1,215 research outputs found
Estimating oil concentration and flow rate with calibrated vessel-mounted acoustic echo sounders
As part of a larger program aimed at evaluating acoustic techniques for mapping the distribution of subsurface oil and gas associated with the Deepwater Horizon-Macondo oil spill, observations were made on June 24 and 25, 2010 using vessel-mounted calibrated single-beam echo sounders on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship Thomas Jefferson. Coincident with visual observations of oil at the sea surface, the 200-kHz echo sounder showed anomalously high-volume scattering strength in the upper 200 m on the western side of the wellhead, more than 100 times higher than the surrounding waters at 1,800-m distance from the wellhead, and weakening with increasing distance out to 5,000 m. Similar high-volume scattering anomalies were not observed at 12 or 38 kHz, although observations of anomalously low-volume scattering strength were made in the deep scattering layer at these frequencies at approximately the same locations. Together with observations of ocean currents, the acoustic observations are consistent with a rising plume of small (\u3c 1-mm radius) oil droplets. Using simplistic but reasonable assumptions about the properties of the oil droplets, an estimate of the flow rate was made that is remarkably consistent with those made at the wellhead by other means. The uncertainty in this acoustically derived estimate is high due to lack of knowledge of the size distribution and rise speed of the oil droplets. If properly constrained, these types of acoustic measurements can be used to rapidly estimate the flow rate of oil reaching the surface over large temporal and spatial scales
Oxygen abundance in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
We present two samples of \hii galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
(SDSS) spectroscopic observations data release 3. The electron
temperatures() of 225 galaxies are calculated with the photoionized \hii
model and of 3997 galaxies are calculated with an empirical method. The
oxygen abundances from the methods of the two samples are determined
reliably. The oxygen abundances from a strong line metallicity indicator, such
as , , , and , are also calculated. We compared oxygen
abundances of \hii galaxies obtained with the method, method,
method, method, and method. The oxygen abundances derived with
the method are systematically lower by 0.2 dex than those derived
with the method, consistent with previous studies based on \hii
region samples. No clear offset for oxygen abundance was found between
metallicity and , and metallicity. When we studied the relation
between N/O and O/H, we found that in the metallicity regime of \zoh > 7.95,
the large scatter of the relation can be explained by the contribution of small
mass stars to the production of nitrogen. In the high metallicity regime, \zoh
> 8.2, nitrogen is primarily a secondary element produced by stars of all
masses.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. A&A accepte
Status of the Cylindical-GEM project for the KLOE-2 Inner Tracker
The status of the R&D on the Cylindrical-GEM (CGEM) detector foreseen as
Inner Tracker for KLOE-2, the upgrade of the KLOE experiment at the DAFNE
phi-factory, will be presented. The R&D includes several activities: i) the
construction and complete characterization of the full-size CGEM prototype,
equipped with 650 microns pitch 1-D longitudinal strips; ii) the study of the
2-D readout with XV patterned strips and operation in magnetic field (up to
1.5T), performed with small planar prototypes in a dedicated test at the H4-SPS
beam facility; iii) the characterization of the single-mask GEM technology for
the realization of large-area GEM foils.Comment: 4 pages, 10 figures, Presented at Vienna Conference on
Instrumentation (Feb 15-20, 2010, Vienna, Austria). Submitted to the
Proceeding
The Extinction and Distance of Maffei 1
We have obtained low- and high-resolution spectra of the core of the
highly-reddened elliptical galaxy Maffei 1. From these data, we have obtained
the first measurement of the Mg2 index, and have measured the velocity
dispersion and radial velocity with improved accuracy. To evaluate the
extinction, a correlation between the Mg2 index and effective V-I colour has
been established for elliptical galaxies. Using a new method for correcting for
effective wavelength shifts, we find A_V = 4.67 +/- 0.19 mag, which is lower by
0.4 mag than previously thought. To establish the distance, the Fundamental
Plane for elliptical galaxies has been constructed in I. The velocity
dispersion of Maffei 1, measured to be 186.8 +/- 7.4 km/s, in combination with
modern wide-field photometry in I, leads to a distance of 2.92 +/- 0.37 Mpc.
