354 research outputs found
Science Verification Results from PMAS
PMAS, the Potsdam Multi-Aperture Spectrophotometer, is a new integral field
instrument which was commissioned at the Calar Alto 3.5m Telescope in May 2001.
We report on results obtained from a science verification run in October 2001.
We present observations of the low-metallicity blue compact dwarf galaxy
SBS0335-052, the ultra-luminous X-ray Source X-1 in the Holmberg II galaxy, the
quadruple gravitational lens system Q2237+0305 (the "Einstein Cross"), the
Galactic planetary nebula NGC7027, and extragalactic planetary nebulae in M31.
PMAS is now available as a common user instrument at Calar Alto Observatory.Comment: 4 pages, 9 figures (attached in JPEG format), Euro3D Science Workshop
Proceedings, held in Cambridge May 21-23, 2003, to appear in AN (accepted
Protocol for the Reconstructing Consciousness and Cognition (ReCCognition) Study
Important scientific and clinical questions persist about general anesthesia despite the ubiquitous clinical use of anesthetic drugs in humans since their discovery. For example, it is not known how the brain reconstitutes consciousness and cognition after the profound functional perturbation of the anesthetized state, nor has a specific pattern of functional recovery been characterized. To date, there has been a lack of detailed investigation into rates of recovery and the potential orderly return of attention, sensorimotor function, memory, reasoning and logic, abstract thinking, and processing speed. Moreover, whether such neurobehavioral functions display an invariant sequence of return across individuals is similarly unknown. To address these questions, we designed a study of healthy volunteers undergoing general anesthesia with electroencephalography and serial testing of cognitive functions (NCT01911195). The aims of this study are to characterize the temporal patterns of neurobehavioral recovery over the first several hours following termination of a deep inhaled isoflurane general anesthetic and to identify common patterns of cognitive function recovery. Additionally, we will conduct spectral analysis and reconstruct functional networks from electroencephalographic data to identify any neural correlates (e.g., connectivity patterns, graph-theoretical variables) of cognitive recovery after the perturbation of general anesthesia. To accomplish these objectives, we will enroll a total of 60 consenting adults aged 20–40 across the three participating sites. Half of the study subjects will receive general anesthesia slowly titrated to loss of consciousness (LOC) with an intravenous infusion of propofol and thereafter be maintained for 3 h with 1.3 age adjusted minimum alveolar concentration of isoflurane, while the other half of subjects serves as awake controls to gauge effects of repeated neurobehavioral testing, spontaneous fatigue and endogenous rest-activity patterns
Astrochemistry and Astrophotonics for an Antarctic Observatory
Due to its location and climate, Antarctica offers unique conditions for
long-period observations across a broad wavelength regime, where important
diagnostic lines for molecules and ions can be found, that are essential to
understand the chemical properties of the interstellar medium. In addition to
the natural benefits of the site, new technologies, resulting from
astrophotonics, may allow miniaturised instruments, that are easier to
winterise and advanced filters to further reduce the background in the
infrared.Comment: 4 pages, to be published in EAS Publications Series, Vol. 40, Proc.
of 3rd ARENA conferenc
Integral field spectroscopy of QSO host galaxies
We describe a project to study the state of the ISM in ~20 low redshift
(z<0.3) QSO host galaxies observed with the PMAS integral field spectrograph.
