2,761 research outputs found
Perspectives on radioactive waste disposal: A consideration of economic efficiency and intergenerational equity
There are both internal and external pressures on the U.S. Department of Energy to reduce the estimated costs of isolating radioactive waste, 57 billion for high level waste at Yucca Mountain. The question arises whether economic analyses would add to the decision-making process to reduce costs yet maintain the same level of radiological protection. This paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of using cost-benefit analysis (CBA), a tool used to measure economic efficiency as an input for these decisions. Using a comparative research approach, we find that CBA analyses appear particularly applicable where the benefits and costs are in the near term. These findings can help policymakers become more informed on funding decisions and to develop public confidence in the merits of the program for waste disposal
From Spitzer Galaxy Photometry to Tully-Fisher Distances
This paper involves a data release of the observational campaign: Cosmicflows
with Spitzer (CFS). Surface photometry of the 1270 galaxies constituting the
survey is presented. An additional ~ 400 galaxies from various other Spitzer
surveys are also analyzed. CFS complements the Spitzer Survey of Stellar
Structure in Galaxies, that provides photometry for an additional 2352
galaxies, by extending observations to low galactic latitudes (|b|<30 degrees).
Among these galaxies are calibrators, selected in K band, of the Tully-Fisher
relation. The addition of new calibrators demonstrate the robustness of the
previously released calibration. Our estimate of the Hubble constant using
supernova host galaxies is unchanged, H0 = 75.2 +/- 3.3 km/s/Mpc.
Distance-derived radial peculiar velocities, for the 1935 galaxies with all the
available parameters, will be incorporated into a new data release of the
Cosmicflows project. The size of the previous catalog will be increased by 20%,
including spatial regions close to the Zone of Avoidance.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 16 pages, 14 figures, 6 table
Perspectives on economic analyses for high level waste disposal
There are both internal and external pressures on the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to reduce costs of disposal and still maintain radiation protection to both present and future generations. The question arises whether both of these goals are attainable
5-micron photometry of late-type dwarfs
We present narrowband-M photometry of nine low-mass dwarfs with spectral
types ranging from M2.5 to L0.5. Combining the (L'-M') colours derived from our
observations with data from the literature, we find colours consistent with a
Rayleigh-Jeans flux distribution for spectral types earlier than M5, but
enhanced F_3.8/F_4.7 flux ratios (negative (L'-M') colours) at later spectral
types. This probably reflects increased absorption at M' due to the CO
fundamental band. We compare our results against recent model predictions and
briefly discuss the implications.Comment: accepted for the Astronomical Journa
The Calibration of the WISE W1 and W2 Tully-Fisher Relation
In order to explore local large-scale structures and velocity fields,
accurate galaxy distance measures are needed. We now extend the well-tested
recipe for calibrating the correlation between galaxy rotation rates and
luminosities -- capable of providing such distance measures -- to the all-sky,
space-based imaging data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) W1
(m) and W2 (m) filters. We find a linewidth to absolute
magnitude correlation (known as the Tully-Fisher Relation, TFR) of
(0.54
magnitudes rms) and (0.56 magnitudes rms) from 310 galaxies in 13 clusters. We update the
I-band TFR using a sample 9% larger than in Tully & Courtois (2012). We derive
(0.46 magnitudes
rms). The WISE TFRs show evidence of curvature. Quadratic fits give
(0.52 magnitudes rms) and (0.55
magnitudes rms). We apply an I-band -- WISE color correction to lower the
scatter and derive
and (both 0.46
magnitudes rms). Using our three independent TFRs (W1 curved, W2 curved and
I-band), we calibrate the UNION2 supernova Type Ia sample distance scale and
derive (stat) (sys) kms Mpc with 4%
total error.Comment: 22 page, 21 figures, accepted to ApJ, Table 1 data at
http://spartan.srl.caltech.edu/~neill/tfwisecal/table1.tx
Charge Exchange Spectra of Hydrogenic and He-like Iron
We present H-like Fe XXVI and He-like Fe XXV charge-exchange spectra
resulting from collisions of highly charged iron with N2 gas at an energy of 10
eV/amu in an electron beam ion trap. Although individual high-n emission lines
are not resolved in our measurements, we observe that the most likely level for
Fe25+ --> Fe24+ electron capture is n~9, in line with expectations, while the
most likely value for Fe26+ --> Fe25+ charge exchange is significantly higher.
In the Fe XXV spectrum, the K-alpha emission feature dominates, whether
produced via charge exchange or collisional excitation. The K-alpha centroid is
lower in energy for the former case than the latter (6666 versus 6685 eV,
respectively), as expected because of the strong enhancement of emission from
the forbidden and intercombination lines, relative to the resonance line, in
charge-exchange spectra. In contrast, the Fe XXVI high-n Lyman lines have a
summed intensity greater than that of Ly-alpha, and are substantially stronger
than predicted from theoretical calculations of charge exchange with atomic H.
We conclude that the angular momentum distribution resulting from electron
capture using a multi-electron target gas is significantly different from that
obtained with H, resulting in the observed high-n enhancement. A discussion is
presented of the relevance of our results to studies of diffuse Fe emission in
the Galactic Center and Galactic Ridge, particularly with ASTRO-E2/Suzaku.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures (3 color), accepted by Ap
A search for L dwarf binary systems
We present analysis of HST Planetary Camera images of twenty L dwarfs
identified in the course of the Two Micron All-Sky Survey. Four of the targets
have faint, red companions at separations between 0.07 and 0.29 arcseconds (1.6
to 7.6 AU). In three cases, the bolometric magnitudes of the components differ
by less than 0.3 magnitudes. Since the cooling rate for brown dwarfs is a
strong function of mass, similarity in luminosities implies comparable masses.
The faint component in the 2M0850 system, however, is over 1.3 magnitudes
fainter than the primary in the I-band, and ~0.8 magnitudes fainter in M(bol).
Indeed, 2M0850B is ~0.8 magnitudes fainter in I than the lowest luminosity L
dwarf currently known, while the absolute magnitude we deduce at J is almost
identical with M_J for Gl 229B. Theoretical models indicate a mass ratio of
\~0.75. The mean separation of the L dwarf binaries in the current sample is
smaller by a factor of two than amongst M dwarfs. We discuss the implications
of these results for the temperature scale in the L/T transition region and for
the binary frequency amongst L dwarfs.Comment: 38 pages, 11 figures; accepted for A
High-velocity white dwarfs: thick disk, not dark matter
We present an alternative interpretation of the nature of the extremely cool,
high-velocity white dwarfs identified by Oppenheimer et al (2001) in a
high-latitude astrometric survey. We argue that the velocity distribution of
the majority of the sample is more consistent with the high-velocity tail of a
rotating population, probably the thick disk, rather than a pressure-supported
halo system. Indeed, the observed numbers are well matched by predictions based
on the kinematics of a complete sample of nearby M dwarfs. Analysing only stars
showing retrograde motion gives a local density close to that expected for
white dwarfs in the stellar (R^-3.5) halo. Under our interpretation, none of
the white dwarfs need be assigned to the dark-matter, heavy halo. However,
luminosity functions derived from observations of these stars can set important
constraints on the age of the oldest stars in the Galactic Disk.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures; accepted for ApJ, 29 May 200
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