4,380 research outputs found
The binary fraction of planetary nebula central stars I. A high-precision, I-band excess search
In an attempt to determine how many planetary nebulae derive from binary
interactions, we have started a project to measure their unbiased binary
fraction. This number, when compared to the binary fraction of the presumed
parent population can give a first handle on the origin of planetary nebulae.
By detecting 27 bona fide central stars in the I band we have found that 30% of
our sample have an I band excess between one and a few sigmas, possibly
denoting companions brighter than M3-4V and with separations smaller than
approximately 1000 AU. By accounting for the undetectable companions, we
determine a de-biased binary fraction of 67-78% for all companions at all
separations. We compare this number to a main sequence binary fraction of
(50+/-4)% determined for spectral types F6V-G2V, appropriate if the progenitors
of today's PN central star population is indeed the F6V-G2V stars. The error on
our estimate could be between 10 and 30%. We conclude that the central star
binary fraction may be larger than expected from the putative parent
population. Using the more sensitive J band of a subset of 11 central stars,
the binary fraction is 54% for companions brighter than approximately M5-6V and
with separations smaller than about 900 AU. De-biassing this number we obtain a
binary fraction of 100-107%. The two numbers should be the same and the
discrepancy is likely due to small number statistics.
We also present an accurately vetted compilation of observed main sequence
star magnitudes, colours and masses, which can serve as a reference for future
studies. We also present synthetic colours of hot stars as a function of
temperature (20-170kK) and gravity (log g= 6-8) for Solar and PG1159
compositions.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures, 12 tables, accepted by MNRA
Testing the binary hypothesis for the formation and shaping of planetary nebulae
There is no quantitative theory to explain why a high 80% of all planetary
nebulae are non-spherical. The Binary Hypothesis states that a companion to the
progenitor of a central star of planetary nebula is required to shape the
nebula and even for a planetary nebula to be formed at all. A way to test this
hypothesis is to estimate the binary fraction of central stars of planetary
nebulae and to compare it with that of the main sequence population.
Preliminary results from photometric variability and the infrared excess
techniques indicate that the binary fraction of central stars of planetary
nebulae is higher than that of the main sequence, implying that PNe could
preferentially form via a binary channel. This article briefly reviews these
results and current studies aiming to refine the binary fraction.Comment: EUROWD12 Proceeding
Planetary nebulae : getting closer to an unbiased binary fraction
Why 80% of planetary nebulae are not spherical is not yet understood. The
Binary Hypothesis states that a companion to the progenitor of the central star
of a planetary nebula is required to shape the nebula and even for a planetary
nebula to be formed at all. A way to test this hypothesis is to estimate the
binary fraction of central stars of planetary nebula and to compare it with the
main sequence population. Preliminary results from photometric variability and
infrared excess techniques indicate that the binary fraction of central stars
of planetary nebulae is higher than that of the putative main sequence
progenitor population, implying that PNe could be preferentially formed via a
binary channel. This article briefly reviews these results and future studies
aiming to refine the binary fraction.Comment: SF2A 2012 proceeding
Fostering collaborative research for rare genetic disease: The example of Niemann-Pick type C disease
Rare disease represents one of the most significant issues facing the medical community and health care providers worldwide, yet the majority of these disorders never emerge from their obscurity, drawing little attention from the medical community or the pharmaceutical industry. The challenge therefore is how best to mobilize rare disease stakeholders to enhance basic, translational and clinical research to advance understanding of pathogenesis and accelerate therapy development. Here we describe a rare, fatal brain disorder known as Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) and an innovative research collaborative known as Support of Accelerated Research for NPC (SOAR-NPC) which illustrates one pathway through which knowledge of a rare disease and its possible treatments are being successfully advanced. Use of the âSOARâ mechanism, we believe, offers a blueprint for similar advancement for many other rare disorders
The Nearby Neutron Star RX J0720.4-3125 from Radio to X-rays
We present radio, optical, ultraviolet, and X-ray observations of the
isolated, thermally-emitting neutron star RX J0720.4-3125 using the Parkes
radio telescope, the Very Large Array, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the
Chandra X-ray Observatory. From these data we show that the optical/UV spectrum
of RX J0720.4-3125 is not well fit by a Rayleigh-Jeans tail as previously
thought, but is instead best fit by either a single non-thermal power-law or a
combination of a Rayleigh-Jeans tail and a non-thermal power-law. Taken
together with the X-ray spectrum, we find the best model for RX J0720.4-3125 to
be two blackbodies plus a power-law, with the cool blackbody implying a radius
of 11-13 km at an assumed distance of 300 pc. This is similar to many middle
aged (10^{5-6} yr) radio pulsars such as PSR B0656+14, evidence supporting the
hypothesis that RX J0720.4-3125 is likely to be an off-beam radio pulsar. The
radio data limit the flux at 1.4 GHz to be <0.24 mJy, or a luminosity limit of
4*pi*d^2*F < 3e25*d_300^2 ergs/s, and we see no sign of extended nebulosity,
consistent with expectations for a pulsar like RX J0720.4-3125.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures. Uses emulateapj5.sty and onecolfloat5.sty.
