551 research outputs found
A Catalogue of Field Horizontal Branch Stars Aligned with High Velocity Clouds
We present a catalogue of 430 Field Horizontal Branch (FHB) stars, selected
from the Hamburg/ESO Survey (HES), which fortuitously align with high column
density neutral hydrogen (HI) High-Velocity Cloud (HVC) gas. These stars are
ideal candidates for absorption-line studies of HVCs, attempts at which have
been made for almost 40 years with little success. A parent sample of 8321 HES
FHB stars was used to extract HI spectra along each line-of-sight, using the HI
Parkes All-Sky Survey. All lines-of-sight aligned with high velocity HI
emission with peak brightness temperatures greater than 120mK were examined.
The HI spectra of these 430 probes were visually screened and cross-referenced
with several HVC catalogues. In a forthcoming paper, we report on the results
of high-resolution spectroscopic observations of a sample of stars drawn from
this catalogue.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. ApJS accepted. Full catalogue and all online-only
images available at
http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/cthom/catalogue/index.htm
The Spitzer Space Telescope First-Look Survey: Neutral Hydrogen Emission
The Spitzer Space Telescope (formerly SIRTF) extragalactic First-Look Survey
covered about 5 square degrees centered on J2000 17:18 +59:30 in order to
characterize the infrared sky with high sensitivity. We used the 100-m Green
Bank Telescope to image the 21cm Galactic HI emission over a 3x3 degree field
covering this position with an effective angular resolution of 9.8 arcmin and a
velocity resolution of 0.62 km/s. In the central square degree of the image the
average column density is N(HI) = 2.5 x 10^{20} cm-2 with an rms fluctuation of
0.3 x 10^{20}. The Galactic HI in this region has a very interesting structure.
There is a high-velocity cloud, several intermediate-velocity clouds (one of
which is probably part of the Draco nebula), and narrow-line low velocity
filaments. The HI emission shows a strong and detailed correlation with dust.
Except for the high-velocity cloud, all features in the HI map have
counterparts in an E(B-V) map derived from infrared data. Relatively high
E(B-V)/N(HI) ratios in some directions suggest the presence of molecular gas.
The best diagnostic of such regions is the peak HI line brightness temperature,
not the total N(HI): directions where Tb > 12 K have E(B-V)/N(HI) significantly
above the average value. The data corrected for stray radiation have been
released via the Web.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal, April 2005. 25
pages includes 11 figures. The data and higher resolution figures are
available from http::/www.cv.nrao.edu/fls_gb
Absorption Line Studies in the Halo
Significant progress has been made over the last few years to explore the
gaseous halo of the Milky Way by way of absorption spectroscopy. I review
recent results on absorption line studies in the halo using various
instruments, such as the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer, the Space
Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, and others. The new studies imply that the
infall of low-metallicity gas, the interaction with the Magellanic Clouds, and
the Galactic Fountain are responsible for the phenomenon of the intermediate-
and high-velocity clouds in the halo. New measurements of highly-ionized gas in
the vicinity of the Milky Way indicate that these clouds are embedded in a
corona of hot gas that extends deep into the intergalactic space.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure; Invited review at the conference "How does the
Galaxy work ?", Granada/Spain, June 200
OVI, NV and CIV in the Galactic Halo: II. Velocity-Resolved Observations with Hubble and FUSE
We present a survey of NV and OVI (and where available CIV) in the Galactic
halo, using data from the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) and the
Hubble Space Telescope (HST) along 34 sightlines. These ions are usually
produced in nonequilibrium processes such as shocks, evaporative interfaces, or
rapidly cooling gas, and thus trace the dynamics of the interstellar medium.
Searching for global trends in integrated and velocity-resolved column density
ratios, we find large variations in most measures, with some evidence for a
systematic trend of higher ionization (lower NV/OVI column density ratio) at
larger positive line-of-sight velocities. The slopes of log[N(NV)/N(OVI)] per
unit velocity range from -0.015 to +0.005, with a mean of
-0.0032+/-0.0022(r)+/-0.0014(sys) dex/(km/s). We compare this dataset with
models of velocity-resolved high-ion signatures of several common physical
structures. The dispersion of the ratios, OVI/NV/CIV, supports the growing
belief that no single model can account for hot halo gas, and in fact some
models predict much stronger trends than are observed. It is important to
understand the signatures of different physical structures to interpret
specific lines of sight and future global surveys.Comment: ApJ in press 43 pages, 22 fig
High Velocity Cloud Complex H: A Satellite of the Milky Way in a Retrograde Orbit?
