6,887 research outputs found
HATS-1b: The First Transiting Planet Discovered by the HATSouth Survey
We report the discovery of HATS-1b, a transiting extrasolar planet orbiting
the moderately bright V=12.05 G dwarf star GSC 6652-00186, and the first planet
discovered by HATSouth, a global network of autonomous wide-field telescopes.
HATS-1b has a period P~3.4465 d, mass Mp~1.86MJ, and radius Rp~1.30RJ. The host
star has a mass of 0.99Msun, and radius of 1.04Rsun. The discovery light curve
of HATS-1b has near continuous coverage over several multi-day periods,
demonstrating the power of using a global network of telescopes to discover
transiting planets.Comment: Submitted to AJ 10 pages, 5 figures, 6 table
Relative photometry of HAT-P-1b occultations
We present HST STIS observations of two occultations of the transiting
exoplanet HAT-P-1b. By measuring the planet to star flux ratio near opposition,
we constrain the geometric albedo of the planet, which is strongly linked to
its atmospheric temperature gradient. An advantage of HAT-P-1 as a target is
its binary companion ADS 16402 A, which provides an excellent photometric
reference, simplifying the usual steps in removing instrumental artifacts from
HST time-series photometry. We find that without this reference star, we would
need to detrend the lightcurve with the time of the exposures as well as the
first three powers of HST orbital phase, and this would introduce a strong bias
in the results for the albedo. However, with this reference star, we only need
to detrend the data with the time of the exposures to achieve the same
per-point scatter, therefore we can avoid most of the bias associated with
detrending. Our final result is a 2 sigma upper limit of 0.64 for the geometric
albedo of HAT-P-1b between 577 and 947 nm.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 3 table
Twenty-One New Light Curves of OGLE-TR-56b: New System Parameters and Limits on Timing Variations
Although OGLE-TR-56b was the second transiting exoplanet discovered, only one
light curve, observed in 2006, has been published besides the discovery data.
We present twenty-one light curves of nineteen different transits observed
between July 2003 and July 2009 with the Magellan Telescopes and Gemini South.
The combined analysis of the new light curves confirms a slightly inflated
planetary radius relative to model predictions, with R_p = 1.378 +/- 0.090 R_J.
However, the values found for the transit duration, semimajor axis, and
inclination values differ significantly from the previous result, likely due to
systematic errors. The new semimajor axis and inclination, a = 0.01942 +/-
0.00015 AU and i = 73.72 +/- 0.18 degrees, are smaller than previously
reported, while the total duration, T_14 = 7931 +/- 38 s, is 18 minutes longer.
The transit midtimes have errors from 23 s to several minutes, and no evidence
is seen for transit midtime or duration variations. Similarly, no change is
seen in the orbital period, implying a nominal stellar tidal decay factor of
Q_* = 10^7, with a three-sigma lower limit of 10^5.7.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, accepted to Ap
MCViNE -- An object oriented Monte Carlo neutron ray tracing simulation package
MCViNE (Monte-Carlo VIrtual Neutron Experiment) is a versatile Monte Carlo
(MC) neutron ray-tracing program that provides researchers with tools for
performing computer modeling and simulations that mirror real neutron
scattering experiments. By adopting modern software engineering practices such
as using composite and visitor design patterns for representing and accessing
neutron scatterers, and using recursive algorithms for multiple scattering,
MCViNE is flexible enough to handle sophisticated neutron scattering problems
including, for example, neutron detection by complex detector systems, and
single and multiple scattering events in a variety of samples and sample
environments. In addition, MCViNE can take advantage of simulation components
in linear-chain-based MC ray tracing packages widely used in instrument design
and optimization, as well as NumPy-based components that make prototypes useful
and easy to develop. These developments have enabled us to carry out detailed
simulations of neutron scattering experiments with non-trivial samples in
time-of-flight inelastic instruments at the Spallation Neutron Source. Examples
of such simulations for powder and single-crystal samples with various
scattering kernels, including kernels for phonon and magnon scattering, are
presented. With simulations that closely reproduce experimental results,
scattering mechanisms can be turned on and off to determine how they contribute
to the measured scattering intensities, improving our understanding of the
underlying physics.Comment: 34 pages, 14 figure
Neutron scattering study of spin ordering and stripe pinning in superconducting LaSrCuO
The relationships among charge order, spin fluctuations, and
superconductivity in underdoped cuprates remain controversial. We use neutron
scattering techniques to study these phenomena in
LaSrCuO, a superconductor with a transition temperature
of ~K. At , we find incommensurate spin fluctuations with a
quasielastic energy spectrum and no sign of a gap within the energy range from
0.2 to 15 meV. A weak elastic magnetic component grows below ~K,
consistent with results from local probes. Regarding the atomic lattice, we
have discovered unexpectedly strong fluctuations of the CuO octahedra about
Cu-O bonds, which are associated with inequivalent O sites within the CuO
