219 research outputs found
A balloon-borne 1 meter telescope for far-infrared astronomy
The flight of a balloon-borne one-meter telescope for infrared astronomy in the wavelength interval of 40 to 240 microns is discussed. The gyro-stabilized telescope mapped the intensity of the far infrared radiation from NGC 7538, Mars, the Orion Nebula, and W3 with a resolution of one minute and from selected regions of these sources with a resolution of 30 seconds. The infrared detection is described and its capabilities are analyzed. The instrumentation, orientation system, and modes of observation of the telescope are defined
Identification of the donor in GRS 1915+105
We report on the results of medium-resolution spectroscopy of GRS 1915+105 in
the H and K band using the 8m VLT at ESO. We clearly identify absorption
bandheads from CO12 and CO13. Together with other features this results in a
classification of the donor as a K-M III star.Comment: 4 pages, Kluwer style, to appear in Astrophys. Space Sci. Rev, Proc.
of 3rd Microquasar workshop, Granada, Sep. 2000, Eds. A.J. Castro-Tirado, J.
Greiner, J.M. Paredes; all proceedings contr. available at
http://www.aip.de/~jcg/granada.htm
Separable Dual Space Gaussian Pseudo-potentials
We present pseudo-potential coefficients for the first two rows of the
periodic table. The pseudo potential is of a novel analytic form, that gives
optimal efficiency in numerical calculations using plane waves as basis set. At
most 7 coefficients are necessary to specify its analytic form. It is separable
and has optimal decay properties in both real and Fourier space. Because of
this property, the application of the nonlocal part of the pseudo-potential to
a wave-function can be done in an efficient way on a grid in real space. Real
space integration is much faster for large systems than ordinary multiplication
in Fourier space since it shows only quadratic scaling with respect to the size
of the system. We systematically verify the high accuracy of these
pseudo-potentials by extensive atomic and molecular test calculations.Comment: 16 pages, 4 postscript figure
K-band spectroscopy of IGR J16358-4726 and IGR J16393-4643: two new symbiotic X-ray binaries
Symbiotic X-ray Binaries (SyXBs) are a recently discovered subclass of Low
Mass X-ray Binaries. Their growing number makes them an important evolutionary
channel of X-ray Binaries. Our goal is to perform spectral analysis and
classification of the proposed counterparts to IGR J16358-4726 and IGR
J16393-4643 and to establish their nature as X-ray systems. We used the ESO/UT1
ISAAC spectrograph to observe the proposed counterparts to the two sources,
obtaining K-band medium resolution spectra (R = 500) with a S/N > 140. Data
reduction was performed with the standard procedure. We classified them by
means of comparison with published atlases. We performed SED fitting in order
to refine the spectral classification. The two counterparts clearly exhibit the
typical features of late-type stars, notably strong CO absorption bands in the
red part of the spectrum. With information from previous X-ray studies, we
classify the two systems as two new members of the SyXB class. For IGR
J16393-4643, we considered the most probable counterpart to the system,
although three other objects cannot be completely discarded. For this system,
we compared our findings with available orbital solutions, constraining the
orbital parameters and the mass of the companion star. By including two more
systems, we increased to eight the number of known SyXBs, which emerges as a
non-negligible category of galactic X-ray binaries.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables; this version includes referee's
comments and language editing. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysics
Ten Million Degree Gas in M 17 and the Rosette Nebula: X-ray Flows in Galactic H II Regions
We present the first high-spatial-resolution X-ray images of two high-mass
star forming regions, the Omega Nebula (M 17) and the Rosette Nebula (NGC
2237--2246), obtained with the Chandra X-ray Observatory Advanced CCD Imaging
Spectrometer (ACIS) instrument. The massive clusters powering these H II
regions are resolved at the arcsecond level into >900 (M 17) and >300 (Rosette)
stellar sources similar to those seen in closer young stellar clusters.
However, we also detect soft diffuse X-ray emission on parsec scales that is
spatially and spectrally distinct from the point source population. The diffuse
emission has luminosity L_x ~ 3.4e33 ergs/s in M~17 with plasma energy
components at kT ~0.13 and ~0.6 keV (1.5 and 7 MK), while in Rosette it has L_x
\~6e32 ergs/s with plasma energy components at kT ~0.06 and ~0.8 keV (0.7 and 9
MK). This extended emission most likely arises from the fast O-star winds
thermalized either by wind-wind collisions or by a termination shock against
the surrounding media. We establish that only a small portion of the wind
energy and mass appears in the observed diffuse X-ray plasma; in these blister
H II regions, we suspect that most of it flows without cooling into the
low-density interstellar medium. These data provide compelling observational
evidence that strong wind shocks are present in H II regions.Comment: 35 pages, including 11 figures; to appear in ApJ, August 20, 2003. A
version with high-resolution figures is available at
ftp://ftp.astro.psu.edu/pub/townsley/diffuse.ps.g
Coexisting conical bipolar and equatorial outflows from a high-mass protostar
The BN/KL region in the Orion molecular cloud is an archetype in the study of
the formation of stars much more massive than the Sun. This region contains
luminous young stars and protostars, but it is difficult to study because of
overlying dust and gas. Our basic expectations are shaped to some extent by the
present theoretical picture of star formation, the cornerstone of which is that
protostars acrete gas from rotating equatorial disks, and shed angular momentum
by ejecting gas in bipolar outflows. The main source of the outflow in the
BN/KL region may be an object known as radio source I, which is commonly
believed to be surrounded by a rotating disk of molecular material. Here we
report high-resolution observations of silicon monoxide (SiO) and water maser
emission from the gas surrounding source I; we show that within 60 AU (about
the size of the Solar System), the region is dominated by a conical bipolar
outflow, rather than the expected disk. A slower outflow, close to the
equatorial plane of the protostellar system, extends to radii of 1,000 AU.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures. Accepted by Nature. To appear December 199
K-band spectroscopy of pre-cataclysmic variables
Aims. There exists now substantial evidence for abundance anomalies in a number of cataclysmic variables (CVs), indicating that the photosphere of the secondary star incorporates thermonuclear processed material. However, the spectral energy distribution in CVs is usually dominated by the radiation produced by the accretion process, severely hindering an investigation of the stellar components.
