5,208 research outputs found
Pulse Profiles, Accretion Column Dips and a Flare in GX 1+4 During a Faint State
The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) spacecraft observed the X-ray pulsar
GX 1+4 for a period of 34 hours on July 19/20 1996. The source faded from an
intensity of ~20 mCrab to a minimum of <~0.7 mCrab and then partially recovered
towards the end of the observation. This extended minimum lasted ~40,000
seconds. Phase folded light curves at a barycentric rotation period of
124.36568 +/- 0.00020 seconds show that near the center of the extended minimum
the source stopped pulsing in the traditional sense but retained a weak dip
feature at the rotation period. Away from the extended minimum the dips are
progressively narrower at higher energies and may be interpreted as
obscurations or eclipses of the hot spot by the accretion column. The pulse
profile changed from leading-edge bright before the extended minimum to
trailing-edge bright after it. Data from the Burst and Transient Source
Experiment (BATSE) show that a torque reversal occurred <10 days after our
observation. Our data indicate that the observed rotation departs from a
constant period with a Pdot/P value of ~-1.5% per year at a 4.5 sigma
significance. We infer that we may have serendipitously obtained data, with
high sensitivity and temporal resolution about the time of an accretion disk
spin reversal. We also observed a rapid flare which had some precursor
activity, close to the center of the extended minimum.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysical
Journal (tentatively scheduled for vol. 529 #1, 20 Jan 2000
IC 4406: a radio-infrared view
IC 4406 is a large (about 100'' x 30'') southern bipolar planetary nebula,
composed of two elongated lobes extending from a bright central region, where
there is evidence for the presence of a large torus of gas and dust. We show
new observations of this source performed with IRAC (Spitzer Space Telescope)
and the Australia Telescope Compact Array. The radio maps show that the flux
from the ionized gas is concentrated in the bright central region and
originates in a clumpy structure previously observed in H_alpha, while in the
infrared images filaments and clumps can be seen in the extended nebular
envelope, the central region showing toroidal emission. Modeling of the
infrared emission leads to the conclusion that several dust components are
present in the nebula.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journal; v.2 has changes in both figures and content; preprint forma
Electric field gradient wave (EFGW) in iron-based superconductor Ba(0.6)K(0.4)Fe2As2 studied by M\"ossbauer spectroscopy
The optimally doped 122 iron-based superconductor Ba(0.6)K(0.4)Fe2As2 has
been studied by 57Fe Moessbauer spectroscopy versus temperature ranging from
4.2 K till 300 K with particular attention paid to the superconducting
transition around 38 K. The spectra do not contain magnetic components and they
exhibit quasi-continuous distribution of quadrupole split doublets. A
distribution follows the electric field gradient (EFG) spatial modulation
(wave) - EFGW. The EFGW is accompanied by some charge density wave (CDW) having
about an order of magnitude lesser influence on the spectrum. The EFGW could be
modeled as widely separated narrow sheets with the EFG increasing from small
till maximum value almost linearly and subsequently dropping back to the
original value in a similar fashion - across the sheet. One encounters very
small and almost constant EFG between sheets. The EFGW shape and amplitude as
well as the amplitude of CDW are strongly affected by a superconducting
transition. All modulations are damped significantly at transition (38 K) and
recover at a temperature being about 14 K lower. The maximum quadrupole
splitting at 4.2 K amounts to about 2.1 mm/s, while the dispersion of CDW seen
on the iron nuclei could be estimated far away from the superconducting gap
opening and at low temperature as 0.5 el./a.u.^3. It drops to about 0.3
el./a.u.^3 just below transition to the superconducting state
Discovery of 9 Ly alpha emitters at redshift z~3.1 using narrow-band imaging and VLT spectroscopy
Narrow-band imaging surveys aimed at detecting the faint emission from the
5007 [O III] line of intracluster planetary nebulae in Virgo also probe high
redshift z=3.1 Ly alpha emitters. Here we report on the spectroscopic
identification of 9 Ly alpha emitters at z=3.13, obtained with the FORS
spectrograph at Unit 1 of the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT UT1). The spectra
of these high redshift objects show a narrow, isolated Ly alpha emission with
very faint (frequently undetected) continuum, indicating a large equivalent
width. No other features are visible in our spectra. Our Ly alpha emitters are
quite similar to those found by Hu (1998), Cowie & Hu (1998) and Hu et al.
