Blazars and Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) are the fastest objects known so far. The radiation we see from these sources originates in a jet of similar aperture angle, and we think it is the result of the conversion of some of the jet kinetic energy into random motion of the emitting particles. Mechanisms for producing, collimating and accelerating the jets in these sources are uncertain, and it is fruitful to compare the characteristics of both class of sources in search of enlightening similarities. I discuss some general characteristics of blazars and GRBs such as the power of their jets compared with what they can extract through accretion, and the dissipation mechanism operating in the jets of both classes of sources. In both classes, there is a well defined trend between the bolometric power and the frequency at which this power is mainly emitted, but blazars are "redder when brighter", while GRBs are "bluer when brighter". Finally, I discuss some recent exciting prospects to use blazars to put constraints on the cosmic IR-Optical-UV backgrounds, and to use GRBs as standard candles to measure the Universe.
The multiple images observed in galaxy cluster Abell 1689 provide strong
constraints not only on the mass distribution of the cluster but also on the
ensemble properties of the cluster galaxies. Using parametric strong lensing
models for the cluster, and by assuming well motivated scaling laws between the
truncation radius s and the velocity dispersion sigma of a cluster galaxy we
are able to derive sizes of the dark matter halos of cluster galaxies.
For the scaling law expected for galaxies in the cluster environment (s
propto sigma), we obtain s = 64^{+15}_{-14} (sigma / 220 km/s) kpc. For the
scaling law used for galaxies in the field with s propto sigma^2 we find s =
66^{+18}_{-16} (sigma / 220 km/s)^2 kpc. Compared to halos of field galaxies,
the cluster galaxy halos in Abell 1689 are strongly truncated.
(Abridged) We carry out a systematic search in a sample of five afterglow spectra for Wolf-Rayet wind signatures, as represented by blue-shifted, high-velocity (|\Delta v| = 1000-5000 km/s CIV 1548, 1550 absorption doublets (designated as CIV_{15}). We report the detection of a CIV_{15} absorber at \Delta v ~ -1500 km/s for GRB 050730 and none in the rest of the sample. Our search yields an estimate of ~20% for the incidence of CIV_{15} absorbers with rest-frame absorption equivalent width of EW(1548)>0.2 Ang from the GRB host galaxies. This is consistent with the incidence of CIV_{15} around classical damped Lya absorbers toward quasar sightlines, and suggests that the majority of CIV_{15} absorbers originate in foreground galaxies. We first demonstrate that the presence of associated HI 1215, CII 1334, or SiII 1260 absorption argues against a CSM origin. The absence of fine-structure absorption such as CII or SiII* further rules out the progenitor-CSM hypothesis, because it indicates negligible UV pumping. The lack of Wolf-Rayet features is consistent with the expectation that the circumburst medium is fully ionized by the afterglow radiation field. The null result therefore constrains the extent of free expanding winds, which we estimate < 30 pc for a homogeneous CSM based on early-time afterglow light-curve observations. We also demonstrate that the survival of the C^{3+} ions requires (1) the presence of abundant He^+ ions and/or (2) the presence of a clumpy wind for shielding the ionizing photons at \~1 pc. For example, a clumpy wind of single-clump mass M_c ~ 10^{-4} M_\odot and a total number of ~10^4 clumps is sufficient. Our observations can, therefore, constrain models for the clumpiness of Wolf-Rayet winds surrouding GRB progenitors.
Current analyses of VLT/UVES quasar spectra disagree with the Keck/HIRES evidence for a varying fine-structure constant, alpha. To investigate this we introduce a simple method for calculating the minimum possible uncertainty on Delta(alpha)/alpha for a given quasar absorber. For many absorbers in Chand et al. (2004) and for the single-absorber constraint of Levshakov et al. (2006) the quoted uncertainties are smaller than the minimum allowed by the UVES data. Failure of this basic consistency test prevents reliable comparison of the UVES and HIRES results.
GRB061007 is the brightest gamma-ray burst (GRB) to be detected by Swift and is accompanied by an exceptionally luminous afterglow that had a V-band magnitude <11.1 at 80s after the prompt emission. From the start of the Swift observations the afterglow decayed as a power law with a slope of \alpha_X=1.66+/-0.01 in the X-ray and \alpha_{opt}=1.64+/-0.01 in the UV/optical, up to the point that it was no longer detected above background in the optical or X-ray bands. The brightness of this GRB and the similarity in the decay rate of the X-ray, optical and gamma-ray emission from 100s after the trigger distinguish this burst from others and present a challenge to the fireball model. The lack of a cooling or jet break in the afterglow up to \~10^5s constrains any model that can produce the large luminosity observed in GRB061007, which we found to require either an excessively large kinetic energy or highly collimated outflow. Analysis of the multi-wavelength spectral and high-resolution temporal data taken with Swift suggest an early time jet-break to be a more plausible scenario. This must have occurred within 80s of the prompt emission, which places an upper limit on the jet opening angle of \theta_j=0.8deg. Such a highly collimated outflow resolves the energy budget problem presented in a spherical emission model, reducing the isotropic equivalent energy of this burst to E_{\gamma}^{corr}=10^{50} ergs; consistent with other GRBs.
Low-mass white dwarfs can either be produced in low-mass X-ray binaries by stable mass transfer to a neutron star, or in a common-envelope phase with a heavier white dwarf companion. We have searched 8 low-mass white dwarf candidates recently identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey for radio pulsations from pulsar companions, using the Green Bank Telescope at 340MHz. We have found no pulsations down to flux densities of 0.6-0.8 mJy/kpc^2 and conclude that a given low-mass helium-core white dwarf has a probability of < 0.18+-0.05 of being in a binary with a radio pulsar.
[abridged] Using stacked Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectra, we present the detection of [OII]3727,3730 nebular emission from galaxies hosting CaII and MgII absorption line systems. Both samples of absorbers, 345 CaII systems and 3461 MgII systems, span the redshift interval 0.4 < z < 1.3; all of the former and half the latter sample are expected to be bona-fide damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) absorbers. The measured star formation rate (SFR) per absorber from light falling within the SDSS fibre apertures (corresponding to physical radii of 6-9 h^-1 kpc) is 0.11-0.14 Msol/yr for the MgII-selected DLAs and 0.11-0.48 Msol/yr for the CaII absorbers. These results represent the first estimates of the average SFR in an absorption-selected galaxy population from the direct detection of nebular emission. Adopting the currently favoured model in which DLAs are large, with radii >9h^-1 kpc, and assuming no attenuation by dust, leads to the conclusion that the SFR per unit area of MgII-selected DLAs falls an order of magnitude below the predictions of the Schmidt law, which relates the SFR to the HI column density at z~0. The contribution of both DLA and CaII absorbers to the total observed star formation rate density in the redshift range 0.4 < z < 1.3, is small, <10% and <3% respectively. The result contrasts with the conclusions of Hopkins et al. that DLA absorbers can account for the majority of the total observed SFR density in the same redshift range. Our results effectively rule out a picture in which DLA absorbers are the sites in which a large fraction of the total SFR density at redshifts z < 1 occurs.
It is well known that cosmic rays (CRs) contribute significantly to the pressure of the interstellar medium in our own Galaxy, suggesting that they may play an important role in regulating star formation during the formation and evolution of galaxies. We will present a novel numerical treatment of the physics of CRs and its implementation in the parallel smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code GADGET-2. In our methodology, the non-thermal CR population is treated self-consistently in order to assess its dynamical impact on the thermal gas as well as other implications on cosmological observables. In simulations of galaxy formation, we find that CRs can significantly reduce the star formation efficiencies of small galaxies. This effect becomes progressively stronger towards low mass scales. In cosmological simulations of the formation of dwarf galaxies at high redshift, we find that the total mass-to-light ratio of small halos and the faint-end of the luminosity function are affected. In high resolution simulations of galaxy clusters, we find lower contributions of CR pressure, due to the smaller CR injection efficiencies at low Mach number flow shocks inside halos, and the softer adiabatic index of CRs, which disfavours them when a composite of thermal gas and CRs is adiabatically compressed. Within cool core regions, the CR pressure reaches equipartition with the thermal pressure leading to an enhanced compressibility of the central intra-cluster medium, an effect that increases the central density and pressure of the gas. While the X-ray luminosity in low mass cool core clusters is boosted, the integrated Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect is only slightly changed. The resolved Sunyaev-Zel'dovich maps, however, show a larger variation with an increased central flux decrement.
Cosmological shock waves during structure formation not only play a decisive role for the thermalization of gas in virializing structures but also for the acceleration of relativistic cosmic rays (CRs) through diffusive shock acceleration. We discuss a novel numerical treatment of the physics of cosmic rays in combination with a formalism for identifying and measuring the shock strength on-the-fly during a smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulation. In our methodology, the non-thermal CR population is treated self-consistently in order to assess its dynamical impact on the thermal gas as well as other implications on cosmological observables. Using this formalism, we study the history of the thermalization process in high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations of the Lambda cold dark matter model. Collapsed cosmological structures are surrounded by shocks with high Mach numbers up to 1000, but they play only a minor role in the energy balance of thermalization. However, this finding has important consequences for our understanding of the spatial distribution of CRs in the large-scale structure. In high resolution simulations of galaxy clusters, we find a low contribution of the averaged CR pressure, due to the small acceleration efficiency of lower Mach numbers of flow shocks inside halos and the softer adiabatic index of CRs. However, within cool core regions, the CR pressure reaches equipartition with the thermal pressure leading there to a lower effective adiabatic index and thus to an enhanced compressibility of the central intracluster medium. This effect increases the central density and pressure of the cluster and thus the resulting X-ray emission and the central Sunyaev-Zel'dovich flux decrement. The integrated Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect, however, is only slightly changed.
We review recent developments in the field of chemodynamical simulations of elliptical galaxies, highlighting (in an admittedly biased fashion) the work conducted with our cosmological N-body/SPH code GCD+. We have demonstrated previously the recovery of several primary integrated early-type system scaling relations (e.g. colour-magnitude relation, L_X-T_X-[Fe/H]_X) when employing a phenomenological AGN heating scheme in conjunction with a self-consistent treatment of star formation, supernovae feedback, radiative cooling, chemical enrichment, and stellar/X-ray population synthesis. Here we emphasise characteristics derived from the full spatial information contained within the simulated dataset, including stellar and coronal morphologies, metallicity distribution functions, and abundance gradients.
We present multi-color transformations and photometric parallaxes for a sample of 40 low mass dwarfs selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the General Catalog of Trigonometric Stellar Parallaxes. Our sample was re-observed at the Manastash Ridge Observatory (MRO) using both Sloan and Johnson-Cousin filters and color transformations between the two photometric systems were derived. A subset of the sample had previously measured Johnson-Cousins photometry and parallaxes as well as 2MASS photometry. We observed these stars at MRO using Sloan filters and used these data to derive photometric parallax relations as well as SDSS/Johnson-Cousins/2MASS color transformations. We present the data and derived transformations for use in future low mass star studies.
High-resolution radio observations have revealed that non-thermal radio emission in WR stars arises where the stellar wind of the WR star collides with that of a binary companion. These colliding-wind binary (CWB) systems offer an important laboratory for investigating the underlying physics of particle acceleration. Hydrodynamic models of the binary stellar winds and the wind-collision region (WCR) that account for the evolution of the electron energy spectrum, largely due to inverse Compton cooling, are now available. Radiometry and imaging obtained with the VLA, MERLIN, EVN and VLBA provide essential constraints to these models. Models of the radio emission from WR146 and WR147 are shown, though these very wide systems do not have defined orbits and hence lack a number of important model parameters. Multi-epoch VLBI imaging of the archetype WR+O star binary WR140 through a part of its 7.9-year orbit has been used to define the orbit inclination, distance and the luminosity of the companion star to enable the best constraints for any radio emitting CWB system. Models of the spatial distribution of relativistic electrons and ions, and the magnetic energy density are used to model the radio emission, and also to predict the high energy emission at X-ray and gamma-ray energies. It is clear that high-energy facilities e.g. GLAST and VERITAS, will be important for constraining particle acceleration parameters such as the spectral index of the energy spectrum and the acceleration efficiency of both ions and electrons, and in turn, identify unique models for the radio spectra. This will be especially important in future attempts to model the spectra of WR140 throughout its complete orbit. A WCR origin for the synchrotron emission in O-stars, the progenitors of WR stars, is illustrated by observations of Cyg OB2 No. 9.
GRB 061007 is the most energetic gamma-ray burst (GRB) to be detected by \swift and is accompanied by an exceptionally luminous afterglow that had a $V$-band magnitude $< 11.1$ at 80 s after the prompt emission. From the start of the \swift observations the afterglow decayed as a power law with a slope of $\alpha_X=1.66\pm 0.01$ in the X-ray and $\alpha_{opt}=1.64\pm 0.01$ in the UV/optical, up to the point that it was no longer detected above background in the optical or X-ray bands. The brightness of this GRB and the similarity in the decay rate of the X-ray, optical and $\gamma$-ray emission from 100 s after the trigger, distinguish this burst from others and present a challenge to the fireball model. The lack of a cooling or jet break in the afterglow up to $\sim 10^{5}$ s constrains any model that can produce the large luminosity observed in GRB 061007, which we found to require either an excessively large kinetic energy or highly collimated outflow. The multi-wavelength spectral and high-resolution temporal data taken with \swift are in closest agreement with emission after a jet-break. This must have occurred within 80 s of the prompt emission, which places an upper limit on the jet opening angle of $\theta_j=0.8^{\circ}$. Such a highly collimated outflow resolves the energy budget problem presented in a spherical emission model, reducing the isotropic equivalent energy of this burst to $E_{\gamma}^{corr}=10^{50}$ ergs; typical of other GRBs.
Faraday rotation measurements of polarized extragalactic sources probe the Galactic magnetized, ionized interstellar medium. Rotation measures of these sources behind the inner Galactic plane are used to explore characteristics of the structure in the spiral arms and in interarm regions. Structure in the spiral arms has a characteristic outer scale of a few parsecs only, whereas interarm regions typically show structure up to scales of hundreds of parsecs. The data indicate that in the spiral arms, the random component of the magnetic field dominates over the regular field, but in the interarm regions the random and regular field components may be comparable, and a few times weaker than the random magnetic field in the spiral arms.
I report on recent measurements of two scaling relations of spheroids in the distant universe: the Fundamental Plane, and the relation between lensing velocity dispersion and stellar velocity dispersion. The joint analysis of the two scaling relations indicates that the most massive (above 10^11.5 solar masses) spheroids are consistent with no evolution since z~1 both in terms of star formation and internal structure. Furthermore their total mass density profile is on average well described by an isothermal sphere with no evidence for redshift evolution. At smaller masses the picture appears to be substantially different, as indicated by evidence for substantial recent star formation (as much as 20-40% of stellar mass formed since z~1), and by hints of a reduced dark matter content at smaller masses. A larger sample of lenses extending to velocity dispersions below 200 km/s, and to redshifts above >0.5 is needed to verify these trends.
We present optical echelle spectra of four gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows (GRB 050730, GRB 050820, GRB 051111, and GRB 060418) discovered during the first 1.5 years of operation of the Swift satellite and localized by either the Swift telescope or follow-up ground-based imaging. We analyze the spectra to derive accurate column density measurements for the transitions arising in the interstellar medium (ISM) of the GRB host galaxies. These measurements can be used to constrain the physical properties of the ISM including the metallicity, dust-to-gas ratio, ionization state, and chemical abundances of the gas. We also present measurements of the strong MgII systems in the GRB afterglow spectra. With the publication of this paper, we provide the first data release of echelle afterglow spectra by the GRAASP collaboration to the general community.
While the accelerated expansion of the Universe is by now well established, an underlying scalar field potential possibly responsible for this acceleration remains unconstrained. We present an attempt to reconstruct this potential using recent SN data, under the assumption that the acceleration is driven by a single scalar field. Current approaches to such reconstructions are based upon simple parametric descriptions of either the luminosity distance or the dark energy equation of state. We find that these various approximations lead to different derived evolutionary histories of the dark energy equation of state (although there is considerable overlap between the different potential shapes allowed by the data). Depending upon one's assumptions, the same SN data set can lead to divergent statements about properties of the dark energy. Instead of these indirect reconstruction schemes, we discuss a technique to determine the potential directly from the data by expressing it in terms of a binned scalar field. In a similar fashion to direct estimates of the dark energy equation of state, we advocate this direct reconstruction of the scalar field potential as a way to minimize prior assumptions on the shape, and thus minimize the introduction of bias in the derived potential. We apply this technique to a recent SN dataset, and compare the results with model-dependent approaches. We advocate a model independent approach to reconstruct the potential directly instead of characterizing the potential indirectly through observables such as the equation of state and it's time derivative as a function of redshift.
Using a thermal-chemical model for the generic T-Tauri disk of D'Alessio et al. (1999), we estimate the strength of the fine-structure emission lines of NeII and NeIII at 12.81 and 15.55 microns that arise from the warm atmosphere of the disk exposed to hard stellar X-rays. The Ne ions are produced by the absorption of keV X-rays from the K shell of neutral Ne, followed by the Auger ejection of several additional electrons. The recombination cascade of the Ne ions is slow because of weak charge transfer with atomic hydrogen in the case of Ne2+ and by essentially no charge transfer for Ne+. For a distance of 140pc, the 12.81 micron line of Ne II has a flux of 1e-14 erg/cm2s, which should be observable with the Spitzer Infrared Spectrometer and suitable ground based instrumentation. The detection of these fine-structure lines would clearly demonstrate the effects of X-rays on the physical and chemical properties of the disks of young stellar objects and provide a diagnostic of the warm gas in protoplanetary disk atmospheres. They would complement the observed H2 and CO emission by probing vertical heights above the molecular transition layer and larger radial distances that include the location of terrestrial and giant planets.
We present Spitzer/IRAC observations at 3.6 and 4.5 microns along with optical data from the Local Group Galaxies Survey to investigate the evolved stellar population of the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy WLM. These observations provide a nearly complete census of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. We find 39% of the infrared-detected AGB stars are not detected in the optical data, even though our 50% completeness limit is three magnitudes fainter than the red giant branch tip. An additional 4% of the infrared-detected AGBs are misidentified in the optical, presumably due to reddening by circumstellar dust. We also compare our results with those of a narrow-band optical carbon star survey of WLM, and find the latter study sensitive to only 18% of the total AGB population. We detect objects with infrared fluxes consistent with them being mass-losing AGB stars, and derive a present day total mass-loss rate from the AGB stars of 0.7-2.4 x 10^(-3) solar masses per year. The distribution of mass-loss rates and bolometric luminosities of AGBs and red supergiants are very similar to those in the LMC and SMC and the empirical maximum mass-loss rate observed in the LMC and SMC is in excellent agreement with our WLM data.
I discuss current observational constraints on the star-formation and stellar-assembly histories of galaxies at high redshifts. The data on massive galaxies at z<1 implies that their stellar populations formed at z>2, and that their morphological configuration was in place soon thereafter. Spitzer Space Telescope 24 micron observations indicate that a substantial fraction of massive galaxies at z ~ 1.5-3 have high IR luminosities, suggesting they are rapidly forming stars, accreting material onto supermassive black holes, or both. I compare how observations of these IR-active phases in the histories of massive galaxies constrain current galaxy-formation models.
We report on a second epoch of VLBA observations of the 1665 and 1667 MHz OH masers in the massive star-forming region W75 N. We find evidence to confirm the existence of very strong (~40 mG) magnetic fields near source VLA 2. The masers near VLA 2 are dynamically distinct and include a very bright spot apparently moving at 50 km/s relative to those around VLA 1. This fast-moving spot may be an example of a rare class of OH masers seen in outflows in star-forming regions. Due to the variability of these masers and the rapidity of their motions, tracking these motions will require multiple observations over a significantly shorter time baseline than obtained here. Proper motions of the masers near VLA 1 are more suggestive of streaming along magnetized shocks rather than Keplerian rotation in a disk. The motions of the easternmost cluster of masers in W75 N (B) may be tracing slow expansion around an unseen exciting source.
With the aim of studying the influence of environment on the nuclear activity of galaxies, we have selected a well defined sample of 65 Compact Groups of galaxies with concordant redshift in the Hickson Catalog. In this proceeding, we present the results of the classification of nuclear activity for 42 galaxies, based on newly obtained spectral observations. In this subsample, 71% of the galaxies turned out to have emission lines in their nuclei. 73% of these emission-line galaxies were found to have characteristics consistent with low luminosity AGN (LLAGN), which makes compact groups extremely rich in such objects.
We analyse the level of nuclear activity in galaxies belonging to UZC-CGs. Spectra are available for 868 galaxies (90% of the whole catalog); 67 % of them show nuclear activity (AGN or Star formation). To carry out a detailed study about the nuclear activity and its relationship with properties of the host galaxy and parent group we select a sample of 215 groups with spectra available for all their members. From the analysis of this sample and using diagnostic diagrams to do the nuclear classification we found that 37% of emission galaxies host an HII nuclear region, 43% an AGN and 20% a Transition Object. AGNs are located mainly in bright early type galaxies meanwhile HII are in fainter and later types. Groups dominated by HII show significant lower velocity dispersions and larger sizes than groups dominated by AGNs or TO.
We report on mid-infrared imaging observations of the anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) 1E 1048.1-5937, 1RXS J170849-400910, and XTE J1810-197. The observations were carried out at 4.5 and 8.0 microns with the Infrared Array Camera and at 24 microns with the Multiband Imaging Photometer on the Spitzer Space Telescope. No mid-infrared counterparts were detected. As infrared emission from AXPs may be related to their X-ray emission either via the magnetosphere or via a dust disk, we compare the derived upper limits on the infrared/X-ray flux ratios of the AXPs to the same ratio for 4U 0142+61, an AXP previously detected in the mid-infrared range. The comparison indicates that our three non-detections are consistent with their relatively low X-ray fluxes. For XTE J1810-197, our upper limits set a constraint on its rising radio/millimeter energy spectrum, suggesting a spectral break between 1.5$\times 10^{11}$--6$\times10^{13}$ Hz.
This paper studies the hydrodynamical problem of normal modes of small adiabatic oscillations of relativistic barotropic thin accretion disks around black holes (and compact weakly magnetic neutron stars). Employing WKB techniques, we obtain the eigenfrequencies and eigenfunctions of the modes for different values of the mass and angular momentum of the central black hole. We discuss the properties of the various types of modes and examine the role of viscosity, as it appears to render some of the modes unstable to rapid growth.
We present the results of near-infrared imaging and spectroscopic observations of the young, core-collapse supernova remnant (SNR) G11.2-0.3. In the [Fe II] 1.644 um image, we first discover long, clumpy [Fe II] filaments within the radio shell of the SNR, together with some faint, knotty features in the interior of the remnant. We have detected several [Fe II] lines and HI Br-G line toward the peak position of the bright southeastern [Fe II] filament. The derived extinction is large (Av=13 mag) and it is the brightest [Fe II] filament detected toward SNRs to date. By analyzing two [Fe II] 1.644 um images obtained in 2.2 yrs apart, we detect a proper motion corresponding to an expansion rate of 0.''035 (0.''013) /yr [or 830 (310) km/s]. We also discover two small H2 filaments. One is bright and along the SE boundary of the radio shell, while the other is faint and just outside of its NE boundary. We have detected H2 (2-1) S(3) line toward the former filament and derive an excitation temperature of 2,100 K. We suggest that the H2 filaments are dense clumps in a presupernova circumstellar wind swept up by the SNR shock while the [Fe II] filaments are probably composed of both shocked wind material and shocked supernova (SN) ejecta. The distribution of [Fe II] filaments may indicate that the SN explosion in G11.2-0.3 was asymmetric as in Cassiopeia A. Our results support the suggestion that G11.2-0.3 is a remnant of a SN IIL/b interacting with a dense red supergiant wind.
We report the Chandra detection of hard X-ray emission from the Welch ring in W49A, an organized structure of ultra-compact (UC) HII regions containing a dozen nascent early-type stars. Two UC HII regions are associated with hard X-ray emission in a deep Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer image exposed for 96.7 ks. One of the two X-ray sources has no near-infrared counterpart and is extended by ~5 arcsec, or ~0.3 pc, at a distance of ~11.4 kpc, which is spatially aligned with the cometary radio continuum emission associated with the UC HII region. The X-ray spectrum of the emission, when fit with a thermal model, indicates a heavily absorbed plasma with extinction of \~5x10^{23}/cm^{2}, temperature of ~7 keV, and X-ray luminosity in the 3.0-8.0 keV band of ~3x10^{33} ergs/s. Both the luminosity and the size of the emission resemble the extended hard emission found in UC HII regions in Sagittarius B2, yet they are smaller by an order of magnitude than the emission found in massive star clusters such as NGC 3603. Three possibilities are discussed for the cause of the hard extended emission in the Welch ring: an ensemble of unresolved point sources, shocked interacting winds of the young O stars, and a wind-blown bubble interacting with ambient cold matter.
We present the results of a Suzaku study of the Arches cluster. A high S/N spectrum in the 3-12 keV band was obtained with the XIS. We found that the spectrum consists of a thermal plasma, a hard power-law tail, and two Gaussian lines. The plasma component (kT~2.2 keV) is established from the presence of CaXIX and FeXXV K alpha lines as well as the absence of FeXXVI K alpha line. The two Gaussian lines represent the K alpha and beta lines from iron at lower ionization stages. Both the line centers and the intensity ratio of these two lines are consistent with the neutral iron. The hard power-law tail (index~0.7) was found to have no pronounced iron K edge feature. In comparison with the published Chandra spectra, we conclude that the thermal component is from the ensemble of point-like sources plus thermal diffuse emission concentrated at the cluster center, while the Gaussian and the hard tail components are from the non-thermal diffuse emission extended in a larger scale. In the band-limited XIS images, the distribution of the 7.5-10.0 keV emission resembles that of the 6.4 keV emission. This strongly suggests that the power-law emission is related to the 6.4 and 7.1 keV lines in the underlying physics. We discuss two ideas to explain both the hard continuum and the lines: (1) X-ray photoionization that produces fluorescence lines and the Thomson scattering continuum and (2) non-thermal electron impact ionization of iron atoms and bremsstrahlung continuum. But whichever scenario is adopted, the photon or particle flux from the Arches cluster is too low to account for the observed line and continuum intensity.
