228 research outputs found
The Discovery of Two Lyman Emitters Beyond Redshift 6 in the Subaru Deep Field
We have performed a deep optical imaging survey using a narrowband filter
() centered at 9196 \AA ~ together with and
broadband filters covering an 814 arcmin area of the Subaru Deep
Field. We obtained a sample of 73 strong -excess objects based on the
following two color criteria; and . We then obtained optical spectroscopy of nine objects in our
-excess sample, and identified at least two Ly emitters
at and , each of which shows the
characteristic sharp cutoff together with the continuum depression at
wavelengths shortward of the line peak. The latter object is more distant than
HCM-6A at and thus this is the most distant known object found so far.
These new data allow us to estimate the first meaningful lower limit of the
star formation rate density beyond redshift 6; yr Mpc. Since it is expected that the actual
density is higher by a factor of several than this value, our new observation
reveals that a moderately high level of star formation activity already
occurred at 6.6.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures. PASJ (Letters), 55, vol.2, in pres
A new mid-infrared map of the BN/KL region using the Keck telescope
We present a new mid-infrared (12.5micron) map of the BN/KL high-mass
star-forming complex in Orion using the LWS instrument at Keck I. Despite poor
weather we achieved nearly diffraction-limited images (FWHM = 0.38'') over a
roughly 25'' X 25'' region centered on IRc2 down to a flux limit of ~250 mJy.
Many of the known infrared (IR) sources in the region break up into smaller
sub-components. We have also detected 6 new mid-IR sources. Nearly all of the
sources are resolved in our mosaic. The near-IR source ''n'' is slightly
elongated in the mid-IR along a NW--SE axis and perfectly bisects the
double-peaked radio source ''L''. Source n has been identified as a candidate
for powering the large IR luminosity of the BN/KL region (L = 10^5 L_sun). We
postulate that the 12 micron emission arises in a circumstellar disk
surrounding source n. The morphology of the mid-IR emission and the Orion ''hot
core'' (as seen in NH_3 emission), along with the location of water and OH
masers, is very suggestive of a bipolar cavity centered on source n and aligned
with the rotation axis of the hypothetical circumstellar disk. IRc2, once
thought to be the dominant energy source for the BN/KL region, clearly breaks
into 4 sub-sources in our mosaic, as seen previously at 3.8 -- 5.0 micron. The
anti-correlation of mid-IR emission and NH_3 emission from the nearby hot core
indicates that the IRc2 sources are roughly coincident (or behind) the dense
hot core. The nature of IRc2 is not clear: neither self-luminous sources
(embedded protostars) nor external heating by source I can be definitively
ruled out. We also report the discovery of a new arc-like feature SW of the BN
object, and some curious morphology surrounding near-IR source ''t".Comment: To appear in The Astronomical Journal, July 2004 (16 pages, 7
figures
Discovery of a candidate protoplanetary disk around the embedded source IRc9 in Orion
We report the detection of spatially-extended mid-infrared emission around
the luminous embedded star IRc9 in OMC-1, as seen in 8.8, 11.7, and 18.3 micron
images obtained with T-ReCS on Gemini South. The extended emission is
asymmetric, and the morphology is reminiscent of warm dust disks around other
young stars. The putative disk has a radius of roughly 1.5 arcsec (700 AU), and
a likely dust mass of almost 10 Earth masses. The infrared spectral energy
distribution of IRc9 indicates a total luminosity of about 100 Lsun, implying
that it shall become an early A-type star when it reaches the main sequence.
Thus, the candidate disk around IRc9 may be a young analog of the planetary
debris disks around Vega-like stars and the disks of Herbig Ae stars, and may
provide a laboratory in which to study the earliest phases of planet formation.
