1,892 research outputs found
Measuring the redshift dependence of the CMB monopole temperature with PLANCK data
We study the power of PLANCK data to constrain deviations of the Cosmic
Microwave Background black body temperature from adiabatic evolution using the
thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich anisotropy induced by clusters of galaxies. We
consider two types of data sets: the cosmological signal is removed in the Time
Ordered Information or is removed from the final maps; and two different
statistical estimators, based on the ratio of temperature anisotropies at two
different frequencies and on a fit to the spectral variation of the cluster
signal with frequency. To test for systematics, we construct a template from
clusters drawn from a hydro-simulation included in the pre-launch Planck Sky
Model. We demonstrate that, using a proprietary catalog of X-ray selected
clusters with measured redshifts, electron densities and X-ray temperatures, we
can constrain deviations of adiabatic evolution, measured by the parameter
in the redshift scaling , with an accuracy
of in the most optimal case and with
for a less optimal case. These results represent a factor
2-3 improvement over similar measurements carried out using quasar spectral
lines and a factor 6-20 with respect to earlier results using smaller cluster
samples.Comment: 12 pages in ApJ styl
The OTELO survey. A case study of [O III]4959,5007 emitters at <z> = 0.83
The OTELO survey is a very deep, blind exploration of a selected region of
the Extended Groth Strip and is designed for finding emission-line sources
(ELSs). The survey design, observations, data reduction, astrometry, and
photometry, as well as the correlation with ancillary data used to obtain a
final catalogue, including photo-z estimates and a preliminary selection of
ELS, were described in a previous contribution. Here, we aim to determine the
main properties and luminosity function (LF) of the [O III] ELS sample of OTELO
as a scientific demonstration of its capabilities, advantages, and
complementarity with respect to other surveys. The selection and analysis
procedures of ELS candidates obtained using tunable filter (TF) pseudo-spectra
are described. We performed simulations in the parameter space of the survey to
obtain emission-line detection probabilities. Relevant characteristics of [O
III] emitters and the LF([O III]), including the main selection biases and
uncertainties, are presented. A total of 184 sources were confirmed as [O III]
emitters at a mean redshift z=0.83. The minimum detectable line flux and
equivalent width (EW) in this ELS sample are 5 10 erg
s cm and 6 \AA, respectively. We are able to constrain the
faint-end slope () of the observed LF([O III]) at
z=0.83. This LF reaches values that are approximately ten times lower than
those from other surveys. The vast majority (84\%) of the morphologically
classified [O III] ELSs are disc-like sources, and 87\% of this sample is
comprised of galaxies with stellar masses of M 10
M.Comment: v1: 16 pages, 6 figures. Accepted in Astronomy \& Astrophysics. v2:
Author added in metadat
Stray-light contamination and spatial deconvolution of slit-spectrograph observations
Stray light caused by scattering on optical surfaces and in the Earth's
atmosphere degrades the spatial resolution of observations. We study the
contribution of stray light to the two channels of POLIS. We test the
performance of different methods of stray-light correction and spatial
deconvolution to improve the spatial resolution post-facto. We model the stray
light as having two components: a spectrally dispersed component and a
component of parasitic light caused by scattering inside the spectrograph. We
use several measurements to estimate the two contributions: observations with a
(partly) blocked FOV, a convolution of the FTS spectral atlas, imaging in the
pupil plane, umbral profiles, and spurious polarization signal in telluric
lines. The measurements allow us to estimate the spatial PSF of POLIS and the
main spectrograph of the German VTT. We use the PSF for a deconvolution of both
spectropolarimetric data and investigate the effect on the spectra. The
parasitic contribution can be directly and accurately determined for POLIS,
amounting to about 5%. We estimate a lower limit of about 10% across the full
FOV for the dispersed stray light. In quiet Sun regions, the stray-light level
from the close surroundings (d< 2") of a given spatial point is about 20%. The
stray light reduces to below 2% at a distance of 20" from a lit area for both
POLIS and the main spectrograph. A two-component model of the stray-light
contributions seems to be sufficient for a basic correction of observed
spectra. The instrumental PSF obtained can be used to model the off-limb stray
light, to determine the stray-light contamination accurately for observation
targets with large spatial intensity gradients such as sunspots, and also
allows one to improve the spatial resolution of observations post-facto.Comment: 14 pages, 16 figures, accepted by A&A. Version V2 revised for
language editin
Illusion and Reality in the Atmospheres of Exoplanets
The atmospheres of exoplanets reveal all their properties beyond mass,
radius, and orbit. Based on bulk densities, we know that exoplanets larger than
1.5 Earth radii must have gaseous envelopes, hence atmospheres. We discuss
contemporary techniques for characterization of exoplanetary atmospheres. The
measurements are difficult, because - even in current favorable cases - the
signals can be as small as 0.001-percent of the host star's flux. Consequently,
some early results have been illusory, and not confirmed by subsequent
investigations. Prominent illusions to date include polarized scattered light,
temperature inversions, and the existence of carbon planets. The field moves
from the first tentative and often incorrect conclusions, converging to the
reality of exoplanetary atmospheres. That reality is revealed using transits
for close-in exoplanets, and direct imaging for young or massive exoplanets in
distant orbits. Several atomic and molecular constituents have now been
robustly detected in exoplanets as small as Neptune. In our current
observations, the effects of clouds and haze appear ubiquitous. Topics at the
current frontier include the measurement of heavy element abundances in giant
planets, detection of carbon-based molecules, measurement of atmospheric
temperature profiles, definition of heat circulation efficiencies for tidally
locked planets, and the push to detect and characterize the atmospheres of
super-Earths. Future observatories for this quest include the James Webb Space
Telescope, and the new generation of Extremely Large Telescopes on the ground.
