592 research outputs found
Regaining the FORS: optical ground-based transmission spectroscopy of the exoplanet WASP-19b with VLT+FORS2
In the past few years, the study of exoplanets has evolved from being pure
discovery, then being more exploratory in nature and finally becoming very
quantitative. In particular, transmission spectroscopy now allows the study of
exoplanetary atmospheres. Such studies rely heavily on space-based or large
ground-based facilities, because one needs to perform time-resolved, high
signal-to-noise spectroscopy. The very recent exchange of the prisms of the
FORS2 atmospheric diffraction corrector on ESO's Very Large Telescope should
allow us to reach higher data quality than was ever possible before. With
FORS2, we have obtained the first optical ground-based transmission spectrum of
WASP-19b, with 20 nm resolution in the 550--830 nm range. For this planet, the
data set represents the highest resolution transmission spectrum obtained to
date. We detect large deviations from planetary atmospheric models in the
transmission spectrum redwards of 790 nm, indicating either additional sources
of opacity not included in the current atmospheric models for WASP-19b or
additional, unexplored sources of systematics. Nonetheless, this work shows the
new potential of FORS2 for studying the atmospheres of exoplanets in greater
detail than has been possible so far.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in A&
Simple predictions from ALCOR_c for rehadronisation of charmed quark matter
We study the production of charmed hadrons with the help of ALCOR_c, the
algebraic coalescence model for rehadronisation of charmed quark matter.
Mesonic ratios are introduced as factors connecting various antibaryon to
baryon ratios. The resulting simple relations could serve as tests of quark
matter formation and coalescence type rehadronization in heavy ion collisions.Comment: 7 pages in Latex, 1 PS figur
Strange hyperon and antihyperon production from quark and string-rope matter
Hyperon and antihyperon production is investigated using two microscopical
models: {\bf (1)} the fast hadronization of quark matter as given by the ALCOR
model; {\bf (2)} string formation and fragmentation as in the HIJING/B model.
We calculate the particle numbers and momentum distributions for Pb+Pb
collisions at CERN SPS energies in order to compare the two models with each
other and with the available experimental data. We show that these two
theoretical approaches give similar yields for the hyperons, but strongly
differ for antihyperons.Comment: 11 pages, Latex, 3 EPS figures, contribution to the Proceedings of
the 4th International Conference on Strangeness in Quark Matter (SQM'98),
Padova, Italy, 20-24 July 199
KIC 7177553: a quadruple system of two close binaries
KIC 7177553 was observed by the Kepler satellite to be an eclipsing eccentric binary star system with an 18-day orbital period. Recently, an eclipse timing study of the Kepler binaries has revealed eclipse timing variations (ETVs) in this object with an amplitude of ~100 s and an outer period of 529 days. The implied mass of the third body is that of a super-Jupiter, but below the mass of a brown dwarf. We therefore embarked on a radial velocity (RV) study of this binary to determine its system configuration and to check the hypothesis that it hosts a giant planet. From the RV measurements, it became immediately obvious that the same Kepler target contains another eccentric binary, this one with a 16.5-day orbital period. Direct imaging using adaptive optics reveals that the two binaries are separated by 0”.4 (~167 AU) and have nearly the same magnitude (to within 2%). The close angular proximity of the two binaries and very similar γ velocities strongly suggest that KIC 7177553 is one of the rare SB4 systems consisting of two eccentric binaries where at least one system is eclipsing. Both systems consist of slowly rotating, nonevolved, solar-like stars of comparable masses. From the orbital separation and the small difference in γ velocity, we infer that the period of the outer orbit most likely lies in the range of 1000–3000 yr. New images taken over the next few years, as well as the high-precision astrometry of the Gaia satellite mission, will allow us to set much narrower constraints on the system geometry. Finally, we note that the observed ETVs in the Kepler data cannot be produced by the second binary. Further spectroscopic observations on a longer timescale will be required to prove the existence of the massive planet
Observation and Control of Laser-Enabled Auger Decay
Single photon laser enabled Auger decay (spLEAD) has been redicted
theoretically [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 083004 (2013)] and here we report its
first experimental observation in neon. Using coherent, bichromatic
free-electron laser pulses, we have detected the process and coherently
controlled the angular distribution of the emitted electrons by varying the
phase difference between the two laser fields. Since spLEAD is highly sensitive
to electron correlation, this is a promising method for probing both
correlation and ultrafast hole migration in more complex systems.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Broad-band spectrophotometry of the hot Jupiter HAT-P-12b from the near-UV to the near-IR
The detection of trends or gradients in the transmission spectrum of
extrasolar planets is possible with observations at very low spectral
resolution. Transit measurements of sufficient accuracy using selected
broad-band filters allow for an initial characterization of the atmosphere of
the planet. We obtained time series photometry of 20 transit events and
analyzed them homogeneously, along with eight light curves obtained from the
literature. In total, the light curves span a range from 0.35 to 1.25 microns.
