328 research outputs found
X-Ray flares in Orion Young Stars. II. Flares, Magnetospheres, and Protoplanetary Disks
We study the properties of powerful X-ray flares from 161 pre-main sequence
(PMS) stars observed with the Chandra X-ray Observatory in the Orion Nebula
region. Relationships between flare properties, protoplanetary disks and
accretion are examined in detail to test models of star-disk interactions at
the inner edge of the accretion disks. Previous studies had found no
differences in flaring between diskfree and accreting systems other than a
small overall diminution of X-ray luminosity in accreting systems. The most
important finding is that X-ray coronal extents in fast-rotating diskfree stars
can significantly exceed the Keplerian corotation radius, whereas X-ray loop
sizes in disky and accreting systems do not exceed the corotation radius. This
is consistent with models of star-disk magnetic interaction where the inner
disk truncates and confines the PMS stellar magnetosphere. We also find two
differences between flares in accreting and diskfree PMS stars. First, a
subclass of super-hot flares with peak plasma temperatures exceeding 100 MK are
preferentially present in accreting systems. Second, we tentatively find that
accreting stars produce flares with shorter durations. Both results may be
consequences of the distortion and destabilization of the stellar magnetosphere
by the interacting disk. Finally, we find no evidence that any flare types,
even slow-rise flat-top flares are produced in star-disk magnetic loops. All
are consistent with enhanced solar long-duration events with both footprints
anchored in the stellar surface.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ (07/17/08); 46 pages, 14 figures, 2
table
X-ray flares in Orion young stars. I. Flare characteristics
Pre-main sequence (PMS) stars are known to produce powerful X-ray flares
which resemble magnetic reconnection solar flares scaled by factors up to 10^4.
However, numerous puzzles are present including the structure of X-ray emitting
coronae and magnetospheres, effects of protoplanetary disks, and effects of
stellar rotation. To investigate these issues in detail, we examine 216 of the
brightest flares from 161 PMS stars observed in the Chandra Orion Ultradeep
Project (COUP). These constitute the largest homogeneous dataset of PMS, or
indeed stellar flares at any stellar age, ever acquired. Our effort is based on
a new flare spectral analysis technique that avoids nonlinear parametric
modeling. It can be applied to much weaker flares and is more sensitive than
standard methods. We provide a catalog with >30 derived flare properties and an
electronic atlas for this unique collection of stellar X-ray flares. The
current study (Paper I) examines the flare morphologies, and provides general
comparison of COUP flare characteristics with those of other active X-ray stars
and the Sun. Paper II will concentrate on relationships between flare behavior,
protoplanetary disks, and other stellar properties. Several results are
obtained. First, the COUP flares studied here are among the most powerful,
longest, and hottest stellar X-ray flares ever studied. Second, no significant
statistical differences in peak flare luminosity or temperature distributions
are found among different morphological flare classes, suggesting a common
underlying mechanism for all flares. Third, comparison with the general
solar-scaling laws indicates that COUP flares may not fit adequately proposed
power-temperature and duration-temperature solar-stellar fits. Fourth, COUP
super-hot flares are found to be brighter but shorter than ... ABRIDGEDComment: Accepted for publication in ApJ (07/11/08); 63 pages, 16 figures, 4
table
KiDS-SQuaD: The KiDS Strongly lensed Quasar Detection project
New methods have been recently developed to search for strong gravitational
lenses, in particular lensed quasars, in wide-field imaging surveys. Here, we
compare the performance of three different, morphology- and photometry- based
methods to find lens candidates over the Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS) DR3
footprint (440 deg). The three methods are: i) a multiplet detection in
KiDS-DR3 and/or Gaia-DR1, ii) direct modeling of KiDS cutouts and iii)
positional offsets between different surveys (KiDS-vs-Gaia, Gaia-vs-2MASS),
with purpose-built astrometric recalibrations. The first benchmark for the
methods has been set by the recovery of known lenses. We are able to recover
seven out of ten known lenses and pairs of quasars observed in the KiDS DR3
footprint, or eight out of ten with improved selection criteria and looser
colour pre-selection. This success rate reflects the combination of all methods
together, which, taken individually, performed significantly worse (four lenses
each). One movelty of our analysis is that the comparison of the performances
