134 research outputs found
New Panoramic View of CO and 1.1 mm Continuum Emission in the Orion A Molecular Cloud. I. Survey Overview and Possible External Triggers of Star Formation
We present new, wide and deep images in the 1.1 mm continuum and the
CO (=1-0) emission toward the northern part of the Orion A Giant
Molecular Cloud (Orion-A GMC). The 1.1 mm data were taken with the AzTEC camera
mounted on the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ASTE) 10 m telescope
in Chile, and the CO (=1-0) data were with the 25 beam receiver
(BEARS) on the NRO 45 m telescope in the On-The-Fly (OTF) mode. The present
AzTEC observations are the widest (\timeform{1.D7}
\timeform{2.D3}, corresponding to 12 pc 17 pc) and the
highest-sensitivity (9 mJy beam) 1.1 mm dust-continuum imaging of
the Orion-A GMC with an effective spatial resolution of 40\arcsec. The
CO (=1-0) image was taken over the northern \timeform{1D.2}
\times\timeform{1D.2} (corresponding 9 pc 9 pc) area with a
sensitivity of 0.93 K in , a velocity resolution of 1.0 km
s, and an effective spatial resolution of 21\arcsec. With these data,
together with the MSX 8 m, Spitzer 24 m and the 2MASS data, we have
investigated the detailed structure and kinematics of molecular gas associated
with the Orion-A GMC and have found evidence for interactions between molecular
clouds and the external forces that may trigger star formation. Two types of
possible triggers were revealed; 1) Collision of the diffuse gas on the cloud
surface, particularly at the eastern side of the OMC-2/3 region, and 2)
Irradiation of UV on the pre-existing filaments and dense molecular cloud
cores. Our wide-field and high-sensitivity imaging have provided the first
comprehensive view of the potential sites of triggered star formation in the
Orion-A GMC.Comment: 32 pages, 20 figures, accepted for publication in PAS
The 2006 Radio Outburst of a Microquasar Cyg X-3: Observation and Data
We present the results of the multi-frequency observations of radio outburst
of the microquasar Cyg X-3 in February and March 2006 with the Nobeyama 45-m
telescope, the Nobeyama Millimeter Array, and the Yamaguchi 32-m telescope.
Since the prediction of a flare by RATAN-600, the source has been monitored
from Jan 27 (UT) with these radio telescopes. At the eighteenth day after the
quench of the activity, successive flares exceeding 1 Jy were observed
successfully. The time scale of the variability in the active phase is
presumably shorter in higher frequency bands.
We also present the result of a follow-up VLBI observation at 8.4 GHz with
the Japanese VLBI Network (JVN) 2.6 days after the first rise. The VLBI image
exhibits a single core with a size of <8 mas (80 AU). The observed image was
almost stable, although the core showed rapid variation in flux density. No jet
structure was seen at a sensitivity of K.Comment: 17 pages,6 figures; accepted by PAS
Star formation efficiency in the Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 4303
We present new CO(J=1-0) observations of the barred galaxy NGC 4303
using the Nobeyama 45m telescope (NRO45) and the Combined Array for Research in
Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA). The H images of barred spiral
galaxies often show active star formation in spiral arms, but less so in bars.
We quantify the difference by measuring star formation rate and efficiency at a
scale where local star formation is spatially resolved. Our CO map covers the
central 2\farcm3 region of the galaxy; the combination of NRO45 and CARMA
provides a high fidelity image, enabling accurate measurements of molecular gas
surface density. We find that star formation rate and efficiency are twice as
high in the spiral arms as in the bar. We discuss this difference in the
context of the Kennicutt-Schimidt (KS) law, which indicates a constant star
formation rate at a given gas surface density. The KS law breaks down at our
native resolution ( 250 pc), and substantial smoothing (to 500 pc) is
necessary to reproduce the KS law, although with greater scatter.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, published by ApJ;
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010ApJ...721..383
Aperture Synthesis Observations of CO, HCN, and 89GHz Continuum Emission toward NGC 604 in M 33: Sequential Star Formation Induced by Supergiant Hii region
We present the results from new Nobeyama Millimeter Array observations of
CO(1-0), HCN(1-0), and 89-GHz continuum emissions toward NGC 604, known as the
supergiant H ii region in a nearby galaxy M 33. Our high spatial resolution
images of CO emission allowed us to uncover ten individual molecular clouds
that have masses of (0.8 -7.4) 10M_{\sun } and sizes of 5 -- 29 pc,
comparable to those of typical Galactic giant molecular clouds (GMCs).