Observations with the Green Bank Telescope of 21cm HI emission from the
high-velocity cloud Complex H suggest that it is interacting with the Milky
Way. A model in which the cloud is a satellite of the Galaxy in an inclined,
retrograde circular orbit reproduces both the cloud's average velocity and its
velocity gradient with latitude. The model places Complex H at approximately 33
kpc from the Galactic Center on a retrograde orbit inclined about 45 degrees to
the Galactic plane. At this location it has an HI mass > 6 10^6 Msun and
dimensions of at least 10 by 5 kpc. Some of the diffuse HI associated with the
cloud has apparently been decelerated by interaction with Galactic gas. Complex
H has similarities to the dwarf irregular galaxy Leo A and to some compact
high-velocity clouds, and has an internal structure nearly identical to parts
of the Magellanic Stream, with a pressure P/k about 100 cm^{-3} K.Comment: 12 pages includes 4 figures. To be published in Astrophysical Journal
Letters, 1 July 200
Under stochastic dominance Choquet-expected utility and anticipated utility are identical
The aim of this paper is to convince the reader that Choquet-expected utility, as initiated by Schmeidler (1982, 1989) for decision making under uncertainty, when formulated for decision making under risk naturally leads to anticipated utility, as initiated by Quiggin/Yaari. Thus the two generalizations of expected utility in fact are one
The GALFA-HI Compact Cloud Catalog
We present a catalog of 1964 isolated, compact neutral hydrogen clouds from
the Galactic Arecibo L-Band Feed Array Survey Data Release One (GALFA-HI DR1).
The clouds were identified by a custom machine-vision algorithm utilizing
Difference of Gaussian kernels to search for clouds smaller than 20'. The
clouds have velocities typically between |VLSR| = 20-400 km/s, linewidths of
2.5-35 km/s, and column densities ranging from 1 - 35 x 10^18 cm^-2. The
distances to the clouds in this catalog may cover several orders of magnitude,
so the masses may range from less than a Solar mass for clouds within the
Galactic disc, to greater than 10^4 Solar Masses for HVCs at the tip of the
Magellanic Stream. To search for trends, we separate the catalog into five
populations based on position, velocity, and linewidth: high velocity clouds
(HVCs); galaxy candidates; cold low velocity clouds (LVCs); warm, low
positive-velocity clouds in the third Galactic Quadrant; and the remaining warm
LVCs. The observed HVCs are found to be associated with previously-identified
HVC complexes. We do not observe a large population of isolated clouds at high
velocities as some models predict. We see evidence for distinct histories at
low velocities in detecting populations of clouds corotating with the Galactic
disc and a set of clouds that is not corotating.Comment: 34 Pages, 9 Figures, published in ApJ (2012, ApJ, 758, 44), this
version has the corrected fluxes and corresponding flux histogram and masse
An axiomatization of cumulative prospect theory
This paper presents a method for axiomatizing a variety of models for decision making under uncertainty, including Expected Utility and Cumulative Prospect Theory. This method identifies, for each model, the situations that permit consistent inferences about the ordering of value differences. Examples of rankdependent and sign-dependent preference patterns are used to motivate the models and the tradeoff consistency axioms that characterize them. The major properties of the value function in Cumulative Prospect Theory—diminishing sensitivity and loss aversion—are contrasted with the principle of diminishing marginal utility that is commonly assumed in Expected Utility
Reconstructing Deconstruction: High-Velocity Cloud Distance Through Disruption Morphology
We present Arecibo L-band Feed Array 21-cm observations of a sub-complex of
HVCs at the tip of the Anti-Center Complex. These observations show
morphological details that point to interaction with the ambient halo medium
and differential drag within the cloud sub-complex. We develop a new technique
for measuring cloud distances, which relies upon these observed morphological
and kinematic characteristics, and show that it is consistent with H-alpha
distances. These results are consistent with distances to HVCs and halo
densities derived from models in which HVCs are formed from cooling halo gas.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabe, Accepted to Ap
Ongoing Galactic Accretion: Simulations and Observations of Condensed Gas in Hot Halos
Ongoing accretion onto galactic disks has been recently theorized to progress
via the unstable cooling of the baryonic halo into condensed clouds. These
clouds have been identified as analogous to the High-Velocity Clouds (HVCs)
observed in HI in our Galaxy. Here we compare the distribution of HVCs observed
around our own Galaxy and extra-planar gas around the Andromeda galaxy to these
possible HVC analogs in a simulation of galaxy formation that naturally
generates these condensed clouds. We find a very good correspondence between
these observations and the simulation, in terms of number, angular size,
velocity distribution, overall flux and flux distribution of the clouds. We
show that condensed cloud accretion only accounts for ~ 0.2 M_solar / year of
the current overall Galactic accretion in the simulations. We also find that
the simulated halo clouds accelerate and become more massive as they fall
toward the disk. The parameter space of the simulated clouds is consistent with
all of the observed HVC complexes that have distance constraints, except the
Magellanic Stream which is known to have a different origin. We also find that
nearly half of these simulated halo clouds would be indistinguishable from
lower-velocity gas and that this effect is strongest further from the disk of
the galaxy, thus indicating a possible missing population of HVCs. These
results indicate that the majority of HVCs are consistent with being infalling,
condensed clouds that are a remnant of Galaxy formation.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, ApJ Accepted. Some changes to techniqu
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