The NEMO project aims at the search, development and validation of key technologies for the construction, deployment and mantainance of an underwater Cherenkov km3 neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. Moreover, the NEMO Collaboration carried out a long term exploration of a 3500 m deep sea site close to the Sicilian coast; the study has shown that it is optimal for the installation of the detector. A Phase-1 project, which is under way, will validate the proposed technologies for the km3 detector on a Test Site at 2000 m depth. The realization of a new infrastructure on the candidate site (Phase-2 project) will provide the possibility to test detector components at 3500 m depth and will allow also a continuous monitoring of the site.
We analyse the properties of three unusual dwarf galaxies in the Centaurus A group discovered with the HIPASS survey. From their optical morphology they appear to be low surface brightness dwarf spheroidals, yet they are gas-rich (M_{HI}/L_{B} > 1) with gas-mass-to-stellar light ratios larger than typical dwarf irregular galaxies. Therefore these systems appear different from any dwarfs of the Local Group. They should be favoured hosts for starburst, whereas we find a faint star formation region in only one object. We have obtained 21-cm data and Hubble Space Telescope photometry in V and I bands, and have constructed Colour Magnitude Diagrams (CMDs) to investigate their stellar populations and to set a constraint on their age. From the comparison of the observed and model CMDs we infer that all three galaxies are at least older than 2 Gyr (possibly even as old as 10 Gyr) and remain gas-rich because their star formation rates (SFRs) have been very low (< 10^{-3} M_{sun}/yr) throughout. In such systems, star formation (SF) appears to have been sporadic and local, though one object (HIPASS J1321--31) has a peculiar red plume in its CMD suggesting that many of its stars were formed in a "miniburst" 300 - 500 Myr ago. The question of why there are no similar dwarf galaxies in the Local Group remains open.
We report on INTEGRAL observations performed during the 2004 outburst of the bright black hole transient GX 339-4. We analysed IBIS and JEM-X public data starting on 9th August and lasting about one month. During this period GX 339-4 showed spectral state transitions. In order to seek for variability patterns, a principal component analysis (PCA) has been used.
We present a new K-band survey covering 623 arcmin$^2$ in the VVDS 0226-0430 deep field down to a limiting magnitude K$_{\rm{Vega}}$ $\leq$ 20.5. We use the spectroscopic sample extracted from this new K-band catalogue to assess the effectiveness of optical-near infrared color selections in identifying extreme classes of objects at high redshift.
We combine CaII/NaI absorption and HI 21 cm emission line measurements to analyse the metal abundances, the distribution, the small-scale structure, and the physical conditions of intermediate- and high-velocity gas in the Galactic halo.
The formation and growth of supermassive black holes is a key issue to unveil the secrets of galaxy formation. In particular, the gravitational recoil produced in the merger of unequal mass black hole binaries could have a number of astrophysical implications, such as the ejection of black holes from the host galaxy or globular cluster. We present estimates of the recoil velocity that include the effect of small eccentricities. The approach is specially suited for the last stage of the merger, where most of the emission of linear momentum in gravitational waves takes place. Supplementing our estimates with post-Newtonian approximations, we obtain lower and upper bounds that constrain previous recoil velocities estimates as well as a best estimate that agrees with numerical simulations in the quasi-circular case. For eccentricities e <= 0.1, the maximum recoil is found for mass ratios of M_1/M_2 ~ 0.38 with a best estimate of ~ 167 (1 + e) km/s and upper and lower bounds of 79 (1 + e) km/s and 216 (1 + e) km/s respectively.
The Faulkes Telescope Project is the educational arm of the Las Cumbres
Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT). It currently has two 2-metre
robotic telescopes, located at Haleakala on Maui (FT North) and Siding Spring
in Australia (FT South). It is planned to increase this to six 2-metre
telescopes in the future, complemented by a network of 30-40 smaller (0.4-1
metre) telescopes providing 24 hour coverage of both northern and southern
hemispheres.
We are undertaking a study of 10 low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) using FT
North to study the optical continuum behaviour of X-ray transients in
quiescence. The introduction of FT South in September 2006 allows us to extend
this monitoring to include 17 southern hemisphere LMXBs. With new
instrumentation, we also intend to expand this monitoring to include both
infrared wavelengths and spectroscopy.
A new iterative method for non-LTE multilevel polarized radiative transfer in hydrogen lines is presented. Iterative methods (such as the Jacobi method) tend to damp out high-frequency components of the error fast, but converges poorly due to slow reduction of low-frequency components. The idea is to use a set of differently coarsed grids to reduce both the short- and long-period errors. This leads to the so-called multigrid (MG) methods. For the grid of $N$ spatial points, the number of iterations required to solve a non-LTE transfer problem is of the order of O(N). This fact could be of great importance for problems with fine structure and for multi-dimensional models. The efficiency of the so-called standard MG iteration in comparison to Jacobi iteration is shown. The formalism of density matrix is applied to the demonstrative example of 1D, semi-infinite, non-magnetic, 3-principal level hydrogen atmospheric model. The effect of depolarizing collisions with thermal electrons is taken into account as well as general treatment of overlapping profiles.
We present Iterative Spectral Method of reconstructing mass distribution in
spiral galaxies in an infinitely thin axial symmetric disk approximation. The
method, without extra assumptions and free parameters, overcomes all problems
encountered in standard use of disk model and utilises only information that is
available observationally.
As an example we apply the method to the ringed Sab-type galaxy NGC4736 that
breaks sphericity condition at larger radii.
We find mass distribution in NGC4736 that agrees perfectly with its high
resolution rotation curve (high resolution, however, is not a must in our
method). Given the distribution one finds rotational velocity which is the same
as the observed rotation curve (!). The obtained surface mass density is
consistent with the I-band luminosity profile (M/L_I=0.7 in Solar units) and
with the amount of hydrogen observed in outermost regions where rotation curve
is not measured.
In the framework of Newtonian gravitation, these findings put in question the
presence of massive dark halo in this particular galaxy
(normally estimated to 2.3 of visible mass: Kent, S. 1987, Ap.J., 93, 816).
Interestingly, we find total mass of the galaxy to be 3.42*10^10 of mass of the
Sun which is comparable with masses obtained in MOND model or in metric
skew-tensor gravity.
The soft X-ray and soft gamma observations of the new discovered TeV sources by HESS and MAGIC are crucial to discriminate between various emitting scenarios and to fully understand their nature. The INTEGRAL Observatory has regularly observed the entire galactic plane during the first 1000 day in orbit providing a survey in the 20-100 keV range resulted in a soft gamma-ray sky populated with more than 200 sources. In the case of HESS J1813-178 INTEGRAL found the hard X-ray counterpart IGR J18135-1751 and Swift/XRT Telescope performed follow-up observations on this source. Here we present the soft/hard X-ray spectral study. We reported on the INTEGRAL observation of LS 5039, the first microquasar that have been observed by HESS up to now.
The properties of superdense matter in neutron star (NS) cores control NS thermal states by affecting the efficiency of neutrino emission from NS interiors. To probe these properties we confront the theory of thermal evolution of NSs with observations of their thermal radiation. Our observational basis includes cooling isolated NSs (INSs) and NSs in quiescent states of soft X-ray transients (SXTs). We find that the data on SXTs support the conclusions obtained from the analysis of INSs: strong proton superfluidity with T_{cp,max} >= 10^9 K should be present, while mild neutron superfluidity with T_{cn,max} =(2*10^8 -- 2*10^9) K is ruled out in the outer NS core. Here T_{cn,max} and T_{cp,max} are the maximum values of the density dependent critical temperatures of neutrons and protons. The data on SXTs suggest also that: (i) cooling of massive NSs is enhanced by neutrino emission more powerful than the emission due to Cooper pairing of neutrons; (ii) mild neutron superfluidity, if available, might be present only in inner cores of massive NSs. In the latter case SXTs would exhibit dichotomy, i.e. very similar SXTs may evolve to very different thermal states.
We discuss differences and similarities between jets powered by super-massive black holes in quasars and by stellar-mass black holes in microquasars. The comparison is based on multi-wavelength radio-to-infrared observations of the two active galactic nuclei 3C 273 and 3C 279, as well as the two galactic binaries GRS 1915+105 and Cyg X-3. The physical properties of the jet are derived by fitting the parameters of a shock-in-jet model simultaneously to all available observations. We show that the variable jet emission of galactic sources is, at least during some epochs, very similar to that of extra-galactic jets. As for quasars, their observed variability pattern can be well reproduced by the emission of a series of self-similar shock waves propagating down the jet and producing synchrotron outbursts. This suggests that the physical properties of relativistic jets is independent of the mass of the black hole.
V407 Vul (RXJ1914.4+2456) and HM Cnc (RXJ0806.3+1527) are X-ray emitting stars with X-ray light curves that are 100% modulated on periods of 569 and 321 seconds respectively. These periods are thought possibly to represent the orbital periods of close pairs of white dwarfs. In this paper we present optical light curves taken with the high-speed CCD camera ULTRACAM on the 4.2m WHT in May 2003 and August 2005 and with the VLT in November 2005. The optical and X-ray light curves of HM Cnc have been reported as being in anti-phase, but we find that in fact the X-rays peak around 0.2 cycles after the maximum of the optical light, as seen also in V407 Vul. The X-ray/optical phase shifts are well explained under the accreting models of the systems if most of the optical modulation comes from the heated faces of the mass donors and if the X-ray emitting spots are positioned in advance of the mass donors, as is expected given the angular momentum of the accreting material. Some optical emission may also come from the vicinity of the X-ray spot, and we further show that this can explain the non-sinusoidal lightcurves of HM Cnc. The only significant difference between the two stars is that V407 Vul is observed to have the spectrum of a G star. The variation in position on the sky of a blend of a variable and a constant star can be used as a measure of their separation, and is sensitive to values well below the limit set by seeing. We apply "pulsation astrometry" to deduce that the G star is separated from the variable by about 0.027'' and hence plays no role in the variability of V407 Vul. We show that light travel time variations could influence the period change in V407 Vul if it forms a triple system with the G star.
Thick disks are common in spiral and S0 galaxies and seem to be an inherent part of galaxy formation and evolution. Our own Milky Way is host to an old thick disk. The stars associated with this disk are enhanced in the alpha-elements as compared to similar stars present in the thin disk. The Milky Way thin disk also appears to be younger than the thick disk. Elemental abundance trends in stellar samples associated with the thin and the thick disks in the Milky Way are reviewed. Special attention is paid to how such samples are selected. Our current understanding of the elemental abundances and ages in the Milky Way thick and thin disks are summarised and discussed. The need for differential studies is stressed. Finally, formation scenarios for the thick disk are briefly discussed in the light of the current observational picture.
In this review I concentrate exclusively on models for the large-scale structure created by jet flows in AGN. I briefly mention models for the evolution and emission of these objects and how they can also be applied to microquasars. While in radio-loud AGN we can directly use the radio synchrotron emission of these structures, we need to find other detection methods in microquasars. Where possible, the application of AGN models has produced important insights into the time-averaged energy transport rate of microquasar jets. I also describe methods for using the large-scale structure of jets to infer jet duty cycles. Finally, I point out some recent work taking the idea of a connection of accretion disc states and jet production from microquasars and applying it to radio-loud AGN.
We report new Chandra observations of seven optically faint, z \sim 4 radio-quiet quasars. We have combined these new observations with previous Chandra observations of radio-quiet quasars to create a sample of 174 sources. These sources have 0.1 < z < 4.7, and 10^{44} ergs s^{-1} < nu L_{nu} (2500 \AA) < 10^{48} ergs s^{-1}. The X-ray detection fraction is 90%. We find that the X-ray loudness of radio-quiet quasars decreases with UV luminosity and increases with redshift. The model that is best supported by the data has a linear dependence of optical-to-X-ray ratio, alpha_{ox}, on cosmic time, and a quadratic dependence of alpha_{ox} on log L_{UV}, where alpha_{ox} becomes X-ray quiet more rapidly at higher log L_{UV}. We find no significant evidence for a relationship between the X-ray photon index, Gamma_X, and the UV luminosity, and we find marginally significant evidence that the X-ray continuum flattens with increasing z (2 sigma). The Gamma_X-z anti-correlation may be the result of X-ray spectral curvature, redshifting of a Compton reflection component into the observed Chandra band, and/or redshifting of a soft excess out of the observed Chandra band. Using the results for Gamma_X, we show that the alpha_{ox}-z relationship is unlikely to be a spurious result caused by redshifting of the observable X-ray spectral region. A correlation between alpha_{ox} and z implies evolution of the accretion process. We present a qualitative comparison of these new results with models for accretion disk emission.
Emission line galaxies are an invaluable tool for our understanding of the
evolution of galaxies in the Universe. Imaging of deep fields with narrow-band
filters allows not only the selection of these objects, but also to infer the
line flux and the equivalent width of the emission line with some assumptions.
The narrow-band filter technique provides homogeneous samples of galaxies in
small comoving volumes in the sky. We present an analysis of the selection of
emission-line galaxies using narrow-band filters. Different methods of
observation are considered: broad-band -- narrow-band filters and two
broad-band and one narrow-band filters.
We study also the effect of several lines entering simultaneously inside the
filters (this is the case of Halpha). In each case the equations to obtain the
equivalent width and line flux from the photometry are obtained. Candidates to
emission-line objects are selected by their color excess in a magnitude-color
diagram. For different narrow-band filters, we compute the mean colors of stars
and galaxies, showing that, apart from galaxies, some types of stars could be
selected with certain filter sets. We show how to compute the standard
deviation of the colors of the objects even in the usual case when there are
not enough objects to determine the standard deviation from the data. We
present also helpful equations to compute the narrow-band and the broad-band
exposure times in order to obtain minimum dispersion in the ratio of fluxes of
both bands with minimum total exposure time.
We developed a Monte Carlo code to generate long-duration gamma ray burst (LGRB) events within cosmological hydrodynam ical simulations consistent with the concordance $\Lambda$CDM model. As structure is assembled, LGRBs are generated in the substructure that formed galaxies today. We adopted the collapsar model so that LGRBs are produced by single, mas sive stars at the final stage of their evolution. We found that the observed properties of the LGRB host galaxies (HGs) are reproduced if LGRBs are also required to be generated by low metallicity stars. The low metallicity condition imposed on the progenitor stars of LGRBs selects a sample of HGs with mean gas abundances of 12 + log O/H $\approx 8.6$. For $z<1$ the simulated HGs of low metallicity LGRB progenitors tend to be faint, slow rotators with high star formati on efficiency, compared with the general galaxy population, in agreement with observations. At higher redshift, our results suggest that larger systems with high star formation activity co uld also contribute to the generation of LGRBs from low metallicity progenitors since the fraction of low metallicity gas available for star formation increases for all systems with look-back time. Under the hypothesis of our LGRB model, our results support the claim that LGRBs could be unbiased tracers of star formation at high redshifts.
We present our ongoing work on integral field spectroscopy of three prototypical HII galaxies: IIZw70, IIZw71 and IZw18. The data are mainly used to study the ionized gas and stellar clusters. Our main goal is to investigate the presence of spatial variations in ionization structure indicators, physical conditions and gaseous metal abundances, in these galaxies. Maps of the relevant emission lines and a preliminary analysis of the ionization structure are presented for IIZw70.
The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) and XENON experiments aim to directly detect dark matter in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) via their elastic scattering on the target nuclei. The experiments use different techniques to suppress background event rates to the minimum, and at the same time, to achieve a high WIMP detection rate. The operation of cryogenic Ge and Si crystals of the CDMS-II experiment in the Soudan mine yielded the most stringent spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross-section (~10^{-43} cm^2) at a WIMP mass of 60 GeV/c^2. The two-phase xenon detector of the XENON10 experiment is currently taking data in the Gran Sasso underground lab and promising preliminary results were recently reported. Both experiments are expected to increase their WIMP sensitivity by a one order of magnitude in the scheduled science runs for 2007.
We revisit the case of SN2002ic that recently revived the debate about the progenitors of SNeIa after the claim of the unprecedented presence of hydrogen lines over a diluted SNIa spectrum. As an alternative to the previous interpretation, we suggest that SN2002ic actually was a type Ic SN, the core collapse of a massive star which lost its hydrogen and helium envelope. In this scenario the observed interaction with a dense circumstellar material (CSM) is the predictable consequence of the intense mass-loss of the progenitor and/or of the presence of a gas rich environment. With this view we establish a link between energetic SNeIc and highly interacting SNeIIn and add some credits to the proposed association of some SNeIIn to GRBs.
Brightness-temperature fluctuations in the redshifted 21-cm background from the cosmic dark ages are generated by irregularities in the gas-density distribution and can then be used to determine the statistical properties of density fluctuations in the early Universe. We focus on the three-point statistics and compute the bispectrum of brightness-temperature fluctuations. We find that low-frequency radio experiments with arcmin angular resolution can easily detect non-Gaussianity produced by non-linear gravity with high signal-to-noise ratio. The bispectrum thus provides a unique test of the gravitational instability scenario for structure formation, and can be used to measure the cosmological parameters. Detecting the signature of primordial non-Gaussianity produced during or right after an inflationary period is more challenging but still possible. An ideal experiment limited by cosmic variance only and with an angular resolution of a few arcsec has the potential to detect primordial non-Gaussianity with a non-linearity parameter of f_NL ~ 1. Additional sources of error as weak lensing and an imperfect foreground subtraction could severely hamper the detection of primordial non-Gaussianity which will benefit from the use of optimal estimators combined with tomographic techniques.
We have observed an evolved star with a rare combination of spectral features, MSX SMC 029, in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) using the low-resolution modules of the Infrared Spectrograph on the Spitzer Space Telescope. A cool dust continuum dominates the spectrum of MSX SMC 029. The spectrum also shows both emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and absorption at 13.7 micron from C2H2, a juxtaposition seen in only two other sources, AFGL 2688 and IRAS 13416-6243, both post-asymptotic giant branch (AGB) objects. As in these sources, the PAH spectrum has the unusual trait that the peak emission in the 7-9 micron complex lies beyond 8.0 micron. In addition, the 8.6 micron feature has an intensity as strong as the C-C modes which normally peak between 7.7 and 7.9 micron. The relative flux of the feature at 11.3 micron to that at 8 micron suggests that the PAHs in MSX SMC 029 either have a low ionization fraction or are largely unprocessed. The 13-16 micron wavelength region shows strong absorption features similar to those observed in the post-AGB objects AFGL 618 and SMP LMC 11. This broad absorption may arise from the same molecules which have been identified in those sources: C2H2, C4H2, HC3N, and C6H6. The similarities between MSX SMC 029, AFGL 2688, and AFGL 618 lead us to conclude that MSX SMC 029 has evolved off the AGB in only the past few hundred years, making it the third post-AGB object identified in the SMC.
The redshift distribution of the short-duration GRBs is a crucial, but currently fragmentary, clue to the nature of their progenitors. Here we present optical observations of seven short GRBs obtained with Gemini, Magellan, and HST. We detect the afterglows and host galaxies of two short bursts, and host galaxies for two additional bursts with known optical afterglow positions, and three with X-ray positions (<4.5" radius). In all seven cases we find that the most probable host galaxies are faint, R=23-26.5 mag, and therefore starkly different from the first few short GRB hosts, with R=17-22 mag and z<0.5. A comparison to large field galaxy samples, as well as the hosts of long GRBs and the previous short GRBs, indicates that these new hosts likely reside at z~1, and in fact we measure a spectroscopic redshift of z=1.1304 for the putative host of GRB060801. Our most conservative limit is that at least half of this new sample resides at z>0.7 (97% confidence level), suggesting that 1/4-2/3 of all short GRBs originate at higher redshifts than previously determined. This has two important implications: (i) We constrain the acceptable age distributions to a wide lognormal (sigma~1) with tau~4-8 Gyr, or to a power law, P(tau)~tau^n, with -1<n<0; and (ii) the inferred isotropic energies, E_{gamma,iso}~10^{50}-10^{52} erg, are significantly larger than 10^{48}-10^{49} erg for the low redshift short GRBs, indicating a large spread in energy release or jet opening angles. Finally, we re-iterate the importance of short GRBs as potential gravitational wave sources and find a conservative Advanced LIGO rate of ~2-6 per year.
We carry out a model independent study of resonant photon scattering off dark matter (DM) particles. The DM particle chi_1 can feature an electric or magnetic transition dipole moment which couples it with photons and a heavier neutral particle chi_2. Resonant photon scattering then takes place at a special energy set by the masses of chi_1 and chi_2, with the width of the resonance set by the size of the transition dipole moment. We compute the constraints on the parameter space of the model from stellar energy losses, data from SN 1987A, the Lyman-alpha forest, Big Bang nucleosynthesis, electro-weak precision measurements and accelerator searches. We show that the velocity broadening of the resonance plays an essential role for the possibility of the detection of a spectral feature originating from resonant photon-DM scattering. Depending upon the particle setup and the DM surface mass density, the favored range of DM particle masses lies between tens of keV and a few MeV, while the resonant photon absorption energy is predicted to be between tens of keV and few GeV.
We study the stellar population history and chemical evolution of the Milky Way (MW) in a hierarchical LCDM model for structure formation. Using a Monte Carlo method based on the semi-analytical EPS formalism, we reconstruct the merger tree of our Galaxy and follow the evolution of gas and stars along the hierarchy. Our approach allows us to compare the observational properties of the MW with model results, exploring different properties of primordial stars, such as their IMF and the critical metallicity for low-mass star formation, Zcr. By matching our predictions to the Metallicity Distribution Function (MDF) of metal-poor stars in the Galactic halo we find that: (i) supernova feedback is required to reproduce the observed properties of the MW; (ii) stars with [Fe/H]<-2.5 form in halos accreting Galactic Medium (GM) enriched by earlier supernova explosions; (iii) the fiducial model (Zcr=10^-4Zsun) provides an overall good fit to the MDF but cannot account for the two stars with [Fe/H]<-5; the latter can be accommodated if Zcr<10^-6Zsun but such model overpopulates the range -5.3<[Fe/H]<-4 in which no stars have been detected; (iv) the current non-detection of metal-free stars robustly constrains either Zcr>0 or the masses of the first stars m_PopIII>0.9Msun; (v) the statistical impact of second generation stars, i.e stars forming out of gas polluted only by metal-free stars, is negligible in current samples; (vi) independently of Zcr, 60% of metals in the GM are ejected through winds by halos with masses M<6x10^9 Msun, showing that low-mass halos are the dominant population contributing to cosmic metal enrichment.
Cold fronts were originally interpreted as being the result of subsonic/transonic motions of head-on merging substructures. This merger core remnant model is theoretically justified and hold relatively well for clusters that have clear signs of merging, such as 1E0657-56, but they do not work well for the increasing number of cold fronts found in clusters that do not show clear merging signs, such as A496. Here we report the results of a deeper observation of that cluster that allowed us to produce high quality maps of the gas parameters and to compare more closely the observations with the predictions given by different models for cold front formation. We found for the first time a ``cold arm'' characteristic of a flyby of a massive DM halo near the core of the cluster. The cold arm is accompanied by an enhanced SN II Fe mass fraction, inconsistent with the merger core remnant scenario.
Observations of spiral galaxies strongly support a one-to-one analytical relation between the inferred gravity of dark matter at any radius and the enclosed baryonic mass. It is baffling that baryons manage to settle the dark matter gravitational potential in such a precise way, leaving no messy fingerprints of the merging events and "gastrophysical" feedbacks expected in the history of a galaxy in a concordance Universe. This correlation of gravity with baryonic mass can be interpreted from several non-standard angles, especially as a k-essence-like modification of gravity called TeVeS, in which the baryon-gravity relation is captured by the dieletric-like function mu of Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND). Here, after numerically addressing the effects of non-spherical baryon geometry in the framework of non-linear TeVeS, we investigate the observational constraints upon the mu-function from fitting galaxy circular velocity curves, unveiling the degeneracy between the stellar mass-to-light ratio and the mu-function, and discuss the implication of the sharpness of transition from the strong to weak gravity regimes. On a purely theoretical side, we exhaustively examine how the mu-function connects with the free function of TeVeS. We also exhibit the important effects of renormalizing the gravitational constant, and a discontinuity-free transition between quasi-static galaxies and the evolving Universe. We then speculate on the possible physical meaning of the mu-function in a TeVeS-like framework, and in the framework of the recent proposal that dark matter could be made of particles with a mass dipole moment.
In the first paper of this series we explored the case where a quark-nova ejecta forms a degenerate shell, supported by the star's magnetic field. Herein, we consider the case where the ejecta has sufficient angular momentum to form a Keplerian torus, and we show that the density and temperature of the torus are such that it will remain degenerate throughout it's lifetime. We go on to discuss the evolution of such a torus and apply it to two AXPs, namely 1E2259$+$586 and 4U0142$+$615. As it turns out, using our model we can account for many of the observations of these objects including the quiescent phase luminosity, and blackbody temperatures during quiescence and bursting phases. Furthermore, for 1E2259$+$586 our model explains the steep and slow decay components seen in the burst lightcurve, as well as the rotation period glitches and enhanced spin-down rate. We also estimate the mass of the degenerate torus to be of the order of $10^{-6}M_{\odot}$, and speculate that the observed optical/infrared emission from 4U0142$+$615 might be a signature of the thin degenerate torus we describe here.
