10,652 research outputs found
Baroclinic geostrophic adjustment in a rotating circular basin
Baroclinic geostrophic adjustment in a rotating circular basin is investigated in a laboratory study. The adjustment process consists of a linear phase before advective and dissipative effects dominate the response for longer time. This work describes in detail the hydrodynamics and energetics of the linear phase of the adjustment process of a two-layer fluid from an initial step height discontinuity in the density interface DeltaH to a final response consisting of both geostrophic and fluctuating components. For a forcing lengthscale r(f) equal to the basin radius R-0, the geostrophic component takes the form of a basin-scale double gyre while the fluctuating component is composed of baroclinic Kelvin and Poincare waves. The Burger number S=R/r(f) (R is the baroclinic Rossby radius of deformation) and the dimensionless forcing amplitude epsilon = DeltaH/H-1 (H-1 is the upper-layer depth) characterize the response of the adjustment process. In particular, comparisons between analytical solutions and laboratory measurements indicate that for time tau: 1 < tau < S-1 (tau is time scaled by the inertial period 2pi/f), the basin-scale double gyre is established, followed by a period where the double gyre is sustained, given by S-1 < tau < 2epsilon(-1) for a moderate forcing and S-1 < tau < tau(D) for a weak forcing (tau(D) is the dimensionless dissipation timescale due to Ekman damping). The analytical solution is used to calculate the energetics of the baroclinic geostrophic adjustment. The results are found to compare well with previous studies with partitioning of energy between the geostrophic and fluctuating components exhibiting a strong dependence on S. Finally, the outcomes of this study are considered in terms of their application to lakes influenced by the rotation of the Earth
Molecular Line Profile Fitting with Analytic Radiative Transfer Models
We present a study of analytic models of starless cores whose line profiles
have ``infall asymmetry,'' or blue-skewed shapes indicative of contracting
motions. We compare the ability of two types of analytical radiative transfer
models to reproduce the line profiles and infall speeds of centrally condensed
starless cores whose infall speeds are spatially constant and range between 0
and 0.2 km s-1. The model line profiles of HCO+ (J=1-0) and HCO+ (J=3-2) are
produced by a self-consistent Monte Carlo radiative transfer code. The analytic
models assume that the excitation temperature in the front of the cloud is
either constant (``two-layer'' model) or increases inward as a linear function
of optical depth (``hill'' model). Each analytic model is matched to the line
profile by rapid least-squares fitting.
The blue-asymmetric line profiles with two peaks, or with a blue shifted peak
and a red shifted shoulder, can be well fit by the ``HILL5'' model (a five
parameter version of the hill model), with an RMS error of 0.02 km s-1. A peak
signal to noise ratio of at least 30 in the molecular line observations is
required for performing these analytic radiative transfer fits to the line
profiles.Comment: 48 pages, 20 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
The unusual protoplanetary disk around the T Tauri star ET Cha
We present new continuum and line observations, along with modelling, of the
faint (6-8) Myr old T Tauri star ET Cha belonging to the eta Chamaeleontis
cluster. We have acquired HERSCHEL/PACS photometric fluxes at 70 mic and 160
mic, as well as a detection of the [OI] 63 mic fine-structure line in emission,
and derived upper limits for some other far-IR OI, CII, CO and o-H2O lines. The
HERSCHEL data is complemented by new ANDICAM B-K photometry, new HST/COS and
HST/STIS UV-observations, a non-detection of CO J=3-2 with APEX, re-analysis of
a UCLES high-resolution optical spectrum showing forbidden emission lines like
[OI] 6300A, [SII] 6731A and 6716A, and [NII] 6583A, and a compilation of
existing broad-band photometric data. We used the thermo-chemical disk code
ProDiMo and the Monte-Carlo radiative transfer code MCFOST to model the
protoplanetary disk around ET Cha. Based on these models we can determine the
disk dust mass Mdust = (2.E-8 - 5.E-8) Msun, whereas the total disk gas mass is
found to be only little constrained, Mgas = (5.E-5 - 3.E-3) Msun. In the
models, the disk extends from 0.022 AU (just outside of the co-rotation radius)
