598 research outputs found
Microstructure of the Local Interstellar Cloud and the Identification of the Hyades Cloud
We analyze high-resolution UV spectra of the Mg II h and k lines for 18
members of the Hyades Cluster to study inhomogeneity along these proximate
lines of sight. The observations were taken by the Space Telescope Imaging
Spectrograph (STIS) instrument on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Three
distinct velocity components are observed. All 18 lines of sight show
absorption by the Local Interstellar Cloud (LIC), ten stars show absorption by
an additional cloud, which we name the Hyades Cloud, and one star exhibits a
third absorption component. The LIC absorption is observed at a lower radial
velocity than predicted by the LIC velocity vector derived by Lallement &
Bertin (1992) and Lallement et al. (1995), (v(predicted LIC) - v(observed LIC)
= 2.9 +/- 0.7 km/s), which may indicate a compression or deceleration at the
leading edge of the LIC. We propose an extention of the Hyades Cloud boundary
based on previous HST observations of other stars in the general vicinity of
the Hyades, as well as ground-based Ca II observations. We present our fits of
the interstellar parameters for each absorption component. The availability of
18 similar lines of sight provides an excellent opportunity to study the
inhomogeneity of the warm, partially ionized local interstellar medium (LISM).
We find that these structures are roughly homogeneous. The measured Mg II
column densities do not vary by more than a factor of 2 for angular separations
of < 8 degrees, which at the outer edge of the LIC correspond to physical
separations of < 0.6 pc.Comment: 35 pages, 11 figures, AASTEX v.5.0 plus EPSF extensions in mkfig.sty;
accepted by Ap
The Velocity Distribution of the Nearest Interstellar Gas
The bulk flow velocity for the cluster of interstellar cloudlets within about
30 pc of the Sun is determined from optical and ultraviolet absorption line
data, after omitting from the sample stars with circumstellar disks or variable
emission lines and the active variable HR 1099. Ninety-six velocity components
towards the remaining 60 stars yield a streaming velocity through the local
standard of rest of -17.0+/-4.6 km/s, with an upstream direction of l=2.3 deg,
b=-5.2 deg (using Hipparcos values for the solar apex motion). The velocity
dispersion of the interstellar matter (ISM) within 30 pc is consistent with
that of nearby diffuse clouds, but present statistics are inadequate to
distinguish between a Gaussian or exponential distribution about the bulk flow
velocity. The upstream direction of the bulk flow vector suggests an origin
associated with the Loop I supernova remnant. Groupings of component velocities
by region are seen, indicating regional departures from the bulk flow velocity
or possibly separate clouds. The absorption components from the cloudlet
feeding ISM into the solar system form one of the regional features. The
nominal gradient between the velocities of upstream and downstream gas may be
an artifact of the Sun's location near the edge of the local cloud complex. The
Sun may emerge from the surrounding gas-patch within several thousand years.Comment: Typographical errors corrected; Five tables, seven figures;
Astrophysical Journal, in pres
Two-component model of the interaction of an interstellar cloud with surrounding hot plasma
We present a two-component gasdynamic model of an interstellar cloud embedded
in a hot plasma. It is assumed that the cloud consists of atomic hydrogen gas,
interstellar plasma is quasineutral. Hydrogen atoms and plasma protons interact
through a charge exchange process. Magnetic felds and radiative processes are
ignored in the model. The influence of heat conduction within plasma on the
interaction between a cloud and plasma is studied. We consider the extreme case
and assume that hot plasma electrons instantly heat the plasma in the
interaction region and that plasma flow can be described as isothermal. Using
the two-component model of the interaction of cold neutral cloud and hot
plasma, we estimate the lifetime of interstellar clouds. We focus on the clouds
typical for the cluster of local interstellar clouds embedded in the hot Local
Bubble and give an estimate of the lifetime of the Local interstellar cloud
where the Sun currently travels. The charge transfer between highly charged
plasma ions and neutral atoms generates X-ray emission. We assume typical
abundance of heavy ions for the Local Bubble plasma and estimate the X-ray
emissivity due to charge exchange from the interface between cold neutral cloud
and hot plasma. Our results show that charge exchange X-ray emission from the
neutral-plasma interfaces can be a non-negligible fraction of the observed
X-ray emission.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
Chopper Line Studies
In the layout of the LINAC4, a Medium Energy Beam Transport (MEBT) is placed between the RFQ and the DTL, comprising a chopper and matching the beam parameters to the DTL
Deuterium Toward WD1634-573: Results from the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) Mission
We use Far Ultraviolet Spectrocopic Explorer (FUSE) observations to study
interstellar absorption along the line of sight to the white dwarf WD1634-573
(d=37.1+/-2.6 pc). Combining our measurement of D I with a measurement of H I
from Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer data, we find a D/H ratio toward WD1634-573
of D/H=(1.6+/-0.5)e-5. In contrast, multiplying our measurements of D I/O
I=0.035+/-0.006 and D I/N I=0.27+/-0.05 with published mean Galactic ISM gas
phase O/H and N/H ratios yields D/H(O)=(1.2+/-0.2)e-5 and
D/H(N)=(2.0+/-0.4)e-5, respectively. Note that all uncertainties quoted above
are 2 sigma. The inconsistency between D/H(O) and D/H(N) suggests that either
the O I/H I and/or the N I/H I ratio toward WD1634-573 must be different from
the previously measured average ISM O/H and N/H values. The computation of
D/H(N) from D I/N I is more suspect, since the relative N and H ionization
states could conceivably vary within the LISM, while the O and H ionization
states will be more tightly coupled by charge exchange.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures; AASTEX v5.0 plus EPSF extensions in mkfig.sty;
accepted by ApJ Supplemen
The Ionization of the Local Interstellar Medium, as Revealed by FUSE Observations of N, O and Ar toward White Dwarf Stars
FUSE spectra of the white dwarf stars G191-B2B, GD 394, WD 2211-495 and WD
2331-475 cover the absorption features out of the ground electronic states of N
I, N II, N III, O I and Ar I in the far ultraviolet, providing new insights on
the origin of the partial ionization of the Local Interstellar Medium (LISM),
and for the case of G191-B2B, the interstellar cloud that immediately surrounds
the solar system. Toward these targets the interstellar abundances of Ar I, and
sometimes N I, are significantly below their cosmic abundances relative to H I.
