827 research outputs found
X-ray Flares of EV Lac: Statistics, Spectra, Diagnostics
We study the spectral and temporal behavior of X-ray flares from the active
M-dwarf EV Lac in 200 ks of exposure with the Chandra/HETGS. We derive flare
parameters by fitting an empirical function which characterizes the amplitude,
shape, and scale. The flares range from very short (<1 ks) to long (10 ks)
duration events with a range of shapes and amplitudes for all durations. We
extract spectra for composite flares to study their mean evolution and to
compare flares of different lengths. Evolution of spectral features in the
density-temperature plane shows probable sustained heating. The short flares
are significantly hotter than the longer flares. We determined an upper limit
to the Fe K fluorescent flux, the best fit value being close to what is
expected for compact loops.Comment: 9 pages; 9 figures; latex/emulateapj style; Submitted to The
Astrophysical Journa
Thermodynamics of C incorporation on Si(100) from ab initio calculations
We study the thermodynamics of C incorporation on Si(100), a system where
strain and chemical effects are both important. Our analysis is based on
first-principles atomistic calculations to obtain the important lowest energy
structures, and a classical effective Hamiltonian which is employed to
represent the long-range strain effects and incorporate the thermodynamic
aspects. We determine the equilibrium phase diagram in temperature and C
chemical potential, which allows us to predict the mesoscopic structure of the
system that should be observed under experimentally relevant conditions.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
325 MHz VLA Observations of Ultracool Dwarfs TVLM 513-46546 and 2MASS J0036+1821104
We present 325 MHz (90 cm wavelength) radio observations of ultracool dwarfs
TVLM 513-46546 and 2MASS J0036+1821104 using the Very Large Array (VLA) in June
2007. Ultracool dwarfs are expected to be undetectable at radio frequencies,
yet observations at 8.5 GHz (3.5 cm) and 4.9 GHz (6 cm) of have revealed
sources with > 100 {\mu}Jy quiescent radio flux and > 1 mJy pulses coincident
with stellar rotation. The anomalous emission is likely a combination of
gyrosynchrotron and cyclotron maser processes in a long-duration, large-scale
magnetic field. Since the characteristic frequency for each process scales
directly with the magnetic field magnitude, emission at lower frequencies may
be detectable from regions with weaker field strength. We detect no significant
radio emission at 325 MHz from TVLM 513-46546 or 2MASS J0036+1821104 over
multiple stellar rotations, establishing 2.5{\sigma} total flux limits of 795
{\mu}Jy and 942 {\mu}Jy respectively. Analysis of an archival VLA 1.4 GHz
observation of 2MASS J0036+1821104 from January 2005 also yields a
non-detection at the level of < 130 {\mu}Jy . The combined radio observation
history (0.3 GHz to 8.5 GHz) for these sources suggests a continuum emission
spectrum for ultracool dwarfs which is either flat or inverted below 2-3 GHz.
Further, if the cyclotron maser instability is responsible for the pulsed radio
emission observed on some ultracool dwarfs, our low-frequency non-detections
suggest that the active region responsible for the high-frequency bursts is
confined within 2 stellar radii and driven by electron beams with energies less
than 5 keV.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, submitted to A
Discovery of Radio Emission from the Tight M8 Binary: LP 349-25
We present radio observations of 8 ultracool dwarfs with a narrow spectral
type range (M8-M9.5) using the Very Large Array at 8.5 GHz. Only the tight M8
binary LP 349-25 was detected. LP 349-25 is the tenth ultracool dwarf system
detected in radio and its trigonometric parallax pi = 67.6 mas, recently
measured by Gatewood et al., makes it the furthest ultracool system detected by
the Very Large Array to date, and the most radio-luminous outside of obvious
flaring activity or variability. With a separation of only 1.8 AU, masses of
the components of LP 349-25 can be measured precisely without any theoretical
assumptions (Forveille et al.), allowing us to clarify their fully-convective
status and hence the kind of magnetic dynamo in these components which may play
an important role to explain our detection of radio emission from these
objects. This also makes LP 349-25 an excellent target for further studies with
better constraints on the correlations between X-ray, radio emission and
stellar parameters such as mass, age, temperature, and luminosity in ultracool
dwarfs.Comment: accepted by ApJ, referee's comments included, typo in equation 1
correcte
The economic cost of weeds in dryland cotton production systems of Australia
Economic losses and costs associated with weeds in dryland cotton production are important, both for growers and for industry bodies when making decisions about research priorities and research and development funding. A survey was conducted to provide information on weed types, control strategies and estimated costs to growers. We used information from the survey to estimate conventional financial losses due to weeds, and as a basis for evaluating aggregate economic (society) impacts. An economic surplus model was used to estimate the aggregate societal impact of weeds for three production regions in north-eastern Australia. The annual economic costs associated with weeds were estimated to be 25 million. While these are past (sunk) costs, and based on a total removal of weeds, the approach outlined here can be used to begin evaluating likely future returns from technologies or management improvements for different agricultural problems.Weeds, Dryland Cotton, and Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy,
VLA multifrequency observations of RS CVn binaries
We present multiepoch Very Large Array (VLA) observations at 1.4 GHz, 4.9
GHz, 8.5 GHz and 14.9 GHz for a sample of eight RS CVn binary systems. Circular
polarization measurements of these systems are also reported. Most of the
fluxes observed are consistent with incoherent emission from mildly
relativistic electrons. Several systems show an increase of the degree of
circular polarization with increasing frequency in the optically thin regime,
in conflict with predictions by gyrosynchrotron models. We observed a reversal
in the sense of circular polarization with increasing frequency in three
non-eclipsing systems: EI Eri, DM Uma and HD 8358. We find clear evidence for
coherent plasma emission at 1.4 GHz in the quiescent spectrum of HD 8358 during
the helicity reversal. The degrees of polarization of the other two systems
could also be accounted for by a coherent emission process. The observations of
ER Vul revealed two U-shaped flux spectra at the highest frequencies. The
U-shape of the spectra may be accounted for by an optically thin
gyrosynchrotron source for the low frequency part whereas the high frequency
part is dominated by a thermal emission component.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, LaTeX, uses aa.cls. Accepted for publication in
A&
The Search for Signatures Of Transient Mass Loss in Active Stars
The habitability of an exoplanet depends on many factors. One such factor is
the impact of stellar eruptive events on nearby exoplanets. Currently this is
poorly constrained due to heavy reliance on solar scaling relationships and a
lack of experimental evidence. Potential impacts of Coronal Mass Ejections
(CMEs), which are a large eruption of magnetic field and plasma from a star,
are space weather and atmospheric stripping. A method for observing CMEs as
they travel though the stellar atmosphere is the type II radio burst, and the
new LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) provides a means for detection. We report on 15
hours of observation of YZ Canis Minoris (YZ CMi), a nearby M dwarf flare star,
taken in LOFAR's beam-formed observation mode for the purposes of measuring
transient frequency-dependent low frequency radio emission. The observations
utilized Low-Band Antenna (10-90 MHz) or High-Band Antenna (110-190 MHz) for
five three-hour observation periods. In this data set, there were no confirmed
type II events in this frequency range. We explore the range of parameter space
for type II bursts constrained by our observations Assuming the rate of shocks
is a lower limit to the rate at which CMEs occur, no detections in a total of
15 hours of observation places a limit of shocks/hr for YZ CMi due to the stochastic nature of the events and
limits of observational sensitivity. We propose a methodology to interpret
jointly observed flares and CMEs which will provide greater constraints to CMEs
and test the applicability of solar scaling relations
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