111 research outputs found
Proper Motion of Water Masers Associated with IRAS 21391+5802: Bipolar Outflow and an AU-Scale Dusty Circumstellar Shell
We present VLBA observations of water maser emission associated with the
star-forming region IRAS 21391+5802, which is embedded in a bright rimmed
cometary globule in IC1396. The angular resolution of the maps is about 0.8
mas, corresponding to a spatial resolution of about 0.6 AU, at an estimated
distance of 750 pc. Proper motions are derived for 10 maser features identified
consistently over three epochs, which were separated by intervals of about one
month. The masers appear in four groups, which are aligned linearly on the sky,
roughly along a northeast-southwest direction, with a total separation of about
520 AU (about 0.7 arcseconds). The 3-D velocities of the masers have a maximum
value of about 42 km/s (about 9 AU/yr). The average error on the derived proper
motions is about 4 km/s. The overall pattern of proper motions is indicative of
a bipolar outflow. Proper motions of the masers in a central cluster, with a
projected extent of about 20 AU, show systematic deviations from a radial
outflow. However, we find no evidence of Keplerian rotation, as has been
claimed elsewhere. A nearly circular loop of masers lies near the middle of the
cluster. The radius of this loop is 1 AU and the line-of-sight velocities of
the masers in the loop are within 2 km/s of the systemic velocity of the
region. These masers presumably exist at the radial distance where significant
dust condensation occurs in the outflow emanating from the star.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journal. Version 2.12.00: Astrometric coordinates of maser revise
X-ray Luminosity and Absorption Column Fluctuations in the H2O Maser Galaxy NGC 4258 from Weeks to Years
We report monitoring of the 0.3-10 keV spectrum of NGC4258 with XMM over 1.5
years.We als o report reprocessing of an overlapping series of archival Chandra
observations. By including earlier ASCA and SAX observations, we present a new,
nine-year time series of models fit to the X-ray spectrum of NGC4258. Over the
nine years, the photoelectric absorbing column (~10^23 cm^-2) did not vary
detectably, except for a ~40% drop between two ASCA epochs separated by 3 years
and a ~60% rise between two XMM epochs separated by just 5 months. In contrast,
factor of 2-3 changes are seen in absorbed flux on the timescale of years.
These are uncorrelated with changes in absorbing column and indicative of
central engine variability. The most rapid change in luminosity (5-10 keV) that
we detect is ~30% over 19 days. The warped disk, a known source of H2O maser
emission in NGC4258, is believed to cross the line of sight to the central
engine. We propose that the variations in absorbing column arise from
inhomogeneities sweeping across the line of sight in the rotating disk at the
radius where the disk crosses the line of sight. We estimate that the
inhomogeneities are ~10^15 cm in size at the crossing radius of 0.29 pc,
slightly smaller than the expected scale height of the disk. This result thus
provides strong evidence that the warped accretion disk is the absorber. This
is the first direct confirmation that obscuration in type-2 AGN may, in some
cases, arise in thin, warped accretion disks, rather than in geometrically
thick tori. We do not detect Fe Kalpha line emission in any of our XMM spectra.
We do not observe evidence of absorption lines in the XMM or reprocessed
Chandra data.Comment: 36 pages,14 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
A Binary Millisecond Pulsar in Globular Cluster NGC6544
We report the detection of a new 3.06 ms binary pulsar in the globular
cluster NGC6544 using a Fourier-domain ``acceleration'' search. With an implied
companion mass of ~0.01 solar masses and an orbital period of only P_b~1.7
hours, it displays very similar orbital properties to many pulsars which are
eclipsed by their companion winds. The orbital period is the second shortest of
known binary pulsars after 47 Tuc R. The measured flux density of 1.3 +/- 0.4
mJy at 1332 MHz indicates that the pulsar is almost certainly the known
steep-spectrum point source near the core of NGC6544.Comment: Accepted by ApJ Letters on 11 October 2000, 5 page
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A Search for H 2 O Maser Emission in Southern Active Galactic Nuclei and Star‐forming Galaxies: Discovery of a Maser in the Edge‐on Galaxy IRAS F01063?8034
We report the cumulative results of five surveys for H2O maser emission at 1.35 cm wavelength in 131 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and star-forming galaxies, conducted at the Parkes Observatory between 1993 and 1998. We detected one new maser, in the edge-on galaxy IRAS F01063-8034, which exhibits a single, ∼ 0.1 Jy spectral feature at 4282 ± 6 km s−1 (heliocentric) with an unusually large 54 ±16 km s−1 half-power full width. The centroid velocity of the emission increased to 4319.6 ±0.6 km s−1 (38 ±2 km s−1 width) over the 13 days between discovery and confirmation of the detection. A similarly broad linewidth and large change in velocity has been noted for the maser in NGC 1052, wherein jet activity excites the emission. Neither optical spectroscopy, radio-infrared correlations, nor infrared colors provide compelling evidence of unusual activity in the nucleus of IRAS F01063-8034. Since the galaxy appears to be outwardly normal at optical and infrared wavelengths, detection of an H2O maser therein is unique. The maser emission is evidence that the galaxy harbors an AGN that is probably obscured by the edge-on galactic disk. The detection highlights the possibility that undetected AGNs could be hidden in other relatively nearby galaxies. No other maser emission features have been identified at velocities between 3084 km s−1 and 6181 km s−1.AstronomyPhysic
