471 research outputs found
Mass Density of Individual Cobalt Nanowires
The mass density of nanowires is determined using in-situ resonance frequency
experiments combined with quasi-static nanotensile tests. Our results reveal a
mass density of 7.36 g/cm3 on average which is below the theoretical density of
bulk cobalt. Also the density of electrodeposited cobalt nanowires is found to
decrease with the aspect ratio. The results are discussed in terms of the
measurement accuracy and the microstructure of the nanowires.Comment: 3 Figure
Bar-driven Transport of Molecular Gas to Galactic Centers and Its Consequences
We study the characteristics of molecular gas in the central regions of
spiral galaxies on the basis of our CO(J=1-0) imaging survey of 20 nearby
spiral galaxies using the NRO and OVRO millimeter arrays. Condensations of
molecular gas at galactic centers with sizescales < 1 kpc and CO-derived masses
M_gas(R<500pc) = 10^8 - 10^9 M_sun are found to be prevalent in the gas-rich
L^* galaxies. Moreover, the degree of gas concentration to the central kpc is
found to be higher in barred systems than in unbarred galaxies. This is the
first statistical evidence for the higher central concentration of molecular
gas in barred galaxies, and it strongly supports the theory of bar-driven gas
transport. It is most likely that more than half of molecular gas within the
central kpc of a barred galaxy was transported there from outside by the bar.
The supply of gas has exceeded the consumption of gas by star formation in the
central kpc, resulting in the excess gas in the centers of barred systems. The
mean rate of gas inflow is statistically estimated to be larger than 0.1 - 1
M_sun/yr.
The correlation between gas properties in the central kpc and the type of
nuclear spectrum (HII, LINER, or Seyfert) is investigated. A correlation is
found in which galaxies with larger gas-to-dynamical mass ratios tend to have
HII nuclear spectra, while galaxies with smaller ratios show spectra indicating
AGN.
Also, the theoretical prediction of bar-dissolution by condensation of gas to
galactic centers is observationally tested. It is suggested that the timescale
for bar dissolution is larger than 10^8 - 10^10 yr, or a bar in a L^* galaxy is
not destroyed by a condensation of 10^8 - 10^9 M_sun gas in the central kpc.Comment: AASTeX, 20 pages, 8 eps figs, ApJ in press (10 Nov. 1999 issue
Galactic bulge formation as a maximum intensity starburst
Properties of normal galactic star formation, including the density
dependence, threshold density, turbulent scaling relations, and clustering
properties, are applied to the formation of galactic bulges. One important
difference is that the bulge potential well is too deep to have allowed
self-regulation or blow-out by the pressures from young stars, unlike galactic
disks or dwarf galaxies. As a result, bulge formation should have been at the
maximum rate, which is such that most of the gas would get converted into stars
in only a few dynamical time scales, or ~10^8 years. The gas accretion phase
can be longer than this, but once the critical density is reached, which
depends primarily on the total virial density from dark matter, the formation
of stars in the bulge should have been extremely rapid. Such three-dimensional
star formation should also have formed many clusters, like normal disk star
formation today. Some of these clusters may have survived as old globulars, but
most got dispersed, although they might still be observable as concentrated
streams in phase space.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, scheduled for ApJ, vol. 517, May 20, 199
The Central Region of Barred Galaxies: Molecular Environment, Starbursts, and Secular Evolution
Despite compelling evidence that stellar bars drive gas into the inner 1--2
kpc or circumnuclear (CN) region of galaxies, there are few large, high
resolution studies of the CN molecular gas and star formation (SF). We study a
sample of local barred non-starbursts and starbursts with high-resolution CO,
optical, Ha, RC, Br-gamma, and HST data, and find the following. (1) The inner
kpc of bars differs markedly the outer disk and hosts molecular gas surface
densities Sigma-gas-m of 500-3500 Msun pc-2, gas mass fractions of 10--30 %,
and epicyclic frequencies of several 100--1000 km s-1 kpc-1.Consequently,
gravitational instabilities can only set in at high gas densities and grow on a
short timescale (few Myr). This high density, short timescale, `burst' mode may
explain why powerful starbursts tend to be in the CN region of galaxies. (2) We
suggest that the variety in CO morphologies is due to different stages of
bar-driven inflow. At late stages, most of the CN gas is inside the outer inner
Lindblad resonance (OILR), and has predominantly circular motions. Across the
sample, we find bar pattern speeds with upper limits of 43 to 115 km s-1 kpc-1
and OILR radii of > 500 pc. (3) Barred starbursts and non-starbursts have CN
SFRs of 3--11 and 0.1--2 Msun yr-1, despite similar CN gas mass. Sigma-gas-m in
the starbursts is larger (1000--3500 Msun pc-2) and close to the Toomre
critical density over a large region. (4) Molecular gas makes up 10%--30% of
the CN dynamical mass (6--30 x 10^9 Msun).In the starbursts, it fuels CN SFRs
of 3--11 Msun yr-1, building young, massive, high V/sigma components. We
present evidence for such a pseudo-bulge in NGC 3351. Implications for secular
evolution along the Hubble sequence are discussed.Comment: Accepted by the Astrophysical Journal. Paper length reduced to fit
within APJ page limits. Version of paper with high resolution figures is at
http://www.as.utexas.edu/~sj/papers/ms-hires-sj05a.ps.g
Volatile organic emissions from the distillation and pyrolysis of vegetation
