Proper Motions in the Andromeda Subgroup

This article presents results of VLBI observations of regions of H2O maser activity in the Local Group galaxies M33 and IC10. Since all position measurements were made relative to extragalactic background sources, the proper motions of the two galaxies could be measured. For M33, this provides this galaxy's three dimensional velocity, showing that this galaxy is moving with a velocity of 190 +/- 59 km\s relative to the Milky Way. For IC10, we obtain a motion of 215 +/- 42 km/s relative to the Milky Way. These measurements promise a new handle on dynamical models for the Local Group and the mass and dark matter halo of Andromeda and the Milky Way.Comment: 4 pages 1 figures, to appear in the proceedings of "Galaxies in the Local Volume", Astrophysics and Space Science, editors B. Koribalski and H. Jerjen also available at http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/staff/abrunthaler/pub.shtm

The energy dependence of the pp->K+ n Sigma+ reaction close to threshold

The production of the Sigma+ hyperon through the pp->K+nSigma+ reaction has been investigated at four energies close to threshold, 1.826, 1.920, 1.958, and 2.020 GeV. At low energies, correlated K+pi+ pairs can only originate from Sigma+ production so that their measurement allows the total cross section for the reaction to be determined. The results obtained are completely consistent with the values extracted from the study of the K+-proton correlation spectra obtained in the same experiment. These spectra, as well as the inclusive K+ momentum distributions, also provide conservative upper limits on the Sigma+ production rates. The measurements show a Sigma+ production cross section that varies roughly like phase space and, in particular, none of the three experimental approaches used supports the anomalously high near-threshold pp->K+ nSigma+ total cross section previously reported [T. Rozek et al., Phys. Lett. B 643, 251 (2006)].Comment: Submitted to PR

Brief Communication: Newly developing rift in Larsen C Ice Shelf presents significant risk to stability

An established rift in the Larsen C Ice Shelf, formerly constrained by a suture zone containing marine ice, grew rapidly during 2014 and is likely in the near future to generate the largest calving event since the 1980s and result in a new minimum area for the ice shelf. Here we investigate the recent development of the rift, quantify the projected calving event and, using a numerical model, assess its likely impact on ice shelf stability. We find that the ice front is at risk of becoming unstable when the anticipated calving event occurs

New determination of the mass of the eta meson at COSY-ANKE

A value for the mass of the eta meson has been determined at the COSY-ANKE facility through the measurement of a set of deuteron laboratory beam momenta and associated 3He center-of-mass momenta in the d+p -> 3He+X reaction. The eta was then identified by the missing-mass peak and the production threshold determined. The individual beam momenta were fixed with a relative precision of 3 x 10^-5 for values around 3 GeV/c by using a polarized deuteron beam and inducing an artificial depolarizing spin resonance, which occurs at a well-defined frequency. The final-state momenta in the two-body d+p -> 3He+eta reaction were investigated in detail by studying the size of the 3He momentum ellipse with the forward detection system of the ANKE spectrometer. Final alignment of the spectrometer for this high precision experiment was achieved through a comprehensive study of the 3He final-state momenta as a function of the center-of-mass angles, taking advantage of the full geometrical acceptance. The value obtained for the mass, m(eta)=(547.873 +- 0.005(stat) +- 0.027(syst)) MeV/c^2, is consistent and competitive with other recent measurements, in which the meson was detected through its decay products.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables, published versio

Measurement of the isospin-filtering dd -> 4He K+ K- reaction at Q=39 MeV

The total cross section for the dd -> 4He K+ K- reaction has been measured at a beam momentum of 3.7 GeV/c, corresponding to an excess energy of 39 MeV, which is the maximum possible at the Cooler Synchrotron COSY-J\"{u}lich. A deuterium cluster-jet target and the ANKE forward magnetic spectrometer, placed inside the storage ring, have been employed in this investigation. We find a total cross section of sigma(tot) < 14 pb, which brings into question the viability of investigating the dd -> 4He a0(980) reaction as a means of studying isospin violation.Comment: Five pages with three eps figure

Measurement of the analyzing powers in pd elastic and pn quasi-elastic scattering at small angles