Moreover, we detected for the first time HCN emission in the two most massive
clouds and 89 GHz continuum emission at the rims of the "H shells".
Three out of ten CO clouds are well correlated with the H shells both
in spatial and velocity domains, implying an interaction between molecular gas
and the expanding H ii region. Furthermore, we estimated star formation
efficiencies (SFEs) for each cloud from the 89-GHz and combination of
H and 24-m data, and found that the SFEs decrease with
increasing projected distance measured from the heart of the central OB star
cluster in NGC 604, suggesting the radial changes in evolutionary stages of the
molecular clouds in course of stellar cluster formation. Our results provide
further support to the picture of sequential star formation in NGC604 initially
proposed by Tosaki et al. (2007) with the higher spatially resolved molecular
clouds, in which an isotropic expansion of the H ii region pushes gases outward
and accumulates them to consecutively form dense molecular clouds, and then
induces massive star formations.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
ALMA Observations of Asteroid 3 Juno at 60 Kilometer Resolution
We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) 1.3 mm
continuum images of the asteroid 3 Juno obtained with an angular resolution of
0.042 arcseconds (60 km at 1.97 AU). The data were obtained over a single 4.4
hr interval, which covers 60% of the 7.2 hr rotation period, approximately
centered on local transit. A sequence of ten consecutive images reveals
continuous changes in the asteroid's profile and apparent shape, in good
agreement with the sky projection of the three-dimensional model of the
Database of Asteroid Models from Inversion Techniques. We measure a geometric
mean diameter of 259pm4 km, in good agreement with past estimates from a
variety of techniques and wavelengths. Due to the viewing angle and inclination
of the rotational pole, the southern hemisphere dominates all of the images.
The median peak brightness temperature is 215pm13 K, while the median over the
whole surface is 197pm15 K. With the unprecedented resolution of ALMA, we find
that the brightness temperature varies across the surface with higher values
correlated to the subsolar point and afternoon areas, and lower values beyond
the evening terminator. The dominance of the subsolar point is accentuated in
the final four images, suggesting a reduction in the thermal inertia of the
regolith at the corresponding longitudes, which are possibly correlated to the
location of the putative large impact crater. These results demonstrate ALMA's
potential to resolve thermal emission from the surface of main belt asteroids,
and to measure accurately their position, geometric shape, rotational period,
and soil characteristics.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journal Letter
First Results from High Angular Resolution ALMA Observations Toward the HL Tau Region
We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations
from the 2014 Long Baseline Campaign in dust continuum and spectral line
emission from the HL Tau region. The continuum images at wavelengths of 2.9,
1.3, and 0.87 mm have unprecedented angular resolutions of 0.075 arcseconds (10
AU) to 0.025 arcseconds (3.5 AU), revealing an astonishing level of detail in
the circumstellar disk surrounding the young solar analogue HL Tau, with a
pattern of bright and dark rings observed at all wavelengths. By fitting
ellipses to the most distinct rings, we measure precise values for the disk
inclination (46.72pm0.05 degrees) and position angle (+138.02pm0.07 degrees).
We obtain a high-fidelity image of the 1.0 mm spectral index (), which
ranges from in the optically-thick central peak and two
brightest rings, increasing to 2.3-3.0 in the dark rings. The dark rings are
not devoid of emission, we estimate a grain emissivity index of 0.8 for the
innermost dark ring and lower for subsequent dark rings, consistent with some
degree of grain growth and evolution. Additional clues that the rings arise
from planet formation include an increase in their central offsets with radius
and the presence of numerous orbital resonances. At a resolution of 35 AU, we
resolve the molecular component of the disk in HCO+ (1-0) which exhibits a
pattern over LSR velocities from 2-12 km/s consistent with Keplerian motion
around a ~1.3 solar mass star, although complicated by absorption at low
blue-shifted velocities. We also serendipitously detect and resolve the nearby
protostars XZ Tau (A/B) and LkHa358 at 2.9 mm.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journal Letter
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