646 research outputs found
New CO and Millimeter Continuum Observations of the z=2.394 Radio Galaxy 53W002
The z=2.39 radio galaxy 53W002 lies in a cluster of Ly-alpha emission line
objects and may itself be undergoing a major burst of star formation. CO(3--2)
emission, at 102 GHz, was detected from 53W002 by Scoville et al. (1997a), who
also reported a possible 30 kpc extension and velocity gradient suggesting a
rotating gaseous disk. In this paper we present new interferometric CO(3--2)
observations which confirm the previous line detection with improved
signal-to-noise ratio, but show no evidence for source extension or velocity
gradient. The compact nature of the CO source and the molecular mass found in
this object are similar to luminous infrared galaxies and other AGNs previously
studied
High Redshift Quasars and Star Formation in the Early Universe
In order to derive information on the star formation history in the early
universe we observed 6 high-redshift (z=3.4) quasars in the near-infrared to
measure the relative iron and \mgii emission strengths. A detailed comparison
of the resulting spectra with those of low-redshift quasars show essentially
the same FeII/MgII emission ratios and very similar continuum and line spectral
properties, indicating a lack of evolution of the relative iron to magnesium
abundance of the gas since z=3.4 in bright quasars. On the basis of current
chemical evolution scenarios of galaxies, where magnesium is produced in
massive stars ending in type II SNe, while iron is formed predominantly in SNe
of type Ia with a delay of ~1 Gyr and assuming as cosmological parameters H_o =
72 km/s Mpc, Omega_M = 0.3, and Omega_Lambda = 0.7$, we conclude that major
star formation activity in the host galaxies of our z=3.4 quasars must have
started already at an epoch corresponding to z_f ~= 10, when the age of the
universe was less than 0.5 Gyrs.Comment: 29 pages, 5 figures, ApJ in pres
Dust continuum and Polarization from Envelope to Cores in Star Formation: A Case Study in the W51 North region
We present the first high-angular resolution (up to 0.7", ~5000 AU)
polarization and thermal dust continuum images toward the massive star-forming
region W51 North. The observations were carried out with the Submillimeter
Array (SMA) in both the subcompact (SMA-SubC) and extended (SMA-Ext)
configurations at a wavelength of 870 micron. W51 North is resolved into four
cores (SMA1 to SMA4) in the 870 micron continuum image. The associated dust
polarization exhibits more complex structures than seen at lower angular
resolution. We analyze the inferred morphologies of the plane-of-sky magnetic
field (B_bot) in the SMA1 to SMA4 cores and in the envelope using the SMA-Ext
and SMA-SubC data. These results are compared with the B_bot archive images
obtained from the CSO and JCMT. A correlation between dust intensity gradient
position angles (phi_{nabla I}) and magnetic field position angles (phi_B) is
found in the CSO, JCMT and both SMA data sets. This correlation is further
analyzed quantitatively. A systematically tighter correlation between
phi_{nabla I} and phi_B is found in the cores, whereas the correlation
decreases in outside-core regions. Magnetic field-to-gravity force ratio
(Sigma_B) maps are derived using the newly developed polarization - intensity
gradient method by Koch, Tang & Ho 2012. We find that the force ratios tend to
be small (Sigma_B <= 0.5) in the cores in all 4 data sets. In regions outside
of the cores, the ratios increase or the field is even dominating gravity
(Sigma_B > 1). This possibly provides a physical explanation of the tightening
correlation between phi_{nabla I} and phi_B in the cores: the more the B field
lines are dragged and aligned by gravity, the tighter the correlation is.
Finally, we propose a schematic scenario for the magnetic field in W51 North to
interpret the four polarization observations at different physical scales.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 10 pages. 7 figure
The circumstellar disk of AB Aurigae: evidence for envelope accretion at late stages of star formation?
The circumstellar disk of AB Aurigae has garnered strong attention owing to
the apparent existence of spirals at a relatively young stage and also the
asymmetric disk traced in thermal dust emission. However, the physical
conditions of the spirals are still not well understood. The origin of the
asymmetric thermal emission is unclear.
We observed the disk at 230 GHz (1.3 mm) in both the continuum and the
spectral line ^12CO J=2-1 with IRAM 30-m, the Plateau de Bure interferometer,
and the Submillimeter Array to sample all spatial scales from 0.37" to about
50". To combine the data obtained from these telescopes, several methods and
calibration issues were checked and discussed.
The 1.3 mm continuum (dust) emission is resolved into inner disk and outer
ring. Molecular gas at high velocities traced by the CO line is detected next
to the stellar location. The inclination angle of the disk is found to decrease
toward the center. On a larger scale, based on the intensity weighted
dispersion and the integrated intensity map of ^12CO J=2-1, four spirals are
identified, where two of them are also detected in the near infrared. The total
gas mass of the 4 spirals (M_spiral) is 10^-7 < M_spiral < 10^-5 M_sun, which
is 3 orders of magnitude smaller than the mass of the gas ring. Surprisingly,
the CO gas inside the spiral is apparently counter-rotating with respect to the
CO disk, and it only exhibits small radial motion.