On the other hand, depending on how the secondary star has acquired such material, the above mentioned abundance anomalies could also be present in pre-CVs, i.e. detached white/red dwarf binaries that will eventually evolve into CVs, but have not yet started mass transfer, and therefore allow for an unobstructed view on the secondary star at infrared wavelengths.
Methods. We have taken K-band spectroscopy of a sample of 13 pre-CVs in order to examine them for anomalous chemical abundances. In particular, we study the strength of the 12CO and 13CO absorption bands that have been found diminished and enhanced, respectively, in similar studies of CVs.
Results. All our systems show CO abundances that are within the range observed for single stars. The weakest 12CO bands with respect to the spectral type are found in the pre-CV BPM 71214, although on a much smaller scale than observed in CVs. Furthermore there is no evidence for enhanced 13CO. Taking into account that our sample is subject to the present observational bias that favours the discovery of young pre-CVs with secondary stars of late spectral types, we can conclude the following: 1) our study provides
observational proof that the CO anomalies discovered in certain CVs are not due to any material acquired during the common envelope phase, and 2) if the CO anomalies in certain CVs are not due to accretion of processed material during nova outburst, then the progenitors of these CVs are of a significantly different type than the currently known sample of pre-CVs
FIRBACK IV: Towards the nature of the 170microns source population
We present a detailed study of the brighter ( detections) sources
in the 170m FIRBACK northern N1 ISO survey, with the help of complementary
data in the optical, radio, and mid-IR domain. For 82% of them, an optical
galaxy counterpart is identified, either as the unique source of the IR
emission, or as part of a multiple identification. With less than 15% of AGNs,
these sources are essentially local, moderate starbursters with a dominating
cold dust component. and represent a population of cold galaxies rather
neglected up to now. Their colours do not match those of the far-IR Cosmic IR
Background (CIB), to which they contribute less than 5%. The bulk of the
sources contributing to the CIB is thus to be searched for in more distant
galaxies, possibly counterparts of the fainter FIRBACK sources still under
study. These bright, local, galaxies however play an important role in the
evolution of IR galaxies: they dominate the number counts at high 170 m
fluxes, and represent half of the contribution at 250 mJy. Although not
particularly massive (typically M*), they form more stars than a typical spiral
galaxy and many are bulge dominated, that could represent the remnant of a
former merger. The fainter part of this population may represent the missing
link with the higher-z sources found in sub-mm observations.Comment: 40 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Relativistic separable dual-space Gaussian Pseudopotentials from H to Rn
We generalize the concept of separable dual-space Gaussian pseudopotentials
to the relativistic case. This allows us to construct this type of
pseudopotential for the whole periodic table and we present a complete table of
pseudopotential parameters for all the elements from H to Rn. The relativistic
version of this pseudopotential retains all the advantages of its
nonrelativistic version. It is separable by construction, it is optimal for
integration on a real space grid, it is highly accurate and due to its analytic
form it can be specified by a very small number of parameters. The accuracy of
the pseudopotential is illustrated by an extensive series of molecular
calculations
Spectroscopy across the brown dwarf/planetary mass boundary - I. Near-infrared JHK spectra
With a uniform VLT SINFONI data set of nine targets, we have developed an
empirical grid of J,H,K spectra of the atmospheres of objects estimated to have
very low substellar masses of \sim5-20 MJup and young ages of \sim1-50 Myr.
Most of the targets are companions, objects which are especially valuable for
comparison with atmosphere and evolutionary models, as they present rare cases
in which the age is accurately known from the primary. Based on the sample
youth, all objects are expected to have low surface gravity, and this study
investigates the critical early phases of the evolution of substellar objects.
The spectra are compared with grids of five different theoretical atmosphere
models. This analysis represents the first systematic model comparison with
infrared spectra of young brown dwarfs. The fits to the full JHK spectra of
each object result in a range of best fit effective temperatures of +/-150-300K
whether or not the full model grid or a subset restricted to lower log(g)
values is used. This effective temperature range is significantly larger than
the uncertainty typically assigned when using a single model grid. Fits to a
single wavelength band can vary by up to 1000K using the different models.
Since the overall shape of these spectra is governed more by the temperature
than surface gravity, unconstrained model fits did not find matches with low
surface gravity or a trend in log(g) with age. This suggests that empirical
comparison with spectra of unambiguously young objects targets (such as these
SINFONI data) may be the most reliable method to search for indications of low
surface gravity and youth. For two targets, the SINFONI data are a second epoch
and the data show no variations in morphology over time. The analysis of two
other targets, AB Pic B and CT Cha B, suggests that these objects may have
lower temperatures, and consequently lower masses, than previously estimated.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figure
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