1,488 research outputs found
Operation instructions for the cold electron source Final report, part II
Operation and maintenance procedures for cold electron accelerato
Faint, moving objects in the Hubble Deep Field: components of the dark halo?
The deepest optical image of the sky, the Hubble Deep Field (HDF), obtained
with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in December 1995, has been compared to a
similar image taken in December 1997. Two very faint, blue, isolated and
unresolved objects are found to display a substantial apparent proper motion,
23+/-5 mas/yr and 26+/-5 mas/yr; a further three objects at the detection limit
of the second epoch observations may also be moving. Galactic structure models
predict a general absence of stars in the color-magnitude range in which these
objects are found. However, these observations are consistent with
recently-developed models of old white dwarfs with hydrogen atmospheres, whose
color, contrary to previous expectations, has been shown to be blue. If these
apparently moving objects are indeed old white dwarfs with hydrogen atmospheres
and masses near 0.5 M_Sun, they have ages of approximately 12 Gyr, and a local
mass density that is sufficient, within the large uncertainties arising from
the small size of the sample, to account for the entire missing Galactic
dynamical mass.Comment: 6 pages, using emulateapj, including 2 colour figures, accepted for
publication in ApJ Letter
Asteroseismic classification of stellar populations among 13000 red giants observed by Kepler
Of the more than 150000 targets followed by the Kepler Mission, about 10%
were selected as red giants. Due to their high scientific value, in particular
for Galaxy population studies and stellar structure and evolution, their Kepler
light curves were made public in late 2011. More than 13000 (over 85%) of these
stars show intrinsic flux variability caused by solar-like oscillations making
them ideal for large scale asteroseismic investigations. We automatically
extracted individual frequencies and measured the period spacings of the dipole
modes in nearly every red giant. These measurements naturally classify the
stars into various populations, such as the red giant branch, the low-mass
(M/Msol
1.8) secondary clump. The period spacings also reveal that a large fraction of
the stars show rotationally induced frequency splittings. This sample of stars
will undoubtedly provide an extremely valuable source for studying the stellar
population in the direction of the Kepler field, in particular when combined
with complementary spectroscopic surveys.Comment: 6 page, 5 figures, accepted by ApJ
Multi-site campaign on the open cluster M67. I. Observations and photometric reductions
We report on an ambitious multi-site campaign aimed at detecting stellar
variability, particularly solar-like oscillations, in the red giant stars in
the open cluster M67 (NGC 2682). During the six-week observing run, which
comprised 164 telescope nights, we used nine 0.6-m to 2.1-m class telescopes
located around the world to obtain uninterrupted time-series photometry. We
outline here the data acquisition and reduction, with emphasis on the
optimisation of the signal-to-noise of the low amplitude (50-500 micromag)
solar-like oscillations. This includes a new and efficient method for obtaining
the linearity profile of the CCD response at ultra high precision (~10 parts
per million). The noise in the final time series is 0.50 mmag per minute
integration for the best site, while the noise in the Fourier spectrum of all
sites combined is 20 micromag. In addition to the red giant stars, this data
set proves to be very valuable for studying high-amplitude variable stars such
as eclipsing binaries, W UMa systems and delta Scuti stars.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures, accepted by MNRA
Constraints on Cosmological Models from Hubble Space Telescope Observations of High-z Supernovae
We have coordinated Hubble Space Telescope photometry with ground-based
discovery for three supernovae: two SN Ia near z~0.5 (SN 1997ce, SN 1997cj) and
a third event at z=0.97 (SN 1997ck). The superb spatial resolution of HST
separates each supernova from its host galaxy and leads to good precision in
the light curves. The HST data combined with ground-based photometry provide
good temporal coverage. We use these light curves and relations between
luminosity, light curve shape, and color calibrated from low-z samples to
derive relative luminosity distances which are accurate to 10% at z~0.5 and 20%
at z=1. The redshift-distance relation is used to place constraints on the
global mean matter density, Omega_matter, and the normalized cosmological
constant, Omega_Lambda. When the HST sample is combined with the distance to SN
1995K (z=0.48), analyzed by the same precepts, it suggests that matter alone is
insufficient to produce a flat Universe. Specifically, for
Omega_matter+Omega_Lambda=1, Omega_matter is less than 1 with >95% confidence,
and our best estimate of Omega_matter is -0.1 +/- 0.5 if Omega_Lambda=0.
