We study the impact of outflows driven by active galactic nuclei (AGN) on galaxy formation. Outflows move into the surrounding intergalactic medium (IGM) and heat it sufficiently to prevent it from condensing onto galaxies. In the dense, high-redshift IGM, such feedback requires highly energetic outflows, driven by a large AGN. However, in the more tenuous low-redshift IGM, equivalently strong feedback can be achieved by less energetic winds (and thus smaller galaxies). Using a simple analytic model, we show that this leads to the anti-hierarchical quenching of star-formation in large galaxies, consistent with current observations. At redshifts prior to the formation of large AGN, galaxy formation is hierarchical and follows the growth of dark-matter halos. The transition between the two regimes lies at the z ~ 2 peak of AGN activity.
Our MAMBO 1.2 mm blank field imaging survey of ~0.75 sqd has uncovered four unusually bright sources, with flux densities between 10 and 90 mJy, all located in the Abell 2125 field. The three brightest are flat spectrum radio sources with bright optical and X-ray counterparts. Their mm and radio flux densities are variable on timescales of months. Their X-ray luminosities classify them as quasars. The faintest of the four mm bright sources appears to be a bright, radio-quiet starburst at z~3, similar to the sources seen at lower flux densities in the MAMBO and SCUBA surveys. It may also host a mildly obscured AGN of quasar-like X-ray luminosity. The three non-thermal mm sources imply an areal density of flat spectrum radio sources higher by at least 7 compared with that expected from an extrapolation of the lower frequency radio number counts.
We present the results of a survey, the deepest to date, for HI emission at 21 cm and OH emission at 18 cm (lines at 1612, 1665, 1667 and 1720 MHz) in the direction towards the Galactic globular clusters M 15, M 2, NGC 6934, NGC 7006 and Pal 13. The aim is to measure the amount of hydrogen in the intra-cluster medium (ICM), and to find OH masers in the circumstellar envelopes of globular cluster red giants. We present a tentative detection of 0.3 Msun of neutral hydrogen in M 15 and possible detections of neutral hydrogen in M 2 and Pal 13. We derive upper limits to the neutral hydrogen content of NGC 6934 and NGC 7006. No OH emission is detected. We also present deep HI data of the northern tip of the Magellanic Stream behind Pal 13.
We derive the first luminosity-metallicity relation for a large objectively selected sample of local galaxy pairs and we compare the pairs LZ relation with the relation for the Nearby Field Galaxy Survey (NFGS). Galaxy pair members with small projected separations (s<20 kpc/h) have systematically lower metallicities (~0.2 dex on average) than the field galaxies, or than more widely separated pairs at the same luminosity. There is a strong correlation between metallicity and central burst strength in the galaxy pairs. All five galaxies in the pairs sample with strong central bursts have close companions and metallicities lower than the comparable field galaxies. Our results provide strong observational evidence for a merger scenario where galaxy interactions cause gas flows towards the central regions, carrying less enriched gas from the outskirts of the galaxy into the central regions. The less enriched gas dilutes the pre-existing nuclear gas to produce a lower metallicity than would be obtained prior to the interaction. These gas flows trigger central bursts of star formation, causing strong central burst strengths, and possibly aiding the formation of blue bulges. We show that the timescale and central gas dilution required by this scenario are consistent with predictions from hydrodynamic merger models.
Computing the perturbation spectrum in the recently proposed Island Cosmology remains an open problem. In this paper we present a classical computation of the perturbations generated in this scenario by assuming that the NEC-violating field behaves as a classical phantom field. Using an exactly-solvable potential, we show that the model generates a scale-invariant spectrum of scalar perturbations, as well as a scale-invariant spectrum of gravitational waves. The scalar perturbations can have sufficient amplitude to seed cosmological structure, while the gravitational waves have a vastly diminished amplitude.
Strong gravitational lensing and stellar dynamics provide two complementary and orthogonal constraints on the density profiles of galaxies. Based on spherically symmetric, scale-free, mass models, it is shown that the combination of both techniques is powerful in breaking the mass-sheet and mass-anisotropy degeneracies. Second, observational results are presented from the Lenses Structure & Dynamics (LSD) Survey and the Sloan Lens ACS (SLACS) Survey collaborations to illustrate this new methodology in constraining the dark and stellar density profiles, and mass structure, of early-type galaxies to redshifts of unity.
We have determined spectroscopic ages of elliptical galaxies in the Virgo cluster using spectra of very high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N/A > 100). We observed 8 galaxies with the Subaru Telescope and have combined this sample with 6 galaxies previously observed with the WHT. To determine their ages we have used a new method based on the Hgamma_sigma age indicator, which is virtually independent of the effects of metallicity. Apart from ages we have estimated abundances of various elements. In this paper we present the observations, the data reduction and the reliability of the Hgamma_sigma method. The results of this investigation are presented in a companion paper (Yamada et al. 2006).
We present a new picture for the central regions of Black Hole X-ray Binaries. In our view, these central regions have a multi-flow configuration which consists in (1) an outer standard accretion disc down to a transition radius r_J, (2) an inner magnetized accretion disc below r_J driving (3) a non relativistic self-collimated electron-proton jet surrounding, when adequate conditions for pair creation are met, (4) a ultra relativistic electron-positron beam. This accretion-ejection paradigm provides a simple explanation to the canonical spectral states by varying the transition radius r_J and disc accretion rate independently. Large values of r_J correspond to the Quiescent state for low $\dot m$ and the Hard state for larger $\dot m$. These states are characterized by the presence of a steady electron-proton MHD jet emitted by the disc below r_J. The hard X-ray component is expected to form at the jet basis. When r_j becomes smaller than the marginally stable orbit r_i, the whole disc resembles a standard accretion disc, characteristic of the Soft state. Intermediate states correspond to situations where r_J ~ r_i. At large $\dot m$, an unsteady pair cascade process is triggered within the jet axis, giving birth to ejection of relativistic pair blobs. This would correspond to the luminous intermediate state, with its associated superluminal motions. The variation of r_J independently of $\dot m$ is a necessary ingredient in this picture, arising from the presence of a large scale vertical magnetic field threading the disc.
In this brief note we comment on a recent attempt by Martineau and Brandenberger (astro-ph/0510523) to explain the acceleration of the Universe using the back-reaction of long-wavelength perturbations associated with isocurvature perturbation modes.
For applications in population synthesis, libraries of theoretical stellar spectra are often considered an alternative to template libraries of observed spectra, because they allow a complete sampling of stellar parameters. Most attention in published theoretical spectral libraries has been devoted to the visual wavelength range. We present a detailed comparison of theoretical spectra in the range 1.57-1.67$\mu$m, for spectral types from A to early M and for giants and dwarf stars, with observed stellar spectra at resolutions around 3000, which would be sufficient to disentangle the different groups of late type stars. We have selected the NeMo grids of stellar atmospheres to perform such a comparison. We first demonstrate that after combining atomic and molecular line lists, it is possible to match observed spectral flux distributions with theoretical ones very well for almost the entire parameter range covered by the NeMo grids at moderate resolution in the visual range. In the infrared range, although the overall shape of the observed flux distributions is still matched reasonably well, the individual spectral features are reproduced by the theoretical spectra only for stars earlier than mid F type. For later spectral types the differences increase and theoretical spectra of K type stars have systematically weaker line features than those found in observations. These discrepancies are traced back to stem primarily from incomplete data on neutral atomic lines, although some of them are also related to molecules. Improving atomic data in the near infrared is a key element in making the construction of reliable libraries of stellar spectra in the infrared feasible.
Gravity modes are the best probes to study the solar radiative zone dynamics, especially in the nuclear core. These modes remain difficult to observe, but they are essential ingredients for progressing on the evolution of the Sun-Earth relationship at the level of centuries. Today, the knowledge of the internal dynamics comes from acoustic modes and concerns mainly the external 2% of the solar mass. Nevertheless, the flat rotation profile of the radiative zone compels physics beyond the standard framework. I summarize different attempts to look for gravity modes and the results obtained after 8 years of observation with the GOLF/SoHO instrument. Some gravity mode candidates (at 1mm/s level) have appeared with more than 98% confidence level as quadruplets or quintuplets. These patterns, if confirmed as gravity modes, may reveal very exciting physics of the solar core. Getting information on rotation and magnetic field in the solar core are real keys to simulate a complete dynamical solar picture. The understanding of the solar dynamics, the precise energetic balance and its temporal evolution necessitate more observations of the radiative zone which constitutes 98% of the Sun by mass. Our expertise in Doppler velocity measurements allows a step further and a new instrumental concept to reach velocities as low as 0.1 mm/s. A prototype will join the Tenerife site in 2006 and a space version is proposed to CNES and ESA as a microsatellite or part of a payload at the L1 Lagrange point.
With present and future observations becoming of higher and higher quality, it is timely and necessary to investigate the most significant theoretical uncertainties in the predictions of inflation. We show that our ignorance of of the entire history of the Universe, including the physics of reheating after inflation, translates to considerable errors in observationally relevant parameters. Using the inflationary flow formalism, we estimate that for a spectral index $n$ and tensor/scalar ratio $r$ in the region favored by current observational constraints, the theoretical errors are of order $\Delta n \sim 0.02$ and $\Delta r /r \sim 1$. These errors represent the dominant theoretical uncertainties in the predictions of inflation, and are generically of the order of or larger than the projected uncertainties in future precision measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background. We also show that the lowest-order classification of models into small field, large field, and hybrid breaks down when higher order corrections to the dynamics are included. Models can flow from one region to another.
We test whether the peak absolute magnitude Mv(TO) of the Globular Cluster Luminosity Function (GCLF) can be used for reliable extragalactic distance determinations. Starting with the luminosity function of the Galactic Globular Clusters listed in Harris catalog, we determine Mv(TO) either using current calibrations of the absolute magnitude Mv(RR) of RR Lyrae stars as a function of the cluster metal content [Fe/H] and adopting selected cluster samples. We show that the peak magnitude is slightly affected by the adopted Mv(RR)-[Fe/H] relation, while it depends on the criteria to select the cluster sample. As for the GCLFs in other external galaxies, using Surface Brightness Fluctuations (SBF) measurements we give evidence that the luminosity functions of the blue (metal-poor) Globular Clusters peak at the same luminosity within ~0.2 mag, whereas for the red (metal-rich) samples the agreement is within ~0.5 mag even accounting for the theoretical metallicity correction expected for clusters with similar ages and mass distributions. Then, using the SBF absolute magnitudes provided by a Cepheid distance scale calibrated on a fiducial distance to LMC (m(LMC)=18.50 mag), we show that the Mv(TO) value of the metal-poor clusters in external galaxies(-7.67+/-0.23 mag) is in excellent agreement with the value of both Galactic (-7.66+/-0.11 mag) and M31 (-7.65+/-0.19 mag)ones.
We report the use of the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) to conduct polarimetric observations of the sky at 5 GHz. The ATCA is normally operated as an interferometer array, but these observations were conducted in a split array mode in which the antenna elements were used as single-dishes with their beams staggered to simultaneously cover a wide area of sky with a resolution of 10 arcmin. The linearly polarized sky radiation was fully characterized from measurements, made over a range of parallactic angles, of the cross correlated signals from the orthogonal linear feeds. We describe the technique and present a polarimetric image of the Vela supernova remnant made as a test of the method. The development of the techniques was motivated by the need for wide-field imaging of the foreground contamination of the polarized component of the cosmic microwave background signal.
We have observed S5 2007+777 and 3C371 in the B and I bands for 13 and 8 nights, respectively, during various observing runs in 2001, 2002 and 2004. The observations resulted in almost evenly sampled light curves, 6-9 hours long. We do not detect any flares within the observed light curves, but we do observe small amplitude, significant variations, in both bands, on time scales of hours and days. The average variability amplitude on time scales of minutes/hours is 2.5% and 1-1.5% in the case of S5 2007+777 and 3C371, respectively. The average amplitudes increase to 5-12% and 4-6%, respectively, on time scales of days. We find that the B and I band variations are highly correlated, on both short and long time scales. During the 2004 observations, which resulted in the longest light curves, we observe two well defined flux-decay and rising trends in the light curves of both objects. When the flux decays, we observe significant delays, with the B band flux decaying faster than the flux in the I band. As a result, we also observe significant, flux related spectral variations as well. The flux-spectral relation is rather complicated, with loop-like structures forming during the flux evolution. The presence of spectral variations imply that the observed variability is not caused by geometric effects. On the other hand, our results are fully consistent with the hypothesis that the observed variations are caused by perturbations which affect different regions in the jet of the sources.
We consider cosmological implications of the formula for the dark energy density derived by Gurzadyan and Xue which predicts a value fitting the obervational one. Cosmological models with varying by time physical constants, namely, speed of light and gravitational constant and/or their combinations, are considered. In one of the models, for example, vacuum energy density induces effective negative curvature, while another one has a narrow allowed range of density. This analysis also explicitely rises the issue of the meaning and content of physical units and constants in cosmological context.
The UVOT telescope on the Swift observatory has detected optical afterglow emission from GRB 050319. The flux declines with a power law slope of alpha = -0.57 between the start of observations some 230 seconds after the burst onset (90s after the burst trigger) until it faded below the sensitivity threshold of the instrument after ~5 x 10^4s. There is no evidence for the rapidly declining component in the early light curve that is seen at the same time in the X-ray band. The afterglow is not detected in UVOT shortward of the B-band, suggesting a redshift of about 3.5. The optical V-band emission lies on the extension of the X-ray spectrum, with an optical to X-ray slope of beta = -0.8. The relatively flat decay rate of the burst suggests that the central engine continues to inject energy into the fireball for as long as a few x 10^4s after the burst.
We have searched the broad-absorption-line quasar (BAL QSO) sample presented by Reichard et al. for objects exhibiting the so-called `ghost of Lyman alpha'. This ghost manifests as a hump near -5900kms in the troughs of the broad absorption lines and provides strong evidence for the importance of line-driving in powering the outflows from BAL QSOs. Of the 224 sample BAL QSOs selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Early Data Release (EDR), 198 satisfy our redshift constraints and 58 show clear evidence of multiple-trough (MT) structure in the CIV line. A composite spectrum constructed from this MT sample already shows evidence for a ghost feature. Narrowing our classification scheme further, we define a set of 36 objects that individually show evidence of a ghost feature, and then apply further cuts to arrive at a final `best sample' that contains our seven strongest ghost candidates. A further five objects show evidence for a ghost feature that is almost strong enough to merit inclusion in our best sample. Despite its limited size, our best sample more than doubles the number of known BAL QSOs with clear ghost signatures and should make an excellent basis for detailed follow-up studies.
We present the spectrophotometric properties of a sample of 141 emission-line galaxies at redshifts in the range $0.2<z<1.0$ with a peak around $z\in[0.2,0.4]$. The analysis is based on medium resolution ($R\_{\mathrm{s}}=500-600$), optical spectra obtained at VLT and Keck. The targets are mostly {} "Canada-France Redshift Survey" emission-line galaxies, with the addition of field galaxies randomly selected behind lensing clusters. We complement this sample with galaxy spectra from the {} "Gemini Deep Deep Survey" public data release. We have computed absolute magnitudes of the galaxies and measured the line fluxes and equivalent widths of the main emission/absorption lines. The last two have been measured after careful subtraction of the fitted stellar continuum using the \texttt{platefit} software originally developed for the SDSS and adapted to our data. We present a careful comparison of this software with the results of manual measurements. The pipeline has also been tested on lower resolution spectra, typical of the {} "VIMOS/VLT Deep Survey" ($R\_{\mathrm{s}}=250$), by resampling our medium resolution spectra. We show that we can successfully deblend the most important strong emission lines. These data are primarily used to perform a spectral classification of the galaxies in order to distinguish star-forming galaxies from AGNs. Among the initial sample of 141 emission-line galaxies, we find 8 Seyfert 2 (narrow-line AGN), 111 star-forming galaxies and 18 {} "candidate" star-forming galaxies. Scientific analysis of these data, in terms of chemical abundances, stellar populations, etc, will be presented in subsequent papers of this serie.
We present the gas-phase oxygen abundance (O/H) for a sample of 129 star-forming galaxies at intermediate redshifts ($0.2<z<1.0$). The sample selection, the spectroscopic observations (mainly with VLT/FORS) and associated data reduction, the photometric properties, the emission-line measurements, and the spectral classification are fully described in a companion paper (Paper I). We use two methods to estimate the O/H abundance ratio: the {} "standard" $R\_{\mathrm{23}}$ method which is based on empirical calibrations, and the CL01 method which is based on grids of photo-ionization models and on the fitting of emission lines. For most galaxies, we have been able to solve the problem of the metallicity degeneracy between the high- and low-metallicity branches of the O/H vs. $R\_{\mathrm{23}}$ relationship using various secondary indicators. The luminosity -- metallicity ($L-Z$) relation has been derived in the $B$- and $R$-bands, with metallicities derived with the two methods ($R\_{\mathrm{23}}$ and CL01). In the analysis, we first consider our sample alone and then a larger one which includes other samples of intermediate-redshift galaxies drawn from the literature. The derived $L-Z$ relations at intermediate redshifts are very similar (same slope) to the $L-Z$ relation obtained for the local universe. Our sample alone does not show any significant evolution of the $L-Z$ relation with redshift up to $z\sim1.0$. We only find statistical variations consistent with the uncertainty in the derived parameters. Including other samples of intermediate-redshift galaxies, we find however that galaxies at $z\sim1$ appear to be metal-deficient by a factor of $\sim2.5$ compared with galaxies in the local universe. For a given luminosity, they contain on average about one third of the metals locked in local galaxies.
We use thermochemical equilibrium and kinetic calculations to model sulfur and phosphorus chemistry in the atmospheres of giant planets, brown dwarfs, low-mass stars, and extrasolar giant planets (EGPs). The chemical behavior of individual S- and P-bearing gases and condensates is determined as a function of pressure, temperature, and metallicity. Our results are independent of any particular model atmosphere and the behavior of different gases can be used to constrain atmospheric structure and metallicity. Hydrogen sulfide is the dominant sulfur gas in substellar atmospheres and approximately represents the atmospheric sulfur inventory. Depending on the prevailing S and C chemistry, the abundance of minor sulfur gases may constrain atmospheric temperatures or metallicity. Disequilibrium abundances of PH3 are expected in the observable atmospheres of substellar objects, and PH3 is representative of the total P abundance in giant planets and T dwarfs. A number of other phosphorus gases become relatively abundant in substellar atmospheres with increasing effective temperatures.
We present an overview of recent X-ray observations of Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars with XMM-Newton and Chandra. A new XMM spectrum of the nearby WN8 + OB binary WR 147 shows hard absorbed X-ray emission, including the Fe K-alpha line complex, characteristic of colliding wind shock sources. In contrast, sensitive observations of four of the closest known single WC (carbon-rich) WR stars have yielded only non-detections. These results tentatively suggest that single WC stars are X-ray quiet. The presence of a companion may thus be an essential factor in elevating the X-ray emission of WC + OB stars to detectable levels.
We present U and B galaxy differential number counts from a field of ~900 arcmin^2, based on GOYA Survey imaging of the HST Groth-Westphal strip. Source detection efficiency corrections as a function of the object size have been applied. A variation of the half-exposure image method has been devised to identify and remove spurious detections. Achieved 50% detection efficiencies are 24.8 mag in U and 25.5 mag in B in the Vega system. Number count slopes are d log (N)/dm = 0.50 +/- 0.02 for B=21.0-24.5, and d log (N)/dm = 0.48 +/- 0.03 for U=21.0-24.0. Simple number count models are presented that simultaneously reproduce the counts over 15 mag in U and B,and over 10 mag in K_s, using a Lambda-dominated cosmology and SDSS local luminosity functions. Only by setting a recent z_f ~ 1.5 formation redshift for early-type, red galaxies do the models reproduce the change of slope observed at Ks = 17.5 in NIR counts. A moderate optical depth (tau_B = 0.6) for all galaxy types ensures that the recent formation for ellipticals does not leave a signature in the U or B number counts, which are featureless at intermediate magnitudes. No ad-hoc disappearing populations are needed to explain the counts if number evolution is introduced using an observationally-based z-evolution of the merger fraction.
Several key motivations and perspectives of ground based gamma-ray astronomy are discussed in the context of the specifics of detection techniques and scientific topics/objectives relevant to four major energy domains -- very-low or \textit{multi-GeV} ($E \leq$ 30 GeV), low or \textit{sub-TeV} (30 GeV - 300 GeV), high or \textit{TeV} (300 GeV - 30 TeV), and very-high or \textit{sub-PeV} ($E \geq$ 30 TeV) intervals -- to be covered by the next generation of IACT arrays.
In this paper we use high quality X-ray observations from XMM-Newton and Chandra to gain new insights into the explosion that originated Tycho's supernova 433 years ago. We perform a detailed comparison between the ejecta emission from the spatially integrated X-ray spectrum of the supernova remnant and current models for Type Ia supernova explosions. We use a grid of synthetic X-ray spectra based on hydrodynamic models of the evolution of the supernova remnant and self-consistent nonequilibrium ionization calculations for the state of the shocked plasma. We find that the fundamental properties of the X-ray emission in Tycho are well reproduced by a one-dimensional delayed detonation model with a kinetic energy of 1.2e51 erg. All the other paradigms for Type Ia explosions that we have tested fail to provide a good approximation to the observed ejecta emission, including one-dimensional deflagrations, pulsating delayed detonations and sub-Chandrasekhar explosions, as well as deflagration models calculated in three dimensions. Our results require that the supernova ejecta retain some degree of chemical stratification, with Fe-peak elements interior to intermediate mass elements. This strongly suggests that a supersonic burning front (i.e., a detonation) must be involved at some stage in the physics of Type Ia supernova explosions.
We construct a simple but self-consistent analytic ionization model for rapid exploration of 21cm power spectrum observables in redshift space. It is fully described by the average ionization fraction $x_e(z)$ and HII patch size $R(z)$ and has the flexibility to accommodate various reionization scenarios. The model associates ionization regions with dark matter halos of the number density required to recover $x_e$ and treats redshift space distortions self-consistently with the virial velocity of such halos. Based on this model, we study the line-of-sight structures in the brightness fluctuations since they are the most immune to foreground contamination. We explore the degeneracy between the HII patch size and nonlinear redshift space distortion in the one dimensional power spectrum. We also discuss the limitations experimental frequency and angular resolutions place on their distinguishability. Angular resolution dilutes even the radial signal and will be a serious limitation for resolving small bubbles before the end of reionization. Nonlinear redshift space distortions suggest that a resolution of order 1 -- 10\arcsec and a frequency resolution of 10kHz will ultimately be desirable to extract the full information in the radial field at $z\sim 10$. First generation instruments such as LOFAR and MWA can potentially measure radial HII patches of a few comoving Mpc and larger at the end of reionization and are unlikely to be affected by nonlinear redshift space distortions.