We study the gravitational lensing effects of spiral galaxies by taking a model of the Milky Way and computing its lensing properties. The model is composed of a spherical Hernquist bulge, a Miyamoto-Nagai disc and an isothermal halo. As a strong lens, a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way can give rise to four different imaging geometries. They are (i) three images on one side of the galaxy centre (`disc triplets'), (ii) three images with one close to the centre (`core triplets'), (iii) five images and (iv) seven images. Neglecting magnification bias, we show that the core triplets, disc triplets and fivefold imaging are roughly equally likely. Even though our models contain edge-on discs, their image multiplicities are not dominated by disc triplets. The halo has a small effect on the caustic structure, the time delays and brightnesses of the images. The Milky Way model has a maximum disc (i.e., the halo is not dynamically important in the inner parts). Strong lensing by nearly edge-on disc galaxies breaks the degeneracy between the relative contribution of the disc and halo to the overall rotation curve. If a spiral galaxy has a sub-maximum disc, then the astroid caustic shrinks dramatically in size, whilst the radial caustic shrinks more modestly. This causes changes in the relative likelihood of the image geometries, specifically (i) core triplets are now 9/2 times more likely than disc triplets, (ii) the cross section for threefold imaging is reduced by a factor of 2/3, whilst (iii) the cross section for fivefold imaging is reduced by 1/2. Although multiple imaging is less likely (the cross sections are smaller), the average total magnification is greater.
We present high signal precision optical reflectance spectra of the large Kuiper belt objects 2005 FY9 and 2003 EL61. The spectrum of 2005 FY9 exhibits strong CH4-ice bands. A comparison between the spectrum and a Hapke model indicates the CH4 bands are shifted 3.25 +/- 2.25A relative to pure CH4-ice, suggesting the presence of another ice component on the surface of 2005 FY9, possibly N2-ice, CO-ice, or Ar. The spectrum of 2003 EL61 is remarkably featureless. There is a hint of an O2-ice band at 5773A; however, this feature needs to be confirmed by future spectroscopic observations of 2003 EL61 with a higher continuum signal precision, sufficient to detect a second weaker O2-ice band at 6275A.
Three comments are made on AGN heating of cooling flows. A simple physical argument is used to show that the enthalpy of a buoyant radio lobe is converted to heat in its wake. Thus, a significant part of ``cavity'' enthalpy is likely to end up as heat. Second, the properties of the repeated weak shocks in M87 are used to argue that they can plausibly prevent gas close to the AGN from cooling. As the most significant heating mechanism at work closest to the AGN, shock heating probably plays a critical role in the feedback mechanism. Third, results are presented from a survey of AGN heating rates in nearby giant elliptical galaxies. With inactive systems included, the overall AGN heating rate is reasonably well matched to the total cooling rate for the sample. Thus, intermittent AGN outbursts are energetically capable of preventing the hot atmospheres of these galaxies from cooling and forming stars.
The Dark Energy Survey (DES) is a 5000 sq deg griz imaging survey to be conducted using a proposed 3 sq deg (2.2deg-diameter) wide-field mosaic camera on the CTIO Blanco 4m telescope. The primary scientific goal of the DES is to constrain dark energy cosmological parameters via four complementary methods: galaxy cluster counting, weak lensing, galaxy angular correlations, and Type Ia supernovae, supported by precision photometric redshifts. Here we present the photometric calibration plans for the DES, including a discussion of standard stars and field-to-field calibrations.
We report on the serendipitous discovery of the brightest Lyman Break Galaxy (LBG) currently known, a galaxy at z=2.73 that is being strongly lensed by the z=0.38 Luminous Red Galaxy (LRG) SDSS J002240.91+143110.4. The arc of this gravitational lens system, which we have dubbed the "8 o'clock arc" due to its time of discovery, was initially identified in the imaging data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 4 (SDSS DR4); followup observations on the Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC) 3.5m telescope at Apache Point Observatory confirmed the lensing nature of this system and led to the identification of the arc's spectrum as that of an LBG. The arc has a spectrum and a redshift remarkably similar to those of the previous record-holder for brightest LBG (MS 1512-cB58, a.k.a "cB58"), but, with an estimated total magnitude of (g,r,i) = (20.0,19.2,19.0) and surface brightness of (mu_g,mu_r,mu_i) = (23.3, 22.5, 22.3) mag/arcsec^2, the 8 o'clock arc is thrice as bright. The 8 o'clock arc, which consists of three lensed images of the LBG, is 162deg (9.6arcsec) long and has a length-to-width ratio of 6:1. A fourth image of the LBG -- a counter-image -- can also be identified in the ARC 3.5m g-band images. A simple lens model for the system assuming a singular isothermal ellipsoid potential yields an Einstein radius of 2.91+/-0.14 arcsec, a total mass for the lensing LRG (within the (10.6+/-0.5)/h kpc enclosed by the lensed images) of 1.04x10^12/h Msun, and a magnification factor for the LBG of 12.3(+15/-3.6). The LBG itself is intrinsically quite luminous (approximately 6L*) and shows indications of massive recent star formation, perhaps as high as 160/h Msun/year.
A magnetic field dynamo in the inner regions of the accretion disk surrounding the supermassive black holes in AGNs may be the mechanism for the generation of magnetic fields in galaxies and in extragalactic space. We argue that the two coherent motions produced by 1) the Keplerian motion and 2) star-disk collisions, numerous in the inner region of AGN accretion disks, are both basic to the formation of a robust, coherent dynamo and consequently the generation of large scale magnetic fields. They are frequent enough to account for an integrated dynamo gain, e^{10^{9}} at 100 gravitational radii of a central black hole, many orders of magnitude greater than required to amplify any seed field no matter how small. The existence of extra-galactic, coherent, large scale magnetic fields whose energies greatly exceed all but massive black hole energies is recognized. In paper II (Pariev, Colgate, and Finn 2006) we argue that in order to produce a dynamo that can access the free energy of black hole formation and produce all the magnetic flux in a coherent fashion the existence of these two coherent motions in a conducting fluid is required. The differential winding of Keplerian motion is obvious, but the disk structure depends upon the model of "alpha", the transport coefficient of angular momentum chosen. The counter rotation of driven plumes in a rotating frame is less well known, but fortunately the magnetic effect is independent of the disk model. Both motions are discussed in this paper, paper I. The description of the two motions are preliminary to two theoretical derivations and one numerical simulation of the alpha-omega dynamo in paper II. (Abridged)
We review the main properties of solar metallicity massive stars in the range 11-120 Msun. The influence of the mass loss on the hydrostatic burning stages as well as the final explosion is discussed in some detail. We find that the minimum masses that enter the WNL, WNE and WC stages are 30 Msun, 35 Msun and 40 Msun respectively; the limiting mass between stars exploding as SNII and SNIb/c is between 30 and 35 Msun; the limiting mass between stars forming neutron stars and black holes after the explosion is between 25-30 Msun. We also discuss the properties of the chemical yields integrated over a Salpeter IMF and we find that stars with M>=35 Msun contribute for ~60% to the production of C, N and for ~40% to the production Sc and s-process elements up to Zr, while they do not produce any intermediate mass element because of the large remnant masses
TV Ret was classified as a cataclysmic variable due to an outburst observed in 1977. We intended to confirm this classification and derive some basic properties of the system. Low resolution optical spectra were obtained for a spectral classification of the object. We find that the object is not a cataclysmic variable but an emission line galaxy with a redshift z=0.0964. An R-image taken in very good seeing conditions shows that the object is extended. We show that TV Ret is a blue dwarf galaxy, probably compact, with an absolute magnitude of MB = -17.5, a metallicity of 0.12 solar, and an average temperature of 1.3 10^4 K. The line ratios place it among the HII galaxies, although close to the border of the Seyfert2s. The outburst, which was observed in 1977, could thus be explained by a supernova explosion. However, with an absolute magnitude around MB = -21, it was an extremely bright one.
Motivated by relativistic jets observed in active galactic nuclei (AGN), we simulate outflows of electron-positron pairs strongly coupled with photons from normal electron-proton plasmas. Using multi-fluid approximation and a Monte Carlo method of radiative transfer, we obtain spherically symmetric, steady solutions of radiation and pair outflows for the luminosity $L \leq 10^{47}$ erg ${\rm s^{-1}}$. For microphysics, Coulomb scattering, Compton scattering, bremsstrahlung, electron-positron pair annihilation and creation are taken into account. Although a significant amount of pairs outflow by powerful radiative force with a mildly relativistic velocity, the temperature is not high enough to avoid pair annihilation before the fireball becomes optically thin to scattering. Several caveats in the simulations are also discussed.
We numerically calculate the energy and momentum transfer rates due to Coulomb scattering between two fluids moving with a relative velocity. The results are fitted by simple functions. The fitting formulae are useful to simulate outflows from active galactic nuclei and compact high energy sources.
We present upper limits on line emission in the Cosmic X-ray background (CXB) that would be produced by decay of sterile neutrino dark matter. We employ the spectra of the unresolved component of the CXB in the Chandra Deep Fields North and South obtained with the Chandra CCD detector in the E=0.8-9 keV band. The expected decay flux comes from the dark matter on the lines of sight through the Milky Way galactic halo. Our constraints on the sterile neutrino decay rate are sensitive to the modeling of the Milky Way halo. The highest halo mass estimates provide a limit on the sterile neutrino mass of m_s<2.9 keV in the Dodelson-Widrow production model, while the lowest halo mass estimates provide the conservative limit of m_s<5.7 keV (2-sigma). We also discuss constraints from a short observation of the softer (E<1 keV) X-ray background with a rocket-borne calorimeter by McCammon and collaborators.
We construct models for strongly-magnetized neutron star atmospheres composed of mid-Z elements (carbon, oxygen and neon) with magnetic fields B=10^{12}-10^{13} G and effective temperatures Teff=(1-5)*10^6 K; this is done by first addressing the physics relevant to strongly-magnetized plasmas and calculating the equation of state and polarization-dependent opacities. We then obtain the atmosphere structure and spectrum by solving the radiative transfer equations in hydrostatic and radiative equilibrium. In contrast to hydrogen opacities at the relevant temperatures, mid-Z element opacities are dominated by numerous bound-bound and bound-free transitions. Consequently, temperature profiles are closer to grey profiles, and photosphere densities are lower than in the hydrogen case. Mid-Z element atmosphere spectra are significantly softer than hydrogen atmosphere spectra and show numerous absorption lines and edges. The atmosphere spectra depend strongly on surface composition and magnetic field but weakly on surface gravity. Absorption lines are primarily broadened by motional Stark effects and the (unknown) surface magnetic field distribution. Given the multiple absorption features observed from several isolated neutron stars, it is possible to determine, with existing X-ray data, the surface composition, magnetic field, temperature, and gravitational redshift; we present qualitative comparisons between our model spectra and the neutron stars 1E1207.4-5209 and RX J1605.3+3249. Future high-resolution X-ray missions such as Constellation-X will measure the gravitational redshift with high accuracy by resolving narrow absorption features, and when combined with radius measurements, it will be possible to uniquely determine the mass and radius of isolated neutron stars. (Abridged)
Electric charge neutrality in a compact star provides an important relation- ship between the chiral dynamics and neutrino propagation in the star. Since the sudden drop of the electron density at the critical point of the first-order chiral phase transition, the oscillation for low energy neutrinos is significant and can be regarded as a signature of chiral symmetry restoration in the core of the star.
The advent of m class telescopes has allowed the detailed spectroscopic study of sizeable numbers of extremely metal-poor Galactic stars which are the witnesses of the formation of the early Galaxy. Their chemical composition displays some distinctive trends which should provide a strong constraint on the physical nature of the first generation(s) of stars and on their nucleosynthetic output. I will review recent results in the field following the periodic table, from lithium to uranium and shortly comment on the intriguing classes of Carbon Enhanced Metal Poor (CEMP) stars, for many of which there is no analogue among solar metallicity stars. In spite of these exciting results, the number of known stars of metallicity below [Fe/H]=-3.3 remains quite small and it would be desirable to discover more, both to clearly understand the metal-weak tail of Halo metallicity distribution and to clarify the abundance trends at the lowest metallicities. Most of these extremely rare objects have been discovered by the wide field objective prism surveys, HK survey and Hamburg-ESO survey. In the near future the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and its continuation SEGUE are expected to boost significantly the numbers of known extremely metal poor stars. We are living exciting times but an even more exciting future lies ahead !
We analyze Swift gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and X-ray afterglows for three GRBs with spectroscopic redshift determinations -- GRB 050401, XRF 050416a, and GRB 050525a. We find that the relation between spectral peak energy and isotropic energy of prompt emissions (the Amati relation) is consistent with that for the bursts observed in pre-Swift era. However, we find that the X-ray afterglow lightcurves, which extend up to 10-70 days, show no sign of the jet break that is expected in the standard framework of collimated outflows. We do so by showing that none of the X-ray afterglow lightcurves in our sample satisfies the relation between the spectral and temporal indices that is predicted for the phase after jet break. The jet break time can be predicted by inverting the tight empirical relation between the peak energy of the spectrum and the collimation-corrected energy of the prompt emission (the Ghirlanda relation). We find that there are no temporal breaks within the predicted time intervals in X-ray band. This requires either that the Ghirlanda relation has a larger scatter than previously thought, that the temporal break in X-rays is masked by some additional source of X-ray emission, or that it does not happen because of some unknown reason.
Aims: Chemical compositions and other properties of planetary nebulae around central stars of spectral types [WC], [WO], and wels are compared with those of `normal' central stars, in order to clarify the evolutionary status of each type and their interrelation. Methods: We use plasma diagnostics to derive from optical spectra the plasma parameters and chemical compositions of 48 planetary nebulae. We also reanalyze the published spectra of a sample of 167 non-WR PN. The results as well as the observational data are compared in detail with those from other studies of the objects in common. Results: The central star's spectral type is clearly correlated with electron density, temperature and excitation class of the nebula, [WC] nebulae tend to be smaller than the other types. All this corroborates the view of an evolutionary sequence from cool [WC 11] central stars inside dense, low excitation nebulae towards hot [WO 1] stars with low density, high excitation nebulae. The wels PN, however, appear to be a separate class of objects, not linked to WRPN by evolution, --abridged--
We report the discovery of new pre-main sequence (PMS) stars in the Lagoon Nebula (M8) at a distance of 1.25 kpc, based on intermediate resolution spectra obtained with the Boller & Chivens spectrograph at the 6.5-m Magellan I telescope (Las Campanas Observatory, Chile). According to the spectral types, the presence of emission lines and the lithium 6708A absorption line, we are able to identify 27 classical T Tauri stars, 7 weak-lined T Tauri stars and 3 PMS emission objects with spectral type G, which we include in a separated stellar class denominated "PMS Fe/Ge class". Using near-infrared photometry either from 2MASS or from our own previous work we derive effective temperatures and luminosities for these stars and locate them in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, in order to estimate their masses and ages. We find that almost all of our sample stars are younger than 3 10^6 years and span over a range of masses between 0.8 and 2.5 Msun. A cross-correlation between our spectroscopic data and the X-ray sources detected with the Chandra ACIS instrument is also presented.
Particle acceleration at plasma shocks appears to be ubiquitous in the universe, spanning systems in the heliosphere, supernova remnants, and relativistic jets in distant active galaxies and gamma-ray bursts. This review addresses some of the key issues for shock acceleration theory that require resolution in order to propel our understanding of particle energization in astrophysical environments. These include magnetic field amplification in shock ramps, the non-linear hydrodynamic interplay between thermal ions and their extremely energetic counterparts possessing ultrarelativistic energies, and the ability to inject and accelerate electrons in both non-relativistic and relativistic shocks. Recent observational developments that impact these issues are summarized. While these topics are currently being probed by astrophysicists using numerical simulations, they are also ripe for investigation in laboratory experiments, which potentially can provide valuable insights into the physics of cosmic shocks.
I summarize the main observational features that seem to recur more frequently in the ULX population. I speculate that two of the most important physical requirements for ULX formation are low metal abundance, and clustered star formation triggered by external processes such as molecular cloud collisions. In this scenario, most ULX are formed from recent stellar processes, have BH masses < 100 Msun and do not require merger processes in super star clusters.
Soft X-ray spectra of ULXs show small deviations from a power-law model, that can be attributed to reprocessing in a fast, ionized outflow, or to thermal emission from a cool disk. If it is thermal emission, the cool peak temperature can be explained by an inner disk that radiates only a small fraction of the gravitational power, transferring the rest to an upscattering medium which is then responsible for the dominant power-law component. This scenario does not require intermediate-mass black holes: we use a phenomenological model to show that the observed X-ray luminosities and spectra of ULXs are consistent with typical masses ~ 50-100 Msun.
Multicycle nova evolution models have been calculated over the past twenty years, the number being limited by numerical constraints. Here we present a long-term evolution code that enables a continuous calculation through an unlimited number of nova cycles for an unlimited evolution time, even up to (or exceeding) a Hubble time. Starting with two sets of the three independent nova parameters -- the white dwarf mass, the temperature of its isothermal core, and the rate of mass transfer on to it -- we have followed the evolution of two models, with initial masses of 1 and 0.65 solar masses, accretion rates (constant throughout each calculation) of 1e-11 and 1e-9 solar-masses/yr, and relatively high initial temperatures (as they are likely to be at the onset of the outburst phase), through over 1000 and over 3000 cycles, respectively. The results show that although on the short-term consecutive outbursts are almost identical, on the long-term scale the characteristics change. This is mainly due to the changing core temperature, which decreases very similarly to that of a cooling white dwarf for a time, but at a slower rate thereafter. As the white dwarf's mass continually decreases, since both models lose more mass than they accrete, the central pressure decreases accordingly. The outbursts on the massive white dwarf change gradually from fast to moderately fast, and the other characteristics (velocity, abundance ratios, isotopic ratios) change, too. Very slowly, a steady state is reached, where all characteristics, both in quiescence and in outburst, remain almost constant. For the less massive white dwarf accreting at a high rate, outbursts are similar throughout the evolution.
We combine recent long Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) sample including 52 objects out to z$=$6.3 compiled from Swift Gamma Ray Bursts by Schaefer (2006) with Type Ia Supernova (SNIa), Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and Baryon Oscillation (BAO) to constrain cosmologies. We study the constraints arising from GRBs alone and the complementarity of GRBs to other cosmological probes. To analyze the cosmological role of GRBs, we adopt the Hubble constant as a free parameter with a prior in the range of $H_0=72\pm8\enspace\kmsmpc$ instead of a fixed $H_0$ used in previous studies. By jointly using SNIa gold/SNLS samples and GRBs, the constraints on \Om -\Ol parameter space are dramatically improved in comparing with those from SNIa data alone. The complementarity of GRBs is mostly from the sub-sample with z$>$1.5 due to the different parameter degeneracies involved in luminosity distances at different redshifts. Including GRB data in addition to SNIa, BAO and CMB in our analysis, we find that the concordance model with \Om $\sim$0.3 and \Ol$\sim$0.7 is still well within 1$\sigma$ confidence range.
In Paper by Titarchuk & Shrader the general formulation and results for photon reprocessing (downscattering) that included recoil and Comptonization effects due to divergence of the flow were presented. Here we show the Monte Carlo (MC) simulated continuum and line spectra. We also provide an analytical description of the simulated continuum spectra using the diffusion approximation. We have simulated the propagation of monochromatic and continuum photons in a bulk outflow from a compact object. Electron scattering of the photons within the expanding flow leads to a decrease of their energy which is of first order in V/c (where V is the outflow velocity). The downscattering effect of first order in V/c in the diverging flow is explained by semi-analytical calculations and confirmed by MC simulations. We conclude that redshifted lines and downscattering bumps are intrinsic properties of the powerful outflows for which Thomson optical depth is greater than one. We fitted our model line profiles to the observations using four free parameters, \beta=V/c, optical depth of the wind \tau, the wind temperature kT_e and the original line photon energy E_0. We show how the primary spectrum emitted close to the black hole is modified by reprocessing in the warm wind. In the framework of the our wind model the fluorescent iron line K_alpha is formed in the partly ionized wind as a result of illumination by central source continuum photons. The demonstrated application of our outflow model to the XMM observations of MCG 6-30-15, and to the ASCA observations of GRO J1655-40, points out a potential powerful spectral diagnostic for probes of the outflow-central object connection in Galactic and extragalactic BH sources.
Prominent in the `Field of Streams' -- the Sloan Digital Sky Survey map of substructure in the Galactic halo -- is an `Orphan Stream' without obvious progenitor. In this numerical study, we show a possible connection between the newly found dwarf satellite Ursa Major II (UMa II) and the Orphan Stream. We provide numerical simulations of the disruption of UMa II that match the observational data on the position, distance and morphology of the Orphan Stream. We predict the radial velocity of UMa II as -100 km/s as well as the existence of strong velocity gradients along the Orphan Stream. The velocity dispersion of UMa II is expected to be high, though this can be caused both by a high dark matter content or by the presence of unbound stars in a disrupted remnant. However, the existence of a gradient in the mean radial velocity across UMa II provides a clear-cut distinction between these possibilities. The simulations support the idea that some of the anomalous, young halo globular clusters like Palomar 1 or Arp 2 or Ruprecht 106 may be physically associated with the Orphan Stream.
Context. Colors are usually not used for constraining stellar populations because they are thought to have the well-known agemetallicity degeneracy. But some recent works show that colors can also be used. The simple stellar population (SSP) synthesis model of Bruzual & Charlot (2003) (BC03) is widely used but there is no analysis for its colors. Aims.We try to find colors which can potentially be used to determine the age and metallicity of stellar populations by the standard model of BC03. Methods.Principal component analysis (PCA) and relative sensitive parameter techniques are used in this work. Results.U-K, U-H, U-J, B-K, B-H, U-I, B-J and V-K are found to be more important to study populations than others. Pairs of colors such as B-K and B-V are found to be able to disentangle the stellar age-metallicity degeneracy via the high-resolution BC03 model, while pairs such as U-K and R-I may be used instead when the low-resolution model is used. Furthermore, the u-g and r-i colors of low-resolution BC03 model seem to have the same potential but there are no such colors for the high-resolution one. Conclusions. Some colors have been shown to have the potential to determine the age and metallicity of stellar populations, but relative metallicity and age sensitivities of colors in different stellar population synthesis models are usually different. In addition, minor star formations will make star systems look younger and more metal rich than their dominating populations.
Using a number of numerical tests and analytic arguments we investigate how measurements of cosmic shear lead to constraints on dark energy. We find that, in contrast to the case with galaxy number density correlation functions, standard rulers in the matter power spectrum play no significant role. Sensitivity to distance ratios is provided by the ratios in the lensing kernel. An absolute distance scale can only be established by breaking a potential degeneracy between growth and distance which can be done if the growth-redshift relation and distance-redshift relations are parameterized with sufficiently few parameters. For the quality of dark energy determination, growth determination is primarily important because it improves the distance reconstructions. The information about dark energy in the growth-redshift relation is always of secondary importance though the amount it contributes is highly dependent on what priors are taken in the cosmological parameter space. We also explain the dependence of dark energy constraints from cosmic shear, relative distance measures (supernovae) and absolute distance measures (baryon acoustic oscillations) on assumptions about the mean curvature.
We briefly consider some design aspects of aperture arrays for use in radio astronomy, particularly contrasting the performance of dense and sparse aperture arrays. Recent insights have emerged in the final design phase of LOFAR which suggest that sparse aperture arrays have the best prospects for cost-effective performance at radio frequencies below about 500 MHz; exceeding those of both dense aperture arrays and parabolic reflectors by an order of magnitude. Very attractive performance, of 10,000 - 20,000 m2/K, can be achieved with a sparse design that covers the 70 - 700 MHz range with two antenna systems that share receiver resources. Cost-effective systems of this type represent only a modest increment in system complexity over that being deployed in LOFAR and are achievable with today's technology.
There is an ongoing debate on whether or not the observational limits on a supernova (SN) associated with GRB060614 convincingly exclude a SN akin to SN1998bw as its originator, and provide evidence for a new class of long-duration GRBs. We discuss this issue in the contexts of indirect `redshift estimators' and of the fireball and cannonball models of GRBs. The latter explains the unusual properties of GRB060614: at its debated low redshift (0.125) they are predicted, as opposed to exceptional, if the associated SN is of `Pastorello's class'. Long-baseline radio data and deep optical data may test the proposed alternatives.
Deep Effelsberg 100-m HI observations of 5 HI deficient Virgo spiral galaxies are presented. No new extended HI tail is found in these galaxies. The already known HI tail north of NGC 4388 does not significantly extend further than a WSRT image has shown. Based on the absence of HI tails in a sample of 6 Virgo spiral galaxies and a balance of previous detections of extraplanar gas in the targeted galaxies we propose a global picture where the outer gas disk (beyond the optical radius R_25) is removed much earlier than expected by the classical ram pressure criterion. Based on the two-phase nature of atomic hydrogen located in a galactic disk, we argue that the warm diffuse HI in the outer galactic disk is evaporated much more rapidly than the cold dense HI. Therefore, after a ram pressure stripping event we can only observe atomic hydrogen which was cold and dense before it was removed from the galactic disk. This global picture is consistent with all available observations. We detect between 0.3% and 20% of the stripped mass assuming an initially non-deficient galaxy and between 3% and 70% of the stripped mass assuming an initially HI deficient galaxy (def=0.4). Under the latter assumption we estimate an evaporation rate by dividing the missing mass by the estimated time to peak ram pressure from dynamical simulations. We find evaporation rates between 10 and 100 M_solar/yr.
I will be reviewing three methods to identify late-type giants in extragalactic systems, based on the main characteristics of AGB stars (they are infrared bright, variable, and have spectral peculiarities).