of the different methods has revealed the pros and cons of the approaches and,
most of all, the complementarities. We finally provide a list of high-grade
candidates found by one or more methods, awaiting spectroscopic follow-up for
confirmation. Of these, KiDS 1042+0023 is to our knowledge the first confirmed
lensed quasar from KiDS, exhibiting two quasar spectra at the same source
redshift at either sides of a red galaxy, with uniform flux-ratio
over the wavelength range
Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
The galaxy environment in GAMA G3C groups using the Kilo Degree Survey Data Release 3
We aim to investigate the galaxy environment in GAMA Galaxy Groups Catalogue
(G3C) using a volume-limited galaxy sample from the Kilo Degree Survey Data
Release 3. The k-Nearest Neighbour technique is adapted to take into account
the probability density functions (PDFs) of photometric redshifts in our
calculations. This algorithm was tested on simulated KiDS tiles, showing its
capability of recovering the relation between galaxy colour, luminosity and
local environment. The characterization of the galaxy environment in G3C groups
shows systematically steeper density contrasts for more massive groups. The red
galaxy fraction gradients in these groups is evident for most of group mass
bins. The density contrast of red galaxies is systematically higher at group
centers when compared to blue galaxy ones. In addition, distinct group center
definitions are used to show that our results are insensitive to center
definitions. These results confirm the galaxy evolution scenario which
environmental mechanisms are responsible for a slow quenching process as
galaxies fall into groups and clusters, resulting in a smooth observed colour
gradients in galaxy systems.Comment: 14 pages, Accepted to MNRA
Chandra Study of the Cepheus B Star Forming Region: Stellar Populations and the Initial Mass Function
Cepheus B (Cep B) molecular cloud and a portion of the nearby Cep OB3b OB
association, one of the most active regions of star formation within 1 kpc, has
been observed with the ACIS detector on board the Chandra X-ray Observatory. We
detect 431 X-ray sources, of which 89% are confidently identified as clustered
pre-main sequence stars. Two main results are obtained. First, we provide the
best census to date for the stellar population of the region. We identify many
members of two rich stellar clusters: the lightly obscured Cep OB3b
association, and the deeply embedded cluster in Cep B whose existence was
previously traced only by a handful of radio sources and T Tauri stars. Second,
we find a discrepancy between the X-ray Luminosity Functions of the Cep OB3b
and the Orion Nebula Cluster. This may be due to different Initial Mass
Functions of two regions (excess of ~0.3 solar mass stars), or different age
distributions. Several other results are obtained. A diffuse X-ray component
seen in the field is attributed to the integrated emission of unresolved low
mass PMS stars. The X-ray emission from HD 217086 (O7n), the principle ionizing
source of the region, follows the standard model involving many small shocks in
an unmagnetized radiatively accelerated wind. The X-ray source #294 joins a
number of similar superflare PMS stars where long magnetic structures may
connect the protoplanetary disk to the stellar surface.Comment: 72 pages, 31 figures, 8 tables. Accepted for publication in Ap
X-ray Emission from Orion Nebula Cluster Stars with Circumstellar Disks and Jets
We investigate the X-ray and near-infrared emission properties of a sample of
pre-main sequence (PMS) stellar systems in the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC) that
display evidence for circumstellar disks (``proplyds'') and optical jets in
Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging. Approximately 70% of ~140 proplyds were
detected as X-ray sources in the Chandra Orion Ultradeep Program observation of
the ONC, including ~25% of proplyds that do not display central stars in HST
imaging. Many proplyds display near-infrared excesses, suggesting disk
accretion is ongoing onto the central, PMS stars. Among circumstellar disks
that are detected in absorption in HST imaging, we find that X-ray absorbing
column and apparent disk inclination are well correlated, providing insight
into the disk scale heights and metal abundances of UV- and X-ray-irradiated
protoplanetary disks. Jet sources display some of the largest near-infrared
excesses among the X-ray-detected proplyds, suggesting that the origin of the
jets is closely related to ongoing, PMS stellar accretion. Some jet sources
display double-peaked X-ray spectral energy distributions, with soft components
indicative of strong shocks in the jet collimation region. These results
support models in which circumstellar disks collimate and/or launch jets from