A disk around IRc9 may also add weight to the hypothesis that an enhanced T
Tauri-like wind from this star has influenced the molecular outflow from the
OMC-1 core.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figs, Accepted by ApJ Letter
Discovery of Interstellar Propylene (CH_2CHCH_3): Missing Links in Interstellar Gas-Phase Chemistry
We report the discovery of propylene (also called propene, CH_2CHCH_3) with
the IRAM 30-m radio telescope toward the dark cloud TMC-1. Propylene is the
most saturated hydrocarbon ever detected in space through radio astronomical
techniques. In spite of its weak dipole moment, 6 doublets (A and E species)
plus another line from the A species have been observed with main beam
temperatures above 20 mK. The derived total column density of propylene is 4
10^13 cm^-2, which corresponds to an abundance relative to H_2 of 4 10^-9,
i.e., comparable to that of other well known and abundant hydrocarbons in this
cloud, such as c-C_3H_2. Although this isomer of C_3H_6 could play an important
role in interstellar chemistry, it has been ignored by previous chemical models
of dark clouds as there seems to be no obvious formation pathway in gas phase.
The discovery of this species in a dark cloud indicates that a thorough
analysis of the completeness of gas phase chemistry has to be done.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
Spectroscopy of i-Dropout Galaxies with an NB921-Band Depression in the Subaru Deep Field
We report new spectroscopy of two star-forming galaxies with strong Ly_alpha
emission at z=6.03 and z=6.04 in the Subaru Deep Field. These two objects are
originally selected as i'-dropouts (i'-z' > 1.5) showing an interesting
photometric property, the ``NB921 depression''. The NB921-band (centered at
9196A) magnitude is significantly depressed with respect to the z'-band
magnitude. The optical spectra of these two objects exhibit asymmetric
emission-lines at lambda_obs ~ 8540A and ~ 8560A, suggesting that these objects
are Ly_alpha emitters at z~6. The rest-frame equivalent widths of the Ly_alpha
emission of the two objects are 94A and 236A; the latter one is the Ly_alpha
emitter with the largest Ly_alpha equivalent width at z > 6 ever
spectroscopically confirmed. The spectroscopically measured Ly_alpha fluxes of
these two objects are consistent with the interpretation that the NB921
depression is caused by the contribution of the strong Ly_alpha emission to the
z'-band flux. Most of the NB921-depressed i'-dropout objects are thought to be
strong Ly_alpha emitters at 6.0 < z < 6.5; Galactic L and T dwarfs and
NB921-dropout galaxies at z > 6.6 do not dominate the NB921-depressed
i'-dropout sample. Thus the NB921-depression method is very useful for finding
high-z Ly_alpha emitters with a large Ly_alpha equivalent width over a large
redshift range, 6.0 < z < 6.5. Although the broadband-selected sample at z ~ 3
contains only a small fraction of objects with a Ly_alpha equivalent width
larger than 100A, the i'-dropout sample of the Subaru Deep Field contains a
much larger fraction of such strong Ly_alpha emitters. This may imply a strong
evolution of the Ly_alpha equivalent width from z > 6 to z ~ 3.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, to appear in The Astrophysical Journa
A Potential Galaxy Threshing System in the Cosmos Field
We report on the discovery of a new potential galaxy threshing system in the
COSMOS 2 square degree field using the prime-focus camera, Suprime-Cam, on the
8.2 m Subaru Telescope. This system consists of a giant elliptical galaxy with
and a tidally disrupted satellite galaxy with at a photometric redshift of . This redshift is
consistent with the spectroscopic redshift of 0.079 for the giant elliptical
galaxy obtained from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) archive. The
luminosity masses of the two galaxies are
and , respectively. The distance between the
two galaxies is greater than 100 kpc. The two tidal tails emanating from the
satellite galaxy extend over 150 kpc. This system would be the second
well-defined galaxy threshing system found so far.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, accepted for the COSMOS special issue of ApJ
Monitoring the Large Proper Motions of Radio Sources in the Orion BN/KL Region
We present absolute astrometry of four radio sources in the
Becklin-Neugebauer/Kleinman-Low (BN/KL) region, derived from archival data
