130 research outputs found
The properties of highly luminous IRAS galaxies
From a complete sample of 154 galaxies identified with IRAS sources in a 304 sq deg area centered on the South Galactic Pole, a subsample of 58 galaxies with L sub IR/L sub B > 3 was chosen. Low resolution spectra were obtained for 30% of the subsample and redshifts and relative emission line intensities were derived. As a class these galaxies are very luminous with = 2.9 x 10 to the 11th power L sub 0 and (L sub IR) max = 1.3 x 10 to the 12th power L sub 0. CCD images and JHK photometry were obtained for many of the subsample. The galaxies are for the most part newly identified and are optically faint, with a majority showing evidence of a recent interaction. Radio continuum observations of all galaxies of the subsample were recently obtained at 20 cm VLA with about 75% being detected in a typical integration time of about 10 minutes
Implementation of PhotoZ under Astro-WISE - A photometric redshift code for large datasets
We describe the implementation of the PhotoZ code in the framework of the
Astro-WISE package and as part of the Photometric Classification Server of the
PanSTARRS pipeline. Both systems allow the automatic measurement of photometric
redshifts for the millions of objects being observed in the PanSTARRS project
or expected to be observed by future surveys like KIDS, DES or EUCLID.Comment: Accepted for publication in topical issue of Experimental Astronomy
on Astro-WISE information system, references update
A Transiting Planet of a Sun-like Star
A planet transits an 11th magnitude, G1V star in the constellation Corona
Borealis. We designate the planet XO-1b, and the star, XO-1, also known as GSC
02041-01657. XO-1 lacks a trigonometric distance; we estimate it to be 200+-20
pc. Of the ten stars currently known to host extrasolar transiting planets, the
star XO-1 is the most similar to the Sun in its physical characteristics: its
radius is 1.0+-0.08 R_Sun, its mass is 1.0+-0.03 M_Sun, V sini < 3 km/s, and
its metallicity [Fe/H] is 0.015+-0.04. The orbital period of the planet XO-1b
is 3.941534+-0.000027 days, one of the longer ones known. The planetary mass is
0.90+-0.07 M_Jupiter, which is marginally larger than that of other transiting
planets with periods between 3 and 4 days. Both the planetary radius and the
inclination are functions of the spectroscopically determined stellar radius.
If the stellar radius is 1.0+-0.08 R_Sun, then the planetary radius is
1.30+-0.11 R_Jupiter and the inclination of the orbit is 87.7+-1.2 degrees. We
have demonstrated a productive international collaboration between professional
and amateur astronomers that was important to distinguishing this planet from
many other similar candidates.Comment: 31 pages, 9 figures, accepted for part 1 of Ap
Ultra-Luminous Supernovae as a New Probe of the Interstellar Medium in Distant Galaxies
We present the Pan-STARRS1 discovery and light curves, and follow-up MMT and
Gemini spectroscopy of an ultra-luminous supernova (ULSN; dubbed PS1-11bam) at
a redshift of z=1.566 with a peak brightness of M_UV=-22.3 mag. PS1-11bam is
one of the highest redshift spectroscopically-confirmed SNe known to date. The
spectrum is characterized by broad absorption features typical of previous
ULSNe (e.g., CII, SiIII), and by strong and narrow MgII and FeII absorption
lines from the interstellar medium (ISM) of the host galaxy, confirmed by an
[OII]3727 emission line at the same redshift. The equivalent widths of the
FeII2600 and MgII2803 lines are in the top quartile of the quasar intervening
absorption system distribution, but are weaker than those of gamma-ray burst
intrinsic absorbers (i.e., GRB host galaxies). We also detect the host galaxy
in pre-explosion Pan-STARRS1 data and find that its UV spectral energy
distribution is best fit with a young stellar population age of tau~15-45 Myr
and a stellar mass of M \sim (1.1-2.6)x10^9 M_sun (for Z=0.05-1 Z_sun). The
star formation rate inferred from the UV continuum and [OII]3727 emission line
is ~10 M_sun/yr, higher than in any previous ULSN host. PS1-11bam provides the