The analyzing powers in proton-deuteron elastic and proton-neutron quasi-elastic scattering have been measured at small angles using a polarized proton beam at the COSY storage ring incident on an unpolarized deuterium target. The data were taken at 796MeV and five higher energies from 1600MeV to 2400MeV. The analyzing power in pd elastic scattering was studied by detecting the low energy recoil deuteron in telescopes placed symmetrically in the COSY plane to the left and right of the beam whereas for pn quasi-elastic scattering a low energy proton was registered in one of the telescopes in coincidence with a fast scattered proton measured in the ANKE magnetic spectrometer. Though the experiment explores new domains, the results are consistent with the limited published information.Comment: 10 pages with 8 figure

Absence of spin dependence in the final state interaction of the d(pol) p --> 3He eta reaction

The deuteron tensor analysing power t_{20} of the d(pol) p --> 3He eta reaction has been measured at the COSY-ANKE facility in small steps in excess energy Q up to Q = 11 MeV. Despite the square of the production amplitude varying by over a factor of five through this range, t_{20} shows little or no energy dependence. This is evidence that the final state interaction causing the energy variation is not influenced by the spin configuration in the entrance channel. The weak angular dependence observed for t_{20} provides useful insight into the amplitude structure near threshold.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

MG1-688432: A Peculiar Variable System

The short period variable star MG1-688432 has been discovered to exhibit occasional extremely high energy optical outbursts as high as 10^31 joules. Outbursts are typically of several hours duration. These events are often highly structured, resembling sequential associated releases of energy. Twenty years of time sequence photometry is presented, indicating a basic sinusoidal light curve of mean period 6.65d, with some phase shifting and long-term temporal trends in amplitude and mean brightness. Spectroscopy reveals a peculiar star, best resembling a K3 subgiant that has evolved off the main sequence moderately red-ward of the giant branch. Spectroscopic and radial velocity analyses indicate a binary system orbiting its barycenter with an unseen companion to the K3IV primary. This is not an eclipsing system with the inclination of the orbit precluding eclipse by the secondary. The system is at a distance of 1.5kpc and analysis of GAIA observations leads to the conclusion that the HR diagram position of MG1-688432 is established by an intrinsic feature of the system, most likely either the stellar evolutionary state of the observed star or the presence of small (non-gray) dust within the system. Two mechanisms that might give rise to the system are 1) impacts with tidally disrupted planetary debris, and 2) magnetically induced chromospheric activity. An intriguing idea that requires further investigation suggests that the unseen companion is perhaps a white dwarf star which has encountered a planet and tidally shredded it to produce a debris and dust veil that modulates the brightness of the primary.Comment: 74 pages, 36 figures, submitted to Astrophysical Journal Supplemen

The production of K+K- pairs in proton-proton collisions at 2.83 GeV

Differential and total cross sections for the pp -> ppK+K- reaction have been measured at a proton beam energy of 2.83 GeV using the COSY-ANKE magnetic spectrometer. Detailed model descriptions fitted to a variety of one-dimensional distributions permit the separation of the pp -> pp phi cross section from that of non-phi production. The differential spectra show that higher partial waves represent the majority of the pp -> pp phi total cross section at an excess energy of 76 MeV, whose energy dependence would then seem to require some s-wave phi-p enhancement near threshold. The non-phi data can be described in terms of the combined effects of two-body final state interactions using the same effective scattering parameters determined from lower energy data.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, 3 table

The Near-Threshold Production of Phi Mesons in pp Collisions

The pp->pp phi reaction has been studied at the Cooler Synchrotron COSY-Juelich, using the internal beam and ANKE facility. Total cross sections have been determined at three excess energies epsilon near the production threshold. The differential cross section closest to threshold at epsilon=18.5 MeV exhibits a clear S-wave dominance as well as a noticeable effect due to the proton-proton final state interaction. Taken together with data for pp omega-production, a significant enhancement of the phi/omega ratio of a factor 8 is found compared to predictions based on the Okubo-Zweig-Iizuka rule.Comment: 4 Pages, 3 Figures, 1 Table, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let