The Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) Photometric Hα Survey of the Northern Galactic Plane (IPHAS) is a 1800‐deg2 CCD survey of the northern Milky Way spanning the latitude range −5° < b < + 5° and reaching down to r′≃ 20 (10σ). Representative observations and an assessment of point‐source data from IPHAS, now underway, are presented. The data obtained are Wide Field Camera images in the Hα narrow‐band, and Sloan r′ and i′ broad‐band filters. We simulate IPHAS (r′−Hα, r′−i′) point‐source colours using a spectrophotometric library of stellar spectra and available filter transmission profiles: this defines the expected colour properties of (i) solar metallicity stars, without Hα emission, and (ii) emission‐line stars. Comparisons with observations of fields in Aquila show that the simulations of normal star colours reproduce the observations well for all spectral types earlier than M. A further comparison between colours synthesized from long‐slit flux‐calibrated spectra and IPHAS photometry for six objects in a Taurus field confirms the reliability of the pipeline calibration. Spectroscopic follow‐up of a field in Cepheus shows that sources lying above the main stellar locus in the (r′− Hα, r′−i′) plane are confirmed to be emission‐line objects with very few failures. In this same field, examples of Hα deficit objects (a white dwarf and a carbon star) are shown to be readily distinguished by their IPHAS colours. The role IPHAS can play in studies of spatially resolved northern Galactic nebulae is discussed briefly and illustrated by a continuum‐subtracted mosaic image of Shajn 147 (a supernova remnant, 3° in diameter). The final catalogue of IPHAS point sources will contain photometry on about 80 million objects. Used on its own, or in combination with near‐infrared photometric catalogues, IPHAS is a major resource for the study of stellar populations making up the disc of the Milky Way. The eventual yield of new northern emission‐line objects from IPHAS is likely to be an order of magnitude increase on the number already known.

Subdwarf B (sdB) stars are thought to be core helium burning stars with low mass hydrogen envelopes. In recent years it has become clear that many sdB stars lose their hydrogen through interaction with a binary companion and continue to reside in binary systems today. In this paper we present the results of a programme to measure orbital parameters of binary sdB stars. We determine the orbits of 22 binary sdB stars from 424 radial velocity measurements, raising the sample of sdBs with known orbital parameters to 38. We calculate lower limits for the masses of the companions of the sdB stars which, when combined with the orbital periods of the systems, allow us to discuss approximate evolutionary constraints. We find that a formation path for sdB stars consisting of mass transfer at the tip of the red giant branch (RGB) followed by a common envelope phase explains most, but not all of the observed systems. It is particularly difficult to explain both long period systems and short period, massive systems. We present new measurements of the effective temperature, surface density and surface helium abundance for some of the sdB stars by fitting their blue spectra. We find that two of them (PG 0839 + 399 and KPD 1946 + 4340) do not lie in the extreme horizontal branch (EHB) band, indicating that they are post‐EHB stars.

No abstract

Subdwarf B (sdB) stars are hot, subluminous stars which are thought to be core-helium burning with thin hydrogen envelopes. The mechanism by which these stars lose their envelopes has been controversial, but it has been argued that binary star interaction is the main cause. Over the past decade we have conducted a radial-velocity study of a large sample of sdB stars, and have shown that a significant fraction of the field sdB population exists in binary systems. In 2002 and 2003, we published 23 new binary sdB stars and the definitions of their orbits. Here, we present the continuation of this project. We give the binary parameters for 28 systems, 18 of which are new. We also present our radial-velocity measurements of a further 108 sdBs. Of these, 88 show no significant evidence of orbital motion. The remaining 20 do show radialvelocity variations, and so are good candidates for further study. Based on these results, our best estimate for the binary fraction in the sdB population is 46-56 per cent. This is a lower bound since the radial-velocity variations of very long period systems would be difficult to detect over the baseline of our programme, and for some sources we have only a small number of measurements.

