2,587 research outputs found
The dusty disk around VV Ser
We have carried out observations at millimeter and centimeter wavelengths
towards VV Ser using the Plateau de Bure Interferometer and the Very Large
Array. This allows us to compute the SED from near infrared to centimeter
wavelengths. The modeling of the full SED has provided insight into the dust
properties and a more accurate value of the disk mass.
The mass of dust in the disk around VV Ser is found to be about 4 10^(-5)
Msun, i.e. 400 times larger than previous estimates. Moreoever, the SED can
only be accounted for assuming dust stratification in the vertical direction
across the disk. The existence of small grains (0.25--1 micron) in the disk
surface is required to explain the emission at near- and mid-infrared
wavelengths. The fluxes measured at millimeter wavelengths imply that the dust
grains in the midplane have grown up to very large sizes, at least to some
centimeters.Comment: To appear in Ap
Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of Molecular Filaments in the Reflection Nebula NGC 7023
We present near-infrared spectroscopy of fluorescent molecular hydrogen (H_2)
emission from molecular filaments in the reflection nebula NGC 7023. We derive
the relative column densities of H_2 rotational-vibrational states from the
measured line emission and compare these results with several model
photodissociation regions covering a range of densities, incident UV-fields,
and excitation mechanisms. Our best-fit models for one filament suggest, but do
not require, either a combination of different densities, suggesting clumps of
10^6 cm^{-3} in a 10^4 - 10^5 cm^{-3} filament, or a combination of fluorescent
excitation and thermally-excited gas, perhaps due to a shock from a bipolar
outflow. We derive densities and UV fields for these molecular filaments that
are in agreement with previous determinations.Comment: ApJ accepted, 26 pages including 5 embedded figures, uses AASTEX.
Also available at http://www-astronomy.mps.ohio-state.edu/~martini/pubs.htm
Physical structure of the photodissociation regions in NGC 7023: Observations of gas and dust emission with <i>Herschel</i>
The determination of the physical conditions in molecular clouds is a key step towards our understanding of their formation and evolution of associated star formation. We investigate the density, temperature, and column density of both dust and gas in the photodissociation regions (PDRs) located at the interface between the atomic and cold molecular gas of the NGC 7023 reflection nebula. We study how young stars affect the gas and dust in their environment. Our approach combining both dust and gas delivers strong constraints on the physical conditions of the PDRs. We find dense and warm molecular gas of high column density in the PDRs
Massive young disks around Herbig Ae stars
Herbig Ae stars (HAe) are the precursors of Vega-type systems and, therefore,
crucial objects in planet formation studies. Thus far, only a few disks
associated with HAe stars have been studied using millimetre interferometers.
Our aim is to determine the dust evolution and the lifetime of the disks
associated with Herbig Ae stars. We imaged the continuum emission at 3 mm and
1.3 mm of the Herbig Ae/Be stars BD+61154, RR Tau, VY Mon and LkHa 198 using
the Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI). These stars are in the upper end of
the stellar mass range of the Herbig Ae stars (stellar mass greater than 3
solar masses). Our measurements were used to complete the Spectral Energy
Distribution (SED). The modelling of the SED, in particular the FIR-mm part,
allow us to determine the masses and dust properties of these disks. We
detected the disks associated with BD+61154, RR Tau and VY Mon with disk masses
of 0.35 Msun, 0.05 Msun and 0.40 Msun respectively. The disk around LkHa 198
was not detected with an upper limit to the disk mass of 0.004 Msun. We
detected, however, the disks associated with the younger stellar objects LkHa
198--IR and LkHa 198-mm that are located in the vicinity of LkHa 198. The
fitting of the mm part of the SED reveal that the grains in the mid-plane of
the disks around BD+61154, RR Tau and VY Mon have sizes of 1--1000 microns.
