3,224 research outputs found
An X-ray and Optical Investigation of the Starburst-driven Superwind in the Galaxy Merger Arp 299
We present a detailed investigation of the X-ray and optical properties of
the starburst-merger system Arp299 (NGC 3690, Mrk 171), with an emphasis on its
spectacular gaseous nebula. We analyse \rosat and \asca X-ray data and optical
spectra and narrow-band images. We suggest that the on-going galaxy collision
has tidally-redistributed the ISM of the merging galaxies. The optical
emission-line nebula results as this gas is photoionized by radiation that
escapes from the starburst, and is shock-heated, accelerated, and pressurized
by a `superwind' driven by the collective effect of the starburst supernovae
and stellar winds. The X-ray nebula in Arp 299 is is plausibly a mass-loaded
flow of adiabatically-cooling gas that carries out a substantial fraction of
the energy and metals injected by the starburst at close to the escape velocity
from Arp 299. The mass outflow rate likely exceeds the star-formation rate in
this system. We conclude that powerful starbursts are able to heat (and
possibly eject) a significant fraction of the ISM in merging galaxies.Comment: 54 pages, 17 postscript figures, AAS late
Multi-phase High-Velocity Clouds toward HE 0226-4110 and PG 0953+414
We study the physical conditions, elemental abundances, and kinematics of the
high-velocity clouds (HVCs) along the sight lines toward active galaxies
HE0226-4110 and PG0953+414 using Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph
and Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer data. Our observations reveal
multiple components of HVC absorption in lines of HI, CII, CIII, CIV, OVI,
SiII, SiIII, and SiIV in both directions. We investigate whether
photoionization by the extragalactic background radiation or by escaping Milky
Way radiation can explain the observed ionization pattern. We find that
photoionization is a good explanation for the CII, CIII, SiII, and SiIII
features, but not for the OVI or CIV associated with the HVCs, suggesting that
two principal phases exist: a warm (T~10^4K), photoionized phase and a hotter
(T=1-3x10^5K), collisionally-ionized phase. The warm HVCs toward HE0226-4110
have high levels of ionization (97-99%), and metallicities ([Z/H] between -0.9
and -0.4) close to those in the Magellanic Stream, which lies eleven degrees
away on the sky at similar velocities. These HVCs have thermal pressures that
would place them close to equilibrium in a fully ionized 10^6 K Galactic corona
with n_H=4-9x10^{-5}cm^{-3} at 50 kpc. A mini-survey of the hot, collisionally
ionized HVC components seen here and in five other sight lines finds that in
11/12 cases, the high ions have kinematics and ionic ratios that are consistent
with an origin in conductive interfaces. However, the broad absorption wing on
the OVI profile toward PG0953+414 is not completely explained by the interface
scenario, and may be tracing the outflow of hot gas into the Milky Way halo as
part of a Galactic fountain or wind.Comment: 27 pages, 12 figures (9 in color), accepted for publication in Ap
Generation of highly symmetric, cylindrically convergent shockwaves in water
We report on pulsed power driven, exploding copper wire array experiments conducted to generate cylindrical convergent shockwaves in water employing ÎŒs risetime currents >550âkA in amplitude and with stored energies of >15âkJâa substantial increase over previous results. The experiments were carried out on the recently constructed Mega-Ampere-Compression-and-Hydrodynamics facility at Imperial College London in collaboration with colleagues of Technion, Israel. 10âmm diameter arrays consisting of 60âĂâ130âÎŒm wires were utilized, and the current and voltage diagnostics of the load region suggested that âŒ8âkJ of energy was deposited in the wires (and the load region close to the wires) during the experiments, resulting in the formation of dense, highly resistive plasmas that rapidly expanded driving the shockwaves in water. Laser-backlit framing images of the shockfront were obtained at radii 50:1. Framing images and streak photographs showed that the velocity of the shockwave reached âŒ7.5âkm sâ1 at 0.1âmm from the axis. 2D hydrodynamic simulations that match the experimentally obtained implosion trajectory suggest that pressures >1 Mbar are produced within 10âÎŒm of the axis along with water densities of 3gcmâ3 and temperatures of many 1000âs of Kelvin. Under these conditions, Quotidian Equation of State suggests that a strongly coupled plasma with an ionization fraction of âŒ0.7 would be formed. The results represent a âstepping stoneâ in the application of the technique to drive different material samples into high pressure, warm dense matter regimes with compact, university scale generators, and provide support in scaling the technique to multi-mega ampere currents
