474 research outputs found
The influence of surface dents and grooves on traction in sliding EHD point contacts
Changes in traction, caused by dents and grooves on a highly polished ball,are investigated as these defects approach and go through sliding elastohydrodynamic point contacts. The contacts are formed with the ball loading against a transparent disk. The ball and thus the topographical features are held stationary at various locations in the vicinity and within the contact while the disk is rotating. These topographical features can cause substantial changes in the traction when compared to traction obtained with smooth surfaces
Elastohydrodynamic contacts. Effects of dents and grooves on traction and local film thickness
Traction and film thickness were simultaneously measured under sliding elastohydrodynamic (EHD) conditions. The influence of surface topography was investigated by using simulated surfaces produced by depressing dents and grooves in highly polished steel balls. Significant changes in traction occurred depending on the orientation of the surface defects and their location with respect to the contact region. The results can be explained in terms of changes in overall film thickness and redistribution of pressure within the contact region due to micro-EHD effects. It can be concluded that the traction capability of mechanical components operating in thin film lubrication can be enhanced particularly by surface topographical orientation perpendicular to the surface motion. Associated with the higher traction are increases in local shear stress and normal stress as well as an increase in temperature at asperity sites. It is postulated that the local surface topography can become involved in run in or failure initiation even without actual asperity contact
Effects of artificially produced defects on film thickness distribution in sliding EHD point contacts
The effects of artificially produced dents and grooves on the elastohydrodynamic (EHD) film thickness profile in a sliding point contact were investigated by means of optical interferometry. The defects, formed on the surface of a highly polished ball, were held stationary at various locations within and in the vicinity of the contact region while the disk was rotating. It is shown that the defects, having a geometry similar to what can be expected in practice, can dramatically change the film thickness which exists when no defects are present in or near the contact. This change in film thickness is mainly a function of the position of the defects in the inlet region, the geometry of the defects, the orientation of the defects in the case of grooves, and the depth of the defect relative to the central film thickness
Variable stars and stellar populations in Andromeda XXI: II. Another merged galaxy satellite of M31?
B and V time-series photometry of the M31 dwarf spheroidal satellite
Andromeda XXI (And XXI) was obtained with the Large Binocular Cameras at the
Large Binocular Telescope. We have identified 50 variables in And XXI, of which
41 are RR Lyrae stars (37 fundamental-mode RRab, and 4 first-overtone RRc,
pulsators) and 9 are Anomalous Cepheids (ACs). The average period of the RRab
stars ( = 0.64 days) and the period-amplitude diagram place And~XXI in the
class of Oosterhoff II - Oosterhoff-Intermediate objects. From the average
luminosity of the RR Lyrae stars we derived the galaxy distance modulus of
(m-M)= mag, which is smaller than previous literature
estimates, although still consistent with them within 1 . The galaxy
color-magnitude diagram shows evidence for the presence of three different
stellar generations in And~XXI: 1) an old ( 12 Gyr) and metal poor
([Fe/H]=1.7 dex) component traced by the RR Lyrae stars; 2) a slightly
younger (10-6 Gyr) and more metal rich ([Fe/H]=1.5 dex) component populating
the red horizontal branch, and 3) a young age ( 1 Gyr) component with
same metallicity, that produced the ACs. Finally, we provide hints that And~XXI
could be the result of a minor merging event between two dwarf galaxies.Comment: accepted for publications in Ap
Deep R-band counts of z~3 Lyman break galaxy candidates with the LBT
Aims. We present a deep multiwavelength imaging survey (UGR) in 3 different
fields, Q0933, Q1623, and COSMOS, for a total area of ~1500arcmin^2. The data
were obtained with the Large Binocular Camera on the Large Binocular Telescope.
Methods. To select our Lyman break galaxy (LBG) candidates, we adopted the well
established and widely used color-selection criterion (U-G vs. G-R). One of the
main advantages of our survey is that it has a wider dynamic color range for
U-dropout selection than in previous studies. This allows us to fully exploit
the depth of our R-band images, obtaining a robust sample with few interlopers.
