50 research outputs found
Medium-resolution echelle spectroscopy of pulsating variables and exoplanet host stars with sub-meter telescopes
Here we present two of our interesting results obtained over the last 18
months from spectroscopic monitoring of binary pulsating stars and exoplanet
host stars. Our investigations are very promising by demonstrating that modern
fiber-fed spectrographs open a whole new chapter in the life of small national
and university observatories.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures. To be published in the proceedings of the
workshop on "Observing techniques, instrumentation and science for
metre-class telescopes", Sep. 2013, Tatranska Lomnica, Slovaki
Discovery of the spectroscopic binary nature of the classical Cepheids FN Aql and V1344 Aql
We present the analysis of photometric and spectroscopic data of two
classical Cepheids, FN Aquilae and V1344 Aquilae. Based on the joint treatment
of the new and earlier radial velocity data, both Galactic Cepheids have been
found to be a member in a spectroscopic binary system.
To match the phases of the earlier radial velocity data correctly with the
new ones, we also determined the temporal behaviour of the pulsation period of
these Cepheids based on all available photometric data. The O-C graph covering
about half century shows slight changes in the pulsation period due to stellar
evolution for both Cepheids.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, 7 tables, accepted for publishing in the MNRA
Affordable spectroscopy for 1m-class telescopes: recent developments and applications
Doppler observations of exoplanet systems have been a very expensive technique, mainly due to the high costs of high-resolution stable spectrographs. Recent advances in instrumentation enable affordable Doppler planet detections with surprisingly small optical telescopes. We investigate the possibility of measuring Doppler reflex motion of planet hosting stars with small-aperture telescopes that have traditionally been neglected for this kind of studies. After thoroughly testing the recently developed and commercially available Shelyak eShel echelle spectrograph, we demonstrated that it is routinely possible to achieve velocity precision at the 100 m s(-1) level, reaching down to +/- 50 m s(-1) for the best cases. We describe our off-the-shelf instrumentation, including a new 0.5m RC telescope at the Gothard Astrophysical Observatory of Lorand Eotvos University equipped with an intermediate resolution fiber-fed echelle spectrograph. We present some follow-up radial velocity measurements of planet hosting stars and point out that updating the orbital solution of Doppler-planets is a very important task that can be fulfilled with sub-meter sized optical telescopes without requesting very expensive telescope times on 2-4 m (or larger) class telescopes
Headcase is a Repressor of Lamellocyte Fate in Drosophila melanogaster
Due to the evolutionary conservation of the regulation of hematopoiesis, Drosophila provides an excellent model organism to study blood cell differentiation and hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) maintenance. The larvae of Drosophila melanogaster respond to immune induction with the production of special effector blood cells, the lamellocytes, which encapsulate and subsequently kill the invader. Lamellocytes differentiate as a result of a concerted action of all three hematopoietic compartments of the larva: the lymph gland, the circulating hemocytes, and the sessile tissue. Within the lymph gland, the communication of the functional zones, the maintenance of HSC fate, and the differentiation of effector blood cells are regulated by a complex network of signaling pathways. Applying gene conversion, mutational analysis, and a candidate based genetic interaction screen, we investigated the role of Headcase (Hdc), the homolog of the tumor suppressor HECA in the hematopoiesis of Drosophila. We found that naive loss-of-function hdc mutant larvae produce lamellocytes, showing that Hdc has a repressive role in effector blood cell differentiation. We demonstrate that hdc genetically interacts with the Hedgehog and the Decapentaplegic pathways in the hematopoietic niche of the lymph gland. By adding further details to the model of blood cell fate regulation in the lymph gland of the larva, our findings contribute to the better understanding of HSC maintenance
High field level crossing studies on spin dimers in the low dimensional quantum spin system NaT(CO)(HO) with T=Ni,Co,Fe,Mn
In this paper we demonstrate the application of high magnetic fields to study
the magnetic properties of low dimensional spin systems. We present a case
study on the series of 2-leg spin-ladder compounds
NaT(CO)(HO) with T = Ni, Co, Fe and Mn. In all
compounds the transition metal is in the high spin configuation. The
localized spin varies from S=1 to 3/2, 2 and 5/2 within this series. The
magnetic properties were examined experimentally by magnetic susceptibility,
pulsed high field magnetization and specific heat measurements. The data are
analysed using a spin hamiltonian description. Although the transition metal
ions form structurally a 2-leg ladder, an isolated dimer model consistently
describes the observations very well. This behaviour can be understood in terms
of the different coordination and superexchange angles of the oxalate ligands
along the rungs and legs of the 2-leg spin ladder. All compounds exhibit
magnetic field driven ground state changes which at very low temperatures lead
to a multistep behaviour in the magnetization curves. In the Co and Fe
compounds a strong axial anisotropy induced by the orbital magnetism leads to a
