1,213 research outputs found
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High resolution CO observations of S88-B
CO J = 2-1 and 13CO J = 2-1 and 1-0 observations have been made of the H II region S88-B, using the 15-m James Clerk Maxwell telescope in Hawaii and the 20-m telescope at Onsala. The core of the cloud is resolved into a horseshoelike structure which surrounds a diffuse reflection nebula. The central core has a mass of ≥ 1000 M⊙, with 400 M⊙ in the horseshoe structure. The gas in the horse in the horseshoe appears highly fragmented, and has a kinetic temperature of ≈ 60 K, suggesting it is closely coupled to the dust temperature. A recently formed high mass star appears to be in the process of evacuating a cavity, possibly through a large molecular outflow that is found to show an accelerated component in its blue-shifted lobe. A velocity gradient across the horseshoe structure suggest ordered motion, and could represent rotation in the parental cloud
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High signal/noise <sup>13</sup>CO observations of the bipolar outflow in L1551
New high-signal/noise 13CO observations of the bipolar outflow in the molecular cloud L1551 are reported. Contrary to earlier observations of CO J = 1-0 and 2-1, no strong spatial dependence is found for the velocity profile of these spectra. The implications of these observations are such that the model of an empty shell for this source is less likely, and a model consisting of a shell which contains significant amounts of outflowing molecular gas inside the swept-up cavity walls is suggested
Towards a Molecular Inventory of Protostellar Discs
The chemical environment in circumstellar discs is a unique diagnostic of the
thermal, physical and chemical environment. In this paper we examine the
structure of star formation regions giving rise to low mass stars, and the
chemical environment inside them, and the circumstellar discs around the
developing stars.Comment: 9 page PDF, 550 kbyte
Transmission measurement at 10.6 microns of Te2As3Se5 rib-waveguides on As2S3 substrate
The feasibility of chalcogenide rib waveguides working at lambda = 10.6
microns has been demonstrated. The waveguides comprised a several microns thick
Te2As3Se5 film deposited by thermal evaporation on a polished As2S3 glass
substrate and further etched by physical etching in Ar or CF4/O2 atmosphere.
Output images at 10.6 microns and some propagation losses roughly estimated at
10dB/cm proved that the obtained structures behaved as channel waveguides with
a good lateral confinement of the light. The work opens the doors to the
realisation of components able to work in the mid and thermal infrared up to 20
microns and even more.Comment: The following article appeared in Vigreux-Bercovici et al., Appl.
Phys. Lett. 90, 011110 (2007) and may be found at
http://link.aip.org/link/?apl/90/01111
The molecular disk surrounding the protostellar binary L1551 IRS5
The inner three arcminutes surrounding the Class 0/1 binary protostar L1551 IRS5 have been observed using the J=1→0 transitions of the HCO+, H13CO+, 12CO and 13CO molecular species. Since the line core of HCO+ is self reversed over a substantial part of our map, observations of isotopomers such as H13CO+ are required in order to estimate the mass of the molecular gas in the immediate vicinity of IRS5. Our observations demonstrate the presence of a large ( ~ 7000 AU radius) dense, possibly rotating, molecular disk with a mass of a few M⊙ oriented perpendicular to the major axis of an extended molecular outflow. The disk is surrounded by an envelope with a radius of ~ 10 000 AU that contains two massive (each ~ 1 M⊙) clumps. One of these features appears to be kinematically disconnected from both the disk and the molecular outflow
Generation of radiative knots in a randomly pulsed protostellar jet I. Dynamics and energetics
HH objects are characterized by a complex knotty morphology detected mainly
along the axis of protostellar jets in a wide range of bands. Evidence of
interactions between knots formed in different epochs have been found,
suggesting that jets may result from the ejection of plasma blobs from the
source. We aim at investigating the physical mechanism leading to the irregular
knotty structure observed in jets in different bands and the complex
interactions occurring among blobs of plasma ejected from the stellar source.