Therefore, grains have not grown to centimetre sizes in these disks yet. These
massive (M>3 Msun) and young (about 1 Myr) HAe stars are surrounded by massive
(>0.04 Msun) disks with grains of micron-millimetre sizes. Although grain
growth is proceeding in these disks, their evolutionary stage is prior to the
formation of planetesimals. These disks are less evolved than those detected
around T Tauri and Herbig Be stars
A New Nearby Candidate Star Cluster in Ophiuchus at d = 170 pc
The recent discoveries of nearby star clusters and associations within a few
hundred pc of the Sun, as well as the order of magnitude difference in the
formation rates of the embedded and open cluster populations, suggests that
additional poor stellar groups are likely to be found at surprisingly close
distances to the Sun. Here I describe a new nearby stellar aggregate found by
virtue of the parallel proper motions, similar trigonometric parallaxes, and
consistent color-magnitude distribution of its early-type members. The 120
Myr-old group lies in Ophiuchus at 170 pc, with its most massive
member being the 4th-magnitude post-MS B8II-III star Oph. The group may
have escaped previous notice due to its non-negligible extinction (
0.9 mag). If the group was born with a normal initial mass function,
and the nine B- and A-type systems represent a complete system of
intermediate-mass stars, then the original population was probably of order
200 systems. The age and space motion of the new cluster are very similar
to those of the Pleiades, Per cluster, and AB Dor Moving Group,
suggesting that these aggregates may have formed in the same star-forming
complex some yr ago.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figs., to appear in Nov. 2006 A
U Geminorum: a test case for orbital parameters determination
High-resolution spectroscopy of U Gem was obtained during quiescence. We did
not find a hot spot or gas stream around the outer boundaries of the accretion
disk. Instead, we detected a strong narrow emission near the location of the
secondary star. We measured the radial velocity curve from the wings of the
double-peaked H emission line, and obtained a semi-amplitude value that
is in excellent agreement with the obtained from observations in the
ultraviolet spectral region by Sion et al. (1998). We present also a new method
to obtain K_2, which enhances the detection of absorption or emission features
arising in the late-type companion. Our results are compared with published
values derived from the near-infrared NaI line doublet. From a comparison of
the TiO band with those of late type M stars, we find that a best fit is
obtained for a M6V star, contributing 5 percent of the total light at that
spectral region. Assuming that the radial velocity semi-amplitudes reflect
accurately the motion of the binary components, then from our results: K_em =
107+/-2 km/s; K_abs = 310+/-5 km/s, and using the inclination angle given by
Zhang & Robinson(1987); i = 69.7+/-0.7, the system parameters become: M_WD =
1.20+/-0.05 M_sun,; M_RD = 0.42+/-0.04 M_sun; and a = 1.55+/- 0.02 R_sun. Based
on the separation of the double emission peaks, we calculate an outer disk
radius of R_out/a ~0.61, close to the distance of the inner Lagrangian point
L_1/a~0.63. Therefore we suggest that, at the time of observations, the
accretion disk was filling the Roche-Lobe of the primary, and that the matter
leaving the L_1 point was colliding with the disc directly, producing the hot
spot at this location.Comment: 36 pages, 14 figures, ccepted for publication in A
Gene silencing in tick cell lines using small interfering or long double-stranded RNA
Gene silencing by RNA interference (RNAi) is an important research tool in many areas of biology. To effectively harness the power of this technique in order to explore tick functional genomics and tick-microorganism interactions, optimised parameters for RNAi-mediated gene silencing in tick cells need to be established. Ten cell lines from four economically important ixodid tick genera (Amblyomma, Hyalomma, Ixodes and Rhipicephalus including the sub-species Boophilus) were used to examine key parameters including small interfering RNA (siRNA), double stranded RNA (dsRNA), transfection reagent and incubation time for silencing virus reporter and endogenous tick genes. Transfection reagents were essential for the uptake of siRNA whereas long dsRNA alone was taken up by most tick cell lines. Significant virus reporter protein knockdown was achieved using either siRNA or dsRNA in all the cell lines tested. Optimum conditions varied according to the cell line. Consistency between replicates and duration of incubation with dsRNA were addressed for two Ixodes scapularis cell lines; IDE8 supported more consistent and effective silencing of the endogenous gene subolesin than ISE6, and highly significant knockdown of the endogenous gene 2I1F6 in IDE8 cells was achieved within 48 h incubation with dsRNA. In summary, this study shows that gene silencing by RNAi in tick cell lines is generally more efficient with dsRNA than with siRNA but results vary between cell lines and optimal parameters need to be determined for each experimental system
Sequential and Spontaneous Star Formation Around the Mid-Infrared Halo HII Region KR 140
We use 2MASS and MSX infrared observations, along with new molecular line
(CO) observations, to examine the distribution of young stellar objects (YSOs)
in the molecular cloud surrounding the halo HII region KR 140 in order to
determine if the ongoing star-formation activity in this region is dominated by
sequential star formation within the photodissociation region (PDR) surrounding
the HII region. We find that KR 140 has an extensive population of YSOs that
have spontaneously formed due to processes not related to the expansion of the
HII region. Much of the YSO population in the molecular cloud is concentrated
along a dense filamentary molecular structure, traced by C18O, that has not
been erased by the formation of the exciting O star. Some of the previously
observed submillimetre clumps surrounding the HII region are shown to be sites
of recent intermediate and low-mass star formation while other massive starless
clumps clearly associated with the PDR may be the next sites of sequential star
formation.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 8 pages, 10 figure
The transgenic expression of LARGE exacerbates the muscle phenotype of dystroglycanopathy mice
Two New Candidate Planets in Eccentric Orbits
Doppler measurements of two G-type main-sequence stars, HD210277 and
HD168443, reveal Keplerian variations that imply the presence of companions
with masses (M sin i) of 1.28 and 5.04 M_Jup and orbital periods of 437 d and
58 d, respectively. The orbits have large eccentricities of e=0.45 and e=0.54,
respectively. All 9 known extrasolar planet candidates with a=0.2-2.5 AU have
orbital eccentricities greater than 0.1, higher than that of Jupiter (e=0.05).
Eccentric orbits may result from gravitational perturbations imposed by other
orbiting planets or stars, by passing stars in the dense star-forming cluster,
or by the protoplanetary disk. Based on published studies and our near-IR
adaptive optics images, HD210277 appears to be a single star. However, HD168443
exhibits a long-term velocity trend consistent with a close stellar companion,
as yet undetected directly.Comment: AASTeX, 31 pages including 10 Postscript figures, to appear in the
Astrophysical Journal (July 1999
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