In addition, for 2 of our fields we have spectroscopic redshift information
that is needed to better estimate the completeness of our sample and interloper
fraction. Results. Our limiting magnitudes reach 27.0(AB) in the R band
(5\sigma) and 28.6(AB) in the U band (1\sigma). This dataset was used to derive
LBG candidates at z~3. We obtained a catalog with a total of 12264 sources down
to the 50% completeness magnitude limit in the R band for each field. We find a
surface density of ~3 LBG candidates arcmin^2 down to R=25.5, where
completeness is >=95% for all 3 fields. This number is higher than the original
studies, but consistent with more recent samples.Comment: in press by A&A, full LBG candidates' catalog will be available in
electronic form at the CD
LBT/MODS spectroscopy of globular clusters in the irregular galaxy NGC 4449
We present intermediate-resolution (R1000) spectra in the
3500-10,000 A range of 14 globular clusters in the magellanic irregular
galaxy NGC 4449 acquired with the Multi Object Double Spectrograph on the Large
Binocular Telescope. We derived Lick indices in the optical and the
CaII-triplet index in the near-infrared in order to infer the clusters' stellar
population properties. The inferred cluster ages are typically older than
9 Gyr, although ages are derived with large uncertainties. The clusters
exhibit intermediate metallicities, in the range
[Fe/H], and typically sub-solar []
ratios, with a peak at . These properties suggest that i) during the
first few Gyrs NGC 4449 formed stars slowly and inefficiently, with galactic
winds having possibly contributed to the expulsion of the -elements,
and ii) globular clusters in NGC 4449 formed relatively "late", from a medium
already enriched in the products of type Ia supernovae. The majority of
clusters appear also under-abundant in CN compared to Milky Way halo globular
clusters, perhaps because of the lack of a conspicuous N-enriched,
second-generation of stars like that observed in Galactic globular clusters.
Using the cluster velocities, we infer the dynamical mass of NGC 4449 inside
2.88 kpc to be M(2.88 kpc)=. We
also report the serendipitous discovery of a planetary nebula within one of the
targeted clusters, a rather rare event.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; corrected typo in author lis
Chemical abundances and radial velocities in the extremely metal-poor galaxy DDO 68
We present chemical abundances and radial velocities of six HII regions in
the extremely metal-poor star-forming dwarf galaxy DDO 68. They are derived
from deep spectra in the wavelength range 3500 - 10,000 {\AA}, acquired with
the Multi Object Double Spectrograph (MODS) at the Large Binocular Telescope
(LBT). In the three regions where the [O III]4363 {\AA} line was
detected, we inferred the abundance of He, N, O, Ne, Ar, and S through the
"direct" method. We also derived the oxygen abundances of all the six regions
adopting indirect method calibrations. We confirm that DDO 68 is an extremely
metal-poor galaxy, and a strong outlier in the luminosity - metallicity
relation defined by star-forming galaxies. With the direct-method we find
indeed an oxygen abundance of 12+log(O/H)=7.140.07 in the northernmost
region of the galaxy and, although with large uncertainties, an even lower
12+log(O/H)=6.960.09 in the "tail". This is, at face value, the most
metal-poor direct abundance detection of any galaxy known. We derive a radial
oxygen gradient of -0.060.03 dex/kpc (or -0.30 dex ) with the
direct method, and a steeper gradient of -0.120.03 dex/kpc (or -0.59 dex
) from the indirect method. For the -element to oxygen
ratios we obtain values in agreement with those found in other metal-poor
star-forming dwarfs. For nitrogen, instead, we infer much higher values,
leading to log(N/O), at variance with the suggested existence of a
tight plateau at in extremely metal poor dwarfs. The derived helium mass
fraction ranges from Y=0.2400.005 to Y=0.250.02, compatible with
standard big bang nucleosynthesis. Finally, we measured HII region radial
velocities in the range 479522 km/s from the tail to the head of the
"comet", consistent with the rotation derived in the HI.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
HST resolves stars in a tiny body falling on the dwarf galaxy DDO 68
We present new Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging of a stream-like system