We perform 2D axisymmetric HD simulations of a randomly ejected pulsed jet. The
jet consists of a train of blobs which ram with supersonic speed into the
ambient medium. The initial random velocity of each blob follows an exponential
distribution. We explore the ejection rate parameter to derive constraints on
the physical properties of protostellar jets by comparison of model results
with observations. Our model takes into account radiative losses and thermal
conduction. We find that the mutual interactions of blobs ejected at different
epochs and with different speed lead to a variety of plasma components not
described by current models. The main features characterizing the random pulsed
jet scenario are: single high speed knots, showing a measurable proper motion
in nice agreement with observations; irregular chains of knots aligned along
the jet axis and possibly interacting with each other; reverse shocks
interacting with outgoing knots; oblique shocks produced by the reflection of
shocks at the jet cocoon. All these structures concur to determine the
morphology of the jet in different bands. We also find that the thermal
conduction plays a crucial role in damping out HD instabilities that would
develop within the cocoon and that contribute to the jet breaking.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Confirmation of an exoplanet using the transit color signature: Kepler-418b, a blended giant planet in a multiplanet system
We announce confirmation of Kepler-418b, one of two proposed planets in this
system. This is the first confirmation of an exoplanet based primarily on the
transit color signature technique. We used the Kepler public data archive
combined with multicolor photometry from the Gran Telescopio de Canarias and
radial velocity follow-up using FIES at the Nordic Optical Telescope for
confirmation. We report a confident detection of a transit color signature that
can only be explained by a compact occulting body, entirely ruling out a
contaminating eclipsing binary, a hierarchical triple, or a grazing eclipsing
binary. Those findings are corroborated by our radial velocity measurements,
which put an upper limit of ~1 Mjup on the mass of Kepler-418b. We also report
that the host star is significantly blended, confirming the ~10% light
contamination suspected from the crowding metric in the Kepler light curve
measured by the Kepler team. We report detection of an unresolved light source
that contributes an additional ~40% to the target star, which would not have
been detected without multicolor photometric analysis. The resulting
planet-star radius ratio is 0.110 +/- 0.0025, more than 25% more than the 0.087
measured by Kepler, leading to a radius of 1.20 +/- 0.16 Rjup instead of the
0.94 Rjup measured by the Kepler team. This is the first confirmation of an
exoplanet candidate based primarily on the transit color signature,
demonstrating that this technique is viable from ground for giant planets. It
is particularly useful for planets with long periods such as Kepler-418b, which
tend to have long transit durations. Additionally, multicolor photometric
analysis of transits can reveal unknown stellar neighbors and binary companions
that do not affect the classification of the transiting object but can have a
very significant effect on the perceived planetary radius.Comment: accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysic
CoRoT 101186644: A transiting low-mass dense M-dwarf on an eccentric 20.7-day period orbit around a late F-star
We present the study of the CoRoT transiting planet candidate 101186644, also
named LRc01_E1_4780. Analysis of the CoRoT lightcurve and the HARPS
spectroscopic follow-up observations of this faint (m_V = 16) candidate
revealed an eclipsing binary composed of a late F-type primary (T_eff = 6090
+/- 200 K) and a low-mass, dense late M-dwarf secondary on an eccentric (e =
0.4) orbit with a period of ~20.7 days. The M-dwarf has a mass of 0.096 +/-
0.011 M_Sun, and a radius of 0.104 +0.026/-0.006 R_Sun, which possibly makes it
the smallest and densest late M-dwarf reported so far. Unlike the claim that
theoretical models predict radii that are 5%-15% smaller than measured for
low-mass stars, this one seems to have a radius that is consistent and might
even be below the radius predicted by theoretical models.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics, 8 pages, 10
figure
The X-ray puzzle of the L1551 IRS 5 jet
Protostars are actively accreting matter and they drive spectacular, dynamic
outflows, which evolve on timescales of years. X-ray emission from these jets
has been detected only in a few cases and little is known about its time
evolution. We present a new Chandra observation of L1551 IRS 5's jet in the
context of all available X-ray data of this object. Specifically, we perform a
spatially resolved spectral analysis of the X-ray emission and find that (a)
the total X-ray luminosity is constant over almost one decade, (b) the majority
of the X-rays appear to be always located close to the driving source, (c)
there is a clear trend in the photon energy as a function of the distance to
the driving source indicating that the plasma is cooler at larger distances and
(d) the X-ray emission is located in a small volume which is unresolved
perpendicular to the jet axis by Chandra. A comparison of our X-ray data of the
L1551 IRS 5 jet both with models as well as X-ray observations of other
protostellar jets shows that a base/standing shock is a likely and plausible
explanation for the apparent constancy of the observed X-ray emission. Internal
shocks are also consistent with the observed morphology if the supply of jet
material by the ejection of new blobs is sufficiently constant. We conclude
that the study of the X-ray emission of protostellar jet sources allows us to
diagnose the innermost regions close to the acceleration region of the
outflows.Comment: A&A accepted, 14 pages, 9 figure
Facial displays are tools for social influence
Open access articleBased on modern theories of signal evolution and animal communication, the behavioral ecology view of facial displays (BECV) reconceives our ‘facial expressions of emotion’ as social tools that serve as lead signs to contingent action in social negotiation. BECV offers an externalist, functionalist view of facial displays that is not bound to Western conceptions about either expressions or emotions. It easily accommodates recent findings of diversity in facial displays, their public context-dependency, and the curious but common occurrence of solitary facial behavior. Finally, BECV restores continuity of human facial behavior research with modern functional accounts of non-human communication, and provides a non-mentalistic account of facial displays well-suited to new developments in artificial intelligence and social robotics
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