684 research outputs found
The X-ray Ridge Surrounding Sgr A* at the Galactic Center
We present the first detailed simulation of the interaction between the
supernova explosion that produced Sgr A East and the wind-swept inner ~ 2-pc
region at the Galactic center. The passage of the supernova ejecta through this
medium produces an X-ray ridge ~ 9'' to 15'' to the NE of the supermassive
black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). We show that the morphology and X-ray
intensity of this feature match very well with recently obtained Chandra
images, and we infer a supernova remnant age of less than 2,000 years. This
young age--a factor 3--4 lower than previous estimates--arises from our
inclusion of stellar wind effects in the initial (pre-explosion) conditions in
the medium. The supernova does not clear out the central ~ 0.2-pc region around
Sgr~A* and does not significantly alter the accretion rate onto the central
black hole upon passage through the Galactic center.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, submitted to ApJ
Time and duration of chondrule formation: Constraints from 26Al-26Mg ages of individual chondrules
Chondrules from unequilibrated ordinary and carbonaceous chondrites belong to the oldest and most primitive materials from the early solar system and record chemical and isotopic signatures relating to their formation and evolution. These signatures allow tracing protoplanetary disk processes that eventually led to the formation of planetary building blocks and rocky planets. 26Al-26Mg ages based on mineral-mesostasis isochrons of 31 porphyritic ferromagnesian chondrules, that belong mainly to type-II, constrain the time of chondrule melting prior to incorporation into the respective chondrite parent bodies. For this study chondrules from the unequilibrated L, L(LL) and LL ordinary chondrites (UOCs) NWA 5206, NWA 8276, MET 96503, MET 00452, MET 00526, NWA 7936 and QUE 97008 were selected, which are of petrologic types 3.00-3.15 and were thus least metamorphosed after formation. Magnesium and Al isotopes were measured in-situ by Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) using a CAMECA 1280 ims. 26Mg excess from in-situ decay of 26Al correlating with 27Al/24Mg has been detected in the mesostasis of all but one chondrule. The initial Al isotopic compositions (26Al/27Al)0 and 26Mg/24Mg ratios (d26Mg*0) deduced from internal mineral isochron regressions range from (9.5 ± 2.8) × 10-6 to (3.1 ± 1.2) × 10-6 and -0.020 ± 0.028‰ to 0.011 ± 0.039‰, respectively. The corresponding chondrule ages (∆tCAI), calculated relative to calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) using the canonical 26Al/27Al = (5.23 ± 0.13) × 10-5, are between 1.76_(-0.27)^(+0.36) and 2.92_(-0.34)^(+0.51) Ma and date the melt formation and thus primary chondrule formation from dust-like precursors or reprocessing of older chondrules. The age range agrees with those acquired with different short-lived chronometers and with published 26Al-26Mg ages, the majority of which were obtained for chondrules from the Bishunpur and Semarkona meteorites, although no chondrule with (26Al/27Al)0 > 10-5 was found. Chondrules in single chondrite samples or between different chondrite groups show no distinct age distributions. The initial 26Al/27Al of the oldest chondrules in the L(LL)/LL and L chondrite samples are identical within their 1σ uncertainties and yield a mean age of 1.99_(-0.08)^(+0.08) Ma and 1.81_(-0.10)^(+0.11) Ma, respectively. The oldest chondrules from six of the seven studied samples record a mean age of 1.94_(-0.06)^(+0.07) Ma. Since heating events in the protoplanetary disk could have partially reset the Al-Mg systematics in pre-existing chondrules and this would have shifted recorded 26Al-26Mg ages toward younger dates, the oldest mean age of 1.81_(-0.10)^(+0.11) Ma recorded in L chondrite chondrules is interpreted to date the rapid and punctuated onset of chondrule formation. The density distribution of chondrule ages from this study, which comprises the largest single dataset of OC chondrule ages, combined with published ages for chondrules from ordinary and carbonaceous chondrites reveals major age peaks for OC chondrules at 2.0 and 2.3 Ma. Chondrules in ordinary and carbonaceous chondrites formed almost contemporaneously (with a possible distinction between CC groups) in two chemically distinct reservoirs, probably in density-enriched regions at the edges of Jupiter’s orbit. The young formation ages of chondrules suggest that they do not represent precursors but rather by-products of planetesimal accretion
Probing the Density in the Galactic Center Region: Wind-Blown Bubbles and High-Energy Proton Constraints
Recent observations of the Galactic center in high-energy gamma-rays (above
0.1TeV) have opened up new ways to study this region, from understanding the
emission source of these high-energy photons to constraining the environment in
which they are formed. We present a revised theoretical density model of the
inner 5pc surrounding Sgr A* based on the fact that the underlying structure of
this region is dominated by the winds from the Wolf-Rayet stars orbiting Sgr
A*. An ideal probe and application of this density structure is this high
energy gamma-ray emission. We assume a proton-scattering model for the
production of these gamma-rays and then determine first whether such a model is
consistent with the observations and second whether we can use these
observations to further constrain the density distribution in the Galactic
center.Comment: 36 pages including 17 figures, submitted to ApJ, comments welcom
A molecular shell with star formation toward the supernova remnant G349.7+0.2
A field of ~38'x38' around the supernova remnant (SNR) G349.7+0.2 has been
surveyed in the CO J=1-0 transition with the 12 Meter Telescope of the NRAO,
using the On-The-Fly technique. The resolution of the observations is 54". We
have found that this remnant is interacting with a small CO cloud which, in