In the diffuse interstellar medium, these elements are not likely to be
depleted onto dust grains. Generally, we expect that Ar should be more strongly
ionized than H (and also O and N whose ionizations are coupled to that of H via
charge exchange reactions) because the cross section for the photoionization of
Ar I is very high. Our finding that Ar I/H I is low may help to explain the
surprisingly high ionization of He in the LISM found by other investigators.
Our result favors the interpretation that the ionization of the local medium is
maintained by a strong EUV flux from nearby stars and hot gases, rather than an
incomplete recovery from a past, more highly ionized condition.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures. To appear in a special issue of the
Astrophysical Journal Letters devoted to the first scientific results from
the FUSE missio
End-to end simulations of LINAC4
Linac4 is a new H- linear accelerator presently studied at CERN. This machine consists of normal-conducting structures operating at 352.2 MHz and 704.4 MHz re-using the RF equipment from the decommissioned LEP collider. It consists of a 95 keV H- source, a 352 MHz RFQ bringing the energy the energy to 3 MeV, a Chopper line, a 352 MHz Drift Tube Linac bringing the energy to 40 MeV, a 352 MHz Coupled Cavity Drift Tube Linac bringing the energy to 90 MeV and a 704 MHz Side Coupled Linac bringing the energy to 160 MeV. Each section is designed and optimized as stand-alone machines for a good transmission and minimum possible emittance growth. End-to-end simulations starting from the RFQ have been carried out in order to validate and compare the multiparticle simulation codes PATH Manager and TRACEWIN used for beam dynamics calculations as well as to perform a global optimization of the structures in the context of a complex machine
Orbital Parameters and Chemical Composition of Four White Dwarfs in Post-Common Envelope Binaries
We present FUSE observations of the hot white dwarfs in the post-common
envelope binaries Feige 24, EUVE J0720-317, BPM 6502, and EUVE J2013+400. The
spectra show numerous photospheric absorption lines which trace the white dwarf
orbital motion. We report the detection of C III, O VI, P V, and Si IV in the
spectra of Feige 24, EUVE J0720-317 and EUVE J2013+400, and the detection of C
III, N II, Si III, Si IV, and Fe III in the spectra of BPM 6502. Abundance
measurements support the possibility that white dwarfs in post-common envelope
binaries accrete material from the secondary star wind. The FUSE observations
of BPM 6502 and EUVE J2013+400 cover a complete binary orbit. We used the FUSE
spectra to measure the radial velocities traced by the white dwarf in the four
binaries, where the zero-point velocity were fixed using the ISM velocities in
the line of sight of the stellar systems. For BPM 6502 we determined a white
dwarf velocity semi-amplitude of K_WD = 18.6+/-0.5km/s, and with the velocity
semi-amplitude of the red dwarf companion (K_RD = 75.2+/-3.1 km/s), we estimate
the mass ratio to be q = 0.25+/-0.01. Adopting a spectroscopic mass
determination for the white dwarf, we infer a low secondary mass of M_RD =
0.14+/-0.01 M_solar. For EUVE J2013+400 we determine a white dwarf velocity
semi-amplitude of K_WD = 36.7+/-0.7 km/s. The FUSE observations of EUVE
J0720-317 cover approximately 30% of the binary period and combined with the
HST GHRS measurements (Vennes et al. 1999, ApJ 523, 386), we update the binary
properties. FUSE observations of Feige 24 cover approximately 60% of the orbit
and we combine this data set with HST STIS (Vennes et al. 2000, ApJ, 544, 423)
data to update the binary properties.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
Complete Genome Sequence of a Multidrug-Resistant <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> Environmental Isolate from Zanzibar, Tanzania, Harboring Novel Insertion Elements and Two <i>bla</i>CTX-M-15 Genes
Here, we report the annotated whole-genome sequence of Klebsiella pneumoniae strain KP_3b, isolated in Zanzibar, Tanzania, from plastic litter. The strain is extended-spectrum ÎČ-lactamase (ESBL) producing and multidrug resistant, encoding 17 resistance genes, most of which are located on a 230,544-bp plasmid. The isolate contains two copies of the bla(CTX-M-15) gene and novel insertion elements
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