2,424 research outputs found
Heat-Transfer and Pressure Measurements from a Flight Test of a 1/18-Scale Model of the Titan Intercontinental Ballistic Missile up to a Mach Number of 3.95 and Reynolds Number Per Foot of 23 by 10 to the 6Th Power
A probable giant planet imaged in the Beta Pictoris disk
Since the discovery of its dusty disk in 1984, Beta Pictoris has become the
prototype of young early-type planetary systems, and there are now various
indications that a massive Jovian planet is orbiting the star at ~ 10 AU.
However, no planets have been detected around this star so far. Our goal was to
investigate the close environment of Beta Pic, searching for planetary
companion(s). Deep adaptive-optics L'-band images of Beta Pic were recorded
using the NaCo instrument at the Very Large Telescope. A faint point-like
signal is detected at a projected distance of ~ 8 AU from the star, within the
North-East side of the dust disk. Various tests were made to rule out with a
good confidence level possible instrumental or atmospheric artifacts. The
probability of a foreground or background contaminant is extremely low, based
in addition on the analysis of previous deep Hubble Space Telescope images. The
object L'=11.2 apparent magnitude would indicate a typical temperature of ~1500
K and a mass of ~ 8 Jovian masses. If confirmed, it could explain the main
morphological and dynamical peculiarities of the Beta Pic system. The present
detection is unique among A-stars by the proximity of the resolved planet to
its parent star. Its closeness and location inside the Beta Pic disk suggest a
formation process by core accretion or disk instabilities rather than a
binary-like formation process.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. A&A Letters, in pres
Decoder synchronization for deep space missions
The Consultative Committee for Space Data Standards (CCSDS) recommends that space communication links employ a concatenated, error-correcting, channel-coding system in which the inner code is a convolutional (7,1/2) code and the outer code is a (255,223) Reed-Solomon code. The traditional implementation is to perform the node synchronization for the Viterbi decoder and the frame synchronization for the Reed-Solomon decoder as separate, sequential operations. This article discusses a unified synchronization technique that is required for deep space missions that have data rates and signal-to-noise ratios (SNR's) that are extremely low. This technique combines frame synchronization in the bit and symbol domains and traditional accumulated-metric growth techniques to establish a joint frame and node synchronization. A variation on this technique is used for the Galileo spacecraft on its Jupiter-bound mission
The 2008 outburst in the young stellar system ZCMa: I. Evidence of an enhanced bipolar wind on the AU-scale
Accretion is a fundamental process in star formation. Although the time
evolution of accretion remains a matter of debate, observations and modelling
studies suggest that episodic outbursts of strong accretion may dominate the
formation of the protostar. Observing young stellar objects during these
elevated accretion states is crucial to understanding the origin of unsteady
accretion. ZCMa is a pre-main-sequence binary system composed of an embedded
Herbig Be star, undergoing photometric outbursts, and a FU Orionis star. The
Herbig Be component recently underwent its largest optical photometric outburst
detected so far. We aim to constrain the origin of this outburst by studying
the emission region of the HI Brackett gamma line, a powerful tracer of
accretion/ejection processes on the AU-scale in young stars. Using the
AMBER/VLTI instrument at spectral resolutions of 1500 and 12 000, we performed
spatially and spectrally resolved interferometric observations of the hot gas
emitting across the Brackett gamma emission line, during and after the
outburst. From the visibilities and differential phases, we derive
characteristic sizes for the Brackett gamma emission and spectro-astrometric
measurements across the line, with respect to the continuum. We find that the
line profile, the astrometric signal, and the visibilities are inconsistent
with the signature of either a Keplerian disk or infall of matter. They are,
instead, evidence of a bipolar wind, maybe partly seen through a disk hole
inside the dust sublimation radius. The disappearance of the Brackett gamma
emission line after the outburst suggests that the outburst is related to a
period of strong mass loss rather than a change of the extinction along the
line of sight. Based on these conclusions, we speculate that the origin of the
outburst is an event of enhanced mass accretion, similar to those occuring in
EX Ors and FU Ors.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics Letter
Probing long-period companions to planetary hosts. VLT and CFHT near infrared coronographic imaging surveys
We present the results of a deep imaging survey of stars surrounded by
planets detected with the radial velocity technique. The purpose is to search
for and to characterize long-period stellar and substellar companions. The
sample contains a total of 26 stars, among which 6 exhibit additional radial
velocity drifts. We used NACO, at the ESO Very Large Telescope, and PUEO-KIR,
at the Candian French Hawaiian Telescope, to conduct a near-infrared
coronographic survey with adaptive optics of the faint circumstellar
environment of the planetary hosts. The domain investigated ranges between 0.1
to 15" (i.e. about 3 to 500 AU, according to the mean distance of the sample).