(taken in 1991, 1995, and 2000) as well as from new observations (taken in
2006). All data consist of 3.6 cm continuum emission and were taken with the
Very Large Array in its highest angular resolution A configuration. We confirm
the large proper motions of the BN object, the radio source I (GMR I) and the
radio counterpart of the infrared source n (Orion-n), with values from 15 to 26
km/s. The three sources are receding from a point between them from where they
seem to have been ejected about 500 years ago, probably via the disintegration
of a multiple stellar system. We present simulations of very compact stellar
groups that provide a plausible dynamical scenario for the observations. The
radio source Orion-n appeared as a double in the first three epochs, but as
single in 2006. We discuss this morphological change. The fourth source in the
region, GMR D, shows no statistically significant proper motions. We also
present new, accurate relative astrometry between BN and radio source I that
restrict possible dynamical scenarios for the region. During the 2006
observations, the radio source GMR A, located about 1' to the NW of the BN/KL
region, exhibited an increase in its flux density of a factor of ~3.5 over a
timescale of one hour. This rapid variability at cm wavelengths is similar to
that previously found during a flare at millimeter wavelengths that took place
in 2003.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
Large Scale Flows from Orion-South
Multiple optical outflows are known to exist in the vicinity of the active
star formation region called Orion-South (Orion-S). We have mapped the velocity
of low ionization features in the brightest part of the Orion Nebula, including
Orion-S, and imaged the entire nebula with the Hubble Space Telescope. These
new data, combined with recent high resolution radio maps of outflows from the
Orion-S region, allow us to trace the origin of the optical outflows. It is
confirmed that HH 625 arises from the blueshifted lobe of the CO outflow from
136-359 in Orion-S while it is likely that HH 507 arises from the blueshifted
lobe of the SiO outflow from the nearby source 135-356. It is likely that
redshifted lobes are deflected within the photon dominated region behind the
optical nebula. This leads to a possible identification of a new large shock to
the southwest from Orion-S as being driven by the redshifted CO outflow arising
from 137-408. The distant object HH 400 is seen to have two even further
components and these all are probably linked to either HH 203, HH 204, or HH
528. Distant shocks on the west side of the nebula may be related to HH 269.
The sources of multiple bright blueshifted Herbig-Haro objects (HH 202, HH 203,
HH 204, HH 269, HH 528) remain unidentified, in spite of earlier claimed
identifications. Some of this lack of identification may arise from the fact
that deflection in radial velocity can also produce a change in direction in
the plane of the sky. The best way to resolve this open question is through
improved tangential velocities of low ionization features arising where the
outflows first break out into the ionized nebula.Comment: Astronomical Journal, in press. Some figures are shown at reduced
resolution. A full-resolution version is available at
http://ifront.org/wiki/Orion_South_Outflows_Pape
The Subaru COSMOS 20: Subaru Optical Imaging of the HST COSMOS Field with 20 Filters
We present both the observations and the data reduction procedures of the
Subaru COSMOS 20 project that is an optical imaging survey of the HST COSMOS
field, carried out by using Suprime-Cam on the Subaru Telescope with the
following 20 optical filters: 6 broad-band (B, g', V, r', i', and z'), 2
narrow-band (NB711 and NB816), and 12 intermediate-band filters (IA427, IA464,
IA484, IA505, IA527, IA574, IA624, IA679, IA709, IA738, IA767, and IA827). A
part of this project is described in Taniguchi et al. (2007) and Capak et al.
(2007) for the six broad-band and one narrow-band (NB816) filter data. In this
paper, we present details of the observations and data reduction for remaining
13 filters (the 12 IA filters and NB711). In particular, we describe the
accuracy of both photometry and astrometry in all the filter bands. We also
present optical properties of the Suprime-Cam IA filter system in Appendix.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, 7 tables; accepted for publication in PASJ on
October 2, 201
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