2,063 research outputs found
Phases of QCD, Thermal Quasiparticles and Dilepton Radiation from a Fireball
We calculate dilepton production rates from a fireball adapted to the
kinematical conditions realized in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions over
a broad range of beam energies. The freeze-out state of the fireball is fixed
by hadronic observables. We use this information combined with the initial
geometry of the collision region to follow the space-time evolution of the
fireball. Assuming entropy conservation, its bulk thermodynamic properties can
then be uniquely obtained once the equation of state (EoS) is specified. The
high-temperature (QGP) phase is modelled by a non-perturbative quasiparticle
model that incorporates a phenomenological confinement description, adapted to
lattice QCD results. For the hadronic phase, we interpolate the EoS into the
region where a resonance gas approach seems applicable, keeping track of a
possible overpopulation of the pion phase space. In this way, the fireball
evolution is specified without reference to dilepton data, thus eliminating it
as an adjustable parameter in the rate calculations. Dilepton emission in the
QGP phase is then calculated within the quasiparticle model. In the hadronic
phase, both temperature and finite baryon density effects on the photon
spectral function are incorporated. Existing dilepton data from CERES at 158
and 40 AGeV Pb-Au collisions are well described, and a prediction for the
PHENIX setup at RHIC for sqrt(s) = 200 AGeV is given.Comment: 31 pages, 15 figures, final versio
The spine of the swan: A Herschel study of the DR21 ridge and filaments in Cygnus X
In order to characterise the cloud structures responsible for the formation
of high-mass stars, we present Herschel observations of the DR21 environment.
Maps of the column density and dust temperature unveil the structure of the
DR21 ridge and several connected filaments. The ridge has column densities
larger than 1e23/cm^2 over a region of 2.3 pc^2. It shows substructured column
density profiles and branching into two major filaments in the north. The
masses in the studied filaments range between 130 and 1400 Msun whereas the
mass in the ridge is 15000 Msun. The accretion of these filaments onto the DR21
ridge, suggested by a previous molecular line study, could provide a continuous
mass inflow to the ridge. In contrast to the striations seen in e.g., the
Taurus region, these filaments are gravitationally unstable and form cores and
protostars. These cores formed in the filaments potentially fall into the
ridge. Both inflow and collisions of cores could be important to drive the
observed high-mass star formation. The evolutionary gradient of star formation
running from DR21 in the south to the northern branching is traced by
decreasing dust temperature. This evolution and the ridge structure can be
explained by two main filamentary components of the ridge that merged first in
the south.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication as a Letter in Astronomy
and Astrophysic
Submillimetre point sources from the Archeops experiment: Very Cold Clumps in the Galactic Plane
Archeops is a balloon-borne experiment, mainly designed to measure the Cosmic
Microwave Background (CMB) temperature anisotropies at high angular resolution
(~ 12 arcminutes). By-products of the mission are shallow sensitivity maps over
a large fraction of the sky (about 30 %) in the millimetre and submillimetre
range at 143, 217, 353 and 545 GHz. From these maps, we produce a catalog of
bright submillimetre point sources. We present in this paper the processing and
analysis of the Archeops point sources. Redundancy across detectors is the key
factor allowing to sort out glitches from genuine point sources in the 20
independent maps. We look at the properties of the most reliable point sources,
totalling 304. Fluxes range from 1 to 10,000 Jy (at the frequencies covering
143 to 545 GHz). All sources are either planets (2) or of galactic origin.
Longitude range is from 75 to 198 degrees. Some of the sources are associated
with well-known Lynds Nebulae and HII compact regions in the galactic plane. A
large fraction of the sources have an IRAS counterpart. Except for Jupiter,
Saturn, the Crab and Cas A, all sources show a dust-emission-like modified
blackbody emission spectrum. Temperatures cover a range from 7 to 27 K. For the
coldest sources (T<10 K), a steep nu^beta emissivity law is found with a
surprising beta ~ 3 to 4. An inverse relationship between T and beta is
observed. The number density of sources at 353 GHz with flux brighter than 100
Jy is of the order of 1 per degree of Galactic longitude. These sources will
provide a strong check for the calibration of the Planck HFI focal plane
geometry as a complement to planets. These very cold sources observed by
Archeops should be prime targets for mapping observations by the Akari and
Herschel space missions and ground--based observatories.Comment: Version matching the published article (English improved). Published
in Astron. Astrophys, 21 pages, 13 figures, 4 tables Full article (with
complete tables) can be retrieved at
http://www.archeops.org/Archeops_Publicatio
The Pipe Nebula as seen with Herschel: Formation of filamentary structures by large-scale compression ?
A growing body of evidence indicates that the formation of filaments in
interstellar clouds is a key component of the star formation process. In this
paper, we present new Herschel PACS and SPIRE observations of the B59 and Stem
regions in the Pipe Nebula complex, revealing a rich, organized network of
filaments. The asymmetric column density profiles observed for several
filaments, along with the bow-like edge of B59, indicates that the Pipe Nebula
is being compressed from its western side, most likely by the winds from the
nearby Sco OB2 association. We suggest that this compressive flow has
contributed to the formation of some of the observed filamentary structures. In
B59, the only region of the entire Pipe complex showing star formation
activity, the same compressive flow has likely enhanced the initial column
density of the clump, allowing it to become globally gravitationally unstable.