A hypermassive neutron star (HMNS) is a possible transient formed after the merger of a neutron star binary. In the latest magnetohydrodynamic simulations in full general relativity, we find that a magnetized HMNS undergoes `delayed' collapse to a rotating black hole (BH) as a result of angular momentum transport via magnetic braking and the magnetorotational instability. The outcome is a BH surrounded by a massive, hot torus with a collimated magnetic field. The torus accretes onto the BH at a quasi-steady accretion rate ~10 solar mass/s; the lifetime of the torus is ~10 ms. The torus has a temperature \sim 10^{12} K, leading to copious neutrino-antineutrino thermal radiation. Therefore, the collapse of an HMNS is a promising scenario for generating short-duration gamma-ray bursts and an accompanying burst of gravitational waves and neutrinos.
The primary purpose of this communication is to decipher the possible physics underlying the rough 1:2 bifurcation of Omega into Omega_matter and Omega_Lambda. It is pointed out that contrary to a vanishing cosmological constant (Lambda) case, a Lambda > 0 implies a minimum density for stable fluctuations in energy density. Using this result, and without invoking the observed non-Keplerian rotation curves of the galaxies (or, the relevant data on gravitational lensing), we provide a `broad-brush' general relativistic argument for the existence of dark matter and establish the possible physics underlying the indicated bifurcation. We remark on a factor of 4 over-estimate of dark matter in the Newtonian counterpart, thus raising the possibility that the indicated 1:2 bifurcation is a new cosmological signature of general relativistic effects.
We present the abundance analysis of stars from the tip of the red giant branch (RGB) to below the RGB-bump in the globular cluster NGC 2808, based on high resolution echelle spectra. We derived abundances of Al, alpha-process elements (Si I, Ca I, Ti I and Ti II) and Fe-group elements (Sc II, V I, Cr I, Cr II, Mn I, Co I, Ni I). Apart from Mg being somewhat reduced, likely because it has been depleted at the expense of Al in the MgAl cycle, the other alpha-element ratios show the overabundance typical of halo stars of similar metallicity. Mn is underabundant, whereas Fe-group elements have typical abundance ratios near the solar value. We detect star-to-star differences in Al abundances from the RGB tip down to the faintest star below the RGB-bump, correlated with Na abundances at all luminosities. The slope of the Na-Al correlation is similar to the one found in M 13 by Sneden et al. (2004), but it is different from those in other globular clusters of similar metallicity. We find that the amount of chemical inhomogeneities along the Na-O and Mg-Al anticorrelations in globular cluster red giants is correlated with the present day cluster mass and ellipticity. Moreover, we find for the first time a correlation between the spread in proton-capture elements and orbital parameters of clusters. The chemical anomalies are more extended in clusters having large-sized orbits and longer periods, and in clusters with larger inclination angles of the orbit with respect to the Galactic plane.
We present results from four recent Chandra monitoring observations of the jet in 3C 273 using the ACIS detector, obtained between November 2003 and July 2004. We find that the X-ray emission comes in two components: unresolved knots that are smaller than the corresponding optically emitting knots and a broad channel that is about the same width as the optical interknot region. We compute the jet speed under the assumption that the X-ray emission is due to inverse Compton scattering of the cosmic microwave background, finding that the dimming of the jet X-ray emission to the jet termination relative to the radio emission may be due to bulk deceleration.
Recently a mechanism was proposed whereby the primordial density perturbations are generated at the end of inflation. We show for the proposed model of this mechanism that the resulting density perturbations dominate over those produced via the standard inflationary paradigm only after tuning the parameters of the model. However, we provide a straightforward variation of this model which alleviates this problem. In addition, we show that a variation in the implementation of the original model results in significant non-gaussianities for a range of model parameters. The level of non-gaussianities can be made to saturate the current observational bound.
How much dust can be produced in the early Universe? Does dust production depend on the average heavy-metal content of the hosting galaxy? Considering supernova explosions, massive stars (Wolf-Rayet, LBV and RSG), and relatively massive AGB stars among possible dust-generating objects in the early Universe, we find that SN remnants can be regarded as the main source of the primordial dust. However, this conclusion is based on highly uncertain (and probably over-estimated) dust production rates. Despite all the uncertainties, interstellar extinction must be taken into account while observing high-redshift objects.
We study the broadband polarization of hydrogen lines produced by resonance scattering, in the presence of isotropic electric fields. In this paper, we focus on two distinct problems: a) the possibility of detecting the presence of turbulent electric fields by polarimetric methods, and b) the influence of such fields on the polarization due to a macroscopic, deterministic magnetic field. We found that isotropic electric fields decrease the degree of linear polarization due to resonance scattering, with respect to the zero-field case. On the other hand, a distribution of isotropic electric fields superimposed onto a deterministic magnetic field can generate a significant increase of the degree of magnetic-induced, net circular polarization. This phenomenon has important implications for the diagnostics of magnetic fields in plasmas using resonance hydrogen lines, because of the ubiquitous presence of the Holtsmark, microscopic electric field from neighbouring ions. In particular, previous solar magnetographic studies of the Balmer lines of hydrogen may need to be revised because they neglected the effect of turbulent electric fields on the polarization signals. In this work, we give explicit results for the Lyman alpha and Balmer alpha lines.
The attenuation of very high energy gamma rays by pair production on the Galactic interstellar radiation field has long been thought of as negligible. However, a new calculation of the interstellar radiation field consistent with multi-wavelength observations by DIRBE and FIRAS indicates that the Galactic interstellar radiation field is intense. We have made a calculation of the attenuation of very high energy gamma rays in the Galaxy using this new interstellar radiation field which takes into account its nonuniform spatial and angular distributions. We find that the maximum attenuation occurs around 100 TeV at the level of about 25% for sources located at the Galactic center, within the energy range of the HESS instrument, and is important for both Galactic and extragalactic sources.
Planetary formation models predict the existence of massive terrestrial planets and experiments are now being designed that should succeed in discovering them and measuring their masses and radii. We calculate internal structures of planets with one to ten times the mass of the Earth (Super-Earths) in order to obtain scaling laws for total radius, mantle thickness, core size and average density as a function of mass. We explore different compositions and obtain a scaling law of $R\propto M^{0.267-0.272}$ for Super-Earths. We also study a second family of planets, Super-Mercuries with masses ranging from one mercury-mass to ten mercury-masses with similar composition to the Earth's but larger core mass fraction. We explore the effect of surface temperature and core mass fraction on the scaling laws for these planets. The scaling law obtained for the Super-Mercuries is $R\propto M^{\sim0.3}$.
The discovery of extended, approximately spherical weak shock waves in the hot intercluster gas in Perseus and Virgo has precipitated the notion that these waves may be the primary heating process that explains why so little gas cools to low temperatures. This type of heating has received additional support from recent gasdynamical models. We show here that outward propagating, dissipating waves deposit most of their energy near the center of the cluster atmosphere. Consequently, if the gas is heated by (intermittent) weak shocks for several Gyrs, the gas within 30-50 kpc is heated to temperatures that far exceed observed values. This heating can be avoided if dissipating shocks are sufficiently infrequent or weak so as not to be the primary source of global heating. Local PV and viscous heating associated with newly formed X-ray cavities are likely to be small, which is consistent with the low gas temperatures generally observed near the centers of groups and clusters where the cavities are located.
Elliptical galaxies and their groups having the largest L_x/L_B lie close to the locus in the L_x,L_B diagram expected for closed systems with baryon fractions equal to the cosmic mean value, f_b = 0.16. The estimated baryon fractions for several of these galaxies/groups are also close to 0.16 when the gas density is extrapolated to the virial radius. Evidently they are the least massive baryonically closed systems. Gas retention in these groups implies that non-gravitational heating cannot exceed about 1 keV per particle, consistent with the heating required to produce the deviation of groups from the L_x - T correlation for more massive clusters. Isolated galaxies/groups with X-ray luminosities significantly lower than baryonically closed groups may have undermassive dark halos, overactive central AGNs, or higher star formation efficiencies. The virial mass and hot gas temperatures of nearly or completely closed groups correlate with the group X-ray luminosities and the optical luminosities of the group-centered elliptical galaxy, an expected consequence of their merging history. The ratio of halo mass to the mass of the central galaxy for X-ray luminous galaxy/groups is about 80.
Several experiments measure the fluorescence light produced by extensive air showers in the atmosphere. This light is converted into a longitudinal shower profile from which information on the primary energy and composition is derived. The fluorescence yield as the conversion factor between light profile measured by EAS experiments and physical interpretation of showers has been measured since several decades in laboratory experiments. The results however differ considerably. Therefore, models of the fluorescence emission from several band systems of nitrogen in dependence on wavelength and atmospheric conditions are presented in the article. The model introduced here is compared with measurements and the altitude-dependence of the fluorescence yield is discussed in detail.
GRB050904 is very interesting since it is by far the most distant GRB event known to date($z=6.29$). It was reported that during the prompt high energy emission phase, a very bright optical flare was detected, and it was temporal coincident with an X-ray flare. Here we use two models to explain the optical flare, One is the "late internal shock model", in which the optical flare is produced by the synchrotron radiation of the electrons accelerated by the late internal shock, and the X-ray flare is produced by the synchrotron-self-Compton mechanism. The other is the external forward-reverse shock model, in which the optical flare is from the reverse shock emission and the X-ray flare is attributed to the central engine activity. We show that with proper parameters, a bright optical flare can appear in both models. We think the "late internal shock model" is more favored since in this model the optical flash and the X-ray flare have the same origin, which provides a natural explanation of the temporal coincidence of them. In the forward-reverse shock scenario, fits to the optical flare and the late afterglow suggests that the physical parameters of the reverse shock are much different from that of forward shock, as found in modeling the optical flash of GRB 990123 previously.
It is well-established that strong bars rotating in dense halos generally slow down as they lose angular momentum to the halo through dynamical friction. Angular momentum exchanges between the bar and halo particles take place at resonances. While some particles gain and others lose, friction arises when there is an excess of gainers over losers. This imbalance results from the generally decreasing numbers of particles with increasing angular momentum, and friction can therefore be avoided if there is no gradient in the density of particles across the major resonances. Here we show that anomalously weak friction can occur for this reason if the pattern speed of the bar fluctuates upwards. After such an event, the density of resonant halo particles has a local inflexion created by the earlier exchanges, and bar slowdown can be delayed for a long period; we describe this as a metastable state. We show that this behavior in purely collisionless N-body simulations is far more likely to occur in methods with adaptive resolution. We also show that the phenomenon could arise in nature, since bar-driven gas inflow could easily raise the bar pattern speed enough to reach the metastable state. Finally, we demonstrate that mild external, or internal, perturbations quickly restore the usual frictional drag, and it is unlikely therefore that a strong bar in a galaxy having a dense halo could rotate for a long period without friction.
The ubiquitous and tight correlation between the radio continuum emission and the far-infrared emission is also found to hold true for starburst galaxies and Ultra Luminous Infrared Galaxies wherein most of the emission is from compact structures. The infrared photon density in the cores is high enough for the inverse Compton scattering to dominate over the synchrotron emission thus spoiling the correlation. The high magnetic field postulated to avoid this, also encounters the problem of steep radio index that is not observed. Further, at high densities the flux of secondary electrons can exceed that of the primary. The problems posed by such effects are discussed and suggestion for further work made.
It is now widely believed that the growth of massive black holes is closely linked to the formation of galaxies, but there have been few concrete constraints on the actual physical processes responsible for this coupling. Investigating the connection between AGN and starburst activity may offer some empirical guidance on this problem. I summarize previous observational searches for young stars in active galaxies, concluding that there is now compelling evidence for a significant post-starburst population in many luminous AGNs, and that a direct, causal link may exist between star formation and black hole accretion. Quantifying the ongoing star formation rate in AGNs, however, is much more challenging because of the strong contamination by the active nucleus. I discuss recent work attempting to measure the star formation rate in luminous AGNs and quasars. The exceptionally low level of coeval star formation found in these otherwise gas-rich systems suggests that the star formation efficiency in the host galaxies is suppressed in the presence of strong AGN feedback.
We compile a sample of Sun-like stars with accurate effective temperatures, metallicities and colours (from the UV to the near-IR). A crucial improvement is that the effective temperature scale of the stars has recently been established as both accurate and precise through direct measurement of angular diameters obtained with stellar interferometers. We fit the colours as a function of effective temperature and metallicity, and derive colour estimates for the Sun in the Johnson/Cousins, Tycho, Stromgren, 2MASS and SDSS photometric systems. For (B-V)_Sun, we favour the ``red'' colour 0.64 versus the ``blue'' colour 0.62 of other recent papers, but both values are consistent within the errors; we ascribe the difference to the selection of Sun-like stars versus interpolation of wider colour-Teff-metallicity relations.
The RSCVn system Sigma Geminorum was observed by XMM-Newton on April 2001 during a large flare. We model the emission measure distribution (EMD) during the flare and during a quiescence period. In the flare, a two phase behaviour is found in which the cool plasma (kT < 2 keV) is not disturbed while a large hot component, at temperatues of kT > 3 keV emerges. Fundamental limitations on EMD modeling of high temperature plasmas are then discussed, in the context of the Sigma Gem flare.
Observational consequences of inflationary cosmology in the holographic dual of the Randall-Sundrum type II braneworld scenario, as motivated by the AdS/CFT correspondence, are investigated. High energy corrections to the standard four-dimensional Friedmann equation induce a corresponding modification to the form of the single-field inflationary consistency equation based on Einstein gravity. The degree of departure from the standard expression is determined by the ratio, r, of the primordial tensor and scalar perturbation amplitudes and the coefficient, c, of the conformal anomaly in the dual gauge theory. It is found that a necessary condition for detecting such a correction with the next generation of cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiments is that r >= 0.06. The bound is tightened to r > 0.3 for values of the central charge that are compatible with known compactifications of type IIB string theory as parametrized in terms of F-theory compactification on Calabi-Yau four-folds. This is close to the present upper bounds inferred from combined observations of the CMB anisotropy power spectrum and high redshift surveys. We conclude that if such modifications to the inflationary consistency equation are to be observable, the gravitational wave background should be detected in the near future. A further consequence of the non-standard dynamics at high energies is that the initial state of the universe is a quiescent singularity with a finite density and pressure.
Future high-resolution microwave background measurements hold the promise of detecting galaxy clusters throughout our Hubble volume through their Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) signature, down to a given limiting flux. The number density of galaxy clusters is highly sensitive to cluster mass through fluctuations in the matter power spectrum, as well as redshift through the comoving volume and the growth factor. This sensitivity in principle allows tight constraints on such quantities as the equation of state of dark energy and the neutrino mass. We evaluate the ability of future cluster surveys to measure these quantities simultaneously when combined with PLANCK-like CMB data. Using a simple effective model for uncertainties in the cluster mass-SZ flux relation, we evaluate systematic shifts in cosmological constraints from cluster SZ surveys. We find that a systematic bias of 10% in cluster mass measurements can give rise to shifts in cosmological parameter estimates at levels larger than the $1\sigma$ statistical errors. Systematic errors are unlikely to be detected from the mass and redshift dependence of cluster number counts alone; increasing survey size has only a marginal effect. Implications for upcoming experiments are discussed.
We present previously unpublished BVRI photometry of the Type Ia supernovae 1999cc and 2000cf along with revised photometry of SN 1999cl. We confirm that SN 1999cl is reddened by highly non-standard dust, with R_V = 1.55 +/- 0.08. Excepting two quasar-lensing galaxies whose low values of R_V are controversial, this is the only known object with a published value of R_V less than 2.0. SNe 1999cl and 2000cf have near-infrared absolute magnitudes at maximum in good agreement with other Type Ia SNe of mid-range decline rates.
A generally parameterized equation of state (EOS) is investigated in the cosmological evolution with bulk viscosity media modelled as dark fluid, which can be regarded as a unification of dark energy and dark matter. Compared with the case of the perfect fluid, this EOS has possessed four additional parameters, which can be interpreted as the case of the non-perfect fluid with time-dependent viscosity or the model with variable cosmological constant. From this general EOS, a completely integrable dynamical equation to the scale factor is obtained with its solution explicitly given out. (i) In this parameterized model of cosmology, for a special choice of the parameters we can explain the late-time accelerating expansion universe in a new view. The early inflation, the median (relatively late time) deceleration, and the recently cosmic acceleration may be unified in a single equation. (ii) A generalized relation of the Hubble parameter scaling with the redshift is obtained for some cosmology interests. (iii) By using the SNe Ia data to fit the effective viscosity model we show that the case of matter described by $p=0$ plus with effective viscosity contributions can fit the observational gold data in an acceptable level
The relationship between galaxies and dark matter can be characterized by the halo mass of the central galaxy and the fraction of galaxies that are satellites. Here we present observational constraints from the SDSS on these quantities as a function of r-band luminosity and stellar mass using galaxy-galaxy weak lensing, with a total of 351,507 lenses. We use stellar masses derived from spectroscopy and virial halo masses derived from weak gravitational lensing to determine the efficiency with which baryons in the halo of the central galaxy have been converted into stars. We find that an L* galaxy with a stellar mass of 6x10^{10} M_{sun} is hosted by a halo with mass of 1.4x10^{12} M_{sun}/h, independent of morphology, yielding baryon conversion efficiencies of 17_{-5}^{+10} (early types) and 16_{-6}^{+15} (late types) per cent at the 95 per cent CL (statistical, not including systematic uncertainty due to assumption of a universal initial mass function, or IMF). We find that for a given stellar mass, the halo mass is independent of morphology below M_{stellar}=10^{11} M_{sun}, in contrast to typically a factor of two difference in halo mass between ellipticals and spirals at a fixed luminosity. This suggests that stellar mass is a good proxy for halo mass in this range and should be used preferentially whenever a halo mass selected sample is needed. For higher stellar masses, the conversion efficiency is a declining function of stellar mass, and the differences in halo mass between early and late types become larger, reflecting the fact that most group and cluster halos with masses above 10^{13} M_{sun} host ellipticals at the center, while even the brightest central spirals are hosted by halos of mass below 10^{13} M_{sun}. (Abridged)
We analyze the dynamical expansion of the HII region, photodissociation region, and the swept-up shell, solving the UV- and FUV-radiative transfer, the thermal and chemical processes in the time-dependent hydrodynamics code. Following our previous paper, we investigate the time evolutions with various ambient number densities and central stars. Our calculations show that basic evolution is qualitatively similar among our models with different parameters. The molecular gas is finally accumulated in the shell, and the gravitational fragmentation of the shell is generally expected. The quantitative differences among models are well understood with analytic scaling relations. The detailed physical and chemical structure of the shell is mainly determined by the incident FUV flux and the column density of the shell, which also follow the scaling relations. The time of shell-fragmentation, and the mass of the gathered molecular gas are sensitive tothe ambient number density. In the case of the lower number density, the shell-fragmentation occurs over a longer timescale, and the accumulated molecular gas is more massive. The variations with different central stars are more moderate. The time of the shell-fragmentation differs by a factor of several with the various stars of M_* = 12-101 M_sun. According to our numerical results, we conclude that the expanding HII region should be an efficient trigger for star formation in molecular clouds if the mass of the ambient molecular material is large enough.
The nearby young sigma Orionis cluster (~360 pc, ~3 Ma) is becoming one of the most important regions for the study of ultra low-mass star formation and its extension down to the mass regimes of the brown dwarfs and planetary-mass objects. Here, I introduce the sigma Orionis cluster and present three studies that the JOVIAN group is developing: a pilot programme of near-infrared adaptive-optics imaging, intermediate-resolution optical spectroscopy of a large sample of stars of the cluster and a study of the mass function down to the planetary-mass domain. This paper is a summary of the content of four posters that I presented in the Ultra low-mass star formation and evolution Workshop, as single author or on behalf of different collaborations.
In this letter, it is shown that dark energy is contributed by riccion (a particle concept for physical aspect of the Ricci scalar curvature) in a natural way without any input in the theory for it. It is in contrast to other models, where an idea for dark energy is introduced in the beginning of the theory. Interestingly, it is found that dark energy density, obtained here, decreases with scale factor $a(t)$ as $\sim a(t)^{- 3 (1 + {\rm w}_{\rm de})}$ explaining fall of its value from $1.19 \times 10^{75} {\rm GeV}^4$ at Planck scale to its present value suggested by recent experiments. Apart from dark energy, dark radiation also emerges from the gravity sector. It is demonstarted that the universe decelerates due to dark radiation upto the transition time $7.02 \pm 0.81 {\rm Gyr}$ (if ${\rm w}_{\rm de} = - 0.82$) and accelerates later on due to dominance of dark energy. Moreover, it is found that value of gravitational constant is slightly reduced at the cosmic scale due to acceleration.
Three brown dwarfs in different evolutionary stages have been observed with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Combining the new observations with previous studies presented in the literature yields a brown dwarf sample that reaches well down into the cooling phase of brown dwarfs, allowing to investigate the possible influence of effective temperature on X-ray activity. Combining our results with published data allows us to consider a subsample of high-mass brown dwarfs (with 0.05-0.07 Msun), and another one characterized by similar effective temperature (with 2400-2800 K). Our findings support the idea that effective temperature plays a critical role for the X-ray activity in brown dwarfs. This underlines an earlier suggestion based on observations of chromospheric Ha emission in ultracool dwarfs that the low ionization fraction in the cool brown dwarf atmospheres may suppress magnetic activity.
This is the second in a series of papers presenting observations and results for a sample of 76 ultra-steep-spectrum (USS) radio sources in the southern hemisphere designed to find galaxies at high redshift. Here we focus on the optical spectroscopy program for 53 galaxies in the sample. We report 35 spectroscopic redshifts, based on observations with the Very Large Telescope (VLT), the New Technology Telescope (NTT) and the Australian National University's 2.3m telescope; they include five radio galaxies with z>3. Spectroscopic redshifts for the remaining 18 galaxies could not be confirmed: three are occulted by Galactic stars, eight show continuum emission but no discernible spectral lines, whilst the remaining seven galaxies are undetected in medium-deep VLT integrations. The latter are either at very high redshift (z >~7) or heavily obscured by dust. A discussion of the efficiency of the USS technique is presented. Based on the similar space density of z>3 radio galaxies in our sample compared with other USS-selected samples, we argue that USS selection at 843-1400 MHz is an efficient and reliable technique for finding distant radio galaxies.
We report on time-resolved CCD photometry during the 2005 June outburst of a dwarf nova, ASAS160048-4846.2. The observed light curves unambiguously showed embryonic humps with a period of 0.063381(41) days, after which genuine superhumps emerged with a period of 0.064927(3) days. Based on evidence for double-peaked humps in the earlier stage of the outburst, this object might be qualified as the seventh member of WZ Sge-type dwarf novae after Var Her 04. If the former period is the same as, or very close to the orbital period of the system, as in other WZ Sge systems, the fractional superhump excess is about 2.4${%}$. This value is unexpectedly larger than that of other WZ Sge-type dwarf novae. The early phase of our observing run provided evidence for the transition from chaotic humps to genuine superhumps, together with increasing the amplitude.
