140 research outputs found
Measurements of metastable helium in Earth’s atmosphere by resonance lidar
Monitoring and predicting space weather activity is increasingly important given society’s growing reliance on space-based infrastructure but is hampered by a lack of observational data. Airglow at 1083 nm from metastable helium He(23S) in the thermosphere has long been a target for remote-sensing instruments seeking to fill that gap; however, passive measurements of He(23S) fluorescence are limited by low brightness, and interpretation of these observations is complicated by the > 500 km depth of the He(23S) layer. Here, we demonstrate a lidar instrument that is able to stimulate and detect He(23S) fluorescence, and we present measured profiles of He(23S) density. These measurements provide crucial validation to space weather models, support predictions of peak number density ( ~ 1 cm−3) and the dependence of density on altitude, solar zenith angle, and season, and extend by a factor of 4 the maximum probed altitude range by an atmospheric profiling lidar. These measurements open the door for the development of more sophisticated lidars: by applying well-established spectroscopic lidar techniques, one can measure the Doppler shift and broadening of the He(23S) line, thereby retrieving profiles of neutral wind speed and temperature, opening a window for studying space weather phenomena
Excess AGN Activity in the z=2.30 Protocluster in HS 1700+64
We present the results of spectroscopic, narrow-band and X-ray observations
of a z=2.30 protocluster in the field of the QSO HS 1700+643. Using a sample of
BX/MD galaxies, which are selected to be at z~2.2-2.7 by their rest-frame
ultraviolet colours, we find that there are 5 protocluster AGN which have been
identified by characteristic emission-lines in their optical/near-IR spectra;
this represents an enhancement over the field significant at ~98.5 per cent
confidence. Using a ~200 ks Chandra/ACIS-I observation of this field we detect
a total of 161 X-ray point sources to a Poissonian false-probability limit of
4x10^{-6} and identify 8 of these with BX/MD galaxies. Two of these are
spectroscopically confirmed protocluster members and are also classified as
emission-line AGN. When compared to a similarly selected field sample the
analysis indicates this is also evidence for an enhancement of X-ray selected
BX/MD AGN over the field, significant at ~99 per cent confidence. Deep Lya
narrow-band imaging reveals that a total of 4/123 Lya emitters (LAEs) are found
to be associated with X-ray sources, with two of these confirmed protocluster
members and one highly likely member. We do not find a significant enhancement
of AGN activity in this LAE sample over that of the field (result significant
at only 87 per cent confidence). The X-ray emitting AGN fractions for the BX/MD
and LAE samples are found to be 6.9_{-4.4}^{+9.2} and 2.9_{-1.6}^{+2.9} per
cent, respectively, for protocluster AGN with L_{2-10 keV}>4.6x10^{43} erg
s^{-1} at z=2.30. These findings are similar to results from the z=3.09
protocluster in the SSA 22 field found by Lehmer et al. (2009), in that both
suggest AGN activity is favoured in dense environments at z>2.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS
Blockchain technology in the energy sector: A systematic review of challenges and opportunities
Multi-Scale Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability Dynamics Observed by PMC Turbo on 12 July 2018: 1. Secondary Instabilities and Billow Interactions
The Polar Mesospheric Cloud (PMC) Turbulence experiment performed optical imaging and Rayleigh lidar PMC profiling during a 6-day flight in July 2018. A mosaic of seven imagers provided sensitivity to spatial scales from 20 m to 100 km at a 2-s cadence. Lidar backscatter measurements provided PMC brightness profiles and enabled definition of vertical displacements of larger-scale gravity waves (GWs) and smaller-scale instabilities of various types. These measurements captured an interval of strong, widespread Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities (KHI) occurring over northeastern Canada on July 12, 2018 during a period of significant GW activity. This paper addresses the evolution of the KHI field and the characteristics and roles of secondary instabilities within the KHI. Results include the imaging of secondary KHI in the middle atmosphere and multiple examples of KHI tube and knot (T&K) dynamics where two or more KH billows interact. Such dynamics have been identified clearly only once in the atmosphere previously. Results reveal that KHI T&K arise earlier and evolve more quickly than secondary instabilities of uniform KH billows. A companion paper by Fritts et al. (2022), https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JD035834 reveals that they also induce significantly larger energy dissipation rates than secondary instabilities of individual KH billows. The expected widespread occurrence of KHI T&K events may have important implications for enhanced turbulence and mixing influencing atmospheric structure and variability
