152 research outputs found
The OGLE View of Microlensing towards the Magellanic Clouds. III. Ruling out sub-solar MACHOs with the OGLE-III LMC data
In the third part of the series presenting the Optical Gravitational Lensing
Experiment (OGLE) microlensing studies of the dark matter halo compact objects
(MACHOs) we describe results of the OGLE-III monitoring of the Large Magellanic
Cloud (LMC). This unprecedented data set contains almost continuous photometric
coverage over 8 years of about 35 million objects spread over 40 square
degrees. We report a detection of two candidate microlensing events found with
the automated pipeline and an additional two, less probable, candidate events
found manually. The optical depth derived for the two main candidates was
calculated following a detailed blending examination and detection efficiency
determination and was found to be tau=(0.16+-0.12)10^-7.
If the microlensing signal we observe originates from MACHOs it means their
masses are around 0.2 M_Sun and they compose only f=3+-2 per cent of the mass
of the Galactic Halo. However, the more likely explanation of our detections
does not involve dark matter compact objects at all and rely on natural effect
of self-lensing of LMC stars by LMC lenses. In such a scenario we can almost
completely rule out MACHOs in the sub-solar mass range with an upper limit at
f<7 per cent reaching its minimum of f<4 per cent at M=0.1 M_Sun. For masses
around M=10 M_Sun the constraints on the MACHOs are more lenient with f ~ 20
per cent. Owing to limitations of the survey there is no reasonable limit found
for heavier masses, leaving only a tiny window of mass spectrum still available
for dark matter compact objects.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. On-line data available on OGLE
website: http://ogle.astrouw.edu.p
Continuum field description of crack propagation
We develop continuum field model for crack propagation in brittle amorphous
solids. The model is represented by equations for elastic displacements
combined with the order parameter equation which accounts for the dynamics of
defects. This model captures all important phenomenology of crack propagation:
crack initiation, propagation, dynamic fracture instability, sound emission,
crack branching and fragmentation.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. Additional
information can be obtained from http://gershwin.msd.anl.gov/theor
Ca II Triplet Spectroscopy of Small Magellanic Cloud Red Giants. I. Abundances and Velocities for a Sample of Clusters
We have obtained near-infrared spectra covering the Ca II triplet lines for a
number of stars associated with 16 SMC clusters using the VLT + FORS2. These
data compose the largest available sample of SMC clusters with
spectroscopically derived abundances and velocities. Our clusters span a wide
range of ages and provide good areal coverage of the galaxy. Cluster members
are selected using a combination of their positions relative to the cluster
center as well as their abundances and radial velocities. We determine mean
cluster velocities to typically 2.7 km/s and metallicities to 0.05 dex (random
errors), from an average of 6.4 members per cluster. (continued in paper)Comment: 68 pages, 15 figures, Accepted to AJ Reason for the replacement:
section 7 and fig. 9 have been modified according referee suggestion
Star Formation History in two fields of the Small Magellanic Cloud Bar
The Bar is the most productive region of the Small Magellanic Cloud in terms
of star formation but also the least studied one. In this paper we investigate
the star formation history of two fields located in the SW and in the NE
portion of the Bar using two independent and well tested procedures applied to
the color-magnitude diagrams of their stellar populations resolved by means of
deep HST photometry. We find that the Bar experienced a negligible star
formation activity in the first few Gyr, followed by a dramatic enhancement
from 6 to 4 Gyr ago and a nearly constant activity since then. The two examined
fields differ both in the rate of star formation and in the ratio of recent
over past activity, but share the very low level of initial activity and its
sudden increase around 5 Gyr ago. The striking similarity between the timing of
the enhancement and the timing of the major episode in the Large Magellanic
Cloud is suggestive of a close encounter triggering star formation.Comment: 30 pages, 22 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
The Proper Motion of the Large Magellanic Cloud using HST
We present a measurement of the systemic proper motion of the Large
Magellanic Cloud (LMC) from astrometry with the High Resolution Camera (HRC) of
the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We
observed LMC fields centered on 21 background QSOs that were discovered from
their optical variability in the MACHO database. The QSOs are distributed
homogeneously behind the central few degrees of the LMC. With 2 epochs of HRC
data and a ~2 year baseline we determine the proper motion of the LMC to better
than 5% accuracy: mu_W = -2.03 +/- 0.08 mas/yr; mu_N = 0.44 +/- 0.05 mas/yr.
