445 research outputs found
Constraints on UV Absorption in the Intracluster Medium of Abell 1030
We present results from an extensive HST spectroscopic search for UV
absorption lines in the spectrum of the quasar B2~1028+313, which is associated
with the central dominant galaxy in the cluster Abell~1030 (). This is
one of the brightest known UV continuum sources located in a cluster, and
therefore provides an ideal opportunity to obtain stringent constraints on the
column densities of any cool absorbing gas that may be associated with the
intracluster medium (ICM). Our HST spectra were obtained with the FOS and GHRS,
and provide continuous coverage at rest-frame wavelengths from to
4060~\AA, thereby allowing the investigation of many different elements and
ionization levels. We utilize a new technique that involves simultaneous
fitting of large numbers of different transitions for each species, thereby
yielding more robust constraints on column densities than can be obtained from
a single transition. This method yields upper limits of cm on the column densities of a wide range of molecular, atomic
and ionized species that may be associated with the ICM. We also discuss a
possible \Lya and C IV absorption system associated with the quasar. We discuss
the implications of the upper limits on cool intracluster gas in the context of
the physical properties of the ICM and its relationship to the quasar.Comment: Astrophysical Journal, in press, 19 pages, includes 5 PostScript
figures. Latex format, uses aas2pp4.sty and epsfig.sty file
Properties of compact 250 μm emission and H II regions in M 33 (HERM33ES)
Aims. Within the framework of the HERM33ES key program, using the high resolution and sensitivity of the Herschel photometric
data, we study the compact emission in the Local Group spiral galaxy M33 to investigate the nature of the compact SPIRE emission
sources. We extracted a catalogue of sources at 250 μm in order to investigate the nature of this compact emission. Taking advantage
of the unprecedented Herschel resolution at these wavelengths, we also focus on a more precise study of some striking Hα shells in
the northern part of the galaxy.
Methods. We present a catalogue of 159 compact emission sources in M33 identified by SExtractor in the 250 μm SPIRE band that
is the one that provides the best spatial resolution. We also measured fluxes at 24 μm and Hα for those 159 extracted sources. The
morphological study of the shells also benefits from a multiwavelength approach including Hα, far-ultraviolet from GALEX, and
infrared from both Spitzer IRAC 8 μm and MIPS 24 μm in order to make comparisons.
Results. For the 159 compact sources selected at 250 μm, we find a very strong Pearson correlation coefficient with the MIPS 24 μm
emission (r_(24) = 0.94) and a rather strong correlation with the Hα emission, although with more scatter (r_(Hα) = 0.83). The morphological
study of the Hα shells shows a displacement between far-ultraviolet, Hα, and the SPIRE bands. The cool dust emission from
SPIRE clearly delineates the Hα shell structures.
Conclusions. The very strong link between the 250 μm compact emission and the 24 μm and Hα emissions, by recovering the star formation
rate from standard recipes for H II regions, allows us to provide star formation rate calibrations based on the 250 μm compact
emission alone. The different locations of the Hα and far-ultraviolet emissions with respect to the SPIRE cool dust emission leads to
a dynamical age of a few Myr for the Hα shells and the associated cool dust
Properties of compact 250 \mu m emission and HII regions in M33 (HERM33ES)
Within the framework of the HERM33ES Key Project, using the high resolution
and sensitivity of the Herschel photometric data, we study the compact emission
in the Local Group spiral galaxy M33 to investigate the nature of the compact
SPIRE emission sources. We extracted a catalogue of sources at 250um in order
to investigate the nature of this compact emission. Taking advantage of the
unprecedented Herschel resolution at these wavelengths, we also focus on a more
precise study of some striking Halpha shells in the northern part of the
galaxy. We present a catalogue of 159 compact emission sources in M33
identified by SExtractor in the 250um SPIRE band that is the one that provides
the best spatial resolution. We also measured fluxes at 24um and Halpha for
those 159 extracted sources. The morphological study of the shells also
benefits from a multiwavelength approach including Halpha, far-UV from GALEX,
and infrared from both Spitzer IRAC 8um and MIPS 24um in order to make
comparisons. For the 159 compact sources selected at 250um, we find a very
strong Pearson correlation coefficient with the MIPS 24um emission (r24 = 0.94)
and a rather strong correlation with the Halpha emission, although with more
scatter (rHa = 0.83). The morphological study of the Halpha shells shows a
displacement between far-ultraviolet, Halpha, and the SPIRE bands. The cool
dust emission from SPIRE clearly delineates the Halpha shell structures. The
very strong link between the 250um compact emission and the 24um and Halpha
emissions, by recovering the star formation rate from standard recipes for HII
regions, allows us to provide star formation rate calibrations based on the
