789 research outputs found
Masers and the Massive Star Formation Process: New Insights Through Infrared Observations
Our mid-infrared and near-infrared surveys over the last five years have
helped to strengthen and clarify the relationships between water, methanol, and
OH masers and the star formation process. Our surveys show that maser emission
seems to be more closely associated with mid-infrared emission than cm radio
continuum emission from UC HII regions. We find that masers of all molecular
species surveyed trace a wide variety of phenomena and show a proclivity for
linear distributions. The vast majority of these linear distributions can be
explained by outflows or shocks, and in general do not appear to trace
circumstellar disks as was previously thought. Some water and methanol masers
that are not associated with radio continuum emission appear to trace
infrared-bright hot cores, the earliest observable stage of massive stellar
life before the onset of a UC HII region.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the proceedings of IAU Symposium
227: "Massive Star Birth: A Crossroads of Astrophysics", version with
full-resolution images available at http://www.ctio.noao.edu/~debuize
Migration Patterns of Double-crested Cormorants Wintering in the Southeastern United States
Migration patterns of Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) wintering in the southeastern U.S. are poorly understood. Movement data were analyzed from 28 cormorants captured in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi and equipped with satellite transmitters. Four (three immature, one adult) cormorants did not migrate and stayed in the southeastern U.S. throughout the year. During spring, cormorants captured in Alabama migrated east of the Mississippi River and primarily west of the Appalachian Mountains. Cormorants from Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi migrated north along the Mississippi River Valley, the Missouri River Valley and/or the Ohio River Valley. The earliest departure for spring migration was 26 March, whereas the latest departure was 12 May. Adult cormorants departed for spring migration earlier than immature cormorants. The average departure date for fall migration was 1 October. Mean duration of spring migration was twelve days, and cormorants traveled an average of 70 km per day
High-Resolution Mid-Infrared Morphology of Cygnus A
We present subarcsecond resolution mid-infrared images at 10.8 and 18.2
microns of Cygnus A. These images were obtained with the University of Florida
mid-IR camera/spectrometer OSCIR at the Keck II 10-m telescope. Our data show
extended mid-IR emission primarily to the east of the nucleus with a possible
western extension detected after image deconvolution. This extended emission is
closely aligned with the bi-conical structure observed at optical and near-IR
wavelengths by the HST. This emission is consistent with dust heated from the
central engine of Cygnus A. We also marginally detect large-scale low level
emission extending > 1.5 kpc from the nucleus which may be caused by in-situ
star formation, line emission, and/or PAH contamination within the bandpass of
our wide N-band filter.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Dust emission from a parsec-scale structure in the Seyfert 1 nucleus of NGC 4151
We report mid-IR interferometric measurements with \sim 10 mas resolution,
which resolve the warm (T = 285 +25 / -50 K) thermal emission at the center of
NGC 4151. Using pairs of VLT 8.2 m telescopes with MIDI and by comparing the
data to a Gaussian model, we determined the diameter of the dust emission
region, albeit only along one position angle, to be 2.0 +/- 0.4 pc (FWHM). This
is the first size and temperature estimate for the nuclear warm dust
distribution in a Seyfert 1 galaxy. The parameters found are comparable to
those in Seyfert 2 galaxies, thus providing direct support for the unified
model. Using simple analytic temperature distributions, we find that the
mid-infrared emission is probably not the smooth continuation of the hot
nuclear source that is marginally resolved with K band interferometry. We also
detected weak excess emission around 10.5 micron in our shorter baseline
observation, possibly indicating that silicate emission is extended to the
parsec scale.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journal Letter
Inertial Focusing of Particles in Curved Micro-channels
Inertial focusing is the migration of particles in flow laterally across a channel into well-defined equilibrium positions. In microfluidic channels, inertial focusing takes advantage of hydrodynamic interactions even at high flow speeds. Particle isolation through inertial focusing is a high throughput method of processing biological samples for point-of-care diagnostics. While photos provide qualitative analyses of inertial focusing, we desired quantitative characterization of these systems. In this study, we ran flow experiments, first with fluorescent polystyrene beads and later with cells in solution, through curved micro-channels at controlled rates using a syringe pump. Our results from polystyrene bead experiments confirmed previous studies on flow through curved micro-channels, in which particles are focused along both sides of the channel at low flow rates and transition towards the center of the channel as the flow rate increases. FWHM analysis also showed that the streamline width is minimized at an intermediate flow rate, indicating inertial focusing is optimized under that condition. As this method of analysis was confirmed with polystyrene beads, we further used this analysis method to characterize the focusing of cells in solution. To maximize both throughput and purity, microfluidic devices must be designed to operate at the highest flow rate at which effective separation from bulk fluid can occur. The device presented in this report indeed isolates the desired target cells to be studied in downstream characterization.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/169578/1/Honors_Capstone_Anna_Kaehr.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/169578/2/Kaehr_Anna_Capstone_Poster.pptxhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/169578/3/Capstone_Presentation_Video_Anna_Kaehr.mp
