1,929 research outputs found
The Resolved Outer Population of NGC6822 with WFPC2
We present F336W (U), F439W (B), F555W (V), and F675W (R) Wide Field
Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) photometry of two outer regions of the Local Group
dwarf irregular galaxy NGC6822. The NE region is ~13 arcmin from the galaxy
centre, while the W region lies 10 arcmin out, and within the wispy low surface
brightness outer regions of the galaxy. The fields are not crowded and contain
few NGC 6822 stars. We discuss errors and uncertainties and find that the W
region contains a main sequence that extends to stars of about 2 solar masses,
with an age of about 200 Myr. The NE region has no main sequence or stars
younger than 1 Gyr, but does contain some luminous red stars that are not
matched in the W field. These stars are not clumped in the field. The results
suggest that the W region may be a trace of a tidal event that triggered the
current star-formation in this isolated galaxy.Comment: 12 pages including 2 tables, plus 4 figures (#1 omitted) To appear in
PAS
Lausannevirus Seroprevalence among Asymptomatic Young Adults.
Objectives: The giant Lausannevirus was recently identified as a parasite of amoeba that replicates rapidly in these professional phagocytes. This study aimed at assessing Lausannevirus seroprevalence among asymptomatic young men in Switzerland and hopefully identifying possible sources of contact with this giant virus. Methods: The presence of anti-Lausannevirus antibodies was assessed in sera from 517 asymptomatic volunteers who filled a detailed questionnaire. The coreactivity between Lausannevirus and amoeba-resisting bacteria was assessed. Results: Lausannevirus prevalence ranged from 1.74 to 2.51%. Sporadic condom use or multiple sexual partners, although frequent (53.97 and 60.35%, respectively), were not associated with anti-Lausannevirus antibodies. On the contrary, frequent outdoor sport practice as well as milk consumption were significantly associated with positive Lausannevirus serologies (p = 0.0066 and 0.028, respectively). Coreactivity analyses revealed an association between Criblamydia sequanensis (an amoeba-resisting bacterium present in water environments) and Lausannevirus seropositivity (p = 0.001). Conclusions: Lausannevirus seroprevalence is low in asymptomatic Swiss men. However, the association between virus seropositivity and frequent sport practice suggests that this member of the Megavirales may be transmitted by aerosols and/or exposure to specific outdoor environments. Milk intake was also associated with seropositivity. Whether the coreactivity observed for C. sequanensis and Lausannevirus reflects a common mode of acquisition or some unexpected cross-reactivity remains to be determined. © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel
A Possible Massive Asteroid Belt Around zeta Lep
We have used the Keck I telescope to image at 11.7 microns and 17.9 microns
the dust emission around zeta Lep, a main sequence A-type star at 21.5 pc from
the Sun with an infrared excess. The excess is at most marginally resolved at
17.9 microns. The dust distance from the star is probably less than or equal to
6 AU, although some dust may extend to 9 AU. The mass of observed dust is
\~10^22 g. Since the lifetime of dust particles is about 10,000 years because
of the Poytning-Robertson effect, we robustly estimate at least 4 10^26 g must
reside in parent bodies which may be asteroids if the system is in a steady
state and has an age of ~300 Myr. This mass is approximately 200 times that
contained within the main asteroid belt in our solar system.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, ApJL in pres
A Young Globular Cluster in the Galaxy NGC 6946
A globular cluster ~15 My old that contains 5x10^5 Msun of stars inside an 11
pc radius has been found in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 6946, surrounded by
clouds of dust and smaller young clusters inside a giant circular bubble 300 pc
in radius. At the edge of the bubble is an arc of regularly-spaced clusters
that could have been triggered during the bubble's formation. The region is at
the end of a spiral arm, suggesting an origin by the asymmetric collapse of
spiral arm gas. The globular is one of the nearest examples of a cluster that
is similar to the massive old globulars in the Milky Way. We consider the
energetics of the bubble and possible formation mechanisms for the globular
cluster, including the coalescence of smaller clusters.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, accepted for Astrophysical Journal Vol 535, June
1 200
The galactic disc age-metallicity relation
New ages are computed for stars in the Solar Neighbourhood from the
Edvardsson et al. (1993) data set. Distances derived from the Hipparcos
parallaxes were adopted to obtain reliable ages (uncertainty less than 12%) for
a subset of stars. There is no apparent age-metallicity relation for stars with
an age less than 10 Gyr. Only if we consider older stars a slope of ~0.07
dex/Gyr appears. This relation is compared with those obtained from other
methods, i.e. galactic open clusters, stellar population synthesis (star
counts), and chemical evolution models.Comment: 4 pages LaTeX, 3 postscript figures, to appear in proceedings ``1997
Pacific RIM conference on Stellar Astrophysics'', August 13-16, 1997, Hong
Kong (China), K.L. Chan, K.S. Cheng and H.P. Singh (eds.), ASP Conference
Serie
WFPC2 Observations of Massive and Compact Young Star Clusters in M31
We present color magnitude diagrams of four blue massive and compact star
clusters in M31: G38, G44, G94, and G293. The diagrams of the four clusters
reveal a well-populated upper main sequence and various numbers of supergiants.
The U-B and B-V colors of the upper main sequence stars are used to determine
reddening estimates of the different lines of sight in the M31 disk. Reddening
values range from E(B-V) = 0.20 +/- 0.10 to 0.31 +/- 0.11. We statistically
remove field stars on the basis of completeness, magnitude and color. Isochrone
fits to the field-subtracted, reddening-corrected diagrams yield age estimates
ranging from 63 +/- 15 Myr to 160 +/- 60 Myr. Implications for the recent
evolution of the disk near NGC 206 are discussed.Comment: 17 pages, Latex, ApJ, in Pres
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