associated with the dwarf galaxy DDO 68, located in the Lynx-Cancer Void at a
distance of D12.65 Mpc from us. The stream, previously identified in deep
Large Binocular Telescope images as a diffuse low surface brightness structure,
is resolved into individual stars in the F606W (broad V) and F814W (I)
images acquired with the Wide Field Camera 3. The resulting V, I
color-magnitude diagram (CMD) of the resolved stars is dominated by old
(age1-2 Gyr) red giant branch (RGB) stars. From the observed RGB tip,
we conclude that the stream is at the same distance as DDO 68, confirming the
physical association with it. A synthetic CMD analysis indicates that the large
majority of the star formation activity in the stream occurred at epochs
earlier than 1 Gyr ago, and that the star formation at epochs more recent
than 500 Myr ago is compatible with zero. The total stellar mass of the
stream is , about 1/100 of that of DDO~68. This is a
striking example of hierarchical merging in action at the dwarf galaxy scales.Comment: ApJ in pres
Acquisizione di rumore sismico nell'Appennino Reggiano Modenese 11-15 aprile 2006
Tra l’11 e il 15 aprile 2006 è stata condotta una campagna di acquisizione di rumore sismico in
alcuni siti in frana dell’Appennino Settentrionale. Lo scopo dell’esperimento è quello di stimare gli
effetti di sito su corpi franosi tipici dell’Appennino Modenese e Reggiano, nonché di studiare il
comportamento delle frane quando sono soggette ad eventi sismici.
Le registrazioni di rumore sono state effettuate con stazioni equipaggiate con sensori a corto
periodo a tre componenti. Per la stima dell’amplificazione locale è stata scelta una serie di siti
caratterizzati da litologie diverse. Inoltre, in siti omogenei e ben studiati dal punto di vista
strutturale, sono state effettuate delle misure di rumore in configurazione di array per la stima di un
modello di velocità superficiale, allo scopo di confrontare i risultati sperimentali con le funzioni di
trasferimento teoriche. La durata delle registrazione non è stata inferiore ad un’ora per ogni sito.
Le misure sono state effettuate sulle frane di Ca’ Lita (MO), Cavola (RE) e La Lezza Nuova (RE).
Tutte e tre sono frane da colata, caratterizzate dalla presenza in superficie di strati di argille, e sono
state studiate dal punto di vista strutturale, tra l’altro attraverso pozzi di sondaggio ed esperimenti di
sismica attiva
Characterizing faint galaxies in the reionization epoch: LBT confirms two L<0.2L* sources at z=6.4 behind the CLASH/Frontier Fields cluster MACS0717.5+3745
We report the LBT/MODS1 spectroscopic confirmation of two images of faint
Lyman alpha emitters at behind the Frontier Fields galaxy cluster
MACSJ0717.5+3745. A wide range of lens models suggests that the two images are
highly magnified, with a strong lower limit of mu>5. These are the faintest z>6
candidates spectroscopically confirmed to date. These may be also multiple
images of the same z=6.4 source as supported by their similar intrinsic
properties, but the lens models are inconclusive regarding this interpretation.
To be cautious, we derive the physical properties of each image individually.
Thanks to the high magnification, the observed near-infrared (restframe
ultraviolet) part of the spectral energy distributions and Ly-alpha lines are
well detected with S/N(m_1500)>~10 and S/N(Ly-alpha)~10-15. Adopting mu>5, the
absolute magnitudes, M_1500, and Ly-alpha fluxes, are fainter than -18.7 and
2.8x10^(-18)erg/s/cm2, respectively. We find a very steep ultraviolet spectral
slope beta=-3.0+/-0.5 (F_lambda=lambda^(beta)), implying that these are very
young, dust-free and low metallicity objects, made of standard stellar
populations or even extremely metal poor stars (age<~30Myr, E(B-V)=0 and
metallicity 0.0-0.2 Z/Zsolar). The objects are compact (< 1 kpc^(2)), and with
a stellar mass M* < 10^(8) M_solar. The very steep beta, the presence of the
Ly-alpha line and the intrinsic FWHM (<300 km/s) of these newborn objects do
not exclude a possible leakage of ionizing radiation. We discuss the
possibility that such faint galaxies may resemble those responsible for cosmic
reionization.Comment: Accepted by ApJL; 6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, emulateapj forma
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