The space experiment CoRoT will provide continuous monitoring and high
accuracy light curves of about sixty thousand stars. Selected binary systems
will be observed in the Additional Program frame as targets of long and
continuous pointed observations. Moreover, thousands of new binaries will
certainly be detected and hundreds of them will have extremely accurate light
curves. This will allow studies of fine effects on the light curves, monitoring
of stellar activity and, in combination with ground-based observations, will
provide exquisite determination of stellar parameters.
Among the new discoveries of interesting systems of special value will be
those of low mass binaries.
The combination of dispersion measures of pulsars, distances from the model of Cordes and Lazio (2002) and emission measures from the WHAM survey enabled a statistical study of electron densities and filling factors of the diffuse ionized gas (DIG) in the Milky Way. The emission measures were corrected for absorption and contributions from beyond the pulsar distance. For a sample of 157 pulsars at |b| > 5 degrees, mainly located in interarm regions within about 3 kpc from the Sun, we find that: (1) The average volume filling factor along the line of sight is inversely proportional to the mean electron density in clouds. (2) The average volume filling factor increases towards larger distances from the Galactic plane. (3) The local volume filling factor may reach a maximum near |z| = 0.9 kpc, whereas the local electron density continues to decrease at higher |z|, thus causing the observed flattening in the distribution of dispersion measures perpendicular to the plane above this height. (4) The scale heights of the electron density, the volume filling factor and the emission measure are the same and in the range 250-500 pc.
Core-collapse supernovae are connected with formation of neutron stars. Part of the gravitation energy is transformed into the energy of the explosion, observed in SN II, SN Ib,c type supernovae. The mechanism of transformation is not simple, because the overwhelming majority of the energy is going into weakly interacting neutrino. The attempts to use this energy for the explosion were not successful during about 40 years of investigation. We consider the explosion mechanism in which the source of energy is the rotation, and magnetic field serves for the transformation of the rotation energy into the energy of explosion. 2-D MHD simulations of this mechanism were performed. After the collapse the core consists of a rapidly rotating proto-neutron star with a differentially rotating envelope. The toroidal part of the magnetic energy generated by the differential rotation grows as quadratic function with time at the initial stage of the evolution of the magnetic field. The linear growth of the toroidal magnetic field is terminated by the development of magnetohydrodynamic instability, when the twisted toroidal component strongly exceeds the poloidal field, leading to a drastic acceleration in the growth of magnetic energy. At the moment when the magnetic pressure becomes comparable to the gas pressure at the periphery of the proto-neutron star the MHD compression wave appears and goes through the envelope of the collapsed core. It transforms into the fast MHD shock and produces a supernova explosion. Our simulations give the energy of the explosion $0.6\cdot 10^{51}$ ergs. The amount of the mass ejected by the explosion is $\sim 0.14M_\odot$. The implicit numerical method, based on the Lagrangian triangular grid of variable structure, was used for the simulations.
With the advance of stellar atmosphere modelling during the last few years, large progress in the understanding of Wolf-Rayet (WR) mass loss has been achieved. In the present paper we review the most recent developments, including our own results from hydrodynamic non-LTE model atmospheres. In particular, we address the important question of the Z-dependence of WR mass loss. We demonstrate that models for radiatively driven winds imply a rather strong dependence on Z. Moreover, we point out the key role of the L/M-ratio for WR-type mass loss.
We present a study of the young (30-100Myr) open cluster IC 4665 with the aim to determine the shape of the mass function well into the brown dwarf regime. We photometrically select 691 low-mass stellar and 94 brown dwarf candidate members over an area of 3.82 square degrees centred on the cluster. K-band follow-up photometry and Two-Micron All-Sky Survey data allow a first filtering of contaminant objects from our catalogues. A second filtering is performed for the brightest stars using proper motion data provided by the Tycho-2 and UCAC2 public catalogues. Contamination by the field population for the lowest mass objects is estimated using same latitude control fields. We fit observed surface densities of various cluster populations with King profiles and find a consistent tidal radius of 1.0 degree. The presence of possible mass segregation is discussed. In most respects investigated, IC 4665 is similar to other young open clusters at this age: (1) a power law fit to the mass function between 1 and 0.04Msun results in best fit for a slope of -0.6; (2) a cusp in the mass function is noticed at about the substellar boundary with respect to the power law description, the interpretation of which is discussed; (3) a fraction between 10-19% for BDs with M > 0.03Msun to total members; (4) a best-fit lognormal function to the full mass distribution shows an average member mass of 0.32Msun, if IC 4665 has an age of 50Myr.
The study of binary stars is worth to undertake not only to learn more about the properties of binaries as such, but also because binaries are multi-purpose astrophysical tools. This paper reviews some of the ways this effective "tool" can be used, focusing on fundamental parameter determination, tests of theoretical models, and the recent contribution of binary stars to establish the distance to the Magellanic Clouds, and therefore, the first rungs of the cosmological distance ladder.
The Telescope Array (TA) experiment is designed to observe cosmic-ray-induced air showers at extremely high energies. It is being deployed in a desert of Utah, USA; an array of 3 m^2 scintillation counters will be distributed over 760 km^ and 3 sets of air fluorescence telescopes will be placed in the perimeter of the array. It's primary purpose is to make a decisive measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum in the GZK cutoff region. We expect the first data from the TA in the spring of 2007. As its unique features are included 1) hybrid measurement planned down to 10^17.5 eV, 2) calibration of fluorescence detection by using artificial air showers generated by an electron linac, 3) interaction model calibration by the LHC.
We present bispectrum speckle interferometry of the massive protostellar object IRAS 23151+5912 in the near-infrared K' band. The reconstructed image shows the diffuse nebulosity north-east of two point-like sources in unprecedented detail. The comparison of our near-infrared image with mm continuum and CO molecular line maps shows that the brighter of the two point sources lies near the center of the mm peak, indicating that it is a high-mass protostar. The nebulosity coincides with the blue-shifted molecular outflow component. The most prominent feature in the nebulosity is a bow-shock-like arc. We assume that this feature is associated with a precessing jet which has created an inward-pointed cone in the swept-up material. We present numerical jet simulations that reproduce this and several other features observed in our speckle image of the nebulosity. Our data also reveal a linear structure connecting the central point source to the extended diffuse nebulosity. This feature may represent the innermost part of a jet that drives the strong molecular outflow (PA ~80 degr) from IRAS 23151+5912. With the aid of radiative transfer calculations, we demonstrate that, in general, the observed inner structures of the circumstellar material surrounding high-mass stars are strongly influenced by the orientation and symmetry of the bipolar cavity.
We study the "minimal" cooling scenario of superfluid neutron stars with nucleon cores, where the direct Urca process is forbidden and the enhanced cooling is produced by the neutrino emission due to Cooper pairing of neutrons. Extending our previous consideration (Gusakov et al. 2004a), we include the effects of accreted envelopes of light elements. We employ phenomenological density-dependent critical temperatures T_{cp}(\rho) and T_{cnt}(\rho) of singlet-state proton and triplet-state neutron pairing in a stellar core, as well as the critical temperature T_{cns}(\rho) of singlet-state neutron pairing in a stellar crust. We show that the presence of accreted envelopes simplifies the interpretation of observations of thermal radiation from isolated neutron stars in the scenario of Gusakov et al. (2004a) and widens the class of models for nucleon superfluidity in neutron star interiors consistent with the observations.
The existence of life based on carbon chemistry and water oceans relies upon planetary properties, chiefly climate stability, and stellar properties, such as mass, age, metallicity and Galactic orbits. The latter can be well constrained with present knowledge. We present a detailed, up-to-date compilation of the atmospheric parameters, chemical composition, multiplicity and degree of chromospheric activity for the astrobiologically interesting solar-type stars within 10 parsecs of the Sun. We determine their state of evolution, masses, ages and space velocities, and produce an optimized list of candidates that merit serious scientific consideration by the future space-based interferometry probes aimed at directly detecting Earth-sized extrasolar planets and seeking spectroscopic infrared biomarkers as evidence of photosynthetic life. The initially selected stars number 33 solar-type within the population of 182 stars (excluding late M-dwarfs) closer than 10 pc. A comprehensive and detailed data compilation for these objects is still essentially lacking: a considerable amount of recent data has so far gone unexplored in this context. We present 13 objects as the nearest "biostars", after eliminating multiple stars, young, chromospherically active, hard X-ray emitting stars, and low metallicity objects. Three of these "biostars", HD 1581, 109358 and 115617, closely reproduce most of the solar properties and are considered as premier targets. We show that approximately 7% of the nearby stars are optimally interesting targets for exobiology.
Black hole formation in the framework of hybrid inflation is considered. It is shown that this model of inflation provides conditions for multiple black hole production.
We present the results of our optical spectrophotometric campaign ongoing at the Astronomical Observatory of Bologna in Loiano (Italy) on hard X-ray sources detected by INTEGRAL. We observed spectroscopically the putative optical counterparts of four more INTEGRAL sources, IGR J12391-1610, IGR J18406-0539, 2E 1853.7+1534 and IGR J19473+4452. These data have allowed us to determine their nature, finding that IGR J12391-1610 (=LEDA 170194) and IGR J19473+4452 are Seyfert 2 galaxies at redshifts z = 0.036 and z = 0.053, respectively, IGR J18406-0539 (=SS 406) is a Be massive X-ray binary located at about 1.1 kpc from Earth, and 2E 1853.7+1534 is a Type 1 Seyfert galaxy with z = 0.084. Physical parameters for these objects are also evaluated by collecting and discussing the available multiwavelength information. The determination of the extragalactic nature of a substantial fraction of sources inside the INTEGRAL surveys underlines the importance of hard X-ray observations for the study of background Active Galactic Nuclei located beyond the `Zone of Avoidance' of the Galactic Plane.
We derive an expression for the luminosity distance in a perturbed Friedmann universe. We define the correlation function and the power spectrum of the luminosity distance fluctuations and express them in terms of the initial spectrum of the Bardeen potential. We present semi-analytical results for the case of a pure CDM universe. We argue that the luminosity distance power spectrum represents a new observational tool which can be used to determine cosmological parameters. In addition, our results shed some light into the debate whether second order small scale fluctuations can mimic an accelerating universe.
We present the X-ray source detection procedure that we have developed for the purpose of assembling and characterizing controlled samples of cluster of galaxies for the XMM Large Scale Structure Survey. We describe how we model the selection function by means of simulations: this leads us to define source classes rather than flux limited samples. Focussing on the CFHTLS D1 area, our compilation suggests a cluster density higher than previously determined from the deep ROSAT surveys above a flux of 2.10^(-14) erg cm-2 s-1. We also present the L-T relation for the 9 brightest objects in the area. The slope is in good agreement with the local correlation. The relation shows luminosity enhancement for some of the 0.15<z<0.35 objects having 1<T<2 keV, a population that the XMM-LSS is for the first time systematically unveiling.
A deep (100 ks) XMM-Newton observation of Geminga has shown two faint tails of diffuse X-ray emission, extending for ~2' behind the pulsar, well aligned with the proper motion (PM) direction. We report here on a recent ~20 ks Chandra observation, which unveils a new structure, ~25'' long and ~5'' thick, starting at the pulsar position and perfectly aligned with the PM direction, with a surface brightness ~40 times higher than that of the XMM Tails. The Chandra comet-like feature has a remarkably hard spectrum (photon index 0.9-1.4) and a luminosity of ~5.5x10^28 erg s^-1, comparable to the energetics of the larger XMM one. Geminga is thus the first neutron star to show a clear X-ray evidence of a large-scale, outer bow-shock as well as a short, inner cometary trail.
Scattering by interstellar dust grains can produce time variable X-ray halos around gamma-ray bursts (GRB). In particular, an X-ray expanding ring is expected when a short pulse of X-ray radiation is scattered by a narrow layer of dust in our Galaxy. We present a new method to detect and analyze dust scattering expanding rings around gamma-ray bursts, using as an example XMM-Newton data of GRB 031203. Consistent with previous reports (Vaughan et al. 2004), we find that the two expanding rings observed in this burst are due to dust unevenly distributed in two layers at distances of 870 and 1384 pc, with the more distant one responsible for 70% of the total optical depth. Our modelling of the rings indicates that the prompt X-ray emission of GRB 031203 was consistent with a power law spectrum with photon index $\Gamma$=2.1$\pm$0.2 and 1-2 keV fluence of (3.6$\pm$0.2)$\times10^{-7}$ erg cm$^{-2}$. Thanks to the sensitivity of our technique, we discovered an expanding ring around another burst recently observed with XMM-Newton, GRB 050713A. In this case the dust layer is located at a distance of 364 pc and we derive a GRB fluence of (1.2$\pm$0.3)$\times10^{-7}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ (1-2 keV). A search for similar halos in other twelve bursts observed with XMM-Newton gave negative results.
The supernova explosion of 1054 AD, which originated the Crab Nebula and Pulsar, is probably the astronomical event which has been most deeply studied by means of historical sources. However, many mysteries and inconsistencies, both among the different sources and between what is deduced by the historical records and the present day astronomical data, are demanding extraordinary efforts by theoretical astrophysicists in order to put all the data in a meaningful framework. An accurate analysis of the historical sources, like the one we are presenting here, may contribute to solve some of these problems.
We have derived an empirical calibration of the abundance of S/H as a function of the S23 parameter, defined using the bright sulphur lines of [SII] and SIII]. Contrary to what is the case for the widely used O$_{23}$ parameter, the calibration remains single valued up to the abundance values observed in the disk HII regions. The calibration is based on a large sample of nebulae for which direct determinations of electron temperatures exist and the sulphur chemical abundances can be directly derived. ICFs, as derived from the [SIV] 10.52 $\mu$ emission line (ISO observations), are shown to be well reproduced by Barker's formula for a value of alpha = 2.5. At any rate, only about 30% of the objects in the sample require ICFs larger than 1.2. The use of the proposed calibration opens the possibility of performing abundance analysis with red to IR spectroscopic data using S/H as a metallicity tracer.
In this paper the expected properties of the velocity fields of strongly lensed arcs behind galaxy clusters are investigated. The velocity profile along typical lensed arcs is determined by ray tracing light rays from a model source galaxy through parametric cluster toy-models consisting of individual galaxies embedded in a dark cluster halo. We find that strongly lensed arcs of high redshift galaxies show complex velocity structures that are sensitive to the details of the mass distribution within the cluster, in particular at small scales. From fits to the simulated imaging and kinematic data we demonstrate that reconstruction of the source velocity field is in principle feasible: two dimensional kinematic information obtained with Integral Field Units (IFU's) on large ground based telescopes in combination with adaptive optics will allow the reconstruction of rotation curves of lensed high redshift galaxies. This makes it possible to determine the mass-to-light ratios of galaxies at redshifts z>1 out to about 2-3 scale lengths with better than about 20% accuracy. We also discuss the possibilities of using two dimensional kinematic information along the arcs to give additional constraints on the cluster lens mass models.
The positron emissivity of the Galactic bulge and disk, resulting from radioactivity of SNIa, is reassessed in the light of a recent evaluation of the SNIa rate. It is found that the disk may supply more positrons than required by recent SPI/INTEGRAL observations, but the bulge (where the characteristic positron annihilation line at 511 keV is in fact observed) only about 10%. It is argued that a large fraction of the disk positrons may be transported via the regular magnetic field of the Galaxy into the bulge, where they annihilate. This would increase both the bulge emissivity and the bulge/disk ratio, alleviating considerably the constraints imposed by INTEGRAL data analysis. We argue that the bulge/disk ratio can be considerably smaller than the values derived by the recent analysis of Knoedlseder et al. (2005), if the disk positrons diffuse sufficiently away from their sources, as required by our model; this possibility could be tested in the future, as data are accumulated in the SPI detectors. The success of the proposed scenario depends critically upon the, very poorly known at present, properties of the galactic magnetic field and of the propagation of low energy positrons in it.
Until now, the spectral changes observed from persistent to dipping intervals in dipping low-mass X-ray binaries were explained by invoking progressive and partial covering of an extended emission region. Here, we propose a novel and simpler way to explain these spectral changes, which does not require any partial covering and hence any extended corona, and further has the advantage of explaining self-consistently the spectral changes both in the continuum and the narrow absorption lines that are now revealed by XMM-Newton. In 4U 1323-62, we detect Fe XXV and Fe XXVI absorption lines and model them for the first time by including a complete photo-ionized absorber model rather than individual Gaussian profiles. We demonstrate that the spectral changes both in the continuum and the lines can be simply modeled by variations in the properties of the ionized absorber. From persistent to dipping the photo-ionization parameter decreases while the equivalent hydrogen column density of the ionized absorber increases. In a recent work (see Diaz Trigo et al. in these proceedings), we show that our new approach can be successfully applied to all the other dipping sources that have been observed by XMM-Newton.
There are in the literature several theories to explain the mass loss in stellar winds. In particular, for late-type stars, some authors have proposed a wind model driven by an outward-directed flux of damped Alfven waves. The winds of these stars present great amounts of dust particles which, if charged, can give rise to new wave modes or modify the pre-existing ones. In this work, we study how the dust can affect the propagation of Alfven waves in these winds taking into account a specific damping mechanism, the dust-cyclotron damping. This damping affects the Alfven wave propagation near the dust-cyclotron frequency. Hence, assuming a dust size distribution, the damping occur at a broad band of wave frequencies. In this work, we present a model of Alfven wave driven winds using the dust-cyclotron damping mechanism. Based on coronal holes in the Sun, which present a superradial expansion, our model also assumes a diverging geometry for the magnetic field. Thus, the mass, momentum, and energy equations are obtained and then solved in a self-consistent approach. Our results of wind velocity and temperature profiles for a typical K5 supergiant star shows compatibility with observations. We also show that, considering the presence of charged dust particles, the wave flux is less damped due to the dust-cyclotron damping than considering some other damping mechanisms studied in the literature, such as the nonlinear damping, the resonant surface damping, and the turbulent damping.
The recent sample of 21 detached eclipsing binaries in the Small Magellanic Cloud (Harries et al. 2003, Hilditch et al. 2005) provides a valuable test of the binary mass function for massive stars. We show that 50% of detached binaries have companions with very similar masses, q=M_2/M_1 > 0.87, where M_1, M_2 denote the masses of the two binary components, M_1 > M_2. A Salpeter relative mass function for the secondary is very strongly excluded, and the data is consistent with a flat mass function containing 55% of the systems and a ``twin'' population with q>0.95 containing the remainder. We also survey the vast existing literature discussing the mass ratio in binaries and conclude that a significant twin population (of more than 20-25%) exists in binaries that are likely to interact across a broad range of stellar masses and metallicity. Interactions involving nearly equal mass stars have distinctly different properties than those involving stars of unequal mass; the secondaries will tend to be evolved and the common envelope evolution is qualitatively different. The implications of such a population for both binary interactions and star formation are substantial, and we present some examples. We argue that twin systems may provide a natural stellar population to explain the recently proposed prompt channel for type Ia SN, and the presence of a twin population dramatically reduces the maximum inferred NS+BH merger rate relative to the NS+NS merger rate. Twins may also be important for understanding the tendency of WD and NS binaries to be nearly equal in mass, and inclusion of twins in population studies will boost the blue straggler production rate.
One of the outstanding unsolved riddles of nuclear astrophysics is the origin of the so called ``p-process'' nuclei from A = 92 to 126. Both the lighter and heavier p-process nuclei are adequately produced in the neon and oxygen shells of ordinary Type II supernovae, but the origin of these intermediate isotopes, especially 92,94Mo and 96,98Ru, has long been mysterious. Here we explore the production of these nuclei in the neutrino-driven wind from a young neutron star. We consider such early times that the wind still contains a proton excess because the rates for electron neutrino and positron captures on neutrons are faster than those for the inverse captures on protons. Following a suggestion by Frohlich et al. 2005, we also include the possibility that, in addition to the protons, alpha-particles, and heavy seed, a small flux of neutrons is maintained by the reaction p(bar(nu_e),e+)n. This flux of neutrons is critical in bridging the long waiting points along the path of the rp-process by (n,p) and (n,gamma) reactions. Using the unmodified ejecta histories from a recent two-dimensional supernova model by Janka et al. 2003, we find synthesis of p-rich nuclei up to 102Pd. However, if the entropy of these ejecta is increased by a factor of two, the synthesis extends to 120Te. Still larger increases in entropy, that might reflect the role of magnetic fields or vibrational energy input neglected in the hydrodynamical model, result in the production of numerous r-, s-, and p-process nuclei up to A approximately 170, even in winds that are proton-rich.
The sky around the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP), at $\alpha$(2000) = 18$^h00^m00^s$, $\delta$(2000) = +66\degr33\arcmin39\arcsec, has the deepest exposure of the entire {\it ROSAT} All - Sky Survey (RASS). The NEP is an undistinguished region of moderate Galactic latitude, $b=29\fdg8$, and hence suitable for compiling statistical samples of both galactic and extragalactic objects. We have made such a compilation in the 80.6 deg$^2$ region surrounding the NEP. Our sample fully exploits the properties of the RASS, since the only criteria for inclusion are source position and significance, and yields the deepest large solid angle contiguous sample of X-ray sources to date. We find 442 unique sources above a flux limit $\mathrm{\sim2\times10^{-14} ~ergs \~cm^{-2} ~s^{-1}}$ in the 0.5--2.0 keV band. In this paper we present the X-ray properties of these sources as determined from the RASS. These include positions, fluxes, spectral information in the form of hardness ratios, and angular sizes. Since we have performed a comprehensive optical identification program we also present the average X-ray properties of classes of objects typical of the X-ray sky at these flux levels. We discuss the use of the RASS to find clusters of galaxies based on their X-ray properties alone.
The observed number density of Lyman-alpha sources implies a minimum volume of the inter-galactic medium that must be ionized, in order to allow the Lyman-alpha photons to escape attenuation. We estimate this volume by assigning to each Lyman-alpha emitter the minimum Stromgren sphere that would allow half its Lyman-alpha photons to escape. This implies a lower limit to ionized gas volume fraction of 20-50% at redshift z=6.5. This is a lower limit in two ways: First, we conservatively assume that the Lyman-alpha sources seen (at a relatively bright flux limit) are the only ones present; and second, we assume the smallest Stromgren sphere volume that will allow the photons to escape. This limit is completely independent of what ionizing photon sources produced the bubbles. Deeper Lyman-alpha surveys are possible with present technology, and can strengthen these limits by detecting a higher density of Lyman-alpha galaxies.
