37,227 research outputs found
Search for L5 Earth Trojans with DECam
Most of the major planets in the Solar system support populations of co-orbiting bodies, known as Trojans, at their L4 and L5 Lagrange points. In contrast, Earth has only one known co-orbiting companion. This paper presents the results from a search for Earth Trojans (ETs) using the DECam instrument on the Blanco Telescope at CTIO. This search found no additional Trojans in spite of greater coverage compared to previous surveys of the L5 point. Therefore, the main result of this work is to place the most stringent constraints to date on the population of ETs. These constraints depend on assumptions regarding the underlying population properties, especially the slope of the magnitude distribution (which in turn depends on the size and albedo distributions of the objects). For standard assumptions, we calculate upper limits to a 90 per cent confidence limit on the L5 population of N_(ET) < 1 for magnitude H < 15.5, N_(ET) = 60–85 for H < 19.7, and N_(ET) = 97 for H = 20.4. This latter magnitude limit corresponds to Trojans ∼300 m in size for albedo 0.15. At H = 19.7, these upper limits are consistent with previous L4 ET constraints and significantly improve L5 constraints
Gas Absorption in the KH 15D System: Further Evidence for Dust Settling in the Circumbinary Disk
Na I D lines in the spectrum of the young binary KH 15D have been analyzed in
detail. We find an excess absorption component that may be attributed to
foreground interstellar absorption, and to gas possibly associated with the
solids in the circumbinary disk. The derived column density is log N_NaI = 12.5
cm^-2, centered on a radial velocity that is consistent with the systemic
velocity. Subtracting the likely contribution of the ISM leaves log N_NaI ~
12.3 cm^-2. There is no detectable change in the gas column density across the
"knife edge" formed by the opaque grain disk, indicating that the gas and
solids have very different scale heights, with the solids being highly settled.
Our data support a picture of this circumbinary disk as being composed of a
very thin particulate grain layer composed of millimeter-sized or larger
objects that are settled within whatever remaining gas may be present. This
phase of disk evolution has been hypothesized to exist as a prelude to the
formation of planetesimals through gravitational fragmentation, and is expected
to be short-lived if much gas were still present in such a disk. Our analysis
also reveals the presence of excess Na I emission relative to the comparison
spectrum at the radial velocity of the currently visible star that plausibly
arises within the magnetosphere of this still-accreting young star.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 23 pages, 6 figure
Mass inflation in a D dimensional Reissner-Nordstrom black hole: a hierarchy of particle accelerators ?
We study the geometry inside the event horizon of perturbed D dimensional
Reissner-Nordstrom-(A)dS type black holes showing that, similarly to the four
dimensional case, mass inflation also occurs for D>4. First, using the
homogeneous approximation, we show that an increase of the number of spatial
dimensions contributes to a steeper variation of the metric coefficients with
the areal radius and that the phenomenon is insensitive to the cosmological
constant in leading order. Then, using the code reported in arXiv:0904.2669
[gr-qc] adapted to D dimensions, we perform fully non-linear numerical
simulations. We perturb the black hole with a compact pulse adapting the pulse
amplitude such that the relative variation of the black hole mass is the same
in all dimensions, and determine how the black hole interior evolves under the
perturbation. We qualitatively confirm that the phenomenon is similar to four
dimensions as well as the behaviour observed in the homogeneous approximation.
We speculate about the formation of black holes inside black holes triggered by
mass inflation, and about possible consequences of this scenario.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Measuring the galaxy power spectrum with future redshift surveys
Precision measurements of the galaxy power spectrum P(k) require a data
analysis pipeline that is both fast enough to be computationally feasible and
accurate enough to take full advantage of high-quality data. We present a
rigorous discussion of different methods of power spectrum estimation, with
emphasis on the traditional Fourier method, the linear (Karhunen-Loeve; KL),
and quadratic data compression schemes, showing in what approximations they
give the same result. To improve speed, we show how many of the advantages of
KL data compression and power spectrum estimation may be achieved with a
computationally faster quadratic method. To improve accuracy, we derive
analytic expressions for handling the integral constraint, since it is crucial
that finite volume effects are accurately corrected for on scales comparable to
the depth of the survey. We also show that for the KL and quadratic techniques,
multiple constraints can be included via simple matrix operations, thereby
rendering the results less sensitive to galactic extinction and mis-estimates
of the radial selection function. We present a data analysis pipeline that we
argue does justice to the increases in both quality and quantity of data that
upcoming redshift surveys will provide. It uses three analysis techniques in
conjunction: a traditional Fourier approach on small scales, a pixelized
quadratic matrix method on large scales and a pixelized KL eigenmode analysis
to probe anisotropic effects such as redshift-space distortions.Comment: Major revisions for clarity. Matches accepted ApJ version. 23 pages,
with 2 figs included. Color figure and links at
http://www.sns.ias.edu/~max/galpower.html (faster from the US), from
http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/~max/galpower.html (faster from Europe) or
from [email protected]
INFLUENCE OF BODY MASS INDEX ON ROWING KINEMATICS
Rowing meets the criteria for weight loss as defined by the American College of Sport Medicine. Little research exists on the influence of body shape on movement kinematics. Even if rowing is a non weight bearing exercise, the body shape may have an influence on rowing motion and joint reactions. This study investigated rowing movement kinematics between normal weight and overweight subjects. Differences were found for hip abduction and adduction angles. This knowledge can help to understand the influence of body weight and body shape on movement kinematics and can help to avoid overloading the joints
Staying in place during times of change in Arctic Alaska: The implications of attachment,alternatives, and buffering
The relationship between stability and change in social-ecological systems has received considerable attention in recent years, including the expectation that significant environmental changes will drive observable consequences for individuals, communities, and populations. Migration, as one example of response to adverse economic or environmental changes, has been observed in many places, including parts of the Far North. In Arctic Alaska, a relative lack of demographic or migratory response to rapid environmental and other changes has been observed. To understand why Arctic Alaska appears different, we draw on the literature on environmentally driven migration, focusing on three mechanisms that could account for the lack of response: attachment, the desire to remain in place, or the inability to relocate successfully; alternatives, ways to achieve similar outcomes through different means; and buffering, the reliance on subsidies or use of reserves to delay impacts. Each explanation has different implications for research and policy, indicating a need to further explore the relative contribution that each makes to a given situation in order to develop more effective responses locally and regionally. Given that the Arctic is on the front lines of climate change, these explanations are likely relevant to the ways changes play out in other parts of the world. Our review also underscores the importance of further attention to the details of social dynamics in climate change impacts and responses
Determination of the Baryon Density from Large Scale Galaxy Redshift Surveys
We estimate the degree to which the baryon density, , can be
determined from the galaxy power spectrum measured from large scale galaxy
redshift surveys, and in particular, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. A high
baryon density will cause wiggles to appear in the power spectrum, which should
be observable at the current epoch. We assume linear theory on scales and do not include the effects of redshift distortions, evolution,
or biasing. With an optimum estimate of to ,
the uncertainties in are roughly 0.07 and 0.016 in flat
and open () cosmological models, respectively. This result
suggests that it should be possible to test for consistency with big bang
nucleosynthesis estimates of if we live in an open universe.Comment: 23 Pages, 10 Postscript figure
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