14,692 research outputs found
Mocassin: A fully three-dimensional Monte Carlo photoionization code
The study of photoionized environments is fundamental to many astrophysical
problems. Up to the present most photoionization codes have numerically solved
the equations of radiative transfer by making the extreme simplifying
assumption of spherical symmetry. Unfortunately very few real astronomical
nebulae satisfy this requirement. To remedy these shortcomings, a
self-consistent, three-dimensional radiative transfer code has been developed
using Monte Carlo techniques. The code, Mocassin, is designed to build
realistic models of photoionized nebulae having arbitraries geometry and
density distributions with both the stellar and diffuse radiation fields
treated self-consistently. In addition, the code is capable of tretating on or
more exciting stars located at non-central locations. The gaseous region is
approximated by a cuboidal Cartesian grid composed of numerous cells. The
physical conditions within each grid cell are determined by solving the thermal
equilibrium and ionization balance equations This requires a knowledge of the
local primary and secondary radiation fields, which are calculated
self-consistently by locally simulating the individual processes of ionization
and recombination. The main structure and computational methods used in the
Mocassin code are described in this paper. Mocassin has been benchmarked
against established one-dimensional spherically symmetric codes for a number of
standard cases, as defined by the Lexington/Meudon photoionization workshops
(Pequignot et al., 1986; Ferland et al., 1995; Pequignot et al.,
2001)\citep{pequignot86,ferland95, pequignot01}. The results obtained for the
benchmark cases are satisfactory and are presented in this paper. A performance
analysis has also been carried out and is discussed here.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, 1 appendix Changes: appendix adde
RXTE confirmation of the intermediate polar status of IGR J15094-6649
Aims. To establish the X-ray properties of the intermediate polar candidate
IGR J15094-6649 and therefore confirm its inclusion into the class.
Methods. 42 856 s of X-ray data from RXTE was analysed. Frequency analysis
was used to constrain temporal variations and spectral analysis used to
characterise the emission and absorption properties.
Results. A spin period of 809.7+-0.6 s is present, revealed as a complex
pulse profile whose modulation depth decreases with increasing X-ray energy.
The spectrum is well fitted by either a 19+-4 keV Bremsstrahlung or
Gamma=1.8+-0.1 power law, with an iron emission line feature and significant
absorption in each case.
Conclusions. IGR J15094-6649 is confirmed to be an intermediate polar.Comment: 3 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to A&
Recommended from our members
Parametric Analysis of the Selective Laser Sintering Process
Qualitative and quantitative analyses are required to develop Selective Laser
Sintering into a viable Manufacturing process. A simplified mathematical model for
sintering incorporating the heat tJ;ansfer equation. and the sintering rate equation, but using
temperature independent thermal properties, is presented in this paper. A practical result is
the calculation of sintering depthdeftned as the depth of powder where the void fraction is
less than 0.1 as a function of control parameters, such as the laser power intensity, the laser
scanning velocity, and the initial bedtemperature. We derive the general behavior of laser
sintering. A comparison of model predictions with laser sinterlng tests is provided.Mechanical Engineerin
Chemical abundances for Hf 2-2, a planetary nebula with the strongest known heavy element recombination lines
We present high quality optical spectroscopic observations of the planetary
nebula (PN) Hf 2-2. The spectrum exhibits many prominent optical recombination
lines (ORLs) from heavy element ions. Analysis of the H {\sc i} and He {\sc i}
recombination spectrum yields an electron temperature of K, a factor
of ten lower than given by the collisionally excited [O {\sc iii}] forbidden
lines. The ionic abundances of heavy elements relative to hydrogen derived from
ORLs are about a factor of 70 higher than those deduced from collisionally
excited lines (CELs) from the same ions, the largest abundance discrepancy
factor (adf) ever measured for a PN. By comparing the observed O {\sc ii}
4089/4649 ORL ratio to theoretical value as a function of
electron temperature, we show that the O {\sc ii} ORLs arise from ionized
regions with an electron temperature of only K. The current
observations thus provide the strongest evidence that the nebula contains
another previously unknown component of cold, high metallicity gas, which is
too cool to excite any significant optical or UV CELs and is thus invisible via
such lines. The existence of such a plasma component in PNe provides a natural
solution to the long-standing dichotomy between nebular plasma diagnostics and
abundance determinations using CELs on the one hand and ORLs on the other.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices
of the Royal Astronomical Societ
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Materials for Biomedical Applications
This paper discusses two ceramic material systems for selective laser sintering (SLS) that are
being developed for biomedical applications for use in repair of bone defects. SLS is the
preferred method of fabricating ceramic implants that exhibit well defined porous
microstructures. Implants fabricated in this. manner have proven effective in-vivo showing
excellent biocompatibility as well as considerable osseous integration and remodeling of the
imp'ant materialMechanical Engineerin
Unravelling the chemical inhomogeneity of PNe with VLT FLAMES integral-field unit spectroscopy
Recent weak emission-line long-slit surveys and modelling studies of PNe have
convincingly argued in favour of the existence of an unknown component in the
planetary nebula plasma consisting of cold, hydrogen-deficient gas, as an
explanation for the long-standing recombination-line versus forbidden-line
temperature and abundance discrepancy problems. Here we describe the rationale
and initial results from a detailed spectroscopic study of three Galactic PNe
undertaken with the VLT FLAMES integral-field unit spectrograph, which advances
our knowledge about the small-scale physical properties, chemical abundances
and velocity structure of these objects across a two-dimensional field of view,
and opens up for exploration an uncharted territory in the study and modelling
of PNe and photoionized nebulae in general.Comment: 4 pages; 3 figures; invited paper to appear in proceedings of IAU
Symp. No. 234, 2006, Planetary Nebulae in our Galaxy and Beyond (held in
Hawaii, April 2006
Evidence for Rotation in the Galaxy at z=3.15 Responsible for a Damped Lyman-alpha Absorption System in the Spectrum of Q2233+1310
Proof of the existence of a significant population of normal disk galaxies at
redshift z>2 would have profound implications for theories of structure
formation and evolution. We present evidence based on Keck HIRES observations
that the damped Lyman-alpha absorber at z=3.15 toward the quasar Q2233+1310 may
well be such an example. Djorgovski et al have recently detected the
Lyman-alpha emission from the absorber, which we assume is at the systemic
redshift of the absorbing galaxy. By examining the profiles of the metal
absorption lines arising from the absorbing galaxy in relation to its systemic
redshift, we find strong kinematical evidence for rotation. Therefore the
absorber is likely to be a disk galaxy. The inferred circular velocity for the
galaxy is >200 km/s. With a separation of ~17 kpc between the galaxy and the
quasar sightline, the implied dynamic mass for the galaxy is >1.6x10(11) solar
mass. The metallicity of the galaxy is found to be [Fe/H]=-1.4, typical of
damped Lyman-alpha galaxies at such redshifts. However, in another damped
galactic rotation is evident. In the latter case, the damped Lyman-alpha
absorber occurs near the background quasar in redshift so its properties may be
influenced by the background quasar. These represent the only two cases at
present for which the technique used here may be applied. Future applications
of the same technique to a large sample of damped Lyman-alpha galaxies may
allow us to determine if a significant population of disk galaxies already
existed only a few billion years after the Big Bang.Comment: AASTEX, 2 PS figures, accepted by ApJ, 6 pages total, replaced on
1-22-97, the only change is the enlarged figure
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