We present some useful ways to visualize the nature of dark energy and the effects of the accelerating expansion on cosmological quantities. Expansion probes such as Type Ia supernovae distances and growth probes such as weak gravitational lensing and the evolution of large scale structure provide powerful tests in complementarity. We present a ``ladder'' diagram, showing that in addition to dramatic improvements in precision, next generation probes will provide insight through an increasing ability to test assumptions of the cosmological framework, including gravity beyond general relativity.
Recently we studied inflation models in which the inflaton potential is characterized by an underlying approximate global symmetry. In the first work we pointed out that in such a model curvature perturbations are generated after the end of the slow-roll phase of inflation. In this work we develop further the observational implications of the model and compute the degree of non-Gaussianity predicted in the scenario. We find that the corresponding nonlinearity parameter, $f_{NL}$, can be as large as 10^2.
We present and discuss high-resolution grating spectra of the quasar PG1211+143 obtained over three years. Based on an early observation from 2001, we find an outflow component of about 3000 km/s in contrast with the much higher velocity of about 24000 km/s reported earlier for this source, and based on the same data set. Subsequent grating spectra obtained for PG1211+143 are consistent with the first observation in the broad-band sense, but not all narrow features used to identify the outflow are reproduced. We demonstrate that the poor S/N and time variability seen during all existing observations of PG1211+143 make any claims about the outflow precariously inconclusive.
We present an alternative analysis of CMB time ordered data (TOD) using a wavelet-based representation of the data time-frequency plane. We demonstrate that the wavelet transform decorrelates $1/f$-type Gaussian stationary noise and permits a simple and functional description of locally stationary processes. In particular, this makes possible the generalization of the classical algorithms of map making and CMB power spectrum estimation to the case of locally stationary 1/f type noise. As an example, we present a wavelet based algorithm for the destriping of CMB-like maps. In addition, we describe a wavelet-based analysis of the Archeops data including time-frequency visualization, wavelet destriping and filtering of the TOD. These filtered data was used to produce polarized maps of Galactic dust diffuse emission. Finally, we describe the modeling of the non-stationarity on the Archeops noise for the estimation of the CMB power spectrum.
The OSER project (Optical Scintillation by Extraterrestrial Refractors) is proposed to search for scintillation of extragalactic sources through the galactic -- disk or halo -- transparent $\mathrm{H\_2}$ clouds, the last unknown baryonic structures. This project should allow one to detect column density stochastic variations in cool Galactic molecular clouds of order of $\sim 3\times 10^{-5} \mathrm{g/cm^2}$ per $\sim 10 000 \mathrm{km}$ transverse distance.
We report the results of 15 years of radio observations of the six historical supernovae (SNe) in M83 using the Very Large Array. We note the near linear decline in radio emission from SN 1957D, a type II SN, which remains a non-thermal radio emitter. The measured flux densities from SNe 1923A and 1950B have flattened as they begin to fade below detectable limits, also type II SNe. The luminosities for these three SNe are comparable with the radio luminosities of other decades-old SNe at similar epochs. SNe 1945B, 1968L, and 1983N were not detected in the most recent observations and these non-detections are consistent with previous studies. We report the X-ray non-detections of all six historical SNe using the Chandra X-ray Observatory, consistent with previous X-ray searches of other decades-old SNe, and low inferred mass loss rates of the progenitors.
We adapt an existing data compression algorithm, MOPED, to the extraction of median-likelihood star formation (SF) histories from medium-resolution galaxy spectra. By focusing on the high-pass components of galaxy spectra, we minimize potential uncertainties arising from the spectro-photometric calibration and intrinsic attenuation by dust. We validate our approach using model high-pass spectra of galaxies with different SF histories covering the wavelength range 3650-8500 A at a resolving power of about 2000. We show that the method can recover the full SF histories of these models, without prior knowledge of the metallicity, to within an accuracy that depends sensitively on signal-to-noise ratio. The investigation of the sensitivity of the flux at each wavelength to the mass fraction of stars of different ages allows us to identify new age-sensitive features in galaxy spectra. We also highlight a fundamental limitation in the recovery of the SF histories of galaxies for which the optical signatures of intermediate-age stars are masked by those of younger and older stars. We apply this method to derive average SF histories from the highest-quality spectra of morphologically identified early- and late-type galaxies in the SDSS EDR [...]. We also investigate the constraints set by the high-pass signal in the stacked spectra of a magnitude-limited sample of SDSS-EDR galaxies on the global SF history of the Universe. We confirm that the stellar populations in the most massive galaxies today appear to have formed on average earlier than those in the least massive ones. Our results do not support the recent suggestion of a statistically significant peak in the SF activity of the Universe at redshifts below unity, although such a peak is not ruled out [abridged].
Astronomical polarimetry is a powerful technique that can provide physical information sometimes difficult or impossible to obtain by any other type of observation. Almost every class of binary star can benefit from polarimetric observations: pre-main-sequence objects, close or contact binaries, mass-transfer systems, evolved binaries, cataclysmic variables, eclipsing binaries, etc. In these systems, polarimetry can help determine the geometry of the circumstellar or circumbinary matter distribution, yield information on asymmetries and anisotropies, identify obscured sources, map starspots, detect magnetic fields, and establish orbital parameters, to name just a few examples. The orbital inclination in particular is a very important piece of information for a binary system because it can lead to the determination of the components' masses, the fundamental parameter that determines a star's initial structure and subsequent evolution. This review will illustrate the usefulness of polarimetric techniques for the study of binary stars, with examples of results obtained for a variety of binary systems, and an overview of models, including those used to retrieve the orbital inclination.
In the basis of the internal shock model and synchrotron radiative process and under the assumption that all internal shocks are nearly equally energetic, we analyse the emission at different radii, which correspond to different observed times. Surprisingly, our analytical results can provide a natural explanation for the multi-band observations of GRB 050904. This implies that the violently variated X-ray emission and the optical emission of the burst originated from internal shocks, with the energy of ejected shells from the central engine that didn't decrease until the X-ray emission faded away. So we suggest that GRB 050904 is a burst with super-long central engine activity.
We report our initial discovery of 73 new planetary nebulae (PNe) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) following confirmatory 2dF spectroscopy on the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT). Preliminary candidate sources come from a 10 per cent sub-area of our new deep, high resolution H-alpha map of the central 25 deg. square of the LMC obtained with the UK Schmidt Telescope (UKST). The depth of the high resolution map was extended to Requiv~22 for H-alpha (4.5 x 10-17 ergs cm-2 s-1 Ang-1) by a process of multi-exposure median co-addition of a dozen 2-hour H-alpha exposures. The resulting map is at least 1-magnitude deeper than the best wide-field narrow-band LMC images currently available. This depth, combined with our selection technique, has also led to the discovery of extended AGB halos around many new and previously known LMC PNe for the first time. Once complete, our new survey is expected to triple the LMC PN population and have significant implications for the LMC PN luminosity function, kinematics, abundance gradients chemical evolution and, via study of the AGB halos, the initial to final mass relation for low to intermediate mass stars.
We present results of a spectroscopic study of 37 southern (candidate) gamma Doradus stars based on echelle spectra. The observed spectra were cross-correlated with the standard template spectrum of an F0-type star for an easier detection of binary and intrinsic variations. We identified 15 objects as spectroscopic binaries, including 7 new ones, and another 3 objects are binary suspects. At least 12 objects show composite spectra. We could determine the orbital parameters for 9 binaries, of which 4 turn out to be ellipsoidal variables. For 6 binaries, we estimated the expected time-base of the orbital variations. Clear profile variations are observed for 17 objects, pointing towards stellar pulsation. For 8 of them, we have evidence that the main spectroscopic and photometric periods coincide. Our results, in combination with prior knowledge from the literature, lead to the classification of 10 objects as new bona-fide gamma Doradus stars, 1 object as new bona-fide delta Scuti star, and 8 objects as constant stars. Finally, we determined the projected rotational velocity with two independent methods. The resulting vsini values range from 3 to 135 km/s. For the bona-fide gamma Doradus stars, the majority has vsini below 60 km/s.
We report on observational results obtained for 78 objects originally classified as bona-fide or candidate gamma Doradus stars. For the southern objects, we gathered echelle spectra with the CORALIE spectrograph attached to the Euler telescope in 1998-2003 and/or Johnson-Cousins B,V,Ic observations with the MODULAR photometer attached to the 0.5-m SAAO telescope in 1999-2000. For the northern objects, we obtained Geneva U,B,B1,B2,V,V1,G observations with the P7 photometer attached to the 1.2-m MERCATOR telescope in 2001-2004. At least 15 of our objects are binaries, of which 7 are new. For 6 binaries, we determined the orbit for the first time. At least 17 objects show profile variations and at least 12 objects are multiperiodic photometric variables. Our results allow us to upgrade 11 objects to bona-fide gamma Doradus stars and to downgrade 8 objects to constant up to the current detection limits. Mode identification is still ongoing, but so far, only l = 1 and 2 modes have been identified.
We re-classified 31 variable B stars which were observed more than 50 times in the Geneva photometric system with the P7 photometer attached to the MERCATOR telescope (La Palma) during its first 3 years of scientific observations. HD89688 is a possible beta Cephei/slowly pulsating B star hybrid and the main mode of the COROT target HD180642 shows non-linear effects. The Maia candidates are re-classified as either ellipsoidal variables or spotted stars. Although the mode identification is still ongoing, all the well-identified modes so far have a degree l = 0, 1 or 2.
We calculate the degree of linear polarization of radiation from stars having planets that may not be resolved spatially. We assume single scattering by water and silicate particulates in the planetary atmosphere. The dilution of the reflected polarized radiation of the planet by the unpolarized stellar radiation and the effect of oblateness of the planet as well as its elliptical orbit are included. We employ a chemical equilibrium model to estimate the number density of water and silicate condensates and calculate the degree of linear polarization at R band of starlight as a function of (1) mean size of condensates, (2) planetary oblateness, (3) inclination angle, (4) phase angle, (5) orbital eccentricity e and (6) the epoch of periastron passage. We show that the polarization profile alters significantly at all inclination angles when elliptical orbit is considered and the degree of polarization peaks at the epoch of periastron passage. We predict that detectable amount of linear polarization may arise if the planetary atmosphere is optically thin, the mean size of the condensates is not greater than a few microns and the oblateness of the planet is as high as that of Jupiter.
We investigate the linear stability of a shocked accretion flow onto a black hole in the adiabatic limit. Our linear analyses and numerical calculations show that, despite the post-shock deceleration, the shock is generally unstable to non-axisymmetric perturbations. The simulation results of Molteni, T\'oth & Kuznetsov can be well explained by our linear eigenmodes. The mechanism of this instability is confirmed to be based on the cycle of acoustic waves between the corotation radius and the shock. We obtain an analytical formula to calculate the oscillation period from the physical parameters of the flow. We argue that the quasi-periodic oscillation should be a common phenomenon in accretion flows with angular momentum.
We show that the observational data of extragalactic radio sources tend to support the theoretical relationship between the jet precession period and the optical luminosity of the sources, as predicted by the model in which an accretion disk causes the central black hole to precess.
We present an analysis of the RZ Cassiopeia O-C diagram for a 30-year period, based on data published by the AAVSO. The new parabolic light-elements are determined and P-dot was estimated. This enabled us to establish the value of M-dot, the rate of the mass transfer between components of this eclipsing binary. Deviations from the parabola in the RZ Cas O-C diagram have a wavelike trend. The pulsation of the primary component influences the scatter of O-C points, as well as it influences the shape of the eclipse. Some physical points on such O-C behavior are presented.
On Dec 27, 2004, the magnetar SGR 1806-20 underwent an enormous outburst resulting in the formation of an expanding, moving, and fading radio source. We report observations of this radio source with the Multi-Element Radio-Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) and the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). The observations confirm the elongation and expansion already reported based on observations at lower angular resolutions, but suggest that at early epochs the structure is not consistent with the very simplest models such as a smooth flux distribution. In particular there appears to be significant structure on small angular scales, with ~10% of the radio flux arising on angular scales <100 milliarcsec. This structure may correspond to localised sites of particle acceleration during the early phases of expansion and interaction with the ambient medium.
We present results of an improved analysis of the experimental data of the EAS Cherenkov array Tunka-25. A new function to fit the Cherenkov light lateral distribution LDF at core distances from 0 to 350 m has been developed on the base of CORSIKA simulations and applied to the analysis of Tunka data. Two methods to estimate the EAS maximum position have been used. The one is based on the pulse FWHM, the other on the light LDF. We present the primary energy spectrum in the energy range 10^15 - 10^17 eV. The use of the depth of the EAS maximum to determine the mean mass composition is discussed.
We present a sample of 8 nearby Seyfert 2 galaxies observed by HST and Chandra. All of the sources present soft X-ray emission which is coincident in extension and overall morphology with the [OIII] emission. The spectral analysis reveals that the soft X-ray emission of all the objects is likely to be dominated by a photoionized gas. This is strongly supported by the 190 ks combined XMM-Newton/RGS spectrum of Mrk3, which different diagnostic tools confirm as being produced in a gas in photoionization equilibrium with an important contribution from resonant scattering. We tested with the code CLOUDY a simple scenario where the same gas photoionized by the nuclear continuum produces both the soft X-ray and the [OIII] emission. Solutions satisfying the observed ratio between the two components exist, and require the density to decrease with radius roughly like $r^{-2}$, similarly to what often found for the Narrow Line Region.
Fast and slow magnetosonic shock formation is presented for stationary and
axisymmetric magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) accretion flows onto a black hole. The
shocked black hole accretion solution must pass through magnetosonic points at
some locations outside and inside the shock location. We analyze critical
conditions at the magnetosonic points and the shock conditions. Then, we show
the restrictions on the flow parameters for strong shocks. We also show that a
very hot shocked plasma is obtained for a very high-energy inflow with small
number density. Such a MHD shock can appear very close to the event horizon,
and can be expected as a source of high-energy emissions.
Examples of these magnetosonic shocks are presented.
We solve the field equations of the $f(R)$ gravity using the perturbation theory and investigate the effect of $f(R)$ gravity on the large scale structure (LSS) of the Universe. The $f(R)$ gravity we designed has the form $f(R)=-\lambda_1 H_0^2\exp(-R/\lambda_2H_0^2)$, with $\lambda_2\ga 100$ in order to produce ({\it almost}) degenerate expansion history of the Universe to $\Lambda$CDM, and $\lambda_2\ll 10^{10}$ to pass the solar system tests. This exponential $f(R)$ induces scale dependence in the linear density growth factor and thus causes an observable integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect at $z\ga 3$ and $l\ga 20$, which can not be produced by most dark energy models and many modified gravities. Future measurements of ISW-LSS cross correlation at high $z$ will then provide unambiguous tests of gravity. Furthermore, we find that, in general, singularities exist in the perturbation equations of $f(R)$ gravity. This may have already ruled out $f(R)$ gravities as alternatives to dark energy or general relativity.
This paper considers the distribution of dust which originates in the break-up of planetesimals that are trapped in resonance with a planet. There are three grain populations with different spatial distributions: (I) large grains have the clumpy resonant distribution of the planetesimals; (II) moderate sized grains are no longer in resonance and have an axisymmetric distribution; (III) small grains are blown out of the system by radiation pressure and have a distribution which falls off oc 1/r, however these grains can be further divided into subclasses: (IIIa) grains produced from pop I that exhibit trailing spiral structure emanating from the clumps; and (IIIb) grains produced from pop II that have an axisymmetric distribution. Since observations in different wavebands are sensitive to different sized dust grains, multi-wavelength imaging can be used to test models for the origin of debris disk structure. For example, a disk with no blow-out grains would appear clumpy in the sub-mm, but smooth at mid- to far-IR wavelengths. The wavelength of the transition is indicative of the mass of the perturbing planet. The size distribution of Vega's disk is modeled in the light of the recent Spitzer observations. The origin of the large quantities of pop III grains seen by Spitzer must be in the destruction of the grains seen in the sub-mm, and so at high resolution and sensitivity the mid- to far-IR structure of Vega's disk is predicted to include spiral structure emanating from the sub-mm clumps.
A new method of a primary cosmic particle energy measurement with the extensive air shower (EAS) technique has been developed by exploiting: a) the joint analysis of the shower size, obtained by the EAS-TOP array, and of the EAS Cherenkov light lateral distribution (LDF), obtained by the QUEST array, and b) simulations based on the CORSIKA code. The method is based on the strict correlation between the size/energy ratio and the steepness of the Cherenkov light lateral distribution and has been compared with a "classical" one based on the Cherenkov light flux at a fixed distance (175 m) from the EAS core. The independence of the energy measurement both on the mass of primary particle and the hadronic interaction model used for the analysis is shown. Based on this approach the experimental integral intensity of cosmic rays flux with energy more than 3*10^15 eV is obtained with good systematic and statistical accuracy.
I present here a review on the high energy phenomena occurring in the Galactic Center region, and report in particular on the results obtained from recent X-ray and gamma-ray observations.
Despite the growing evidence that long Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are associated with deaths of Wolf-Rayet stars, the evolutionary path of massive stars to GRBs and the exact nature of GRB progenitors remained poorly known. However, recent massive star evolutionary models indicate that -- for sufficiently low metallicity -- initially very rapidly rotating stars can satisfy the conditions for collapsar formation. Even though magnetic torques are included in these models, a strong core spin-down is avoided through quasi-chemically homogeneous evolution induced by rotational mixing. Here, we explore for which initial mass and spin-range single stars of Z=Zsun/20 are expected to produce GRBs. We further find a dichotomy in the chemical structure of GRB progenitors, where lower initial masses end their lives with a massive helium envelope which still contains some amounts of hydrogen, while higher initial masses explode with C/O-dominated hydrogen-free atmospheres.
Nulling interferometry, a powerful technique for high-resolution imaging of the close neighbourhood of bright astrophysical objets, is currently considered for future space missions such as Darwin or the Terrestrial Planet Finder Interferometer (TPF-I), both aiming at Earth-like planet detection and characterization. Ground-based nulling interferometers are being studied for both technology demonstration and scientific preparation of the Darwin/TPF-I missions through a systematic survey of circumstellar dust disks around nearby stars. In this paper, we investigate the influence of atmospheric turbulence on the performance of ground-based nulling instruments, and deduce the major design guidelines for such instruments. End-to-end numerical simulations allow us to estimate the performance of the main subsystems and thereby the actual sensitivity of the nuller to faint exozodiacal disks. Particular attention is also given to the important question of stellar leakage calibration. This study is illustrated in the context of GENIE, the Ground-based European Nulling Interferometer Experiment, to be installed at the VLTI and working in the L' band. We estimate that this instrument will detect exozodiacal clouds as faint as about 50 times the Solar zodiacal cloud, thereby placing strong constraints on the acceptable targets for Darwin/TPF-I.
We consider nearby young black holes formed after supernova explosions in close binaries whose secondary components are currently observed as the so-called runaway stars. Using data on runaway stars and making reasonable assumptions about the mechanisms of supernova explosions and binary breakup, we estimate the present position of nearby young black holes. For two objects, we obtained relatively small error regions ($\sim 50$-100 deg$^2$). The possibility of detecting these nearby young black holes is discussed.
We describe the methods and procedures developed to obtain a near-automatic combination of WFPC2 images obtained as part of the WFPC2 Archival Pure Parallels program. Several techniques have been developed or refined to ensure proper alignment, registration, and combination of overlapping images that can be obtained at different times and with different orientations. We quantify the success rate and the accuracy of the registration of images of different types, and we develop techniques suitable to equalize the sky background without unduly affecting extended emission. About 600 combined images of the 1,500 eventually planned have already been publicly released through the STScI Archive. The images released to date are especially suited to study star formation in the Magellanic Clouds, the stellar population in the halo of nearby galaxies, and the properties of star-forming galaxies at $ z \sim 3 $.
Observations are reported of H2 IR emission in the S(1) v=1-0 line at 2.121 microns in the Orion Molecular Cloud, OMC1, using the GriF instrument on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. GriF is a combination of adaptive optics and Fabry-Perot interferometry, yielding a spatial resolution of 0.15" to 0.18" and a velocity discrimination as high as 1 km/s. Thanks to the high spatial and velocity resolution of the GriF data, 193 bright H2 emission regions can be identified in OMC1. The general characteristics of these features are described in terms of radial velocities, brightness and spatial displacement of maxima of velocity and brightness, the latter to yield the orientation of flows in the plane of the sky. Strong spatial correlation between velocity and bright H2 emission is found and serves to identify many features as shocks. Important results are: (i) velocities of the excited gas illustrate the presence of a zone to the south of BN-IRc2 and Peak 1, and the west of Peak 2, where there is a powerful blue-shifted outflow with an average velocity of -18 km/s. This is shown to be the NIR counterpart of an outflow identified in the radio from source I, a very young O-star. (ii) There is a band of weak velocity features (<5 km/s) in Peak 1 which may share a common origin through an explosive event, in the BN-IRc2 region, with the fast-moving fingers (or bullets) to the NW of OMC1. (iii) A proportion of the flows are likely to represent sites of low mass star formation and several regions show multiple outflows, probably indicative of multiple star formation within OMC1. The high spatial and velocity resolution of the GriF data show these and other features in more detail than has previously been possible.
We model SNRs at a variety of heights above the disk. Our detailed numerical simulations include non-equilibrium ionization and recombination and follow the remnants' evolution until their hot bubbles have cooled. We analytically calculate the bubbles' buoyant acceleration. From the results, we estimate the time and space average O VI, N V, and C IV column densities and emission intensities, 1/4 keV soft X-ray surface brightness, area coverage, and volume occupation of the population of isolated SNRs above the Galaxy's HI layer. Irrespective of assumed supernova explosion energy, ambient nonthermal pressure, or frictional drag coefficient, the predicted O VI column density matches the observed distribution between 130 pc and 2000 pc. The SNRs' O VI intensity is a significant fraction of the average observed intensity. Within the range of uncertainty in the SN rate, such SNRs can explain all of the observed 1/4 keV surface brightness attributed to the extraplanar gas beyond the H I layer in the southern hemisphere (~400 x 10^-6 counts/s/arcmin^2). Thus, extraplanar SNRs could be the most important source of hot gas between the Local Bubble and z ~ 2000 pc in the relatively quiescent southern hemisphere. These results stand whether the remnants are assumed to be buoyant or not. The population of old extraplanar SNRs should cover most of the high latitude sky, but bright young extraplanar SNRs should cover less than 1% of the sky. Perhaps the l=247, b=-64 crescent in the 1/4 keV X-ray maps could be a young remnant.
