1,323 research outputs found
A Sunyaev-Zel'dovich map of the massive core in the luminous X-ray cluster RXJ1347-1145
We have mapped the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich decrement (hereafter SZ) in the
direction of the most luminous X-ray cluster known to date, RXJ1347-1145, at
z=0.451. This has been achieved with an angular resolution of about 23'' using
the Diabolo photometer running on the IRAM 30 meter radio telescope. We present
here a map of the cluster central region at 2.1mm. The Comptonization parameter
towards the cluster center, \yc=(12.7^{+2.9}_{-3.1})\times 10^{-4},
corresponds to the deepest SZ decrement ever observed. Using the gas density
distribution derived from X-ray data, this measurement implies a gas
temperature \te=16.2 \pm 3.8 keV. The resulting total mass of the cluster is,
under hydrostatic equilibrium, for a corresponding gas fraction .Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
The 3.3 micron emission feature: Map of the galactic disk, 10 deg less than 1 less than 35 deg, - 6 deg less than b less than 6 deg
The 3.3 micron aromatic feature has been detected in the diffuse galactic emission with the AROME balloon-borne instrument. The results are presented in the form of an map of the 3.3 micron feature's intensity. The AROME instrument consists in a Cassegrain telescope with wobbling secondary mirrors and a liquid/solid nitrogen cooled photometer. The instrumental output is modified by the impulse response of the system. So the galactic surface brightness was restored in Fourier space by an inverse optimal filtering. The map of the feature's intensity is presented for a region of galactic coordinates. All the known H II giant molecular cloud complexes are visible in the 3.3 micron feature emission showing a good correlation with the infrared dust emission
An Empirical Decomposition of Near-IR Emission into Galactic and Extragalactic Components
We decompose the COBE/DIRBE observations of the near-IR sky brightness (minus
zodiacal light) into Galactic stellar and interstellar medium (ISM) components
and an extragalactic background. This empirical procedure allows us to estimate
the 4.9 micron cosmic infrared background (CIB) as a function of the CIB
intensity at shorter wavelengths. A weak indication of a rising CIB intensity
at wavelengths > 3.5 micron hints at interesting astrophysics in the CIB
spectrum, or warns that the foreground zodiacal emission may be incompletely
subtracted. Subtraction of only the stellar component from the
zodiacal-light-subtracted all-sky map reveals the clearest 3.5 micron ISM
emission map, which is found to be tightly correlated with the ISM emission at
far-IR wavelengths.Comment: 10 pages. 10 JPEG and PNG figures. Uses emulateapj5.sty. To appear in
2003, ApJ, 585, 000 (March 1, 2003
Observations of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect at high angular resolution towards the galaxy clusters A665, A2163 and CL0016+16
We report on the first observation of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect with the
Diabolo experiment at the IRAM 30 metre telescope. A significant brightness
decrement is detected in the direction of three clusters (Abell 665, Abell 2163
and CL0016+16). With a 30 arcsecond beam and 3 arcminute beamthrow, this is the
highest angular resolution observation to date of the SZ effect.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures, 6 tables, accepted to New Astronom
The Diabolo photometer and the future of ground-based millimetric bolometer devices
The millimetric atmospheric windows at 1 and 2 mm are interesting targets for
cosmological studies. Two broad areas appear leading this field: 1) the search
for high redshift star-forming galaxies and 2) the measurement of
Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect in clusters of galaxies at all redshifts. The
Diabolo photometer is a dual-channel photometer working at 1.2 and 2.1 mm and
dedicated to high angular resolution measurements of the Sunyaev--Zel'dovich
effect towards distant clusters. It uses 2 by 3 bolometers cooled down to 0.1 K
with a compact open dilution cryostat. The high resolution is provided by the
IRAM 30 m telescope. The result of several Winter campaigns are reported here,
including the first millimetric map of the SZ effect that was obtained by
Pointecouteau et al. (2001) on RXJ1347-1145, the non-detection of a millimetric
counterpart to the radio decrement towards PC1643+4631 and 2 mm number count
upper limits. We discuss limitations in ground-based single-dish millimetre
observations, namely sky noise and the number of detectors. We advocate the use
of fully sampled arrays of (100 to 1000) bolometers as a big step forward in
the millimetre continuum science. Efforts in France are briefly mentionned.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of the 2K1BC
``Experimental Astronomy at millimeter wavelengths'', Breuil-Cervinia (AO)
Italy - July 9 - 13, 2001, Eds. M. De Petris et a
Physical conditions in the ISM towards HD185418
We have developed a complete model of the hydrogen molecule as part of the
spectral simulation code Cloudy. Our goal is to apply this to spectra of
high-redshift star-forming regions where H2 absorption is seen, but where few
other details are known, to understand its implication for star formation. The
microphysics of H2 is intricate, and it is important to validate these
numerical simulations in better-understood environments. This paper studies a
well-defined line-of-sight through the Galactic interstellar medium (ISM) as a
test of the microphysics and methods we use. We present a self-consistent
calculation of the observed absorption-line spectrum to derive the physical
conditions in the ISM towards HD185418, a line-of-sight with many observables.
We deduce density, temperature, local radiation field, cosmic ray ionization
rate, chemical composition and compare these conclusions with conditions
deduced from analytical calculations. We find a higher density, similar
abundances, and require a cosmic ray flux enhanced over the Galactic background
value, consistent with enhancements predicted by MHD simulations.Comment: 31 pages, accepted for publication in Ap
The High Frequency Instrument of Planck: Requirements and Design
The Planck satellite is a project of the European Space Agency based on a wide international collaboration, including United States and Canadian laboratories. It is dedicated to the measurement of the anisotropy of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) with unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution. The detectors of its High frequency Instrument (HFI) are bolometers cooled down to 100 mK. Their sensitivity will be limited by the photon noise of the CMB itself at low frequencies, and of the instrument background at high frequencies. The requirements on the measurement chain are directly related to the strategy of observation used for the satellite. Due to the scanning on the sky, time features of the measurement chain are directly transformed into angular features in the sky maps. This impacts the bolometer design as well as other elements: For example, the cooling system must present outstanding temperature stability, and the amplification chain must show, down to very low frequencies, a flat noise spectrum
Use of High Sensitivity Bolometers for Astronomy: Planck High Frequency Instrument
The Planck satellite is dedicated to the measurement of the anisotropy of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) with unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution. It is a
project of the European Space Agency based on a wide international collaboration, including United States and Canadian laboratories. The detectors of its High Frequency Instrument (HFI) are bolometers cooled down to 100 mK. Their sensitivity will be limited by the photon noise of
the CMB itself at low frequencies, and of the instrument background at high frequencies. The requirements on the measurement chain are directly related to the strategy of observation used for the satellite. This impacts the bolometer design as well as other elements: The cooling system must present outstanding temperature stability, and the amplification chain must show a flat noise spectrum down to very low frequencies
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