202 research outputs found
Herschel observations of NGC 7027
We present our analysis of the spectra of NGC 7027 taken with the PACS and SPIRE instruments of the Herschel satellite
Temperature variations from Hubble Space Telescope imagery and spectroscopy of NGC 7009
We present new Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/WFPC2 imagery and STIS long-slit spectroscopy of the planetary nebula NGC 7009. The primary goal was to obtain high spatial resolution of the intrinsic line ratio [O III] 4364/5008 and thereby evaluate the electron temperature (Te) and the fractional mean-square Te variation (tA2)across the nebula. The WFPC2 Te map is rather uniform; almost all values are between 9000â11 000 K, with the higher Te values closely coinciding with the inner He++ zone. The results indicate very small valuesââČ0.01â for tA2 throughout. Our STIS data allow an even more direct determination of Te and tA2, albeit for a much smaller area than with WFPC2. We present results from binning the data along the slit into tiles that are 0.5-arcsec square (matching the slit width). The average [O III] temperature using 45 tiles (excluding the central star and STIS fiducial bars) is 10 139 K; tA2 is 0.0035. The measurements of Te reported here are an average along each line of sight. Therefore, despite finding remarkably low tA2, we cannot completely rule out temperature fluctuations along the line of sight as the cause of the large abundance discrepancy between heavy element abundances inferred from collisionally excited emission lines compared to those derived from recombination lines
A companion to a quasar at redshift 4.7
There is a growing consensus that the emergence of quasars at high redshifts
is related to the onset of galaxy formation, suggesting that the detection of
concentrations of gas accompanying such quasars should provide clues about the
early history of galaxies. Quasar companions have been recently identified at
redshifts up to . Here we report observations of Lyman-
emission (a tracer of ionised hydrogen) from the companion to a quasar at
=4.702, corresponding to a time when the Universe was less than ten per cent
of its present age. We argue that most of the emission arises in a gaseous
nebula that has been photoionised by the quasar, but an additional component of
continuum light -perhaps quasar light scattered from dust in the companion
body, or emission from young stars within the nebula- appears necessary to
explain the observations. These observations may be indicative of the first
stages in the assembly of galaxy-sized structures.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, plain LaTeX. Accepted for publication in Natur
Generation of photoionized plasmas in the laboratory of relevance to accretion-powered x-ray sources using keV line radiation
We describe laboratory experiments to generate x-ray photoionized plasmas of relevance to accretion-powered x-ray sources such as neutron star binaries and quasars, with significant improvements over previous work. A key quantity is referenced, namely the photoionization parameter, defined as Ο = 4ÏF/newhere F is the x-ray flux and ne the electron density. This is normally meaningful in an astrophysical steady-state context, but is also commonly used in the literature as a figure of merit for laboratory experiments that are, of necessity, time-dependent. We demonstrate emission-weighted values of Ο > 50 erg-cm sâ1 using laser-plasma x-ray sources, with higher results at the centre of the plasma which are in the regime of interest for several astrophysical scenarios. Comparisons of laboratory experiments with astrophysical codes are always limited, principally by the many orders of magnitude differences in time and spatial scales, but also other plasma parameters. However useful checks on performance can often be made for a limited range of parameters. For example, we show that our use of a keV line source, rather than the quasi-blackbody radiation fields normally employed in such experiments, has allowed the generation of the ratio of inner-shell to outer-shell photoionization expected from a blackbody source with âŒkeV spectral temperature. We compare calculations from our in-house plasma modelling code with those from Cloudy and find moderately good agreement for the time evolution of both electron temperature and average ionisation. However, a comparison of code predictions for a K-ÎČ argon X-ray spectrum with experimental data reveals that our Cloudy simulation overestimates the intensities of more highly ionised argon species. This is not totally surprising as the Cloudy model was generated for a single set of plasma conditions, while the experimental data are spatially integrated
HST imaging of the dusty filaments and nucleus swirl in NGC4696 at the centre of the Centaurus Cluster
Narrow-band HST imaging has resolved the detailed internal structure of the
10 kpc diameter H alpha+[NII] emission line nebulosity in NGC4696, the central
galaxy in the nearby Centaurus cluster, showing that the dusty, molecular,
filaments have a width of about 60pc. Optical morphology and velocity
measurements indicate that the filaments are dragged out by the bubbling action
of the radio source as part of the AGN feedback cycle. Using the drag force we
find that the magnetic field in the filaments is in approximate pressure
equipartition with the hot gas. The filamentary nature of the cold gas
continues inward, swirling around and within the Bondi accretion radius of the
central black hole, revealing the magnetic nature of the gas flows in massive
elliptical galaxies. HST imaging resolves the magnetic, dusty, molecular
filaments at the centre of the Centaurus cluster to a swirl around and within
the Bondi radius.This is the accepted manuscript. It is currently embargoed pending publication
Reverberation Mapping and the Physics of Active Galactic Nuclei
Reverberation-mapping campaigns have revolutionized our understanding of AGN.
