51 research outputs found
The Spitzer Space Telescope First-Look Survey: Neutral Hydrogen Emission
The Spitzer Space Telescope (formerly SIRTF) extragalactic First-Look Survey
covered about 5 square degrees centered on J2000 17:18 +59:30 in order to
characterize the infrared sky with high sensitivity. We used the 100-m Green
Bank Telescope to image the 21cm Galactic HI emission over a 3x3 degree field
covering this position with an effective angular resolution of 9.8 arcmin and a
velocity resolution of 0.62 km/s. In the central square degree of the image the
average column density is N(HI) = 2.5 x 10^{20} cm-2 with an rms fluctuation of
0.3 x 10^{20}. The Galactic HI in this region has a very interesting structure.
There is a high-velocity cloud, several intermediate-velocity clouds (one of
which is probably part of the Draco nebula), and narrow-line low velocity
filaments. The HI emission shows a strong and detailed correlation with dust.
Except for the high-velocity cloud, all features in the HI map have
counterparts in an E(B-V) map derived from infrared data. Relatively high
E(B-V)/N(HI) ratios in some directions suggest the presence of molecular gas.
The best diagnostic of such regions is the peak HI line brightness temperature,
not the total N(HI): directions where Tb > 12 K have E(B-V)/N(HI) significantly
above the average value. The data corrected for stray radiation have been
released via the Web.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal, April 2005. 25
pages includes 11 figures. The data and higher resolution figures are
available from http::/www.cv.nrao.edu/fls_gb
A multi-scale study of infrared and radio emission from Scd galaxy M33
We investigate the energy sources of the infrared (IR) emission and their
relation to the radio continuum emission at various spatial scales within the
Scd galaxy M33. We use the wavelet transform to analyze IR data at the Spitzer
wavelengths of 24, 70, and 160m, as well as recent radio continuum data at
3.6cm and 20cm. An H map serves as a tracer of the star forming regions
and as an indicator of the thermal radio emission. We find that the dominant
scale of the 70m emission is larger than that of the 24m emission,
while the 160m emission shows a smooth wavelet spectrum. The radio and
H maps are well correlated with all 3 MIPS maps, although their
correlations with the 160m map are weaker. After subtracting the bright
HII regions, the 24 and 70m maps show weaker correlations with the 20cm
map than with the 3.6cm map at most scales. We also find a strong correlation
between the 3.6cm and H emission at all scales. Comparing the results
with and without the bright HII regions, we conclude that the IR emission is
influenced by young, massive stars increasingly with decreasing wavelength from
160 to 24m. The radio-IR correlations indicate that the warm dust-thermal
radio correlation is stronger than the cold dust-nonthermal radio correlation
at scales smaller than 4kpc. A perfect 3.6cm-H correlation implies that
extinction has no significant effect on H emitting structures.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomy and
Astrophysics Journa
The Galactic Distribution of Large HI Shells
We report the discovery of nineteen new HI shells in the Southern Galactic
Plane Survey (SGPS). These shells, which range in radius from 40 pc to 1 kpc,
were found in the low resolution Parkes portion of the SGPS dataset, covering
Galactic longitudes l=253 deg to l=358 deg. Here we give the properties of
individual shells, including positions, physical dimensions, energetics,
masses, and possible associations. We also examine the distribution of these
shells in the Milky Way and find that several of the shells are located between
the spiral arms of the Galaxy. We offer possible explanations for this effect,
in particular that the density gradient away from spiral arms, combined with
the many generations of sequential star formation required to create large
shells, could lead to a preferential placement of shells on the trailing edges
of spiral arms. Spiral density wave theory is used in order to derive the
magnitude of the density gradient behind spiral arms. We find that the density
gradient away from spiral arms is comparable to that out of the Galactic plane
and therefore suggest that this may lead to exaggerated shell expansion away
from spiral arms and into interarm regions.Comment: 25 pages, 20 embedded EPS figures, uses emulateapj.sty, to appear in
the Astrophysical Journa
Keck spectroscopy and Spitzer Space Telescope analysis of the outer disk of the Triangulum Spiral Galaxy M33
In an earlier study of the spiral galaxy M33, we photometrically identified
arcs or outer spiral arms of intermediate age (0.6 Gyr - 2 Gyr) carbon stars
precisely at the commencement of the HI-warp. Stars in the arcs were
unresolved, but were likely thermally-pulsing asymptotic giant branch carbon
stars. Here we present Keck I spectroscopy of seven intrinsically bright and
red target stars in the outer, northern arc in M33. The target stars have
estimated visual magnitudes as faint as V \sim 25 mag. Absorption bands of CN
are seen in all seven spectra reported here, confirming their carbon star
status. In addition, we present Keck II spectra of a small area 0.5 degree away
from the centre of M33; the target stars there are also identified as carbon
stars. We also study the non-stellar PAH dust morphology of M33 secured using
IRAC on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. The Spitzer 8 micron image attests
to a change of spiral phase at the start of the HI warp. The Keck spectra
confirm that carbon stars may safely be identified on the basis of their red
J-K_s colours in the outer, low metallicity disk of M33. We propose that the
enhanced number of carbon stars in the outer arms are an indicator of recent
star formation, fueled by gas accretion from the HI-warp reservoir.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, accepted in A&
