6,157 research outputs found
Inflowing gas onto a compact obscured nucleus in Arp 299A: Herschel spectroscopic studies of H2O and OH
Aims. We probe the physical conditions in the core of Arp 299A and try to put
constraints to the nature of its nuclear power source. Methods. We used
Herschel Space Observatory far-infrared and submillimeter observations of H2O
and OH rotational lines in Arp 299A to create a multi-component model of the
galaxy. In doing this, we employed a spherically symmetric radiative transfer
code. Results. Nine H2O lines in absorption and eight in emission as well as
four OH doublets in absorption and one in emission, are detected in Arp 299A.
No lines of the 18O isotopologues, which have been seen in compact obscured
nuclei of other galaxies, are detected. The absorption in the ground state OH
doublet at 119 {\mu}m is found redshifted by ~175 km/s compared to other OH and
H2O lines, suggesting a low excitation inflow. We find that at least two
components are required in order to account for the excited molecular line
spectrum. The inner component has a radius of 20-25 pc, a very high infrared
surface brightness (> 3e13 Lsun/kpc^2), warm dust (Td > 90 K), and a large H2
column density (NH2 > 1e24 cm^-2). The outer component is larger (50-100 pc)
with slightly cooler dust (70-90 K). In addition, a much more extended
inflowing component is required to also account for the OH doublet at 119
{\mu}m. Conclusions. The Compton-thick nature of the core makes it difficult to
determine the nature of the buried power source, but the high surface
brightness indicates that it is either an active galactic nucleus and/or a
dense nuclear starburst. The high OH/H2O ratio in the nucleus indicates that
ion-neutral chemistry induced by X-rays or cosmic-rays is important. Finally we
find a lower limit to the 16O/18O ratio of 400 in the nuclear region, possibly
indicating that the nuclear starburst is in an early evolutionary stage, or
that it is fed through a molecular inflow of, at most, solar metallicity.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, Accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Modeling the H2O submillimeter emission in extragalactic sources
Recent observational studies have shown that H2O emission at (rest)
submillimeter wavelengths is ubiquitous in infrared galaxies, both in the local
and in the early Universe, suggestive of far-infrared pumping of H2O by dust in
warm regions. In this work, models are presented that show that (i) the
highest-lying H2O lines (E_{upper}>400 K) are formed in very warm (T_{dust}>~90
K) regions and require high H2O columns (N_{H2O}>~3x10^{17} cm^{-2}), while
lower lying lines can be efficiently excited with T_{dust}~45-75 K and
N_{H2O}~(0.5-2)x10^{17} cm^{-2}; (ii) significant collisional excitation of the
lowest lying (E_{upper}<200 K) levels, which enhances the overall
L_{H2O}-L_{IR} ratios, is identified in sources where the ground-state para-H2O
1_{11}-0_{00} line is detected in emission; (iii) the H2O-to-infrared (8-1000
um) luminosity ratio is expected to decrease with increasing T_{dust} for all
lines with E_{upper}<~300 K, as has recently been reported in a sample of
LIRGs, but increases with T_{dust} for the highest lying H2O lines
(E_{upper}>400 K); (iv) we find theoretical upper limits for L_{H2O}/L_{IR} in
warm environments, owing to H2O line saturation; (v) individual models are
presented for two very different prototypical galaxies, the Seyfert 2 galaxy
NGC 1068 and the nearest ultraluminous infrared galaxy Arp 220, showing that
the excited submillimeter H2O emission is dominated by far-infrared pumping in
both cases; (vi) the L_{H2O}-L_{IR} correlation previously reported in
observational studies indicates depletion or exhaustion time scales,
t_{dep}=Sigma_{gas}/Sigma_{SFR}, of <~12 Myr for star-forming sources where
lines up to E_{upper}=300 K are detected, in agreement with the values
previously found for (U)LIRGs from HCN millimeter emission...Comment: 13 pages, 13 figure
Extended Far-Infrared CO Emission in the Orion OMC-1 Core
We report on sensitive far-infrared observations of CO pure rotational
transitions in the OMC-1 core of Orion. The lines were observed with the Long
Wavelength Spectrometer (LWS) in the grating mode on board the Infrared Space
Observatory (ISO), covering the 43-197 m wavelength range. The transitions
from up to have been identified across the whole OMC-1
core and lines up to have been detected towards the central
region, KL/IRc2. In addition, we have taken high-quality spectra in the
