N. A. Tikhonov — Page 2

arXiv2003

The Stellar Content of the Polar Rings in the Galaxies NGC 2685 and NGC 4650A

We present the results of stellar photometry of polar-ring galaxies NGC 2685 and NGC 4650A, using the archival data obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. Polar rings of these galaxies were resolved into ~800 and ~430 stellar objects in the B, V and Ic bands, considerable part of which are blue supergiants located in the young stellar complexes. The stellar features in the CM-diagrams are best represented by isochrones with metallicity Z = 0.008. The process of star formation in the polar rings of both galaxies was continuous and the age of the youngest detected stars is about 9 Myr for NGC 2685 and 6.5 Myr for NGC 4650A.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

First optical identification of a suprsoft X-ray source in M31

We propose the first association of an optical counterpart with a luminous supersoft X-ray source in M31, RX J0044.0+4118, observed with ROSAT in July 1991. The PSPC position is at 1.6" angular distance from a candidate nova in outburst in September of 1990. This is interesting because the incidence of classical novae among supersoft X-ray sources is an open question. The proposed optical counterpart was measured at R~17.7 in September of 1990, and it had faded to R>19.2 when it was observed again after 70 days. The light curve was too sparsely monitored for definite conclusions on the speed class of the nova. No other variable objects with V<23.5 were found in the ROSAT spatial error box. We evaluate that the probability that a classical or recurrent nova was in outburst in the ROSAT error box in the few years preceding the observation is very small, so the proposed identification is meaningful. We also show evidence that the associated supersoft X-ray source turned off in the third year after the outburst.

astro-ph↗