We have re-analysed all of the SCUBA archive data of the Orion star-forming regions. We have put together all of the data taken at different times by different groups. Consequently we have constructed the deepest submillimetre maps of these regions ever made. There are four regions that have been mapped: Orion A North & South, and Orion B North & South. We find that two of the regions, Orion A North and Orion B North, have deeper sensitivity and completeness limits, and contain a larger number of sources, so we concentrate on these two. We compare the data with archive data from the Spitzer Space Telescope to determine whether or not a core detected in the submillimetre is pre-stellar in nature. We extract all of the pre-stellar cores from the data and make a histogram of the core masses. This can be compared to the stellar initial mass function (IMF). We find the high-mass core mass function follows a roughly Salpeter-like slope, just like the IMF, as seen in previous work. Our deeper maps allow us to see that the core mass function (CMF) turns over at ~ 1.3 Mo, about a factor of 4 higher than our completeness limit. This turnover has never previously been observed, and is only visible here due to our much deeper maps. It mimics the turnover seen in the stellar IMF at ~ 0.1 Mo. The low-mass side of the CMF is a power-law with an exponent of 0.35 +/- 0.2, which is consistent with the low-mass slope of the young cluster IMF of 0.3 +/- 0.1. This shows that the CMF continues to mimic the shape of the IMF all the way down to the lower completeness limit of these data at ~ 0.3 Mo.
We have retrieved Spitzer archive data of pre-stellar cores taken with the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) at a wavelength of 160 um. Seventeen images, containing eighteen cores, were constructed. Flux densities were measured for each core, and background estimates were made. Mean off-source backgrounds were found to be 48\pm10 MJy/sr in Taurus and 140\pm55 MJy/sr in Ophiuchus. Consistency was found between the MIPS 170um and ISOPHOT 160um calibration. Fourteen cores were detected both by MIPS and our previous submillimetre surveys. Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) were made for each core, using additional 24- and 70-um data from the Spitzer data archive, as well as previous infra-red and submillimetre data. Previous temperature estimates were refined, and new temperature estimates were made where no Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) data exist. A temperature range of 8-18K was found for the cores, with most lying in the range 10-13K. We discount recent claims that a large number of pre-stellar cores may have been misclassified and in fact contain low luminosity protostars detectable only by Spitzer. We find no new protostars in our sample other than that previously reported in L1521F. It is shown that this has a negligible effect on pre-stellar lifetime estimates.
We analysed the long-term variability of four microquasars (GRS 1915+105, Cyg X-1, Cyg X-3, and Sco X-1) in radio and X rays. The results of our analysis indicate the existence of two distinct modes of energy output, which we refer to as the `coupled' mode and the `flaring' mode. The coupled mode is responsible for mildly fluctuating, flat-spectrum radio emission, coupled with the X-ray emission; the flaring mode produces powerful, steep-spectrum radio flares, with no significant counterpart in X rays. We find that the fraction of time spent by a typical microquasar in the flaring mode is similar to the fraction of quasars that are radio-loud. This is consistent with the hypothesis that radio-loudness of quasars is a function of the epoch at which the source is observed.
We observed mid-infrared (7.5-22 mum) spectra of AGB stars in the globular cluster 47 Tuc with the Spitzer telescope and find significant dust features of various types. Comparison of the characteristics of the dust spectra with the location of the stars in a logP-K-diagram shows that dust mineralogy and position on the AGB are related. A 13 mum feature is seen in spectra of low luminosity AGB stars. More luminous AGB stars show a broad feature at 11.5 mum. The spectra of the most luminous stars are dominated by the amorphous silicate bending vibration centered at 9.7 mum. For 47 Tuc AGB stars, we conclude that early on the AGB dust consisting primarily of Mg-, Al- and Fe oxides is formed. With further AGB evolution amorphous silicates become the dominant species.
We derived constraints on parameters of a radiatively decaying warm dark matter particle, e.g., the mass and mixing angle for a sterile neutrino, using Chandra X-ray spectra of a galaxy cluster 1E0657-56 (the ``bullet'' cluster). The constraints are based on nondetection of the sterile neutrino decay emission line. This cluster exhibits spatial separation between the hot intergalactic gas and the dark matter, helping to disentangle their X-ray signals. It also has a very long X-ray observation and a total mass measured via gravitational lensing. This makes the resulting constraints on sterile neutrino complementary to earlier results that used different cluster mass estimates. Our limits are comparable to the best existing constraints.
Our goal is to recover the Galactic Halo spatial density by means of field stars. To this aim, we apply a new technique to the Capodimonte Deep Field (OACDF, Alcala' et al. 2004), as a pilot study in view of the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) stellar projects. Considering the unique chance to collect deep and wide-field photometry with the VST, our method may represent a useful tool towards a definitive mapping of the Galactic Halo. In the framework of synthetic stellar populations, turn-off stars are used to reconstruct the spatial density. The determination of the space density is achieved by comparing the data with synthetic color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). The only assumptions involve the IMF, age and metallicity of the synthetic halo population. Stars are randomly placed in the solid angle. The contributions of the various Monte Carlo distributions (with a step of 4 kpc) along the line of sight are simultaneously varied to reproduce the observed CMD. Our result on the space density is consistent with a power-law exponent n~3 over a range of Galactocentric distances from 8 to 40 kpc.
Hard X-ray (HXR) spectroscopy is the most direct method of diagnosing energetic electrons in solar flares. Here we present a technique which allows us to use a single HXR spectrum to determine an effectively stereoscopic electron energy distribution. Considering the Sun's surface to act as a 'Compton mirror' allows us to look at emitting electrons also from behind the source, providing vital information on downward-propagating particles. Using this technique we determine simultaneously the electron spectra of downward and upward directed electrons for two solar flares observed by the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI). The results reveal surprisingly near-isotropic electron distributions, which contrast strongly with the expectations from the standard model which invokes strong downward beaming, including collisional thick-target model.
We use the traditional approximation to describe oscillations with frequencies comparable to the angular rotation rate. Validity of this approximation in application to main-sequence B stars is discussed. Numerical results regarding mode stability and visibility are presented for a model of the Be star HD 163868. For this object, Walker et al.(2005) detected a record number of mode frequencies using data from the small space telescope MOST. Our interpretation of these data differs from that of Walker et al. In particular, we interpret peaks in the lowest frequency range as retrograde g modes. We find instability in a large number of modes that remain undetectable because of unfavourable aspect and/or effect of cancellation. There is no clear preference to excitation of prograde modes.
We wish to provide simple and accurate analytic approximations for the low frequency double Compton (DC) emission coefficient, which are applicable in a broad range of physical situations up to mildly relativistic temperatures and may be useful for checking under which circumstances the double Compton process is important. We perform series expansions of the DC emission integral for low energies of the incident photon and electron and compare the derived analytic expressions with the results obtained by numerical integrations of the full DC cross section. We explicitly derived analytic approximations to the low frequency double Compton emission coefficient for initial monochromatic photons and Wien spectra. We show that combining the analytic approximations given in this paper an accuracy of better than 5% in a very broad range of temperatures and under various physical conditions can be achieved. Furthermore we show that the double Compton emissivity strongly depends on the ratio of the energies of the incoming photon and electron: for hard photons and cold electrons the emission is strongly suppressed as compared to the case of similar photon and electron energy, whereas in the opposite situation, i.e. hot electrons and soft initial photons, the emission is enhanced. For photons and electrons close to thermodynamic equilibrium the double Compton emissivity increases less rapidly with temperature than in the Lightman-Thorne approximation and the corrections exceed the level of ~10% for temperatures above 4keV.
We continue our survey for magnetic chemically peculiar (CP2) stars in galactic open clusters to shed more light on their origin and evolution. To study the group of CP2 stars, it is essential to find these objects in different galactic environments and at a wide range of evolutionary stages. The knowledge of open clusters ages and metallicities can help to find a correlation of these parameters with the (non-)presence of peculiarities which has to be taken into account in stellar evolution models. The intermediate band Delta a photometric system samples the depth of the 5200A flux depression by comparing the flux at the center with the adjacent regions with bandwidths of 110A to 230A. It is capable to detect magnetic CP2 and CP4 stars with high efficiency, but also the groups of (metal-weak) lambda Bootis, as well as classical Be/shell stars can be successfully investigated. In addition, it allows to determine the age, reddening and distance modulus with an appropriate accuracy by fitting isochrones. From the 1677 observed members of the eight open clusters, twenty five CP2 and one Ae stars were identified. Further nineteen deviating stars are designated as questionable due to several reasons. The estimated age, reddening and distance for the programme clusters were compared with published vales of the literature and discussed in this context. The current paper shows that CP2 stars are present continuously in very young (7Myr) to intermediate age (500Myr) open clusters at distances larger than 2kpc from the Sun.
Among the hot Jupiters that transit their parent stars known to date, the two best candidates to be observed with transmission spectroscopy in the mid-infrared (MIR) are HD189733b and HD209458b, due to their combined characteristics of planetary density, orbital parameters and parent star distance and brightness. Here we simulate transmission spectra of these two planets during their primary eclipse in the MIR, and we present sensitivity studies of the spectra to the changes of atmospheric thermal properties, molecular abundances and C/O ratios. Our model predicts that the dominant species absorbing in the MIR on hot Jupiters are water vapor and carbon monoxide, and their relative abundances are determined by the C/O ratio. Since the temperature profile plays a secondary role in the transmission spectra of hot Jupiters compared to molecular abundances, future primary eclipse observations in the MIR of those objects might give an insight on EGP atmospheric chemistry. We find here that the absorption features caused by water vapor and carbon monoxide in a cloud-free atmosphere, are deep enough to be observable by the present and future generation of space-based observatories, such as Spitzer Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope. We discuss our results in light of the capabilities of these telescopes.
For the first time a quasi-simultaneous multi-wavelength campaign has been performed on an Anomalous X-ray Pulsar from the radio to the hard X-ray band. 4U 0142+61 was an INTEGRAL target for 1 Ms in July 2005. During these observations it was also observed in the X-ray band with Swift and RXTE, in the optical and NIR with Gemini North and in the radio with the WSRT. In this paper we present the source-energy distribution. The spectral results obtained in the individual wave bands do not connect smoothly; apparently components of different origin contribute to the total spectrum. Remarkable is that the INTEGRAL hard X-ray spectrum (power-law index 0.79 +/- 0.10) is now measured up to an energy of ~230 keV with no indication of a spectral break. Extrapolation of the INTEGRAL power-law spectrum to lower energies passes orders of magnitude underneath the NIR and optical fluxes, as well as the low ~30 microJy (2 sigma) upper limit in the radio band.
One widely used technique for the construction of equilibrium models of stellar disks is based on the Jeans equations and the moments of velocity distribution functions derived using these equations. Stellar disks constructed using this technique are shown to be "not entirely" in equilibrium. Our attempt to abandon the epicyclic approximation and the approximation of infinite isothermal layers, which are commonly adopted in this technique, failed to improve the situation substantially. We conclude that the main drawback of techniques based on the Jeans equations is that the system of equations employed is not closed, and therefore requires adopting an essentially ad hoc additional closure condition. A new iterative approach to constructing equilibrium N-body models with a given density distribution is proposed. The main idea behind this approach is that a model is first constructed using some approximation method, and is then allowed to adjust to an equilibrium state with the specified density and the required parameters of the velocity distribution remaining fixed in the process. This iterative approach was used to construct isotropic, spherically symmetric models and models of stellar disks embedded in an external potential. The numerical models constructed prove to be close to equilibrium. It is shown that the commonly adopted assumption that the profile of the radial velocity dispersion is exponential may be wrong. The technique proposed can be applied to a wide range of problems involving the construction of models of stellar systems with various geometries.
We report on a campaign to identify the counterparts to the population of X-ray sources discovered at the centre of our Galaxy by Wang et al.(2002) using Chandra. We have used deep, near infrared images obtained on VLT/ISAAC to identify candidate counterparts as astrometric matches to the X-ray positions. Follow up Ks-band spectroscopic observations of the candidate counterparts are used to search for accretions signatures in the spectrum, namely the Brackett-Gamma emission line (Bandyopadhyay et al.1997). From our small initial sample, it appears that only a small percentage, ~2-3% of the ~1000 X-ray sources are high mass X-ray binaries or wind accreting neutron stars, and that the vast majority will be shown to be canonical low mass X-ray binaries and cataclysmic variables.
Published galaxy power spectra from the 2dFGRS and SDSS are not in good agreement. We revisit this issue by analyzing both the 2dFGRS and SDSS DR5 catalogues using essentially identical technqiues. We confirm that the 2dFGRS exhibits relatively more large scale power than the SDSS, or, equivalently, SDSS has more small scale power. We demonstrate that this difference is due the r-band selected SDSS catalogue being dominated by more strongly clustered red galaxies, due to these galaxies having a stronger scale dependent bias. The power spectra of galaxies of the same rest frame colours from the two surveys match well. It is therefore important to accurately model scale dependent bias to get accurate estimates of cosmological parameters from these power spectra.
We investigate the energy dependencies of X-ray quasi-periodic oscillations in black hole X-ray binaries. We analyze RXTE data on both the low- and high-frequency QPO. We construct the low-f QPO energy spectra, and demonstrate that they do not contain the thermal disk component, even though the latter is present in the time averaged spectra. The disk thus does not seem to participate in the oscillations. Moreover the QPO spectra are harder than the time averaged spectra when the latter are soft, which can be modeled as a result of modulations occurring in the hot plasma. The QPO spectra are softer than the time averaged spectra when the latter are hard. The absence of the disk component in the QPO spectra is true also for the high-frequency (hecto-Hz) QPO observed in black hole binaries. We compute the QPO spectra expected from the model of disk resonances.
We report on the discovery of a faint (M_V ~ -10.6 +/- 0.2) dwarf spheroidal galaxy on deep F606W and F814W Hubble Space Telescope images of a Virgo intracluster field. The galaxy is easily resolved in our images, as our color magnitude diagram (CMD) extends > 1 magnitude beyond the tip of the red giant branch (RGB). Thus, it is the deepest CMD for a small dwarf galaxy inside a cluster environment. Using the colors of the RGB stars, we derive a metal abundance for the dwarf of [M/H]= -2.3 +/- 0.3, and show that the metallicity dispersion is less than 0.6 dex at 95% confidence. We also use the galaxy's lack of AGB stars and the absence of objects brighter than M_bol ~ -4.1 +/- 0.2 to show that the system is old (t >~10 Gyr). Finally, we derive the object's structural parameters, and show that the galaxy displays no obvious evidence of tidal threshing. Since the tip of the red giant branch distance ((m-M)_0 = 31.23 +/- 0.17 or D = 17.6 +/- 1.4 Mpc) puts the galaxy near the core of the Virgo cluster, one might expect the object to have undergone some tidal processing. Yet the chemical and morphological similarity between the dwarf and the dSph galaxies of the Local and M81 Group demonstrates that the object is indeed pristine, and not the shredded remains of a much larger galaxy. We discuss the possible origins of this galaxy, and suggest that it is just now falling into Virgo for the first time.
We present the results of a multi-frequency analysis of the structural variability in the parsec-scale jet of the blazar S5 1803+784. More than 90 epochs of observations at 6 frequencies from 1.6 GHz up to 22 GHz have been combined and analyzed. We discuss an alternative jet model for the source. In contrast to previously discussed motion scenarios for S5 1803+784, we find that the jet structure within 12 mas of the core can most easily be described by seven "oscillating" jet features. We find that the parameters of jet features, such as core separation, position angle and flux density, change in a periodic way with a timescale of about 4 years. We also find evidence for a correlation between these parameters and the total flux density variability. We suggest a scenario incorporating a periodic form of motion (e.g. rotation, precession), with a non-negligible geometrical contribution to explain the observational results.
We discuss results of analyzing a time series of selected
photospheric-optical spectra of core collapse supernovae (CCSNe). This is
accomplished by means of the parameterized supernovae synthetic spectrum (SSp)
code
``SYNOW''.
Special attention is addressed to traces of hydrogen at early phases,
especially for the stripped-envelope SNe (i.e. SNe Ib-c). A thin low mass
hydrogen layer extending to very high ejection velocities above the helium
shell, is found to be the most likely scenario for Type Ib SNe.
We present dynamical models based on a study of high-resolution long-slit spectra of the narrow-line region (NLR) in NGC 1068 obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) aboard The Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The dynamical models consider the radiative force due to the active galactic nucleus (AGN), gravitational forces from the supermassive black hole (SMBH), nuclear stellar cluster, and galactic bulge, and a drag force due to the NLR clouds interacting with a hot ambient medium. The derived velocity profile of the NLR gas is compared to that obtained from our previous kinematic models of the NLR using a simple biconical geometry for the outflowing NLR clouds. The results show that the acceleration profile due to radiative line driving is too steep to fit the data and that gravitational forces along cannot slow the clouds down, but with drag forces included, the clouds can slow down to the systemic velocity over the range 100--400 pc, as observed. However, we are not able to match the gradual acceleration of the NLR clouds from ~0 to ~100 pc, indicating the need for additional dynamical studies.
15 VLBA observations of the BL Lac object 0716+714, performed between 1994.67 and 2006.40 at 15 GHz, have been analyzed. Part of the data (12 epochs) were obtained within the Mojave-survey project and reanalyzed by us. We present a new motion scenario for jet model component motion in this source which suggests that no longterm-outward motion but rather an oscillation of components around an average core separation is taking place. Although no significant outward motion in the core separation can be found, motion with regard to the position angle is observed. We give lower limits for the derived apparent motions and Doppler factors and compare them with values published in the literature. We find a relation between the total flux-density evolution at 14.5 GHz (UMRAO data) and the position angle changes observed for the jet component closest to the core. We suggest a significant geometric contribution to the longterm flux-density variability in 0716+714.
We study a complete and distance-limited sample of 25 LINERs, 21 of which have been imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope to study their physical properties and to compare their radio and optical properties with those of other samples of local AGNs, namely Seyfert galaxies and low-luminosity radio galaxies (LLRG). Our results show that the LINERs population is not homogeneous, as there are two subclasses: i) the first class is similar to LLRG, as it extends the population of radio-loud nuclei to lower luminosities; ii) the second is similar to Seyferts, and extends the properties of radio-quiet nuclei towards the lowest luminosities. The different nature of the various classes of local AGN are best understood when the fraction of the Eddington luminosity they irradiate L_o/L_Edd is plotted against the nuclear radio-loudness parameter: Seyferts are associated with relatively high radiative efficiencies L_o/L_Edd >~ 10^-4 (and high accretion rates onto low mass black holes); LLRG are associated with low radiative efficiencies (and low accretion rates onto high black hole masses); all LINERs have low radiative efficiency (and accretion rates), and can be radio-loud or radio quiet depending on their black hole mass.
The "U,B,V,R,I" light curves of the type IIP supernovae (SNe IIP)
SN 2005ay and SN 2005cs, and one spectrum for SN 2005cs, are presented and
analyzed. We found both events to be fainter than the average SN IIP, with SN
2005cs showing slight brightening in the second half of plateau stage in the
$V,R,I$ bands and a low expansion velocity.
The effects of two different plausible distance moduli on the derived
physical parameters of SN 2005ay are considered.
Two approaches are used to estimate the expansion velocities at the middle of
the plateau phase. Based on empirical analytical models we derived constraints
on the progenitor properties. The amounts of the ejected $^{56}$Ni are also
recovered.
Simulations of nearby (0.015 < z < 0.025) SDSS galaxies have been used to reproduce as accurately as possible the appearance that they would have on COSMOS ACS images if they had been observed at z ~ 0.7 and z ~ 1.2. By adding the SDSS galaxies to random locations in the COSMOS images, we simulate the effects of chance superpositions of high redshift galaxies with unrelated foreground or background objects. We have used these simulated images, together with those of real COSMOS galaxies at these same redshifts, to undertake a "blind" morphological classification of galaxies to identify those that appear to be undergoing mergers and thus to estimate the change in merger fraction with redshift. We find that real mergers are harder to recognize at high redshift, and also that the chance superposition of unrelated galaxies often produces the appearance of mergers where in reality none exists. In particular, we estimate that 1.5 - 2.0% of objects randomly added to ACS images are misclassified as mergers due to projection with unrelated objects, and as a result, that 40% of the apparent mergers in COSMOS at z=0.7 are likely to be spurious. We find that the fraction of galaxies undergoing mergers increases as (1+z)^3.8+/-1.2 to z ~ 0.7 and that this trend appears to continue to z = 1.2. Merger candidates at z ~ 0.7 are bluer than the parent population, especially when the statistical effects of the chance projections are accounted for. Merger candidates are more asymmetric than the population as a whole, and are often associated with irregular morphology. Nevertheless, the majority (~60%) of the merger candidates appear to be associated with spiral galaxies although in this case we cannot correct for the effects of chance projections.
It is shown that a dynamo can operate in an Active Galactic Nuclei accretion disk due to the Keplerian shear and due to the helical motions of expanding and twisting plumes of plasma heated by many star passages through the disk. Each plume rotates a fraction of the toroidal flux into poloidal flux, always in the same direction, through a finite angle, and proportional to its diameter. The predicted growth rate of poloidal magnetic flux, based upon two analytic approaches and numerical simulations, leads to a rapid exponentiation of a seed field, \sim 0.1 to \sim 0.01 per Keplerian period of the inner part of the disk. The initial value of the seed field may therefore be arbitrarily small yet reach, through dynamo gain, saturation very early in the disk history. Because of tidal disruption of stars close to the black hole, the maximum growth rate occurs at a radius of about 100 gravitational radii from the central object. The generated mean magnetic field, a quadrupole field, has predominantly even parity so that the radial component does not reverse sign across the midplane. The linear growth is predicted to be the same by each of the following three theoretical analyses: the flux conversion model, the mean field approach, and numerical modeling. The common feature is the conducting fluid flow, considered in companion Paper I (Pariev and Colgate 2006) where two coherent large scale flows occur naturally: the differential winding of Keplerian motion and differential rotation of expanding plumes.
The Ep,i - Eiso correlation is one of the most intriguing and debated observational evidences in Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB) astrophysics. Swift, with its high sensitivity and fast pointing capabilities, is reducing a lot the impact of selection effects in the sample of GRBs with known redshift (and thus Ep,i and Eiso). Moreover, in several cases it allows the detection of the soft tail of the prompt emission, and thus a more accurate estimate of Ep,i with respect to previous satellites. I present and discuss the location in the Ep,i - Eiso plane of Swift GRBs with known redshift and estimated Ep,i, showing that all long events (including peculiar events like GRB060218 and GRB060614) are consistent with the Ep,i - Eiso correlation. In contrast, short GRBs are not consistent with it, an evidence further supporting the hypothesis of different emission mechanisms at work in the two classes of GRBs. I also show, and briefly discuss, the intriguing evidence that the soft tail of the short GRB050724 is consistent with the correlation.
We have performed numerical simulations of weakly and strongly magnetized relativistic jets embedded in a weakly and strongly magnetized stationary or mildly relativistic (0.5c) sheath using the RAISHIN code. In the numerical simulations a jet with Lorentz factor \gamma=2.5 is precessed to break the initial equilibrium configuration. Results of the numerical simulations are compared to theoretical predictions from a normal mode analysis of the linearized RMHD equations describing a uniform axially magnetized cylindrical relativistic jet embedded in a uniform axially magnetized moving sheath. The prediction of increased stability of a weakly-magnetized system with mildly relativistic sheath flow to Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities and the stabilization of a strongly-magnetized system with mildly relativistic sheath flow is confirmed by the numerical simulations.
Likely astrophysical sources of detectable high-energy (>> TeV) neutrinos are considered. Based on gamma-ray emission properties, the most probable sources of neutrinos are argued to be GRBs, blazars, microquasars, and supernova remnants. Diffuse neutrino sources are also briefly considered.
The association of at least some long gamma-ray bursts with type Ic supernova explosions has been established beyond reasonable doubt. Theoretically, the challenge is to explain the presence of a light hyper-relativistic flow propagating through a massive stellar core without losing those properties. We discuss the role of the jet-star interaction in shaping the properties of the outflow emerging on the surface of the star. We show that the nature of the inner engine is hidden from the observer for most of the evolution, well beyond the time of the jet breakout on the stellar surface. The discussion is based on analytical considerations as well as high resolution numerical simulations. Finally, the observational consequences of the scenario are addressed in light of the present capabilities.
The most massive Galactic globular cluster omega Cen appears to have two, or perhaps more, distinct main sequences. Its bluest main sequence is at the centre of debate because it has been suggested to have an extremely high helium abundance of Y ~ 0.4. The same helium abundance is claimed to explain the presence of extreme horizontal branch stars of omega Cen as well. This demands a relative helium to metal enrichment of deltaY/deltaZ ~ 70; that is, more than one order of magnitude larger than the generally accepted value. Candidate solutions, namely, AGB stars, massive stars, and supernovae, have been suggested; but in this study, we show that none of them is a viable channel, in terms of reproducing the high value of deltaY/deltaZ for the constrained age difference between the red and blue populations. Essentially no populations with an ordinary initial mass function, including those candidates, can produce such a high deltaY/deltaZ because they all produce metals as well as helium. As an alternative, we investigate the possibility of the stochastic ``first star'' contamination to the gas from which the younger generation of omega Cen formed. This requires the assumption that Population III star formation episode overlaps with that of Population II. While the required condition appears extreme, very massive objects in the first star generation provide a solution that is at least as plausible as any other suggestions made before.
Highly variable gamma-ray pulses and X-ray flares in GRB light curves can result from external shocks rather than central engine activity under the assumption that the GRB blast-wave shell does not spread. Acceleration of cosmic rays to 10^{20} eV energies can take place in the external shocks of GRBs. Escape of hadronic energy in the form of UHECRs leads to a rapidly decelerating GRB blast wave, which may account for the rapid X-ray declines observed in Swift GRBs.
