14 research outputs found
The Planetary Nebula Luminosity Function at the Dawn of Gaia
The [O III] 5007 Planetary Nebula Luminosity Function (PNLF) is an excellent
extragalactic standard candle. In theory, the PNLF method should not work at
all, since the luminosities of the brightest planetary nebulae (PNe) should be
highly sensitive to the age of their host stellar population. Yet the method
appears robust, as it consistently produces < 10% distances to galaxies of all
Hubble types, from the earliest ellipticals to the latest-type spirals and
irregulars. It is therefore uniquely suited for cross-checking the results of
other techniques and finding small offsets between the Population I and
Population II distance ladders. We review the calibration of the method and
show that the zero points provided by Cepheids and the Tip of the Red Giant
Branch are in excellent agreement. We then compare the results of the PNLF with
those from Surface Brightness Fluctuation measurements, and show that, although
both techniques agree in a relative sense, the latter method yields distances
that are ~15% larger than those from the PNLF. We trace this discrepancy back
to the calibration galaxies and argue that, due to a small systematic error
associated with internal reddening, the true distance scale likely falls
between the extremes of the two methods. We also demonstrate how PNLF
measurements in the early-type galaxies that have hosted Type Ia supernovae can
help calibrate the SN Ia maximum magnitude-rate of decline relation. Finally,
we discuss how the results from space missions such as Kepler and Gaia can help
our understanding of the PNLF phenomenon and improve our knowledge of the
physics of local planetary nebulae.Comment: 12 pages, invited review at the conference "The Fundamental Cosmic
Distance Scale: State of the Art and Gaia Perspective", to appear in
Astrophysics and Space Scienc
Magnetic Field Generation in Stars
Enormous progress has been made on observing stellar magnetism in stars from
the main sequence through to compact objects. Recent data have thrown into
sharper relief the vexed question of the origin of stellar magnetic fields,
which remains one of the main unanswered questions in astrophysics. In this
chapter we review recent work in this area of research. In particular, we look
at the fossil field hypothesis which links magnetism in compact stars to
magnetism in main sequence and pre-main sequence stars and we consider why its
feasibility has now been questioned particularly in the context of highly
magnetic white dwarfs. We also review the fossil versus dynamo debate in the
context of neutron stars and the roles played by key physical processes such as
buoyancy, helicity, and superfluid turbulence,in the generation and stability
of neutron star fields.
Independent information on the internal magnetic field of neutron stars will
come from future gravitational wave detections. Thus we maybe at the dawn of a
new era of exciting discoveries in compact star magnetism driven by the opening
of a new, non-electromagnetic observational window.
We also review recent advances in the theory and computation of
magnetohydrodynamic turbulence as it applies to stellar magnetism and dynamo
theory. These advances offer insight into the action of stellar dynamos as well
as processes whichcontrol the diffusive magnetic flux transport in stars.Comment: 41 pages, 7 figures. Invited review chapter on on magnetic field
generation in stars to appear in Space Science Reviews, Springe
A Statistical Study of Galactic SNRs using the PMN Survey
The Parkes-MIT-NRAO (PMN) radio survey has been used to generate a quasi
all-sky study of Galactic Supernova Remnants (SNRs) at a common frequency of
4.85 GHz. We present flux densities estimated for the sample of 110 Southern
Galactic SNRs (up to Dec = - 65 deg.) observed with the Parkes 64-m radio
telescope and an additional sample of 54 from the Northern PMN (up to Dec = +64
deg.) survey undertaken with the Green Bank 43-m (20 SNRs) and 91-m (34 SNRs)
radio telescopes. Out of this total sample of 164 selected SNRs (representing
71% of the 231 known SNRs in the Green catalogue) we consider 138 to provide
reliable estimates of flux density and surface brightness distribution. This
sub-sample represents those SNRs which fall within carefully chosen selection
criteria which minimises the effects of the known problems in establishing
reliable fluxes from the PMN survey data. Our selection criteria are based on a
judicious restriction of source angular size and telescope beam together with
careful evaluation of fluxes on a case by case basis. This gives confidence in
the newly derived PMN fluxes when the selection criteria are respected. We find
a sharp drop off in the flux densities for Galactic SNRs beyond 4 Jy and then a
fairly flat distribution from 5-9 Jy, a slight decline and a further flat
distribution from 9-20 Jy though the numbers of SNR in each Jy bin are low. We
also re-visit the contentious Sigma-D relation to determine a new power law
index for a sub-sample of shell type SNRs which yields beta= -2.2 +/- 0.6. This
new evaluation of the Sigma-D relation, applied to the restricted sample,
provides new distance estimates and their Galactic scale height distribution.
We find a peak in the SNR distribution between 7-11 kpc with most restricted to
+/- 100 pc Galactic scale height.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publishing in Astrophysics and
Space Scienc
Distribution of Interstellar Hydrogen Atoms in the Heliosphere and Backscattered Solar Lyman-α
We review the modern concepts of penetration of interstellar atoms of hydrogen into the heliosphere up to 1 AU. Before entering into the heliosphere the atoms penetrate through the region of the solar wind (SW) interaction with the local interstellar medium (LISM). In the interaction region the atoms can exchange charge with both solar wind and interstellar protons disturbed in the SW/LISM interaction region. Charge exchange results in a disturbance of the pristine interstellar atom flow in the interaction region, and, therefore, the parameters of interstellar gas inside the heliosphere are different from their interstellar values. This makes it more difficult to determine local interstellar parameters from measurements of the interstellar atoms inside the heliosphere, but, on the other side, opens possibilities to study the SW/LISM interaction region remotely. This paper overviews the main physical phenomena and modern models of the SW/LISM interaction and presents a state-of-art 3D kinetic model of the interstellar hydrogen gas inside the heliosphere. The distributions of the gas parameters are compared with the distributions obtained in the context of the classical hot model. Quantitative and qualitative differences are discussed. The state-of-art model is employed to calculate spectra of the backscattered Lyman- α radiation as they would be measured at 1 AU and the zero, first and second moments of the spectra. It is shown that the SW/LISM interaction imprints in the spatial and velocity distribution of the interstellar atoms are revealed in the intensities, line-shifts, and line-widths of the distribution functions. A qualitative comparison of the model results with SOHO/SWAN data are presented