21,295 research outputs found
Relativistic jet models for two low-luminosity radio galaxies: evidence for backflow?
We show that asymmetries in total intensity and linear polarization between
the radio jets and counter-jets in two lobed Fanaroff-Riley Class I (FR I)
radio galaxies, B2 0206+35 (UGC 1651) and B2 0755+37 (NGC 2484), can be
accounted for if these jets are intrinsically symmetrical, with decelerating
relativistic outflows surrounded by mildly relativistic backflows. Our
interpretation is motivated by sensitive, well-resolved Very Large Array
imaging which shows that both jets in both sources have a two-component
structure transverse to their axes. Close to the jet axis, a centrally-darkened
counter-jet lies opposite a centrally-brightened jet, but both are surrounded
by broader collimated emission that is brighter on the counter-jet side. We
have adapted our previous models of FR I jets as relativistic outflows to
include an added component of symmetric backflow. We find that the observed
radio emission, after subtracting contributions from the extended lobes, is
well described by models in which decelerating outflows with parameters similar
to those derived for jets in plumed FR I sources are surrounded by backflows
containing predominantly toroidal magnetic fields. These return to within a few
kpc of the galaxies with velocities of roughly 0.25c and radiate with a
synchrotron spectral index close to 0.55. We discuss whether such backflow is
to be expected in lobed FR I sources and suggest ways in which our hypothesis
can be tested by further observations.Comment: 22 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
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A new multi-spectral imaging system for examining paintings
A new multispectral system developed at the National Gallery is presented. The system is capable of measuring the spectral reflectance per pixel of a painting. These spectra are found to be almost as accurate as those recorded with a spectrophotometer; there is no need for any spectral reconstruction apart from a simple cubic interpolation between measured points. The procedure for recording spectra is described and the accuracy of the system is quantified. An example is presented of the use of the system to scan a painting of St. Mary Magdalene by Crivelli. The multispectral data are used in an attempt to identify some of the pigments found in the painting by comparison with a library of spectra obtained from reference pigments using the same system. In addition, it is shown that the multispectral data can be used to render a color image of the original under a chosen illuminant and that interband comparison can help to elucidate features of the painting, such as retouchings and underdrawing, that are not visible in trichromatic images
Evaluating the impact of binary parameter uncertainty on stellar population properties
Binary stars have been shown to have a substantial impact on the integrated light of stellar populations, particularly at low metallicity and early ages - conditions prevalent in the distant Universe. But the fraction of stars in stellar multiples as a function of mass, their likely initial periods and distribution of mass ratios are all known empirically from observations only in the local Universe. Each has associated uncertainties. We explore the impact of these uncertainties in binary parameters on the properties of integrated stellar populations, considering which properties and timescales are most susceptible to uncertainty introduced by binary fractions and whether observations of the integrated light might be sufficient to determine binary parameters. We conclude that the effects of uncertainty in the empirical binary parameter distributions are likely smaller than those introduced by metallicity and stellar population age uncertainties for observational data. We identify emission in the He II 1640Ă
emission line and continuum colour in the ultraviolet-optical as potential indicators of a high mass binary presence, although poorly constrained metallicity, dust extinction and degeneracies in plausible star formation history are likely to swamp any measurable signal
The motion of a deforming capsule through a corner
A three-dimensional deformable capsule convected through a square duct with a
corner is studied via numerical simulations. We develop an accelerated boundary
integral implementation adapted to general geometries and boundary conditions.
A global spectral method is adopted to resolve the dynamics of the capsule
membrane developing elastic tension according to the neo-Hookean constitutive
law and bending moments in an inertialess flow. The simulations show that the
trajectory of the capsule closely follows the underlying streamlines
independently of the capillary number. The membrane deformability, on the other
hand, significantly influences the relative area variations, the advection
velocity and the principal tensions observed during the capsule motion. The
evolution of the capsule velocity displays a loss of the time-reversal symmetry
of Stokes flow due to the elasticity of the membrane. The velocity decreases
while the capsule is approaching the corner as the background flow does,
reaches a minimum at the corner and displays an overshoot past the corner due
to the streamwise elongation induced by the flow acceleration in the downstream
branch. This velocity overshoot increases with confinement while the maxima of
the major principal tension increase linearly with the inverse of the duct
width. Finally, the deformation and tension of the capsule are shown to
decrease in a curved corner
On the use of Gaia magnitudes and new tables of bolometric corrections
The availability of reliable bolometric corrections and reddening estimates,
rather than the quality of parallaxes will be one of the main limiting factors
in determining the luminosities of a large fraction of Gaia stars. With this
goal in mind, we provide Gaia G, BP and RP synthetic photometry for the entire
MARCS grid, and test the performance of our synthetic colours and bolometric
corrections against space-borne absolute spectrophotometry. We find indication
of a magnitude-dependent offset in Gaia DR2 G magnitudes, which must be taken
into account in high accuracy investigations. Our interpolation routines are
easily used to derive bolometric corrections at desired stellar parameters, and
to explore the dependence of Gaia photometry on Teff, log(g), [Fe/H],
alpha-enhancement and E(B-V). Gaia colours for the Sun and Vega, and
Teff-dependent extinction coefficients, are also provided.Comment: MNRAS Letter. Solar colours: BP-G = 0.33, G-RP = 0.49, BP-RP = 0.82.
Mean extinction coefficients at turn-off: R_G = 2.740 , R_BP = 3.374, R_RP =
2.035. Interpolation routines available at
https://github.com/casaluca/bolometric-correction
Analytical approximations of K-corrections in optical and near-infrared bands
To compare photometric properties of galaxies at different redshifts, the
fluxes need to be corrected for the changes of effective rest-frame wavelengths
of filter bandpasses, called K-corrections. Usual approaches to compute them
are based on the template fitting of observed spectral energy distributions
(SED) and, thus, require multi-colour photometry. Here, we demonstrate that, in
cases of widely used optical and near-infrared filters, K-corrections can be
precisely approximated as two-dimensional low-order polynomials of only two
parameters: redshift and one observed colour. With this minimalist approach, we
present the polynomial fitting functions for K-corrections in SDSS ugriz, UKIRT
WFCAM YJHK, Johnson-Cousins UBVR_cI_c, and 2MASS JHK_s bands for galaxies at
redshifts Z<0.5 based on empirically-computed values obtained by fitting
combined optical-NIR SEDs of a set of 10^5 galaxies constructed from SDSS DR7
and UKIDSS DR5 photometry using the Virtual Observatory. For luminous red
galaxies we provide K-corrections as functions of their redshifts only. In two
filters, g and r, we validate our solutions by computing K-corrections directly
from SDSS DR7 spectra. We also present a K-corrections calculator, a web-based
service for computing K-corrections on-line.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, 25 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS.
This version contains low-resolution figures. The "K-corrections calculator"
service is available at http://kcor.sai.msu.ru
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