Recent observations imply that the observed number counts of Lyman Alpha (Lya) emitters evolved significantly between z=5.7 and z=6.5. It has been suggested that this evolution was due to a rapid evolution in the ionisation state, and hence transmission of the IGM which caused Lya flux from z=6.5 galaxies to be more strongly suppressed. In this paper we show that the observed evolution can be attributed entirely to the evolution in the mass function of dark matter halos housing the Lya emitters. We place constraints on the evolution of transmission in the IGM between z=6.5 and z=5.7, finding a ratio of ~1.2, which may be accounted for by the evolution of the mean IGM density through cosmic expansion. Using a model for IGM transmission, we demonstrate that Lya emitting galaxies at z=6.5 must be embedded in HII bubbles greater than 35x_HI comoving Mpc in size, where x_HI is the neutral fraction of hydrogen outside the ionised bubbles. The model of Furlanetto et al (2006) may be used to translate this into a lower limit of 80% for the ionised fraction of hydrogen by volume in the universe at z=6.5.
We use the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to construct a sample of 625 brightest group and cluster galaxies (BCGs) together with control samples of non-BCGs matched in stellar mass, redshift, and color. We investigate how the systematic properties of BCGs depend on stellar mass and on their privileged location near the cluster center. The groups and clusters that we study are drawn from the C4 catalogue of Miller et al. (2005) but we have developed improved algorithms for identifying the BCG and for measuring the cluster velocity dispersion. Since the SDSS photometric pipeline tends to underestimate the luminosities of large galaxies in dense environments, we have developed a correction for this effect which can be readily applied to the published catalog data. We find that BCGs are larger and have higher velocity dispersions than non-BCGs of the same stellar mass, which implies that BCGs contain a larger fraction of dark matter. In contrast to non-BCGs, the dynamical mass-to-light ratio of BCGs does not vary as a function of galaxy luminosity. Hence BCGs lie on a different fundamental plane than ordinary elliptical galaxies. BCGs also follow a steeper Faber-Jackson relation than non-BCGs, as suggested by models in which BCGs assemble via dissipationless mergers along preferentially radial orbits. We find tentative evidence that this steepening is stronger in more massive clusters. BCGs have similar mean stellar ages and metallicities to non-BCGs of the same mass, but they have somewhat higher $\alpha$/Fe ratios, indicating that star formation may have occurred over a shorter timescale in the BCGs. Finally, we find that BCGs are more likely to host radio-loud active galactic nuclei than other galaxies of the same mass, but are less likely to host an optical AGN.
(Abridged) The prevalence of radio-loud AGN activity in present-day massive halos is determined using a sample of 625 nearby groups and clusters selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Brightest group and cluster galaxies (BCGs) are more likely to host a radio-loud AGN than other galaxies of the same stellar mass (by less than a factor of two at a stellar mass of 5e11 M_sun, but over an order of magnitude below 1e11 M_sun). The distribution of radio luminosities for BCGs does not depend on mass, however, and is similar to that of field galaxies of the same stellar mass. Neither the radio-loud fraction nor the radio luminosity distribution of BCGs depends strongly on the velocity dispersion of the host cluster. The radio-AGN fraction is also studied as a function of distance from the cluster center. Only within 0.2 r_200 do cluster galaxies exhibit an enhanced likelihood of radio-loud AGN activity, which approaches that of the BCGs. The radio-loud AGN properties of both BCGs and non-BCGs can naturally be explained if this activity is fuelled by cooling from hot gas surrounding the galaxy. Using observational estimates of the mechanical output of the radio jets, the time-averaged energy output associated with recurrent radio source activity is estimated for all group/cluster galaxies. Within the cooling radius of the cluster, the radio-mode heating associated with the BCG dominates over that of all other galaxies combined. The scaling between total radio-AGN energy output and cluster velocity dispersion is considerably shallower than the sigma^4 scaling of the radiative cooling rate. Thus, unless the efficiency of converting AGN mechanical energy into heating increases by 2-3 orders of magnitude between groups and rich clusters, radio-mode heating will not balance radiative cooling in systems of all masses.
We report improved measurements of temperature anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation made with the Arcminute Cosmology Bolometer Array Receiver (ACBAR). In this paper, we use a new analysis technique and include 30% more data from the 2001 and 2002 observing seasons than the first release to derive a new set of band-power measurements with significantly smaller uncertainties. The planet-based calibration used previously has been replaced by comparing the flux of RCW38 as measured by ACBAR and BOOMERANG to transfer the WMAP-based BOOMERANG calibration to ACBAR. The resulting power spectrum is consistent with the theoretical predictions for a spatially flat, dark energy dominated LCDM cosmology including the effects of gravitational lensing. Despite the exponential damping on small angular scales, the primary CMB fluctuations are detected with a signal-to-noise ratio of greater than 4 up to multipoles of l=2000. This increase in the precision of the fine-scale CMB power spectrum leads to only a modest decrease in the uncertainties on the parameters of the standard cosmological model. At high angular resolution, secondary anisotropies are predicted to be a significant contribution to the measured anisotropy. A joint analysis of the ACBAR results at 150 GHz and the CBI results at 30 GHz in the multipole range 2000 < l < 3000 shows that the power, reported by CBI in excess of the predicted primary anisotropy, has a frequency spectrum consistent with the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect and inconsistent with primary CMB. The results reported here are derived from a subset of the total ACBAR data set; the final ACBAR power spectrum at 150 GHz will include 3.7 times more effective integration time and 6.5 times more sky coverage than is used here.
Using a large sample of 90 Seyfert 2 galaxies (Sy2s) with spectropolarimetric observations, we tested the suggestion that the presence of hidden broad-line regions (HBLRs) in Sy2s is dependent upon the Eddington ratio. The stellar velocity dispersion and the extinction-corrected $\OIII$ luminosity are used to derive the mass of central super-massive black holes and the Eddington ratio. We found that: (1) below the Eddington ratio threshold of $10^{-1.37}$, all but one object belong to non-HBLRs Sy2s; while at higher Eddington ratio, there is no obvious discrimination in the Eddington ratio and black hole mass distributions for Sy2s with and without HBLRs; (2) nearly all low-luminosity Sy2s (e.g., $\LOIII < 10^{41} \ergs$) do not show HBLRs regardless of the column density of neutral hydrogen ($N_{\rm H}$); (3) for high-luminosity Sy2s, the possibility to detect HBLRs Sy2s is almost the same as that of non-HBLRs Sy2s; (4) when considering only Compton-thin Sy2s with higher $\OIII$ luminosity ($>10^{41} \ergs$), we find a very high detectability of HBLRs ,$\sim$ 85%. These results suggested that AGN luminosity plays a major role in not detecting HBLRs in low-luminosity Sy2s, while for high-luminosity Sy2s, the detectability of HBLRs depends not only upon the AGN activity, but also upon the torus obscuration.
We argue that the quiescent value of the viscosity parameter of the accretion disc in WZ Sge may be alpha_{cold}~0.01, in agreement with estimates of alpha_{cold} for other dwarf novae. Assuming the white dwarf in WZ Sge to be magnetic, we show that, in quiescence, material close to the white dwarf can be propelled to larger radii, depleting the inner accretion disc. The propeller therefore has the effect of stabilizing the inner disc and allowing the outer disc to accumulate mass. The outbursts of WZ Sge are then regulated by the (magnetically determined) evolution of the surface density of the outer disc at a radius close to the tidal limit. Numerical models confirm that the recurrence time can be significantly extended in this way. The outbursts are expected to be superoutbursts since the outer disc radius is forced to exceed the tidal (3:1 resonance) radius. The large, quiescent disc is expected to be massive, and to be able to supply the observed mass accretion rate during outburst. We predict that the long-term spin evolution of the white dwarf spin will involve a long cycle of spin up and spin down phases.
We have studied the hadronic interaction for the calculation of the atmospheric neutrino flux by summarizing the accurately measured atmospheric muon flux data and comparing with simulations. We find the atmospheric muon and neutrino fluxes respond to errors in the $\pi$-production of the hadronic interaction similarly, and compare the atmospheric muon flux calculated using the HKKM04 code with experimental measurements. The $\mu^++\mu^-$ data show good agreement in the 1$\sim$30 GeV/c range, but a large disagreement above 30 GeV/c. The the $\mu^+/\mu^-$ ratio shows sizable differences at lower and higher momenta for opposite directions. As the disagreements are considered to be due to assumptions in the hadronic interaction model, we try to improve it phenomenologically based on the quark parton model. The improved interaction model reproduces the observed muon flux data well. The calculation of the atmospheric neutrino flux will be reported in the following paper
We present a first attempt to derive the cosmological evolution of the kinetic luminosity function of AGN based on the joint evolution of the flat spectrum radio and hard X-ray selected AGN luminosity functions. An empirical correlation between jet power and radio core luminosity is found, which is consistent with the theoretical assumption that, below a certain Eddington ratio, SMBH accrete in a radiatively inefficient way, while most of the energy output is in the form of kinetic energy. We show how the redshift evolution of the kinetic power density from such a low-mdot mode of accretion makes it a good candidate to explain the so-called ``radio mode'' of AGN feedback as postulated in many galaxy formation schemes.
We present numerical simulations of the passage of clumpy gas through a galactic spiral shock, the subsequent formation of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and the triggering of star formation. The spiral shock forms dense clouds while dissipating kinetic energy, producing regions that are locally gravitationally bound and collapse to form stars. In addition to triggering the star formation process, the clumpy gas passing through the shock naturally generates the observed velocity dispersion size relation of molecular clouds. In this scenario, the internal motions of GMCs need not be turbulent in nature. The coupling of the clouds' internal kinematics to their externally triggered formation removes the need for the clouds to be self-gravitating. Globally unbound molecular clouds provides a simple explanation of the low efficiency of star formation. While dense regions in the shock become bound and collapse to form stars, the majority of the gas disperses as it leaves the spiral arm.
We present the results of detailed N-body simulations of clusters moving in a
realistic Milky Way potential. The strong interaction with the bulge and the
disk of the Galaxy leads to the formation of tidal tails, emanating from
opposite sides of the cluster. Some characteristic features in the morphology
and orientation of these streams are recognized and intepreted. The tails have
a complex morphology, in particular when the cluster approaches its
apogalacticon, showing multiple ``arms'' in remarkable similarity to the
structures observed around NGC 288 and Willman 1.
Actually, the tails are generally good tracers of the cluster path quite far
from the cluster center (>7-8 tidal radii), while on the smaller scale they are
mainly pointing in the direction of the Galaxy center. In particular, the
orientation of the inner part of the tails is highly correlated to the cluster
orbital phase and to the local orbital angular acceleration. This implies that,
in general, the orbital path cannot be estimated directly from the orientation
of the tails, unless a sufficient large field around the cluster is available.
We have constructed realistic, self-consistent models of triaxial elliptical galaxies embedded in triaxial dark matter haloes. We examined three different models for the shape of the dark matter halo: (i) the same axis ratios as the luminous matter (0.7:0.86:1); (ii) a more prolate shape (0.5:0.66:1); (iii) a more oblate shape (0.7:0.93:1). The models were obtained by means of the standard orbital superposition technique introduced by Schwarzschild. Self-consistent solutions were found in each of the three cases. Chaotic orbits were found to be important in all of the models,and their presence was shown to imply a possible slow evolution of the shapes of the haloes. Our results demonstrate for the first time that triaxial dark matter haloes can co-exist with triaxial galaxies.
We investigate the oscillatory properties of the quiet solar chromosphere in relation to the underlying photosphere, with particular regard to the effects of the magnetic topology. We perform a Fourier analysis on a sequence of line-of-sight velocities measured simultaneously in a photospheric (Fe I 709.0 nm) and a chromospheric line (Ca II 854.2 nm). The velocities were obtained from full spectroscopic data acquired at high spatial resolution with the Interferometric BIdimensional Spectrometer (IBIS). The field of view encompasses a full supergranular cell, allowing us to discriminate between areas with different magnetic characteristics. We show that waves with frequencies above the acoustic cut-off propagate from the photosphere to upper layers only in restricted areas of the quiet Sun. A large fraction of the quiet chromosphere is in fact occupied by ``magnetic shadows'', surrounding network regions, that we identify as originating from fibril-like structures observed in the core intensity of the Ca II line. We show that a large fraction of the chromospheric acoustic power at frequencies below the acoustic cut-off, residing in the proximity of the magnetic network elements, directly propagates from the underlying photosphere. This supports recent results arguing that network magnetic elements can channel low-frequency photospheric oscillations into the chromosphere, thus providing a way to input mechanical energy in the upper layers.
A strong primordial magnetic field can induce a relaxation of the present bound on the PQ-constant. We show that, considering the present limits on primordial magnetic fields, a value for the PQ-constant very close to the GUT scale is not excluded. This result naturally opens the possibility for the axion to be defined in the context of the GUT theories.
Measuring the proper motions and geometric distances of galaxies within the
Local Group is very important for our understanding of the history, present
state and future of the Local Group. Currently, proper motion measurements
using optical methods are limited only to the closest companions of the Milky
Way. However, Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) provides the best
angular resolution in astronomy and phase-referencing techniques yield
astrometric accuracies of ~ 10 micro-arcseconds. This makes a measurement of
proper motions and angular rotation rates of galaxies out to a distance of ~ 1
Mpc feasible.
This article presents results of VLBI observations of regions of H2O maser
activity in the Local Group galaxies M33 and IC10. These measurements promise a
new handle on dynamical models for the Local Group and the mass and dark matter
halo of Andromeda and the Milky Way. (Abridged)
In order to study the dust properties of different galaxies in the nearby Universe, the SPIRE extragalactic group selected a volume limited (15$<$ $D$ $<$25 Mpc), complete sample of 313 galaxies spanning the whole range in morphological type (from ellipticals to late-type spirals) and luminosity (8.5 $<$ log $L_H$ $<$ 12 L$_H\odot$, -22 $<$ $M_B$ $<$ -16) extracted from 2MASS, to be observed in guaranteed time with Herschel. The 250-360-520 $\mu$m SPIRE data, combined with those collected at other frequencies, will be used to trace the dust properties of normal galaxies and provide a reference sample for studies at high redshift.
We use a very deep 900 ks Chandra X-ray observation of the core of the Perseus cluster to measure and confirm the hard X-ray emission detected from a previous analysis. By fitting a model made up of multiple temperature components plus a powerlaw or hot thermal component, we map the spatial distribution of the hard flux. We confirm there is a strong hard excess within the central regions. The total luminosity in the 2-10 keV band inside 3 arcmin radius is ~5x10^43 erg s^-1. As a second project we place limits on the thermal gas content of the X-ray cavities in the cluster core. This is done by fitting a model made up of multiple components to spectra from inside and outside of the bubbles, and looking at the the difference in strength of a component at a particular temperature. This approach avoids assumptions about the geometry of the core of the cluster. Only up to 50 per cent of the volume of the cavities can be filled with thermal gas with a temperature of 50 keV.
By detecting ionised-gas emission in 75% of the cases, the SAURON
integral-field spectroscopic survey has further demonstrated that early-type
galaxies often display nebular emission. Furthermore, the SAURON data have
shown that such emission comes with an intriguing variety of morphologies,
kinematic behaviours and line ratios.
Perhaps most puzzling was the finding that round and slowly rotating objects
generally display uncorrelated stellar and gaseous angular momenta, consistent
with an external origin for the gas, whereas flatter and fast rotating galaxies
host preferentially co-rotating gas and stars, suggesting internal production
of gas. Alternatively, a bias against the internal production of ionised gas
and against the acquisition of retrograde material may be present in these two
kinds of objects, respectively.
In light of the different content of hot gas in these systems, with slowly
rotating objects being the only systems capable of hosting massive X-ray halos,
we suggest that a varying importance of evaporation of warm gas in the hot
interstellar medium can contribute to explain the difference in the relative
behaviour of gas and stars in these two kinds of objects. Namely, whereas in
X-ray bright and slowly rotating galaxies stellar-loss material would quickly
evaporate in the hot medium, in X-ray faint and fast rotating objects such
material would be allowed to lose angular momentum and settle in a disk, which
could also obstruct the subsequent acquisition of retrograde gas. Evidence for
a connection between warm and hot gas phases, presumably driven by heat
conduction, is presented for four slowly rotating galaxies with CHANDRA
observations.
During the course of this conference, much evidence was presented that points to an intimate connection between the energetic outflows driven by AGN and the energy budget and quite possibly also the evolution of their gaseous environments. However, it is still not clear if and how the AGN activity is triggered by the cooling gas, how long the activity lasts for and how these effects give rise to the observed distribution of morphologies of the outflows. In this contribution we concentrate on the high radio luminosity end of the AGN population. While most of the heating of the environmental gas may be due to less luminous and energetic outflows, these more powerful objects have a very profound influence on their surroundings. We will describe a simple model for powerful radio galaxies and radio-loud quasars that explains the dichotomy of their large-scale radio morphologies as well as their radio luminosity function.
Aims: Magnetic fields exist on all scales in our Galaxy. There is a controversy on whether the magnetic fields in molecular clouds are preserved from the permeated magnetic fields in the interstellar medium (ISM). We want to check this controversy using available data in the light of the newly revealed magnetic field structure of the Galactic disk obtained from pulsar rotation measures (RMs). Methods: We collected the measurements of the magnetic fields in molecular clouds, including Zeeman splitting data of OH masers in clouds and OH or HI absorption or emission lines of clouds themselves. Results: These Zeeman data show structures in the sign distribution of line-of-sight component of magnetic field. Comparing with the large- scale Galactic magnetic fields from pulsar RMs we found that the sign-distribution show similar large-scale field reversals. Previous such examinations were flawed by the over-simplified global model for the large-scale magnetic fields in the Galactic disk. Conclusions: We conclude that the magnetic fields in the clouds may still "remember" the directions of magnetic fields in the Galactic ISM to some extent, and could be used as completementary tracer for the large-scale magnetic structure. More Zeeman data of OH masers in widerly distributed clouds are desired for such a study.
We put forward an alternative view to the Bondi-driven feedback between heating and cooling of the intra-cluster medium (ICM) in cooling flow galaxies and clusters. We adopt the popular view that the heating is due to an active galactic nucleus (AGN), i.e. a central black hole accreting mass and launching jets and/or winds. We propose that the feedback occurs with the entire cool inner region (5-30 kpc). A moderate cooling flow does exist here, and non-linear over-dense blobs of gas cool fast and are removed from the ICM before experiencing the next major AGN heating event. Some of these blobs may not accrete on the central black hole, but may form stars and cold molecular clouds. We discuss the conditions under which the dense blobs may cool to low temperatures and feed the black hole.
The existence of flux-ratio anomalies between fold and cusp images in galaxy-scale strong-lens systems has led to an interpretation based on the presence of a high mass-fraction of cold-dark-matter (CDM) substructures around galaxies, as predicted by numerical N-body simulations. The flux-ratio anomaly is particularly evident in the radio-loud quadruple gravitational lens system CLASS B2045+265. In this paper, new high-resolution radio, optical, and infrared imaging of B2045+265 is presented which sheds more light on this anomaly and its possible causes. First, deep Very Long Baseline Array observations show very compact images, possibly with a hint of a jet, but with no evidence for differential scattering or scatter broadening. Second, optical and infrared observations with the Hubble Space Telescope and through Adaptive-Optics imaging with the W. M. Keck Telescope, show a previously undiscovered object -- interpreted as a (tidally disrupted) dwarf satellite based on its colors and slight extension -- between the main lens galaxy and the three anomalous flux-ratio images. Third, color variations in the early-type lens galaxy indicate recent star-formation, possibly the result of secondary infall of gas-rich satellites. A population of young galaxies around the lens system could explain the previously discovered strong [O II] emission. However, spiral structure and/or normal star formation in the lens galaxy cannot be excluded. In light of these new data, we propose a lens model for the system, including the observed dwarf satellite, which reproduces all positional and flux-ratio constraints, without the need for additional CDM substructure. [abridged]
Convincing evidence for long-term variations in the emission properties of the anomalous X-ray pulsar 1RXS J170849.0-400910 has been gathered in the last few years. In particular, and following the pulsar glitches of 1999 and 2001, XMM-Newton witnessed in 2003 a decline of the X-ray flux accompanied by a definite spectral softening. This suggested the existence of a correlation between the luminosity and the spectral hardness in this source, similar to that seen in the soft gamma-repeater SGR 1806-20. Here we report on new Chandra and Swift observations of 1RXS J170849.0-400910 performed in 2004 and 2005, respectively. These observations confirm and strengthen the proposed correlation. The trend appears to have now reversed: the flux increased and the spectrum is now harder. The consequences of these observations for the twisted magnetosphere scenario for anomalous X-ray pulsars are briefly discussed.
We report high-energy results obtained with INTEGRAL and Rossi-XTE on two microquasars: the persistent high-mass system Cygnus X-1 and the transient low-mass binary SWIFT J1753.5-0127. INTEGRAL observed Cygnus X-1 from 2002 to 2004: the spectral (5-1000 keV) properties of the source, seen at least in three distinct spectral states, show disc and corona changes. In 2003 June, a high-energy tail at several hundred keV in excess of the thermal Comptonization model was observed, suggesting the presence of an additional non-thermal component. At that time, we detected an unusual correlation between radio data and high-energy hardness. We also report and compare the results obtained with simultaneous observations of the transient source SWIFT J1753.5-0127 performed with Rossi-XTE, INTEGRAL, VLA, REM and NTT on 2005 August 10-12 near its hard X-ray outburst. Broad-band spectra and fast time-variability properties are derived on this source (probably located in the galactic halo) together with radio, IR and optical data. We build a spectral energy distribution of the source and derive interesting multiwavelength constraints. Significantly detected up to 600 keV in a typical Low/Hard State, the transient does not seem to follow the usual radio/X-ray correlation.
Since the launch of INTEGRAL in late 2002 we have monitored the Galactic microquasar GRS 1915+105 with long exposures (~100 ks) pointings. All the observations have been conducted simultaneously with other instruments, in particular RXTE and the Ryle Telescope, and in some cases with others (Spitzer, Nancay, GMRT, Suzaku,...). We report here the results of 3 observations performed simultaneously with INTEGRAL, RXTE, the Ryle and Nancay radio telescopes. These observations show the so-called $\nu$ and $\lambda$ classes of variability during which a high level of correlated X-ray and radio variability is observed. We study the connection between the accretion processes seen in the X-ray behaviour, and the ejections seen in radio. By observing ejection during class $\lambda$, we generalise the fact that the discrete ejections in GRS 1915+105 occur after sequences of X-ray hard dips/soft spikes, and identify the most likely trigger of the ejection through a spectral approach to our INTEGRAL data. We show that each ejection is very probably the result of the ejection of a Comptonising medium responsible for the hard X-ray emission seen above 15 keV with INTEGRAL. We study the rapid variability of the source, an find that the Low Frequency Quasi-Periodic Oscillations are present during the X-ray dips and show variable frequency. The ubiquity of this behaviour, and the following ejection may suggest a link between the QPO and the mechanism responsible for the ejection
We report the results of 3 observations of GRS 1915+105 during which the source is found to show the X-ray dips/spike sequences (cycles). These observations were performed simultaneously with \integral, RXTE, the Ryle and Nancay radio telescopes. They show the so-called $\nu$, $\lambda$ and $\beta$ classes of variability during which a high level of correlated X-ray and radio variability is observed. We study the connection between the accretion processes seen in the X-ray behaviour, and the ejections seen in radio. By observing ejection during class $\lambda$, we generalise the fact that the discrete ejections in GRS 1915+105 occur after the cycles seen at X-ray energies, and identify the most likely trigger of the ejection through a spectral approach to our INTEGRAL data. We show that each ejection is very probably the result of the ejection of a Comptonising medium responsible for the hard X-ray emission seen above 15 keV with INTEGRAL. We study the rapid variability of the source, and observe the presence of Low Frequency Quasi Periodic Oscillations during the X-ray dips. The ubiquity of the former behaviour, and the following ejection may suggest a link between the QPO and the mechanism responsible for the ejection.
We present the results of an imaging programme of distant galaxies (z~0.8) at high spatial resolution (~0.1").We observed 7 fields of 1'*1' with the NACO Adaptive Optics system (VLT) in Ks (2.16um) band with typical V ~ 14 guide stars and 3h integration time per field. Observed fields are selected within the COSMOS survey area. High angular resolution K-band data have the advantage to probe old stellar populations in the rest-frame, enabling to determine galaxy morphological types unaffected by recent star formation, better linked to the underlying mass than classical optical morphology studies (HST). Adaptive optics on ground based telescopes is the only method today to obtain such high resolution in the K-band. In this paper we show that reliable results can be obtained and establish a first basis for larger observing programmes. We analyze the morphologies by means of B/D (Bulge/Disk) decomposition with GIM2D and CAS (Concentration-Asymmetry) estimators for 79 galaxies with magnitudes between Ks = 17-23 and classify them in three main morphological types (Late Type, Early Type and Irregulars). We obtain for the first time an estimate of the distribution of galaxy types at redshift z ~ 1 as measured from the near infrared at high spatial resolution. We show that galactic parameters (disk scale length, bulge effective radius and bulge fraction) can be estimated with a random error lower than 20% for the bulge fraction up to Ks = 19 (AB = 21) and that classification into the three main morphological types can be done up to Ks = 20 (AB = 22) with at least 70% of correct identifications. We used the known photometric redshifts to obtain a redshift distribution over 2 redshift bins (z < 0.8, 0.8 < z < 1.5) for each morphological type.