The wide gap, the warped disk, and the asymmetric dust ring suggest that
there is an undetected companion with a mass of 0.03 M_sun at a radius of 45
AU. Although an hypothetical fly-by cannot be ruled out, the most likely
explanation of the AB Aurigae system may be inhomogeneous accretion well above
or below the main disk plane from the remnant envelope, which can explain both
the rotation and large-scale motions detected with the 30-m image.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in A&A journal. Typos
are correcte
Radio Observations of Infrared Luminous High Redshift QSOs
We present Very Large Array (VLA) observations at 1.4 GHz and 5 GHz of a
sample of 12 Quasi-stellar Objects (QSOs) at z = 3.99 to 4.46. The sources were
selected as the brightest sources at 250 GHz from the recent survey of Omont et
al. (2001). We detect seven sources at 1.4 GHz with flux densities, S_{1.4} >
50 microJy. These centimeter (cm) wavelength observations imply that the
millimeter (mm) emission is most likely thermal dust emission. The
radio-through-optical spectral energy distributions for these sources are
within the broad range defined by lower redshift, lower optical luminosity
QSOs. For two sources the radio continuum luminosities and morphologies
indicate steep spectrum, radio loud emission from a jet-driven radio source.
For the remaining 10 sources the 1.4 GHz flux densities, or limits, are
consistent with those expected for active star forming galaxies. If the radio
emission is powered by star formation in these systems, then the implied star
formation rates are of order 1e3 M_solar/year. We discuss the angular sizes and
spatial distributions of the radio emitting regions, and we consider briefly
these results in the context of co-eval black hole and stellar bulge formation
in galaxies.Comment: to appear in the A
A Study of CO Emission in High Redshift QSOs Using the Owens Valley Millimeter Array
Searches for CO emission in high-redshift objects have traditionally suffered
from the accuracy of optically-derived redshifts due to lack of bandwidth in
correlators at radio observatories. This problem has motivated the creation of
the new COBRA continuum correlator, with 4 GHz available bandwidth, at the
Owens Valley Radio Observatory Millimeter Array. Presented here are the first
scientific results from COBRA. We report detections of redshifted CO(J=3-2)
emission in the QSOs SMM J04135+10277 and VCV J140955.5+562827, as well as a
probable detection in RX J0911.4+0551. At redshifts of z=2.846, z=2.585, and
z=2.796, we find integrated CO flux densities of 5.4 Jy km/s, 2.4 Jy km/s, and
2.9 Jy km/s for SMM J04135+10277, VCV J140955.5+562827, and RX J0911.4+0551,
respectively, over linewidths of Delta(V_{FWHM}) ~ 350 km/s. These
measurements, when corrected for gravitational lensing, correspond to molecular
gas masses of order M(H_2) ~ 10^{9.6-11.1} solar masses, and are consistent
with previous CO observations of high-redshift QSOs. We also report 3-sigma
upper limits on CO(3-2) emission in the QSO LBQS 0018-0220 of 1.3 Jy km/s. We
do not detect significant 3mm continuum emission from any of the QSOs, with the
exception of a tentative (3-sigma) detection in RX J0911.4+0551 of S_{3mm}=0.92
mJy/beam.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, accepted to ApJ. Changes made for
version 2: citations added, 2 objects added to Table 2 and Figure
Molecular line radiative transfer in protoplanetary disks: Monte Carlo simulations versus approximate methods
We analyze the line radiative transfer in protoplanetary disks using several
approximate methods and a well-tested Accelerated Monte Carlo code. A low-mass
flaring disk model with uniform as well as stratified molecular abundances is
adopted. Radiative transfer in low and high rotational lines of CO, C18O, HCO+,
DCO+, HCN, CS, and H2CO is simulated. The corresponding excitation
temperatures, synthetic spectra, and channel maps are derived and compared to
the results of the Monte Carlo calculations. A simple scheme that describes the
conditions of the line excitation for a chosen molecular transition is
elaborated. We find that the simple LTE approach can safely be applied for the
low molecular transitions only, while it significantly overestimates the
intensities of the upper lines. In contrast, the Full Escape Probability (FEP)
approximation can safely be used for the upper transitions (J_{\rm up} \ga 3)
but it is not appropriate for the lowest transitions because of the maser
effect. In general, the molecular lines in protoplanetary disks are partly
subthermally excited and require more sophisticated approximate line radiative
transfer methods. We analyze a number of approximate methods, namely, LVG, VEP
(Vertical Escape Probability) and VOR (Vertical One Ray) and discuss their
algorithms in detail. In addition, two modifications to the canonical Monte
Carlo algorithm that allow a significant speed up of the line radiative
transfer modeling in rotating configurations by a factor of 10--50 are
described.Comment: 47 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Thermal Emission from Warm Dust in the Most Distant Quasars
We report new continuum observations of fourteen z~6 quasars at 250 GHz and
fourteen quasars at 1.4 GHz. We summarize all recent millimeter and radio
observations of the sample of the thirty-three quasars known with
5.71<=z<=6.43, and present a study of the rest frame far-infrared (FIR)
properties of this sample. These quasars were observed with the Max Plank
Millimeter Bolometer Array (MAMBO) at 250 GHz with mJy sensitivity, and 30% of
them were detected. We also recover the average 250 GHz flux density of the
MAMBO undetected sources at 4 sigma, by stacking the on-source measurements.