We present a 3-D NLTE Monte Carlo radiative transfer code that we use to study the temperature and ionization structure of Keplerian disks around Classical Be stars. The method we employ is largely similiar to the Monte Carlo transition probability method developed by Lucy. Here we present a simplification of his method that avoids the use of the macro atom concept. Our investigations of the temperature structure of Be star disks show that the disk temperature behavior is a hybrid between the behavior of Young Stellar Object (YSO) disks and Hot Star winds. The optically thick inner parts of Be star disks have temperatures that are similar to YSO disks, while the optically thin outer parts are like stellar winds. Thus, the temperature at the disk midplane initially drops, reaching a minimum at 3--5 stellar radii, after which it rises back to the optically thin radiative equilibrium temperature at large distances. On the other hand, the optically thin upper layers of the disk are approximately isothermal -- a behavior that is analogous to the hot upper layers of YSO disks. We also find that the disks are fully ionized, as expected, but there is an ionization minimum in the vicinity of the temperature minimum. Finally, we find that, despite the complex temperature structure, the infrared excess is well-approximated by an equivalent isothermal disk model whose temperature is about 60% of the stellar temperature. This is largely because, at long wavelengths, the effective photosphere of the disk is located in its isothermal regions.
The project of an EAS Cherenkov array in the Tunka valley/Siberia with an area of about 1 km2 is presented. The new array will have a ten times bigger area than the existing Tunka-25 array and will permit a detailed study of the cosmic ray energy spectrum and the mass composition in the energy range from 10^15 to 10^18 eV.
We attempt to characterize the geometry of Broad Absorption Line (BAL) QSOs by studying a low redshift sample of 12 sources. We find that the majority of these sources are Population A quasars as defined in (broad H-beta FWHM > 4000 kms/s; Sulenticet al 2000). A possible correlation between terminal velocity and absolute V magnitude suggests that the bolometric luminosity to black hole mass ratio \lm is a governing factor with classical BAL sources showing the highest values. CIV 1549 emission in classical BAL sources shows a profile blueshift that supports a disk wind/outflow scenario with a half opening angle of < 50 deg. Observation of ``secondary'' mini-BAL features in the CIV 1549 emission profile motivates us to model BALs with an additional component that may be involved with the BLR outflow and co-axial with the accretion disk.
I discuss BBN with nonequilibrium nu_e<->nu_s oscillations in the more
general case of non-zero population of nu_s before oscillations delta N_s>0. I
calculate He-4 primordial production Y_p(delta N_s) in the presence of
nu_e<->nu_s oscillations for different initial populations of nu_s state
0<=delta N_s<=1 and the full range of oscillation parameters.
Non-zero delta N_s has two-fold effect on He-4: (i) it enhances the energy
density and hence increases the cosmic expansion rate, leading to Y_p
overproduction and (ii) it suppresses the kinetic effects of oscillations on
BBN, namely the effects on pre-BBN nucleon kinetics caused by the nu_e energy
spectrum distortion and the neutrino-antineutrino asymmetry generation by
oscillations, leading to decreased Y_p overproduction. Depending on oscillation
parameters one or the other effect may dominate, causing, correspondingly,
either a relaxation of the cosmological constraints or their strengthening with
the increase of delta N_s .
I calculate more general BBN constraints on nu_e<->nu_s oscillation
parameters,corresponding to 3% Y_p overproduction, for different initial
populations of nu_s.Previous BBN constraints were derived assuming empty
sterile state before oscillations. The cosmological constraints for that case
strengthen with the increase of delta N_s value.
In this publication we present a study of the general physical, chemical properties and radial velocity monitoring of young active stars. We derive temperatures, log g, [Fe/H], v sin i, and R_{spec} values for eight stars. The detailed analysis reveals that the stars are not as homogeneous in their premier physical parameters as well as in the age distribution. In 4/5 we found a periodic radial velocity signal which origins in surface features the fifth is surprisingly inactive and shows little variation.
We consider the long standing puzzle of how to obtain meaningful probabilities in eternal inflation. We demonstrate a new algorithm to compute the probability distribution of pocket universe types, given a multivacua inflationary potential. The computed probability distribution is finite and manifestly gauge-independent. We argue that in some scenarios this technique can be applied to disfavor some eternally inflating potentials.
We report preliminary results on the detection of the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM) along the line of sight toward the blazar 1ES 1028+511 (z = 0.361). 1ES 1028+511 was observed for 150 ks with the low energy transmission grating in combination with the high resolution camera onboard Chandra. An additional 300 ks observation was obtained using the reflection grating spectrometers (RGS) onboard XMM-Newton. We report the detection of three absorption lines which can be attributed to the WHIM, and compare the results with theoretical predictions.
We discuss the most recent developments in our understanding of the acceleration and propagation of cosmic rays up to the highest energies. In particular we specialize our discussion to three issues: 1) developments in the theory of particle acceleration at shock waves; 2) the transition from galactic to extragalactic cosmic rays; 3) implications of up-to-date observations for the origin of ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs).
We present the results from our 140 ks XMM-Newton and 500 ks Chandra observation of NGC 5548. The velocity structure of the X-ray absorber is consistent with the velocity structure measured in the simultaneous UV spectra. In the X-rays we can separate the highest outflow velocity component, -1040 km/s, from the other velocity components. This velocity component spans at least three orders of magnitude in ionization parameter, producing both highly ionized X-ray absorption lines (Mg XII, Si XIV) and UV absorption lines. A similar conclusion is very probable for the other four velocity components. We show that the lower ionized absorbers are not in pressure equilibrium with the rest of the absorbers. Instead, a model with a continuous distribution of column density versus ionization parameter gives an excellent fit to our data.
We present results of observations of the transient X-ray pulsar V0332+53 performed during a very powerful outburst in Dec, 2004 -- Feb, 2005 with the INTEGRAL and RXTE observatories in a wide (3-100 keV) energy band. A cyclotron resonance scattering line at an energy of ~26 keV has been detected in the source spectrum together with its two higher harmonics at ~50 and ~73 keV, respectively. We show that the energy of the line is not constant but linearly changes with the source luminosity. Strong pulse profile variations, especially near the cyclotron line, are revealed for different levels of the source intensity. We discuss the obtained results in terms of the theoretical models of X-ray pulsars.
A high-precision two-dimensional stellar evolution code has been developed for studying solar variability due to structural changes produced by varying internal magnetic fields of arbitrary configurations. Specifically, we are interested in modeling the effects of a dynamo-type field on the detailed internal structure and on the global parameters of the Sun. The high precision is required both to model very small solar changes (of order of $10^{-4}$) and short time scales (or order of one year). It is accomplished by using the mass coordinate to replace the radial coordinate, by using fixed and adjustable time steps, a realistic stellar atmosphere, elements diffusion, and by adjusting the grid points. We have also built into the code the potential to subsequently include rotation and turbulence. The current code has been tested for several cases, including its ability to reproduce the 1-D results.
We compare the luminosity function and rate inferred from the BATSE short hard bursts (SHBs) peak flux distribution with the redshift and luminosity distributions of SHBs observed by Swift/HETE II. While the Swift/HETE II SHB sample is incompatible with SHB population that follows the star formation rate, it is compatible with a SHB rate that reflect a distribution of delay times after the SFR. This would be the case if SHBs are associated with binary neutron star mergers. The available data allows, however, different interpretations. For example, a population whose rate is independent of the redshift fits the data very well. The implied SHB rates that we find range from $\sim 8$ to $\sim 30h_{70}^3$Gpc$^{-3}$yr$^{-1}$. This is a much higher rate than what was previously estimated. A detailed (2 dimensional) look at the best fit models shows, however, some discrepancy between the four Swift/HETE II SHBs and the models based on BATSE SHBs. This could be a statistical fluke. It could also arise from wrong estimates of the triggering criteria or from selection effects. If real it may indicate the existence of two SHB populations with different luminosity functions and redshift distributions.
While the low frequency spectrum of the radio sky is rich in features associated with the cosmic 21-cm background from neutral Hydrogen, a direct measurement of this frequency spectrum is challenging. We propose a technique to indirectly establish global signatures in the cosmic 21-cm radiation based on differential observations towards and away from a galaxy cluster such that modifications imposed by inverse-Compton scattering via electrons in galaxy clusters can be detected. While the unscattered spectrum has features with amplitudes up to 40 mK in the brightness temperature relative to the cosmic microwave background, after scattering, the observable spectrum contains decrements and increments with amplitudes around 0.2 to 1 mK in addition to a uniform few mK decrement associated with the black-body CMB. Low frequency radio interferometers that are now planned for 21-cm anisotropy measurements can be easily utilized for the proposed measurement. The signatures towards clusters will also confirm the 21-cm signal is produced at a redshift higher than the cluster, in addition to providing an easy, and a necessary, cross-check on fluctuation measurements.
Subject to the four assupmtions:
1)a galactic halo can be modeled by a static spherically symmetric spacetime,
2)in the limit of no rotation halo spacetime is Minkowski spacetime and that
the speed of rotation is a permissible parameter to expand in, 3)the constraint
on the first derivatives of the metric needed in order to produce constant
rotation curves can be applied, 4)the perfect fluid Einstein equations; it is
shown that the density is $\rho=-2v^2/r^2+O(v^4)$, where $v=v_c/c$ is the
velocity of rotation of the galaxy. The negative density is taken to indicate
that one of the above four assumptions is wrong, the last is the most likely,
implying that there is no such thing as dark matter.
The quasar HE0450-2958 was recently discovered to reside ~7kpc away from a galaxy that was likely disturbed by a recent merger. The lack of a massive spheroid of stars around the quasar raised the unlikely suggestion that it may have formed in a dark galaxy. Here we explain this discovery as a natural consequence of a dynamical kick imparted to the quasar as it interacted with a binary black hole system during a galaxy merger event. The typical stalling radius (~1pc) for a ~10^9 solar mass binary provides a kick of order the escape velocity of the stellar spheroid, bringing the quasar out to around the observed radius before it turns around. This is consistent with the observed low relative velocity between the quasar and the merger-remnant galaxy. The gas carried with the black hole throughout the three-body interaction fuels the quasar for the duration of its journey, ~2x10^7 years. Gravitational radiation recoil could not have produced the required kick.
In order to study the possibility of acoustic detection of ultra-high energy neutrinos in water, our group is planning to deploy and operate an array of acoustic sensors using the ANTARES Neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. Therefore, acoustic sensor hardware has to be developed which is both capable of operation under the hostile conditions of the deep sea and at the same time provides the high sensitivity necessary to detect the weak pressure signals resulting from the neutrino's interaction in water. In this paper, two different approaches to building such sensors, as well as performance studies in the laboratory and in situ, are presented.
Near-infrared imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope recently revealed a circumstellar dust disk around the A star HD 32297. Dust scattered light is detected as far as 400 AU radius and the linear morphology is consistent with a disk ~10 degrees away from an edge-on orientation. Here we present the first optical images that show the dust scattered light morphology from 560 to 1680 AU radius. The position angle of the putative disk midplane diverges by 31 degrees and the color of dust scattering is most likely blue. We associate HD 32297 with a wall of interstellar gas and the enigmatic region south of the Taurus molecular cloud. We propose that the extreme asymmetries and blue disk color originate from a collision with a clump of interstellar material as HD 32297 moves southward, and discuss evidence consistent with an age of 30 Myr or younger.
Attempts of Magain et al (2005) to detect the host galaxy of the bright QSO HE0450--2958 have not been successful. We suggest that the supermassive black hole powering the QSO was ejected from the observed ULIRG at the same redshift and at 1.5 arcsec distance. Ejection could have either be caused by recoil due to gravitational wave emission from a coalescing binary of supermassive black holes or the gravitational slingshot of three or more supermassive black holes in the ongoing merger of galaxies which triggered the starburst activity in the ULIRG. We discuss implications for the possible hierarchical build-up of supermassive black holes from intermediate and/or stellar mass black holes, and for the detection of coalescing supermassive binary black holes by LISA.
The discovery of the first gravitationally redshifted spectral line from a neutron star (NS) by Cottam, Paerels and Mendez has triggered theoretical studies of the physics of atomic line formation in NS atmospheres. Chang, Bildsten and Wasserman showed that the hydrogenic Fe H$\alpha$ line formed above the photosphere of a bursting NS is intrinsically broad. We now include rotational broadening within general relativity and compare the resulting profile to that observed during Type I bursts from EXO 0748-676. We show that the fine structure splitting of the line precludes a meaningful constraint on the radius. Our fitting of the data show that the line forming Fe column is ${\rm log}_{10} (N_{\rm Fe, n=2}/{\rm cm^{-2}})=17.9_{-0.42}^{+0.27}$ and gravitational redshift $1+z =1.345_{-0.008}^{+0.005}$ with 95% confidence. We calculate the detectability of this spectral feature for a large range of spins and inclinations assuming that the emission comes from the entire surface. We find that at 300 (600) Hz only 10-20% (5-10%) of NSs would have spectral features as deep as that seen in EXO 0748-676.
We solve for the evolution of the vertical extent of the convective region of a neutron star atmosphere during a Type I X-ray burst. The convective region is well-mixed with ashes of nuclear burning and its extent determines the rise time of the burst light curve. Using a full nuclear reaction network, we show that the maximum vertical extent of the convective region during photospheric radius expansion (RE) bursts can be sufficiently great that: (1) some ashes of burning are ejected by the radiation driven wind during the RE phase and, (2) some ashes of burning are exposed at the neutron star surface following the RE phase. We find that ashes with mass number A ~ 30 - 60 are mixed in with the ejected material. We calculate the expected column density of ejected and surface ashes in hydrogen-like states and determine the equivalent widths of the resulting photoionization edges from both the wind and neutron star surface. We find that these can exceed 100 eV and are potentially detectable. A detection would probe the nuclear burning processes and might enable a measurement of the neutron star gravitational redshift. In addition, we find that in bursts with pure helium burning layers, protons from (alpha, p) reactions cause a rapid onset of the 12C(p, gamma)13N(alpha, p)16O reaction sequence. The sequence bypasses the relatively slow 12C(alpha, gamma)16O reaction and leads to a sudden surge in energy production that is directly observable as a rapid (~ ms) increase in flux during burst rise.
We discuss statistics of Doppler-broadened spectral lines, in particular, the statistics of fluctuations in Position-Position-Velocity data cub along the velocity axis. We show that absorption substantially changes the long wavelength statistics of fluctuations compared to the optically thin case. At the same time, short-wavelength asymptotic is not affected by absorption and remains power-law. We consider both the case of high spatial resolution and the case of poor spatial resolution and discuss the retrieval of power-law indexes of velocity and density spectra. This provides a new technique for studies of turbulence from observations. A big advantage of the technique is that studies of turbulence can accomplished even when spatial resolution of the turbulent volume is poor.
Using the Florida Multi-object Imaging Near-IR grism Observational Spectrometer (FLAMINGOS), we have conducted the FLAMINGOS Extragalactic Survey (FLAMEX), a deep imaging survey covering 7.1 square degrees within the 18.6 sq. deg NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey (NDWFS) regions. FLAMEX is the first deep, wide-area near-infrared survey to image in both the J and Ks filters, and is larger than any previous NIR surveys of comparable depth. The intent of FLAMEX is to facilitate the study of galaxy and galaxy cluster evolution at 1<z<2 by providing rest-frame optical photometry for the massive galaxy population at this epoch. This effort is designed to yield a public data set that complements and augments the suite of existing surveys in the NDWFS fields. We present an overview of FLAMEX and initial results based upon ~150,000 Ks-selected sources in the Bootes field. We describe the observations and reductions, quantify the data quality, and verify that the number counts are consistent with results from previous surveys. Finally, we comment upon the utility of this sample for detailed study of the ERO population, and present one of the first spectroscopically confirmed z>1 galaxy clusters detected using the joint FLAMEX, NDWFS, and Spitzer IRAC Shallow Survey data sets.
We present data obtained with the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) aboard the Spitzer Space Telescope (Spitzer) for a sample of 74 young (t < 30 Myr old) Sun-like (0.7 < M(star)/M(Sun) < 1.5) stars. These are a sub-set of the observations that comprise the Spitzer Legacy science program entitled the Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems (FEPS). Using IRAC we study the fraction of young stars that exhibit 3.6-8.0 micron infrared emission in excess of that expected from the stellar photosphere, as a function of age from 3-30 Myr. The most straightforward interpretation of such excess emission is the presence of hot (300-1000K) dust in the inner regions (< 3 AU) of a circumstellar disk. Five out of the 74 young stars show a strong infrared excess, four of which have estimated ages of 3-10 Myr. While we detect excesses from 5 optically thick disks, and photospheric emission from the remainder of our sample, we do not detect any excess emission from optically thin disks at these wavelengths. We compare our results with accretion disk fractions detected in previous studies, and use the ensemble results to place additional constraints on the dissipation timescales for optically-thick, primordial disks.
We use HST/ACS imaging of 100 early-type galaxies in the ACS Virgo Cluster Survey to investigate the nature of diffuse star clusters (DSCs). Compared to globular clusters (GCs), these star clusters have moderately low luminosities (M_V > -8) and a broad distribution of sizes (3 < r_h < 30 pc), but they are principally characterized by their low mean surface brightnesses which can be more than three magnitudes fainter than a typical GC (mu_g > 20 mag arcsec^-2). The median colors of diffuse star cluster systems are red, 1.1 < g-z < 1.6, which is redder than metal-rich GCs and often as red as the galaxy itself. Most DSC systems thus have mean ages older than 5 Gyr or else have super-solar metallicities. We find that 12 galaxies in our sample contain a significant excess of diffuse star cluster candidates -- nine are lenticulars (S0s), and five visibly contain dust. We also find a substantial population of DSCs in the halo of the giant elliptical M49, associated with the companion galaxy VCC 1199. Most DSC systems appear to be both aligned with the galaxy light and associated with galactic disks, but at the same time many lenticulars do not host substantial DSC populations. Diffuse star clusters in our sample share similar characteristics to those identified in other nearby lenticular, spiral, and dwarf galaxies, and we suggest that DSCs preferentially form, survive, and coevolve with galactic disks. Their properties are broadly consistent with those of merged star cluster complexes, and we note that despite being 3 - 5 magnitudes brighter than DSCs, ultra-compact dwarfs have similar surface brightnesses. The closest Galactic analogs to the DSCs are the old open clusters. We suggest that if a diffuse star cluster population did exist in the disk of the Milky Way, it would be very difficult to find. (Abridged)
The radial entropy profile of the hot gas in clusters of galaxies tends to follow a power law in radius outside of the cluster core. Here we present a simple formula giving both the normalization and slope for the power-law entropy profiles of clusters that form in the absence of non-gravitational processes such as radiative cooling and subsequent feedback. It is based on seventy-one clusters drawn from four separate cosmological simulations, two using smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH) and two using adaptive-mesh refinement (AMR), and can be used as a baseline for assessing the impact of non-gravitational processes on the intracluster medium outside of cluster cores. All the simulations produce clusters with self-similar structure in which the normalization of the entropy profile scales linearly with cluster temperature, and these profiles are in excellent agreement outside of 0.2 r_200. Because the observed entropy profiles of clusters do not scale linearly with temperature, our models confirm that non-gravitational processes are necessary to break the self-similarity seen in the simulations. However, the core entropy levels found by the two codes used here significantly differ, with the AMR code producing nearly twice as much entropy at the centre of a cluster.
We compare the gas distribution, kinematics and the current star formation in a sample of 10 very faint (-13.37 < M_B < -9.55) dwarf galaxies. For 5 of these galaxies we present fresh, high sensitivity, GMRT HI 21cm observations. For all our galaxies we construct maps of the HI column density at a constant linear resolution of ~300 pc; this forms an excellent data set to check for the presence of a threshold column density for star formation. We find that while current star formation (as traced by Halpha emission) is confined to regions with relatively large (N_HI > (0.4 -1.7) X 10^{21} atoms cm^{-2}) HI column density, the morphology of the Halpha emission is in general not correlated with that of the high HI column density gas. Thus, while high column density gas may be necessary for star formation, in this sample at least, it is not sufficient to ensure that star formation does in fact occur. We examine the line profiles of the HI emission, but do not find a simple relation between regions with complex line profiles and those with on-going star formation. Finally, we examine the very fine scale (~20-100 pc) distribution of the HI gas, and find that at these scales the emission exhibits a variety of shell like, clumpy and filamentary features. The Halpha emission is sometimes associated with high density HI clumps, sometimes the Halpha emission lies inside a high density shell, and sometimes there is no correspondence between the Halpha emission and the HI clumps. In summary, the interplay between star formation and gas density in these galaxy does not seem to show the simple large scale patterns observed in brighter galaxies (abridged).
The properties of the short-hard gamma-ray bursts (SHBs) with known host-galaxies suggest that these events result from a long-lived progenitor system. The most popular progenitor model of SHBs invokes the merger of either double neutron star (DNS) binaries or neutron star-black hole (NS-BH) systems. Such events produce strong gravitational waves (GWs) at frequency range that is accessible to current and next-generation ground-based GW observatories. In this work we combine the census of SHB observations with refined theoretical analysis to critically evaluate the compact binary progenitor model. We then explore the implications for GW detection of these events. Beginning from the measured star-formation rate through cosmic time, we consider what intrinsic luminosity and lifetime distributions can reproduce both the known SHB redshifts and luminosities, and the peak flux distribution of the large BATSE SHB sample. We find that (1) Short progenitor lifetimes, <3 Gyr, are ruled out, and lifetimes of about 6 Gyr favored. This result is difficult to reconcile with the observed properties of the DNS population in our galaxy. We show that for DNS systems to remain viable SHB progenitors, a large population of old undetectable NS binaries must be postulated. (2) We find that the local rate of SHBs is at least 10 Gpc^-3 yr^-1 and likely as high as 10^5 Gpc^-3 yr-1, significantly above earlier estimates. (3) We find that assuming that SHBs do result from compact binaries, either through the old DNS population mentioned above or from NS-BH mergers, our resulting predictions for the LIGO event rate are extremely encouraging: several detections per year may be expected at design sensitivity, and the first coincident observation of electromagnetic and gravitational radiation from an SHB may well be made with current facilities.
The 1<z<2 redshift window hosts the peak of the star formation and metal production rates. Studies of the metal content of the star forming galaxies at these epochs are however sparse. We report VLT-ISAAC near-infrared spectroscopy for a sample of five [OII]-selected, M_B,AB<-21.5, z~1.4 galaxies, by which we measured Hbeta and [OIII]5007 emission line fluxes from J-band spectra, and Halpha line fluxes plus upper limits for [NII]6584 fluxes from H-band spectra. The z~1.4 galaxies are characterized by the high [OIII]/[OII] line ratios, low extinction and low metallicity that are typical of lower luminosity CADIS galaxies at 0.4<z<0.7, and of more luminous Lyman Break Galaxies at z~3, but not seen in CFRS galaxies at 0.4<z<0.9. This type of spectrum (e.g., high [OIII]/[OII]) is seen in progressively more luminous galaxies as the redshift increases. These spectra are caused by a combination of high ionisation parameter q and lower [O/H]. Pegase2 chemical evolution models are used to relate the observed metallicities and luminosities of z~1.4 galaxies to galaxy samples at lower and higher redshift. Not surpringsingly, we see a relationship between redshift and inferred chemical age. We suppose that the metal-enriched reservoirs of star forming gas that we are probing at intermediate redshifts are being mostly consumed to build up both the disk and the bulge components of spiral galaxies. Finally, our analysis of the metallicity-luminosity relation at 0<z<1.5 suggests that the period of rapid chemical evolution may take place progressively in lower mass systems as the universe ages. These results are consistent with a ``downsizing'' type picture in the sense that particular signatures (e.g., high [OIII]/[OII] or low [O/H]) are seen in progressively more luminous (massive) systems at higher redshifts.
