3,851 research outputs found
Massive envelopes and filaments in the NGC 3603 star forming region
The formation of massive stars and their arrival on the zero-age
main-sequence occurs hidden behind dense clouds of gas and dust. In the giant
Hii region NGC 3603, the radiation of a young cluster of OB stars has dispersed
dust and gas in its vicinity. At a projected distance of 2:5 pc from the
cluster, a bright mid-infrared (mid-IR) source (IRS 9A) had been identified as
a massive young stellar object (MYSO), located on the side of a molecular clump
(MM2) of gas facing the cluster. We investigated the physical conditions in
MM2, based on APEX sub-mm observations using the SABOCA and SHFI instruments,
and archival ATCA 3 mm continuum and CS spectral line data. We resolved MM2
into several compact cores, one of them closely associated with IRS 9A. These
are likely infrared dark clouds as they do not show the typical hot-core
emission lines and are mostly opaque against the mid-IR background. The compact
cores have masses of up to several hundred times the solar mass and gas
temperatures of about 50 K, without evidence of internal ionizing sources. We
speculate that IRS 9A is younger than the cluster stars, but is in an
evolutionary state after that of the compact cores
A transient outward current in a mammalian central neurone blocked by 4-aminopyridine
It is becoming increasingly clear that nerve cells in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS) have a very complex electroresponsiveness. They exhibit not only time- and voltage-dependent Na+ and K+ conductances, analogous to those in the squid giant axon1, but also a variety of other conductances that have a significant role in the control of cell excitability. Of the outward currents, there are, in addition to the delayed rectifier, the Ca2+-activated K+ current2,3 which underlies the long-lasting spike afterhyperpolarization, and the M current4, a non-inactivating K+ current evoked by membrane depolarization and blocked by muscarinic, cholinergic agonists. We demonstrate here the existence in a mammalian central neurone (hip-pocampal CA3 pyramidal cells) of yet another outward current, which is transient and may be carried by K+ ions. Further, the experiments show that this current is substantially reduced by the convulsant 4-aminopyridine (4-AP)5, resulting in a marked increase in cell excitability
Statistics of Core Lifetimes in Numerical Simulations of Turbulent, Magnetically Supercritical Molecular Clouds
We present measurements of the mean dense core lifetimes in numerical
simulations of magnetically supercritical, turbulent, isothermal molecular
clouds, in order to compare with observational determinations. "Prestellar"
lifetimes (given as a function of the mean density within the cores, which in
turn is determined by the density threshold n_thr used to define them) are
consistent with observationally reported values, ranging from a few to several
free-fall times. We also present estimates of the fraction of cores in the
"prestellar", "stellar'', and "failed" (those cores that redisperse back into
the environment) stages as a function of n_thr. The number ratios are measured
indirectly in the simulations due to their resolution limitations. Our approach
contains one free parameter, the lifetime of a protostellar object t_yso (Class
0 + Class I stages), which is outside the realm of the simulations. Assuming a
value t_yso = 0.46 Myr, we obtain number ratios of starless to stellar cores
ranging from 4-5 at n_thr = 1.5 x 10^4 cm^-3 to 1 at n_thr = 1.2 x 10^5 cm^-3,
again in good agreement with observational determinations. We also find that
the mass in the failed cores is comparable to that in stellar cores at n_thr =
1.5 x 10^4 cm^-3, but becomes negligible at n_thr = 1.2 x 10^5 cm^-3, in
agreement with recent observational suggestions that at the latter densities
the cores are in general gravitationally dominated. We conclude by noting that
the timescale for core contraction and collapse is virtually the same in the
subcritical, ambipolar diffusion-mediated model of star formation, in the model
of star formation in turbulent supercritical clouds, and in a model
intermediate between the previous two, for currently accepted values of the
clouds' magnetic criticality.Comment: 25 pages, 8 figures, ApJ accepted. Fig.1 animation is at
http://www.astrosmo.unam.mx/~e.vazquez/turbulence/movies/Galvan_etal07/Galvan_etal07.htm
On the causes of plasmaspheric rotation variability: IMAGE EUV observations
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95534/1/jgra20000.pd
Closure Relations of Synchrotron Self-Compton in Afterglow stratified medium and Fermi-LAT Detected Gamma-Ray Bursts
The Second Gamma-ray Burst Catalog (2FLGC) was announced by the Fermi Large
Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) Collaboration. It includes 29 bursts with photon
energy higher than 10 GeV. Gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow observations have
been adequately explained by the classic synchrotron forward-shock model,
however, photon energies greater than 10 GeV from these transient events are
challenging, if not impossible, to characterize using this afterglow model.
Recently, the closure relations (CRs) of the synchrotron self-Compton (SSC)
forward-shock model evolving in a stellar wind and homogeneous medium was
presented to analyze the evolution of the spectral and temporal indexes of
those bursts reported in 2FLGC. In this work, we provide the CRs of the same
afterglow model, but evolving in an intermediate density profile () with , taking into account the
adiabatic/radiative regime and with/without energy injection for any value of
the electron spectral index. The results show that the current model accounts
for a considerable subset of GRBs that cannot be interpreted in either
stellar-wind or homogeneous afterglow SSC model. The analysis indicates that
the best-stratified scenario is most consistent with for
no-energy injection and for energy injection.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure
Quantifying the azimuthal plasmaspheric density structure and dynamics inferred from IMAGE EUV
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95221/1/jgra22185.pd
The Magnetic Electron Ion Spectrometer (MagEIS) Instruments Aboard the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) Spacecraft
This paper describes the Magnetic Electron Ion Spectrometer (MagEIS) instruments aboard the RBSP spacecraft from an instrumentation and engineering point of view. There are four magnetic spectrometers aboard each of the two spacecraft, one low-energy unit (20â240 keV), two medium-energy units (80â1200 keV), and a high-energy unit (800â4800 keV). The high unit also contains a proton telescope (55 keVâ20 MeV). The magnetic spectrometers focus electrons within a selected energy pass band upon a focal plane of several silicon detectors where pulse-height analysis is used to determine if the energy of the incident electron is appropriate for the electron momentum selected by the magnet. Thus each event is a two-parameter analysis, an approach leading to a greatly reduced background. The physics of these instruments are described in detail followed by the engineering implementation. The data outputs are described, and examples of the calibration results and early flight data presented
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