A dark matter halo is said to have formed when at least half its mass hass been assembled into a single progenitor. With this definition, it is possible to derive a simple but useful analytic estimate of the distribution of halo formation times. The standard estimate of this distribution depends on the shape of the conditional mass function--the distribution of progenitor masses of a halo as a function of time. If the spherical collapse model is used to estimate the progenitor mass function, then the formation times one infers systematically underestimate those seen in numerical simulations of hierarchical gravitational clustering. We provide estimates of halo formation which may be related to an ellipsoidal collapse model. These estimates provide a substantially better description of the simulations. We also provide an alternative derivation of the formation time distribution which is based on the assumption that haloes increase their mass through binary mergers only. Our results are useful for models which relate halo structure to halo formation.
We performed a timing analysis of the fastest accreting millisecond pulsar IGR J00291+5934 using RXTE data taken during the outburst of December 2004. We corrected the arrival times of all the events for the orbital (Doppler) effects and performed a timing analysis of the resulting phase delays. In this way we have the possibility to study, for the first time in this class of sources, the spin-up of a millisecond pulsar as a consequence of accretion torques during the X-ray outburst. The accretion torque gives us for the first time an independent estimate of the mass accretion rate onto the neutron star, which can be compared with the observed X-ray luminosity. We also report a revised value of the spin period of the pulsar.
Aims: To calculate chemistry and gas temperature of evolving protoplanetary
disks with decreasing mass or dust settling, and to explore the sensitivity of
gas-phase tracers.
Methods: The density and dust temperature profiles for a range of models of
flaring and self-shadowed disks around a typical Herbig Ae star are used
together with 2-dimensional ultraviolet (UV) radiative transfer to calculate
the chemistry and gas temperature. In each model the line profiles and
intensities for the fine structure lines of [O I], [C II] and [C I] and the
pure rotational lines of CO, CN, HCN and HCO+ are determined.
Results: The chemistry shows a strong correlation with disk mass. Molecules
that are easily dissociated, like HCN, require high densities and large
extinctions before they can become abundant. The products of photodissociation,
like CN and C2H, become abundant in models with lower masses. Dust settling
mainly affects the gas temperature, and thus high temperature tracers like the
O and C+ fine structure lines. The carbon chemistry is found to be very
sensitive to the adopted PAH abundance. The line ratios CO/13CO, CO/HCO+ and [O
I] 63 um/146 um can be used to distinguish between disks where dust growth and
settling takes place, and disks that undergo overall mass loss.
Supermassive binary black holes (SBBHs) are a natural outcome of galaxy mergers. Here we show that low-frequency ($f \leq 10^{-6}$ Hz) quasi-periodic variability observed from cosmic blazar sources can provide substantial inductive support for the presence of close ($d \lppr 0.1$ pc) SBBHs at their centers. It is argued on physical grounds that such close binary systems are likely to give rise to different (although not independent) periodicities in the radio, optical and X-ray/TeV regime, and, hence that detection of appropriate period ratios significantly corroborates the SBBH interpretation. This is illustrated for a binary model where optical longterm periodicity is related to accretion disk interactions, radio periodicity to Newtonian jet precession, and periodicities in the high energy bands to the orbital motion of the jet. We use the observed periodicities to constrain the properties for a sample of SBBH candidates including OJ 287 and AO 0235+16, and discuss the results within the context of jet activity and binary evolution.
LOPES-10 (the first phase of LOPES, consisting of 10 antennas) detected a significant number of cosmic ray air showers with a zenith angle larger than 50$^{\circ}$, and many of these have very high radio field strengths. The most inclined event that has been detected with LOPES-10 has a zenith angle of almost 80$^{\circ}$. This is proof that the new technique is also applicable for cosmic ray air showers with high inclinations, which in the case that they are initiated close to the ground, can be a signature of neutrino events.Our results indicate that arrays of simple radio antennas can be used for the detection of highly inclined air showers, which might be triggered by neutrinos. In addition, we found that the radio pulse height (normalized with the muon number) for highly inclined events increases with the geomagnetic angle, which confirms the geomagnetic origin of radio emission in cosmic ray air showers.
New observations at high latitudes above the HII region W4 show that the structure formerly identified as a chimney candidate, an opening to the Galactic halo, is instead a superbubble in the process of fragmenting and possibly evolving into a chimney. Data at high Galactic latitudes (b > 5 degrees) above the W3/W4 star forming region at 1420 and 408 MHz Stokes I (total power) and 1420 MHz Stokes Q and U (linear polarization) reveal an egg-shaped structure with morphological correlations between our data and the H-alpha data of Dennison, Topasna, & Simonetti. Polarized intensity images show depolarization extending from W4 up the walls of the superbubble, providing strong evidence that the radio continuum is generated by thermal emission coincident with the H-alpha emission regions. We conclude that the parts of the HII region hitherto known as W4 and the newly revealed thermal emission are all ionized by the open cluster OCl 352. Assuming a distance of 2.35 kpc, the ovoid structure is 164 pc wide and extends 246 pc above the mid-plane of the Galaxy. The shell's emission decreases in total-intensity and polarized intensity in various locations, appearing to have a break at its top and another on one side. Using a geometric analysis of the depolarization in the shell's walls, we estimate that a magnetic field line-of-sight component of 3 to 5 uG exists in the shell. We explore the connection between W4 and the Galactic halo, considering whether sufficient radiation can escape from the fragmenting superbubble to ionize the kpc-scale H-alpha loop discovered by Reynolds, Sterling & Haffner.
With the latest astronomical data including Cosmic Microwave Background (WMAP three year, CBI, ACBAR, VSA), Type Ia Supernova ("gold sample"), galaxy clustering (SDSS 3-D matter power, Lyman-$\alpha$ forest and Baryon Acoustic Oscillating (BAO)), we make a global fitting to constrain the mass varying neutrinos. We find the parameter denoting time evolving of neutrino mass $\delta$ is weakly constrained and the neutrino mass limit today can be relaxed at least by a factor of 2. Adding data of $0\nu2\beta$ decay of Heidelberg-Moscow experiment to our analysis, we find $\delta$ can be measured and mass varying neutrinos are favored at about 99.7% confidence level.
The precise origin of the Cosmic X-ray Background (CXB) is still a matter of debate, although it is widely believed that the main contribution comes from active galactic nuclei (AGNs), powered by accreting supermassive black holes (BHs). At high energies (>10 keV), where most of the flux resides and only a small fraction has been resolved into sources, obscured AGNs are the most likely contributors. While the CXB spectral shape (>3 keV) appears to be well determined, its intensity is still uncertain: in the 2-10 keV interval the results disagree by a factor up to ~1.5, while at energies >15 keV the normalization of the best available measurement is questioned. Here we report on an accurate measurement of the CXB in the 15-50 keV range, establishing a most likely intensity level at 30 keV of ~40 keV/cm2/s/sr, while a normalization 12% higher than that of the best available past measurements is marginally consistent with our data. In combination with the CXB synthesis models we infer that about 25% of the intensity at 30 keV arises from extremely obscured, Compton thick AGNs (absorbing column density N_H>10**24 H/cm2), while a much larger population would be implied by the highest intensity estimates. We also infer a mass density of supermassive BHs of ~3x10**5 M_sol/Mpc3. The summed contribution of resolved sources in the 2-10 keV band exceeds our best fit CXB intensity, but it is within our upper limit, so that any significant contribution to the CXB from sources other than AGNs, such as star forming galaxies and diffuse Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM), is expected to be mainly confined below a few keV.
The knowledge of isotopic and elemental abundances of the pristine solar system material provides a fundamental test of galactic chemical evolution models, while the composition of the solar photosphere is a reference pattern to understand stellar abundances. However, spectroscopic or meteoritic abundance determinations are only possible for an incomplete sample of the 83 elements detected in the solar system. Therefore, only relative abundances are experimentally determined, with respect to H or to Si for spectroscopic or meteoritic measurements, respectively. For this reason, the available compilations of solar abundances are obtained by combining spectroscopic and meteoritic determinations, a procedure requiring the knowledge of the chemical modification occurred in the solar photosphere. We provide a method to derive the mass fractions of all the 83 elements (and their most abundant isotopes) in the early solar system material and in the present-day solar surface. Calculations are repeated by adopting the most widely adopted compilations of solar abundances. Since for a given [Fe/H], the total metallicity depends on solar (Z/X), a 30% reduction of Z is found when passing from the classical Anders&Grevesse to the most recent Lodders compilation. Some implications are discussed, as, in particular, an increase of about 700 Myr of the estimated age of Globular Clusters. Within the experimental errors, the complete set of relative solar abundances, as obtained by combining meteoritic and photospheric measurements, are consistent with the variations implied by the quoted physical processes. Few deviations can be easily attributed to the decay of long-lived radioactive isotopes. The huge lithium depletion is only partially explained by introducing a rotational-induced mixing in the tachocline.
We present the analysis of phase-resolved X-ray and optical observations of the peculiar hot star HD191612 (Of?p). This star is known to display line-profile variations that are recurrent with a period of 538d and its spectrum was found to present the signature of a magnetic field. In the X-rays, it is slightly overluminous compared to the canonical L_X/L_BOL relation and appears brighter when the optical lines are strongest. Our XMM-Newton observations further reveal that the X-ray spectrum of \hd exhibits rather broad lines and is dominated by a `cool' (0.2-0.6 keV) thermal component, two characteristics at odds with the proposed magnetic rotator model. We also report for the first time the low-level variability of the metallic (abs/em) lines and HeII absorptions that appear to be associated with radial-velocity shifts. Finally, we compare our results with observations of the early-type stars and discuss several possible scenarios.
We report the results of an [O III] lambda 5007 survey for planetary nebulae
(PN) in five galaxies that were hosts of well-observed Type Ia supernovae: NGC
524, NGC 1316, NGC 1380, NGC 1448 and NGC 4526. The goals of this survey are to
better quantify the zero-point of the maximum magnitude versus decline rate
relation for supernovae Type Ia and to validate the insensitivity of Type Ia
luminosity to parent stellar population using the host galaxy Hubble type as a
surrogate. We detected a total of 45 planetary nebulae candidates in NGC 1316,
44 candidates in NGC 1380, and 94 candidates in NGC 4526. From these data, and
the empirical planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF), we derive distances
of 17.9 +0.8/-0.9 Mpc, 16.1 +0.8/-1.1 Mpc, and 13.6 +1.3/-1.2 Mpc respectively.
Our derived distance to NGC 4526 has a lower precision due to the likely
presence of Virgo intracluster planetary nebulae in the foreground of this
galaxy. In NGC 524 and NGC 1448 we detected no planetary nebulae candidates
down to the limiting magnitudes of our observations. We present a formalism for
setting realistic distance limits in these two cases, and derive robust lower
limits of 20.9 Mpc and 15.8 Mpc, respectively.
After combining these results with other distances from the PNLF, Cepheid,
and Surface Brightness Fluctuations distance indicators, we calibrate the
optical and near-infrared relations for supernovae Type Ia and we find that the
Hubble constants derived from each of the three methods are broadly consistent,
implying that the properties of supernovae Type Ia do not vary drastically as a
function of stellar population. We determine a preliminary Hubble constant of
H_0 = 77 +/- 3 (random) +/- 5 (systematic) km/s/Mpc for the PNLF, though more
nearby galaxies with high-quality observations are clearly needed.
The Hard X-ray Detector (HXD) on board Suzaku covers a wide energy range from 10 keV to 600 keV by combination of silicon PIN diodes and GSO scintillators. The HXD is designed to achieve an extremely low in-orbit back ground based on a combination of new techniques, including the concept of well-type active shield counter. With an effective area of 142 cm^2 at 20 keV and 273 cm2 at 150 keV, the background level at the sea level reached ~1x10^{-5} cts s^{-1} cm^{-2} keV^{-1} at 30 keV for the PI N diodes, and ~2x10^{-5} cts s^{-1} cm^{-2} keV^{-1} at 100 keV, and ~7x10^{-6} cts s^{-1} cm^{-2} keV^{-1} at 200 keV for the phoswich counter. Tight active shielding of the HXD results in a large array of guard counters surrounding the main detector parts. These anti-coincidence counters, made of ~4 cm thick BGO crystals, have a large effective area for sub-MeV to MeV gamma-rays. They work as an excellent gamma-ray burst monitor with limited angular resolution (~5 degree). The on-board signal-processing system and the data transmitted to the ground are also described.
The in-orbit performance and calibration of the Hard X-ray Detector (HXD) on board the X-ray astronomy satellite Suzaku are described. Its basic performances, including a wide energy bandpass of 10-600 keV, energy resolutions of ~4 keV (FWHM) at 40 keV and ~11% at 511 keV, and a high background rejection efficiency, have been confirmed by extensive in-orbit calibrations. The long-term gains of PIN-Si diodes have been stable within 1% for half a year, and those of scintillators have decreased by 5-20%. The residual non-X-ray background of the HXD is the lowest among past non-imaging hard X-ray instruments in energy ranges of 15-70 and 150-500 keV. We provide accurate calibrations of energy responses, angular responses, timing accuracy of the HXD, and relative normalizations to the X-ray CCD cameras using multiple observations of the Crab Nebula.
We present radio observations of the source G332.5-5.6, a candidate supernova remnant (SNR). Observations have been performed with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) at two frequencies, at 1.4 and 2.4 GHz. Our results confirm that G332.5-5.6 is an SNR, with a spectral index equal to -0.7 +/- 0.2 for the whole source and an average fractional polarization of ~35% at 2.4 GHz. The central component is coincident with extended X-ray emission and the distance to the SNR is estimated to be ~3.4 kpc. Based on its radio and X-ray morphology, this SNR should be classified as a composite, and we suggest that it belongs to a trident-shaped subclass like G291.0-0.1.
In this Letter we examine the idea that a subset of short-period black-hole low-mass X-ray binaries could be powered by the mass transfer from pre-main sequence donors. As the star contracts towards the main sequence, the strong magnetic fields operate the magnetic braking which dissipates the orbital angular momentum, driving the binary to contact. We show that the periods and apparent donor spectral classes of the X-ray binaries with a pre-main sequence donor agree better with the available observations of black hole X-ray binaries than those of binaries with a main-sequence donor. This mechanism also explains, without the need for additional hypotheses, the roughly primordial abundance of Li detected in donor companions of black hole X-ray candidates in our Galaxy.
Our recent studies of pulsar population statistics suggest that improvements of radio and gamma-ray beam geometry and luminosity models require further refinement. The goal of this project is to constrain the viewing geometry for some radio pulsars, especially three-peaked pulse profiles, in order to limit the uncertainty of the magnetic inclination and impact angles. We perform fits of the pulse profile and position angle sweep of radio pulsars for the available frequencies. We assume a single core and conal beams described by Gaussians. We incorporate three different size cones with frequency dependence from the work of Mitra & Deshpande (1999). We obtain separate spectral indices for the core and cone beams and explore the trends of the ratio of core to cone peak fluxes. This ratio is observed to have some dependence with period. However, we cannot establish the suggested functional form of this ratio as indicated by the work of Arzoumanian, Chernoff & Cordes (2002).
(Abridged) Chandra and Hubble ACS observations of 11 early-type galaxies probe the low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) - globular cluster (GC) connection. We explore the optical properties of 270 GCs with LMXBs and 6,488 GCs without LMXBs. More massive, redder, and more compact GCs are more likely to contain LMXBs. Unlike Galactic GCs, a large number of GCs with LMXBs have half-mass relaxation times > 2.5 Gyr. We fit the dependence of the expected number of LMXBs per GC, \lambda_t, on the GC mass M, color (g-z), and half-mass radius r_{h,cor}, and find that \lambda_t \propto M^{1.24\pm0.08} 10^{0.9^{+0.2}_{-0.1} (g-z)} r_{h,cor}^{-2.2^{+0.3}_{-0.4}}. Our fit rules out that the number of LMXBs per GC is linearly proportional to GC mass and that most GCs with high X-ray luminosities contain a single LMXB. The detailed dependence of \lambda_t on GC properties appears essentially equivalent to a dependence on the encounter rate \Gamma_h and the metallicity Z, \lambda_t \propto \Gamma_h^{0.82\pm0.05} Z^{0.39\pm0.07}. Our analysis provides strong evidence that dynamical formation and metallicity play the primary roles in determining the presence of an LMXB in extragalactic GCs. The shallower than linear dependence for our sample, as well as Galactic X-ray sources and radio pulsars in GCs, requires an explanation by theories of dynamical binary formation. The abundance dependence is consistent with a metallicity-dependent variation in the number of neutron stars and black holes per unit mass GC or effects from irradiation induced winds.
We use a low redshift expansion of the cosmological equations of extended (scalar-tensor) quintessence to divide the observable Hubble history parameter space in four sectors: A forbidden sector I where the scalar field of the theory becomes imaginary (the kinetic term becomes negative), a forbidden sector II where the scalar field rolls up (instead of down) its potential, an allowed `freezing' quintessence sector III where the scalar field is currently decelerating down its potential towards freezing and an allowed `thawing' sector IV where the scalar field is currently accelerating down its potential. The dividing lines between the sectors depend sensitively on the time derivatives of the Newton's constant G over powers of the Hubble parameter. For minimally coupled quintessence which appears as a special case for a constant G our results are consistent with previous studies. Observable parameter \chi^2 contours based on current data (SNLS dataset) are also constructed on top of the sectors, for a prior of \Omega_m=0.24. By demanding that the observed 2\sigma \chi^2 parameter contours do not lie entirely in the forbidden sectors we derive stringent constraints on the current second time derivative of Newton's constant G. In particular we find {\ddot G}/G >-1.91 H_0^2=-2 10^{-20}h^2 yrs^{-2} at the 2\sigma level which is complementary to solar system tests which constrain only the first derivative of G as |{\dot G}/G|<10^{-14}yrs^{-1} at 1\sigma.
In the last decade, the technique of finding Ly-alpha emitters through narrow-band imaging has become a promising method of detecting high redshift galaxies. Ly-alpha emitters have been found from redshifts z ~ 2, up to the highest redshift source known to date at z = 6.96. Several surveys are also underway to find z = 7 - 9 sources. But these very high redshift sources are too faint to be studied in great detail, and more information can be found from studying the same class of objects at lower redshifts. Here we present our survey strategy to determine the nature of Ly-alpha emitters at lower redshifts, through multi-wavelength surveys, and our plans to extend the survey to redshift z = 8.8.
We report the results of the Swift and XMM observations of the Swift-discovered Gamma-Ray Burst GRB 060729. The afterglow of this burst was exceptionally bright in X-rays as well as at UV/Optical wavelengths showing an unusually long slow decay phase suggesting a larger energy injection phase at early times than in other bursts. The X-ray light curve displays a break at about 50 ks after the burst. The X-ray decay slope after the break is 1.3. Up to 100 days after the burst we do not detect a jet break. In the first 2 minutes after the burst (rest frame) the X-ray spectrum of the burst changed dramatically from a hard X-ray spectrum to a very soft one. In the blackbody model we find that the temperature changes from $kT=0.6$ keV at 85 s after the burst to 0.1 keV at 160 s after the burst in the rest frame. In Swift's UV/Optical telescope the afterglow was clearly detected up to 9 days after the burst in all 6 filters and even longer in some of the UV filters with the latest detection in the UVW1 31 days after the burst. The breaks seen in the UVOT light curves appear to occur all within the errors at about 50 ks after the burst. 500 ks after the burst. In addition to the Swift observations we also present and discuss the results from a 61 ks Target-of-Opportunity observation by XMM. These observations show a typical afterglow X-ray spectrum with beta-x=1.1 and and absorption column density of $1\times 10^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$. (Abriviated)
We derive constraints on a simple quintessential inflation model, based on a spontaneously broken Phi^4 theory, imposed by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe three-year data (WMAP3) and by galaxy clustering results from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey(SDSS). We find that the scale of symmetry breaking must be larger than about 3 Planck masses in order for inflation to generate acceptable values of the scalar spectral index and of the tensor-to-scalar ratio. We also show that the resulting quintessence equation-of-state can evolve rapidly at recent times and hence can potentially be distinguished from a simple cosmological constant in this parameter regime.
The detection of supernova features in the late spectra of several gamma-ray burst afterglows has shown that at least a fraction of long-duration gamma-ray bursts are associated to the final evolutionary stages of massive stars. Such direct observations are impossible for bursts located at redshift beyond z~0.5 and different methods must be used to understand the nature and properties of their progenitors. We review the observational evidence for two particular bursts, for which high quality data are available: GRB 021004 (at z=2.323) and the record redshift GRB 050904 (at z=6.29). We show that both GRBs are likely to be associated to very massive stars, and that in both cases the progenitor stars were able to modify their immediate environments with their radiative and mechanic (wind) luminosity.
We argue that it is currently impossible to simulate X-ray clusters using correct equations, because even the MHD description is not applicable. But since fluid simulations actually reproduce observations quite well, one may try to improve the fluid codes by including molecular transport of heat and momentum. We calculate the effective molecular viscosity for the simplest model of magnetic field and obtain 1/5 of the Braginskii value, similar to 1/3 of Spitzer for the heat conduction. This is large enough to noticeably damp the X-ray cluster turbulence.
We investigate the topology of the completed 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey, drawing two flux-limited samples of the local Universe from the 2dFGRS catalogue, which contains over 220,000 galaxies at a median redshift of z = 0.11. The samples are cut at z = 0.2 and corrected for selection effects. We then use the three-dimensional genus statistic to probe the connectedness of the galaxy distribution on scales ranging from 8 to 20 Mpc, and compare these measurements with the analytical result for a Gaussian random density field, a generic prediction of inflationary models. We demonstrate consistency with inflation on the range of scales considered. We then introduce a parameterisation of the analytic genus curve formula that is sensitive to asymmetries in genus number as a function of density and use it to demonstrate that such phenomena are ruled out with 95% confidence between 8 and 16 Mpc.
We present deep, high angular-resolution HST/NICMOS imaging in the Hubble Deep Field South (HDF-S), focusing on a subset of 14 Distant Red Galaxies (DRGs) at z ~ 2.5 galaxies that have been pre-selected to have J-K > 2.3. We find a clear trend between the rest-frame optical sizes of these sources and their luminosity-weighted stellar ages as inferred from their broad-band spectral energy distributions (SEDs). Galaxies whose SEDs are consistent with being dusty and actively star forming generally show extended morphologies in the NICMOS images (r_e >~ 2 kpc), while the 5 sources which are not vigorously forming stars are extremely compact (r_e <~ 1 kpc). This trend suggests a direct link between the mean ages of the stars and the size and density of the galaxies and supports the conjecture that early events quench star-formation and leave compact remnants. Furthermore, the compact galaxies have stellar surface mass densities which exceed those of local galaxies by more than an order of magnitude. The existence of such massive dense galaxies presents a problem for models of early-type galaxy formation and evolution. Larger samples of DRGs and higher spatial resolution imaging will allow us to determine the universality of the results presented here for a small sample.
We report the determination of high-accuracy radial velocities for 299
members of the globular cluster M92 using the Hydra multi-object spectrograph
on the WIYN telescope. We have concentrated on stars outside of the central
region of the cluster, located up to 14'4 from the cluster center. Candidate
members were selected for spectroscopy based on a photometric metallicity index
determined from 3-band Washington photometry, also obtained with the WIYN
telescope. The median error in the velocities is 0.35 km/s. We find the
heliocentric radial velocity of the cluster to be -121.2 +/-0.3 km/s.
We have used an improved Bayesian analysis to determine the velocity
dispersion profile of M92. The most probable profile is a cored power-law with
a scale radius of 2', velocity dispersion at 1' of 6.3km/s and outer power-law
with slope -0.6. We have also reanalyzed the M15 radial velocities of Drukier
et al. (1998) and find that a pure power-law with a 1' velocity dispersion of 8
km/s and slope -0.5, and the combination of a power-law with slope -0.4 and
scale of 7.5 km/s inside 9' and a dispersion of 4 km/s outside, are equally
likely. In both clusters there is evidence that the samples include escaping
stars. We present results from a GRAPE-based N-body simulation of an isolated
cluster that demonstrates this effect. We suggest additional tests to determine
the relative importance of tidal heating and stellar ejection for establishing
the velocity field in globular cluster halos.
We study scalar isocurvature energy density perturbations induced by a helical stochastic cosmological magnetic field and derive analytically the corresponding cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization anisotropy angular power spectra. We show that the presence of a stochastic magnetic field, or an homogeneous magnetic field, influences the acoustic oscillation pattern of the CMB anisotropy power spectrum, effectively acting as a reduction of the baryon fraction. We find that the scalar magnetic energy density perturbation contribution to the CMB temperature anisotropy is small compared to the contribution to the CMB $E$-polarization anisotropy.
We test a method of estimating the power spectrum of turbulence in molecular clouds based on the comparison of power spectra of integrated intensity maps and single-velocity-channel maps, suggested by Lazarian and Pogosyan. We use synthetic 13CO data from non-LTE radiative transfer calculations based on density and velocity fields of a simulation of supersonic hydrodynamic turbulence. We find that the method yields the correct power spectrum with good accuracy. We then apply the method to the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory 13CO map of the Perseus region, from the COMPLETE website. We find a power law power spectrum with slope beta=1.81+-0.10. The values of beta as a function of velocity resolution are also confirmed using the lower resolution map of the same region obtained with the AT&T Bell Laboratories antenna. Because of its small uncertainty, this result provides a useful constraint for numerical codes used to simulate molecular cloud turbulence.
We consider viscosity and thermal conductivity as dissipation mechanisms to derive a general dispersion relation for MHD waves propagating in a homogeneous plasma. We show that the actual dispersion relation for MHD waves in a homogeneous medium must be six-order. The finding is in agreement (except some coefficients) with the results of Porter et al. (1994) but it is in disagreement with the previous results obtained by Kumar et al. (2006). We also discuss in detail differences between our approach and those considered by other authors.