Although more speculative, we propose that gravity has also been responsible
for shaping the converging filamentary pattern observed in B59. While the
question of the relative impact of large-scale compression and gravity remains
open in B59, large-scale compression appears to be a plausible mechanism for
the initial formation of filamentary structures in the rest of the complexComment: 9 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in A&
The <i>Herschel</i> view of the massive star-forming region NGC 6334
Aims: Fundamental to any theory of high-mass star formation are gravity and turbulence. Their relative importance, which probably changes during cloud evolution, is not known. By investigating the spatial and density structure of the high-mass star-forming complex NGC 6334 we aim to disentangle the contributions of turbulence and gravity.
Methods: We used Herschel PACS and SPIRE imaging observations from the HOBYS key programme at wavelengths of 160, 250, 350, and 500 μm to construct dust temperature and column density maps. Using probability distribution functions (PDFs) of the column density determined for the whole complex and for four distinct sub-regions (distinguished on the basis of differences in the column density, temperature, and radiation field), we characterize the density structure of the complex. We investigate the spatial structure using the Δ-variance, which probes the relative amount of structure on different size scales and traces possible energy injection mechanisms into the molecular cloud.
Results: The Δ-variance analysis suggests that the significant scales of a few parsec that were found are caused by energy injection due to expanding HII regions, which are numerous, and by the lengths of filaments seen everywhere in the complex. The column density PDFs have a lognormal shape at low densities and a clearly defined power law at high densities for all sub-regions whose slope is linked to the exponent α of an equivalent spherical density distribution. In particular with α = 2.37, the central sub-region is largly dominated by gravity, caused by individual collapsing dense cores and global collapse of a larger region. The collapse is faster than free-fall (which would lead only to α = 2) and thus requires a more dynamic scenario (external compression, flows). The column density PDFs suggest that the different sub-regions are at different evolutionary stages, especially the central sub-region, which seems to be in a more evolved stage
<i>Herschel</i> observations of B1-bS and B1-bN: two first hydrostatic core candidates in the Perseus star-forming cloud
We report far-infrared Herschel observations obtained between 70 μm and 500 μm of two star-forming dusty condensations, [HKM99] B1-bS and [HKM99] B1-bN, in the B1 region of the Perseus star-forming cloud. In the western part of the Perseus cloud, B1-bS is the only source detected in all six PACS and SPIRE photometric bands, but it is not visible in the Spitzer map at 24 μm. B1-bN is clearly detected between 100 μm and 250 μm. We have fitted the spectral energy distributions of these sources to derive their physical properties, and find that a simple greybody model fails to reproduce the observed spectral energy distributions. At least a two-component model is required, consisting of a central source surrounded by a dusty envelope. The properties derived from the fit, however, suggest that the central source is not a Class 0 object. We then conclude that while B1-bS and B1-bN appear to be more evolved than a pre-stellar core, the best-fit models suggest that their central objects are younger than a Class 0 source. Hence, they may be good candidates to be examples of the first hydrostatic core phase. The projected distance between B1-bS and B1-bN is a few Jeans lengths. If their physical separation is close to this value, this pair would allow studying the mutual interactions between two forming stars at a very early stage of their evolution
The M16 molecular complex under the influence of NGC6611. Herschel's perspective of the heating effect on the Eagle Nebula
We present Herschel images from the HOBYS key program of the Eagle Nebula
(M16) in the far-infrared and sub-millimetre, using the PACS and SPIRE cameras
at 70{\mu}m, 160{\mu}m, 250{\mu}m, 350{\mu}m, 500{\mu}m. M16, home to the
Pillars of Creation, is largely under the influence of the nearby NGC6611
high-mass star cluster. The Herschel images reveal a clear dust temperature
gradient running away from the centre of the cavity carved by the OB cluster.
We investigate the heating effect of NGC6611 on the entire M16 star-forming
complex seen by Herschel including the diffuse cloud environment and the dense
filamentary structures identified in this region. In addition, we interpret the
three-dimensional geometry of M16 with respect to the nebula, its surrounding
environment, and the NGC6611 cavity. The dust temperature and column density
maps reveal a prominent eastern filament running north-south and away from the
high-mass star-forming central region and the NGC6611 cluster, as well as a
northern filament which extends around and away from the cluster. The dust
temperature in each of these filaments decreases with increasing distance from
the NGC6611 cluster, indicating a heating penetration depth of \sim 10 pc in
each direction in 3 - 6 \times 10^{22} cm-2 column density filaments. We show
that in high-mass star-forming regions OB clusters impact the temperature of
future star-forming sites, modifying the initial conditions for collapse and
effecting the evolutionary criteria of protostars developed from spectral
energy distributions. Possible scenarios for the origin of the morphology seen
in this region are discussed, including a western equivalent to the eastern
filament, which was destroyed by the creation of the OB cluster and its
subsequent winds and radiation.Comment: 12 pages, including 3 appendix, 9 figures, accepted by A&
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