393 research outputs found
A study of the neglected Galactic HII region NGC 2579 and its companion ESO 370-9
The Galactic HII region NGC 2579 has stayed undeservedly unexplored due to
identification problems which persisted until recently. Both NGC 2579 and its
companion ESO 370-9 have been misclassified as planetary or reflection nebula,
confused with each other and with other objects. Due to its high surface
brightness, high excitation, angular size of few arcminutes and relatively low
interstellar extinction, NGC 2579 is an ideal object for investigations in the
optical range. Located in the outer Galaxy, NGC 2579 is an excellent object for
studying the Galactic chemical abundance gradients. In this paper we present
the first comprehensive observational study on the nebular and stellar
properties of NGC 2579 and ESO 370-9, including the determination of electron
temperature, density structure, chemical composition, kinematics, distance, and
the identification and spectral classification of the ionizing stars, and
discuss the nature of ESO 370-9. Long slit spectrophotometric data in the
optical range were used to derive the nebular electron temperature, density and
chemical abundances and for the spectral classification of the ionizing star
candidates. Halpha and UBV CCD photometry was carried out to derive stellar
distances from spectroscopic parallax and to measure the ionizing photon flux.Comment: To be published in Astronomy & Astrophysic
An ASCA Study of the W51 Complex
We present the analysis of ASCA archival data from the Galactic source W51.
The ASCA spectra show that the soft (kT<= 2.5 keV) X-rays are of thermal origin
and are compatible with W51C being a single, isothermal (kT~0.3 keV) supernova
remnant at the far-side of the Sagittarius arm. The ASCA images reveal hard
(kT>=2.5 keV) X-ray sources which were not seen in previous X-ray observations.
Some of these sources are coincident with massive star-forming regions and the
spectra are used to derive X-ray parameters. By comparing the X-ray absorbing
column density with atomic hydrogen column density, we infer the location of
star-forming regions relative to molecular clouds. There are unidentified hard
X-ray sources superposed on the supernova remnant and we discuss the
possibility of their association.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, to be published in Astronomical Journa
Feedback in the Antennae Galaxies (NGC 4038/9): I. High-Resolution Infrared Spectroscopy of Winds from Super Star Clusters
We present high-resolution (R ~ 24,600) near-IR spectroscopy of the youngest
super star clusters (SSCs) in the prototypical starburst merger, the Antennae
Galaxies. These SSCs are young (3-7 Myr old) and massive (10^5 - 10^7 M_sun for
a Kroupa IMF) and their spectra are characterized by broad, extended Br-gamma
emission, so we refer to them as emission-line clusters (ELCs) to distinguish
them from older SSCs. The Brgamma lines of most ELCs have supersonic widths
(60-110 km/s FWHM) and non-Gaussian wings whose velocities exceed the clusters'
escape velocities. This high-velocity unbound gas is flowing out in winds that
are powered by the clusters' massive O and W-R stars over the course of at
least several crossing times. The large sizes of some ELCs relative to those of
older SSCs may be due to expansion caused by these outflows; many of the ELCs
may not survive as bound stellar systems, but rather dissipate rapidly into the
field population. The observed tendency of older ELCs to be more compact than
young ones is consistent with the preferential survival of the most
concentrated clusters at a given age.Comment: Accepted to Ap
Ages and metallicities of circumnuclear star formation regions from Gemini IFU observations
Aims: We derive the age and metallicity of circumnuclear star formation
regions (CNSFRs) located in the spiral galaxies NGC6951 and NGC1097, and
investigate the cause of the very low equivalent widths of emission lines found
for these regions.
Methods: We used optical two-dimensional spectroscopic data obtained with
Gemini GMOS-IFUs and a grid of photoionization models to derive the the
metallicities and ages of CNSFRs.
Results: We find star formation rates in the range 0.002-0.14 Msun/yr and
oxygen abundance of 12+log(O/H)~8.8 dex, similar to those of most metal-rich
nebulae located in the inner region of galactic disks.
