243 research outputs found
The Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics system: enabling high-contrast imaging on solar-system scales
The Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics (SCExAO) instrument is a
multipurpose high-contrast imaging platform designed for the discovery and
detailed characterization of exoplanetary systems and serves as a testbed for
high-contrast imaging technologies for ELTs. It is a multi-band instrument
which makes use of light from 600 to 2500nm allowing for coronagraphic direct
exoplanet imaging of the inner 3 lambda/D from the stellar host. Wavefront
sensing and control are key to the operation of SCExAO. A partial correction of
low-order modes is provided by Subaru's facility adaptive optics system with
the final correction, including high-order modes, implemented downstream by a
combination of a visible pyramid wavefront sensor and a 2000-element deformable
mirror. The well corrected NIR (y-K bands) wavefronts can then be injected into
any of the available coronagraphs, including but not limited to the phase
induced amplitude apodization and the vector vortex coronagraphs, both of which
offer an inner working angle as low as 1 lambda/D. Non-common path, low-order
aberrations are sensed with a coronagraphic low-order wavefront sensor in the
infrared (IR). Low noise, high frame rate, NIR detectors allow for active
speckle nulling and coherent differential imaging, while the HAWAII 2RG
detector in the HiCIAO imager and/or the CHARIS integral field spectrograph
(from mid 2016) can take deeper exposures and/or perform angular, spectral and
polarimetric differential imaging. Science in the visible is provided by two
interferometric modules: VAMPIRES and FIRST, which enable sub-diffraction
limited imaging in the visible region with polarimetric and spectroscopic
capabilities respectively. We describe the instrument in detail and present
preliminary results both on-sky and in the laboratory.Comment: Accepted for publication, 20 pages, 10 figure
A Subarcsecond Companion to the T Tauri Star AS 353B
Adaptive optics imaging of the bright visual T Tauri binary AS 353 with the
Subaru Telescope shows that it is a hierarchical triple system. The secondary
component, located 5.6" south of AS 353A, is resolved into a subarcsecond
binary, AS 353Ba and Bb, separated by 0.24". Resolved spectroscopy of the two
close components shows that both have nearly identical spectral types of about
M1.5. Whereas AS 353A and Ba show clear evidence for an infrared excess, AS
353Bb does not. We discuss the possible role of multiplicity in launching the
large Herbig-Haro flow associated with AS 353A.Comment: AASTeXv5.0, 21 pages, 5 figures, Astronomical Journal, in pres
First Detection of NaI D lines in High-Redshift Damped Lyman-alpha Systems
A Near-infrared (1.18-1.35 micron) high-resolution spectrum of the
gravitationally-lensed QSO APM 08279+5255 was obtained with the IRCS mounted on
the Subaru Telescope using the AO system. We detected strong NaI D 5891,5897
doublet absorption in high-redshift DLAs at z=1.062 and 1.181, confirming the
presence of NaI, which was first reported for the rest-frame UV NaI
3303.3,3303.9 doublet by Petitjean et al. This is the first detection of NaI D
absorption in a high-redshift (z>1) DLA. In addition, we detected a new NaI
component in the z=1.062 DLA and four new components in the z=1.181 DLA. Using
an empirical relationship between NaI and HI column density, we found that all
"components" have large HI column density, so that each component is classified
as DLA absorption. We also detected strong NaI D absorption associated with a
MgII system at z=1.173. Because no other metal absorption lines were detected
in this system at the velocity of the NaI absorption in previously reported
optical spectra (observed 3.6 years ago), we interpret this NaI absorption
cloud probably appeared in the line of sight toward the QSO after the optical
observation. This newly found cloud is likely to be a DLA based upon its large
estimated HI column density. We found that the N(NaI)/N(CaII) ratios in these
DLAs are systematically smaller than those observed in the Galaxy; they are
more consistent with the ratios seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This is
consistent with dust depletion generally being smaller in lower metallicity
environments. However, all five clouds of the z=1.181 system have a high
N(NaI)/N(CaII) ratio, which is characteristic of cold dense gas. We tentatively
suggest that the host galaxy of this system may be the most significant
contributor to the gravitational-lens toward APM 08279+5255.Comment: 22 pages, 6 Postscript figures, 3 tables, ApJ in press (Vol.643, 2
June 2006
The Subaru-XMM-Newton Deep Survey (SXDS) VIII.: Multi-wavelength Identification, Optical/NIR Spectroscopic Properties, and Photometric Redshifts of X-ray Sources
We report the multi-wavelength identification of the X-ray sources found in
the Subaru-XMM-Newton Deep Survey (SXDS) using deep imaging data covering the
wavelength range between the far-UV to the mid-IR. We select a primary