250um compact emission alone. The different locations of the Halpha and
far-ultraviolet emissions with respect to the SPIRE cool dust emission leads to
a dynamical age of a few Myr for the Halpha shells and the associated cool
dust.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Accpeted for publication in the A&A Herschel
Special Issu
Star formation in M33 (HerM33es)
Within the key project "Herschel M33 extended survey" (HerM33es), we are
studying the physical and chemical processes driving star formation and
galactic evolution in the nearby galaxy M33, combining the study of local
conditions affecting individual star formation with properties only becoming
apparent on global scales. Here, we present recent results obtained by the
HerM33es team. Combining Spitzer and Herschel data ranging from 3.6um to 500um,
along with HI, Halpha, and GALEX UV data, we have studied the dust at high
spatial resolutions of 150pc, providing estimators of the total infrared (TIR)
brightness and of the star formation rate. While the temperature of the warm
dust at high brightness is driven by young massive stars, evolved stellar
populations appear to drive the temperature of the cold dust. Plane-parallel
models of photon dominated regions (PDRs) fail to reproduce fully the [CII],
[OI], and CO maps obtained in a first spectroscopic study of one 2'x2'
subregion of M33, located on the inner, northern spiral arm and encompassing
the HII region BCLMP302.Comment: 6 pages, to appear in the proceedings of the 5th Zermatt ISM
Symposium "Conditions and impact of star formation: New results with Herschel
and beyond
Spitzer Uncovers Active Galactic Nuclei Missed by Optical Surveys in 7 Late-type Galaxies
We report the discovery using Spitzers high resolution spectrograph of 7
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) in a sample of 32 late-type galaxies that show no
definitive signatures of AGN in their optical spectra. Our observations suggest
that the AGN detection rate in late-type galaxies is possibly 4 times larger
than what optical spectroscopic observations alone suggest. We demonstrate
using photoionization models with an input AGN and an extreme EUV-bright
starburst ionizing radiation field that the observed mid-infrared line ratios
cannot be replicated unless an AGN contribution, in some cases as little as 10%
of the total galaxy luminosity, is included. These models show that when the
fraction of the total luminosity due to the AGN is low, optical diagnostics are
insensitive to the presence of the AGN. In this regime of parameter space, the
mid-infrared diagnostics offer a powerful tool for uncovering AGN missed by
optical spectroscopy. The AGN bolometric luminosities in our sample range from
~3 X 10^41 - ~2 X 10^43 ergs s^-1, which, based on the Eddington limit,
corresponds to a lower mass limit for the black hole that ranges from ~3 X
10^3Mdot to as high as ~1.5 X 10^5Mdot. These lower mass limits however do not
put a strain on the well-known relationship between the black hole mass and the
host galaxy's stellar velocity dispersion established in predominantly
early-type galaxies. Our findings add to the growing evidence that black holes
do form and grow in low-bulge environments and that they are significantly more
common than optical studies indicate.Comment: 8 figures, 17 pages, astro-ph\0801.2766 (Abel & Satyapal 2008; ApJ
accepted) and this posting designed to form a two-part investigatio
Cool gas and dust in M33: Results from the Herschel M33 extended survey (HERM33ES)
We present an analysis of the first space-based far-IR-submm observations of
M 33, which measure the emission from the cool dust and resolve the giant
molecular cloud complexes. With roughly half-solar abundances, M33 is a first
step towards young low-metallicity galaxies where the submm may be able to
provide an alternative to CO mapping to measure their H content. In this
Letter, we measure the dust emission cross-section using SPIRE and
recent CO and \HI\ observations; a variation in is present from a
near-solar neighborhood cross-section to about half-solar with the maximum
being south of the nucleus. Calculating the total H column density from the
measured dust temperature and cross-section, and then subtracting the \HI\
column, yields a morphology similar to that observed in CO. The H/\HI\ mass
ratio decreases from about unity to well below 10% and is about 15% averaged
over the optical disk. The single most important observation to reduce the
potentially large systematic errors is to complete the CO mapping of M 33.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures Accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Dense Molecular Gas Associated with the Circumnuclear Star Forming Ring in the Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 6951
We present high resolution (3" - 5") observations of CO(1-0) and HCN(1-0)
emission from the circumnuclear star forming ring in the barred spiral galaxy
NGC 6951, a host of a type-2 Seyfert, using the Nobeyama Millimeter Array and
45 m telescope. We find that most of the HCN emission is associated with the
circumnuclear ring, where vigorous star formation occurs. The HCN to CO
integrated intensity ratio is also enhanced in the star forming ring; the peak