first direct demonstration that ULSNe can serve as probes of the interstellar
medium in distant galaxies. At the present, the depth and red sensitivity of
PS1 are uniquely suited to finding such events at cosmologically interesting
redshifts (z~1-2); the future combination of LSST and 30-m class telescopes
promises to extend this technique to z~4.Comment: Submitted to ApJL; 9 pages; 4 figures; 1 tabl
Physics of Solar Prominences: I - Spectral Diagnostics and Non-LTE Modelling
This review paper outlines background information and covers recent advances
made via the analysis of spectra and images of prominence plasma and the
increased sophistication of non-LTE (ie when there is a departure from Local
Thermodynamic Equilibrium) radiative transfer models. We first describe the
spectral inversion techniques that have been used to infer the plasma
parameters important for the general properties of the prominence plasma in
both its cool core and the hotter prominence-corona transition region. We also
review studies devoted to the observation of bulk motions of the prominence
plasma and to the determination of prominence mass. However, a simple inversion
of spectroscopic data usually fails when the lines become optically thick at
certain wavelengths. Therefore, complex non-LTE models become necessary. We
thus present the basics of non-LTE radiative transfer theory and the associated
multi-level radiative transfer problems. The main results of one- and
two-dimensional models of the prominences and their fine-structures are
presented. We then discuss the energy balance in various prominence models.
Finally, we outline the outstanding observational and theoretical questions,
and the directions for future progress in our understanding of solar
prominences.Comment: 96 pages, 37 figures, Space Science Reviews. Some figures may have a
better resolution in the published version. New version reflects minor
changes brought after proof editin
SN 2009kf : a UV bright type IIP supernova discovered with Pan-STARRS 1 and GALEX
We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of a luminous type IIP
Supernova 2009kf discovered by the Pan-STARRS 1 (PS1) survey and detected also
by GALEX. The SN shows a plateau in its optical and bolometric light curves,
lasting approximately 70 days in the rest frame, with absolute magnitude of M_V
= -18.4 mag. The P-Cygni profiles of hydrogen indicate expansion velocities of
9000km/s at 61 days after discovery which is extremely high for a type IIP SN.
SN 2009kf is also remarkably bright in the near-ultraviolet (NUV) and shows a
slow evolution 10-20 days after optical discovery. The NUV and optical
luminosity at these epochs can be modelled with a black-body with a hot
effective temperature (T ~16,000 K) and a large radius (R ~1x10^{15} cm). The
bright bolometric and NUV luminosity, the lightcurve peak and plateau duration,
the high velocities and temperatures suggest that 2009kf is a type IIP SN
powered by a larger than normal explosion energy. Recently discovered high-z
SNe (0.7 < z < 2.3) have been assumed to be IIn SNe, with the bright UV
luminosities due to the interaction of SN ejecta with a dense circumstellar
medium (CSM). UV bright SNe similar to SN 2009kf could also account for these
high-z events, and its absolute magnitude M_NUV = -21.5 +/- 0.5 mag suggests
such SNe could be discovered out to z ~2.5 in the PS1 survey.Comment: Accepted for publication in APJ
The Pan-STARRS Moving Object Processing System
We describe the Pan-STARRS Moving Object Processing System (MOPS), a modern
software package that produces automatic asteroid discoveries and
identifications from catalogs of transient detections from next-generation
astronomical survey telescopes. MOPS achieves > 99.5% efficiency in producing
orbits from a synthetic but realistic population of asteroids whose
measurements were simulated for a Pan-STARRS4-class telescope. Additionally,
using a non-physical grid population, we demonstrate that MOPS can detect
populations of currently unknown objects such as interstellar asteroids.
