222 research outputs found
VisIVOWeb: A WWW Environment for Large-Scale Astrophysical Visualization
This article presents a newly developed Web portal called VisIVOWeb that aims
to provide the astrophysical community with powerful visualization tools for
large-scale data sets in the context of Web 2.0. VisIVOWeb can effectively
handle modern numerical simulations and real-world observations. Our
open-source software is based on established visualization toolkits offering
high-quality rendering algorithms. The underlying data management is discussed
with the supported visualization interfaces and movie-making functionality. We
introduce VisIVOWeb Network, a robust network of customized Web portals for
visual discovery, and VisIVOWeb Connect, a lightweight and efficient solution
for seamlessly connecting to existing astrophysical archives. A significant
effort has been devoted for ensuring interoperability with existing tools by
adhering to IVOA standards. We conclude with a summary of our work and a
discussion on future developments
Properties of galaxy halos in Clusters and Voids
We use the results of a high resolution N-body simulation to investigate the
role of the environment on the formation and evolution of galaxy-sized halos.
Starting from a set of constrained initial conditions, we have produced a final
configuration hosting a double cluster in one octant and a large void extending
over two octants of the simulation box. We present results for two statistics:
the relationship between 1-D velocity dispersion and mass and the probability
distribution of the spin parameter . The \svm relationship is well
reproduced by the Truncated Isothermal Sphere (TIS) model introduced by Shapiro
et al. (1999), although the slope is different from the original prediction. A
series of \svm relationships for different values of the anisotropy parameter
, obtained using the theoretical predictions by Lokas and Mamon (2001)
for NFW density profiles are found to be only marginally consistent with the
data. Using some properties of the equilibrium TIS models, we construct
subsamples of {\em fiducial} equilibrium TIS halos from each of the three
subregions, and we study their properties. For these halos, we do find an
environmental dependence of their properties, in particular of the spin
parameter distribution . We study in more detail the TIS model, and
we find new relationships between the truncation radius and other structural
parameters. No gravitationally bound halo is found having a radius larger than
the critical value for gravithermal instability for TIS halos (\rt , where is the core radius of the TIS solution). We do however
find a dependence of this relationship on the environment, like for the
statistics. These facts hint at a possible r\^{o}le of tidal
fields at determining the statistical properties of halos.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figures. Accepted by MNRAS. Adopted an improved
algorithm for halo finding and added a comparison with NFW model
A 3-D wavelet analysis of substructure in the Coma cluster: statistics and morphology
Evidence for clustering within the Coma cluster is found by means of a
multiscale analysis of the combined angular-redshift distribution. We have
compiled a catalogue of 798 galaxy redshifts from published surveys from the
region of the Coma cluster. We examine the presence of substructure and of
voids at different scales ranging from Mpc, using
subsamples of the catalogue, ranging from km/s to km/s.
Our substructure detection method is based on the wavelet transform and on the
segmentation analysis. The wavelet transform allows us to find out structures
at different scales and the segmentation method allows us a quantitative
statistical and morphological analysis of the sample. From the whole catalogue
we select a subset of 320 galaxies, with redshifts between cz=5858 km/s and
cz=8168 km/s that we identify as belonging to the central region of Coma and on
which we have performed a deeper analysis, on scales ranging from
kpc to Mpc. Our results are expressed in terms of the number of
structures or voids and their sphericity for different values of the threshold
detection and at all the scales investigated. According to our analysis, there
is strong evidence for multiple hierarchical substructure, on scales ranging
from a few hundreds of kpc to about Mpc. The morphology of these
substructures is rather spherical. On the scale of kpc we find two
main subclusters which where also found before, but our wavelet analysis shows
even more substructures, whose redshift position is approximatively marked by
these bright galaxies: NGC 4934 & 4840, 4889, 4898 & 4864, 4874 & 4839, 4927,
4875.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures. ApJ (Main Journal), accepted for publication.
Added one section on statistical tests and slightly modified text and
abstrac
Weak Lensing Mass Reconstruction of the Galaxy Cluster Abell 209
Weak lensing applied to deep optical images of clusters of galaxies provides
a powerful tool to reconstruct the distribution of the gravitating mass
associated to these structures. We use the shear signal extracted by an
analysis of deep exposures of a region centered around the galaxy cluster Abell
209, at redshift z=0.2, to derive both a map of the projected mass distribution
and an estimate of the total mass within a characteristic radius. We use a
series of deep archival R-band images from CFHT-12k, covering an area of 0.3
deg^2. We determine the shear of background galaxy images using a new
implementation of the modified Kaiser-Squires-Broadhurst pipeline for shear
determination, which we has been tested against the ``Shear TEsting Program 1
and 2'' simulations. We use mass aperture statistics to produce maps of the 2
dimensional density distribution, and parametric fits using both
Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) and singular-isothermal-sphere profiles to constrain
the total mass. The projected mass distribution shows a pronounced asymmetry,
with an elongated structure extending from the SE to the NW. This is in general
agreement with the optical distribution previously found by other authors. A
similar elongation was previously detected in the X-ray emission map, and in
the distribution of galaxy colours. The circular NFW mass profile fit gives a
total mass of M_{200} = 7.7^{+4.3}_{-2.7} 10^{14} solar masses inside the
virial radius r_{200} = 1.8\pm 0.3 Mpc. The weak lensing profile reinforces the
evidence for an elongated structure of Abell 209, as previously suggested by
studies of the galaxy distribution and velocities.Comment: accepted by A&A, 15 pages, 11 figure
Multitemperature mapping of dust structures throughout the Galactic Plane using the PPMAP tool with Herschel Hi-GAL data
