X-ray bursters and the X-ray sources of the galactic bulge

Type 1 X-ray bursts, optical, infrared, and radio properties of the galactic bulge sources, are discussed. It was proven that these burst sources are neutron stars in low mass, close binary stellar systems. Several burst sources are found in globular clusters with high central densities. Optical type 1 X-ray bursts were observed from three sources. Type 2 X-ray bursts, observed from the Rapid Burster, are due to an accretion instability which converts gravitational potential energy into heat and radiation, which makes them of a fundamentally different nature from Type 1 bursts

High content image-based cytometry as a tool for nuclear fingerprinting

Cytomics aims at understanding the functional relationships between cellular phenotypes (cytome) and metabolic pathways (proteome) that result from a combination of genetically defined mechanisms (genome) and environmental conditions [1,2]. Although flow-cytometry is able to measure the optical properties of single cells at a rate of >1000 cells per minute it has a limited capability of mapping individual events. To accurately quantify (sub-) cellular characteristics within a natural context there is a fast-growing need for image-based cytometry. Images, obtained with fluorescence microscopy, provide the exact information on signal intensity, location and distribution of specific molecules within intact cell systems (tissue or monolayers) and allow for investigating cellular properties in relation to the cell-ecological context [3]. Previously, we have developed a cytometric approach for scoring DNA lesion endpoints in confocal images of murine fibroblasts [3]. We now present a generalized approach for multivariate phenotypic profiling of individual nuclei using automated fluorescence mosaic microscopy and optimized digital image processing tools. An indefinite number of fields, z-slices and channels can be analyzed; the only prerequisite is the presence of a nuclear counterstain, which is used for the generation of masks. To anticipate for erroneous segmentation of clustered nuclei in dense cell cultures we implemented an iterative conditional segmentation (ics) algorithm that uses both morphological and intensity information from the image (Figure 1). The method makes use of a priori knowledge about the size and shape of nuclei in stringent feedback selection of correctly segmented nuclei. Depending on the degree of clustering, segmentation performance varies between 95% and 100%. Complete analysis of nuclei and subnuclear features for a region of 25 images of 1000x1000 pixels, 3 z-slices and 3 channels only takes ~ 3 minutes or ~ 0.7sec/nucleus. Our method is insensitive to scaling, illumination heterogeneity and variability or non-uniformity of staining. We have successfully applied our system in cell cycle analysis, scoring of transfection efficiency and assessment of (localized) DNA damage in response to genotoxic stress and ionizing radiation

Hysteresis in the de Haas-van Alphen Effect

A hysteresis loop is observed for the first time in the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) effect of beryllium at low temperatures and quantizing magnetic field applied parallel to the hexagonal axis of the single crystal. The irreversible behavior of the magnetization occurs at the paramagnetic part of the dHvA period in conditions of Condon domain formation arising by strong enough dHvA amplitude. The resulting extremely nonlinear response to a very small modulation field offers the possibility to find in a simple way the Condon domain phase diagram. From a harmonic analysis, the shape and size of the hysteresis loop is constructed.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PR

Tightly Correlated X-ray/Hα\alpha Emitting Filaments in the Superbubble and Large-Scale Superwind of NGC 3079

Using Chandra and HST we show that X-ray and H$\alpha$ filaments that form the 1.3-kpc diameter superbubble of NGC 3079 have strikingly similar patterns at 0."8 resolution. This tight match seems to arise from cool disk gas that has been driven by the wind, with X-rays being emitted from upstream, stand-off bowshocks or by conductive cooling at the cloud/wind interfaces. We find that the soft X-ray plasma has thermal and kinetic energies of $2\times10^{56}\sqrt{\eta_x}$ and $5\times10^{54}\sqrt{\eta_X}$ erg respectively, where $\eta_X$ is the filling factor of the X-ray gas and may be small; these are comparable to the energies of the optical line-emitting gas. X-rays are also seen from the base of the radio counterbubble that is obscured optically by the galaxy disk, and from the nucleus (whose spectrum shows the Fe K$\alpha$ line). Hydrodynamical simulations reproduce the obbservations well using large filling factors within both filament systems; assuming otherwise seriously underestimates the mass loss in the superwind. The superbubble is surrounded by a fainter conical halo of X-rays that fill the area delineated by high angle, H$\alpha$-emitting filaments, supporting our previous assertion that these filaments form the contact discontinuity/shock between galaxy gas and shocked wind. About 40\arcsec (3 kpc) above the disk, an X-ray arc may partially close beyond the bubble, but the north-east quadrant remains open, consistent with the superwind having broken out into at least the galaxy halo.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Sept. 10 Ap