Fabry-Perot mode of some of the CO lines. In KL/IRc2 the lines are
satisfactorily accounted for by a three-temperature model describing the
plateau and ridge emission. The fluxes detected in the high- transitions
() reveal the presence of a very hot and dense gas component
( K; =2\times 10^{17}\cmmd\rm H_2\geq 80$ K and as high as 150 K at some positions around IRc2,
from a simple Large-Velocity Gradient model.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Windows through the Dusty Disks Surrounding the Youngest Low Mass Protostellar Objects
The formation and evolution of young low mass stars are characterized by
important processes of mass loss and accretion ocurring in the innermost
regions of their placentary circumstellar disks. Because of the large
obscuration of these disks at optical and infrared wavelengths in the early
protostellar stages (Class 0 Sources), they were previously detected only at
radio wavelengths using interferometric techniques. We have detected with the
Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) the mid-infrared emission associated with the
Class 0 protostar VLA1 in the HH1-2 region located in the Orion nebula. The
emission arises in the three wavelength windows at 5.3, 6.6 and 7.5 micras
where the absorption due to ices and silicates has a local minimum that exposes
the central parts of the youngest protostellar systems to mid-infrared
investigations. The mid-infrared emission arises from a central source with 4
AU diameter at an averaged temperature of 700 K, deeply embedded in a dense
region with a visual extinction of Av=80-100mag.Comment: The article is here and on pres
Surface electromyographic control of a novel phonemic interface for speech synthesis
Many individuals with minimal movement capabilities use AAC to communicate. These individuals require both an interface with which to construct a message (e.g., a grid of letters) and an input modality with which to select targets. This study evaluated the interaction of two such systems: (a) an input modality using surface electromyography (sEMG) of spared facial musculature, and (b) an onscreen interface from which users select phonemic targets. These systems were evaluated in two experiments: (a) participants without motor impairments used the systems during a series of eight training sessions, and (b) one individual who uses AAC used the systems for two sessions. Both the phonemic interface and the electromyographic cursor show promise for future AAC applications.F31 DC014872 - NIDCD NIH HHS; R01 DC002852 - NIDCD NIH HHS; R01 DC007683 - NIDCD NIH HHS; T90 DA032484 - NIDA NIH HHShttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Surface+electromyographic+control+of+a+novel+phonemic+interface+for+speech+synthesishttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Surface+electromyographic+control+of+a+novel+phonemic+interface+for+speech+synthesisPublished versio
Water vapor emission from IRC+10216 and other carbon-rich stars: model predictions and prospects for multitransition observations
We have modeled the emission of H2O rotational lines from the extreme C-rich
star IRC+10216. Our treatment of the excitation of H2O emissions takes into
account the excitation of H2O both through collisions, and through the pumping
of the nu2 and nu3 vibrational states by dust emission and subsequent decay to
the ground state. Regardless of the spatial distribution of the water
molecules, the H2O 1_{10}-1_{01} line at 557 GHz observed by the Submillimeter
Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS) is found to be pumped primarily through the
absorption of dust-emitted photons at 6 m in the nu2 band. As noted by
previous authors, the inclusion of radiative pumping lowers the ortho-H2O
abundance required to account for the 557 GHz emission, which is found to be
(0.5-1)x10^{-7} if the presence of H2O is a consequence of vaporization of
orbiting comets or Fischer-Tropsch catalysis. Predictions for other
submillimeter H2O lines that can be observed by the Herschel Space Observatory
(HSO) are reported. Multitransition HSO observations promise to reveal the
spatial distribution of the circumstellar water vapor, discriminating among the
several hypotheses that have been proposed for the origin of the H2O vapor in
the envelope of IRC+10216. We also show that, for observations with HSO, the
H2O 1_{10}-1_{01} 557 GHz line affords the greatest sensitivity in searching
for H2O in other C-rich AGB stars.Comment: 35 pages, 12 figures, to be published in The Astrophysical Journa
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