The derived mean radio-to-UV spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of the full
sample and the 250 GHz non-detections show no significant difference from that
of lower-redshift optical quasars. Obvious FIR excesses are seen in the
individual SEDs of the strong 250 GHz detections, with FIR-to-radio emission
ratios consistent with that of typical star forming galaxies. Most 250
GHz-detected sources follow the L_{FIR}--L_{bol} relationship derived from a
sample of local IR luminous quasars (L_{IR}>10^{12}L_{\odot}), while the
average L_{FIR}/L_{bol} ratio of the non-detections is consistent with that of
the optically-selected PG quasars. The MAMBO detections also tend to have
weaker Ly\alpha emission than the non-detected sources. We discuss possible FIR
dust heating sources, and critically assess the possibility of active star
formation in the host galaxies of the z~6 quasars. The average star formation
rate of the MAMBO non-detections is likely to be less than a few hundred
M_{\odot} yr^{-1}, but in the strong detections, the host galaxy star formation
is probably at a rate of \gtrsim10^{3} M_{\odot} yr^{-1}, which dominates the
FIR dust heating.Comment: 32 pages with 6 figures; ApJ, in press; Added references; Corrected
typo
Molecular Gas in the Lensed Lyman Break Galaxy cB58
We have used the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer to map CO(3-2) emission
from the gravitationally lensed Lyman break galaxy MS1512-cB58. This is the
first detection of a molecular emission line in any Lyman break system; its
integrated intensity implies a total molecular gas mass of 6.6e9 Msun, while
its width implies a dynamical mass of 1.0e10 csc^2i Msun (for a flat Lambda=0.7
cosmology). These estimates are in excellent concordance with nearly all
parameters of the system measured at other wavelengths, and yield a consistent
picture of past and future star formation with no obvious discrepancies
requiring explanation by differential lensing. In particular, we find that the
age and remaining lifetime of the current episode of star formation are likely
to be similar; the surface densities of star formation and molecular gas mass
are related by a Schmidt law; and the fraction of baryonic mass already
converted into stars is sufficient to account for the observed enrichment of
the interstellar medium to 0.4 Zsun. Barring substantial gas inflow or a major
merger, the stars forming in the current episode will have mass and coevality
at z=0 similar to those of a spiral bulge. Assuming cB58 is a typical Lyman
break galaxy apart from its magnification, its global parameters suggest that
the prescriptions for star formation used in some semi-analytic models of
galaxy evolution require moderate revision, although the general prediction
that gas mass fraction should increase with redshift is validated. [abridged]Comment: 41 pages, 6 figures, accepted by Ap
A Test of Pre-Main Sequence Evolutionary Models Across the Stellar/Substellar Boundary Based on Spectra of the Young Quadruple GG Tau
We present spatially separated optical spectra of the components of the young
hierarchical quadruple GG Tau. Spectra of GG Tau Aa and Ab (separation 0".25 ~
35 AU) were obtained with the Faint Object Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space
Telescope. Spectra of GG Tau Ba and Bb (separation 1".48 ~ 207 AU) were
obtained with both the HIRES and the LRIS spectrographs on the W. M. Keck
telescopes. The components of this mini-cluster, which span a wide range in
spectral type (K7 - M7), are used to test both evolutionary models and the
temperature scale for very young, low mass stars under the assumption of coeval
formation. Of the evolutionary models tested, those of Baraffe et al. (1998,
A&A, 337, 403) yield the most consistent ages when combined with a temperature
scale intermediate between that of dwarfs and giants. The version of the
Baraffe et al. models computed with a mixing length nearly twice the pressure
scale height is of particular interest as it predicts masses for GG Tau Aa and
Ab that are in agreement with their dynamical mass estimate.
Using this evolutionary model and a coeval (at 1.5 Myrs) temperature scale,
we find that the coldest component of the GG Tau system, GG Tau Bb, is
substellar with a mass of 0.044 +/- 0.006 Msun. This brown dwarf companion is
especially intriguing as it shows signatures of accretion, although this
accretion is not likely to alter its mass significantly. GG Tau Bb is currently
the lowest mass, spectroscopically confirmed companion to a T Tauri star, and
is one of the coldest, lowest mass T Tauri objects in the Taurus-Auriga star
forming region.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
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