The Dn-sigma relation, which is independently calibrated, gives 3.08 +/- 0.85
Mpc and 3.23 +/- 0.67 Mpc from photometry in B and K`, respectively. The
weighted mean of the three estimates is 3.01 +/- 0.30 Mpc. The distance and
luminosity make Maffei 1 the nearest giant elliptical galaxy. The radial
velocity of Maffei 1 is +66.4 +/- 5.0 km/s, significantly higher than the
accepted value of -10 km/s. The Hubble distance corresponding to the mean
velocity of Maffei 1, Maffei 2 and IC342 is 3.5 Mpc. Thus, it is unlikely that
Maffei 1 has had any influence on Local Group dynamics
A new limit on the CP violating decay KS -> 3pi0 with the KLOE experiment
We have carried out a new direct search for the CP violating decay KS -> 3pi0
with 1.7 fb^-1 of e+e- collisions collected by the KLOE detector at the
phi-factory DAFNE. We have searched for this decay in a sample of about 5.9 x
10^8 KS KL events tagging the KS by means of the KL interaction in the
calorimeter and requiring six prompt photons. With respect to our previous
search, the analysis has been improved by increasing of a factor four the
tagged sample and by a more effective background rejection of fake KS tags and
spurious clusters. We find no candidates in data and simulated background
samples, while we expect 0.12 standard model events. Normalizing to the number
of KS -> 2pi0 events in the same sample, we set the upper limit on BR(KS ->
3pi0 < 2.6 x 10^-8 at 90% C.L., five times lower than the previous limit. We
also set the upper limit on the eta_000 parameter, |eta_000 | < 0.0088 at 90%
C.L., improving by a factor two the latest direct measurement.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physics Letters B (15 pages, 13 figures
Measurement of {\eta} meson production in {\gamma}{\gamma} interactions and {\Gamma}({\eta}-->{\gamma}{\gamma}) with the KLOE detector
We present a measurement of {\eta} meson production in photon-photon
interactions produced by electron-positron beams colliding with \sqrt{s}=1 GeV.
The measurement is done with the KLOE detector at the \phi-factory DA{\Phi}NE
with an integrated luminosity of 0.24 fb^{-1}. The e^+e^- --> e^+e^-{\eta}
cross section is measured without detecting the outgoing electron and positron,
selecting the decays {\eta}-->{\pi}^+{\pi}^-{\pi}^0 and
{\eta}-->{\pi}^0{\pi}^0{\pi}^0. The most relevant background is due to e^+e^-
--> {\eta}{\gamma} when the monochromatic photon escapes detection. The cross
section for this process is measured as {\sigma}(e^+e^- -->{\eta}{\gamma}) =
(856 \pm 8_{stat} \pm 16_{syst}) pb. The combined result for the e^+e^-
-->e^+e^-{\eta} cross section is {\sigma}(e^+e^- -->e^+e^-{\eta}) = (32.72 \pm
1.27_{stat} \pm 0.70_{syst}) pb. From this we derive the partial width
{\Gamma}({\eta}-->{\gamma}{\gamma}) = (520 \pm 20_{stat} \pm 13_{syst}) eV.
This is in agreement with the world average and is the most precise measurement
to date.Comment: Version accepted by JHE
Precision measurement of and determination of the contribution to the muon anomaly with the KLOE detector
We have measured the ratio
, with the KLOE detector at DANE for a total integrated
luminosity of 240 pb. From this ratio we obtain the cross section
. From the cross section we determine the
pion form factor and the two-pion contribution to the muon anomaly
for GeV, = . This result confirms the
current discrepancy between the Standard Model calculation and the experimental
measurement of the muon anomaly.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, minor text corrections, one table added, version
to appear on Physics Letters
Spectroscopic study of blue compact galaxies V. oxygen abundance and the metallicity-luminosity relation
This is the fifth paper in a series studying the stellar components, star
formation histories, star formation rates and metallicities of a blue compact
galaxy (BCG) sample. Based on our high-quality ground-based spectroscopic
observations, we have determined the electron temperatures, electron densities,
nitrogen abundances and oxygen abundances for 72 star-forming BCGs in our
sample, using different oxygen abundance indicators. The oxygen abundance
covers the range 7.15 < 12 + log (O/H)< 9.0, and nitrogen is found to be mostly
a product of secondary nucleosynthesis for 12 + log (O/H)>8.2 and apparently a
product of primary nucleosynthesis for 12 + log (O/H)< 8.2. To assess the
possible systematic differences among different oxygen abundance indicators, we
have compared oxygen abundances of BCGs obtained with the Te method, R23
method, P method, N2 method and O3N2 method. The oxygen abundances derived from
the Te method are systematically lower by 0.1-0.25 dex than those derived from
the strong line empirical abundance indicators, consistent with previous
studies based on region samples. We confirm the existence of the
metallicity-luminosity relation in BCGs over a large range of abundances and
luminosities. Our sample of galaxies shows that the slope of the
metallicity-luminosity relation for the luminous galaxies (~-0.05) is slightly
shallower than that for the dwarf galaxies (~-0.17). An offset was found in the
metallicity-luminosity relation of the local galaxies and that of the
intermediate redshift galaxies. It shows that the metallicity-luminosity
relation for the emission line galaxies at high redshift is displaced to lower
abundances, higher luminosities, or both.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
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