young stellar objects and, furthermore, demonstrate that star-disk-jet
interactions may contribute to PMS X-ray emission.Comment: 42 pages, 10 figures; accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journal Supplements, Special Issue on the Chandra Orion Ultradeep Project
(COUP
An Introduction to the Chandra Carina Complex Project
The Great Nebula in Carina provides an exceptional view into the violent
massive star formation and feedback that typifies giant HII regions and
starburst galaxies. We have mapped the Carina star-forming complex in X-rays,
using archival Chandra data and a mosaic of 20 new 60ks pointings using the
Chandra X-ray Observatory's Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer, as a testbed for
understanding recent and ongoing star formation and to probe Carina's regions
of bright diffuse X-ray emission. This study has yielded a catalog of
properties of >14,000 X-ray point sources; >9800 of them have multiwavelength
counterparts. Using Chandra's unsurpassed X-ray spatial resolution, we have
separated these point sources from the extensive, spatially-complex diffuse
emission that pervades the region; X-ray properties of this diffuse emission
suggest that it traces feedback from Carina's massive stars. In this
introductory paper, we motivate the survey design, describe the Chandra
observations, and present some simple results, providing a foundation for the
15 papers that follow in this Special Issue and that present detailed catalogs,
methods, and science results.Comment: Accepted for the ApJS Special Issue on the Chandra Carina Complex
Project (CCCP), scheduled for publication in May 2011. All 16 CCCP Special
Issue papers are available at
http://cochise.astro.psu.edu/Carina_public/special_issue.html through 2011 at
least. 43 pages; 18 figure
Building the Largest Spectroscopic Sample of Ultracompact Massive Galaxies with the Kilo Degree Survey
Ultracompact massive galaxies (ucmgs), i.e., galaxies with stellar masses M∗ > 8× 10-10 M⊙ and effective radii R e< 1.5 kpc, are very rare systems, in particular at low and intermediate redshifts. Their origin as well as their number density across cosmic time are still under scrutiny, especially because of the paucity of spectroscopically confirmed samples. We have started a systematic census of ucmg candidates within the ESO Kilo Degree Survey, together with a large spectroscopic follow-up campaign to build the largest possible sample of confirmed ucmgs. This is the third paper of the series and the second based on the spectroscopic follow-up program. Here, we present photometrical and structural parameters of 33 new candidates at redshifts 0.15≲ z≲ 0.5 and confirm 19 of them as ucmgs, based on their nominal spectroscopically inferred M and R e. This corresponds to a success rate of ∼ 58%, nicely consistent with our previous findings. The addition of these 19 newly confirmed objects allows us to fully assess the systematics on the system selection-and to finally reduce the number density uncertainties. Moreover, putting together the results from our current and past observational campaigns and some literature data, we build the largest sample of ucmgs ever collected, comprising 92 spectroscopically confirmed objects at 0.1≲ z≲ 0.5. This number raises to 116, allowing for a 3σ tolerance on the M∗ and Re thresholds for the ucmg definition. For all these galaxies, we have estimated the velocity dispersion values at the effective radii, which have been used to derive a preliminary mass-velocity dispersion correlation
The Spatial Distribution of Star Formation in the Solar Neighbourhood: Do all stars form in clusters?
We present a global study of low mass, young stellar object (YSO) surface
densities in nearby (< 500 pc) star forming regions based on a comprehensive
collection of Spitzer Space Telescope surveys. We show that the distribution of
YSO surface densities in the solar neighbourhood is a smooth distribution,
being adequately described by a lognormal function from a few to 10^3 YSOs per
pc^2, with a peak at 22 stars/pc^2 and a dispersion of 0.85. We do not find
evidence for multiple discrete modes of star-formation (e.g. clustered and
distributed). Comparing the observed surface density distribution to previously
reported surface density threshold definitions of clusters, we find that the
fraction of stars in clusters is crucially dependent on the adopted
definitions, ranging from 40 to 90%. However, we find that only a low fraction
(< 26%) of stars are formed in dense environments where their
formation/evolution (along with their circumstellar disks and/or planets) may
be affected by the close proximity of their low-mass neighbours.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, MNRAS letters, accepte
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