MOPS has been adapted successfully to the prototype Pan-STARRS1 telescope
despite differences in expected false detection rates, fill-factor loss and
relatively sparse observing cadence compared to a hypothetical Pan-STARRS4
telescope and survey. MOPS remains >99.5% efficient at detecting objects on a
single night but drops to 80% efficiency at producing orbits for objects
detected on multiple nights. This loss is primarily due to configurable MOPS
processing limits that are not yet tuned for the Pan-STARRS1 mission.
The core MOPS software package is the product of more than 15 person-years of
software development and incorporates countless additional years of effort in
third-party software to perform lower-level functions such as spatial searching
or orbit determination. We describe the high-level design of MOPS and essential
subcomponents, the suitability of MOPS for other survey programs, and suggest a
road map for future MOPS development.Comment: 57 Pages, 26 Figures, 13 Table
An ultraviolet-optical flare from the tidal disruption of a helium-rich stellar core
The flare of radiation from the tidal disruption and accretion of a star can
be used as a marker for supermassive black holes that otherwise lie dormant and
undetected in the centres of distant galaxies. Previous candidate flares have
had declining light curves in good agreement with expectations, but with poor
constraints on the time of disruption and the type of star disrupted, because
the rising emission was not observed. Recently, two `relativistic' candidate
tidal disruption events were discovered, each of whose extreme X-ray luminosity
and synchrotron radio emission were interpreted as the onset of emission from a
relativistic jet. Here we report the discovery of a luminous
ultraviolet-optical flare from the nuclear region of an inactive galaxy at a
redshift of 0.1696. The observed continuum is cooler than expected for a simple
accreting debris disk, but the well-sampled rise and decline of its light curve
follows the predicted mass accretion rate, and can be modelled to determine the
time of disruption to an accuracy of two days. The black hole has a mass of
about 2 million solar masses, modulo a factor dependent on the mass and radius
of the star disrupted. On the basis of the spectroscopic signature of ionized
helium from the unbound debris, we determine that the disrupted star was a
helium-rich stellar core.Comment: To appear in Nature on May 10, 201
The Photometric Classification Server for Pan-STARRS1
The Pan-STARRS1 survey is obtaining multi-epoch imaging in 5 bands (gps rps
ips zps yps) over the entire sky North of declination -30deg. We describe here
the implementation of the Photometric Classification Server (PCS) for
Pan-STARRS1. PCS will allow the automatic classification of objects into
star/galaxy/quasar classes based on colors, the measurement of photometric
redshifts for extragalactic objects, and constrain stellar parameters for
stellar objects, working at the catalog level. We present tests of the system
based on high signal-to-noise photometry derived from the Medium Deep Fields of
Pan-STARRS1, using available spectroscopic surveys as training and/or
verification sets. We show that the Pan-STARRS1 photometry delivers
classifications and photometric redshifts as good as the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey (SDSS) photometry to the same magnitude limits. In particular, our
preliminary results, based on this relatively limited dataset down to the SDSS
spectroscopic limits and therefore potentially improvable, show that stars are
correctly classified as such in 85% of cases, galaxies in 97% and QSOs in 84%.
False positives are less than 1% for galaxies, ~19% for stars and ~28% QSOs.
Moreover, photometric redshifts for 1000 luminous red galaxies up to redshift
0.5 are determined to 2.4% precision with just 0.4% catastrophic outliers and
small (-0.5%) residual bias. PCS will create a value added catalog with
classifications and photometric redshifts for eventually many millions sources.Comment: Replaced with version accepted for publication in Ap
Reduced sensitivity for visual textures affects judgments of shape-from-shading and step climbing behaviour in older adults
Falls on stairs are a major hazard for older adults. Visual decline in normal aging can affect step climbing ability, altering gait and reducing toe clearance. Here we show that a loss of fine-grained visual information associated with age can affect the perception of surface undulations in patterned surfaces. We go on to show that such cues affect the limb trajectories of young adults, but due to their lack of sensitivity, not that of older adults. Interestingly neither the perceived height of a step nor conscious awareness are altered by our visual manipulation but stepping behaviour is: suggesting that the influence of shape perception on stepping behaviour is via the unconscious, action-centred, dorsal visual pathway
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