planes. Furthermore, we observed a weak elastic superlattice peak
that implies a reduced lattice symmetry. The presence of inequivalent O sites
rationalizes various pieces of evidence for charge stripe order in underdoped
\lsco. The coexistence of superconductivity with quasi-static spin-stripe order
suggests the presence of intertwined orders; however, the rotation of the
stripe orientation away from the Cu-O bonds might be connected with evidence
for a finite gap at the nodal points of the superconducting gap function.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures; accepted versio
The central image of a gravitationally lensed quasar
A galaxy can act as a gravitational lens, producing multiple images of a
background object. Theory predicts there should be an odd number of images but,
paradoxically, almost all observed lenses have 2 or 4 images. The missing image
should be faint and appear near the galaxy's center. These ``central images''
have long been sought as probes of galactic cores too distant to resolve with
ordinary observations. There are five candidates, but in one case the third
image is not necessarily a central image, and in the others, the central
component might be a foreground source rather than a lensed image. Here we
report the most secure identification of a central image, based on radio
observations of PMN J1632-0033, one of the latter candidates. Lens models
incorporating the central image show that the mass of the lens galaxy's central
black hole is less than 2 x 10^8 M_sun, and the galaxy's surface density at the
location of the central image is more than 20,000 M_sun per square parsec, in
agreement with expectations based on observations of galaxies hundreds of times
closer to the Earth.Comment: Nature, in press [7 pp, 2 figs]. Standard media embargo applies
before publicatio
CTQ 414: A New Gravitational Lens
We report the discovery and ground based observations of the new
gravitational lens CTQ 414. The source quasar lies at a redshift of z = 1.29
with a B magnitude of 17.6. Ground based optical imaging reveals two point
sources separated by 1.2 arcsec with a magnitude difference of roughly 1 mag.
Subtraction of two stellar point spread functions from images obtained in
subarcsecond seeing consistently leaves behind a faint, residual object. Fits
for two point sources plus an extended object places the fainter object
collinear with the two brighter components. Subsequent HST/NICMOS observations
have confirmed the identification of the fainter object as the lensing galaxy.
VLA observations at 8.46 GHz reveal that all components of the lensing system
are radio quiet down to the 0.2 mJy flux level.Comment: Latex, 18 pages including 2 ps figures; accepted for publication in
A
CTQ 839: Candidate for the Smallest Projected Separation Binary Quasar
We report the discovery of the new double quasar CTQ 839. This B = 18.3,
radio quiet quasar pair is separated by 2.1" in BRIH filters with magnitude
differences of delta m_B = 2.5, delta m_R = delta m_I = 1.9, and delta m_H =
2.3. Spectral observations reveal both components to be z = 2.24 quasars, with
relative redshifts that agree at the 100 km/s level, but exhibit pronounced
differences in the equivalent widths of related emission features, as well as
an enhancement of blue continuum flux in the brighter component longward of the
Ly alpha emission feature. In general, similar redshift double quasars can be
the result of a physical binary pair, or a single quasar multiply imaged by
gravitational lensing. Empirical PSF subtraction of R and H band images of CTQ
839 reveal no indication of a lensing galaxy, and place a detection limit of R
= 22.5 and H = 17.4 for a third component in the system. For an Einstein-de
Sitter cosmology and SIS model, the R band detection limit constrains the
characteristics of any lensing galaxy to z_lens >= 1 with a corresponding
luminosity of L >~ 5 L_*, while an analysis based on the redshift probability
distribution for the lensing galaxy argues against the existence of a z_lens >~
1 lens at the 2 sigma level. A similar analysis for a Lambda dominated
cosmology, however, does not significantly constrain the existence of any
lensing galaxy. The broadband flux differences, spectral dissimilarities, and
failure to detect a lensing galaxy make the lensing hypothesis for CTQ 839
unlikely. The similar redshifts of the two components would then argue for a
physical quasar binary. At a projected separation of 8.3/h kpc (Omega_matter =
1), CTQ 839 would be the smallest projected separation binary quasar currently
known.Comment: Latex, 23 pages including 5 ps figures; accepted for publication in
A
Anomalous phonon behavior in the high temperature shape memory alloy: TiPd:Cr
Ti50 Pd50-xCrx is a high temperature shape memory alloy with a martensitic
transformation temperature strongly dependent on the Cr composition. Prior to
the transformation a premartensitic phase is present with an incommensurate
modulated cubic lattice with wave vector of q0=(0.22, 0.22, 0). The temperature
dependence of the diffuse scattering in the cubic phase is measured as a
function temperature for x=6.5, 8.5, and 10 at. %. The lattice dynamics has
been studied and reveals anomalous temperature and q-dependence of the
[110]-TA2 transverse phonon branch. The phonon linewidth is broad over the
entire Brillouin zone and increases with decreasing temperature, contrary to
the behavior expected for anharmonicity. No anomaly is observed at q0. The
results are compared with first principles calculation of the phonon structure.Comment: 26 pages, 11 figure
- …