Although the present result is based on a very small sample whose systematics
remain to be explored, it demonstrates the power of HST measurements for high
redshift supernovae.Comment: Submitted to ApJ Letters, 3 figures, 1 plate, additional tabl
HST Fine Guidance Sensor Astrometric Parallaxes for Three Dwarf Novae: SS Aurigae, SS Cygni, and U Geminorum
We report astrometric parallaxes for three well known dwarf novae obtained
using the Fine Guidance Sensors on the Hubble Space Telescope. We found a
parallax for SS Aurigae of Pi = 5.00 +/- 0.64 mas, for SS Cygni we found Pi =
6.02 +/- 0.46 mas, and for U Geminorum we obtained Pi = 10.37 +/- 0.50 mas.
These represent the first true trigonometric parallaxes of any dwarf novae. We
briefly compare these results with previous distance estimates. This program
demonstrates that with a very modest amount of HST observing time, the Fine
Guidance Sensors can deliver parallaxes of unrivaled precision.Comment: 15 pages, 2 Table
Hubble Space Telescope Astrometry of the Procyon System
The nearby star Procyon is a visual binary containing the F5 IV-V subgiant
Procyon A, orbited in a 40.84 yr period by the faint DQZ white dwarf Procyon B.
Using images obtained over two decades with the Hubble Space Telescope, and
historical measurements back to the 19th century, we have determined precise
orbital elements. Combined with measurements of the parallax and the motion of
the A component, these elements yield dynamical masses of 1.478 +/- 0.012 Msun
and 0.592 +/- 0.006 Msun for A and B, respectively.
The mass of Procyon A agrees well with theoretical predictions based on
asteroseismology and its temperature and luminosity. Use of a standard
core-overshoot model agrees best for a surprisingly high amount of core
overshoot. Under these modeling assumptions, Procyon A's age is ~2.7 Gyr.
Procyon B's location in the H-R diagram is in excellent agreement with
theoretical cooling tracks for white dwarfs of its dynamical mass. Its position
in the mass-radius plane is also consistent with theory, assuming a
carbon-oxygen core and a helium-dominated atmosphere. Its progenitor's mass was
1.9-2.2 Msun, depending on its amount of core overshoot.
Several astrophysical puzzles remain. In the progenitor system, the stars at
periastron were separated by only ~5 AU, which might have led to tidal
interactions and even mass transfer; yet there is no direct evidence that these
have occurred. Moreover the orbital eccentricity has remained high (~0.40). The
mass of Procyon B is somewhat lower than anticipated from the
initial-to-final-mass relation seen in open clusters. The presence of heavy
elements in its atmosphere requires ongoing accretion, but the place of origin
is uncertain.Comment: Accepted by Astrophysical Journa
Asteroseismology of red giants from the first four months of Kepler data: Global oscillation parameters for 800 stars
We have studied solar-like oscillations in ~800 red-giant stars using Kepler
long-cadence photometry. The sample includes stars ranging in evolution from
the lower part of the red-giant branch to the Helium main sequence. We
investigate the relation between the large frequency separation (Delta nu) and
the frequency of maximum power (nu_max) and show that it is different for red
giants than for main-sequence stars, which is consistent with evolutionary
models and scaling relations. The distributions of nu_max and Delta nu are in
qualitative agreement with a simple stellar population model of the Kepler
field, including the first evidence for a secondary clump population
characterized by M ~> 2 M_sun and nu_max ~ 40-110 muHz. We measured the small
frequency separations delta nu_02 and delta nu_01 in over 400 stars and delta
nu_03 in over 40. We present C-D diagrams for l=1, 2 and 3 and show that the
frequency separation ratios delta nu_02/Delta nu and delta nu_01/Delta nu have
opposite trends as a function of Delta nu. The data show a narrowing of the l=1
ridge towards lower nu_max, in agreement with models predicting more efficient
mode trapping in stars with higher luminosity. We investigate the offset
epsilon in the asymptotic relation and find a clear correlation with Delta nu,
demonstrating that it is related to fundamental stellar parameters. Finally, we
present the first amplitude-nu_max relation for Kepler red giants. We observe a
lack of low-amplitude stars for nu_max ~> 110 muHz and find that, for a given
nu_max between 40-110 muHz, stars with lower Delta nu (and consequently higher
mass) tend to show lower amplitudes than stars with higher Delta nu.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
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