Conclusions: We conclude that the very low emission-line equivalent widths
observed in CNSFRs are caused by the ``contamination'' of the continuum by (1)
contribution of the underlying bulge continuum combined with (2) contribution
from previous episodes of star formation at the CNSFRs.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic
HCG 16 Revisited: Clues About Galaxy Evolution in Groups
We present new spectroscopic observations of 5 galaxies, members of the
unusually active compact group HCG 16, observed using the Palomar 5m telescope.
The high signal to noise ratios (S/N ) of the spectra allow us to
study the variation of the emission line characteristics and the stellar
populations in the nucleus and the circumnuclear regions of the galaxies. The
emission line characteristics of these galaxies are complex, varying between
Seyfert 2 and LINERs or between LINERs and starbursts. All of the galaxies show
traces of intermediate age stellar populations, supporting our previous result
that post-starburst galaxies are common in compact groups. The galaxies
HCG16--4 and HCG16--5 show double nuclei and therefore could be two cases of
recent merger. Our observations support a scenario where HCG 16 was formed by
the successive merger of metal poor, low mass galaxies. The galaxies HCG16--1
and HCG16--2, which are more evolved, form the old core of the group. Galaxies
HCG16--4 and HCG16--5 are two more recent additions still in a merging phase.
Galaxy HCG16--5 is a starburst galaxy which is just beginning to fall into the
core. If HCG 16 is representative of compact groups in their early stage, the
whole set of observations implies that the formation of compact groups is the
result of hierarchical galaxy formation. HCG 16 could be one example of this
process operating in the local universe.Comment: tar file containing text and figures is available at
http://www.daf.on.br/~reinaldo/paper.htm
Wolf-Rayet Galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: the metallicity dependence of the initial mass function
We use a large sample of 174 Wolf-Rayet (WR) galaxies drawn from the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey to study whether and how the slope of the stellar initial
mass function depends on metallicity. We calculate for each object its oxygen
abundance according to which we divide our sample into four metallicity
subsamples. For each subsample, we then measure three quantities: the
equivalent width of \hb emission line, the equivalent width of WR bump around
4650\AA, and the WR bump-to-\hb intensity ratio, and compare to the predictions
of the same quantities by evolutionary synthesis models of Schaerer & Vacca.
Such comparisons lead to a clear dependence of the slope of initial mass
function () on metallicity in that galaxies at higher metallicities
tend to have steeper initial mass functions, with the slope index ranging from
1.00 for the lowest metallicity of to 3.30
for the highest metallicity . We have carefully examined the possible
sources of systematic error either in models or in our observational
measurements and shown that these sources do not change this result.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, ApJ accepte
Modal Formulation of Segmented Euler-Bernoulli Beams
We consider the obtention of modes and frequencies of segmented
Euler-Bernoulli beams with internal damping and external viscous damping at the
discontinuities of the sections. This is done by following a Newtonian approach
in terms of a fundamental response of stationary beams subject to both types of
damping. The use of a basis generated by the fundamental solution of a differential
equation of fourth-order allows to formulate the eigenvalue problem and to write
the modes shapes in a compact manner. For this, we consider a block matrix that
carries the boundary conditions and intermediate conditions at the beams
and values of the fundamental matrix at the ends and intermediate points of the beam. For
each segment, the elements of the basis have the same shape since they are chosen as a
convenient translation of the elements of the basis for the first segment. Our method
avoids the use of the first-order state formulation also to rely on the Euler basis of
a differential equation of fourth-order and it allows to envision how conditions will
influence a chosen basis
Self-generated magnetic flux in YBaCuO grain boundaries
Grain boundaries in YBaCuO superconducting films are
considered as Josephson junctions with a critical current density
alternating along the junction. A self-generated magnetic flux is treated both
analytically and numerically for an almost periodic distribution of .
We obtained a magnetic flux-pattern similar to the one which was recently
observed experimentally.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
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