256 research outputs found
The effect of metallicity on the Cepheid distance scale and its implications for the Hubble constant () determination
Recent HST determinations of the expansion's rate of the Universe (the Hubble
constant, H_0) assumed that the Cepheid Period-Luminosity relation at V and I
are independent of metallicity (Freedman, et al., 1996, Saha et al., 1996,
Tanvir et al., 1995). The three groups obtain different vales for H_0. We note
that most of this discrepancy stems from the asumption (by both groups) that
the Period-Luminosity relation is independent of metallicity. We come to this
conclusion as a result of our study of the Period-Luminosity relation of 481
Cepheids with 3 millions two colour measurements in the Large Magellanic Cloud
and the Small Magellanic Cloud obtained as a by-product of the EROS
microlensing survey. We find that the derived interstellar absorption
corrections are particularly sensitive to the metallicity and when our result
is applied to recent estimates based on HST Cepheids observations it makes the
low-H_0 values higher and the high-H_0 value lower, bringing those discrepant
estimates into agrement around .Comment: 4 pages, Latex, with 2 .ps accepted for publication astronomy and
astrophysics Letter
The Extraordinary `Superthin' Spiral Galaxy UGC7321. I. Disk Color Gradients and Global Properties from Multiwavelength Observations
We present B- and R-band imaging and photometry, H-alpha narrow-band imaging,
NIR H-band imaging, and HI 21-cm spectroscopy of the nearby Sd spiral galaxy
UGC7321. UGC7321 exhibits a remarkably thin stellar disk with no bulge
component. The galaxy has a very diffuse, low surface brightness disk, which
appears to suffer little internal extinction in spite of its edge-on geometry.
The UGC7321 disk shows significant B-R color gradients in both the radial and
vertical directions. These color gradients cannot be explained solely by dust
and are indicative of changes in the mix of stellar ages and/or metallicity as
a function of both radius and height above the galaxy plane. The outer regions
of the UGC7321 disk are too blue to be explained by low metallicity alone
(B-R<0.6), and must be relatively young. However, the galaxy also contains
stellar populations with B-R>1.1, indicating it is not a young or
recently-formed galaxy. The disk of UGC7321 is not a simple exponential, but
exhibits a light excess at small radii, as well as distinct surface brightness
zones. Together the properties of UGC7321 imply that it is an under-evolved
galaxy in both a dynamical and in a star-formation sense. (Abridged)Comment: Accepted to the Astronomical Journal; 28 pages, 1 table and 21
figures (GIF and postscript
Observational Limits on Machos in the Galactic Halo
We present final results from the first phase of the EROS search for
gravitational microlensing of stars in the Magellanic Clouds by unseen
deflectors (machos: MAssive Compact Halo Objects). The search is sensitive to
events with time scales between 15 minutes and 200 days corresponding to
deflector masses in the range 1.e-7 to a few solar masses. Two events were
observed that are compatible with microlensing by objects of mass of about 0.1
Mo. By comparing the results with the expected number of events for various
models of the Galaxy, we conclude that machos in the mass range [1.e-7, 0.02]
Mo make up less than 20% (95% C.L.) of the Halo dark matter.Comment: 4 pages, 3 Postscript figures, to be published in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Role of the gap junctions in the contractile response to agonists in pulmonary artery from two rat models of pulmonary hypertension
International audienceBackground: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is characterized by arterial vascular remodelling and alteration in vascular reactivity. Since gap junctions are formed with proteins named connexins (Cx) and contribute to vasoreactivity, we investigated both expression and role of Cx in the pulmonary arterial vasoreactivity in two rat models of PH. Methods: Intrapulmonary arteries (IPA) were isolated from normoxic rats (N), rats exposed to chronic hypoxia (CH) or treated with monocrotaline (MCT). RT-PCR, Western Blot and immunofluorescent labelling were used to study the Cx expression. The role of Cx in arterial reactivity was assessed by using isometric contraction and specific gap junction blockers. Contractile responses were induced by agonists already known to be involved in PH, namely serotonin, endothelin-1 and phenylephrine. Results: Cx 37, 40 and 43 were expressed in all rat models and Cx43 was increased in CH rats. In IPA from N rats only, the contraction to serotonin was decreased after treatment with 37-43Gap27, a specific Cx-mimetic peptide blocker of Cx 37 and 43. The contraction to endothelin-1 was unchanged after incubation with 40Gap27 (a specific blocker of Cx 40) or 37-43Gap27 in N, CH and MCT rats. In contrast, the contraction to phenylephrine was decreased by 40Gap27 or 37-43Gap27 in CH and MCT rats. Moreover, the contractile sensitivity to high potassium solutions was increased in CH rats and this hypersensitivity was reversed following 37-43Gap27 incubation. Conclusion: Altogether, Cx 37, 40 and 43 are differently expressed and involved in the vasoreactivity to various stimuli in IPA from different rat models. These data may help to understand alterations of pulmonary arterial reactivity observed in PH and to improve the development of innovative therapies according to PH aetiology
Metallicity Effects on the Cepheid Extragalactic Distance Scale from EROS photometry in LMC and SMC
This is an investigation of the period-luminosity relation of classical
Cepheids in samples of different metallicity. It is based on 481 Cepheids in
the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds from the blue and red filter CCD
observations (most similar to V_J & R_J) of the French EROS microlensing
project. The data-set is complete and provides an excellent basis for a
differential analysis between LMC and SMC. In comparison to previous studies of
effects on the PL-relation, the EROS data-set offers extremely well-sampled
light curves and well-filled instability strips. This allows reliable
separation of Cepheids pulsating in the fundamental and the first overtone mode
and derivation of differential reddening. Our main result concerns the
determination of distances to galaxies which are inferred by using the LMC as a
base and using two color photometry to establish the amount of reddening. We
find a zero-point offset between SMC and LMC which amounts to a difference
between inferred and true distance modulus of 0.14 \pm 0.06 mag in the VI_c
system. The offset is exactly the same in both sets of PL-relations - of the
fundamental and of the first overtone mode Cepheids. No effect is seen on the
slopes of the PL-relations, although the fundamental and the first overtone
mode Cepheids have different PL slopes. We attribute the color and the
zero-point offset to the difference in metallicity between the SMC and LMC
Cepheids. A metallicity effect of that small magnitude still has important
consequencies for the inferred Cepheid distances and the determination of H_0.
When applied to recent estimates based on HST Cepheid observations, our
metallicity dependence makes the low-H_0 values (Sandage et al. 1994) higher
and the high-H_0 values (Freedman et al. 1994b) lower, thus bringing thoseComment: 14 pages, Latex, with 8 .ps accepted for publication in astronomy and
astrophysic
Fermi Large Area Telescope Bright Gamma-ray Source List
Following its launch in June 2008, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
(Fermi) began a sky survey in August. The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on Fermi
in 3 months produced a deeper and better-resolved map of the gamma-ray sky than
any previous space mission. We present here initial results for energies above
100 MeV for the 205 most significant (statistical significance greater than
~10-sigma) gamma-ray sources in these data. These are the best-characterized
and best-localized point-like (i.e., spatially unresolved) gamma-ray sources in
the early-mission data.Comment: Accepted by ApJS. Many helpful comments by referee incorporated 57
pages, 12 figure
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