84 research outputs found
DNAs of simian virus 40 and polyoma direct the synthesis of viral tumor antigens and capsid proteins in Xenopus oocytes.
Dynamics of the Lyman alpha and C IV emitting gas in 3C 273
In this paper we study the variability properties of the Lyman alpha and C IV
emission lines in 3C273 using archival IUE observations. Our data show for the
first time the existence of variability on time scales of several years. We
study the spatial distribution and the velocity field of the emitting gas by
performing detailed analyses on the line variability using correlations, 1D and
2D response functions, and principal component analysis. In both lines we find
evidence for two components, one which has the dynamic properties of gas in
Keplerian motion around a black hole with a mass of the order of 10^9 Mo, and
one which is characterized by high, blue-shifted velocities at large lag. There
is no indication of the presence of optically thick emission medium neither in
the Lya, nor in the Civ response functions. The component characterized by
blue-shifted velocities, which is comparatively much stronger in Civ than in
Lya, is more or less compatible with being the result of gas falling towards
the central black hole with free-fall acceleration. We propose however that the
line emission at high, blue-shifted velocities is better explained in terms of
entrainment of gas clouds by the jet. This gas is therefore probably
collisionally excited as a result of heating due to the intense infrared
radiation from the jet, which would explain the strength of this component in
Civ relative to Lya. This phenomenon might be a signature of disk-jet
interaction.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ. Uses aaste
30 years of multi-wavelength observations of 3C 273
We present a wide multi-wavelength database of most observations of the
quasar 3C 273 obtained during the last 30 years. This database is the most
complete set of observations available for an active galactic nucleus (AGN). It
contains nearly 20'000 observations grouped together into 70 light curves
covering 16 orders of magnitude in frequency from the radio to the gamma-ray
domain.
The database is constituted of many previously unpublished observations and
of most publicly available data gathered in the literature and on the World
Wide Web (WWW). It is complete to the best of our knowledge, except in the
optical (UBV) domain where we chose not to add all observations from the
literature. In addition to the photometric data, we present the spectra of 3C
273 obtained by the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite. In the
X-ray domain, we used the spectral fit parameters from the literature to
construct the light curves.
Apart from describing the data, we show the most representative light curves
and the average spectrum of 3C 273. The database is available on the WWW in a
homogeneous and clear form and we wish to update it regularly by adding new
observations.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, to be published in A&AS, data available at:
http://obswww.unige.ch/3c273
Supermassive Black Holes in Galactic Nuclei: Past, Present and Future Research
This review discusses the current status of supermassive black hole research,
as seen from a purely observational standpoint. Since the early '90s, rapid
technological advances, most notably the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope,
the commissioning of the VLBA and improvements in near-infrared speckle imaging
techniques, have not only given us incontrovertible proof of the existence of
supermassive black holes, but have unveiled fundamental connections between the
mass of the central singularity and the global properties of the host galaxy.
It is thanks to these observations that we are now, for the first time, in a
position to understand the origin, evolution and cosmic relevance of these
fascinating objects.Comment: Invited Review, 114 pages. Because of space requirements, this
version contains low resolution figures. The full resolution version can be
downloaded from http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/~lff/publications.htm
Planck early results. XIII. Statistical properties of extragalactic radio sources in the Planck Early Release Compact Source Catalogue
The data reported in Planck’s Early Release Compact Source Catalogue (ERCSC) are exploited to measure the number counts (dN/dS) of
extragalactic radio sources at 30, 44, 70, 100, 143 and 217 GHz. Due to the full-sky nature of the catalogue, this measurement extends to the
rarest and brightest sources in the sky. At lower frequencies (30, 44, and 70 GHz) our counts are in very good agreement with estimates based on
WMAP data, being somewhat deeper at 30 and 70 GHz, and somewhat shallower at 44 GHz. Planck’s source counts at 143 and 217 GHz join
smoothly with the fainter ones provided by the SPT and ACT surveys over small fractions of the sky. An analysis of source spectra, exploiting
Planck’s uniquely broad spectral coverage, finds clear evidence of a steepening of the mean spectral index above about 70 GHz. This implies
that, at these frequencies, the contamination of the CMB power spectrum by radio sources below the detection limit is significantly lower than
previously estimated
Planck early results. XV. Spectral energy distributions and radio continuum spectra of northern extragalactic radio sources
Spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and radio continuum spectra are presented for a northern sample of 104 extragalactic radio sources, based
on the Planck Early Release Compact Source Catalogue (ERCSC) and simultaneous multifrequency data. The nine Planck frequencies, from 30
to 857 GHz, are complemented by a set of simultaneous observations ranging from radio to gamma-rays. This is the first extensive frequency
coverage in the radio and millimetre domains for an essentially complete sample of extragalactic radio sources, and it shows how the individual
shocks, each in their own phase of development, shape the radio spectra as they move in the relativistic jet. The SEDs presented in this paper
were fitted with second and third degree polynomials to estimate the frequencies of the synchrotron and inverse Compton (IC) peaks, and the
spectral indices of low and high frequency radio data, including the Planck ERCSC data, were calculated. SED modelling methods are discussed,
with an emphasis on proper, physical modelling of the synchrotron bump using multiple components. Planck ERCSC data also suggest that the
original accelerated electron energy spectrum could be much harder than commonly thought, with power-law index around 1.5 instead of the
canonical 2.5. The implications of this are discussed for the acceleration mechanisms effective in blazar shocks. Furthermore in many cases the
Planck data indicate that gamma-ray emission must originate in the same shocks that produce the radio emission
Planck Early Results. VII. The Early Release Compact Source Catalogue
A brief description of the methodology of construction, contents and usage of the Planck Early Release Compact Source Catalogue (ERCSC),
including the Early Cold Cores (ECC) and the Early Sunyaev-Zeldovich (ESZ) cluster catalogue is provided. The catalogue is based on data that
consist of mapping the entire sky once and 60% of the sky a second time by Planck, thereby comprising the first high sensitivity radio/submillimetre
observations of the entire sky. Four source detection algorithms were run as part of the ERCSC pipeline. A Monte-Carlo algorithm based on the
injection and extraction of artificial sources into the Planck maps was implemented to select reliable sources among all extracted candidates such
that the cumulative reliability of the catalogue is ≥90%. There is no requirement on completeness for the ERCSC. As a result of the Monte-Carlo
assessment of reliability of sources from the different techniques, an implementation of the PowellSnakes source extraction technique was used
at the five frequencies between 30 and 143 GHz while the SExtractor technique was used between 217 and 857GHz. The 10σ photometric flux
density limit of the catalogue at |b| > 30◦ is 0.49, 1.0, 0.67, 0.5, 0.33, 0.28, 0.25, 0.47 and 0.82 Jy at each of the nine frequencies between 30
and 857 GHz. Sources which are up to a factor of ∼2 fainter than this limit, and which are present in “clean” regions of the Galaxy where the sky
background due to emission from the interstellar medium is low, are included in the ERCSC if they meet the high reliability criterion. The Planck
ERCSC sources have known associations to stars with dust shells, stellar cores, radio galaxies, blazars, infrared luminous galaxies and Galactic
interstellar medium features. A significant fraction of unclassified sources are also present in the catalogs. In addition, two early release catalogs
that contain 915 cold molecular cloud core candidates and 189 SZ cluster candidates that have been generated using multifrequency algorithms are
presented. The entire source list, with more than 15000 unique sources, is ripe for follow-up characterisation with Herschel, ATCA, VLA, SOFIA,
ALMA and other ground-based observing facilities
VizieR Online Data Catalog: Planck high-z source candidates catalog (PHZ) (Planck+, 2016)
We present in this work the Planck List of Highredshift Source Candidates (the "PHZ"), which includes 2151 sources distributed over 26% of the sky, with redshifts likely to be greater than 2. (2 data files)
VizieR Online Data Catalog: 1Jy northern AGN sample (Planck+, 2016)
The complete sample presented in this paper consists of 104 northern and equatorial radio-loud AGN. It includes all AGN with declination >=-10° that have a measured average radio flux density at 37GHz exceeding 1Jy. Most of the sample sources have been monitored at Metsahovi Radio Observatory for many years, and the brightest sources have been observed for up to 30yr. (1 data file)
VizieR Online Data Catalog: Second Planck Catalogue of Compact Sources (PCCS2) (Planck+, 2016)
The Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) DPC produced the 30, 44, and 70GHz maps after the completion of eight full surveys (spanning the period 12 August 2009 to 3 August 2013). In addition, special LFI maps covering the period 1 April 2013 to 30 June 2013 were produced in order to compare the Planck flux-density scales with those of the Very Large Array and the Australia Telescope Compact Array, by performing simultaneous observations of a sample of sources over that period. The High Frequency Instrument (HFI) DPC produced the 100, 143, 217, 353, 545, and 857GHz maps after five full surveys (2009 August 12 to 2012 January 11). (16 data files)
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