The Global Content, Distribution, and Kinematics of Interstellar O VI in the Large Magellanic Cloud
We present FUSE observations of interstellar O VI absorption towards 12
early-type stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). O VI 1031.926 Ang
absorption at LMC velocities is seen towards all 12 stars. The observed columns
are in the range log N(O VI)=13.9 to 14.6, with a mean of 14.37. The
observations probe several sight lines projected onto known superbubbles, but
these show relatively little (if any) enhancement in O VI column density
compared to sight lines towards relatively quiescent regions of the LMC. The
observed LMC O VI absorption is broad, with Gaussian dispersions of 30 to 50
km/sec, implying temperatures T<(2-5)x10^6 K. The O VI absorption is typically
displaced -30 km/sec from the corresponding low-ionization absorption
associated with the bulk of the LMC gas. The properties of the LMC O VI
absorption are very similar to those of the Milky Way halo. The average column
density of O VI and the dispersion of the individual measurements about the
mean are identical to those measured for the halo of the Milky Way, even though
the metallicity of the LMC is a factor of ~2.5 lower than the Milky Way. Much
of the LMC O VI may arise in a vertically-extended distribution similar to the
Galactic halo. If the observed O VI absorption is tracing a radiatively cooling
galactic fountain flow, the mass flow rate from one side of the LMC disk is of
the order 1 Msun/yr, with a mass flux per unit area of the disk ~0.02
Msun/yr/kpc^2. (abridged)Comment: Accepted for publiction in the ApJ. 39 pages, including 9 figures and
6 tables. Version with full resolution figures available at
http://fuse.pha.jhu.edu/~howk/Papers
Water in Star-Forming Regions with the Herschel Space Observatory (WISH): Overview of key program and first results
`Water In Star-forming regions with Herschel' (WISH) is a key program on the
Herschel Space Observatory designed to probe the physical and chemical
structure of young stellar objects using water and related molecules and to
follow the water abundance from collapsing clouds to planet-forming disks.
About 80 sources are targeted covering a wide range of luminosities and
evolutionary stages, from cold pre-stellar cores to warm protostellar envelopes
and outflows to disks around young stars. Both the HIFI and PACS instruments
are used to observe a variety of lines of H2O, H218O and chemically related
species. An overview of the scientific motivation and observational strategy of
the program is given together with the modeling approach and analysis tools
that have been developed. Initial science results are presented. These include
a lack of water in cold gas at abundances that are lower than most predictions,
strong water emission from shocks in protostellar environments, the importance
of UV radiation in heating the gas along outflow walls across the full range of
luminosities, and surprisingly widespread detection of the chemically related
hydrides OH+ and H2O+ in outflows and foreground gas. Quantitative estimates of
the energy budget indicate that H2O is generally not the dominant coolant in
the warm dense gas associated with protostars. Very deep limits on the cold
gaseous water reservoir in the outer regions of protoplanetary disks are
obtained which have profound implications for our understanding of grain growth
and mixing in disks.Comment: 71 pages, 10 figures, PASP, in pres
Star Formation from Galaxies to Globules
The empirical laws of star formation suggest that galactic-scale gravity is
involved, but they do not identify the actual triggering mechanisms for
clusters in the final stages. Many other triggering processes satisfy the
empirical laws too, including turbulence compression and expanding shell
collapse. The self-similar nature of the gas and associated young stars
suggests that turbulence is more directly involved, but the small scale
morphology of gas around most embedded clusters does not look like a random
turbulent flow. Most clusters look triggered by other nearby stars. Such a
prominent local influence makes it difficult to understand the universality of
the Kennicutt and Schmidt laws on galactic scales. A unified view of
multi-scale star formation avoids most of these problems. Ambient self-gravity
produces spiral arms and drives much of the turbulence that leads to
self-similar structures, while localized energy input from existing clusters
and field supernovae triggers new clusters in pre-existing clouds. The
hierarchical structure in the gas made by turbulence ensures that the
triggering time scales with size, giving the Schmidt law over a wide range of
scales and the size-duration correlation for young star fields. The efficiency
of star formation is determined by the fraction of the gas above a critical
density of around 10^5 m(H2)/cc. Star formation is saturated to its largest
possible value given the fractal nature of the interstellar medium.Comment: accepted for ApJ, 42 pages, Dannie Heineman prize lecture, January
200
Science and Adaptive Optics Requirements of MICADO, the E-ELT adaptive optics imaging camera
MICADO is the adaptive optics imaging camera being studied for the E-ELT. Its
design has been optimised for use with MCAO, but will have its own SCAO module
for the initial operational phase; and in principle could also be used with
GLAO or LTAO. In this contribution, we outline a few of the science drivers for
MICADO and show how these have shaped its design. The science drivers have led
to a number of requirements on the AO system related to astrometry, photometry,
and PSF uniformity. We discuss why these requirements have arisen and what
might be done about them.Comment: 6 pages, to appear in the proceedings of the AO4ELT conference, held
in Paris, 22-26 June 200
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