We describe method developement to access the stellar and gas component of the
spectrum without the strong nuclear emission to access the host galaxy
properties also in the central region. It shows that integral field
spectroscopy promises to be very efficient to study the gas distribution and
its velocity field, and also spatially resolved stellar population in the host
galaxies also of luminous AGN.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, Euro3D Science Workshop, Cambridge, May 2003, AN,
accepte
The merging/AGN connection: A case for 3D spectroscopy
We discuss an ongoing study of the connection between galaxy
merging/interaction and AGN activity, based on integral field spectroscopy. We
focus on the search for AGN ionization in the central regions of mergers,
previously not classified as AGNs. We present here the science case, the
current status of the project, and plans for future observations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure, Euro3D Science Workshop, Cambridge, May 2003, AN,
accepte
PMAS: The Potsdam Multi Aperture Spectrophotometer. II. The Wide Integral Field Unit PPak
PPak is a new fiber-based Integral Field Unit (IFU), developed at the
Astrophysical Institute Potsdam, implemented as a module into the existing PMAS
spectrograph. The purpose of PPak is to provide both an extended field-of-view
with a large light collecting power for each spatial element, as well as an
adequate spectral resolution. The PPak system consists of a fiber bundle with
331 object, 36 sky and 15 calibration fibers. The object and sky fibers collect
the light from the focal plane behind a focal reducer lens. The object fibers
of PPak, each 2.7 arcseconds in diameter, provide a contiguous hexagonal
field-of-view of 74 times 64 arcseconds on the sky, with a filling factor of
60%. The operational wavelength range is from 400 to 900nm. The PPak-IFU,
together with the PMAS spectrograph, are intended for the study of extended,
low surface brightness objects, offering an optimization of total
light-collecting power and spectral resolution. This paper describes the
instrument design, the assembly, integration and tests, the commissioning and
operational procedures, and presents the measured performance at the telescope.Comment: 14 pages, 21 figures, accepted at PAS
Integral-field spectroscopy of the quadruple QSO HE 0435-1223: Evidence for microlensing
We present the first spatially resolved spectroscopic observations of the
recently discovered quadruple QSO and gravitational lens HE0435-1223. Using the
Potsdam Multi-Aperture Spectrophotometer (PMAS), we show that all four QSO
components have very similar but not identical spectra. In particular, the
spectral slopes of components A, B, and D are indistinguishable, implying that
extinction due to dust plays no major role in the lensing galaxy. While also
the emission line profiles are identical within the error bars, as expected
from lensing, the equivalent widths show significant differences between
components. Most likely, microlensing is responsible for this phenomenon. This
is also consistent with the fact that component D, which shows the highest
relative continuum level, has brightened by 0.07 mag since Dec 2001. We find
that the emission line flux ratios between the components are in better
agreement with simple lens models than broad band or continuum measurements,
but that the discrepancies between model and data are still unacceptably large.
Finally, we present a detection of the lensing galaxy, although this is close
to the limits of the data. Comparing with a model galaxy spectrum, we obtain a
redshift estimate of z_lens=0.44+-0.02.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Network efficiency and posterior alpha patterns are markers of recovery from general anesthesia: A high-density electroencephalography study in healthy volunteers
Integral Field Spectroscopy of SN 2002er with PMAS
We present observations of the Type Ia supernova SN 2002er during the brightening phase. The observations were performed with the Potsdam Multi Aperture Spectrophotometer (PMAS) integral field instrument. Due to the 8"*8", field of view of the spectrograph an accurate background subtraction was possible. Results from analyses of the evolution of absorption features in comparisons with other SNe show that SN 2002er is a fairly bright Type Ia supernova with a peak brightness of M_B=-19.6+-0.1
Exploring Disk Galaxy Dynamics Using IFU Data
In order to test the basic equations believed to dictate the dynamics of disk
galaxies, we present and analyze deep two-dimensional spectral data obtained
using the PPAK integral field unit for the early-type spiral systems NGC 2273,
NGC 2985, NGC 3898 and NGC 5533. We describe the care needed to obtain and
process such data to a point where reliable kinematic measurements can be
obtained from these observations, and a new more optimal method for deriving
the rotational motion and velocity dispersions in such disk systems. The data
from NGC 2273 and NGC 2985 show systematic variations in velocity dispersion
with azimuth, as one would expect if the shapes of their velocity ellipsoids
are significantly anisotropic, while the hotter disks in NGC 3898 and NGC 5533
appear to have fairly isotropic velocity dispersions. Correcting the rotational
motion for asymmetric drift using the derived velocity dispersions reproduces
the rotation curves inferred from emission lines reasonably well, implying that
this correction is quite robust, and that the use of the asymmetric drift
equation is valid. NGC 2985 is sufficiently close to face on for the data,
combined with the asymmetric drift equation, to determine all three components
of the velocity ellipsoid. The principal axes of this velocity ellipsoid are
found to be in the ratio sigma_z:sigma_phi:sigma_R ~ 0.7:0.7:1, which shows
unequivocally that this disk distribution function respects a third integral of
motion. The ratio is also consistent with the predictions of epicyclic theory,
giving some confidence in the application of this approximation to even fairly
early-type disk galaxies.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
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