On a more distant horizon, NASA's concepts for the HabEx and LUVOIR missions
could extend the study of exoplanetary atmospheres to true twins of Earth.Comment: Invited Review for the 25th Anniversary issue of JGR Planets, in
pres
Bayesian separation of spectral sources under non-negativity and full additivity constraints
This paper addresses the problem of separating spectral sources which are
linearly mixed with unknown proportions. The main difficulty of the problem is
to ensure the full additivity (sum-to-one) of the mixing coefficients and
non-negativity of sources and mixing coefficients. A Bayesian estimation
approach based on Gamma priors was recently proposed to handle the
non-negativity constraints in a linear mixture model. However, incorporating
the full additivity constraint requires further developments. This paper
studies a new hierarchical Bayesian model appropriate to the non-negativity and
sum-to-one constraints associated to the regressors and regression coefficients
of linear mixtures. The estimation of the unknown parameters of this model is
performed using samples generated using an appropriate Gibbs sampler. The
performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated through simulation results
conducted on synthetic mixture models. The proposed approach is also applied to
the processing of multicomponent chemical mixtures resulting from Raman
spectroscopy.Comment: v4: minor grammatical changes; Signal Processing, 200
Spatial deconvolution of spectropolarimetric data: an application to quiet Sun magnetic elements
Observations of the Sun from the Earth are always limited by the presence of
the atmosphere, which strongly disturbs the images. A solution to this problem
is to place the telescopes in space satellites, which produce observations
without any (or limited) atmospheric aberrations. However, even though the
images from space are not affected by atmospheric seeing, the optical
properties of the instruments still limit the observations. In the case of
diffraction limited observations, the PSF establishes the maximum allowed
spatial resolution, defined as the distance between two nearby structures that
can be properly distinguished. In addition, the shape of the PSF induce a
dispersion of the light from different parts of the image, leading to what is
commonly termed as stray light or dispersed light. This effect produces that
light observed in a spatial location at the focal plane is a combination of the
light emitted in the object at relatively distant spatial locations. We aim to
correct the effect produced by the telescope's PSF using a deconvolution
method, and we decided to apply the code on Hinode/SP quiet Sun observations.
We analyze the validity of the deconvolution process with noisy data and we
infer the physical properties of quiet Sun magnetic elements after the
deconvolution process.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure
Modern optical astronomy: technology and impact of interferometry
The present `state of the art' and the path to future progress in high
spatial resolution imaging interferometry is reviewed. The review begins with a
treatment of the fundamentals of stellar optical interferometry, the origin,
properties, optical effects of turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere, the
passive methods that are applied on a single telescope to overcome atmospheric
image degradation such as speckle interferometry, and various other techniques.
These topics include differential speckle interferometry, speckle spectroscopy
and polarimetry, phase diversity, wavefront shearing interferometry,
phase-closure methods, dark speckle imaging, as well as the limitations imposed
by the detectors on the performance of speckle imaging. A brief account is
given of the technological innovation of adaptive-optics (AO) to compensate
such atmospheric effects on the image in real time. A major advancement
involves the transition from single-aperture to the dilute-aperture
interferometry using multiple telescopes. Therefore, the review deals with
recent developments involving ground-based, and space-based optical arrays.
Emphasis is placed on the problems specific to delay-lines, beam recombination,
polarization, dispersion, fringe-tracking, bootstrapping, coherencing and
cophasing, and recovery of the visibility functions. The role of AO in
enhancing visibilities is also discussed. The applications of interferometry,
such as imaging, astrometry, and nulling are described. The mathematical
intricacies of the various `post-detection' image-processing techniques are
examined critically. The review concludes with a discussion of the
astrophysical importance and the perspectives of interferometry.Comment: 65 pages LaTeX file including 23 figures. Reviews of Modern Physics,
2002, to appear in April issu
Radio Weak Gravitational Lensing with VLA and MERLIN
We carry out an exploratory weak gravitational lensing analysis on a combined
VLA and MERLIN radio data set: a deep (3.3 micro-Jy beam^-1 rms noise) 1.4 GHz
image of the Hubble Deep Field North. We measure the shear estimator
distribution at this radio sensitivity for the first time, finding a similar
distribution to that of optical shear estimators for HST ACS data in this
field. We examine the residual systematics in shear estimation for the radio
data, and give cosmological constraints from radio-optical shear
cross-correlation functions. We emphasize the utility of cross-correlating
shear estimators from radio and optical data in order to reduce the impact of
systematics. Unexpectedly we find no evidence of correlation between optical
and radio intrinsic ellipticities of matched objects; this result improves the
properties of optical-radio lensing cross-correlations. We explore the
ellipticity distribution of the radio counterparts to optical sources
statistically, confirming the lack of correlation; as a result we suggest a
connected statistical approach to radio shear measurements.Comment: 16 pages with 19 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS; Minor
corrections to section 6.3; 2 references adde
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