nearly degenerate ground state and a strongly reduced critical field. We find a
monotonous decrease of the intradimer magnetic exchange if the spin quantum
number is increased
New Herbig-Haro Objects and Giant Outflows in Orion
We present the results of a photographic and CCD imaging survey for
Herbig-Haro (HH) objects in the L1630 and L1641 giant molecular clouds in
Orion. The new HH flows were initially identified from a deep H-alpha film from
the recently commissioned AAO/UKST H-alpha Survey of the southern sky. Our
scanned H-alpha and broad band R images highlight both the improved resolution
of the H-alpha survey and the excellent contrast of the H-alpha flux with
respect to the broad band R. Comparative IVN survey images allow us to
distinguish between emission and reflection nebulosity. Our CCD H-alpha, [SII],
continuum and I band images confirm the presence of a parsec-scale HH flow
associated with the Ori I-2 cometary globule and several parsec-scale strings
of HH emission centred on the L1641-N infrared cluster. Several smaller
outflows display one-sided jets. Our results indicate that for declinations
south of -6 degrees in L1641, parsec-scale flows appear to be the major force
in the large-scale movement of optical dust and molecular gas.Comment: 14 pages, Latex using MN style, 21 figures in JPEG format. Higher
resolution figures available from S.L. Mader. Accepted by MNRAS. Email
contact for higher resolution images: [email protected]
Origin and ascent history of unusually crystal-rich alkaline basaltic magmas from the western Pannonian Basin
The last eruptions of the monogenetic Bakony-Balaton Highland Volcanic Field
(western Pannonian Basin, Hungary) produced unusually crystal- and xenolith-rich
alkaline basalts which are unique among the alkaline basalts of the Carpathian-
Pannonian Region. Similar alkaline basalts are only rarely known in other volcanic
fields of the world. These special basaltic magmas fed the eruptions of two closely
located volcanic centres: the Bondoró-hegy and the Füzes-tó scoria cone. Their
uncommon enrichment in diverse crystals produced unique rock textures and modified
original magma compositions (13.1-14.2 wt.% MgO, 459-657 ppm Cr, 455-564 ppm Ni
contents).
Detailed mineral-scale textural and chemical analyses revealed that the Bondoró-hegy
and Füzes-tó alkaline basaltic magmas have a complex ascent history, and that most
of their minerals (~30 vol.% of the rocks) represent foreign crystals derived from
different levels of the underlying lithosphere. The most abundant xenocrysts, olivine,
orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and spinel, were incorporated from different regions and
rock types of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle. Megacrysts of clinopyroxene and
spinel could have originated from pegmatitic veins / sills which probably represent
magmas crystallized near the crust-mantle boundary. Green clinopyroxene xenocrysts
could have been derived from lower crustal mafic granulites. Minerals that crystallized
in situ from the alkaline basaltic melts (olivine with Cr-spinel inclusions, clinopyroxene,
plagioclase, Fe-Ti oxides) are only represented by microphenocrysts and overgrowths
on the foreign crystals. The vast amount of peridotitic (most common) and mafic
granulitic materials indicates a highly effective interaction between the ascending
magmas and wall rocks at lithospheric mantle and lower crustal levels. However,
fragments from the middle and upper crust are absent from the studied basalts,
suggesting a change in the style (and possibly rate) of magma ascent in the crust.
These xenocryst- and xenolith-rich basalts yield divers tools for estimating magma
ascent rate that is important for hazard forecasting in monogenetic volcanic fields.
According to the estimated ascent rates, the Bondoró-hegy and Füzes-tó alkaline
basaltic magmas could have reached the surface within hours to few days, similarly to
the estimates for other eruptive centres in the Pannonian Basin which were fed by
"normal" (crystal- and xenolith-poor) alkaline basalts
HD 183648: a Kepler eclipsing binary with anomalous ellipsoidal variations and a pulsating component
KIC 8560861 (HD 183648) is a marginally eccentric (e = 0.05) eclipsing binary with an orbital period of P_(orb) = 31.973 d, exhibiting mmag amplitude pulsations on time-scales of a few days. We present the results of the complex analysis of high- and medium-resolution spectroscopic data and Kepler Q0 – Q16 long cadence photometry. The iterative combination of spectral disentangling, atmospheric analysis, radial velocity and eclipse timing variation studies, separation of pulsational features of the light curve, and binary light curve analysis led to the accurate determination of the fundamental stellar parameters. We found that the binary is composed of two main-sequence stars with an age of 0.9 ± 0.2 Gyr, having masses, radii and temperatures of M_1 = 1.93 ± 0.12 M_⊙, R_1 = 3.30 ± 0.07 R_⊙, T_(eff1) = 7650 ± 100 K for the primary, and M_2 = 1.06 ± 0.08 M_⊙, R_2 = 1.11 ± 0.03 R_⊙, T_(eff2) = 6450 ± 100 K for the secondary. After substracting the binary model, we found three independent frequencies, two of which are separated by twice the orbital frequency. We also found an enigmatic half orbital period sinusoidal variation that we attribute to an anomalous ellipsoidal effect. Both of these observations indicate that tidal effects are strongly influencing the luminosity variations of HD 183648. The analysis of the eclipse timing variations revealed both a parabolic trend, and apsidal motion with a period of P^(obs)_(apse) = 10400 ± 3000 y, which is ten times faster than what is theoretically expected. These findings might indicate the presence of a distant, unseen companion