We briefly outline recent observations by solar spacecraft such as Yohkoh, SOHO, TRACE, and RHESSI, which have revolutionized what we know and don't know about the Sun. We then present some significant results, mainly from SUMER/SOHO but also complimentary from the other SOHO's experiments, such as CDS, EIT, UVCS, and LASCO. In particular, we present density-temperature structures, explosive events, velocity anisotropy, wave activity, coronal holes and the solar wind etc. These results have provided valuable clues to a better understanding of the two of the SOHO's principal scientific objectives namely, how the Sun's magnetic energy heats its million-degree corona, and feeds the solar wind.
Measuring the population of obscured quasars is one of the key issues to understand the evolution of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). With a redshift completeness of 99%, the X-ray sources detected in Chandra Deep Field South (CDF-S) provide the best sample for this issue. In this letter we study the population of obscured quasars in CDF-S by choosing the 4 -- 7 keV selected sample, which is less biased by the intrinsic X-ray absorption. The 4 -- 7 keV band selected samples also filter out most of the X-ray faint sources with too few counts, for which the measurements of N_H and L_X have very large uncertainties. Simply adopting the best-fit L_2-10keV and N_H, we find 71% (20 out of 28) of the quasars (with intrinsic L_2-10keV > 10^44 erg/s) are obscured with N_H > 10^22 cm^-2. Taking account of the uncertainties in the measurements of both N_H and L_X, conservative lower and upper limits of the fraction are 54% (13 out 24) and 84% (31 out 37). In Chandra Deep Field North, the number is 29%, however, this is mainly due to the redshift incompleteness. We estimate a fraction of ~ 50% - 63% after correcting the redshift incompleteness with a straightforward approach. Our results robustly confirm the existence of a large population of obscured quasars.
Considering thermal conduction, compressive viscosity and optically thin radiation as damping mechanisms for MHD waves, we derive a six-order general dispersion relation. We point out a fundamental flaw in the derivation of five-order dispersion relation by Kumar and Kumar (2006) who adopt as a basis vector. The correct definition of the motion in the x-z plane (2-D vector space) stems from the two independent variables, namely .
Systematic surveys of astronomical objects often lead to discoveries, but always provide invaluable information for statistical studies of well-defined samples. They also promote follow-up investigations of individual objects or classes. Surveys using a yet unexplored observing wavelength, a novel technique or a new instrument are of special importance. Significantly improved observing parameters (e.g. sensitivity, angular resolution, monitoring capability) provide new insight into the morphological and physical properties of the objects studied. I give a brief overview of the important Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) imaging surveys conducted in the past. A list of surveys guides us through the developments up until the present days. I also attempt to show directions for the near future.
Near-infrared spectra are presented for the recent 2006 outburst of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi (RS Oph).We report the rare detection of an infrared shock wave as the nova ejecta plows into the pre-existing wind of the secondary in the RS Oph system consisting of a white dwarf (WD) primary and a red giant secondary. The evolution of the shock is traced through a free expansion stage to a decelerative phase. The behavior of the shock velocity with time is found to be broadly consistent with current shock models. The present observations also imply that the WD in the RS Oph system has a high mass indicating that it could be a potential SNIa candidate. We also discuss the results from a recent study showing that the near-IR continuum from the recent RS Oph eruption does not originate in an expanding fireball. However, the present work shows that the IR line emission does have an origin in an expanding shock wave.
We study the background cosmology governed by the Tensor-Vector-Scalar theory of gravity proposed by Bekenstein. We consider a broad family of potentials that lead to modified gravity and calculate the evolution of the field variables both numerically and analytically. We find a range of possible behaviors, from scaling to the late time domination of either the additional gravitational degrees of freedom or the background fluid.
We present X-ray observations of the Black-Hole Binary GRS 1915+105 made with the RXTE (Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer). We concentrated on timing analysis of the strong variability focusing on its aperiodic variability on short (<1s) time scales. In the power density spectra, we found a feature which is seen in many transient systems, but until now was not detected in GRS 1915+105 due to its elusiveness. As this feature has been associated to the collimation and emission of superluminal relativistic jets visible in the radio band, its presence on the prototypical galactic jet source strengthens this connection. Since its discovery in 1992, GRS 1915+105 was considered a peculiar source. Our results suggest that its general behaviour is similar to that of other black-hole binaries, but its state-transitions are much faster and difficult to analyze.
A new population of extended, luminous globular clusters has recently been discovered in the outskirts of M31. These objects have luminosities typical of classical globular clusters, but much larger half-light radii. We report the first results from deep ACS imaging of four such clusters, one of which is a newly-discovered example lying at a projected distance of ~60 kpc from M31. Our F606W, F814W colour-magnitude diagrams extend ~3 magnitudes below the horizontal branch level, and clearly demonstrate, for the first time, that all four clusters are composed of >10 Gyr old, metal-poor stellar populations. No evidence for multiple populations is observed. From a comparison with Galactic globular cluster fiducials we estimate metallicities in the range -2.2 < [Fe/H] < -1.8. The observed horizontal branch morphologies show a clear second parameter effect between the clusters. Preliminary radial luminosity profiles suggest integrated magnitudes in the range -6.6 < M_V < -7.7, near the median value of the globular cluster luminosity function. Our results confirm that these four objects are bona fide old, metal-poor globular clusters, albeit with combined structures and luminosities unlike those observed for any other globular clusters in the Local Group or beyond.
We investigate the evolution of a universe with a decaying cosmological term
(vacuum energy) that is assumed to be a function of the scale factor. In this
model, while the cosmological term increases to the early universe, the
radiation energy density is lower than the model with the cosmological
"constant". We find that the effects of the decaying cosmological term on the
expansion rate at the redshift z<2 is negligible.
However, the decrease in the radiation density affects on the thermal history
of the universe; e.g. the photon decoupling occurs at higher $z$ compared to
the case of the standard \Lambda CDM model. As a consequence, a decaying
cosmological term affects on the cosmic microwave background anisotropy. We
show the angular power spectrum in D\Lambda CDM model and compare with the
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data.
Recent high-resolution observations indicate that nuclear spirals are often present in the innermost few hundred parsecs of disc galaxies. My models show that nuclear spirals form naturally as a gas response to non-axisymmetry in the gravitational potential. Some nuclear spirals take the form of spiral shocks, resulting in streaming motions in the gas, and in inflow comparable to the accretion rates needed to power local Active Galactic Nuclei. Recently streaming motions of amplitude expected from the models have been observed in nuclear spirals, confirming the role of nuclear spirals in feeding of the central massive black holes.
We consider the synchrotron emission from relativistic shocks assuming that the radiating electrons cool rapidly (either through synchrotron or any other radiation mechanism). It is shown that the theory of synchrotron emission in the fast cooling regime can account for a wide range of spectral shapes. In particular, the magnetic field, which decays behind the shock front, brings enough flexibility to the theory to explain the majority of gamma-ray burst spectra even in the parameter-free fast cooling regime. Also, we discuss whether location of the peak in observed spectral energy distributions of gamma-ray bursts and active galactic nuclei can be made consistent with predictions of diffusive shock acceleration theory, and find that the answer is negative. This result is a strong indication that a particle injection mechanism, other than the standard shock acceleration, works in relativistic shocks.
After a review of the many effects of metallicity on the evolution of rotating and non-rotating stars, we discuss the consequences of a high metallicity on massive star populations and on stellar nucleosynthesis. The most striking effect of high metallicity is to enhance the amount of mass lost by stellar winds. Typically at a metallicity $Z=0.001$ only 9% of the total mass returned by non-rotating massive stars is ejected by winds (91% by supernovae explosion), while at solar metallicity this fraction may amount to more than 40%. High metallicity favors the formation of Wolf-Rayet stars and of type Ib supernovae. It however disfavors the occurrence of type Ic supernovae. We estimate empirical yields of carbon based on the observed population of WC stars in the solar neighborhood, and obtain that WC stars eject between 0.2 and 0.4% of the mass initially locked into stars under the form of new synthesized carbon. Models give values well in agreement with these empirical yields. Chemical evolution models indicate that such carbon yields may have important impacts on the abundance of carbon at high metallicity.
We report on measurements of the extinction in the U, B & V bands and of the NSB (Night Sky Background) during 2 dark periods on La Silla Observatory and at 4000-5000m on the ALMA site using an UV optimized 25 cm portable telescope.
Accretion disks around supermassive black holes are widely believed to be the dominant source of the optical-ultraviolet continuum in many classes of active galactic nuclei (AGN). We study here the relationship between the continuum colors of AGN and the characteristic accretion disk temperature (T_max). Based on NLTE models of accrection disks in AGN computed as described by Hubeny et al. (2000), we find that continuum intensity ratios for several pairs of wavelengths between 1350 and 5100 A should show a trend of bluer colors for higher T_max, notwithstanding random disk inclinations. We compare this theoretical expectation with observed colors of QSOs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey,deriving black hole mass and thence T_max from the width of the Mg II broad emission line. The observed colors generally do not show the expected trend and in some cases show a reverse trend of redder colors with increasing T_max. The cause of this discrepancy does not appear to be dust reddening or galaxy contamination but may relate to the accretion rate, as the offset objects are accreting above ~30 % of the Eddington limit. The derived disk temperature depends primarily on line width, with little or no dependence on luminosity.
We examine the origins of the bimodality observed in the global properties of galaxies by comparing the environmental dependencies of star-formation for giant and dwarf galaxy populations. Using Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR4 spectroscopic data to create a volume-limited sample complete to M*+3, we find that the environmental dependences of giant and dwarf galaxies are quite different, implying fundamental differences in their evolution. Whereas the star-formation histories of giant galaxies are determined primarily by their merger history, resulting in passively-evolving giant galaxies being found in all environments, we show that this is not the case for dwarf galaxies. In particular, we find that old or passive dwarf galaxies are only found as satellites within massive halos (clusters, groups or giant galaxies), with none in the lowest density regions. This implies that star-formation in dwarf galaxies must be much more resilient to the effects of mergers, and that the evolution of dwarf galaxies is primarily driven by the mass of their host halo, through effects such as suffocation, ram-pressure stripping or galaxy harassment.
We discuss the possible cosmological effects of powerful AGN outbursts in galaxy clusters by starting from the results of an XMM-Newton observation of the supercavity cluster MS0735+7421.
An evaluation of the principal uncertainties in the computation of neutrino fluxes produced in cosmic ray showers in the atmosphere is presented. The neutrino flux predictions are needed for comparison with experiment to perform neutrino oscillation studies. The paper concentrates on the main limitations which are due to hadron production uncertainties. It also treats primary cosmic ray flux uncertainties, which are at a lower level. The absolute neutrino fluxes are found to have errors of around 15% in the neutrino energy region important for contained events underground. Large cancellations of these errors occur when ratios of fluxes are considered, in particular, the $\nu_\mu/\bar{\nu}_\mu$ ratio below $E_\nu=1$ GeV, the $(\nu_\mu+\bar{\nu}_\mu)/(\nu_e+\bar{\nu}_e)$ ratio below $E_\nu=10$ GeV and the up/down ratios above $E_\nu=1$ GeV are at the 1% level. A detailed breakdown of the origin of these errors and cancellations is presented.
High-dispersion spectroscopy of EY Cyg obtained from data spanning twelve years show, for the first time, the radial velocity curves from both emission and absorption line systems, yielding semi-amplitudes K_{em}=24+/- 4 km s^-1 and K_{abs}=54+/- 2 km s^-1. The orbital period of this system is found to be 0.4593249(1)d. The masses of the stars, their mass ratio and their separation are found to be M_1 sin^3 i = 0.015+/-0.002 M_sun, M_2 sin^3 i = 0.007+/-0.002 M_sun, q = K_1/K_2 = M_2/M_1 = 0.44+/-0.02 and a sin i = 0.71+/-0.04 R_sun. We also found that the spectral type of the secondary star is around K0,consistent with an early determination by Kraft(1962). From the spectral type of the secondary star and simple comparisons with single main sequence stars, we conclude that the radius of the secondary star is about 30 per cent larger than a main sequence star of the same mass. We also present VRI CCD photometric observations, some of them simultaneous with the spectroscopic runs. The photometric data shows several light modulations, including a sinusoidal behaviour with twice the frequency of the orbital period, characteristic of the modulation coming from an elongated, irradiated secondary star. Low and high states during quiescence are also detected and discussed. From several constrains, we obtain tight limits for the inclination angle of the binary system between 13 and 15 degrees, with a best value of 14 degrees obtained from the sinusoidal light curve analysis. From the above results we derive masses M_1 = 1.10+/-0.09 M_sun, M_2 = 0.49+/-0.09 M_sun, and a binary separation a = 2.9+/- 0.1 R_sun.
We present the first detailed kinematical analysis of the planetary nebula
Abell 63, which is known to contain the eclipsing close-binary nucleus UU Sge.
Abell 63 provides an important test case in investigating the role of
close-binary central stars on the evolution of planetary nebulae.
Longslit observations were obtained using the Manchester echelle spectrometer
combined with the 2.1-m San Pedro Martir Telescope. The spectra reveal that the
central bright rim of Abell 63 has a tube-like structure. A deep image shows
collimated lobes extending from the nebula, which are shown to be high-velocity
outflows. The kinematic ages of the nebular rim and the extended lobes are
calculated to be 8400+/-500 years and 12900+/-2800 years, respectively, which
suggests that the lobes were formed at an earlier stage than the nebular rim.
This is consistent with expectations that disk-generated jets form immediately
after the common envelope phase.
A morphological-kinematical model of the central nebula is presented and the
best-fit model is found to have the same inclination as the orbital plane of
the central binary system; this is the first proof that a close-binary system
directly affects the shaping of its nebula. A Hubble-type flow is
well-established in the morphological-kinematical modelling of the observed
line profiles and imagery.
Two possible formation models for the elongated lobes of Abell 63 are
considered (1) a low-density, pressure-driven jet excavates a cavity in the
remnant AGB envelope; (2) high-density bullets form the lobes in a single
ballistic ejection event.
High resolution observations of Sgr A* have revealed a wide variety of phenomena, ranging from intense rapid flares to quasi-periodic oscillations, making this object an ideal system to study the properties of low luminosity accreting black holes. In this paper, we use a pseudo-spectral algorithm to construct and evolve a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic model of the accretion disk in Sgr A*. Assuming a hybrid thermal-nonthermal emission scheme, we show that the MHD turbulence can by itself only produce factor of two fluctuations in luminosity. These amplitudes in variation cannot explain the magnitude of flares observed in this system. However, we also demonstrate that density perturbations in the disk do produce outbursts qualitatively similar to those observed by XMM-Newton in X-rays and ground-based facilities in the near infrared. Quasi-periodic oscillations emerge naturally in the simulated lightcurves. We attribute these to non-axisymmetric density perturbations that emerge as the disk evolves back toward its quiescent state.
The concordance cosmological model based on cold dark matter makes definitive predictions for the growth of galaxies in the Universe, which are being actively studied using numerical simulations. These predictions appear to contradict the observations of dwarf galaxies. Dwarf dark matter halos are more numerous and have steeper central density profiles than the observed galaxies. The first of these small-scale problems, the "missing satellites problem", can be resolved by accounting for the low efficiency of gas cooling and star formation in dwarf halos. A newly-discovered class of HyperVelocity Stars will soon allow us to test another generic prediction of CDM models, the triaxial shapes of dark matter halos. Measuring the proper motions of HVS will probe the gravitational potential out to 100 kpc and will constrain the axis ratios and the orientation of the Galactic halo.
The large majority of EGRET point sources remain to this day without an identified low-energy counterpart. Whatever the nature of the EGRET unidentified sources, faint unresolved objects of the same class must have a contribution to the diffuse gamma-ray background: if most unidentified objects are extragalactic, faint unresolved sources of the same class contribute to the background, as a distinct extragalactic population; on the other hand, if most unidentified sources are Galactic, their counterparts in external galaxies will contribute to the unresolved emission from these systems. Understanding this component of the gamma-ray background, along with other guaranteed contributions from known sources, is essential in any attempt to use gamma-ray observations to constrain exotic high-energy physics. Here, we follow an empirical approach to estimate whether a potential contribution of unidentified sources to the extragalactic gamma-ray background is likely to be important, and we find that it is. Additionally, we comment on how the anticipated GLAST measurement of the diffuse gamma-ray background will change, depending on the nature of the majority of these sources.
Aims: The first star forming galaxies in the early universe should be copious
Ly alpha emitters, and may play a significant role in ionizing the
intergalactic medium (IGM). It has been proposed that the luminosity function
of Lya emitting galaxies beyond z~6 may be used to constrain the neutral
fraction of the IGM during this epoch. In this work we report on a search for
Ly alpha emitters at redshift 8.8.
Methods: We performed a narrow band imaging programme using ISAAC at the ESO
VLT. Seven fields, covering a total area of 31sq. arcmin and for which optical
and broad band infra-red images have been obtained in the GOODS survey, were
imaged to a limiting flux (respectively luminosity) of ~ 1.3 x 10^{-17}
ergs.s^{-1}.cm^{-2} (respectively ~ 1.3 x 10^{43} ergs.s^{-1} in a narrow band
filter centered in a region of low OH sky emission at 1.19 micron. Candidate
Lyman alpha emitters are objects that are detected in the ISAAC NB images and
undetected in the visible broad band images.
Results: No z=8.8 Ly alpha emitting galaxies were detected to a limit
approaching recent estimates of the luminosity function at z ~ 6. Our results
do suggest, however, that detections or substantial constraints could be
achieved by this method in the near future with larger field instruments
planned for various telescopes.
The third EGRET catalog contains a large number of unidentified sources. This subset of objects is expected to include known gamma-ray emitters of Galactic origin such as pulsars and supernova remnants, in addition to an extragalactic population of blazars. However, current data allows the intriguing possibility that some of these objects may represent a new class of yet undiscovered gamma-ray sources. Many theoretically motivated candidate emitters (e.g. clumps of annihilating dark matter particles) have been suggested to account for these detections. We take a new approach to determine to what extent this population is Galactic and to investigate the nature of the possible Galactic component. By assuming that galaxies similar to the Milky Way should host comparable populations of objects, we constrain the allowed Galactic abundance and distribution of various classes of gamma-ray sources using the EGRET data set. We find it is highly improbable that a large number of the unidentified sources are members of a Galactic halo population, but that a distribution of the sources entirely in the disk and bulge is plausible. Finally, we discuss the additional constraints and new insights that GLAST will provide.
We study the detectability of the cross-correlation between 21 cm emission from the intergalactic medium and the galaxy distribution during (and before) reionization. We show that first-generation 21 cm experiments, such as the Mileura Widefield Array (MWA), can measure the cross-correlation to a precision of several percent on scales k~0.1/Mpc if combined with a deep galaxy survey detecting all galaxies with m>10^10 Msol over the entire ~800 square degree field of view of the MWA. LOFAR can attain even better limits with galaxy surveys covering its ~50 square degree field of view. The errors on the cross-power spectrum scale with the square root of the overlap volume, so even reasonably modest surveys of several square degrees should yield a positive detection with either instrument. In addition to the obvious scientific value, the cross-correlation has four key advantages over the 21 cm signal alone: (1) its signal-to-noise exceeds that of the 21 cm power spectrum by a factor of several, allowing it to probe smaller spatial scales and perhaps to detect inhomogeneous reionization more efficiently; (2) it allows a cleaner division of the redshift-space distortions (although only if the galaxy redshifts are known precisely); (3) by correlating with the high-redshift galaxy population, the cosmological nature of the 21 cm fluctuations can be determined unambiguously; and (4) the required level of foreground cleaning for the 21 cm signal is vastly reduced.
We report the discovery of a cluster-scale lensed quasar, SDSS J1029+2623, selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The lens system exhibits two lensed images of a quasar at z_s=2.197. The image separation of 22.5" makes it the largest separation lensed quasar discovered to date. The similarity of the optical spectra and the radio loudnesses of the two components support the lensing hypothesis. Images of the field show a cluster of galaxies at z_l~0.55 that is responsible for the large image separation. The lensed images and the cluster light center are not collinear, which implies that the lensing cluster has a complex structure.
Context: We present the results of a set of observations of nine TeV detected BL Lac objects performed by the XRT and UVOT detectors on board the Swift satellite between March and December 2005. Aims: We are mainly interested in measuring the spectral parameters, and particularly the intrinsic curvature in the X-ray band. Methods: We perform X-ray spectral analysis of observed BL Lac TeV objects using either a log-parabolic or a simple power-law model . Results: We found that many of the objects in our sample do show significant spectral curvature, whereas those having the peak of the spectral energies distribution at energies lower than ~0.1 keV show power law spectra. In these cases, however, the statistics are generally low thus preventing a good estimate of the curvature. Simultaneous UVOT observations are important to verify how X-ray spectra can be extrapolated at lower frequencies and to search for multiple emission components. Conclusions: The results of our analysis are useful for the study of possible signatures of statistical acceleration processes predicting intrinsically curved spectra and for modelling the SED of BL Lacertae objects up to TeV energies where a corresponding curvature is likely to be present.
The earliest phases of massive star formation in clusters are still poorly understood. Here, we test the hypothesis for high-mass star formation proposed in our earlier paper (Peretto et al. 2006). In order to confirm the physical validity of this hypothesis, we carried out IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer observations of NGC 2264-C and performed SPH numerical simulations of the collapse of a Jeans-unstable, prolate dense clump. Our Plateau de Bure observations reveal the presence of a new compact source (C-MM13) located only \~ 10000 AU away, but separated by ~ 1.1 km/s in (projected) velocity, from the most massive Class 0 object (C-MM3) lying at the very center of NGC 2264-C. Detailed comparison with our numerical SPH simulations supports the view that NGC 2264-C is an elongated cluster-forming clump in the process of collapsing and fragmenting along its long axis, leading to a strong dynamical interaction and possible protostar merger in the central region of the clump. The present study also sets several quantitative constraints on the initial conditions of large-scale collapse in NGC 2264-C. Our hydrodynamic simulations indicate that the observed velocity pattern characterizes an early phase of protocluster collapse which survives for an only short period of time (i.e., < 10^5 yr). To provide a good match to the observations the simulations require an initial ratio of turbulent to gravitational energy of only ~ 5 %, which strongly suggests that the NGC 2264-C clump is structured primarily by gravity rather than turbulence. The required "cold'' initial conditions may result from rapid compression by an external trigger.
We describe a new method for robustly testing theoretical predictions of red giant evolution near the tip of the giant branch. When theoretical cumulative luminosity functions are shifted to align the tip in I-band and normalized at a luminosity level slightly brighter than the red giant bump, virtually all dependence on age and composition (heavy elements and helium abundance) is eliminated. While significant comparisons with observations require large samples of giant stars, such samples are available for some of the most massive Milky Way globular clusters. We present comparisons with the clusters NGC 2808 and M5, and find that NGC 2808 has a deficiency of bright giants (with a probability of less than about 3% that a more extreme distribution of giant stars would have happened by chance). We discuss the possibilities that underestimated neutrino losses or strong mass loss could be responsible for the deficit of giants. While we cannot rule out the neutrino hypothesis, it cannot explain the apparent agreement between the M5 observations and models. On the other hand, strong mass loss provides a potential link between the giant star observations and NGC 2808's unusually blue horizontal branch. If the mass loss hypothesis is true, there is likely a significant population of He white dwarfs that could be uncovered with slightly deeper UV observations of the cluster.
We present ESO NTT high resolution echelle spectroscopy of the central stars (CSs) of eight southern bipolar planetary nebulae (PNe) selected for their asymmetry. Our aim was to determine or place limits on the magnetic fields of the CSs of these nebulae, and hence to explore the role played by magnetic fields in nebular morphology and PN shaping. If magnetic fields do play a role, we expect these CSs to have fields in the range $10^2 - 10^7$ G from magnetic flux conservation on the reasonable assumption that they must evolve into the high field magnetic white dwarfs. We were able to place an upper limit of $\approx 20,000$ G to the magnetic fields of the central stars of He 2-64 and MyCn 18. The spectrum of He 2-64 also shows a P-Cygni profile in \ion{He}{1} $\lambda$5876 and $\lambda$6678, corresponding to an expanding photosphere with velocity $\sim$ 100 km s$^{-1}$. The detection of helium absorption lines in the spectrum of He 2-36 confirms the existence of a hot stellar component. We did not reach the necessary line detection for magnetic field analysis in the remaining objects. Overall, our results indicate that if magnetic fields are responsible for shaping bipolar planetary nebulae, these are not required to be greater than a few tens of kilogauss.
The structure of magnetic fields within protostellar disks may be studied via polarimetry provided that grains are aligned in respect to magnetic field within the disks. We explore alignment of dust grains by radiative torque in T Tauri disks and provide predictions for polarized emission for disks viewed at different wavelengths and viewing angles. We show that the alignment is especially efficient in outer part of the disks. In the presence of magnetic field, these aligned grains produce polarized emission in infrared wavelengths. We consider a simple model of an accretion disk and provide predictions for polarization that should be available to both instruments that do not resolve the disks and future instruments that will resolve the disks. As the surface magnetic field and the bulk magnetic field play different roles for the disk dynamics, we consider separately the contributions that arises from the surface areas of the disk and its interior. We find that the polarized emission drops for wavelengths shorter than $\sim 10 \mu m$. Between $\sim 10 \mu m$ and $\sim 100 \mu m$, the polarized emission is dominated by the emission from the surface layer of the disks and the degree of polarization can be as large as $\sim 10%$ for unresolved disks. The degree of polarization is around 2-3 % level at wavelengths larger than $\sim100\mu m$.