The dichotomy between a universal mass function (IMF) and a variable IMF which depends on local physical parameters characterises observational and theoretical stellar astronomy. In this contribution the available distributions of probability are briefly reviewed. The physical nature of two of them, gamma variate and lognormal, is then explained once the framework of the fragmentation is introduced. Interpolating techniques are then applied to the sample of the first 10 pc and to the open cluster NGC6649: in both cases lognormal distribution produces the best fit. The three power law function has also been investigated and visual comparison with an artificially generated sample of 100000 stars suggests that the variations in the spectral index are simply due to the small number of stars available in the observational sample. In order to derive the sample of masses, a new formula that allows us to express the mass as a function of the absolute magnitude and (B-V) for MAIN V, GIANTS III and SUPERGIANTS I is derived.
The most geoeffective solar drivers are magnetic clouds - a subclass of coronal mass ejections (CME's) distinguished by the smooth rotation of the magnetic field inside the structure. The portion of CME's that are magnetic clouds is maximum at sunspot minimum and mimimum at sunspot maximum. This portion is determined by the amount of helicity carried away by CME's which in turn depends on the amount of helicity transferred from the solar interior to the surface, and on the surface differential rotation. The latter can increase or reduce, or even reverse the twist of emerging magnetic flux tubes, thus increasing or reducing the helicity in the corona, or leading to the violation of the hemispheric helicity rule, respectively. We investigate the CME's associated with the major geomagnetic storms in the last solar cycle whose solar sources have been identified, and find that in 10 out of 12 cases of violation of the hemispheric helicity rule or of highly geoeffective CME's with no magnetic field rotation, they originate from regions with "anti-solar" type of surface differential rotation.
We review the main properties, demographics and applications of binary and millisecond radio pulsars. Our knowledge of these exciting objects has greatly increased in recent years, mainly due to successful surveys which have brought the known pulsar population to over 1700. There are now 80 binary and millisecond pulsars associated with the disk of our Galaxy, and a further 103 pulsars in 24 of the Galactic globular clusters. Recent highlights have been the discovery of the first ever double pulsar system and a recent flurry of discoveries in globular clusters, in particular Terzan 5.
The recent astronomical measurements of distant supernovae as well as other observations indicate that our universe is presently accelerating. There are different proposals for the explanation of this acceleration. Most of these proposals require the existence of exotic matter with negative pressure violating the strong energy condition. On the other hand, there have appeared many models which offer dramatically different mechanism for the current acceleration, in which dark energy emerges from the gravity sector rather than from the matter sector. In this paper, we compare the concordance $\Lambda$CDM model with the braneworld models of dark energy by using Akaike and Bayesian informative critera. We show that, although this model has extra parameters (the fundamental constants of the bulk space) resulting in an improved fit to the SNIa data, these new parameters are actually not important for description of present acceleration epoch. With the example of the Sahni--Shtanov braneworld model \cite{Shtanov03}, we demonstrate that, although this model has better fit to the SNIa data than $\Lambda$CDM model, the information criterion of model selection prefers the $\Lambda$CDM model. This is because the informative criteria of model selection compensate for this advantage by penalizing models having more free parameters. We conclude that only new future observational data are powerful enough to give advantage to dark-energy models of braneworld origin, i.e., a very high-significance detection is required to justify the presence of new parameters.
We discuss the distribution of radial velocities of galaxies belonging to the Local Group. Two independent samples of galaxies as well as several methods of reduction from the heliocentric to the galactocentric radial velocities are explored. We applied the power spectrum analysis using the Hann function as a weighting method, together with the jackknife error estimation. We performed a detailed analysis of this approach. The distribution of galaxy redshifts seems to be non-random. An excess of galaxies with radial velocities of $\sim 24 {km} \cdot {s}^{-1}$ and $\sim 36 {km} \cdot {s}^{-1}$ is detected, but the effect is statistically weak. Only one peak for radial velocities of $\sim 24 {km} \cdot {s}^{-1}$ seems to be confirmed at the confidence level of 95%.
We present 7 mm and 3.5 cm wavelength continuum observations toward the Herbig AeBe star HD169142 performed with the Very Large Array (VLA) with an angular resolution of ~1". We find that this object exhibits strong (~4.4 mJy), unresolved (~1") 7 mm continuum emission, being one of the brightest isolated Herbig AeBe stars ever detected with the VLA at this wavelength. No emission is detected at 3.5 cm continuum, with a 3 sigma upper limit of ~0.08 mJy. From these values, we obtain a spectral index of ~2.5 in the 3.5 cm to 7 mm wavelength range, indicating that the observed flux density at 7mm is most likely dominated by thermal dust emission coming from a circumstellar disc. We use available photometric data from the literature to model the spectral energy distribution (SED) of this object from radio to near-ultraviolet frequencies. The observed SED can be understood in terms of an irradiated accretion disc with low mass accretion rate, 10^{-8} solar masses per year, surrounding a star with an age of ~10 Myr. We infer that the mass of the disc is ~0.04 solar masses, and is populated by dust grains that have grown to a maximum size of 1 mm everywhere, consistent with the lack of silicate emission at 10 microns. These features, as well as indications of settling in the wall at the dust destruction radius, led us to speculate the disc of HD169142 is in an advanced stage of dust evolution, particularly in its inner regions.
In this paper another class of Dark Matter candidate particles: the pseudoscalar and scalar light bosonic candidates, is discussed. Particular care is devoted to the study of the processes for their detection (which only involves electrons and photons/X-rays) in a suitable underground experimental set-up. For this purpose the needed calculations are developed and various related aspects and phenomenologies are discussed. In particular, it is shown that - in addition to the WIMP cases already discussed elsewhere - there is also possibility for a bosonic candidate to account for the 6.3 sigma C.L. model independent evidence for the presence of a particle DM component in the galactic halo observed by DAMA/NaI. Allowed regions in these scenarios are presented also paying particular care on the cosmological interest of the bosonic candidate.
In the construction of multi-mass King-Michie models of globular clusters, an approximated central energy equipartition between stars of different masses is usually imposed by scaling the velocity parameter of each mass class inversely with the stellar mass, as if the distribution function were isothermal. In this paper, this 'isothermal approximation' (IA) has been checked and its consequences on the model parameters studied by a comparison with models including central energy equipartition correctly. It is found that, under the IA, the 'temperatures' of a pair of components can differ to a non-negligible amount for low concentration distributions. It is also found that, in general, this approximation leads to a significantly reduced mass segregation in comparison with that given under the exact energy equipartition at the centre. As a representative example, an isotropic 3-component model fitting a given projected surface brightness and line-of-sight velocity dispersion profiles is discussed. In this example, the IA gives a cluster envelope much more concentrated (central dimensionless potential W=3.3) than under the true equipartition (W=0.059), as well as a higher logarithmic mass function slope. As a consequence, the inferred total mass (and then the global mass-to-light ratio) results a factor 1.4 times lower than the correct value and the amount of mass in heavy dark remnants is 3.3 times smaller. Under energy equipartition, the fate of stars having a mass below a certain limit is to escape from the system. This limit is derived as a function of the mass and W of the giants and turn-off stars component.
Context:Very precise planned space astrometric missions and recent
improvements on imaging capabilities require a detailed review of the
assumptions of classical astrometric modeling.
Aims:We show that Light-Travel Time must be taken into account to model the
kinematics of astronomical objects in nonlinear motion, even at stellar
distances.
Methods:A closed expression to include Light-Travel Time in the actual
astrometric models with nonlinear motion is provided. Using a perturbative
approach the expression of the Light-Travel Time signature is derived. We
propose a practical form of the astrometric modelling to be applied in
astrometric data reduction of sources at stellar distances($d>1 pc$).
Results :We show that the Light-Travel Time signature is relevant at $\muas$
accuracy (or even at $mas$) depending on the time span of the astrometric
measurements. We explain how information about the radial motion of a source
can be obtained. Some estimative numbers are provided for known nearby binary
systems
Conclusions :In the light of the obtained results, it is clear that this
effect must be taken into account to interpret any kind of precise astrometric
measurements. The effect is particularly interesting in measurements performed
by the planned astrometric space missions (GAIA, SIM, JASMINE, TPF/DARWIN).
Finally an objective criterion is provided to quickly evaluate whether the
Light-Travel Time modeling is required for a given source or system.
The Sun's rotation profile and lithium content have been difficult to understand in the context of conventional models of stellar evolution. Classical hydrodynamical models predict that the solar interior must rotate highly differentially, in disagreement with observations. It has recently been shown that internal waves produced by convection in solar-type stars produce an asymmetric, shear layer oscillation, similar to Earth's quasi-biennial oscillation, that leads to efficient angular momentum redistribution from the core to the envelope. We presents results of a model that successfully reproduces both the rotation profile and the surface abundance of lithium in solar-type stars of various ages.
The low background, good spatial resolution and great sensitivity of the EPIC-pn camera on XMM-Newton give useful limits for the detection of extended sources even during the short exposures made during slewing maneouvers. In this paper we attempt to illustrate the potential of the XMM-Newton slew survey as a tool for analysing flux-limited samples of clusters of galaxies and other sources of spatially extended X-ray emission.
We briefly discuss how high-energy-astrophysics data can be used to obtain information on the small-scale structure of spacetime.
The Global mm-VLBI Array is at present the most sensitive 3 mm-VLBI interferometer and provides images of up to 40 micro-arcsecond resolution. Using this array, we have monitored the rotation of the innermost jet in the quasar NRAO 150, which shows an angular speed of ~ 7 deg./yr. Future 3 mm arrays could include additional stations like ALMA, GBT, LMT, CARMA, SRT, Yebes, Nobeyama and Noto, which would allow to push VLBI at this wavelength to sensitivity and image quality levels comparable to those of present VLBI at centimeter wavelengths. This would improve our knowledge of the accretion systems and the magneto-hydrodynamics of the innermost jets in AGN and microquasars.
Using single star models including the effects of shellular rotation with and without magnetic fields, we show that massive stars at solar metallicity with initial masses lower than about 20-25 M$_\odot$ and with an initial rotation above $\sim 350$ km s$^{-1}$ likely reach the critical velocity during their Main-Sequence phase. This results from the efficient outwards transport of angular momentum by the meridional circulation. This could be a scenario for explaining the Be stars. After the Main-Sequence phase, single star in this mass range can again reach the critical limit when they are on a blue loop after a red supergiant phase \citep{HL98}. This might be a scenario for the formation of B[e] stars, however as discussed by Langer & Heger (1998), this scenario would predict a short B[e] phase (only some 10$^4$ years) with correspondingly small amounts of mass lost.
We present the spectral and temporal analysis of the 2004/2005 outburst of the transient X-ray pulsar V0332+53 as observed with Integral. After the discovery of the third cyclotron line in phase averaged spectra (Kreykenbohm et al 2005, Pottschmidt et al 2005), detailed pulse phase spectroscopy revealed remarkably little variability of the cyclotron lines through the 4.4s X-ray pulse (Pottschmidt et al 2005). During the decline of the outburst, the flux was observed to decay exponentially until 2005 Feb 10 and linearly thereafter. The spectrum was found to become harder with time, while the folding energy remained constant. The energy of the fundamental cyclotron line increased with time from 26.5kev in the RXTE observation up to 29.5kev in the last Integral one indicating that the emission region is moving closer to the surface of the neutron star. For a detailed analysis, see Mowlavi et al (2005).
The Astrophysical Virtual Observatory (AVO) initiative, jointly funded by the European Commission and six European organisations, had the task of creating the foundations of a regional scale infrastructure by conducting a research and demonstration programme on the VO scientific requirements and necessary technologies. The AVO project is now formally concluded. I highlight AVO's main achievements and then describe its successor, the EURO-VO project. With its three new interlinked structures, the Data Centre Alliance, the Facility Centre, and the Technology Centre, the EURO-VO is the logical next step for the deployment of an operational VO in Europe.
(ABBREVIATED) We study the spectrum of the prompt emission and the X-ray and optical afterglow fluxes of XRRs and XRFs. A comparison is then performed with GRBs. We derive a sample of 54 events XRRs/XRFs observed by BeppoSAX and HETE-2. We analyze the distribution of the spectral parameters of the Band function finding that the spectral indexes are similar to those of classical GRBs, whereas the peak energy is lower by a factor of 4 for the XRRs/XRFs. We study the optical and X-Ray afterglow properties of the XRRs/XRFs; in particular XRR 011030. We find that the X-ray and optical flux distribution of the XRRs/XRFs sample, observed 40 ks from burst trigger, are consistent with those of classical GRBs. We find also that the XRRs/XRFs lightcurves seems to be similar to the GRB ones. In addition, they never show a rising slope at early time. We compare this result with the afterglow predictions of two models : the high redshift scenario, and the off-axis scenario. In this last framework, we consider jets with a homogeneous, a -2 power-law shaped and a Gaussian luminosity angular distribution. We find that the high redshift scenario can explain some events but not the total sample of XRRs/XRFs. The off-axis model may be consistent with our foundings only when a power-law shaped jet is considered. However, given the uncertainties on the selection effects in our sample, the Gaussian jet viewed at small angles from the Gaussian core cannot be ruled out. On the contrary, our analysis strongly disfavored a homogeneous jet seen off-axis.
Today's sensistive, high resolution Chandra X-ray observations allow the study of many populations of X-ray sources. The traditional astronomical tools of photometric diagrams and luminosity functions are now applied to these populations, and provide the means for classifying the X-ray sources and probing their evolution. While overall stellar mass drives the amount of X-ray binaries in old stellar population, the amount of sources in star-forming galaxies is related to the star formation rate. Shart-lived, luminous, high mass binaries (HNXBs) dominate these young populations.
The IAU Symposium 230, Populations of High Energy Sources in Galaxies, has been a wide-spectrum affair, with talks discussing results from the soft X-ray to the Gamma-ray range on virtually the entire universe, from our Galaxy to the high redshift regions when first galaxies emerged. I do not name any presenter in this summary, but concentrate on themes and results that I have found striking.
We examine the coherent active-active channel nonlinear neutrino flavor evolution in the post-core-bounce supernova environment. We improve on the previous spin precession analogy to neutrino oscillation, and propose the concept of neutrino flavor isospin, which treats neutrinos and anti-neutrinos on an equal footing. We point out a key conserved quantity, the "total effective energy". This conservation condition suggests a simple explanation for previous numerical results. We employ a co-rotating frame in the spin precession picture to gain physical insights into the collective behaviors of this system when neutrino-neutrino forward scattering dominates the weak potentials which govern flavor conversion. We also use the spin precession analogy to analyze previously-derived limits for the behavior of supernova neutrinos, e.g., the Background Dominant Solution, and we speculate on how such solutions could arise in realistic supernova environments.
Chandra observations show the importance of the X-ray band for studying the evolution of galaxies. Binary X-ray sources are an easily detectable tracer of the stellar population. Chandra studies of these populations are giving us insights into the nature and formation of these binaries, and provide the basis for diagnostics of galaxy evolution. With Chandra and XMM-Newton we can explore relatively poorly known aspects of the black hole population of the universe: ultra-luminous X-ray sources, that may be connected with the 'missing' intermediate mass black holes predicted by hierarchical galaxy and black hole formation scenarios; and quiescent supermassive nuclear black holes and their surroundings, as a way to understand the full range of the AGN phenomenon. Finally, the X-ray band provides the only way to explore hot plasmas in galaxies; recent observations are revealing the importance of these plasmas as vehicles of both chemical enrichment and energy.
Nearby sources of cosmic rays up to a ZeV(=10^21 eV) could be observed with a multi-messenger approach including secondary gamma-rays and neutrinos. If cosmic rays above ~10^18 eV are produced in magnetized environments such as galaxy clusters, the flux of secondary gamma-rays below ~1 TeV can be enhanced up to several orders of magnitudes compared to unmagnetized sources. A particular source of enhancement are synchrotron and cascade photons from e^+e^- pairs produced by protons from sources with relatively steep injection spectra proportional to E^-2.6. Such sources should be visible at the same time in ultra-high energy cosmic ray experiments and gamma-ray telescopes.
We present results of an optical and near-infrared (IR) 1.8 deg^2 survey in the Pleiades open cluster to search for substellar objects. From optical I-band images from the CFHT and J-band images from the 3.5 m CAHA Telescope, we identify 18 faint and very red L brown dwarf candidates, with I> 20.9 and I-J> 3.2. The follow-up observations of nine objects in the H- and Ks-bands confirm that eight belong to the IR sequence of the cluster and the proper motion measurements of seven candidates confirm that they are Pleiades members. A preliminary estimation of the substellar mass spectrum dN/dM in the form of a power law M^-alpha provides alpha=0.57+-0.14. We extrapolate this function to estimate the number of very low-mass brown dwarfs and planetary mass objects that could be present in the cluster down to 1 M_Jup. Sensitive searches combining far red and near infrared observations may unveal these objects in a near future.
We study the narrow-line region (NLR) of the Seyfert-2 galaxy NGC 1386 by means of long-slit spectroscopy obtained with FORS1 at the VLT. We use the galaxy itself for subtracting the stellar template, applying reddening corrections to fit the stellar template to the spectra of the NLR. The continuum gets steadily redder towards the nucleus. The spatial distribution of the reddening derived from the Balmer decrement differs from the continuum reddening, indicating dust within the NLR with a varying column density along the line of sight. Using spatially resolved spectral diagnostics, we find a transition between central line ratios falling into the AGN regime and outer ones in the HII-region regime, occuring at a radius of ~6 arcsec (310 pc) in all three diagnostic diagrams. Applying CLOUDY photoionisation models, we show that the observed distinction between HII-like and AGN-like ratios in NGC 1386 represents a true difference in ionisation source and cannot be explained by variations of physical parameters such as ionisation parameter, electron density or metallicity. We interpret it as a real border between the NLR, i.e. the central AGN-photoionised region and surrounding HII regions. We derive surface brightness, electron density, and ionisation parameter as a function of distance from the nucleus. Both the electron density and the ionisation parameter decrease with radius. We discuss the consequences of these observations for the interpretation of the empirical NLR size-luminosity relation. In the outer part of the NLR, we find evidence for shocks, resulting in a secondary peak of the electron-density and ionisation-parameter distribution north of the nucleus. We compare the NLR velocity curve with the stellar one and discuss the differences.
Interactions between the radio jet and the optical emission of the narrow-line region (NLR) are a well known phenomenon in Seyfert galaxies. Here, we present the study of possible jet-NLR interactions in five radio-quiet PG quasars with double or triple radio structure. High spatial and spectral resolution observations were carried out in the Hbeta-[OIII]5007 wavelength range. In all cases, there is evidence for [OIII] profile substructure (shoulders, subpeaks, blueshifted ''broad'' components) with different clarity. To measure the velocity, line width, intensity, and location of these [OIII] components, several Gaussians were fitted. Often, the substructures are more pronounced close to the radio lobes, suggestive of jet-NLR interactions. Our observations support the unification scheme in which radio-quiet quasars are assumed to be the luminous cousins of Seyfert galaxies.
We present optical spectra of a flare on Barnard's star. Several photospheric as well as chromospheric species were enhanced by the flare heating. An analysis of the Balmer lines shows that their shapes are best explained by Stark broadening rather than chromospheric mass motions. We estimate the temperature of the flaring region in the lower atmosphere to be >8000 K and the electron density to be ~10^14 cm^{-3}, similar to values observed in other dM flares. Because Barnard's star is considered to be one of our oldest neighbors, a flare of this magnitude is probably quite rare.
In order to examine the relative importance of powerful starbursts and Compton-thick AGNs in NGC 6240, we have obtained mid-infrared images and low-resolution spectra of the galaxy with sub-arcsecond spatial resolution using the Keck Telescopes. Despite the high spatial resolution (~200 pc) of our data, no signature of the hidden AGNs has been detected in the mid-infrared. The southern nucleus, which we show provides 80-90% of the total 8-25 um luminosity of the system, has a mid-infrared spectrum and a mid-/far-infrared spectral energy distribution consistent with starbursts. At the same time, however, it is also possible to attribute up to 60% of the bolometric luminosity to an AGN, consistent with X-ray observations, if the AGN is heavily obscured and emits mostly in the far-infrared. This ambiguity arises because the intrinsic variation of properties among a given galaxy population (e.g., starbursts) introduces at least a factor of a few uncertainty even into the most robust AGN-starburst diagnostics. We conclude that with present observations it is not possible to determine the dominant power source in galaxies when AGN and starburst luminosities are within a factor of a few of each other.
The spectral energy distribution of the dark cloud LDN1622, as measured by
Finkbeiner using WMAP data, drops above 30GHz and is suggestive of a Boltzmann
cutoff in grain rotation frequencies, characteristic of spinning dust emission.
LDN1622 is conspicuous in the 31 GHz image we obtained with the Cosmic
Background Imager, which is the first cm-wave resolved image of a dark cloud.
The 31GHz emission follows the emission traced by the four IRAS bands. The
normalised cross-correlation of the 31 GHz image with the IRAS images is higher
by 6.6sigma for the 12um and 25um bands than for the 60um and 100um bands:
C(12+25) = 0.76+/-0.02 and C(60+100) = 0.64+/-0.01.
The mid-IR -- cm-wave correlation in LDN 1622 is evidence for very small
grain (VSG) or continuum emission at 26-36GHz from a hot molecular phase. In
dark clouds and their photon-dominated regions (PDRs) the 12um and 25um
emission is attributed to stochastic heating of the VSGs. The mid-IR and
cm-wave dust emissions arise in a limb-brightened shell coincident with the PDR
of LDN1622, where the incident UV radiation from the Ori OB1b association heats
and charges the grains, as required for spinning dust.
Early-type galaxies often contain a hot X-ray emitting interstellar medium (3-8E6 K) with an apparent radiative cooling time much less than a Hubble time. If unopposed by a heating mechanism, the gas will radiatively cool to temperatures <= 10E4 K at a rate proportional to L_X/T_X, typically 0.03-1 M_solar yr^-1. We can test if gas is cooling through the 3E5 K range by observing the OVI doublet, whose luminosity is proportional to the cooling rate. Here we report on a study of an unbiased sample of 24 galaxies, obtaining Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer spectra to complement the X-ray data of ROSAT} and Chandra. The OVI line emission was detected in about 40% of the galaxies and at a luminosity level similar to the prediction from the cooling flow model. There is a correlation between Mdot_OVI and Mdot_X, although there is significant dispersion about the relationship, where the OVI is brighter or dimmer than expected by a factor of three or more. If the cooling flow picture is to be retained, this dispersion requires that cooling flows be time-dependent, as might occur by the activity of an AGN. However, of detected objects, those with the highest or lowest values of Mdot_OVI/Mdot_X are not systematically hot or cool, as one might predict from AGN heating.
