Large-scale variations of the dust optical properties in the Galaxy

We present an analysis of the dust optical properties at large scale, for the whole galactic anticenter hemisphere. We used the 2MASS Extended Source Catalog to obtain the total reddening on each galaxy line of sight and we compared this value to the IRAS 100 microns surface brightness converted to extinction by Schlegel et al (1998). We performed a careful examination and correction of the possible systematic effects resulting from foreground star contamination, redshift contribution and galaxy selection bias. We also evaluated the contribution of dust temperature variations and interstellar clumpiness to our method. The correlation of the near-infrared extinction to the far-infrared optical depth shows a discrepancy for visual extinction greater than 1 mag with a ratio A_V(FIR) / A_V(gal) = 1.31 +- 0.06. We attribute this result to the presence of fluffy/composite grains characterized by an enhanced far--infrared emissivity. Our analysis, applied to half of the sky, provides new insights on the dust grains nature suggesting fluffy grains are found not only in some very specific regions but in all directions for which the visual extinction reaches about 1 mag.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&

The Effect of Dust Extinction on the Observed Properties of Galaxies in the Near-Infrared

Galaxies behind the Milky Way suffer size reduction and dimming due to their obscuration by dust in the disk of our Galaxy. The degree of obscuration is wavelength dependent. It decreases towards longer wavelengths. Compared to the optical, the Near InfraRed (NIR) $K_s$ band extinction is only $\approx10$ that of the $B$ band. This makes NIR surveys well suited for galaxy surveys close to the Galactic Plane where extinction is severe. While Galactic obscuration is less prominent in the NIR it is not negligible. In this paper we derive empirical relations to correct isophotal radii and magnitudes of galaxies observed in the NIR for foreground absorption. We simulate extinction in the $J$, $H$ and $K_s$ bands on 64 (unobscured) galaxies from the 2MASS Large Galaxy Atlas \citep{jarrett}. We propose two methods for the extinction correction, the first is optimized to provide the most accurate correction and the second provides a convenient statistical correction that works adequately in lower extinction regions. The optimized correction utilizes the galaxy surface brightness, either the disk central surface brightness, $\mu_0$, or the combined disk plus bulge central surface brightness, elliptical and disk/spiral Hubble types. A detailed comparison between the different methods and their accuracy is provided.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures and 8 tables. Accepted by the MNRAS: Accepted 2009 September 18. Received 2009 September 18; in original form 2009 July 1

Is the Two Micron all Sky Survey Clustering Dipole Convergent?

There is a long-standing controversy about the convergence of the dipole moment of the galaxy angular distribution (the so-called clustering dipole). Is the dipole convergent at all, and if so, what is the scale of the convergence? We study the growth of the clustering dipole of galaxies as a function of the limiting flux of the sample from the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). Contrary to some earlier claims, we find that the dipole does not converge before the completeness limit of the 2MASS Extended Source Catalog, i.e., up to 13.5 mag in the near-infrared K_s band (equivalent to an effective distance of 300 Mpc h ^(−1)). We compare the observed growth of the dipole with the theoretically expected, conditional one (i.e., given the velocity of the Local Group relative to the cosmic microwave background), for the ΛCDM power spectrum and cosmological parameters constrained by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. The observed growth turns out to be within 1σ confidence level of its theoretical counterpart once the proper observational window of the 2MASS flux-limited catalog is included. For a contrast, if the adopted window is a top hat, then the predicted dipole grows significantly faster and converges (within the errors) to its final value for a distance of about 300 Mpc h ^(−1). By comparing the observational windows, we show that for a given flux limit and a corresponding distance limit, the 2MASS flux-weighted window passes less large-scale signal than the top-hat one. We conclude that the growth of the 2MASS dipole for effective distances greater than 200 Mpc h^(−1) is only apparent. On the other hand, for a distance of 80 Mpc h^(−1) (mean depth of the 2MASS Redshift Survey) and the ΛCDM power spectrum, the true dipole is expected to reach only ~80% of its final value. Eventually, since for the window function of 2MASS the predicted growth is consistent with the observed one, we can compare the two to evaluate β ≡ Ω^(0.55)_m /b. The result is β = 0.38 ± 0.04, which leads to an estimate of the density parameter Ω_m = 0.20 ± 0.08

Dye laser remote sensing of marine plankton

Dye laser, emitting four wavelengths sequentially in time, has been incorporated into helicopter-borne lidar flight package, for performing studies of laser-induced fluorescence of chlorophyll A in algae. Data obtained by multicolor lidar technique can provide water-resource management with rapid-access wide-area coverage of the impact of various environmental factors for any body of water

HBCUs Importance to the Black Community

This paper looks at the importance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the Black community. It explores how they are necessary in order to bring a sense of belonging to the Black community and how they can grow. They are critically underfunded compared to other universities/colleges but this can change with the sports that they have to offer

Visible absorbance spectra: A basis for in situ and passive remote sensing of phytoplankton concentration and community composition

The concentration and composition of phytoplankton populations are measured by an optical method which can be used either in situ or remotely. This method is based upon the in vivo light absorption characteristics of phytoplankton. To provide a data base for testing assumptions relative to the proposed method, visible absorbance spectra of pure cultures of 20 marine phytoplankton were obtained under laboratory conditions. Descriptive and analytical statistics were computed for the absorbance spectra and were used to make comparisons between members of major taxonomic groups and between groups. Spectral variation between the members of the major taxonomic groups was observed to be considerably less than the spectral variation between these groups. In several cases the differences between the mean absorbance spectra of major taxonomic groups are significant enough to be detected with passive remote sensing techniques