This is the most accurate proper motion measurement for any Milky Way satellite
thus far. When combined with HI data from the Magellanic Stream this should
provide new constraints on both the mass distribution of the Galactic Halo and
models of the Stream.Comment: 40 pages, 15 figures, submitted to Ap
Observational Constraints on the Modified Gravity Model (MOG) Proposed by Moffat: Using the Magellanic System
A simple model for the dynamics of the Magellanic Stream (MS), in the
framework of modified gravity models is investigated. We assume that the galaxy
is made up of baryonic matter out of context of dark matter scenario. The model
we used here is named Modified Gravity (MOG) proposed by Moffat (2005). In
order to examine the compatibility of the overall properties of the MS under
the MOG theory, the observational radial velocity profile of the MS is compared
with the numerical results using the fit method. In order to obtain
the best model parameters, a maximum likelihood analysis is performed. We also
compare the results of this model with the Cold Dark Matter (CDM) halo model
and the other alternative gravity model that proposed by Bekenstein (2004), so
called TeVeS. We show that by selecting the appropriate values for the free
parameters, the MOG theory seems to be plausible to explain the dynamics of the
MS as well as the CDM and the TeVeS models.Comment: 14 pages, 3 Figures, accepted in Int. J. Theor. Phy
X-Ray Searches for Emission from the WHIM in the Galactic Halo and the Intergalactic Medium
At least 50% of the baryons in the local universe are undetected and
predicted to be in a hot dilute phase (1E5-1E7 K) in low and moderate
overdensity environments. We searched for the predicted diffuse faint emission
through shadowing observations whereby cool foreground gas absorbs more distant
diffuse emission. Observations were obtained with Chandra and XMM-Newton. Using
the cold gas in two galaxies, NGC 891 and NGC 5907, shadows were not detected
and a newer observation of NGC 891 fails to confirm a previously reported X-ray
shadow. Our upper limits lie above model predictions. For Local Group studies,
we used a cloud in the Magellanic Stream and a compact high velocity cloud to
search for a shadow. Instead of a shadow, the X-ray emission was brighter
towards the Magellanic Stream cloud and there is a less significant brightness
enhancement toward the other cloud also. The brightness enhancement toward the
Magellanic Stream cloud is probably due to an interaction with a hot ambient
medium that surrounds the Milky Way. We suggest that this interaction drives a
shock into the cloud, heating the gas to X-ray emitting temperatures.Comment: 10 ApJ pages with 10 figure
AN ULTRA-FAINT GALAXY CANDIDATE DISCOVERED in EARLY DATA from the MAGELLANIC SATELLITES SURVEY
We report a new ultra-faint stellar system found in Dark Energy Camera data from the first observing run of the Magellanic Satellites Survey (MagLiteS). MagLiteS J0644-5953 (Pictor II or Pic II) is a low surface brightness (μ = 28.5+1 -1 mag arcsec-2 within its half-light radius) resolved overdensity of old and metal-poor stars located at a heliocentric distance of 45+5 -4 kpc. The physical size (r1/2 = 46+15 -11) and low luminosity (Mv = -3.2+0.4 -0.5 mag) of this satellite are consistent with the locus of spectroscopically confirmed ultra-faint galaxies. MagLiteS J0644-5953 (Pic II) is located 11.3+3.1 -0.9 kpc from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), and comparisons with simulation results in the literature suggest that this satellite was likely accreted with the LMC. The close proximity of MagLiteS J0644-5953 (Pic II) to the LMC also makes it the most likely ultra-faint galaxy candidate to still be gravitationally bound to the LMC.Peer reviewe
The total mass of the Large Magellanic Cloud from its perturbation on the Orphan stream
In a companion paper by Koposov et al., RR Lyrae from \textit{Gaia} Data
Release 2 are used to demonstrate that stars in the Orphan stream have velocity
vectors significantly misaligned with the stream track, suggesting that it has
received a large gravitational perturbation from a satellite of the Milky Way.
We argue that such a mismatch cannot arise due to any realistic static Milky
Way potential and then explore the perturbative effects of the Large Magellanic
Cloud (LMC). We find that the LMC can produce precisely the observed
motion-track mismatch and we therefore use the Orphan stream to measure the
mass of the Cloud. We simultaneously fit the Milky Way and LMC potentials and
infer that a total LMC mass of is required to bend the Orphan Stream, showing for
the first time that the LMC has a large and measurable effect on structures
orbiting the Milky Way. This has far-reaching consequences for any technique
which assumes that tracers are orbiting a static Milky Way. Furthermore, we
measure the Milky Way mass within 50 kpc to be
. Finally, we use these results to
predict that, due to the reflex motion of the Milky Way in response to the LMC,
the outskirts of the Milky Way's stellar halo should exhibit a bulk, upwards
motion.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures. Updated to version accepted to MNRAS after
minor revisio
Magnetic Field Structure of the Large Magellanic Cloud from Faraday Rotation Measures of Diffuse Polarized Emission
We present a study of the magnetic field of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC),
carried out using diffuse polarized synchrotron emission data at 1.4 GHz
acquired at the Parkes Radio Telescope and the Australia Telescope Compact
Array. The observed diffuse polarized emission is likely to originate above the
LMC disk on the near side of the galaxy. Consistent negative rotation measures
(RMs) derived from the diffuse emission indicate that the line-of-sight
magnetic field in the LMC's near-side halo is directed coherently away from us.
In combination with RMs of extragalactic sources that lie behind the galaxy, we
show that the LMC's large scale magnetic field is likely to be of quadrupolar
geometry, consistent with the prediction of dynamo theory. On smaller scales,
we identify two brightly polarized filaments southeast of the LMC, associated
with neutral hydrogen arms. The filaments' magnetic field potentially aligns
with the direction towards the Small Magellanic Cloud. We suggest that tidal
interactions between the Small and the Large Magellanic Clouds in the past 10^9
years is likely to have shaped the magnetic field in these filaments.Comment: 42 pages, 22 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ.
Electronic version of Table 2 is available via email from the first autho
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