They have allowed the direct determination of the broad-line region size,
enabled mapping of the gas distribution around the central black hole, and are
starting to resolve the continuum source structure. This review describes the
recent and successful campaigns of the International AGN Watch consortium,
outlines the theoretical background of reverberation mapping and the
calculation of transfer functions, and addresses the fundamental difficulties
of such experiments. It shows that such large-scale experiments have resulted
in a ``new BLR'' which is considerably different from the one we knew just ten
years ago. We discuss in some detail the more important new results, including
the luminosity-size-mass relationship for AGN, and suggest ways to proceed in
the near future.Comment: Review article to appear in Astronomical Time Series, Proceedings of
the Wise Observatory 25th Ann. Symposium. 24 pages including 7 figure
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Dense Molecular Clouds in the Crab Supernova Remnant
Abstract
Molecular emission was imaged with ALMA from numerous components near and within bright H2-emitting knots and absorbing dust globules in the Crab Nebula. These observations provide a critical test of how energetic photons and particles produced in a young supernova remnant interact with gas, cleanly differentiating between competing models. The four fields targeted show contrasting properties but within them, seventeen distinct molecular clouds are identified with CO emission; a few also show emission from HCO+, SiO, and/or SO. These observations are compared with Cloudy models of these knots. It has been suggested that the Crab filaments present an exotic environment in which H2 emission comes from a mostly neutral zone probably heated by cosmic rays produced in the supernova surrounding a cool core of molecular gas. Our model is consistent with the observed CO J = 3 â 2 line strength. These molecular line emitting knots in the Crab Nebula present a novel phase of the ISM representative of many important astrophysical environments.</jats:p
Dense Molecular Clouds in the Crab Supernova Remnant
Abstract
Molecular emission was imaged with ALMA from numerous components near and within bright H2-emitting knots and absorbing dust globules in the Crab Nebula. These observations provide a critical test of how energetic photons and particles produced in a young supernova remnant interact with gas, cleanly differentiating between competing models. The four fields targeted show contrasting properties but within them, seventeen distinct molecular clouds are identified with CO emission; a few also show emission from HCO+, SiO, and/or SO. These observations are compared with Cloudy models of these knots. It has been suggested that the Crab filaments present an exotic environment in which H2 emission comes from a mostly neutral zone probably heated by cosmic rays produced in the supernova surrounding a cool core of molecular gas. Our model is consistent with the observed CO J = 3 â 2 line strength. These molecular line emitting knots in the Crab Nebula present a novel phase of the ISM representative of many important astrophysical environments.</jats:p
Ram pressure feeding super-massive black holes
When supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies accrete matter
(usually gas), they give rise to highly energetic phenomena named Active
Galactic Nuclei (AGN). A number of physical processes have been proposed to
account for the funneling of gas towards the galaxy centers to feed the AGN.
There are also several physical processes that can strip gas from a galaxy, and
one of them is ram pressure stripping in galaxy clusters due to the hot and
dense gas filling the space between galaxies. We report the discovery of a
strong connection between severe ram pressure stripping and the presence of AGN
activity. Searching in galaxy clusters at low redshift, we have selected the
most extreme examples of jellyfish galaxies, which are galaxies with long
tentacles of material extending for dozens of kpc beyond the galaxy disk. Using
the MUSE spectrograph on the ESO Very Large Telescope, we find that 6 out of
the 7 galaxies of this sample host a central AGN, and two of them also have
galactic-scale AGN ionization cones. The high incidence of AGN among the most
striking jellyfishes may be due to ram pressure causing gas to flow towards the
center and triggering the AGN activity, or to an enhancement of the stripping
caused by AGN energy injection, or both. Our analysis of the galaxy position
and velocity relative to the cluster strongly supports the first hypothesis,
and puts forward ram pressure as another, yet unforeseen, possible mechanism
for feeding the central supermassive black hole with gas.Comment: published in Nature, Vol.548, Number 7667, pag.30
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