The relative population of the fine structure sublevels of an atom's ground state is affected by radiative transitions induced by an anisotropic radiation flux. This causes the alignment of atomic angular momentum. In terms of observational consequences for the interstellar and intergalactic medium, this results in the polarization of the absorption lines. In the paper we consider the conditions necessary for this effect and provide calculations of polarization from a few astrophysically important atoms and ions with multiple upper and lower levels for an arbitrary orientation of magnetic fields to the a) source of optical pumping, b) direction of observation, c) absorbed source. We also consider an astrophysically important ``degenerate'' case when the source of optical pumping coincides with the source of the absorbed radiation. We present analytical expressions that relate the degree of linear polarization and the intensity of absorption to the 3D orientation of the magnetic field with respect to the pumping source, the source of the absorbed radiation, and the direction of observations. We discuss how all these parameters can be determined via simultaneous observations of several absorption lines and suggest graphical means that are helpful in practical data interpretation. We prove that studies of absorption line polarization provide a unique tool to study 3D magnetic field topology in various astrophysical conditions.
We show that atomic alignment presents a reliable way to study topology of astrophysical magnetic fields. The effect of atomic alignment arises from modulation of the relative population of the sublevels of atomic ground state pumped by anisotropic radiation flux. As such aligned atoms precess in the external magnetic field and this affects the properties of the polarized radiation arising from both scattering and absorption by the atoms. As the result the polarizations of emission and absorption lines depend on the 3D geometry of the magnetic field as well as the direction and anisotropy of incident radiation. We consider a subset of astrophysically important atoms with hyperfine structure. For emission lines we obtain the dependencies of the direction of linear polarization on the directions of magnetic field and the incident pumping radiation. For absorption lines we establish when the polarization is perpendicular and parallel to magnetic field. For both emission and absorption lines we find the dependence on the degree of polarization on the 3D geometry of magnetic field. We claim that atomic alignment provides a unique tool to study magnetic fields in circumstellar regions, AGN, interplanetary and interstellar medium. This tool allows studying of 3D topology of magnetic fields and establish other important astrophysical parameters. We consider polarization arising from both atoms in the steady state and also as they undergo individual scattering of photons. We exemplify the utility of atomic alignment for studies of astrophysical magnetic fields by considering a case of Na alignment in a comet wake.
Strong constraints on the cosmic star formation history (SFH) have recently been established using ultraviolet and far-infrared measurements, refining the results of numerous measurements over the past decade. Taken together, the most recent and robust data indicate a compellingly consistent picture of the SFH out to redshift z~6, with especially tight constraints for z < 1. There have also been a number of dedicated efforts to measure or constrain the SFH at z~6 and beyond. It is also possible to constrain the normalisation of the SFH using a combination of electron antineutrino flux limits from Super-Kamiokande measurements and supernova rate density measurements. This review presents the latest compilation of SFH measurements, and summarises the corresponding evolution for stellar and metal mass densities, and supernova rate densities. The constraints on the normalisation of the cosmic SFH, arising from the combination of the supernova rate measurements and the measurement limit on the supernova electron antineutrino flux, are also discussed.
Some physical imprints of quintessence scalar fields on dark matter (DM) clustering are illustrated, and a comparison with the concordance model $\Lambda CDM$ is highlighted. First, we estimate the cosmological parameters for two quintessence models, based on scalar fields rolling down the Ratra-Peebles or Sugra potential, by a statistical analysis of the Hubble diagram of type Ia supernovae. Then, the effect of these realistic dark energy models on large-scale DM clustering is established through N-body simulations. Various effects like large-scale distribution of DM, cluster mass function and halos internal velocities are illustrated. It is found that realistic dark energy models lead to quite different DM clustering, due to a combination of the variation of the equation of state and differences in the cosmological parameters, even at $z=0$. This conclusion contradicts other works in the recent litterature and the importance of considering more realistic models in studying the impact of quintessence on structure formation is highlighted.
We present $V,I$ light curves for 12 variable stars identified in the newly discovered satellite of the Milky Way in the Bootes constellation (Belokurov et al. 2006).Our sample includes 11 RR Lyrae stars (5 first overtone, 5 fundamental mode and 1 double mode pulsator),and one long period variable close to the galaxy red giant branch tip. The RR Lyrae stars trace very well the average $V$ luminosity of the galaxy horizontal branch, leading to a true distance modulus for the galaxy of $\mu_0$=19.11 $\pm$ 0.08 mag for an assumed metal abundance of [Fe/H]=-2.5 (Monoz et al. 2006), and for $E(B-V)$=0.02 mag. Average periods are <Pab>=0.69 d and <Pc>=0.37 d for {\it ab-} and {\it c-} type RR Lyrae stars, respectively, making of Bootes the second pure Oosterhoff type II (OoII) dSph after Ursa Minor. The location of the double mode RR Lyrae (RRd) in the Petersen diagram is consistent with RRd stars in OoII clusters, and corresponds to an intrinsic luminosity of $log L/logL\odot$=1.72 (for Z=10$^{-4}$ and M=0.80 M$\odot$) according to Bono et al. (1996) pulsation models.
Medium resolution spectra of more than 400 subgiant and turn-off region stars in Omega Centauri were analysed. The observations were performed at the VLT/Paranal with FORS2/MXU. In order to determine the metallicities of the sample stars, we defined a set of line indices (mostly iron) adjusted to the resolution of our spectra. The indices as determined for Omega Centauri were then compared to line indices from stars in the chemically homogeneous globular cluster M55, in addition to standard stars and synthetic spectra. The uncertainties in the derived metallicities are of the order of 0.2 dex. Our study confirms the large variations in iron abundances found on the giant branch in earlier studies (-2.2 <[Fe/H]< -0.7 dex). In addition, we studied the alpha-element and CN/CH abundances. Stars of different metallicity groups not only show distinct ages, but also different behaviours in their relative abundances. The alpha abundances increase smoothly with increasing metallicity resulting in a flat [alpha/Fe] ratio over the whole observed metallicity range. The combined CN+CH abundance increases smoothly with increasing iron abundance. The most metal-rich stars are CN-enriched. In a CN vs. CH plot, though, the individual abundances divide into CN- and CH-rich branches. The large abundance variations observed in our sample of (unevolved) subgiant branch stars most probably have their origin in the pre-enriched material rather than in internal mixing effects. Together with the age spread of the different sub-populations, our findings favour the formation of Omega Centauri within a more massive progenitor.
We have developed a method to calculate overdensities in multicolour surveys, and compare the local density contrast measured in galaxy samples with different redshift error distributions. We calculated overdensities for three COMBO-17 fields, and identified a region in the CDFS, where the density is lower by a factor of 2 compared to the other two fields. This is mainly due to a deficiency of faint red galaxies. This result is in agreement with local observations in the 2dF.
Compact galactic and extragalactic radio sources can be imaged with an unsurpassed angular resolution of a few ten micro-arcseconds, adopting the observing technique of global millimeter VLBI. Here we present the Global Millimeter VLBI Array (GMVA) and discuss its present performance. For individual and partially archetypical radio sources with prominent VLBI jets (e.g. 3C120, Cygnus A, M87, 3C454.3, NRAO150),we show and discuss new results obtained with the GMVA. The variety of observed effects range from jet propagation and bending, partial fore-ground absorption in the nucleus, and jet component ejection after major flares to new and very small (15-20 Schwarzschild radii) upper limits to the jet base of M87. We also discuss the future development of mm-VLBI at 3mm and towards shorter wavelengths, and make suggestions for possible improvements.
Millimeter-sized, spherical silicate grains abundant in chondritic meteorites, which are called as chondrules, are considered to be a strong evidence of the melting event of the dust particles in the protoplanetary disk. One of the most plausible scenarios is that the chondrule precursor dust particles are heated and melt in the high-velocity gas flow (shock-wave heating model). We developed the non-linear, time-dependent, and three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation code for analyzing the dynamics of molten droplets exposed to the gas flow. We confirmed that our simulation results showed a good agreement in a linear regime with the linear solution analytically derived by Sekiya et al. (2003). We found that the non-linear terms in the hydrodynamical equations neglected by Sekiya et al. (2003) can cause the cavitation by producing negative pressure in the droplets. We discussed that the fragmentation through the cavitation is a new mechanism to determine the upper limit of chondrule sizes. We also succeeded to reproduce the fragmentation of droplets when the gas ram pressure is stronger than the effect of the surface tension. Finally, we compared the deformation of droplets in the shock-wave heating with the measured data of chondrules and suggested the importance of other effects to deform droplets, for example, the rotation of droplets. We believe that our new code is a very powerful tool to investigate the hydrodynamics of molten droplets in the framework of the shock-wave heating model and has many potentials to be applied to various problems.
Four dense cores, L1582A, L1689A, B133 and B68, classified as prestellar in terms of the absence of detectable NIR emission, are observed at radio wavelengths to investigate whether they nurture very young protostars. No definite young protostars were discovered in any of the four cores observed. A few radio sources were discovered close to the observed cores, but these are most likely extragalactic sources or YSOs unrelated to the cores observed. In L1582A we discovered a weak radio source near the centre of the core with radio characteristics and offset from the peak of the submillimeter emission similar to that of the newly discovered protostar in the core L1014, indicating a possible protostellar nature for this source. This needs to be confirmed with near- and/or mid-infrared observations (e.g. with Spitzer). Hence based on the current observations we are unable to confirm unequivocally that L1582A is starless. In L1689A a possible 4.5-sigma radio source was discovered at the centre of the core, but needs to be confirmed with future observations. In B133 a weak radio source, possibly a protostar, was discovered at the edge of the core on a local peak of the core submm emission, but no source was detected at the centre of the core. Thus, B133 is probably starless, but may have a protostar at its edge. In B68 no radio sources were discovered inside or at the edge of the core, and thus B68 is indeed starless. Four more radio sources with spectral indices characteristic of young protostars were discovered outside the cores but within the extended clouds in which these cores reside. Conclusions: We conclude that the number of cores misclassified as prestellar is probably very small and does not significantly alter the estimated lifetime of the prestellar phase.
TeV gamma-ray emission from two massive binaries of the microquasar type, LS 5039 and LS I +61$^{\rm o}$ 303, show clear variability with their orbital periods. Our purpose is to calculate the GeV and TeV $\gamma$-ray light curves from the massive binary LS 5039 which are expected in the specific Inverse Compton $e^\pm$ pair cascade model. This model successfully predicted the basic features of the high energy $\gamma$-ray emission from LS 5039 and LS I +61 303. In the calculations we apply the Monte Carlo code which follows the IC $e^\pm$ pair cascade in the anisotropic radiation of the massive star. The $\gamma$-ray light curves and spectra are obtained for different parameters of the acceleration scenario and the inclination angles of the binary system. It is found that the GeV and TeV $\gamma$-ray light curves should be anti-correlated. This feature can be tested in the near future by the simultaneous observations of LS 5039 with the AGILE and GLAST telescopes in GeV energies and the Cherenkov telescopes in the TeV energies. Considered model also predicts a broad maximum in the TeV $\gamma$-ray light curve between the phases $\sim 0.4-0.8$ consistently with the observations of LS 5039 by the HESS telescopes. Moreover, we predict additional dip in the TeV light curve for large inclination angles $\sim 60^{\rm o}$. This feature could serve as a diagnostic for independent measuring of the inclination angle of this binary system indicating also on the presence of a neutron star in LS 5039.
A technique used to accelerate an adaptive optics simulation platform using reconfigurable logic is described. The performance of parts of this simulation have been improved by up to 600 times (reducing computation times by this factor) by implementing algorithms within hardware and enables adaptive optics simulations to be carried out in a reasonable timescale. This demonstrates that it is possible to use reconfigurable logic to accelerate computational codes by very large factors when compared with conventional software approaches, and this has relevance for many computationally intensive applications. The use of reconfigurable logic for high performance computing is currently in its infancy and has never before been applied to this field.
We report an ultra-high-resolution simulation that follows evolution from the earliest stages of galaxy formation through the period of dynamical relaxation. The bubble structures of gas revealed in our simulation ($< 3\times 10^8$ years) resemble closely the high-redshift Lyman $\alpha$ emitters (LAEs). After $10^9$ years these bodies are dominated by stellar continuum radiation and look like the Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) known as the high-redshift star-forming galaxies at which point the abundance of elements appears to be solar. After $1.3\times10^{10}$ years, these galaxies resemble present-day ellipticals. The comparisons of simulation results with the observations of elliptical galaxies allow us to conclude that LAEs and LBGs are infants of elliptical galaxies or bulge systems in the nearby universe.
Adaptive optics systems are essential on all large telescopes where image quality is important. These are complex systems with many design parameters requiring optimisation before good performance can be achieved. The simulation of adaptive optics systems is therefore necessary to categorise the expected performance. This paper describes an adaptive optics simulation platform, developed at Durham University, which can be used to simulate adaptive optics systems on the largest proposed future extremely large telescopes (ELTs) as well as current systems. This platform is modular, object oriented and has the benefit of hardware application acceleration which can be used to improve the simulation performance, essential for ensuring that the run time of a given simulation is acceptable. The simulation platform described here can be highly parallelised using parallelisation techniques suited for adaptive optics simulation, whilst still offering the user complete control while the simulation is running. Results from the simulation of a ground layer adaptive optics system are provided as an example to demonstrate the flexibility of this simulation platform.
We present extensive u'g'r'i'BVRIYJHKs photometry and optical spectroscopy of SN 2005hk. These data reveal that SN 2005hk was nearly identical in its observed properties to SN 2002cx, which has been called ``the most peculiar known type Ia supernova.'' Both supernovae exhibited high ionization SN 1991T-like pre-maximum spectra, yet low peak luminosities like SN 1991bg. The spectra reveal that SN 2005hk, like SN 2002cx, exhibited expansion velocities that were roughly half those of typical type Ia supernovae. The R and I light curves of both supernovae were also peculiar in not displaying the secondary maximum observed for normal type Ia supernovae. Our YJH photometry of SN 2005hk reveals the same peculiarity in the near-infrared. By combining our optical and near-infrared photometry of SN 2005hk with published ultraviolet light curves obtained with the Swift satellite, we are able to construct a bolometric light curve from ~10 days before to ~60 days after B maximum. The shape and unusually low peak luminosity of this light curve, plus the low expansion velocities and absence of a secondary maximum at red and near-infrared wavelengths, are all in reasonable agreement with model calculations of a 3D deflagration which produces ~0.25 M_sun of 56Ni.
We study the origin and properties of the population of unbound stars in the kinematic samples of dwarf spheroidal galaxies. For this purpose we have run a high resolution N-body simulation of a two-component dwarf galaxy orbiting in a Milky Way potential. In agreement with the tidal stirring scenario of Mayer et al., the dwarf is placed on a highly eccentric orbit, its initial stellar component is in the form of an exponential disk and it has a NFW-like dark matter halo. After 10 Gyrs of evolution the dwarf produces a spheroidal stellar component and is strongly tidally stripped so that mass follows light and the stars are on almost isotropic orbits. From this final state, we create mock kinematic data sets for 200 stars by observing the dwarf in different directions. We find that when the dwarf is observed along the tidal tails the kinematic samples are strongly contaminated by unbound stars from the tails. We also study another source of possible contamination by adding stars from the Milky Way. We demonstrate that most of the unbound stars can be removed by the method of interloper rejection proposed by den Hartog & Katgert. We model the cleaned up kinematic samples using solutions of the Jeans equation with constant mass-to-light ratio and velocity anisotropy parameter. We show that even for such strongly stripped dwarf the Jeans analysis, when applied to cleaned samples, allows us to reproduce the mass and mass-to-light ratio of the dwarf with accuracy typically better than 25 percent. The analysis was applied to the new data for the Fornax dSph galaxy for which we find a mass-to-light ratio of 11 solar units and isotropic orbits. We demonstrate that most of the contamination in the kinematic sample of Fornax probably originates from the Milky Way.
In the current paradigm of cold dark matter cosmology, large-scale structures are assembling through hierarchical clustering of matter. In this process, an important role is played by megaparsec (Mpc)-scale cosmic shock waves, arising in gravity-driven supersonic flows of intergalactic matter onto dark matter-dominated collapsing structures such as pancakes, filaments, and clusters of galaxies. Here, we report Very Large Array telescope observations of giant (~2 Mpc by 1.6 Mpc), ring-shaped nonthermal radio-emitting structures, found at the outskirts of the rich cluster of galaxies Abell 3376. These structures may trace the elusive shock waves of cosmological large-scale matter flows, which are energetic enough to power them. These radio sources may also be the acceleration sites where magnetic shocks are possibly boosting cosmic-ray particles with energies of up to 10^18 to 10^19 electron volts.
LOFAR, the Low Frequency Array, is a new radio telescope under construction in the Netherlands, designed to operate between 30 and 240 MHz. The Transients Key Project is one of the four Key Science Projects which comprise the core LOFAR science case. The remit of the Transients Key Project is to study variable and transient radio sources detected by LOFAR, on timescales from milliseconds to years. This will be achieved via both regular snapshot monitoring of historical and newly-discovered radio variables and, most radically, the development of a `Radio Sky Monitor' which will survey a large fraction of the northern sky on a daily basis.
After crosschecking some of the basic suppositions of the concept of holographic dark energy (HDE), we concentrate on models in which the holographic bound for dark energy is not saturated for a large portion of the history of the universe. This is particularly compelling when the IR cutoff is set by the Hubble scale, since otherwise a transition from a decelerated to an accelerated era cannot be obtained for a spatially flat universe. We demonstrate by three generic but disparate dynamical models, two of them containing a variable Newton constant, that a transition between the two eras is always obtained for the IR cutoff in the form of the Hubble scale and the nonsaturated HDE. In all cases, dark energy saturates the holographic bound asymptotically. We also give arguments why such a choice for dark energy is more consistent and favored over the widely accepted saturated form.
Recent WMAP observations indicate that the primordial abundance of lithium should have been 2-4 times higher than the value measured in low-metallicity stars. We show that this discrepancy can be explained by the process of ambipolar diffusion in protostellar clouds, which leads to depletion of elements with low ionization potential, such as lithium and sodium. In high-metallicity stars, [Fe/H]>~-1, the depletion of lithium due to this process is found to be negligible, but for [Fe/H]<~-1.5 the lithium abundance falls by a factor of ~3, consistent with WMAP observations.
The abundance of Li, Be, and B isotopes in galactic cosmic rays (GCR) between E=50-200 MeV/nucleon has been observed by the Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer (CRIS) on NASA's ACE mission since 1997 with high statistical accuracy. Precise observations of Li, Be, B can be used to constrain GCR propagation models. \iffalse Precise observations of Li, Be, and B in addition to well-measured production cross-sections are used to further constrain GCR propagation models. \fi We find that a diffusive reacceleration model with parameters that best match CRIS results (e.g. B/C, Li/C, etc) are also consistent with other GCR observations. A $\sim$15--20% overproduction of Li and Be in the model predictions is attributed to uncertainties in the production cross-section data. The latter becomes a significant limitation to the study of rare GCR species that are generated predominantly via spallation.
The polarization of SN 2002ic interacting with a dense circumstellar envelope is calculated in the context of the asymmetric version of a previously proposed spherical interaction model. The circumstellar envelope is taken to be oblate. The observed polarization (Wang et al. 2004) can be reproduced for an aspect ratio of 0.65-0.7 assuming inclination angles >60 degrees. This model predicts a weak sensitivity of the line profiles to the orientation, in agreement with the absence of significant variations of the line profiles among SN 2002ic-like supernovae. We propose a test for distinguishing between the binary and single star progenitor scenarios based upon the polarization distribution function for the growing sample of these events.
We consider the singular configurations of gravitating gas [1] which could be used as a model for disk galaxies. The simplest steady configuration, which corresponds to rotation of stars around center gives flat rotational curve, provided the density distrubution has a tail, decaying as 1/r. This result based exclusively on Newtonian gravity and does not involve dark matter.
By studying young open clusters, the mechanisms important for star formation over several Myr can be examined. For example, accretion rate as a function of rotational velocity can be investigated. Similarly, sequential star formation triggered by massive stars with high mass-loss rates can be studied in detail. We identified and characterized probable members of NGC 6383, as well as determined cluster parameters. New Stromgren uvby CCD photometry, obtained by us, is presented. This new data, together with Johnson UBV and 2MASS data in the NIR, was used to investigate characteristics of pre- as well as zero age main sequence cluster members. We present Stromgren uvby CCD photometry for 272 stars in the field of NGC 6383 and derive its reddening, E(b-y)=0.21(4)mag, as well as distance, d=1.7(3)kpc from the Sun. Several stars with NIR excess and objects in the domain of the classical Herbig Ae/Be and T Tauri stars were detected. Two previously known variables were identified as rapidly-rotating PMS stars. The field population is clearly separated from the probable members in the color-magnitude diagram. NGC 6383 is a young open cluster, with an age of less than 4 Myr, undergoing continuous star formation. True pre-main sequence members might be found down to absolute magnitudes of +6mag, with a variety of rotational velocities and stellar activities.
GRB050904 is the gamma-ray burst with the highest measured redshift. We performed time resolved X-ray spectroscopy of the late GRB and early afterglow emission. We find robust evidence for a decrease with time of the soft X-ray absorbing column. We model the evolution of the column density due to the flash ionization of the GRB and early afterglow photons. This allows us to constrain the metallicity and geometry of the absorbing cloud. We conclude that the progenitor of GRB050904 was a massive star embedded in a dense metal enriched molecular cloud with Z~0.03 Z_solar. This is the first local measurement of metallicity in the close environment of a GRB and one of the highest redshift metallicity measurements. We also find that the dust associated with the cloud cannot be similar to that of our Galaxy but must be either sizably depleted or dominated by silicate grains. We discuss the implications of these results for GRB progenitors and high redshift star formation.
The analysis of Balmer-dominated optical spectra from non-radiative (adiabatic) SNRs has shown that the ratio of the electron to proton temperature temperature at the blast wave is close to unity at v_s <= 400 km/s, but declines sharply down to the minimum value of (m_e/m_p) dictated by the jump conditions at shock speeds exceeding 2000 km/s. We propose a physical model for the heating of electrons and ions in non-cosmic ray dominated, strong shocks (v_s > 400 km/s) wherein the electrons are heated by lower hybrid waves immediately ahead of the shock front. These waves arise naturally from the cosmic ray pressure gradient upstream from the shock. Our model predicts a nearly constant level of electron heating over a wide range of shock speeds, producing a relationship T_e/T_p ~ 1/v_s**2 (~ 1 /M**2) that is fully consistent with the observations.
The supernova-driven interstellar medium in star-forming galaxies has Reynolds numbers of the order of $10^{6}$ or even larger. We study, by means of adaptive mesh refinement hydro- and magnetohydrodynamical simulations that cover the full available range (from 10 kpc to sub-parsec) scales, the statistical properties of the turbulent interstellar gas and the dimension of the most dissipative structures. The scalings of the structure functions are consistent with a log-Poisson statistics of supersonic turbulence where energy is dissipated mainly through shocks.
We present results from a large global VLBI(Very Long Baseline Interferometry) survey of compact radio sources at 86 GHz which started in October 2001. The main goal of the survey is to increase the total number of objects accessible for future 3mm-VLBI imaging by factors of 3-5. The survey data reach the baseline sensitivity of 0.1 Jy, and image sensitivity of better than 10 mJy/beam. To date, a total of 127 compact radio sources have been observed. The observations have yielded images for 109 sources, and only 6 sources have not been detected. Flux densities and sizes of core and jet components of all detected sources have been measured using Gaussian model fitting. From these measurements, brightness temperatures have been estimated, taking into account resolution limits of the data. Here, we compare the brightness temperatures of the cores and secondary jet components with similar estimates obtained from surveys at longer wavelengths (e.g. 15 GHz). This approach can be used to study questions related to mechanisms of initial jet acceleration (accelerating or decelerating sub-pc jets?) and jet composition (electron-positron or electron-proton plasma?).
Observations using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer have discovered dozens of accreting neutron stars with millisecond spin periods in low-mass binary star systems. Eighteen are millisecond X-ray pulsars powered by accretion or nuclear burning or both. These stars have magnetic fields strong enough for them to become millisecond rotation-powered (radio) pulsars when accretion ceases. Few, if any, accretion- or rotation-powered pulsars have spin rates higher than 750 Hz. There is strong evidence that the spin-up of some accreting neutron stars is limited by magnetic spin equilibrium whereas the spin-up of others is halted when accretion ends. Further study will show whether the spin rates of some accretion- or rotation-powered pulsars are or were limited by emission of gravitational radiation.
We present the results of a project to detect small (~1 km) main-belt asteroids with the 3.6 meter Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). We observed in 2 filters (MegaPrime g' and r') in order to compare the results in each band. Owing to the observational cadence we did not observe the same asteroids through each filter and thus do not have true colour information. However strong differences in the size distributions as seen in the two filters point to a colour-dependence at these sizes, perhaps to be expected in this regime where asteroid cohesiveness begins to be dominated by physical strength and composition rather than by gravity. The best fit slopes of the cumulative size distributions (CSDs) in both filters tend towards lower values for smaller asteroids, consistent with the results of previous studies. In addition to this trend, the size distributions seen in the two filters are distinctly different, with steeper slopes in r' than in g'. Breaking our sample up according to semimajor axis, the difference between the filters in the inner belt is found to be somewhat less pronounced than in the middle and outer belt, but the CSD of those asteroids seen in the r' filter is consistently and significantly steeper than in g' throughout. The CSD slopes also show variations with semimajor axis within a given filter, particularly in r'. We conclude that the size distribution of main belt asteroids is likely to be colour dependent at kilometer sizes and that this dependence may vary across the belt.
Whereas air shower simulations are very valuable tools for interpreting cosmic ray data, there is a long standing problem: is seems to be impossible to accommodate at the same time the longitudinal development of air showers and the number of muons measured at ground. Using a new hadronic interaction model (EPOS) in air shower simulations produces considerably more muons, in agreement with results from the HiRes-MIA experiment. We find that this is mainly due to a better description of baryon-antibaryon production in hadronic interactions. This is a new aspect of air shower physics which has never been considered so far.