Ap stars with resolved magnetically split lines: Mean magnetic field modulus measurements 1999--2004

Abstract

Magnetic Ap stars that have a strong enough field and a sufficiently low v sin i show spectral lines resolved into their magnetically split components. This allows their mean magnetic field modulus <B> to be determined. We complement the existing knowledge of the rotational magnetic variability and of the binarity of a sample of 34 Ap stars with resolved magnetically split lines by analysing observations obtained between 1999 and 2004 that had not been exploited before and, when available, observatory archive data. We determine the values of <B> and of the radial velocity by measuring the magnetic splitting and the wavelength shift of the Fe lambda 6149.2 Å line in high-resolution spectra recorded in natural light. Combining our measurements with published ones, we characterise the variability of both quantities. We derived for the first time the accurate, unambiguous values of the rotation periods of HD 29578 and HD 165474. We set lower limits of years to decades to the rotation periods of six stars and identified four more that have not shown any significant <B> variations over timescales of 13 to 33 years. We established that HD 47103 is the first Ap star with a rotation period of years known to have a magnetic field significantly exceeding 7.5 kG. We achieved the first determination of the orbital elements of HD 116114, HD 142070, and HD 144897, and we refined the orbital elements of six other binaries.

20 pages, 40 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A