light maximum and during minimum light arediscussed. Abundance analysis confirms previous results showing that V CrA has the composition of the small subclass of R…
We report the discovery of R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars in the Andromeda galaxy (M31) using the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF). RCB stars are rare hydrogen-deficient, carbon-rich supergiant variables, most likely the merger products of…
The asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star R Sculptoris (R Scl) is one of the most extensively studied stars on the AGB. R Scl is a carbon star with a massive circumstellar shell ($M_{shell}\sim 7.3\times10^{-3}~M_{\odot}$) which is thought to…
We investigate the relationship between R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars and hydrogen-deficient carbon (HdC) stars by measuring precise 16O/18O ratios for five cool RCB stars. The 16O/18O ratios are derived by spectrum synthesis from…
RCB stars are $L\approx10^4\,L_{\odot}$ solar-mass objects that can exhibit large periods of extinction from dust ejection episodes. Many exhibit semiregular pulsations in the range of $30-50$ days with semi-amplitudes of $0.05-0.3$…
Due to orbital decay by gravitational-wave radiation, some close-binary helium white dwarfs are expected to merge within a Hubble time. The immediate merger products are believed to be helium-rich sdO stars, essentially helium main-sequence…
We present an extended optical spectropolarimetry of R CrB from 1998 January to 2003 September. The polarization was almost constant in the phase of maximum brightness, being consistent with past observations. We detected, however, temporal…
We investigate the evolutionary status of four stars: V348 Sgr, DY Cen and MV Sgr in the Galaxy and HV 2671 in the LMC. These stars have in common random deep declines in visual brightness which are characteristic for R Coronae Borealis…