Dynamical Measurements of Black Hole Masses in Four Brightest Cluster Galaxies at 100 Mpc
We present stellar kinematics and orbit superposition models for the central
regions of four Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs), based upon integral-field
spectroscopy at Gemini, Keck, and McDonald Observatories. Our integral-field
data span radii from < 100 pc to tens of kpc. We report black hole masses,
M_BH, of 2.1 +/- 1.6 x 10^10 M_Sun for NGC 4889, 9.7 + 3.0 - 2.6 x 10^9 M_Sun
for NGC 3842, and 1.3 + 0.5 - 0.4 x 10^9 M_Sun for NGC 7768. For NGC 2832 we
report an upper limit of M_BH < 9 x 10^9 M_Sun. Stellar orbits near the center
of each galaxy are tangentially biased, on comparable spatial scales to the
galaxies' photometric cores. We find possible photometric and kinematic
evidence for an eccentric torus of stars in NGC 4889, with a radius of nearly 1
kpc. We compare our measurements of M_BH to the predicted black hole masses
from various fits to the relations between M_BH and stellar velocity
dispersion, luminosity, or stellar mass. The black holes in NGC 4889 and NGC
3842 are significantly more massive than all dispersion-based predictions and
most luminosity-based predictions. The black hole in NGC 7768 is consistent
with a broader range of predictions.Comment: 24 pages, 18 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
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A Warped Accretion Disk and Wide‐Angle Outflow in the Inner Parsec of the Circinus Galaxy
We present the first VLBI maps of H2O maser emission (λ1.3 cm) in the nucleus of the Circinus Galaxy, constructed from data obtained with the Australia Telescope Long Baseline Array. The maser emission traces a warped, edge-on accretion disk between radii of 0.11 ± 0.02 and ∼ 0.40 pc, as well as a wide-angle outflow that extends up to ∼ 1 pc from the estimated disk center. The disk rotation is close to Keplerian (v ∝ r −0.5), the maximum detected rotation speed is 260 km s−1, and the inferred central mass is 1.7 ± 0.3 × 106 M⊙. The outflowing masers are irregularly distributed above and below the disk, with relative outflow velocities up to ∼ ±160 km s−1 , projected along the line of sight. The flow probably originates closer than 0.1 pc to the central engine, possibly in an inward extension of the accretion disk, though there is only weak evidence of rotation in the outward moving material. We observe that the warp of the disk appears to collimate the outflow and to fix the extent of the ionization cone observed on larger angular scales. This study provides the first direct evidence (i.e., through imaging) of dusty, high-density, molecular material in a nuclear outflow < 1 pc from the central engine of a Seyfert galaxy, as well as the first graphic evidence that warped accretion disks can channel outflows and illumination patterns in AGN. We speculate that the same arrangement, which in some ways obviates the need for a geometrically thick, dusty torus, may apply to other type-2 AGN.AstronomyPhysic
Behavioural Correlate of Choice Confidence in a Discrete Trial Paradigm
How animals make choices in a changing and often uncertain environment is a central theme in the behavioural sciences. There is a substantial literature on how animals make choices in various experimental paradigms but less is known about the way they assess a choice after it has been made in terms of the expected outcome. Here, we used a discrete trial paradigm to characterise how the reward history shaped the behaviour on a trial by trial basis. Rats initiated each trial which consisted of a choice between two drinking spouts that differed in their probability of delivering a sucrose solution. Critically, sucrose was delivered after a delay from the first lick at the spouts – this allowed us to characterise the behavioural profile during the window between the time of choice and its outcome. Rats' behaviour converged to optimum choice, both during the acquisition phase and after the reversal of contingencies. We monitored the post-choice behaviour at a temporal precision of 1 millisecond; lick-response profiles revealed that rats spent more time at the spout with the higher reward probability and exhibited a sparser lick pattern. This was the case when we exclusively examined the unrewarded trials, where the outcome was identical. The differential licking profiles preceded the differential choice ratios and could thus predict the changes in choice behaviour
Sport, genetics and the `natural athlete': The resurgence of racial science
This article explores the ethical implications of recent discussions that naturalize the relationship between race, the body and sport within the frame of genetic science. Many suggestions of a racially distributed genetic basis for athletic ability and performance are strategically posited as a resounding critique of the `politically correct' meta-narratives of established sociological and anthropological forms of explanation that emphasize the social and cultural construction of race. I argue that this use of genetic science in order to describe and explain common-sense impressions of racial physiology and sporting ability is founded on erroneous premises of objectivity and disinterest, and inflates the analytical efficacy of scientific truth claims. I suggest that assertions of a value-free science of racial athletic ability reify race as inherited permanent biological characteristics that produce social hierarchies and are more characteristic of a longer history of `racial science'
The Effect of Childhood Education on Old Age Cognitive Abilities: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design
Challenging Incommensurability: What We Can Learn from Ludwik Fleck for the Analysis of Configurational Innovation
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