Accreting X-Ray Binaries display a wide range of behaviours. Some of them are observed to spin up steadily, others to alternate between spin-up and spin-down states, sometimes superimposed on a longer trend of either spin up or spin down. Here we interpret this rich phenomenology within a new model of the disk-magnetosphere interaction. Our model, based on the simplest version of a purely material torque, accounts for the fact that, when a neutron star is in the propeller regime, a fraction of the ejected material does not receive enough energy to completely unbind, and hence falls back into the disk. We show that the presence of this feedback mass component causes the occurrence of multiple states available to the system, for a given, constant value of the mass accretion rate dot{M}_* from the companion star. If the angle chi of the magnetic dipole axis with respect to the perpendicular to the disk is larger than a critical value chi_crit, the system eventually settles in a cycle of spin-up/spin-down transitions for a constant value of dot{M}_* and independent of the initial conditions. No external perturbations are required to induce the torque reversals. The transition from spin up to spin down is often accompanied by a large drop in luminosity. The frequency range spanned in each cycle and the timescale for torque reversals depend on dot{M}_*, the magnetic field of the star, the magnetic colatitude chi, and the degree of elasticity regulating the magnetosphere-disk interaction. The critical angle chi_crit ranges from \~25-30 deg for a completely elastic interaction to ~40-45 deg for a totally anelastic one. For chi ~< chi_crit, cycles are no longer possible and the long-term evolution of the system is a pure spin up. We specifically illustrate our model in the cases of the X-ray binaries GX 1+4 and 4U 1626-67.
Cosmic infrared background (CIB) contains information about galaxy luminosities over the entire history of the Universe and can be a powerful diagnostic of the early populations otherwise inaccessible to telescopic studies. Its measurements are very difficult because of the strong IR foregrounds from the Solar system and the Galaxy. Nevertheless, substantial recent progress in measuring the CIB and its structure has been made. The measurements now allow to set significant constraints on early galaxy evolution and, perhaps, even detect the elusive Population III era. We discuss briefly the theory behind the CIB, review the latest measurements of the CIB and its structure, and discuss their implications for detecting and/or constraining the first stars and their epochs.
We present a novel approach to reconstructing the projected mass distribution from the sparse and noisy weak gravitational lensing shear data. The reconstructions are regularised via the knowledge gained from numerical simulations of clusters, with trial mass distributions constructed from n NFW profile ellipsoidal components. The parameters of these ``atoms'' are distributed a priori as in the simulated clusters. Sampling the mass distributions from the atom parameter probability density function allows estimates of the properties of the mass distribution to be generated, with error bars. The appropriate number of atoms is inferred from the data itself via the Bayesian evidence, and is typically found to be small, reflecting the quality of the data. Ensemble average mass maps are found to be robust to the details of the noise realisation, and succeed in recovering the demonstration input mass distribution (from a realistic simulated cluster) over a wide range of scales. As an application of such a reliable mapping algorithm, we comment on the residuals of the reconstruction and the implications for predicting convergence and shear at specific points on the sky.
We present an analysis of the 2-150 keV spectrum of the transient X-ray pulsar V0332+53 taken with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) in 2004 December. We report on the detection of three cyclotron resonance features at 27, 51, and 74 keV in the phase-averaged data, corresponding to a polar magnetic field of 2.7 x 10^12 G. After 4U0115+63, this makes V0332+53 the second accreting neutron star in which more than two cyclotron lines have been detected; this has now also been confirmed by INTEGRAL. Pulse-phase spectroscopy reveals remarkably little variability of the cyclotron line through the 4.4 s X-ray pulse.
We investigate the properties of massive galaxies at z=1-3.5 using HST observations, ground-based near-IR imaging, and Spitzer Space Telescope observations at 3-24 micron. We identify 153 distant red galaxies (DRGs) with J-K > 2.3 mag (Vega) in the southern GOODS field. This sample is approximately complete in stellar mass for passively evolving galaxies above 10^11 solar masses and z < 3. The galaxies identified by this selection are roughly split between objects whose optical and near-IR rest-frame light is dominated by evolved stars combined with ongoing star formation, and galaxies whose light is dominated by heavily reddened starbursts. Very few of the galaxies (< 10%) have no indication of current star formation. Using SFR estimates that include the reradiated IR emission, the DRGs at z=1.5-3 with stellar masses > 10^11 solar masses have specific SFRs (SFRs per unit stellar mass) ranging from 0.2 to 10 Gyr^-1, with a mean value of ~2.4 Gyr^-1. The DRGs with stellar masses > 10^11 solar masses and 1.5 < z < 3 have integrated specific SFRs greater the global value over all galaxies. In contrast, we find that galaxies at z = 0.3-0.75 with these stellar masses have integrated specific SFRs less than the global value, and more than an order of magnitude lower than that for massive DRGs at z = 1.5-3. At z < 1, lower-mass galaxies dominate the overall cosmic mass assembly. This suggests that the bulk of star formation in massive galaxies occurs at early cosmic epochs and is largely complete by z~1.5. [Abridged]
We propose the phenomenological consideration of strong incompressible magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in the presence of a strong external magnetic field. We argue that in the inertial range of scales, magnetic-field and velocity-field fluctuations tend to align the directions of their polarizations. However, the perfect alignment cannot be reached, it is precluded by the presence of a constant energy flux. As a consequence, the field-perpendicular energy spectrum is derived to have the Iroshnikov-Kraichnan scaling, E(k) ~ k^{-3/2}. Our results may be universal, i.e., independent of the external magnetic field, since small-scale fluctuations locally experience the strong field produced by large-scale eddies.
Various galaxy properties are not continuous over a large range in mass, but
rather reveal a remarkable transition or `bimodality' at a stellar mass of 3 x
10^{10} Mo. These properties include colors, stellar populations, Xray emission
and mass-to-light ratios. This behavior has been interpreted as the transition
from hot to cold flows by Dekel & Birnboim (2005).
Here we explore whether globular cluster (GC) systems also reveal a bimodal
nature with regard to this critical mass scale. Globular clusters probe star
formation at early epochs in the Universe and survive subsequent galaxy mergers
and accretions. We use new data from the ACS Virgo Cluster Survey (Peng etal
2005), which provides a homogeneous sample of the GC systems around one hundred
Virgo early-type galaxies covering a range of five hundred in galaxy mass.
Their classification of the GC color distributions is taken to examine a key
quantity -- the number of GCs per unit galaxy luminosity. Below the critical
mass, this quantity (called the GC specific frequency) increases dramatically
in its mean value and spread. This increase may be due to regulated star
formation in low mass galaxies, which in turn is due to mass loss via winds and
the transition from hot to cold gas accretion flows. We also note that above
the critical mass, galaxies possess two GC subpopulations (with blue and red
mean colors) but below this mass, galaxies reveal an increasing proportion of
single (blue) GC systems.
We investigate marginally stable nuclear burning on the surface of accreting neutron stars as an explanation for the mHz quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) observed from three low mass X-ray binaries. At the boundary between unstable and stable burning, the temperature dependence of the nuclear heating rate and cooling rate almost cancel. The result is an oscillatory mode of burning, with an oscillation period close to the geometric mean of the thermal and accretion timescales for the burning layer. We describe a simple one-zone model which illustrates this basic physics, and then present detailed multizone hydrodynamical calculations of nuclear burning close to the stability boundary using the KEPLER code. Our models naturally explain the characteristic 2 minute period of the mHz QPOs, and why they are seen only in a very narrow range of X-ray luminosities. The oscillation period is sensitive to the accreted hydrogen fraction and the surface gravity, suggesting a new way to probe these parameters. A major puzzle is that the accretion rate at which the oscillations appear in the theoretical models is an order of magnitude larger than the rate implied by the X-ray luminosity when the mHz QPOs are seen. We discuss the implications for our general understanding of nuclear burning on accreting neutron stars. One possibility is that the accreted material covers only part of the neutron star surface at luminosities Lx > ~1E37 erg/s.
We have studied the nuclear activity in a sample of six quiescent early-type galaxies, with new Chandra data and archival HST optical images. Their nuclear sources have X-ray luminosities ~ 10^{38} - 10^{39} erg/s (L_X/L_Edd ~ 10^{-8} - 10^{-7}), and colors or spectra consistent with accreting supermassive black holes (SMBHs)--except for the nucleus of NGC 4486B, which is softer than typical AGN spectra. In a few cases, the X-ray morphology of the nuclear sources shows hints of marginally extended structures, in addition to the surrounding diffuse thermal emission from hot gas, which is detectable on scales >~ 1 kpc. In one case (NGC 5845), a dusty disk may partially obstruct our direct view of the SMBH. We have estimated the temperature and density of the hot interstellar medium, which is one major source of fuel for the accreting SMBH; typical central densities are n_e ~ (0.02 +/- 0.01) cm^{-3}. Assuming that the hot gas is captured by the SMBH at the Bondi rate, we show that the observed X-ray luminosities are too faint to be consistent with standard disk accretion, but brighter than predicted by radiatively-inefficient solutions (eg, ADAF). In total, there are ~ 20 galaxies for which SMBH mass, hot gas density, and nuclear X-ray luminosity are simultaneously known. In some cases, the nuclear sources are brighter than predicted by the ADAF model; in other cases, they are consistent or fainter. We discuss the apparent lack of correlations between Bondi rate and X-ray luminosity, and suggest that, in order to understand the observed distribution, we need to know two additional parameters: the amount of gas supplied by the stellar population inside the accretion radius, and the fraction (possibly << 1) of the total gas available that is accreted by the SMBH. We shall discuss these issues in our Paper II.
We have observed a high-mass protobinary system in the hot core W3(H2O) with the BIMA Array. Our continuum maps at wavelengths of 1.4mm and 2.8mm both achieve sub-arcsecond angular resolutions and show a double-peaked morphology. The angular separation of the two sources is 1.19" corresponding to 2.43X10^3 AU at the source distance of 2.04 kpc. The flux densities of the two sources at 1.4mm and 2.8mm have a spectral index of 3, translating to an opacity law of kappa ~ nu. The small spectral indices suggest that grain growth has begun in the hot core. We have also observed 5 K components of the CH3CN (12-11) transitions. A radial velocity difference of 2.81 km/s is found towards the two continuum peaks. Interpreting these two sources as binary components in orbit about one another, we find a minimum mass of 22 Msun for the system. Radiative transfer models are constructed to explain both the continuum and methyl cyanide line observations of each source. Power-law distributions of both density and temperature are derived. Density distributions close to the free-fall value, r^-1.5, are found for both components, suggesting continuing accretion. The derived luminosities suggest the two sources have equivalent zero-age main sequence (ZAMS) spectral type B0.5 - B0. The nebular masses derived from the continuum observations are about 5 Msun for source A and 4 Msun for source C. A velocity gradient previously detected may be explained by unresolved binary rotation with a small velocity difference.
We re-analyze the precision radial velocity (RV) data of HD188015, HD114729, HD190360, HD147513 and HD208487. All these stars are supposed to host Jovian companions in long-period orbits. We test a hypothesis that the residuals of the 1-planet model of the RV or an irregular scatter of the measurements about the synthetic RV curve may be explained by the existence of additional planets in short-period orbits. We perform a global search for the best fits in the orbital parameters space with genetic algorithms and simplex method. This makes it possible to verify and extend the results obtained with an application of commonly used FFT-based periodogram analysis for identifying the leading periods. Our analysis confirms the presence of a periodic component in the RV data of HD190360 which may correspond to a hot-Neptune planet. We found four new cases when the 2-planet model yields significantly better fits to the RV data than the best 1-planet solutions. If the periodic variability of the residuals of single-planet fits has indeed a planetary origin then hot-Neptune planets may exist in these extrasolar systems. We estimate their orbital periods in the range of 7-20d and minimal masses about of 20 masses od the Earth.
(Abridged) We present a discovery of definitive large-scale structures around RXJ0152.7--1352 at z=0.83 based on spectroscopic redshifts. In our previous papers, we reported a photometric identification of the large-scale structures at z~0.8. A spectroscopic follow-up observation was carried out on 8 selected regions covering the most prominent structures to confirm their association to the main cluster. In six out of the eight fields, a well isolated peak is identified in the distribution of spectroscopic redshifts at or near the cluster redshift. This is strong evidence for the presence of large-scale structures associated to the main cluster at z=0.83. We then investigate stellar populations of galaxies in the structures. The composite spectra are constructed from a number of red member galaxies on the colour-magnitude sequence. We consider three representative environments -- cluster, group, and field. The ``cluster'' red galaxies do not show any sign of on-going or recent star formation activities and the passive evolution can naturally link them to the present-day red sequence galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. In contrast, the red galaxies in ``groups'' and in the ``field'' tend to show signs of remaining and/or recent star formation activities characterized by weak [OII] emissions and/or strong H delta absorptions. Our current data seem to favour a scenario that star formation is truncated in a short time scale (<1Gyr). This would imply that galaxy-galaxy interactions are responsible for the truncation of star formation.
Our sample consists of 18 radio sources close to 16 nearby stars. The transverse separation of the lines of sight of corresponding the UV and radio observations varies from 0.1 to 12.0 pc at the distance of the star. The ultraviolet (UV) measurements do not have velocity information, so we use the velocities of low ionization species (e.g Na I, K I, C I) observed towards these same stars to make a plausible identification of the CNM corresponding to the H_2 absorption. We then find that T_{01} and T_s match within observational uncertainties for lines-of-sight with H_2 column density above 10^{15.8} cm^{-2}, but deviate from each other below this threshold. This is consistent with the expectation that in the CNM T_s tracks the kinetic temperature due to collisions and that T_{01} is driven towards the kinetic temperature by proton exchange reactions.
This paper presents the work achieved for the manufacturing and characterization of first single-mode waveguides to be used as modal filters for nulling interferometry in the mid-infrared range [4-20 um]. As very high dynamic range is mandatory for detection of Earth-like planets, modal filtering is one of the most stringent instrumental aspects. The hollow metallic waveguides (HMW) presented here are manufactured using micro-machining techniques. Single-mode behavior has been investigated in laboratory through a technique of polarization analysis while transmission features have been measured using flux relative comparison. The single-mode behavior have been assessed at lambda=10.6 um for rectangular waveguides with dimensions a=10 um and b<5.3 um with an accuracy of ~2.5 %. The tests have shown that a single-polarization state can be maintained in the waveguide. A comparison with results on multi-mode HMW is proposed. Excess losses of 2.4 dB (~ 58 % transmission) have been measured for a single-mode waveguide. In particular, the importance of coupling conditions into the waveguide is emphasized here. The goal of manufacturing and characterizing the first single-mode HMW for the mid-infrared has been achieved. This opens the road to the use of integrated optics for interferometry in the mentioned spectral range.
We carried out three-dimensional global resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)
simulations of the cooling instability in optically thin hot black hole
accretion flows by assuming bremsstrahlung cooling. General relativistic
effects are simulated by using the pseudo-Newtonian potential. Cooling
instability grows when the density of the accretion disk becomes sufficiently
large. We found that as the instability grows the accretion flow changes from
an optically thin, hot, gas pressure-supported state (low/hard state) to a
cooler, magnetically supported, quasi-steady state. During this transition,
magnetic pressure exceeds the gas pressure because the disk shrinks in the
vertical direction almost conserving the toroidal magnetic flux. Since further
vertical contraction of the disk is suppressed by magnetic pressure, the cool
disk stays in an optically thin, spectrally hard state. In the magnetically
supported disk, the heating rate balances with the radiative cooling rate. The
magnetically supported disk exists for time scale much longer than the thermal
time scale and comparable to the accretion time scale.
We examined the stability of the magnetically supported disk analytically,
assuming that the toroidal magnetic flux is conserved, and found it thermally
and secularly stable. Our findings may explain why black hole candidates stay
in luminous, X-ray hard state even when their luminosity exceeds the threshold
for the onset of the cooling instability.
We calculate the electron shear viscosity (determined by Coulomb electron collisions) for a dense matter in a wide range of parameters typical for white dwarf cores and neutron star crusts. In the density range from ~10^3 g cm^-3 to 10^7-10^10 g cm^-3 we consider the matter composed of widely abundant astrophysical elements, from H to Fe. For higher densities, 10^10-10^14 g cm^-3, we employ the ground-state nuclear composition, taking into account finite sizes of atomic nuclei and the distribution of proton charge over the nucleus. Numerical values of the viscosity are approximated by an analytic expression convenient for applications. Using the approximation of plane-parallel layer we study eigenfrequencies, eigenmodes and viscous damping times of oscillations of high multipolarity, l~500-1000, localized in the outer crust of a neutron star. For instance, at l~500 oscillations have frequencies f >= 40 kHz and are localized not deeper than ~300 m from the surface. When the crust temperature decreases from 10^9 K to 10^7 K, the dissipation time of these oscillations (with a few radial nodes) decreases from ~1 year to 10-15 days.
The X-ray persistent source 1E 1743.1-2843, located in the Galactic Centre region, has been detected by all X-ray telescope above 2 keV, whereas it is not visible in the soft X-rays (i. e. Rosat) because of the high column density along the line-of-sight. Moreover, the nature of this source remains still unknown. The gamma-ray satellite INTEGRAL has long observed the Galactic Centre region in the framework of the Core Programme. We report on results of two years of INTEGRAL observations of 1E 1743.1--2843 detected for the first time in the soft gamma-ray band. Since the source does not show any evidence for strong variability, we present the broad-band spectral analysis using not simultaneous XMM-Newton observations.
We have observed a bright flare of Sgr A* in the near infrared with the adaptive optics assisted integral field spectrometer SINFONI. The observed spectrum is featureless and can be described by a power law. We show for the first time that the spectral index is correlated with the instantaneous flux and that both flux and spectral index experience significant changes within less than one hour. We argue that the near infrared flares from Sgr A* are due to synchrotron emission of transiently heated electrons, the emission being affected by orbital dynamics and synchrotron cooling, both acting on timescales of ~20 minutes. The synchrotron cooling process may account for the observed variation in spectral index, which in turn requires a magnetic field ~30G, consistent with the equipartition field in a hot accretion flow with an accretion rate of ~10^{-8} solar masses per year.
In this paper we have explored the consequences of a model of dark energy with its energy density varying exponentially with the scale factor. We first consider the model with $ \rho_{\phi} \propto e^{\kappa a} $, where $\kappa $ is a constant. This is a kind of generalisation of the cosmological constant model with $\kappa = 0$. We show that such an exponentially varying dark energy density with the scale factor naturally leads to an equivalent phantom field. We also consider a model with $ \rho_{\phi} \propto e^{\kappa /a} $ and we show that this also naturally leads to an equivalent phantom field.
Time-symmetric integration schemes share with symplectic schemes the property that their energy errors show a much better behavior than is the case for generic integration schemes. Allowing adaptive time steps typically leads to a loss of symplecticity. In contrast, time symmetry can be easily maintained, at least for a continuous choice of time step size. In large-scale N-body simulations, however, one often uses block time steps, where all time steps are forced to take on values as powers of two. This greatly facilitates parallelization, and hence code efficiency. Straightforward implementation of time-symmetry, translated to block time steps, faces significant hurdles. For example, iteration can lead to oscillatory behavior, and even when such behavior is suppressed, energy errors show a linear drift in time. We present an approach that circumvents these problems.
[ABRIDGED] The LMC star cluster system offers the unique opportunity to independently check the accuracy of age and mass determinations based on a number of complementary techniques, including isochrone analysis. Using our sophisticated tool for star cluster analysis based on broad-band spectral energy distributions (SEDs), we reanalyse the Hunter et al. (2003) LMC cluster photometry. Our main aim is to set the tightest limits yet on the accuracy of ABSOLUTE age determinations based on broad-band SEDs, and therefore on the usefulness of such an approach. Our broad-band SED fits yield reliable ages, with statistical absolute uncertainties within Delta[log(Age/yr)] = 0.4 overall. The systematic differences we find with respect to previous age determinations are caused by conversions of the observational photometry to a different filter system. The LMC's cluster formation rate (CFR) has been roughly constant outside of the well-known age gap between ~3 and 13 Gyr, when the CFR was a factor of ~5 lower. We derive the characteristic cluster disruption time-scale, log(t_4^dis/yr) = 9.9 +- 0.1, where t_dis = t_4^dis (M_cl/10^4 Msun)^0.62. This long characteristic disruption time-scale implies that we are observing the INITIAL cluster mass function (CMF). We conclude that the youngest mass and luminosity-limited LMC cluster subsets show shallower slopes than the slope of alpha = -2 expected (at least below masses of a few x 10^3 Msun), which is contrary to dynamical expectations. This may imply that the initial CMF slope of the LMC cluster system as a whole is NOT well represented by a power-law, although we cannot disentangle the unbound from the bound clusters at the youngest ages.
We perform a seismic study of the young massive $\beta $Cephei star HD 203664 with the goal to constrain its interior structure. Our study is based on a time series of 328 new Geneva 7-colour photometric data of the star spread over 496.8 days. The data confirm the frequency of the dominant mode of the star which we refine to $f_1=6.02885 $c d$^{-1}$. The mode has a large amplitude of 37 mmag in V and is unambiguously identified as a dipole mode ($\ell=2$) from its amplitude ratios and non-adiabatic computations. Besides $f_1$, we discover two additional new frequencies in the star with amplitudes above $4\sigma$: $f_2=6.82902 $c d$^{-1}$ and $f_3=4.81543 $c d$^{-1}$ or one of their daily aliases. The amplitudes of these two modes are only between 3 and 4 mmag which explains why they were not detected before. Their amplitude ratios are too uncertain for mode identification. We show that the observed oscillation spectrum of HD 203664 is compatible with standard stellar models but that we have insufficient information for asteroseismic inferences. Among the large-amplitude $\beta $Cephei stars, HD 203664 stands out as the only one rotating at a significant fraction of its critical rotation velocity ($\sim 40%$).
We present the emission-line fluxes and kinematics of 48 representative elliptical and lenticular galaxies obtained with our custom-built integral-field spectrograph SAURON. Hb, [OIII], and [NI] emission lines were measured using a new procedure that simultaneously fits both the stellar spectrum and the emission lines. Using this technique we can detect emission lines down to an equivalent width of 0.1A set by the current limitations in describing galaxy spectra with synthetic and real stellar templates, rather than by the quality of our spectra. Emission is detected in 75% of our sample galaxies, and comes in a variety of resolved spatial distributions and kinematic behaviours. The ionised-gas kinematics is rarely consistent with simple coplanar circular motions. However, the gas almost never displays completely irregular kinematics, generally showing coherent motions with smooth variations in angular momentum. In the majority of the cases the gas kinematics is decoupled from the stellar kinematics, and in half of the objects this decoupling implies a recent acquisition of gaseous material. Over the entire sample however, the distribution of the mean misalignment values between stellar and gaseous angular momenta is inconsistent with a purely external origin. Consistent with previous studies, the presence of dust features is always accompanied by gas emission while the converse is not always true. A considerable range of values for the [OIII]/Hb ratio is found both across the sample and within single galaxies. Despite the limitations of this ratio as an emission-line diagnostic, this finding suggests either that a variety of mechanisms is responsible for the gas excitation in E and S0 galaxies or that the metallicity of the interstellar material is quite heterogeneous.