turn, is part of a much larger molecular complex, which we call the ``Large CO
Shell''. The Large CO Shell has a diameter of about 100 pc, an H_2 mass of
930,000 solar masses, and a density of 35 cm-3. We investigate the origin of
this structure and suggest that an old supernova explosion ocurred about 4
million years ago, as a suitable hypothesis. Analyzing the interaction between
G349.7+0.2 and the Large CO Shell, it is possible to determine that the shock
front currently driven into the molecular gas is a non-dissociative shock
(C-type), in agreement with the presence of OH 1720 MHz masers. The positional
and kinematical coincidence among one of the CO clouds that constitute the
Large CO Shell, an IRAS point-like source and an ultracompact H II region,
indicate the presence of a recently formed star. We suggest that the formation
of this star was triggered during the expansion of the Large CO Shell, and
suggest the possibility that the same expansion also created the progenitor
star of G349.7+0.2. The Large CO Shell would then be one of the few
observational examples of supernova-induced star formation.Comment: accepted in Astronomical Journal, corrected typo in the abstract (in
first line, 38' instead of 38"
The Detection of Cold Dust in Cas A: Evidence for the Formation of Metallic Needles in the Ejecta
Recently, Dunne et al. (2003) obtained 450 and 850 micron SCUBA images of
CasA, and reported the detection of 2-4 M_sun of cold, 18K, dust in the
remnant. Here we show that their interpretation of the observations faces
serious difficulties. Their inferred dust mass is larger than the mass of
refractory material in the ejecta of a 10 to 30 M_sun star. The cold dust model
faces even more difficulties if the 170 micron observations of the remnant are
included in the analysis, decreasing the cold dust temperature to ~ 8K, and
increasing its mass to > 20 M_sun. We offer here a more plausible
interpretation of their observation, in which the cold dust emission is
generated by conducting needles with properties that are completely determined
by the combined submillimeter and X-ray observations of the remnant. The
needles consist of metallic whiskers with <1% of embedded impurities that may
have condensed out of blobs of material that were expelled at high velocities
from the inner metal-rich layers of the star in an asymmetric explosion. The
needles are collisionally heated by the shocked gas to a temperature of 8K.
Taking the destruction of needles into account, a dust mass of only 1E-4 to
1E-3M_sun is needed to account for the observed SCUBA emission. Aligned in the
magnetic field, needles may give rise to observable polarized emission. The
detection of submillimeter polarization will therefore offer definitive proof
for a needle origin for the cold dust emission. Supernovae may still be proven
to be important sources of interstellar dust, but the evidence is still
inconclusive.Comment: 18 pages including 4 figures. Accepted for publication in the ApJ.
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Petrogenesis of Tertiary Alkaline Magmas in the Siebengebirge, Germany
Basanites from the Tertiary Siebengebirge area of Germany (part of the Central European Volcanic Province; CEVP) have high Mg# (>0·60), moderate to high Cr (>300 ppm) and Ni (>200 ppm) contents and strong light rare earth element enrichment, but systematic depletion in Rb and K relative to trace elements of similar compatibility in anhydrous mantle. Rare earth element melting models can explain the petrogenesis of these basanites in terms of partial melting of a spinel peridotite source containing residual amphibole. It is inferred that amphibole, indicated by the relative K and Rb depletion and the melting model, was precipitated in the spinel peridotite lithospheric mantle beneath the Siebengebirge, by metasomatic fluids or melts from a rising mantle diapir or plume. Alkali basalts and more differentiated rocks have lower Mg# and lower abundances of Ni and Cr, and have undergone fractionation of mainly olivine, clinopyroxene, Fe-Ti oxides, amphibole and plagioclase. Most of the basanites and alkali basalts approach the Sr-Nd-Pb isotope compositions inferred for the European Asthenospheric Reservoir component. Trace element constraints (i.e. low Nb/U and Ce/Pb ratios) and the Sr-Nd-Pb isotope composition of the differentiated rocks indicate that assimilation of lower crustal material has modified the composition of the primary mantle-derived magmas. High 207Pb/204Pb ratios in the differentiated lavas point to assimilation of ancient lower crustal components having high U/Pb and Th/Pb ratios. Relatively shallow melting of inferred amphibole-bearing spinel peridotite sources may suggest an origin from the metasomatized part of the thermal boundary layer. Application of new thermobarometric equations for the basaltic magmas indicates relatively normal mantle potential temperatures (1300-1400°C); thus the inferred mantle ‘baby plume' or ‘hot finger' is not thermally anomalou
The Dynamics of Molecular Material Within 15 pcs of the Galactic Center
We report the results of a 5-field mosaic of the central 15pc of the Galaxy
in the (1,1) and (2,2) lines of NH3. Two narrow filaments or streamers are seen
running parallel to the Galactic plane. The southern streamer appears to carry
gas directly toward the nuclear region from the 20 km/s cloud. The eastern
streamer, which we will denote the molecular ridge, appears to be the denser
part of the 50 km/s cloud which lies immediately east of the Sgr A East complex
and extends in the south towards the 20 km/s cloud. This ridge of gas carries
the kinematical signatures of interactions with Sgr A East as well as a SNR
which lies south of the Galactic center. The bulk motion of the gas, the
enhanced line widths, and the heating of the molecular material all suggest an
active evolutionary phase for the gas immediately adjacent to the nucleus.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures, to appear in The Astrophysical Journa
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