to only about 10 AU. Larger disks are found to be inconsistent with the CO
J=3-2 non-detection. The low velocity component of the [OI] 6300A emission line
is consistent with being emitted from the inner disk. The model can also
reproduce the line flux of H2 v=1-0 S(1) at 2.122 mic. An additional
high-velocity component of the [OI] 6300A emission line, however, points to the
existence of an additional jet/outflow of low velocity (40 - 65) km/s with mass
loss rate ~1.E-9 Msun/yr. In relation to our low estimations of the disk mass,
such a mass loss rate suggests a disk lifetime of only ~(0.05 - 3) Myr,
substantially shorter than the cluster age. The evolutionary state of this
unusual protoplanetary disk is discussed.Comment: accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics (18 pages, 11 figures and 7
tables). Additional 9-page appendix with 6 figures, 3 tables and 37 equation
An X-ray spectral survey of the disc of M31 with XMM-Newton
We present the results of a complete spectral survey of the X-ray point
sources detected in five XMM-Newton observations along the major axis of M31
but avoiding the central bulge, aimed at establishing the population
characteristics of X-ray sources in this galaxy. We obtained background
subtracted spectra and lightcurves for each of the 335 X-ray point sources
detected across the five observations from 2002. We also correlate our source
list with those of earlier X-ray surveys and radio, optical and infra-red
catalogues. Sources with more than 50 source counts are individually spectrally
fit in order to create the most accurate luminosity functions of M31 to date.
Based on the spectral fitting of these sources with a power law model, we
observe a broad range of best fit photon index. From this distribution of best
fit index, we identify 16 strong high mass X-ray binary system candidates in
M31. We show the first cumulative luminosity functions created using the best
fit spectral model to each source with more than 50 source counts in the disc
of M31. The cumulative luminosity functions show a prominent, statistically
significant flattening in the X-ray luminosity LX interval 37.0 \lesssim log LX
erg s-1 \lesssim 37.5. Such a feature may also be present in the X-ray
populations of several other galaxies, but at a much lower statistical
significance. We investigate the number of AGN present in our source list and
find that above LX ~1.4x1036 erg s-1 the observed population is statistically
dominated by the point source population of M31.Comment: accepted by A&A. 24 pages, 6 figures, 7 table
On the Nature of the mHz X-Ray Quasi-periodic Oscillations from Ultraluminous X-Ray Source M82 X-1: Search for Timing-Spectral Correlations
Using all the archival XMM-Newton X-ray (3-10 keV) observations of the
ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) M82 X-1 we searched for a correlation between
its variable mHz quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) frequency and its hardness
ratio (5-10 keV/3-5 keV), an indicator of the energy spectral power-law index.
When stellar-mass black holes (StMBHs) exhibit Type-C low-frequency QPOs (~
0.2-15 Hz) the centroid frequency of the QPO is known to correlate with the
energy spectral index. The detection of such a correlation would strengthen the
identification of M82 X-1's mHz QPOs as Type-C and enable a more reliable mass
estimate by scaling its QPO frequencies to those of Type-C QPOs in StMBHs of
known mass. We resolved the count rates and the hardness ratios of M82 X-1 and
a nearby bright ULX (source 5/X42.3+59) through surface brightness modeling. We
detected QPOs in the frequency range of 36-210 mHz during which M82 X-1's
hardness ratio varied from 0.42-0.47. Our primary results are: (1) we do not
detect any correlation between the mHz QPO frequency and the hardness ratio (a
substitute for the energy spectral power-law index) and (2) similar to some
accreting X-ray binaries, we find that M82 X-1's mHz QPO frequency increases
with its X-ray count rate (Pearson's correlation coefficient = +0.97). The
apparent lack of a correlation between the QPO centroid frequency and the
hardness ratio poses a challenge to the earlier claims that the mHz QPOs of M82
X-1 are the analogs of the Type-C low-frequency QPOs of StMBHs. On the other
hand, it is possible that the observed relation between the hardness ratio and
the QPO frequency represents the saturated portion of the correlation seen in
Type-C QPOs of StMBHs -- in which case M82 X-1's mHz QPOs can still be
