940 research outputs found
The virtual observatory service TheoSSA: Establishing a database of synthetic stellar flux standards. I. NLTE spectral analysis of the DA-type white dwarf G 191-B2B
H-rich, DA-type white dwarfs are particularly suited as primary standard
stars for flux calibration. State-of-the-art NLTE models consider opacities of
species up to trans-iron elements and provide reliable synthetic
stellar-atmosphere spectra to compare with observation.
We establish a database of theoretical spectra of stellar flux standards that
are easily accessible via a web interface.
In the framework of the Virtual Observatory, the German Astrophysical Virtual
Observatory developed the registered service TheoSSA. It provides easy access
to stellar spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and is intended to ingest SEDs
calculated by any model-atmosphere code. In case of the DA white dwarf G
191-B2B, we demonstrate that the model reproduces not only its overall
continuum shape but also the numerous metal lines exhibited in its ultraviolet
spectrum.
TheoSSA is in operation and contains presently a variety of SEDs for DA white
dwarfs. It will be extended in the near future and can host SEDs of all primary
and secondary flux standards. The spectral analysis of G 191-B2B has shown that
our hydrostatic models reproduce the observations best at an effective
temperature of 60000 +/- 2000K and a surface gravity of log g = 7.60 +/- 0.05.
We newly identified Fe VI, Ni VI, and Zn IV lines. For the first time, we
determined the photospheric zinc abundance with a logarithmic mass fraction of
-4.89 (7.5 times solar). The abundances of He (upper limit), C, N, O, Al, Si,
O, P, S, Fe, Ni, Ge, and Sn were precisely determined. Upper abundance limits
of 10% solar were derived for Ti, Cr, Mn, and Co.
The TheoSSA database of theoretical SEDs of stellar flux standards guarantees
that the flux calibration of all astronomical data and cross-calibration
between different instruments can be based on the same models and SEDs
calculated with different model-atmosphere codes and are easy to compare.Comment: 42 pages, 27 figure
The rocket ultraviolet spectrum of the planetary nebula NGC 7027
An ultraviolet spectrum of NGC 7027 was obtained with a rocket-borne telescope. The observed fluxes are given on an absolute basis and upper limits are given for the strongest predicted lines which were not observed. The extinction correction was made on the basis of the observed and calculated line ratios for the hydrogenic recombination line of He 2 at 1640A to H beta. The extinction is in agreement with ground based determinations. When corrected for extinction the C 4 resonance line at 1549A is in good agreement with the intensity calculated from models, but the C 3 intercombination line at 1909A is a factor of ten too bright. The addition of dielectronic recombination to the models sufficiently changes the C 3 concentration to reduce the discrepancy to a factor of four. The abundance of carbon is assumed to be 2 x 0.0001 that of hydrogen. Using carbon abundances for the sun, this discrepancy disappears and there must be attenuation in the C 4 line. Since the optical depth is approximately 10,000 at the line center, no appreciable number of absorbing grains can exist in the C 4 producing region of the nebula
Faint NUV/FUV Standards from Swift/UVOT, GALEX and SDSS Photometry
At present, the precision of deep ultraviolet photometry is somewhat limited
by the dearth of faint ultraviolet standard stars. In an effort to improve this
situation, we present a uniform catalog of eleven new faint (u sim17)
ultraviolet standard stars. High-precision photometry of these stars has been
taken from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Galaxy Evolution Explorer and
combined with new data from the Swift Ultraviolet Optical Telescope to provide
precise photometric measures extending from the Near Infrared to the Far
Ultraviolet. These stars were chosen because they are known to be hot (20,000 <
T_eff < 50,000 K) DA white dwarfs with published Sloan spectra that should be
photometrically stable. This careful selection allows us to compare the
combined photometry and Sloan spectroscopy to models of pure hydrogen
atmospheres to both constrain the underlying properties of the white dwarfs and
test the ability of white dwarf models to predict the photometric measures. We
find that the photometry provides good constraint on white dwarf temperatures,
which demonstrates the ability of Swift/UVOT to investigate the properties of
hot luminous stars. We further find that the models reproduce the photometric
measures in all eleven passbands to within their systematic uncertainties.
Within the limits of our photometry, we find the standard stars to be
photometrically stable. This success indicates that the models can be used to
calibrate additional filters to our standard system, permitting easier
comparison of photometry from heterogeneous sources. The largest source of
uncertainty in the model fitting is the uncertainty in the foreground reddening
curve, a problem that is especially acute in the UV.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal. 31 pages, 13
figures, electronic tables available from ApJ or on reques
Hot Populations in M87 Globular Clusters
We have obtained HST/STIS far- and near-UV photometry of globular clusters in
four fields in the gE galaxy M87. To a limit of m(FUV) = 25 we detect a total
of 66 globular clusters (GCs) in common with the deep HST optical-band study of
Kundu et al. (1999). Despite strong overlap in V- and I-band properties, the
M87 GCs have UV/optical properties that are distinct from clusters in the Milky
Way and in M31. M87 clusters, especially metal-poor ones, produce larger hot HB
populations than do Milky Way analogues. Cluster mass is probably not a factor
in these distinctions. The most metal-rich M87 GCs in our sample are near Z_sun
and overlap the local E galaxy sample in estimated Mg_2 line indices.