counterpart of each X-ray source by applying the likelihood ratio method to
R-band, 3.6micron, near-UV, and 24micron source catalogs as well as matching
catalogs of AGN candidates selected in 1.4GHz radio and i'-band variability
surveys. Once candidates of Galactic stars, ultra-luminous X-ray sources in a
nearby galaxy, and clusters of galaxies are removed there are 896 AGN
candidates in the sample. We conduct spectroscopic observations of the primary
counterparts with multi-object spectrographs in the optical and NIR; 65\% of
the X-ray AGN candidates are spectroscopically-identified. For the remaining
X-ray AGN candidates, we evaluate their photometric redshift with photometric
data in 15 bands. Utilising the multi-wavelength photometric data of the large
sample of X-ray selected AGNs, we evaluate the stellar masses, M*, of the host
galaxies of the narrow-line AGNs. The distribution of the stellar mass is
remarkably constant from z=0.1 to 4.0. The relation between M* and 2--10 keV
luminosity can be explained with strong cosmological evolution of the
relationship between the black hole mass and M*. We also evaluate the scatter
of the UV-MIR spectral energy distribution (SED) of the X-ray AGNs as a
function of X-ray luminosity and absorption to the nucleus. The scatter is
compared with galaxies which have redshift and stellar mass distribution
matched with the X-ray AGN. The UV-NIR SEDs of obscured X-ray AGNs are similar
to those of the galaxies in the matched sample. In the NIR-MIR range, the
median SEDs of X-ray AGNs are redder, but the scatter of the SEDs of the X-ray
AGN broadly overlaps that of the galaxies in the matched sample.Comment: Accepted for publication in PASJ Subaru special issue. 42 pages, 22
figures. Entire contents of Tables 3, 8, 9, 10, and 11, and ASCII format
tables are available from
http://www.astr.tohoku.ac.jp/~akiyama/SXDS/index.htm
The Structure of Pre-transitional Protoplanetary Disks I: Radiative Transfer Modeling of the Disk+Cavity in the PDS 70 system
Through detailed radiative transfer modeling, we present a disk+cavity model
to simultaneously explain both the SED and Subaru H-band polarized light
imaging for the pre-transitional protoplanetary disk PDS 70. Particularly, we
are able to match not only the radial dependence, but also the absolute scale,
of the surface brightness of the scattered light. Our disk model has a cavity
65 AU in radius, which is heavily depleted of sub-micron-sized dust grains, and
a small residual inner disk which produces a weak but still optically thick NIR
excess in the SED. To explain the contrast of the cavity edge in the Subaru
image, a factor of ~1000 depletion for the sub-micron-sized dust inside the
cavity is required. The total dust mass of the disk may be on the order of 1e-4
M_sun, only weakly constrained due to the lack of long wavelength observations
and the uncertainties in the dust model. The scale height of the
sub-micron-sized dust is ~6 AU at the cavity edge, and the cavity wall is
optically thick in the vertical direction at H-band. PDS 70 is not a member of
the class of (pre-)transitional disks identified by Dong et al. (2012), whose
members only show evidence of the cavity in the millimeter-sized dust but not
the sub-micron-sized dust in resolved images. The two classes of
(pre-)transitional disks may form through different mechanisms, or they may
just be at different evolution stages in the disk clearing process.Comment: 28 pages (single column), 7 figures, 1 table, ApJ accepte
Imaging of a Transitional Disk Gap in Reflected Light: Indications of Planet Formation Around the Young Solar Analog LkCa 15
We present H- and Ks-band imaging data resolving the gap in the transitional
disk around LkCa 15, revealing the surrounding nebulosity. We detect sharp
elliptical contours delimiting the nebulosity on the inside as well as the
outside, consistent with the shape, size, ellipticity, and orientation of
starlight reflected from the far-side disk wall, whereas the near-side wall is
shielded from view by the disk's optically thick bulk. We note that
forward-scattering of starlight on the near-side disk surface could provide an
alternate interpretation of the nebulosity. In either case, this discovery
provides confirmation of the disk geometry that has been proposed to explain
the spectral energy distributions (SED) of such systems, comprising an
optically thick outer disk with an inner truncation radius of ~46 AU enclosing
a largely evacuated gap. Our data show an offset of the nebulosity contours
along the major axis, likely corresponding to a physical pericenter offset of
the disk gap. This reinforces the leading theory that dynamical clearing by at
least one orbiting body is the cause of the gap. Based on evolutionary models,
our high-contrast imagery imposes an upper limit of 21 Jupiter masses on
companions at separations outside of 0.1" and of 13 Jupiter masses outside of
0.2". Thus, we find that a planetary system around LkCa 15 is the most likely
explanation for the disk architecture.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letters. Minor
change to Figure
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