Accepted for publication in Ap
Optical Detection of Two Intermediate Mass Binary Pulsar Companions
We report the detection of probable optical counterparts for two Intermediate
Mass Binary Pulsar (IMBP) systems, PSR J1528-3146 and PSR J1757-5322. Recent
radio pulsar surveys have uncovered a handful of these systems with putative
massive white dwarf companions, thought to have an evolutionary history
different from that of the more numerous class of Low Mass Binary Pulsars
(LMBPs) with He white dwarf companions. The study of IMBP companions via
optical observations offers us several new diagnostics: the evolution of main
sequence stars near the white-dwarf-neutron star boundary, the physics of white
dwarfs close to the Chandrasekhar limit, and insights into the recycling
process by which old pulsars are spun up to high rotation frequencies. We were
unsuccessful in our attempt to detect optical counterparts of PSR J1141-6545,
PSR J1157-5112, PSR J1435-6100, and PSR J1454-5846.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
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
Calibrating Type Ia Supernovae using the Planetary Nebula Luminosity Function I. Initial Results
We report the results of an [O III] lambda 5007 survey for planetary nebulae
(PN) in five galaxies that were hosts of well-observed Type Ia supernovae: NGC
524, NGC 1316, NGC 1380, NGC 1448 and NGC 4526. The goals of this survey are to
better quantify the zero-point of the maximum magnitude versus decline rate
relation for supernovae Type Ia and to validate the insensitivity of Type Ia
luminosity to parent stellar population using the host galaxy Hubble type as a
surrogate. We detected a total of 45 planetary nebulae candidates in NGC 1316,
44 candidates in NGC 1380, and 94 candidates in NGC 4526. From these data, and
the empirical planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF), we derive distances
of 17.9 +0.8/-0.9 Mpc, 16.1 +0.8/-1.1 Mpc, and 13.6 +1.3/-1.2 Mpc respectively.
Our derived distance to NGC 4526 has a lower precision due to the likely
presence of Virgo intracluster planetary nebulae in the foreground of this
galaxy. In NGC 524 and NGC 1448 we detected no planetary nebulae candidates
down to the limiting magnitudes of our observations. We present a formalism for
setting realistic distance limits in these two cases, and derive robust lower
limits of 20.9 Mpc and 15.8 Mpc, respectively.
After combining these results with other distances from the PNLF, Cepheid,
and Surface Brightness Fluctuations distance indicators, we calibrate the
optical and near-infrared relations for supernovae Type Ia and we find that the
Hubble constants derived from each of the three methods are broadly consistent,
implying that the properties of supernovae Type Ia do not vary drastically as a
function of stellar population. We determine a preliminary Hubble constant of
H_0 = 77 +/- 3 (random) +/- 5 (systematic) km/s/Mpc for the PNLF, though more
nearby galaxies with high-quality observations are clearly needed.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication by the Astrophysical
Journal. Figures degraded to comply with limit. Full paper is available at:
http://www.as.ysu.edu/~jjfeldme/pnlf_Ia.pd
Coulomb plasmas in outer envelopes of neutron stars
Outer envelopes of neutron stars consist mostly of fully ionized, strongly
coupled Coulomb plasmas characterized by typical densities about 10^4-10^{11}
g/cc and temperatures about 10^4-10^9 K. Many neutron stars possess magnetic
fields about 10^{11}-10^{14} G. Here we briefly review recent theoretical
advances which allow one to calculate thermodynamic functions and electron
transport coefficients for such plasmas with an accuracy required for
theoretical interpretation of observations.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, latex2e using cpp2e.cls (included). Proc. PNP-10
Workshop, Greifswald, Germany, 4-9 Sept. 2000. Accepted for publication in
Contrib. Plasma Phys. 41 (2001) no. 2-
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