A method to compute several scalar quantities of Cosmic Microwave Background maps on the sphere is presented. We consider here four type of scalars: the Hessian matrix scalars, the distortion scalars, the gradient related scalars and the curvature scalars. Such quantities are obtained directly from the spherical harmonic coefficients (alm) of the map. We also study the probability density function of these quantities for the case of a homogeneous and isotropic Gaussian field, which are functions of the power spectrum of the initial field. From these scalars it is posible to construct a new set of scalars which are independent of the power spectrum of the field. We test our results using simulations and find a good agreement between the theoretical probability density functions and those obtained from simulations. Therefore, these quantities are proposed to investigate the presence of non-Gaussian features in CMB maps. Finally, we show how to compute the scalars in presence of anisotropic noise and realistic masks.
AIMS. To derive the mass profiles of the different luminous and dark components in clusters, separately. METHODS. The cluster mass profile is determined by using the Jeans equation applied to the projected phase-space distribution of about 3000 galaxies members of 59 nearby clusters from the ESO Nearby Abell Cluster Survey. The baryonic and subhaloes mass components are determined from the galaxies luminosity-density profiles through scaling relations between luminosities and baryonic and dark halo masses. The baryonic mass component associated to the intra-cluster gas is determined using X-ray data from ROSAT. RESULTS. The baryon-to-total mass fraction decreases from a value of 0.12 near the center, to 0.08 at the distance of 0.15 virial radii, then it increases again, to reach a value of 0.14 at the virial radius. Diffuse, cluster-scale, dark matter dominates at all radii, but its contribution to the total mass content decreases outwards to the virial radius, where the dark matter in subhaloes may contribute up to 23 %, and the baryons 14 %, of the total mass. The dark mass, and diffuse dark mass profiles are well fit by both cuspy and cored models, with the latter providing a slightly better fit. The subhaloes mass distribution is not fit by either of them.
Gamma ray bursts (GRBs) are the most energetic eruptions known in the Universe. Instruments such as Compton-GRO/BATSE and the GRB monitor on BeppoSAX have detected more than 2700 GRBs and, although observational confirmation is still required, it is now generally accepted that many of these bursts are associated with the collapse of rapidly spinning massive stars to form black holes. Consequently, since first generation stars are expected to be very massive, GRBs are likely to have occurred in significant numbers at early epochs. X-red is a space mission concept designed to detect these extremely high redshifted GRBs, in order to probe the nature of the first generation of stars and hence the time of reionisation of the early Universe. We demonstrate that the gamma and x-ray luminosities of typical GRBs render them detectable up to extremely high redshifts (z~10-30), but that current missions such as HETE2 and SWIFT operate outside the observational range for detection of high redshift GRB afterglows. Therefore, to redress this, we present a complete mission design from the science case to the mission architecture and payload, the latter comprising three instruments, namely wide field x-ray cameras to detect high redshift gamma-rays, an x-ray focussing telescope to determine accurate coordinates and extract spectra, and an infrared spectrograph to observe the high redshift optical afterglow. The mission is expected to detect and identify for the first time GRBs with z > 10, thereby providing constraints on properties of the first generation of stars and the history of the early Universe.
We carried out a deep subarcsecond BRI imaging of the two middle-aged pulsars to establish their properties in the optical range. Both pulsars are detected at >10 sigma level. Geminga is for the first time reliably detected in the I band with a magnitude of 25.10+/-0.14. We also reanalyze archival ESO/NTT and HST broadband data and find that some published fluxes for Geminga were estimated inaccurately. The resulting dereddened broadband spectra of both pulsars are remarkably similar to each other and show significant flux increases towards the far-UV and near-IR, and a wide flux excess in V-I bands. This suggests a multicomponent structure of the optical emission. The nonthermal power law component of the pulsar magnetospheric origin dominates in the most part of the optical range. For PSR B0656+14 it is compatible with a low energy extension of the power law tail seen in hard X-rays. For Geminga the respective extension overshoots by a factor of 100 the nonthermal optical flux, which has a less steep spectral slope than in X-rays. This implies a spectral break at a photon energy of about 1 keV. The flux increases towards the far-UV are compatible with contributions of the Rayleigh-Jeans parts of the blackbody components from whole surfaces of the neutron stars dominating in soft X-rays. The V-I excess, which is most significant for PSR B0656+14, suggests a third spectral component of still unidentified origin. Faint, a few arcseconds in size nebulae extended perpendicular to the proper motion directions of the pulsars, are seen around both objects in our deepest I band images. They can be optical counterparts of the bow-shock head of Geminga and of the tentative pulsar wind nebula of PSR B0656+14 observed in X-rays.
We discuss a special case of formation of axisymmetric shocks in the accretion flow of ideal gas onto a Schwarzschild black hole: when the total energy of the flow is negative. The result of our analysis enlarges the parameter space for which these steady shocks are exhibited in the accretion of gas rotating around relativistic stellar objects. Since keplerian disks have negative total energy, we guess that, in this energy range, the production of the shock phenomenon might be easier than in the case of positive energy. So our outcome reinforces the view that sub-keplerian flows of matter may significantly affect the physics of the high energy radiation emission from black hole candidates. We give a simple procedure to obtain analytically the position of the shocks. The comparison of the analytical results with the data of 1D and 2D axisymmetric numerical simulations confirms that the shocks form and are stable.
The inflessence model has been recently proposed in an attempt to explain both early inflation and present day accelerated expansion within a single mechanism. The model has been successfully tested against the Hubble diagram of Type Ia Supernovae (SNeIa) and the shift and acoustic peak parameters. As a further mandatory test, we investigate here structure formation in the inflessence model determining the evolution of matter density contrast $\delta \equiv \delta \rho_M/\rho_M$ in the linear regime. We compare the growth factor $D(a) \equiv \delta/a$ and the growth index $f(z) \equiv d\ln{\delta}/d\ln{a}$ to these same quantities for the successfull concordance $\Lambda$CDM model with a particular emphasis on the role of the inflessence parameters $(\gamma, z_Q)$. We also evaluate the anisotropy spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) in order to check whether the inflessence model may be in agreement with the observations. We find that, for large values of $(\gamma, z_Q)$, structure formation proceeds in a similar way as in the $\Lambda$CDM scenario and it is also possible to nicely fit the CMBR spectrum.
We present IRAC 3.6, 4.5, 5.8 and 8 micron photometry for the 17 A, K and M type members of the Eta Chameleontis association. These data show infrared excesses toward six of the 15 K and M stars, indicating the presence of circumstellar disks around 40% of the stars with masses of 0.1-1 solar mass. The two A-stars show no infrared excesses. The excess emission around one of the stars is comparable to the median excess for classical T Tauri stars in the Taurus association; the remaining five show comparatively weak excess emission. Taking into account published Halpha spectroscopy that shows that five of the six stars are accreting, we argue that the disks with weak mid-infrared excesses are disks in which the inner disks have been largely depleted of small grains by grain growth, or, in one case, the small grains have settled to the midplane. This suggests that Eta Cha has a much higher fraction of disks caught in the act of transitioning into optically thin disks than that measured in younger clusters and associations.
Magain et al. (2005) argued that the host galaxy of the quasar in HE0450-2958 is substantially under-luminous given the likely mass of its nuclear black hole. Using kinematical information from the spectra of the quasar and the companion galaxy, an ultra-luminous infrared galaxy, we test the hypothesis that the black hole powering the quasar was ejected from the companion galaxy during a merger. We find that the ejection model can be securely ruled out, since the kick velocity required to remove the black hole from the galaxy is greater than about 500 km/s, inconsistent with the presence of narrow emission line gas at the same redshift as the quasar nucleus. We also show that the quasar in HE0450-2958 has the spectral characteristics of a narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy and calculate a mass for its black hole that is roughly an order of magnitude smaller than estimated by Magain et al. The predicted luminosity of the host galaxy is then consistent with the upper limits inferred by those authors.
The phenomenon of the dark energy transition between the quintessence regime ($w > -1$) and the phantom regime ($w < -1$), also known as the cosmological constant boundary crossing, is analyzed in terms of the dark energy equation of state. It is found that the dark energy equation of state in the dark energy models which exhibit the transition is {\em implicitly} defined. The generalizations of the the models explicitly constructed to exhibit the transition are studied to gain insight into the mechanism of the transition. It is found that the cancellation of the terms corresponding to the cosmological constant boundary makes the transition possible.
In this paper we combine archival and proprietary XMM-Newton observations (about 5deg^2) that overlap with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to explore the nature of the moderate-z X-ray population. We focus on X-ray sources with optically red colours (g-r>0.4), which we argue are important for understanding the origin of the X-ray background. Firstly, these systems constitute a significant fraction, about 2/3, of the z<1 X-ray population to the limit f(2-8keV)~2e-14cgs. Secondly, their luminosity function under evolution of the form ~(1+z)^3 suggests that they could be responsible for about 17 per cent of the diffuse X-ray background to z=1. Thirdly, their stacked X-ray spectrum in the range 1-8keV is consistent with a power-law distribution with Gamma~1.4 (without fitting intrinsic absorption), i.e. similar to the diffuse X-ray background. We find that the optically red X-ray population comprises a mixed bag of objects, both obscured (N_H>1e22 cm^{-2}) and unobscured (N_H<1e22 cm^{-2}), with a wide range of X-ray luminosities up L_X~1e44cgs. We argue that dilution of the AGN light by the host galaxy may play a role in shaping the continuum optical emission of this population. Finally, we explore a possible association of these sources and the moderate-z red (J-Ks>2mag) AGNs identified in the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). The median N_H of the red X-ray sources studied here is ~1e21cm^{-2}, lower than that found for the 2MASS AGNs, suggesting different populations.
We report on observations of four early-type galaxies performed with the Rutgers Fabry-Perot in order to search for Planetary Nebulae (PNe) in these systems. The aim is to use the PNe as kinematic tracers of the galaxy potential. We describe our data reduction and analysis procedure and show that the proper calibration of our detection statistic is crucial in getting down to our limiting magnitude of $m_{5007} = 26.1$. In the case of the two Leo galaxies we find moderately sized samples: 54 PNe in NGC 3379 and 50 PNe in NGC 3384; NGC 4636 (2 PNe) and NGC 1549 (6 PNe) are included for completeness. We present our samples in tabular form, as well as the spectrum for each PN. We constructed simple non-parametric spherical mass models for NGC 3379 using a Monte Carlo Markov Chain method to explore the space of likely mass models. We find a remarkably constant mass-to-light ratio within five half-light radii with an overall $B$ band mass-to-light ratio $\sim 5$. A simple mass-to-light estimate for NGC 3384 yields $\Upsilon_B \sim 11$, but is likely an overestimate.
We present sub-arcsecond resolution IRAM PdBI interferometry of eight submillimeter galaxies at redshifts from 2 to 3.4, where we detect continuum at 1mm and/or CO lines at 3 and 1 mm. The CO 3-2/4-3 line profiles in five of the sources are double-peaked, indicative of orbital motion either in a single rotating disk or of a merger of two galaxies. The millimeter line and continuum emission is compact; we marginally resolve the sources or obtain tight upper limits to their intrinsic sizes in all cases. The median FWHM diameter for these sources and the previously resolved sources, SMMJ023952-0136 and SMMJ140104+0252 is less than or equal to 0.5" (4 kpc). The compactness of the sources does not support a scenario where the far-IR/submm emission comes from a cold, very extended dust distribution. These measurements clearly show that the submillimeter galaxies we have observed resemble scaled-up and more gas rich versions of the local Universe, ultra-luminous galaxy (ULIRG) population. Their central densities and potential well depths are much greater than in other redshift 2-3 galaxy samples studied so far. They are comparable to those of elliptical galaxies or massive bulges. The SMG properties fulfill the criteria of 'maximal' starbursts, in which most of the available initial gas reservoir of 10^10-10^11 solar masses is converted to stars on a few dynamical timescales.
New images of the Supernova Remnants (SNRs) G114.3+0.3, G116.5+1.1 and G116.9+0.2 (also known as CTB 1) are presented at 408 MHz from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (CGPS). Their respective images at 1420 MHz from the CGPS are reproduced to study their radio spectral indices. The flux densities at 408 MHz and 1420 MHz, corrected for flux densities from compact sources within the SNRs, are 12+-6 Jy and 9.8+-0.8 Jy for G114.3+0.3, 15.0+-1.5 Jy and 10.6+-0.6 Jy for G116.5+1.1, 15.0+-1.5 Jy and 8.1+-0.4 Jy for G116.9+0.2. The integrated flux density-based spectral indices (S$_{\nu}$$\propto$$\nu$$^{-\alpha}$) are $\alpha$=0.16+-0.41, 0.28+-0.10 and 0.49+-0.09 for G114.3+0.3, G116.5+1.1 and G116.9+0.2, respectively. These values agree well with the respective T-T plot-based spectral indexes of 0.68+-0.48, 0.28+-0.15, and 0.48+-0.01. G114.3+0.3's and G116.9+0.2's spectral indices agree with previously published values, but G116.5+1.1's spectral index is much smaller.
We report the discovery of a 16th magnitude star, HE0437-5439, with a heliocentric radial velocity of +723+-3km/s. A quantitative spectral analysis of high-resolution optical spectra obtained with the VLT and the UVES spectrograph shows that HE0437-5439 is a main sequence B-type star with Teff=20350K, log g=3.77, solar within a factor of a few helium abundance and metal content, rotating at v sin i=54km/s. Using appropriate evolutionary tracks we derive a mass of 8 Msun and a corresponding distance of 61 kpc. Its galactic rest frame velocity is at least 563km/s, almost twice the local Galactic escape velocity, indicating that the star is unbound to the Galaxy. Numerical kinematical experiments are carried out to constrain its place of birth. It has been suggested that such hyper-velocity stars can be formed by the tidal disruption of a binary through interaction with the super-massive black hole at the Galactic center (GC). HE0437-5439 needs about 100Myrs to travel from the GC to its presentposition, much longer than its main sequence lifetime of 25Myrs. This can only be reconciled if HE0437-5439 is a blue straggler star. In this case, the predicted proper motion is so small that it can only be measured by future space missions. Since the star is much closer to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC, 18kpc) than to the GC, it can reach its position from the center of the LMC. The proper motion predicted in this case is about 2mas/y (relative to the LMC), large enough to be measurable with conventional techniques from the ground. The LMC origin could also be tested by a high-precision abundance analysis.
We review some of the initial data from the UVOT telescope on the Swift observatory. Statistics based on about six months of data suggest a dark burst fraction of about 50% when combining both UVOT and ground-based observations. There is evidence that some bursts have a large gamma-ray efficiency, which may be due to strong magnetic fields in their ejecta. The bright GRB050525A shows behaviour broadly consistent with expectations from the simple fireball model for bursts, including evidence for a reverse shock component in the UVOT data, and an achromatic break in decay slope indicative of a jet break. Other bursts observed with Swift have a shallow decay initially which is difficult to reconcile with the simple model. Replenishment of the forward shock energy by continued ejection of material from the central engine, or initial injection of material with a range of velocities, offers a potential explanation. In the case of the XRF050406 an initially rising optical afterglow flux followed by a shallow decay may be due to observation of a structured jet from a significant off-axis angle.
We report the discovery of an unbound hyper-velocity star, US 708, in the Milky Way halo, with a heliocentric radial velocity of +708+-15km/s. A quantitative NLTE model atmosphere analysis of optical spectra obtained with LRIS at the Keck I telescope shows that US 708 is an extremely helium-rich (N(He)/N(H)=10) subluminous O type star with Teff=44500K, log g=5.23 at a distance of 19kpc. Its Galactic rest frame velocity is at least 751km/s, much higher than the local Galactic escape velocity indicating that the star is unbound to the Galaxy. It has been suggested that such hyper-velocity stars can be formed by the tidal disruption of a binary through interaction with the super-massive black hole (SMBH) at the Galactic centre (GC). Numerical kinematical experiments are carried out to reconstruct the path from the GC.U S 708 needs about 32Myrs to travel from the GC to its present position, less than its evolutionary lifetime. Its predicted proper motion mue(alpha) cos(delta)=-2.3mas/y and mue(delta)=-2.4mas/y should be measurable by future space missions. We conjecture that US 708 is formed by the merger of two helium white dwarfs in a close binary induced by the interaction with the SMBH in the GC and then escaped.
The basic theory of dynamic tides in close binaries is reviewed. Particular attention is paid to resonances between dynamic tides and free oscillation modes and to the role of the apsidal-motion rate in probing the internal structure of binary components. The discussed effects are generally applicable to stars across the entire Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, including the binary OB-stars discussed at this meeting.
The effects of turbulence on the mixing of gases and dust in the outer Solar nebula are examined using 3-D MHD calculations in the shearing-box approximation with vertical stratification. The turbulence is driven by the magneto-rotational instability. The magnetic and hydrodynamic stresses in the turbulence correspond to an accretion time at the midplane about equal to the lifetimes of T Tauri disks, while accretion in the surface layers is thirty times faster. The mixing resulting from the turbulence is also fastest in the surface layers. The mixing rate is similar to the rate of radial exchange of orbital angular momentum, so that the Schmidt number is near unity. The vertical spreading of a trace species is well-matched by solutions of a damped wave equation when the flow is horizontally-averaged. The damped wave description can be used to inexpensively treat mixing in 1-D chemical models. However, even in calculations reaching a statistical steady state, the concentration at any given time varies substantially over horizontal planes, due to fluctuations in the rate and direction of the transport. In addition to mixing species that are formed under widely varying conditions, the turbulence intermittently forces the nebula away from local chemical equilibrium. The different transport rates in the surface layers and interior may affect estimates of the grain evolution and molecular abundances during the formation of the Solar system.
Following the tracks of Malbet, Yu, & Shao (1995} on dark hole algorithms, we present analytical methods to measure and correct the speckle noise behind an ideal coronagraph. We show that, in a low aberration regime, wavefront sensing can be accomplished with only three images, the next image being fully corrected (no iterative process needed). The only hardware required is the coronagraph deformable mirror and an imaging detector in the focal plane, thus there are no non-common path errors to correct. Our first method, speckle field nulling, is a fast FFT-based algorithm requiring the deformable mirror influence functions to have identical shapes. Our second method, speckle energy minimization is more general and based on matrix inversion. Numerical simulations show that these methods can improve the contrast by several orders of magnitude.
We present a review of the first six years of Chandra X-ray Observatory observations of supernova remnants. From the official "first-light" observation of Cassiopeia A that revealed for the first time the compact remnant of the explosion, to the recent million-second spectrally-resolved observation that revealed new details of the stellar composition and dynamics of the original explosion, Chandra observations have provided new insights into the supernova phenomenon. We present an admittedly biased overview of six years of these observations, highlighting new discoveries made possible by Chandra's unique capabilities.
Mid-infrared observations (3.6 - 24 microns) of normal giant elliptical galaxies with the Spitzer space telescope are consistent with pure populations of very old stars with no evidence of younger stars. Most of the stars in giant elliptical galaxies are old but the mean stellar age determined from Balmer absorption in optical spectra can appear much younger due to a small admixture of younger stars. The mean stellar age can also be determined from the spectral energy distribution in the mid-infrared which decreases with time relative to the optical emission and shifts to shorter wavelengths. The observed flux ratios F_8um/F_3.6um and F_24um/F_3.6um for elliptical galaxies with the oldest Balmer line ages are lower than predicted by recent models of single stellar populations. For ellipticals with the youngest Balmer line ages in our sample, 3-5 Gyrs, the flux ratios F_24um/F_3.6um are identical to those of the oldest stars. When theoretical mid-IR spectra of old (12 Gyr) and young stellar populations are combined, errors in the F_24um/F_3.6um observations are formally inconsistent with a mass fraction of young stars that exceeds ~1%. This is less than the fraction of young stars expected in discussions of recent surveys of elliptical galaxies at higher redshifts. However, this inconsistancy between Balmer line ages and those inferred from mid-IR observations must be regarded as provisional until more accurate observations and theoretical spectra become available. Finally, there is no evidence to date that central disks or patches of dust commonly visible in optical images of elliptical galaxies contribute sensibly to the mid-IR spectrum.
In order to investigate the possible influence of rotation on the efficiency of the first dredge-up we have determined atmospheric parameters, masses and abundances of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen in a sample of evolved intermediate mass stars. We have used high resolution spectra and conducted a model atmosphere analysis. The abundances were calculated through spectral synthesis and compared to the predictions of rotating and non-rotating evolutionary models. Almost all the objects in our sample where carbon and nitrogen abundances could be determined show signs of internal mixing. The stars, however, seem to be mixed in different extents. Among the mixed stars we identify in our sample five ones with abundances in agreement with the non-rotating models, four stars that seem to be mixed beyond that and one star which seems to be slightly less mixed than predicted for the first dredge-up. There are also five stars which seem to be slightly more mixed than expected but their abundances are in marginal agreement with both rotating and non-rotating models. Such differences in the extent of the mixing are not predicted by the standard models and certainly imply in the effective action of other mixing mechanisms than solely the convective dredge-up.
Although N-body simulations of cosmic structure formation suggest that dark matter halos have density profiles shallower than isothermal at small radii and steeper at large radii, whether observed galaxy clusters follow this profile is still ambiguous. We use one such density profile, the asymmetric NFW profile, to model the mass distributions of 11 galaxy clusters with gravitational arcs observed by HST. We characterize the galaxy lenses in each cluster as NFW ellipsoids, each defined by an unknown scale convergence, scale radius, ellipticity, and position angle. For a given set of values of these parameters, we compute the arcs that would be produced by such a lens system. To define the goodness of fit to the observed arc system, we define a chi^2 function encompassing the overlap between the observed and reproduced arcs as well as the agreement between the predicted arc sources and the observational constraints on the source system. We minimize this chi^2 to find the values of the lens parameters that best reproduce the observed arc system in a given cluster. Here we report our best-fit lens parameters and corresponding mass estimates for each of the 11 lensing clusters. We find that cluster mass models based on lensing galaxies defined as NFW ellipsoids can accurately reproduce the observed arcs, and that the best-fit parameters to such a model fall within the reasonable ranges defined by simulations. These results assert NFW profiles as an effective model for the mass distributions of observed clusters.