14,184 research outputs found
Chemical abundances in Galactic planetary nebulae with Spitzer spectra
We present new low-resolution (R~800) optical spectra of 22 Galactic PNe with
Spitzer spectra. These data are combined with recent optical spectroscopic data
available in the literature to construct representative samples of compact (and
presumably young) Galactic disc and bulge PNe with Spitzer spectra. Attending
to the nature of the dust features seen in their Spitzer spectra, Galactic disc
and bulge PNe are classified according to four major dust types (oxygen
chemistry or OC, carbon chemistry or CC, double chemistry or DC, featureless or
F) and subtypes (amorphous and crystalline, and aliphatic and aromatic).
Nebular gas abundances of He, N, O, Ne, S, Cl, and Ar, as well as plasma
parameters (e.g. Ne, Te) are homogeneously derived and we study the median
chemical abundances and nebular properties in Galactic disc and bulge PNe
depending on their Spitzer dust types and subtypes. A comparison of the derived
median abundance patterns with AGB nucleosynthesis predictions show mainly that
i) DC PNe, both with amorphous and crystalline silicates, display
high-metallicity (solar/supra-solar) and the highest He abundances and N/O
ratios, suggesting relatively massive (~3-5 M_sun) hot bottom burning AGB stars
as progenitors; ii) PNe with O-rich and C-rich unevolved dust (amorphous and
aliphatic) seem to evolve from subsolar metallicity (z~0.008) and lower mass
(<3 M_sun) AGB stars; iii) a few O-rich PNe and a significant fraction of
C-rich PNe with more evolved dust (crystalline and aromatic, respectively)
display chemical abundances similar to DC PNe, suggesting that they are related
objects. A comparison of the derived nebular properties with predictions from
models combining the theoretical central star evolution with a simple nebular
model is also presented. Finally, a possible link between the Spitzer dust
properties, chemical abundances, and evolutionary status is discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics (45 pages, 17
figures, and 14 tables); final version (language corrected
Analysis of the acoustic cut-off frequency and HIPs in six Kepler stars with stochastically excited pulsations
Gravito-acoustic modes in the Sun and other stars propagate in resonant
cavities with a frequency below a given limit known as the cut-off frequency.
At higher frequencies, waves are no longer trapped in the stellar interior and
become traveller waves. In this article we study six pulsating solar-like stars
at different evolutionary stages observed by the NASA Kepler mission. These
high signal-to-noise targets show a peak structure that extends at very high
frequencies and are good candidates for studying the transition region between
the modes and the interference peaks or pseudo-modes. Following the same
methodology successfully applied on Sun-as-a-star measurements, we uncover the
existence of pseudo-modes in these stars with one or two dominant interference
patterns depending on the evolutionary stage of the star. We also infer their
cut-off frequency as the midpoint between the last eigenmode and the first peak
of the interference patterns. By using ray theory we show that, while the
period of one of the interference pattern is very close to half the large
separation the other, one depends on the time phase of mixed waves, thus
carrying additional information on the stellar structure and evolution.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 14 pages, 28 figure
Preface "Nonlinear processes in oceanic and atmospheric flows"
Nonlinear phenomena are essential ingredients in many oceanic and atmospheric
processes, and successful understanding of them benefits from multidisciplinary
collaboration between oceanographers, meteorologists, physicists and
mathematicians. The present Special Issue on ``Nonlinear Processes in Oceanic
and Atmospheric Flows'' contains selected contributions from attendants to the
workshop which, in the above spirit, was held in Castro Urdiales, Spain, in
July 2008. Here we summarize the Special Issue contributions, which include
papers on the characterization of ocean transport in the Lagrangian and in the
Eulerian frameworks, generation and variability of jets and waves, interactions
of fluid flow with plankton dynamics or heavy drops, scaling in meteorological
fields, and statistical properties of El Ni\~no Southern Oscillation.Comment: This is the introductory article to a Special Issue on "Nonlinear
Processes in Oceanic and Atmospheric Flows'', published in the journal
Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, where the different contributions are
summarized. The Special Issue itself is freely available from
http://www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net/special_issue103.htm
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