The dependence of oxygen and nitrogen abundances on stellar mass from the CALIFA survey
We analysed the optical spectra of HII regions extracted from a sample of 350
galaxies of the CALIFA survey. We calculated total O/H abundances and, for the
first time, N/O ratios using the semi-empirical routine HII-CHI-mistry, which,
according to P\'erez-Montero (2014), is consistent with the direct method and
reduces the uncertainty in the O/H derivation using [NII] lines owing to the
dispersion in the O/H-N/O relation. Then we performed linear fittings to the
abundances as a function of the de-projected galactocentric distances. The
analysis of the radial distribution both for O/H and N/O in the non-interacting
galaxies reveals that both average slopes are negative, but a non-negligible
fraction of objects have a flat or even a positive gradient (at least 10\% for
O/H and 4\% for N/O). The slopes normalised to the effective radius appear to
have a slight dependence on the total stellar mass and the morphological type,
as late low-mass objects tend to have flatter slopes. No clear relation is
found, however, to explain the presence of inverted gradients in this sample,
and there is no dependence between the average slopes and the presence of a
bar. The relation between the resulting O/H and N/O linear fittings at the
effective radius is much tighter (correlation coefficient = 0.80) than
between O/H and N/O slopes ( = 0.39) or for O/H and N/O in the
individual \hii\ regions ( = 0.37). These O/H and N/O values at the
effective radius also correlate very tightly (less than 0.03 dex of dispersion)
with total luminosity and stellar mass. The relation with other integrated
properties, such as star formation rate, colour, or morphology, can be
understood only in light of the found relation with mass.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 20 pages, 19 figure
Monitoring of lung edema by microwave reflectometry during lung ischemia-reperfusion injury in vivo
It is still unclear whether lung edema can be monitored by microwave reflectometry and whether the measured changes in lung dry matter content (DMC) are accompanied by changes in PaO(2) and in pro-to anti-inflammatory cytokine expression (IFN-gamma and IL-10). Right rat lung hili were cross-clamped at 37 degrees C for 0, 60, 90 or 120 min ischemia followed by 120 min reperfusion. After 90 min (DMC: 15.9 +/- 1.4%; PaO(2): 76.7 +/- 18 mm Hg) and 120 min ischemia (DMC: 12.8 +/- 0.6%; PaO(2): 43 +/- 7 mm Hg), a significant decrease in DMC and PaO(2) throughout reperfusion compared to 0 min ischemia (DMC: 19.5 +/- 1.11%; PaO(2): 247 +/- 33 mm Hg; p < 0.05) was observed. DMC and PaO(2) decreased after 60 min ischemia but recovered during reperfusion (DMC: 18.5 +/- 2.4%; PaO(2) : 173 +/- 30 mm Hg). DMC values reflected changes on the physiological and molecular level. In conclusion, lung edema monitoring by microwave reflectometry might become a tool for the thoracic surgeon. Copyright (c) 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel
Giant Lya nebulae associated with high redshift radio galaxies
We report deep Keck narrow-band Lya images of the luminous z > 3 radio
galaxies 4C 41.17, 4C 60.07, and B2 0902+34. The images show giant, 100-200 kpc
scale emission line nebulae, centered on these galaxies, which exhibit a wealth
of morphological structure, including extended low surface brightness emission
in the outer regions, radially directed filaments, cone-shaped structures and
(indirect) evidence for extended Lya absorption. We discuss these features
within a general scenario where the nebular gas cools gravitationally in large
Cold Dark Matter (CDM) halos, forming stars and multiple stellar systems.