Understanding the 8 micron vs. Pa-alpha relationship on sub-arcsecond scales in Luminous Infrared Galaxies
This work explores in detail the relation between the 8 micron and the
Pa-alpha emissions for 122 HII regions identified in a sample of 10 low-z LIRGs
with nearly constant metallicity (12 + log (O/H) ~ 8.8). We use Gemini/T-ReCS
high-spatial resolution (<~ 0.4" ~ 120 pc for the average distance of 60 Mpc of
our sample) mid-infrared imaging (at 8.7 micron or 10.3 micron) together with
HST/NICMOS continuum and Pa-alpha images. The LIRG HII regions extend the
L_8micron vs. L_Pa-alpha relation found for HII knots in the high-metallicity
SINGS galaxies by about two orders of magnitude to higher luminosities. Since
the metallicity of the LIRG sample is nearly constant, we can rule out this
effect as a cause for the scatter seen in the relationship. In turn, it is
attributed to two effects: age and PAH features. The L_8micron/L_Pa-alpha
ratio, which varies by a factor of ten for the LIRG HII regions, is reproduced
by a model with instantaneous star formation and ages ranging from ~ 4 to 7.5
Myr. The remaining dispersion around the model predictions for a given age is
probably due to differential contributions of the PAH features (the 8.6 micron,
in our case) to the 8 micron emission from galaxy to galaxy.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ; paper with
full-resolution figures can be found at:
http://damir.iem.csic.es/extragalactic
Mid-Infrared Imaging of NGC 6334 I
We present high-resolution (<0.5") mid-infrared Keck II images of individual
sources in the central region of NGC 6334 I. We compare these images to images
at a variety of other wavelengths from the near infrared to cm radio continuum
and speculate on the nature of the NGC 6334 I sources. We assert that the
cometary shape of the UCHII region here, NGC 6334 F, is due to a champagne-like
flow from a source on the edge of a molecular clump and not a due to a bow
shock caused by the supersonic motion of the UCHII region through the
interstellar medium. The mid-infrared emission in concentrated into an arc of
dust that define the boundary between the UCHII region and the molecular clump.
This dust arc contains a majority of the masers in the region. We discuss the
nature of the four near-infrared sources associated with IRS-I 1, and suggest
that one of the sources, IRS1E, is responsible for the heating and ionizing of
the UCHII region and the mid-infrared dust arc. Infrared source IRS-I 2, which
has been thought to be a circumstellar disk associated with a linear
distribution of methanol masers, is found not to be directly coincident with
the masers and elongated at a much different position angle. IRS-I 3 is found
to be a extended source of mid-infrared emission coming from a cluster of young
dusty sources seen in the near-infrared.Comment: Accepted for publication by the Astrophysical Journal, 27 pages, 9
figure
Moment of Inertia and Superfluidity of a Trapped Bose Gas
The temperature dependence of the moment of inertia of a dilute Bose gas
confined in a harmonic trap is determined. Deviations from the rigid value, due
to the occurrence of Bose-Einstein condensation, reveal the superfluid
behaviour of the system. In the noninteracting gas these deviations become
important at temperatures of the order of . The role of
interactions is also discussed.Comment: 10 pages, REVTEX, 1 figure attached as postscript fil
The Origin of the Silicate Emission Features in the Seyfert 2 Galaxy, NGC 2110
The unified model of active galactic nuclei (AGN) predicts silicate emission
features at 10 and 18 microns in type 1 AGN, and such features have now been
observed in objects ranging from distant QSOs to nearby LINERs. More
surprising, however, is the detection of silicate emission in a few type 2 AGN.
By combining Gemini and Spitzer mid-infrared imaging and spectroscopy of NGC
2110, the closest known Seyfert 2 galaxy with silicate emission features, we
can constrain the location of the silicate emitting region to within 32 pc of
the nucleus. This is the strongest constraint yet on the size of the silicate
emitting region in a Seyfert galaxy of any type. While this result is
consistent with a narrow line region origin for the emission, comparison with
clumpy torus models demonstrates that emission from an edge-on torus can also
explain the silicate emission features and 2-20 micron spectral energy
distribution of this object. In many of the best-fitting models the torus has
only a small number of clouds along the line of sight, and does not extend far
above the equatorial plane. Extended silicate-emitting regions may well be
present in AGN, but this work establishes that emission from the torus itself
is also a viable option for the origin of silicate emission features in active
galaxies of both type 1 and type 2.Comment: ApJL, accepte
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