Nonetheless, the clusters produce much more UV light at a given Mg_2, being up
to 1 mag bluer than any gE galaxy in (FUV-V) color. The M87 GCs do not appear
to represent a transition between Milky Way-type clusters and E galaxies. The
differences are in the correct sense if the clusters are significantly older
than the E galaxies. Comparisons with Galactic open clusters indicate that the
hot stars lie on the extreme horizontal branch, rather than being blue
stragglers, and that the EHB becomes well populated for ages > 5 Gyr. We find
that 43 of our UV detections have no optical-band counterparts. Most appear to
be UV-bright background galaxies, seen through M87. Eleven NUV variable sources
detected at only one epoch in the central field are probably classical novae.
[Abridged]Comment: 70 pages, 25 figures (including 4 jpgs), 7 tables. To appear in AJ.
Full resolution version available at
http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~rwo/m87/m87-hotpops.pd
Effective area calibration of the reflection grating spectrometers of XMM-Newton. II. X-ray spectroscopy of DA white dwarfs
White dwarf spectra have been widely used as a calibration source for X-ray
and EUV instruments. The in-flight effective area calibration of the reflection
grating spectrometers (RGS) of XMM-Newton depend upon the availability of
reliable calibration sources. We investigate how well these white dwarf spectra
can be used as standard candles at the lowest X-ray energies in order to gauge
the absolute effective area scale of X-ray instruments. We calculate a grid of
model atmospheres for Sirius B and HZ 43A, and adjust the parameters using
several constraints until the ratio of the spectra of both stars agrees with
the ratio as observed by the low energy transmission grating spectrometer
(LETGS) of Chandra. This ratio is independent of any errors in the effective
area of the LETGS. We find that we can constrain the absolute X-ray spectrum of
both stars with better than 5 % accuracy. The best-fit model for both stars is
close to a pure hydrogen atmosphere, and we put tight limits to the amount of
helium or the thickness of a hydrogen layer in both stars. Our upper limit to
the helium abundance in Sirius B is 4 times below the previous detection based
on EUVE data. We also find that our results are sensitive to the adopted
cut-off in the Lyman pseudo-continuum opacity in Sirius B. We get best
agreement with a long wavelength cut-off. White dwarf model atmospheres can be
used to derive the effective area of X-ray spectrometers in the lowest energy
band. An accuracy of 3-4 % in the absolute effective area can be achieved.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysics, main journa
How to relate the oscillator and Coulomb systems on spheres and pseudospheres?
We show that the oscillators on a sphere and pseudosphere are related, by the
so-called Bohlin transformation, with the Coulomb systems on the pseudosphere:
the even states of an oscillator yields the conventional Coulomb system on
pseudosphere, while the odd states yield the Coulomb system on pseudosphere in
the presence of magnetic flux tube generating half spin. In the higher
dimensions the oscillator and Coulomb(-like) systems are connected in the
similar way. In particular, applying the Kustaanheimo-Stiefel transformation to
the oscillators on sphere and pseudosphere, we obtained the preudospherical
generalization of MIC-Kepler problem describing three-dimensional charge-dyon
system.Comment: 12 pages, Based on talk given at XXIII Colloquium on Group
Theoretical Methods in Physics (July 31-August 5, 2000, Dubna
Photometry and spectroscopy of faint candidate spectrophotometric standard DA white dwarfs
We present precise photometry and spectroscopy for 23 candidate
spectrophotometric standard white dwarfs. The selected stars are distributed in
the Northern hemisphere and around the celestial equators and are all fainter
than r ~ 16.5 mag. This network of stars, when established as standards,
together with the three Hubble Space Telescope primary CALSPEC white dwarfs,
will provide a set of spectrophotometric standards to directly calibrate data
products to better than 1%. These new faint standard white dwarfs will have
enough signal-to-noise ratio in future deep photometric surveys and facilities
to be measured accurately while still avoiding saturation in such surveys. They
will also fall within the dynamic range of large telescopes and their
instruments for the foreseeable future. This paper discusses the provenance of
the observational data for our candidate standard stars. The comparison with
models, reconciliation with reddening, and the consequent derivation of the
full spectral energy density distributions for each of them is reserved for a
subsequent paper.Comment: 31 pages, 17 figures, 10 tables, ApJ in press (accepted on December
23rd, 2018
On the photon polarization in radiative B -> phi K gamma decay
The photon polarization in radiative decays B -> Y gamma is known to be a
subtle probe of the effective Lagrangian structure and possible New Physics
effects. We discuss exclusive decay mode B -> phi K gamma where the
experimentally distinct final state makes analysis especially promising. The
possibility to extract information on the photon polarization out of the data
entirely depends on the partial waves interference pattern in the phi K system.Comment: RevTeX, 6 pages, 1 figure; the journal versio
Ultraviolet Imaging of the Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae
We have used the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope to obtain deep far-UV (1620
Angstrom), 40' diameter images of the prototypical metal-rich globular cluster
47 Tucanae. We find a population of about 20 hot (Teff > 9000 K) objects near
or above the predicted UV luminosity of the hot horizontal branch (HB) and
lying within two half-light radii of the cluster center. We believe these are
normal hot HB or post-HB objects rather than interacting binaries or blue
stragglers. IUE spectra of two are consistent with post-HB phases. These
observations, and recent HST photometry of two other metal-rich clusters,
demonstrate that populations with rich, cool HB's can nonetheless produce hot
HB and post-HB stars. The cluster center also contains an unusual diffuse
far-UV source which is more extended than its V-band light. It is possible that
this is associated with an intracluster medium, for which there was earlier
infrared and X-ray evidence, and is produced by C IV emission or scattered
light from grains.Comment: 13 pages AASLaTeX including one postscript figure and one bitmapped
image, JPEG format. Submitted to the Astronomical Jorunal. Full Postscript
version available at http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~bd4r
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