Direct Observation of Condon Domains in Silver by Hall Probes

Using a set of micro Hall probes for the detection of the local induction, the inhomogeneous Condon domain structure has been directly observed at the surface of a pure silver single crystal under strong Landau quantization in magnetic fields up to 10 T. The inhomogeneous induction occurs in the theoretically predicted part of the H-T Condon domain phase diagram. Information about size, shape and orientation of the domains is obtained by analyzing Hall probes placed along and across the long sample axis and by tilting the sample. On a beryllium surface the induction inhomogeneity is almost absent although the expected induction splitting here is at least ten times higher than in silver.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PR

A Search for High-Excitation Redshift Systems in the Absorption Spectra of Five Quasars

We have searched the absorption spectra of five quasars for the presence of redshift system dominated by the highly ionized doublets C iv, N v, and O vi, which could be the strongest lines produced by absorbing clouds with collisional ionization temperatures between 10^5 ° and 10^6 °K. There is at most marginal evidence for one such system apiece in the spectra of PHL 957 and 4C 05.34, which are the two quasars with the largest known emission redshifts. Highly ionized redshift systems of this type are not widespread among the five quasars we investigated; the number of redshifts found in the observed spectra is not significantly larger than the number found in similar random-number spectra. Less than 5 percent of the observed absorption lines are identified in a statistically significant way by redshift systems of this type

A Technique for Narrowband Time Series Photometry: the X-ray Star V2116 Oph

We have used innovative features of the Taurus Tunable Filter instrument on the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope to obtain nearly-continuous, high-throughput, linear photometry of V2116 Oph in a 7 Angstrom bandpass at the center of the O I 8446 emission line. This instrumental technique shows promise for applications requiring precise, rapid, narrowband photometry of faint objects. The spectrum of V2116 Oph, the counterpart of GX 1+4 (=X1728-247), is exotic, even among the unusual spectra of other optical counterparts of compact Galactic X-ray sources. The second strongest emission line is an unusual one, namely extremely prominent O I 8446, which is likely to result from pumping by an intense Ly beta radiation field. As the X-radiation from GX 1+4 is steadily pulsed, with typical pulsed fractions of 0.4, the O I 8446 emission in V2116 Oph may also be strongly modulated with the current 127 s period of the X-ray source. If so, this may well allow us to obtain high signal-to-noise radial velocity measurements and thus to determine the system parameters. However, no such pulsations are detected, and we set an upper limit of ~1% (full-amplitude) on periodic 8446 oscillations at the X-ray frequency. This value is comparable to the amplitude of continuum oscillations observed on some nights by other workers. Thus we rule out an enhancement of the pulsation amplitude in O I emission, at least at the time of our observations.Comment: 9 pages including 4 figures and no tables. Accepted for publication in PASP; to appear in Volume 110, August 199

The Absence of Extra-Tidal Structure in the Sculptor Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy

The results of a wide-field survey of the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy are presented. Our aims were to obtain an accurate map of the outer structure of Sculptor, and to determine the level of interaction between this system and the Galaxy. Photometry was obtained in two colours down to the magnitude limits of V=20 and I=19, covering a 3.1 times 3.1 square deg area centred on Sculptor. The resulting colour-magnitude data were used as a mask to select candidate horizontal branch and red giant branch stars for this system. Previous work has shown that the red horizontal branch (HB) stars are more concentrated than the blue HB stars. We have determined the radial distributions of these two populations and show that the overall Sculptor density profile is well described by a two component model based on a combination of these radial distributions. Additionally, spectra of the Ca ii triplet region were obtained for over 700 candidate red giant stars over the 10 square deg region using the 2dF instrument on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. These spectra were used to remove foreground Galactic stars based on radial velocity and Ca ii triplet strength. The final list of Sculptor members contained 148 stars, seven of which are located beyond the nominal tidal radius. Both the photometric and spectroscopic datasets indicate no significant extra-tidal structure. These results support at most a mild level of interaction between this system and the Galaxy, and we have measured an upper mass limit for extra-tidal material to be 2.3 +/- 0.6% of the Sculptor luminous mass. This lack of tidal interaction indicates that previous velocity dispersion measurements (and hence the amount of dark matter detected) in this system are not strongly influenced by the Galactic tidal field.Comment: 53 pages, 23 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal. Some figures are reduced in size, and a full version is available at: ftp://ftp.mso.anu.edu.au/pub/coleman/sculptor.pd

The Photonic TIGER: a multicore fiber-fed spectrograph

We present a proof of concept compact diffraction limited high-resolution fiber-fed spectrograph by using a 2D multicore array input. This high resolution spectrograph is fed by a 2D pseudo-slit, the Photonic TIGER, a hexagonal array of near-diffraction limited single-mode cores. We study the feasibility of this new platform related to the core array separation and rotation with respect to the dispersion axis. A 7 core compact Photonic TIGER fiber-fed spectrograph with a resolving power of around R~31000 and 8 nm bandwidth in the IR centered on 1550 nm is demonstrated. We also describe possible architectures based on this concept for building small scale compact diffraction limited Integral Field Spectrographs (IFS).Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 8450-5