International audienceLeaf and woody plant tissue (Pinus ponderosa, Eucalyptus saligna, Quercus gambelli, Saccharum officinarum and Oriza sativa) were heated from 30 to 300°C and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions were identified and quantified. Major VOC emissions were mostly oxygenated and included acetic acid, furylaldehyde, acetol, pyrazine, terpenes, 2,3-butadione, phenol and methanol, as well as smaller emissions of furan, acetone, acetaldehyde, acetonitrile and benzaldehyde. Total VOC emissions from distillation and pyrolysis were on the order of 10 gC/kgC dry weight of vegetation, as much as 33% and 44% of CO2 emissions (gC(VOC)/gC(CO2)) measured during the same experiments, in air and nitrogen atmospheres, respectively. The emissions are similar in identity and quantity to those from smoldering combustion of woody tissue and of different character than those evolved during flaming combustion. VOC emissions from the distillation of pools and endothermic pyrolysis under low turbulence conditions may produce flammable concentrations near leaves and may facilitate the propagation of wildfires. VOC emissions from charcoal production are also related to distillation and pyrolysis; the emissions of the highly reactive VOCs from production are as large as the carbon monoxide emissions
CO Distribution and Kinematics Along the Bar in the Strongly Barred Spiral NGC 7479
We report on the 2.5 arcsec (400 pc) resolution CO (J = 1 -> 0) observations
covering the whole length of the bar in the strongly barred late-type spiral
galaxy NGC 7479. CO emission is detected only along a dust lane that traverses
the whole length of the bar, including the nucleus. The emission is strongest
in the nucleus. The distribution of emission is clumpy along the bar outside
the nucleus, and consists of gas complexes that are unlikely to be
gravitationally bound. The CO kinematics within the bar consist of two separate
components. A kinematically distinct circumnuclear disk, < 500 pc in diameter,
is undergoing predominantly circular motion with a maximum rotational velocity
of 245 km/s at a radius of 1 arcsec (160 pc). The CO-emitting gas in the bar
outside the circumnuclear disk has substantial noncircular motions which are
consistent with a large radial velocity component, directed inwards. The CO
emission has a large velocity gradient across the bar dust lane, ranging from
0.5 to 1.9 km/s/pc after correcting for inclination, and the projected velocity
change across the dust lane is as high as 200 km/s. This sharp velocity
gradient is consistent with a shock front at the location of the bar dust lane.
A comparison of H-alpha and CO kinematics across the dust lane shows that
although the H-alpha emission is often observed both upstream and downstream
from the dust lane, the CO emission is observed only where the velocity
gradient is large. We also compare the observations with hydrodynamic models
and discuss star formation along the bar.Comment: 16 pages, including 10 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
A gas-rich nuclear bar fuelling a powerful central starburst in NGC 2782
We present evidence that the peculiar interacting starburst galaxy NGC 2782
(Arp 215) harbors a gas-rich nuclear stellar bar feeding an M82-class powerful
central starburst, from a study based on OVRO CO (J=1->0) data, WIYN BVR &
Halpha observations, along with available NIR images, a 5 GHz RC map and HST
images. NGC 2782 harbors a clumpy, bar-like CO feature of radius ~ 7.5'' (1.3
kpc) which leads a nuclear stellar bar of similar size. The nuclear CO bar is
massive: it contains ~2.5x10**9 M_sun of molecular gas, which makes up ~ 8 % of
the dynamical'mass present within a 1.3 kpc radius. Within the CO bar, emission
peaks in two extended clumpy lobes which lie on opposite sides of the nucleus,
separated by ~ 6'' (1 kpc). Between the CO lobes, in the inner 200 pc radius,
resides a powerful central starburst which is forming stars at a rate of 3 to 6
M_sun yr-1. While circular motions dominate the CO velocity field, the CO lobes
show weak bar-like streaming motions on the leading side of the nuclear stellar
bar, suggestive of gas inflow. We estimate semi-analytically the gravitational
torque from the nuclear stellar bar on the gas, and suggest large gas inflow
rates from the CO lobes into the central starburst. These observations, which
are amongst the first ones showing a nuclear stellar bar fuelling molecular gas
into an intense central starburst, are consistent with simulations and theory
which suggest that nuclear bars provide an efficient way of transporting gas
closer to the galactic center to fuel central activity. Furthermore, several
massive clumps are present at low radii, and dynamical friction might produce
further gas inflow. We suggest that the nuclear molecular gas bas and central
activity will be very short-lived, likely disappearing within 5x10**8 years.Comment: Accepted by the Astrophysical Journal, 10 pages, Latex with
emulateapj.sty, apjfonts.sty, 10 postscript & 2 gif figure
SPH Simulations of Galactic Gaseous Disk with Bar: Distribution and Kinematic Structure of Molecular Clouds toward the Galactic Center
We have performed Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamic (SPH) simulations to study
the response of molecular clouds in the Galactic disk to a rotating bar and
their subsequent evolution in the Galactic Center (GC) region. The Galactic
potential in our models is contributed by three axisymmetric components
(massive halo, exponential disk, compact bulge) and a non-axisymmetric bar.
These components are assumed to be invariant in time in the frame corotating
with the bar. Some noticeable features such as an elliptical outer ring, spiral
arms, a gas-depletion region, and a central concentration have been developed
due to the influence of the bar. The rotating bar induces non-circular motions
of the SPH particles, but hydrodynamic collisions tend to suppress the random
components of the velocity. The velocity field of the SPH particles is
consistent with the kinematics of molecular clouds observed in HCN (1-0)
transition; these clouds are thought to be very dense clouds. However, the l-v
diagram of the clouds traced by CO is quite different from that of our SPH
simulation, being more similar to that obtained from simulations using
collisionless particles. The diagram of a mixture of collisional and
collisionless particles gives better reproduction of the kinematic structures
of the GC clouds observed in the CO line. The fact that the kinematics of HCN
clouds can be reproduced by the SPH particles suggests that the dense clouds in
the GC are formed via cloud collisions induced by rotating bar.Comment: 31 pages, 10 pigures, accepted for publication in Ap
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