Mixed Quotation
The central challenge posed by mixed quotation is that it exhibits both regular semantic use and metalinguistic reference, simultaneously. Semanticists disagree considerably on how to capture the interplay between these two meaning aspects. In this case study I present the various semantic approaches to mixed quotation and compare their predictions with respect to empirical phenomena like indexical shifting, projection, and non‐constituent mixed quotation
A WISE View of Star Formation in Local Galaxy Clusters
We present results from a systematic study of star formation in local galaxy
clusters using 22 micron data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
(WISE). The 69 systems in our sample are drawn from the Cluster Infall Regions
Survey (CIRS), and all have robust mass determinations. The all-sky WISE data
enables us to quantify the amount of star formation, as traced by 22 micron, as
a function of radius well beyond R200, and investigate the dependence of total
star formation rate upon cluster mass. We find that the fraction of
star-forming galaxies increases with cluster radius but remains below the field
value even at 3 R200. We also find that there is no strong correlation between
the mass-normalized total specific star formation rate and cluster mass,
indicating that the mass of the host cluster does not strongly influence the
total star formation rate of cluster members.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, 10 pages, 5
figure
Narrowband imaging of Escaping Lyman-Continuum Emission in the SSA22 Field
We present the results of an ultradeep, narrowband imaging survey for
Lyman-continuum (LyC) emission at z~3 in the SSA22a field. We employ a custom
narrowband filter centered at 3640A (NB3640), which probes the LyC region for
galaxies at z>3.06. We also analyze new and archival NB4980 imaging tuned to
the wavelength of the Lya emission line at z=3.09, and archival broadband B, V,
and R images of the non-ionizing UV continuum. Our NB3640 images contain 26
z>3.06 Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) as well as a set of 130 Lya emitters (LAEs),
identified by their excess NB4980 flux relative to the BV continuum. Six LBGs
and 28 LAEs are detected in the NB3640 image. LBGs appear to span a range of
NB3640-R colors, while LAEs appear bimodal in their NB3640-R properties. We
estimate average UV to LyC flux density ratios, corrected for foreground
contamination and intergalactic medium absorption, finding
^{LBG} = 11.3^{+10.3}_{-5.4}, which implies a LBG LyC escape
fraction f_{esc}^{LyC} ~ 0.1, and ^{LAE} = 2.2^{+0.9}_{-0.6}.
The strikingly blue LAE flux density ratios defy interpretation in terms of
standard stellar population models. Assuming ^{LBG} applies
down to L=0.1L*, we estimate a galaxy contribution to the intergalactic
hydrogen ionization rate that is consistent with independent estimates based on
the Lya forest opacity at z~3. If we assume that ^{LAE} holds
at the faintest luminosities, the galaxy contribution significantly exceeds
that inferred from the Lya forest. Further follow-up study of these faint LAEs
is crucial, given the potentially important contribution similar objects make
to the process of reionization. (Abridged)Comment: 30 pages, 15 figures; Accepted for publication by Ap
Star formation rates in luminous quasars at 2 <z< 3
We investigate the relation between star formation rates (M ˙ s M˙s ) and AGN properties in optically selected type 1 quasars at 2 < z < 3 using data from Herschel and the SDSS. We find that M ˙ s M˙s remains approximately constant with redshift, at 300 ± 100 M⊙ yr−1. Conversely, M ˙ s M˙s increases with AGN luminosity, up to a maximum of ∼ 600 M⊙ yr−1, and with C IV FWHM. In context with previous results, this is consistent with a relation between M ˙ s M˙s and black hole accretion rate (M ˙ bh M˙bh ) existing in only parts of the z−M ˙ s −M ˙ bh z−M˙s−M˙bh plane, dependent on the free gas fraction, the trigger for activity, and the processes that may quench star formation. The relations between M ˙ s M˙s and both AGN luminosity and C IV FWHM are consistent with star formation rates in quasars scaling with black hole mass, though we cannot rule out a separate relation with black hole accretion rate. Star formation rates are observed to decline with increasing C IV equivalent width. This decline can be partially explained via the Baldwin effect, but may have an additional contribution from one or more of three factors; Mi is not a linear tracer of L2500, the Baldwin effect changes form at high AGN luminosities, and high C IV EW values signpost a change in the relation between M ˙ s M˙s and M ˙ bh M˙bh . Finally, there is no strong relation between M ˙ s M˙s and Eddington ratio, or the asymmetry of the C IV line. The former suggests that star formation rates do not scale with how efficiently the black hole is accreting, while the latter is consistent with C IV asymmetries arising from orientation effects
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