(1998). Using simple population synthesis models, on the assumption that these
sources are regions of star formation, we conclude that the nebulae are nearly
optically thick and must have a very low dust content, in order to explain the
high observed Ly alpha equivalent widths. For the cosmological and star
formation parameters we adopted, the total stellar mass produced would seem to
correspond to the formation of rather small galaxies, some of which are perhaps
destined to merge. The implied star formation density in our sampled comoving
volume is probably somewhat smaller than, but of the same order of magnitude as
the star formation density at z=3 derived by other authors from Lyman-break
galaxy surveys. This result agrees with the expectation that the Ly alpha
emitters are a low-metallicity (or low-dust) tail in a distribution of star
forming regions at high redshifts. Finally, the Ly alpha emitters may
contribute as many H-ionizing photons as QSOs at z=3.Comment: 26 pages, 17 Postscript figures, ApJ in pres
ORFEUS II and IUE Spectroscopy of EX Hydrae
Using ORFEUS-SPAS II FUV spectra, IUE UV spectra, and archival EUVE deep
survey photometry, we present a detailed picture of the behavior of the
magnetic cataclysmic variable EX Hydrae. Like HUT spectra of this source, the
FUV and UV spectra reveal broad emission lines of He II, C II-IV, N III and V,
O VI, Si III-IV, and Al III superposed on a continuum which is blue in the UV
and nearly flat in the FUV. Like ORFEUS spectra of AM Her, the O VI doublet is
resolved into broad and narrow emission components. Consistent with its
behavior in the optical, the FUV and UV continuum flux densities, the FUV and
UV broad emission line fluxes, and the radial velocity of the O VI broad
emission component all vary on the spin phase of the white dwarf, with the
maximum of the FUV and UV continuum and broad emission line flux light curves
coincident with maximum blueshift of the broad O VI emission component. On the
binary phase, the broad dip in the EUV light curve is accompanied by strong
eclipses of the UV emission lines and by variations in both the flux and radial
velocity of the O VI narrow emission component. The available data are
consistent with the accretion funnel being the source of the FUV and UV
continuum and the O VI broad emission component, and the white dwarf being the
source of the O VI narrow emission component.Comment: 21 pages, 10 Postscript figures; LaTeX format, uses aaspp4.sty;
table2.tex included separately because it must be printed sideways - see
instructions in the file; accepted on 1999 Feb 20 for publication in The
Astrophysical Journa
Evidence of precursor superconductivity as high as 180 K from infrared spectroscopy
We show that a multilayer analysis of the infrared c-axis response of
RBa2Cu3O7-d (R=Y, Gd, Eu) provides important new information about the
anomalous normal state properties of underdoped cuprate high temperature
superconductors. Besides competing correlations which give rise to a pseudogap
that depletes the low-energy electronic states below T*>>Tc, it enables us to
identify the onset of a precursor superconducting state below Tons>Tc. We map
out the doping phase diagram of Tons which reaches a maximum of ~180 K at
strong underdoping and present magnetic field dependent data which confirm our
conclusions.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
A photoionized Herbig-Haro object in the Orion nebula
The spectra of Herbig Haro objects are usually characteristic of ionization
and excitation in shock-heated gas, whether an internal shock in an unsteady
outflow or a bow shock interface with the interstellar medium. We examine the
eastern-most shock -- the leading optically visible shock -- of a Herbig Haro
outflow (HH 529) seen projected on the face of the Orion Nebula, using deep
optical echelle spectroscopy, showing that the spectrum of this gas is
consistent with photoionization by Ori C. By modeling the emission
lines, we determine a gas-phase abundance of Fe which is consistent with the
depleted (relative to solar) abundance found in the Orion nebula -- evidence
for the presence of dust in the nebula and therefore in the Herbig Haro
outflow. The spectrum also allows for the calculation of temperature
fluctuations, , in the nebula and the shock. These fluctuations have been
used to explain discrepancies between abundances obtained from recombination
lines versus those obtained from collisionally-excited lines, although to date
there has not been a robust theory for how such large fluctuations () can exist.Comment: 50 pages, 8 figures, To be published in Ap
Progressive ataxia with oculo-palatal tremor and optic atrophy
The final publication is available at Springer via doi: 10.â1007/âs00415-013-7136-
A search for broad infrared recombination lines in NGC 1068
We report infrared spectroscopy of the prototypical Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC
1068, aiming at detection of broad components of hydrogen recombination lines
that originate in the obscured broad-line region. Using the Short Wavelength
Spectrometer on board the Infrared Space Observatory, we have observed for the
first time the regions of Brackett beta 2.626um and Pfund alpha 7.460um, and
present improved data for Brackett alpha 4.052um. No significant broad
components are detected, implying an equivalent visual extinction to the
broad-line region of at least 50 magnitudes and an obscuring column density of
at least 10^23 cm^-2. While consistent with a highly obscured broad-line
region, as required by the classical unified scenario, these limits are not yet
significant enough to discriminate strongly between different torus models or
to constrain properties of the gas causing the very large X-ray obscuration. We
discuss the systematic limitations of infrared broad-line region searches and
suggest that Brackett alpha may often be the most favorable transition for
future searches.Comment: aastex (V4), 4 eps figures. Accepted by Ap
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