2001A&A...377..854M

We present the results of high- and low-resolution spectroscopic and broadband multicolour photometric observations of the emission-line A-type star IP Per. Significant variations of the Balmer line profiles and near-IR brightness are detected. Comparison with the spectra of other stars and theoretical models allowed us to derive its fundamental parameters as follows: T_eff≃8000K, logg≃4.4, logL_bol/L_☉≃1.0. They correspond to the MK type A7 V. We also found that the metallicity of the object's atmosphere is nearly 40 per cent that of the Sun. Our result for the star's gravity implies that it is located at the zero-age main-sequence. We conclude that IP Per is a pre-main-sequence Herbig Ae star, and belongs to the group of UX Ori-type stars showing irregular photometric minima. A recent result by Kovalchuk & Pugach (1997), that IP Per is an evolved high-luminosity star, is not confirmed. The discrepancy in the logg determination, which led to the difference in the luminosity, seems to be due to uncertainties in the echelle data reduction for broad lines and a different estimate for the star's temperature.