value of HCN/CO ratio is 0.18, which is comparable to the ratio in the
starbursts NGC 253 and M82. The formation mechanism of dense molecular gas has
been investigated. We find that the shocks along the orbit crowding do not
promote the formation of the dense molecular gas effectively but enhance the
presence of low density GMCs. Instead, gravitational instabilities of the gas
can account for the dense molecular gas formation. The HCN/CO ratio toward the
Seyfert nucleus of NGC 6951 is a rather normal value (0.086), in contrast with
other Seyferts NGC 1068 and M51 where extremely high HCN/CO value of ~ 0.5 have
been reported.Comment: 33 pages, 17 figures, to appear in the Astrophysical Journa
A Deep Look at the Emission-Line Nebula in Abell 2597
The close correlation between cooling flows and emission-line nebulae in
clusters of galaxies has been recognized for over a decade and a half, but the
physical reason for this connection remains unclear. Here we present deep
optical spectra of the nebula in Abell 2597, one of the nearest strong
cooling-flow clusters. These spectra reveal the density, temperature, and metal
abundances of the line-emitting gas. The abundances are roughly half-solar, and
dust produces an extinction of at least a magnitude in V. The absence of [O
III] 4363 emission rules out shocks as a major ionizing mechanism, and the
weakness of He II 4686 rules out a hard ionizing source, such as an active
galactic nucleus or cooling intracluster gas. Hot stars are therefore the best
candidate for producing the ionization. However, even the hottest O stars
cannot power a nebula as hot as the one we see. Some other nonionizing source
of heat appears to contribute a comparable amount of power. We show that the
energy flux from a confining medium can become important when the ionization
level of a nebula drops to the low levels seen in cooling-flow nebulae. We
suggest that this kind of phenomenon, in which energy fluxes from the
surrounding medium augment photoelectric heating, might be the common feature
underlying the diverse group of objects classified as LINERS.Comment: 33 Latex pages, including 16 Postscript figures, to appear in 1997
September 1 Astrophysical Journa
First Detection of Millimeter/Submillimeter Extragalactic H2O Maser Emission
We report the first detection of an extragalactic millimeter wavelength H2O
maser at 183 GHz towards NGC 3079 using the Submillimeter Array (SMA), and a
tentative submillimeter wave detection of the 439 GHz maser towards the same
source using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). These H2O transitions
are known to exhibit maser emission in star-forming regions and evolved stars.
NGC 3079 is a well-studied nuclear H2O maser source at 22 GHz with a
time-variable peak flux density in the range 3 -- 12 Jy. The 183 GHz H2O maser
emission, with peak flux density 0.5 Jy (7 detection), also
originates from the nuclear region of NGC 3079 and is spatially coincident with
the dust continuum peak at 193 GHz (53 mJy integrated). Peak emission at both
183 and 439 GHz occurs in the same range of velocity as that covered by the 22
GHz spectrum. We estimate the gas to dust ratio of the nucleus of NGC 3079 to
be 150, comparable to the Galactic value of 160. Discovery of maser
emission in an active galactic nucleus beyond the long-known 22 GHz transition
opens the possibility of future position-resolved radiative transfer modeling
of accretion disks and outflows pc from massive black holes.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, ApJ Letters accepte
Far Infrared and Submillimeter Emission from Galactic and Extragalactic Photo-Dissociation Regions
Photodissociation Region (PDR) models are computed over a wide range of
physical conditions, from those appropriate to giant molecular clouds
illuminated by the interstellar radiation field to the conditions experienced
by circumstellar disks very close to hot massive stars. These models use the
most up-to-date values of atomic and molecular data, the most current chemical
rate coefficients, and the newest grain photoelectric heating rates which
include treatments of small grains and large molecules. In addition, we examine
the effects of metallicity and cloud extinction on the predicted line
intensities. Results are presented for PDR models with densities over the range
n=10^1-10^7 cm^-3 and for incident far-ultraviolet radiation fields over the
range G_0=10^-0.5-10^6.5, for metallicities Z=1 and 0.1 times the local
Galactic value, and for a range of PDR cloud sizes. We present line strength
and/or line ratio plots for a variety of useful PDR diagnostics: [C II] 158
micron, [O I] 63 and 145 micron, [C I] 370 and 609 micron, CO J=1-0, J=2-1,
J=3-2, J=6-5 and J=15-14, as well as the strength of the far-infrared
continuum. These plots will be useful for the interpretation of Galactic and
extragalactic far infrared and submillimeter spectra observable with ISO,
SOFIA, SWAS, FIRST and other orbital and suborbital platforms. As examples, we
apply our results to ISO and ground based observations of M82, NGC 278, and the
Large Magellenic Cloud.Comment: 54 pages, 20 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
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