Substellar objects, like planets and brown dwarfs orbiting stars, are byproducts of the star formation process. The evolution of their host stars may have an enourmous impact on these small companions. Vice versa a planet might also influence stellar evolution as has recently been argued.Here we report the discovery of a 8−23 Jupiter-mass substellar object orbiting the hot subdwarf HD 149382 in 2.391 days at a distance of only about five solar radii. Obviously the companion must have survived engulfment in the red-giant envelope. Moreover, the substellar companion has triggered envelope ejection and enabled the sdB star to form. Hot subdwarf stars have been identified as the sources of the unexpected ultravoilet emission in elliptical galaxies, but the formation of these stars is not fully understood. Being the brightest star of its class, HD 149382 offers the best conditions to detect the substellar companion.Hence, undisclosed substellar companions offer a natural solution for the longstanding formation problem of apparently single hot subdwarf stars. Planets and brown dwarfs may therefore alter the evolution of old stellar populations and may also significantly affect the UV-emission of elliptical galaxies.

We report the first results from a new search for cataclysmic variables (CVs) using a combined X‐ray (ROSAT)/infrared (2MASS) target selection that discriminates against background active galactic nuclei. Identification spectra were obtained at the Isaac Newton Telescope for a total of 174 targets, leading to the discovery of 12 new CVs. Initially devised to find short‐period low‐mass‐transfer CVs, this selection scheme has been very successful in identifying new intermediate polars. Photometric and spectroscopic follow‐up observations identify four of the new CVs as intermediate polars: 1RXS J063631.9+353537 (Porb≃ 201 min, Pspin= 1008.3408 s or 930.5829 s), 1RXS J070407.9+262501 (Porb≃ 250 min, Pspin= 480.708 s), 1RXS J173021.5–055933 (Porb= 925.27 min, Pspin= 128.0 s), and 1RXS J180340.0+401214 (Porb= 160.21 min, Pspin= 1520.51 s). RX J1730, also a moderately bright hard X‐ray source in the INTEGRAL/IBIS Galactic plane survey, resembles the enigmatic AE Aqr. It is likely that its white dwarf is not rotating at the spin equilibrium period, and the system may represent a short‐lived phase in CV evolution.

We present light curves of four binary subdwarf B stars (sdB), Ton 245, Feige 11, PG 1432+159 and PG 1017−086. We also present new spectroscopic data for PG 1017−086 from which we derive its orbital period, P=0.073 d, and the mass function, fm=0.0010±0.0002 M⊙. This is the shortest period for an sdB binary measured to date. The values of P and fm for the other sdB binaries have been published elsewhere. We are able to exclude the possibility that the unseen companion stars to Ton 245, Feige 11 and PG 1432+159 are main‐sequence stars or subgiant stars from the absence of a sinusoidal signal, which would be caused by the irradiation of such a companion star, i.e. they show no reflection effect. The unseen companion stars in these binaries are likely to be white dwarf stars. In contrast, the reflection effect in PG 1017−086 is clearly seen. The lack of eclipses in this binary combined with other data suggests that the companion is a low‐mass M‐dwarf or, perhaps, a brown dwarf.

About 50 per cent of all known hot subdwarf B stars (sdBs) reside in close (short‐period) binaries, for which common‐envelope ejection is the most likely formation mechanism. However, Han et al. predict that the majority of sdBs should form through stable mass transfer leading to long‐period binaries. Determining orbital periods for these systems is challenging and while the orbital periods of ∼100 short‐period systems have been measured, there are no periods measured above 30 d. As part of a large programme to characterize the orbital periods of sdB binaries and their formation history, we have found that PG 1018−047 has an orbital period of 759.8 ± 5.8 d, easily making it the longest period ever detected for a sdB binary. Exploiting the Balmer lines of the subdwarf primary and the narrow absorption lines of the companion present in the spectra, we derive the radial velocity amplitudes of both stars, and estimate the mass ratio MMS/MsdB= 1.6 ± 0.2. From the combination of visual and infrared photometry, the spectral type of the companion star is determined to be mid‐K.