analogous to Type-C QPOs.Comment: Published in Ap
Faint [CI](1-0) emission in z 3.5 radio galaxies
We present Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) neutral
carbon, [C I](1-0), line observations that probe molecular hydrogen gas (H)
within seven radio galaxies at surrounded by extended
( kpc) Ly- nebulae. We extract [C I](1-0) emission from the
radio-active galactic nuclei (AGN) host galaxies whose positions are set by
near-infrared detections and radio detections of the cores. Additionally, we
place constraints on the galaxies' systemic redshifts via He II 1640
lines seen with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE). We detect faint
[C I] emission in four out of seven sources. In two of these galaxies, we
discover narrow line emission of full width at half maximum km
s which may trace emission from bright kpc-scale gas clouds within the
ISM. In the other two [C I]-detected galaxies, line dispersions range from
km s and may be tracing the rotational component of the
cold gas. Overall, the [C I] line luminosities correspond to H masses of
M for the detections
and M for the [C I] non-detections
in three out of seven galaxies within the sample. The molecular gas masses in
our sample are relatively low in comparison to previously reported measures for
similar galaxies which are M Our
results imply that the observed faintness in carbon emission is representative
of a decline in molecular gas supply from previous star-formation epochs and/or
a displacement of molecular gas from the ISM due to jet-powered outflows.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures and 5 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA
A gas density drop in the inner 6 AU of the transition disk around the Herbig Ae star HD 139614
A. Carmona was partly supported by the Spanish Grant AYA 2011-26202. A. Carmona, A. Kospal and Zs. Regaly were partly supported by the Momentum grant of the MTA CSFK Lendulet Disk Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. A. Carmona and C. Pinte acknowledge funding from the European Commission’s 7th Framework Program (ECFP7) (contract PERG06-GA-2009-256513) and from Agence Nationale pour la Recherche (ANR) of France under contract ANR-2010-JCJC-0504-01. A. Carmona acknowledges financial support by the European Southern Observatory visitors program. The research leading to these results has received funding from the EC-FP7 under grant agreement no 284405. C. Eiroa is partly supported by the Spanish Grant AYA 2014-55840-P L. A. Cieza was supported by CONICYT-FONDECYT grant number 1140109 and the Millennium Science Initiative (Chilean Ministry of Economy), through grant Nucleus RC130007.Context. Quantifying the gas surface density inside the dust cavities and gaps of transition disks is important to establish their origin. Aims. We seek to constrain the surface density of warm gas in the inner disk of HD 139614, an accreting 9 Myr Herbig Ae star with a (pre-)transition disk exhibiting a dust gap from 2.30.1 to 5.60.3 AU. Methods. We observed HD 139614 with ESO/VLT CRIRES and obtained high-resolution (R~90 000) spectra of CO isotopologues ro-vibrational emission at 4.7 μm. We derive constraints on the disk’s structure by modeling the CO isotopologue line profiles, the spectroastrometric signal, and the rotational diagrams using grids of flat Keplerian disk models. Results. We detected v = 1 → 0 12CO, 2→1 12CO, 1→0 13CO, 1→0 C18O, and 1→0 C17O ro-vibrational lines. Lines are consistent with disk emission and thermal excitation. 12CO v = 1→ 0 lines have an average width of 14 km s-1, Tgas of 450 K and an emitting region from 1 to 15 AU. 13CO and C18O lines are on average 70 and 100 K colder, 1 and 4 km s-1 narrower than 12CO v = 1→ 0, and are dominated by emission at R ≥ 6 AU. The 12CO = 1 → 0 composite line profile indicates that if there is a gap devoid of gas it must have a width narrower than 2 AU. We find that a drop in the gas surface density (δgas) at R = 5 — 6 AU is required to be able to reproduce the line profiles and rotational diagrams of the three CO isotopologues simultaneously. Models without a gas density drop generate 13CO and C18O emission lines that are too broad and warm. The value of gas can range from 10-2 to 10-4 depending on the gas-to-dust ratio of the outer disk. We find that the gas surface density profile at 1 2 AU) gas gap suggest the presence of an embedded < 2 MJ planet at around 4 AU.PostprintPeer reviewe
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