4,368 research outputs found
Small-Scale Structure of O VI Interstellar Gas in the Direction of the Globular Cluster NGC 6752
In order to study the small-scale structure of the hot interstellar gas, we
obtained Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer interstellar O VI interstellar
absorption spectra of 4 four post-extreme horizontal branch stars in the
globular cluster NGC 6752 [(l,b) = (336.50,-25.63), d = 3.9 kpc, z= -1.7 kpc].
The good quality spectra of these stars allow us to measure both lines of the O
VI doublet at 1031.926 \AA and 1037.617 \AA. The close proximity of these stars
permits us to probe the hot interstellar gas over angular scale of only
2\farcm2 - 8\farcm9, corresponding to spatial scales \la 2.5-10.1 pc. On
these scales we detect no variations in the O VI column density and velocity
distribution. The average column density is log = 14.34 \pm 0.02 (log
= 13.98). The measured velocity dispersions of the O VI
absorption are also indistinguishable. Including the earlier results of Howk et
al., this study suggests that interstellar O VI is smooth on scales \Delta
\theta \la 12\arcmin, corresponding to a spatial scale of less than 10 pc, and
quite patchy at larger scales. Although such small scales are only probed in a
few directions, this suggests a characteristic size scale for the regions
producing collisionally-ionized O VI in the Galaxy.Comment: Accepted for publication in the PASP (to appear in the October 2004
issue
A Reservoir of Ionized Gas in the Galactic Halo to Sustain Star Formation in the Milky Way
Without a source of new gas, our Galaxy would exhaust its supply of gas
through the formation of stars. Ionized gas clouds observed at high velocity
may be a reservoir of such gas, but their distances are key for placing them in
the Galactic halo and unraveling their role. We have used the Hubble Space
Telescope to blindly search for ionized high-velocity clouds (iHVCs) in the
foreground of Galactic stars. We show that iHVCs with 90 < |v_LSR| < 170 km/s
are within one Galactic radius of the sun and have enough mass to maintain star
formation, while iHVCs with |v_LSR|>170 km/s are at larger distances. These may
be the next wave of infalling material.Comment: This paper is part of a set of three papers on circumgalactic gas
observed with COS and STIS on HST, to be published in Science, together with
related papers by Tripp et al. and Tumlinson et al., in the November 18, 2011
edition. This version has not undergone final copyediting. Please see Science
online for the final printed versio
Deuterium toward the WD0621-376 sight line: Results from the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) Mission
Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer observations are presented for
WD0621-376, a DA white dwarf star in the local interstellar medium (LISM) at a
distance of about 78 pc. The data have a signal-to-noise ratio of about 20-40
per 20 km/s resolution element and cover the wavelength range 905-1187 \AA.
LISM absorption is detected in the lines of D I, C II, C II*, C III, N I, N II,
N III, O I, Ar I, and Fe II. This sight line is partially ionized, with an
ionized nitrogen fraction of > 0.23. We determine the ratio (2). Assuming a standard interstellar
oxygen abundance, we derive . Using the
value of N(H I) derived from EUVE data gives a similar D/H ratio. The D I/N I
ratio is (2).Comment: accepted for publication in the ApJ
On characteristic initial data for a star orbiting a black hole
We take further steps in the development of the characteristic approach to
enable handling the physical problem of a compact self-gravitating object, such
as a neutron star, in close orbit around a black hole. We examine different
options for setting the initial data for this problem and, in order to shed
light on their physical relevance, we carry out short time evolution of this
data. To this end we express the matter part of the characteristic gravity code
so that the hydrodynamics are in conservation form. The resulting gravity plus
matter relativity code provides a starting point for more refined future
efforts at longer term evolution. In the present work we find that,
independently of the details of the initial gravitational data, the system
quickly flushes out spurious gravitational radiation and relaxes to a
quasi-equilibrium state with an approximate helical symmetry corresponding to
the circular orbit of the star.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figure
FUSE Observations of the Magellanic Bridge Gas toward Two Early-Type Stars: Molecules, Physical Conditions, and Relative Abundance
We discuss FUSE observations of two early-type stars, DI1388 and DGIK975, in
the low density and low metallicity gas of Magellanic Bridge (MB). Toward
DI1388, the FUSE observations show molecular hydrogen, O VI, and numerous other
atomic or ionic transitions in absorption, implying the presence of multiple
gas phases in a complex arrangement. The relative abundance pattern in the MB
is attributed to varying degrees of depletion onto dust similar to that of halo
clouds. The N/O ratio is near solar, much higher than N/O in damped Ly-alpha
systems, implying subsequent stellar processing to explain the origin of
nitrogen in the MB. The diffuse molecular cloud in this direction has a low
column density and low molecular fraction. H2 is observed in both the
Magellanic Stream and the MB, yet massive stars form only in the MB, implying
significantly different physical processes between them. In the MB some of the
H2 could have been pulled out from the SMC via tidal interaction, but some also
could have formed in situ in dense clouds where star formation might have taken
place. Toward DGIK975, the presence of neutral, weakly and highly ionized
species suggest that this sight line has also several complex gas phases. The
highly ionized species of O VI, C IV, and Si IV toward both stars have very
broad features, indicating that multiple components of hot gas at different
velocities are present. Several sources (a combination of turbulent mixing
layer, conductive heating, and cooling flows) may be contributing to the
production of the highly ionized gas in the MB. Finally, this study has
confirmed previous results that the high-velocity cloud HVC 291.5-41.2+80 is
mainly ionized composed of weakly and highly ions. The high ion ratios are
consistent with a radiatively cooling gas in a fountain flow model.Comment: Accepted for publication in the ApJ (October 10, 2002). Added
reference (Gibson et al. 2000
Matching factors for Delta S=1 four-quark operators in RI/SMOM schemes
The non-perturbative renormalization of four-quark operators plays a
significant role in lattice studies of flavor physics. For this purpose, we
define regularization-independent symmetric momentum-subtraction (RI/SMOM)
schemes for Delta S=1 flavor-changing four-quark operators and provide one-loop
matching factors to the MS-bar scheme in naive dimensional regularization. The
mixing of two-quark operators is discussed in terms of two different classes of
schemes. We provide a compact expression for the finite one-loop amplitudes
which allows for a straightforward definition of further RI/SMOM schemes.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figure
- …