During two observing seasons over four months each, we monitored the host star
to constrain the potential influence of starspots on the derived transit
parameters. We rule out the presence of a Rayleigh slope extending over the
entire optical wavelength range, a flat spectrum is favored for HAT-P-12b with
respect to a cloud-free atmosphere model spectrum. A potential cause of such
gray absorption is the presence of a cloud layer at the probed latitudes.
Furthermore, in this work we refine the transit parameters, the ephemeris and
perform a TTV analysis in which we found no indication for an unseen companion.
The host star showed a mild non-periodic variability of up to 1%. However, no
stellar rotation period could be detected to high confidence.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in A&
On the apsidal motion of BP Vulpeculae
BP Vulpeculae is a bright eclipsing binary system showing apsidal motion. It
was found in an earlier study that it shows retrograde apsidal motion which
contradicts theory. In this paper we present the first light curve of the
system and its light curve solution as well as seven new times of the minima
from the years 1959-1963. This way we could expanded the baseline of the
investigation to five decades. Based on this longer baseline we concluded that
the apsidal motion is prograde agreeing with the theoretical expectations and
its period is about 365 years and the determined internal structure constant is
close to the theoretically expected one.Comment: accepted for New Astronomy; two figure
The Young, Massive, Star Cluster Sandage-96 After the Explosion of SN 2004dj in NGC 2403
The bright Type II-plateau supernova (SN) 2004dj occurred within the young,
massive stellar cluster Sandage-96 in a spiral arm of NGC 2403. New
multi-wavelength observations obtained with several ground-based and
space-based telescopes are combined to study the radiation from Sandage-96
after SN 2004dj faded away. Sandage-96 started to dominate the flux in the
optical bands starting September 2006 (~800 d after explosion). The optical
fluxes are equal to the pre-explosion ones within the observational
uncertainties. An optical Keck spectrum obtained ~900 d after explosion shows
the dominant blue continuum from the cluster stars shortward of 6000 \AA as
well as strong SN nebular emission lines redward. The integrated spectral
energy distribution (SED) of the cluster has been extended into the ultraviolet
region by archival XMM-Newton and new Swift observations, and compared with
theoretical models. The outer parts of the cluster have been resolved by the
Hubble Space Telescope, allowing the construction of a color-magnitude diagram.
The fitting of the cluster SED with theoretical isochrones results in cluster
ages between 10--40 Myr, depending on metallicity and the model family. The
isochrone fitting indicates that the resolved part of the cluster has a bimodal
age distribution: a younger population at ~10--16 Myr, and an older one at
~32--100 Myr which is similar to the age distribution of the nearby field
stars. These stars may have been captured from the field during the cluster
formation. The young age of Sandage-96 suggest 12 < M_prog < 20 M_\odot as the
most probable mass range for the progenitor of SN 2004dj. This is consistent
with, but perhaps slightly higher than, most of the other Type II-plateau SN
progenitor masses determined so far.Comment: accepted in Ap
Heme oxygenase-1 derived carbon monoxide permits maturation of myeloid cells
Critical functions of the immune system are maintained by the ability of myeloid progenitors to differentiate and mature into macrophages. We hypothesized that the cytoprotective gas molecule carbon monoxide (CO), generated endogenously by heme oxygenases (HO), promotes differentiation of progenitors into functional macrophages. Deletion of HO-1, specifically in the myeloid lineage (Lyz-Cre:Hmox1flfl), attenuated the ability of myeloid progenitors to differentiate toward macrophages and decreased the expression of macrophage markers, CD14 and macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor (MCSFR). We showed that HO-1 and CO induced CD14 expression and efficiently increased expansion and differentiation of myeloid cells into macrophages. Further, CO sensitized myeloid cells to treatment with MCSF at low doses by increasing MCSFR expression, mediated partially through a PI3K-Akt-dependent mechanism. Exposure of mice to CO in a model of marginal bone marrow transplantation significantly improved donor myeloid cell engraftment efficiency, expansion and differentiation, which corresponded to increased serum levels of GM-CSF, IL-1α and MCP-1. Collectively, we conclude that HO-1 and CO in part are critical for myeloid cell differentiation. CO may prove to be a novel therapeutic agent to improve functional recovery of bone marrow cells in patients undergoing irradiation, chemotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation
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