22 research outputs found
QSOs Associated with Messier 82
The starburst / AGN galaxy M82 was studied by Dahlem, Weaver and Heckman
using X-ray data from ROSAT and ASCA, as part of their X-ray survey of edge-on
starburst galaxies. They found seventeen unresolved hard-X-ray sources around
M82, in addition to its strong nuclear source, and other X-rays within the main
body of M82. We have measured optical point sources at these positions, and
have obtained redshifts of six candidates at the Keck I 10-m telescope, using
the low-resolution imaging spectrograph (LRIS). All six are highly compact
optical and X-ray objects with redshifts ranging from 0.111 to 1.086. They all
show emission lines. The three with the highest redshifts are clearly QSOs. The
others with lower redshifts may either be QSOs or compact emission-line
galaxies. In addition to these six there are nine QSOs lying very close to M82
which were discovered many years ago. There is no difference between optical
spectra of these latter QSOs, only two of which are known to be X-ray sources,
and the X-ray emitting QSOs. The redshifts of all fifteen range between 0.111
and 2.05. The large number of QSOs and their apparent association with ejected
matter from M82 suggest that they are physically associated with the galaxy,
and have large intrinsic redshift components. If this is correct, the absolute
magnitudes lie in the range -8 < M_v < -10. Also we speculate that the luminous
variable X-ray source which has been detected by Chandra in the main body of
M82 some 9 arcseconds from the center is another QSO in the process of ejection
from the nucleus, and propose some observational tests of this hypothesis.Comment: 16 pages aastex, 3 eps figures, accepted for publication on Ap
Status of the profession
The number of astronomers has grown by about 40 percent over the past decade. The number of astronomers with jobs in industry, or with long-term, non-tenured, jobs has increased dramatically compared with traditional faculty positions. The increase in the number of astronomers and the declining share of the NSF budget going to astronomy has led to extreme difficulties in the NSF grant program and in support of the National Observatories. In 1989, direct NASA support of astronomers through the grants program exceeds that of NSF, although the total of the NSF grants program over decade far exceeds that of NASA. Access to major new telescopes will be important issue for the 1990s. US astronomers, who once had a monopoly on telescopes larger than 3 meters, will, by the year 2000, have access to just half of the world's optical telescope area
Policy opportunities
Recommendations are given regarding National Science Foundation (NSF) astronomy programs and the NASA Space Astrophysics program. The role of ground based astronomy is reviewed. The role of National Optical Astronomy Observatories (NOAO) in ground-based night-time astronomical research is discussed. An enhanced Explored Program, costs and management of small and moderate space programs, the role of astrophysics within NASA's space exploration initiative, suborbital and airborne astronomical research, the problems of the Hubble Space Telescope, and astronomy education are discussed. Also covered are policy issues related to the role of science advisory committees, international cooperation and competition, archiving and distribution of astronomical data, and multi-wavelength observations of variable sources
Cosmology and Cosmogony in a Cyclic Universe
In this paper we discuss the properties of the quasi-steady state
cosmological model (QSSC) developed in 1993 in its role as a cyclic model of
the universe driven by a negative energy scalar field. We discuss the origin of
such a scalar field in the primary creation process first described by F. Hoyle
and J. V. Narlikar forty years ago. It is shown that the creation processes
which takes place in the nuclei of galaxies are closely linked to the high
energy and explosive phenomena, which are commonly observed in galaxies at all
redshifts.
The cyclic nature of the universe provides a natural link between the places
of origin of the microwave background radiation (arising in hydrogen burning in
stars), and the origin of the lightest nuclei (H, D, He and He). It
also allows us to relate the large scale cyclic properties of the universe to
events taking place in the nuclei of galaxies. Observational evidence shows
that ejection of matter and energy from these centers in the form of compact
objects, gas and relativistic particles is responsible for the population of
quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) and gamma-ray burst sources in the universe.
In the later parts of the paper we briefly discuss the major unsolved
problems of this integrated cosmological and cosmogonical scheme. These are the
understanding of the origin of the intrinsic redshifts, and the periodicities
in the redshift distribution of the QSOs.Comment: 51 pages including 1 figur
A different approach to cosmology: from a static universe through the Big Bang towards reality
The basic theory underlying the quasi-steady state cosmology
Outside cosmology, the procedure normally followed in science requires the integration of hyperbolic partial differential equations subject to initial data given on a free surface, which is usually taken to be a time section of spacetime. The initial data are determined in experimental science from observation and the results of the integrations are also checked by observations. Friedmann (Big Bang) cosmology suffers, however, from the fact that the observations cannot determine initial conditions. Thus in that theory the initial conditions have only the weak status of guesses. There is also some question whether the correct equations are being used, since the gravitational equations of that cosmology are not scale invariant, a situation unlike the rest of physics. Since matter exists in what is supposed to be a space of finite temporal duration its origin should be explained, working from a suitable lagrangian and action. Otherwise the origin is placed outside science. This is what is done in Big Bang cosmology. In this paper we depart from the standard procedure by first deriving gravitational equations that are scale invariant, whence it is shown that in a scale invariant gravitational theory particles have the property that the two lengths associated with them, the Compton wavelength and gravitational radius, must be comparable, i.e. they are Planck particles. It is then shown that the theory has the scope to explain the genesis of the so-called cosmological constant, and the usually required magnitude of the cosmological constant is derived. When interactions other than gravitation are included, Planck particles are unstable. The effect of instability on newly created Planck particles is to introduce terms into the gravitational equations additional to those of general relativity. In particular, there are negative pressure terms which act to expand the universe. The energy terms are such as to suggest that particle creation must be of an explosive nature and that it must occur in the neighbourhoods of highly compacted bodies, a property which appears to provide a connection between cosmological theory and high-energy astrophysics