Merging of these ``building'' blocks triggers large scale starbursts, forming
the stellar bulges of massive radio galaxy hosts, and feeds super-massive black
holes which produce the powerful radio jets and lobes. The radio sources,
starburst superwinds and AGN radiation then disrupt the accretion process
limiting galaxy and black hole growth, and imprint the observed filamentary and
cone-shaped structures of the Lya nebulae.Comment: 36 Pages, including 8 Postscript figures. Accepted for publication in
the Astrophysical Journa
Coherence Properties of an Atom Laser
We study the coherence properties of an atom laser, which operates by extracting atoms from a gaseous Bose-Einstein condensate via a two-photon Raman process, by analysing a recent experiment (Hagley et al1999 Phys. Rev. Lett.833112). We obtain good agreement with the experimental data by solving the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation in three dimensions both numerically and with a Thomas-Fermi model. The coherence is strongly affected by the space-dependent phase developed by the condensate when the trapping potential is turned off
Movement variability in stroke patients and controls performing two upper limb functional tasks: a new assessment methodology
Background: In the evaluation of upper limb impairment post stroke there remains a gap between detailed kinematic analyses with expensive motion capturing systems and common clinical assessment tests. In particular, although many clinical tests evaluate the performance of functional
tasks, metrics to characterise upper limb kinematics are generally not applicable to such tasks and very limited in scope. This paper reports on a novel, user-friendly methodology that allows for the assessment of both signal magnitude and timing variability in upper limb movement trajectories during functional task performance. In order to demonstrate the technique, we report on a study
in which the variability in timing and signal magnitude of data collected during the performance of two functional tasks is compared between a group of subjects with stroke and a group of individually matched control subjects.
Methods: We employ dynamic time warping for curve registration to quantify two aspects of movement variability: 1) variability of the timing of the accelerometer signals' characteristics and 2) variability of the signals' magnitude. Six stroke patients and six matched controls performed several trials of a unilateral ('drinking') and a bilateral ('moving a plate') functional task on two different days, approximately 1 month apart. Group differences for the two variability metrics were investigated on both days.
Results: For 'drinking from a glass' significant group differences were obtained on both days for
the timing variability of the acceleration signals' characteristics (p = 0.002 and p = 0.008 for test and
retest, respectively); all stroke patients showed increased signal timing variability as compared to
their corresponding control subject. 'Moving a plate' provided less distinct group differences.
Conclusion: This initial application establishes that movement variability metrics, as determined
by our methodology, appear different in stroke patients as compared to matched controls during unilateral task performance ('drinking'). Use of a user-friendly, inexpensive accelerometer makes this methodology feasible for routine clinical evaluations. We are encouraged to perform larger studies to further investigate the metrics' usefulness when quantifying levels of impairment
Absorption-Line Probes of Gas and Dust in Galactic Superwinds
We discuss moderate resolution spectra of the NaD absorption-line in a sample
of 32 far-IR-bright starburst galaxies. In 18 cases, the line is produced
primarily by interstellar gas, and in 12 of these it is blueshifted by over 100
km/s relative to the galaxy systemic velocity. The absorption-line profiles in
these outflow sources span the range from near the galaxy systemic velocity to
a maximum blueshift of 400 to 600 km/s. The outflows occur in galaxies
systematically viewed more nearly face-on than the others. We therefore argue
that the absorbing material consists of ambient interstellar gas accelerated
along the minor axis of the galaxy by a hot starburst-driven superwind. The NaD
lines are optically-thick, but indirect arguments imply total Hydrogen column
densities of N_H = few X 10^{21} cm^{-2}. This implies that the superwind is
expelling matter at a rate comparable to the star-formation rate. This
outflowing material is very dusty: we find a strong correlation between the
depth of the NaD profile and the line-of-sight reddening (E(B-V) = 0.3 to 1
over regions several-to-ten kpc in size). The estimated terminal velocities of
superwinds inferred from these data and extant X-ray data are typically 400 to
800 km/s, are independent of the galaxy rotation speed, and are comparable to
(substantially exceed) the escape velocities for (dwarf) galaxies. The
resulting loss of metals can establish the mass-metallicity relation in
spheroids, produce the observed metallicity in the ICM, and enrich a general
IGM to 10 solar metallicity. If the outflowing dust grains survive their
journey into the IGM, their effect on observations of cosmologically-distant
objects is significant.Comment: 65 pages, including 16 figures. ApJ, in pres
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