The survey is sensitive to companions within the stellar and the substellar
domains, depending on the distance to the central stars and on the star
properties. The images of 14 stars do not reveal any companions once the field
objects are removed. 8 stars have close potential companions that need to be
re-observed within 1-2 years to check for physical companionship. 4 stars are
surrounded by faint objects which are confirmed or very probable companions.
The companion to HD13445 (Gliese 86) is already known. The HD196885 star is a
new close visual binary system with a high probability of being bound. The 2
newly discovered companions, HD1237 B and HD27442 B, share common proper
motions with the central stars. Orbital motion is detected for HD1237 B. HD1237
B is likely a low-mass M star, located at 70 AU (projected distance) from the
primary. HD27442 B is most probably a white dwarf companion located at about
240 AU (projected distance).Comment: 16 pages and 56 figures, accepted in A&
Five new very low mass binaries
We report the discovery of companions to 5 nearby late M dwarfs (>M5),
LHS1901, LHS4009, LHS6167, LP869-26 and WT460, and we confirm that the recently
discovered mid-T brown dwarf companion to SCR1845-6357 is physically bound to
that star. These discoveries result from our adaptive optics survey of all M
dwarfs within 12 pc. The new companions have spectral types M5 to L1, and
orbital separations between 1 and 10 AU. They add significantly to the number
of late M dwarfs binaries in the immediate solar neighbourhood, and will
improve the multiplicity statistics of late M dwarfs. The expected periods
range from 3 to 130 years. Several pairs thus have good potential for accurate
mass determination in this poorly sampled mass range.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysic
The LAOG-Planet Imaging Surveys
With the development of high contrast imaging techniques and infrared
detectors, vast efforts have been devoted during the past decade to detect and
characterize lighter, cooler and closer companions to nearby stars, and
ultimately image new planetary systems. Complementary to other observing
techniques (radial velocity, transit, micro-lensing, pulsar-timing), this
approach has opened a new astrophysical window to study the physical properties
and the formation mechanisms of brown dwarfs and planets. I here will briefly
present the observing challenge, the different observing techniques, strategies
and samples of current exoplanet imaging searches that have been selected in
the context of the LAOG-Planet Imaging Surveys. I will finally describe the
most recent results that led to the discovery of giant planets probably formed
like the ones of our solar system, offering exciting and attractive
perspectives for the future generation of deep imaging instruments.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, Invited talk of "Exoplanets and disks: their
formation and diversity" conference, 9-12 March 200
Radio emission of extensive air shower at CODALEMA: Polarization of the radio emission along the v*B vector
Cosmic rays extensive air showers (EAS) are associated with transient radio
emission, which could provide an efficient new detection method of high energy
cosmic rays, combining a calorimetric measurement with a high duty cycle. The
CODALEMA experiment, installed at the Radio Observatory in Nancay, France, is
investigating this phenomenon in the 10^17 eV region. One challenging point is
the understanding of the radio emission mechanism. A first observation
indicating a linear relation between the electric field produced and the cross
product of the shower axis with the geomagnetic field direction has been
presented (B. Revenu, this conference). We will present here other strong
evidences for this linear relationship, and some hints on its physical origin.Comment: Contribution to the 31st International Cosmic Ray Conference, Lodz,
Poland, July 2009. 4 pages, 8 figures. v2: Typo fixed, arxiv references adde
Relativistic Effect on Low-Energy Nucleon-Deuteron Scattering
The relativistic effect on differential cross sections, nucleon-to-nucleon
and nucleon-to-deuteron polarization transfer coefficients, and the spin
correlation function, of nucleon-deuteron elastic scattering is investigated
employing several three-dimensional relativistic three-body equations and
several nucleon-nucleon potentials. The polarization transfer coefficients are
found to be sensitive to the details of the nucleon-nucleon potentials and the
relativistic dynamics employed, and prefer trinucleon models with the correct
triton binding energy. (To appear in Phys. Rev. C)Comment: pages: 21, LaTex text + 7 ps-figures at the en
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