We describe new Hi-GAL based maps of the entire Galactic Plane, obtained using continuum data in the wavelength range 70â500 ÎŒm. These maps are derived with the PPMAP procedure, and therefore represent a significant improvement over those obtained with standard analysis techniques. Specifically they have greatly improved resolution (12 arcsec) and, in addition to more accurate integrated column densities and mean dust temperatures, they give temperature-differential column densities, i.e., separate column density maps in twelve distinct dust temperature intervals, along with the corresponding uncertainty maps. The complete set of maps is available online. We briefly describe PPMAP and present some illustrative examples of the results. These include (a) multi-temperature maps of the Galactic HâII region W5-E, (b) the temperature decomposition of molecular cloud column-density probability distribution functions, and (c) the global variation of mean dust temperature as a function of Galactocentric distance. Amongst our findings are: (i) a strong localised temperature gradient in W5-E in a direction orthogonal to that towards the ionising star, suggesting an alternative heating source and providing possible guidance for models of the formation of the bubble complex, and (ii) the overall radial profile of dust temperature in the Galaxy shows a monotonic decrease, broadly consistent both with models of the interstellar radiation field and with previous estimates at lower resolution. However, we also find a central temperature plateau within âŒ6 kpc of the Galactic centre, outside of which is a pronounced steepening of the radial profile. This behaviour may reflect the greater proportion of molecular (as opposed to atomic) gas in the central region of the Galaxy
Clustering analysis for muon tomography data elaboration in the Muon Portal project
Clustering analysis is one of multivariate data analysis techniques which allows to gather statistical data units into groups, in order to minimize the logical distance within each group and to maximize the one between different groups. In these proceedings, the authors present a novel approach to the muontomography data analysis based on clustering algorithms. As a case study we present the Muon Portal project that aims to build and operate a dedicated particle detector for the inspection of harbor containers to hinder the smuggling of nuclear materials. Clustering techniques, working directly on scattering points, help to detect the presence of suspicious items inside the container, acting, as it will be shown, as a filter for a preliminary analysis of the data
CAESAR source finder: recent developments and testing
A new era in radioastronomy will begin with the upcoming large-scale surveys
planned at the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP). ASKAP
started its Early Science program in October 2017 and several target fields
were observed during the array commissioning phase. The SCORPIO field was the
first observed in the Galactic Plane in Band 1 (792-1032 MHz) using 15
commissioned antennas. The achieved sensitivity and large field of view already
allow to discover new sources and survey thousands of existing ones with
improved precision with respect to previous surveys. Data analysis is currently
ongoing to deliver the first source catalogue. Given the increased scale of the
data, source extraction and characterization, even in this Early Science phase,
have to be carried out in a mostly automated way. This process presents
significant challenges due to the presence of extended objects and diffuse
emission close to the Galactic Plane. In this context we have extended and
optimized a novel source finding tool, named CAESAR , to allow extraction of
both compact and extended sources from radio maps. A number of developments
have been done driven by the analysis of the SCORPIO map and in view of the
future ASKAP Galactic Plane survey. The main goals are the improvement of
algorithm performances and scalability as well as of software maintainability
and usability within the radio community. In this paper we present the current
status of CAESAR and report a first systematic characterization of its
performance for both compact and extended sources using simulated maps. Future
prospects are discussed in light of the obtained results.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figure
Vialactea Visual Analytics tool for Star Formation studies of the Galactic Plane
We present a visual analytics tool, based on the VisIVO suite, to exploit a
combination of all new-generation surveys of the Galactic Plane to study the
star formation process of the Milky Way. The tool has been developed within the
VIALACTEA project, founded by the 7th Framework Programme of the European
Union, that creates a common forum for the major new-generation surveys of the
Milky Way Galactic Plane from the near infrared to the radio, both in thermal
continuum and molecular lines. Massive volumes of data are produced by space
missions and ground-based facilities and the ability to collect and store them
is increasing at a higher pace than the ability to analyze them. This gap leads
to new challenges in the analysis pipeline to discover information contained in
the data. Visual analytics focuses on handling these massive, heterogeneous,
and dynamic volumes of information accessing the data previously processed by
data mining algorithms and advanced analysis techniques with highly interactive
visual interfaces offering scientists the opportunity for in-depth
understanding of massive, noisy, and high-dimensional data
Exploring and interrogating astrophysical data in virtual reality
Scientists across all disciplines increasingly rely on machine learning algorithms to analyse and sort datasets of ever increasing volume and complexity. Although trends and outliers are easily extracted, careful and close inspection will still be necessary to explore and disentangle detailed behaviour, as well as identify systematics and false positives. We must therefore incorporate new technologies to facilitate scientific analysis and exploration. Astrophysical data is inherently multi-parameter, with the spatial-kinematic dimensions at the core of observations and simulations. The arrival of mainstream virtual-reality (VR) headsets and increased GPU power, as well as the availability of versatile development tools for video games, has enabled scientists to deploy such technology to effectively interrogate and interact with complex data. In this paper we present development and results from custom-built interactive VR tools, called the iDaVIE suite, that are informed and driven by research on galaxy evolution, cosmic large-scale structure, galaxyâgalaxy interactions, and gas/kinematics of nearby galaxies in survey and targeted observations. In the new era of Big Data ushered in by major facilities such as the SKA and LSST that render past analysis and refinement methods highly constrained, we believe that a paradigm shift to new software, technology and methods that exploit the power of visual perception, will play an increasingly important role in bridging the gap between statistical metrics and new discovery. We have released a beta version of the iDaVIE software system that is free and open to the community
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