3,461 research outputs found
Evidence for the Galactic X-ray Bulge II
A mosaic of 5 \ros~PSPC pointed observations in the Galactic plane
() reveals X-ray shadows in the keV band cast by
distant molecular clouds. The observed on-cloud and off-cloud X-ray fluxes
indicate that % and % of the diffuse X-ray background in this
direction in the \tq~keV and 1.5 keV bands, respectively, originates behind the
molecular gas which is located at 3 kpc from the Sun. The implication of
the derived background X-ray flux beyond the absorbing molecular cloud is
consistent with, and lends further support to recent observations of a Galactic
X-ray bulge.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, 2 table
High Velocity Cloud Complex H: A Satellite of the Milky Way in a Retrograde Orbit?
Observations with the Green Bank Telescope of 21cm HI emission from the
high-velocity cloud Complex H suggest that it is interacting with the Milky
Way. A model in which the cloud is a satellite of the Galaxy in an inclined,
retrograde circular orbit reproduces both the cloud's average velocity and its
velocity gradient with latitude. The model places Complex H at approximately 33
kpc from the Galactic Center on a retrograde orbit inclined about 45 degrees to
the Galactic plane. At this location it has an HI mass > 6 10^6 Msun and
dimensions of at least 10 by 5 kpc. Some of the diffuse HI associated with the
cloud has apparently been decelerated by interaction with Galactic gas. Complex
H has similarities to the dwarf irregular galaxy Leo A and to some compact
high-velocity clouds, and has an internal structure nearly identical to parts
of the Magellanic Stream, with a pressure P/k about 100 cm^{-3} K.Comment: 12 pages includes 4 figures. To be published in Astrophysical Journal
Letters, 1 July 200
HI Clouds Beyond the Galactic Disk
Recent observations in the 21cm line with the Green Bank Telescope have
changed our view of the neutral interstellar medium (ISM) in several ways. The
new data show that in the inner parts of the Milky Way the disk-halo interface
is composed of many discrete HI clouds. The clouds lie in a layer more than one
kpc thick and follow Galactic rotation. Their origin and evolution is unknown.
In the outer Galaxy, the new data show that the high-velocity cloud Complex H
is likely a satellite on a retrograde orbit interacting with some extended
component of the Milky Way's ISM. These observations place new constraints on
models of the ISM and are directly related to the work of Don Cox and Ron
Reynolds.Comment: 8 pages includes 2 figures. To appear in "How Does the Galaxy Work?",
eds. E.J. Alfaro, E. Perez, & J. Franco, Kluwer, Proceedings of a Conference
held 23-27 June 2003 in Granada, Spai
Radio Polarimetry of the ELAIS N1 Field: Polarized Compact Sources
We present deep polarimetric observations at 1420 MHz of the European Large
Area ISO Survey North 1 region (ELAIS N1) as part of the Dominion Radio
Astrophysical Observatory Planck Deep Fields project. By combining closely
spaced aperture synthesis fields, we image a region of 7.43 square degrees to a
maximum sensitivity in Stokes Q and U of 78 microJy/beam, and detect 786
compact sources in Stokes I. Of these, 83 exhibit polarized emission. We find
that the differential source counts (log N - log p) for polarized sources are
nearly constant down to p > 500 microJy, and that these faint polarized radio
sources are more highly polarized than the strong source population. The median
fractional polarization is (4.8 +/- 0.7)% for polarized sources with Stokes I
flux density between 1 and 30 mJy; approximately three times larger than
sources with I > 100 mJy. The majority of the polarized sources have been
identified with galaxies in the Spitzer Wide Area Infrared Extragalactic Survey
(SWIRE) image of ELAIS N1. Most of the galaxies occupy regions in the IRAC
5.8/3.6 micron vs. 8.0/4.5 micron color-color diagram associated with dusty
AGNs, or with ellipticals with an aging stellar population. A few host galaxies
have colors that suggests significant PAH emission in the near-infrared. A
small fraction, 12%, of the polarized sources are not detected in the SWIRE
data. None of the polarized sources in our sample appears to be associated with
an actively star-forming galaxy.Comment: 28 pages, 8 Figures. Figures 2 and 3 as separate gif images. Accepted
for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
A population-based approach to background discrimination in particle physics
Background properties in experimental particle physics are typically
estimated using control samples corresponding to large numbers of events. This
can provide precise knowledge of average background distributions, but
typically does not consider the effect of fluctuations in a data set of
interest. A novel approach based on mixture model decomposition is presented as
a way to estimate the effect of fluctuations on the shapes of probability
distributions in a given data set, with a view to improving on the knowledge of
background distributions obtained from control samples. Events are treated as
heterogeneous populations comprising particles originating from different
processes, and individual particles are mapped to a process of interest on a
probabilistic basis. The proposed approach makes it possible to extract from
the data information about the effect of fluctuations that would otherwise be
lost using traditional methods based on high-statistics control samples. A
feasibility study on Monte Carlo is presented, together with a comparison with
existing techniques. Finally, the prospects for the development of tools for
intensive offline analysis of individual events at the Large Hadron Collider
are discussed.Comment: Updated according to the version published in J. Phys.: Conf. Ser.
Minor changes have been made to the text with respect to the published
article with a view to improving readabilit
An Interaction of a Magellanic Leading Arm High Velocity Cloud with the Milky Way Disk
The Leading Arm of the Magellanic System is a tidally formed HI feature
extending \sim 60\arcdeg from the Magellanic Clouds ahead of their direction
of motion. Using atomic hydrogen (HI) data from the Galactic All Sky-Survey
(GASS), supplemented with data from the Australia Telescope Compact Array, we
have found evidence for an interaction between a cloud in the Leading Arm and
the Galactic disk where the Leading Arm crosses the Galactic plane. The
interaction occurs at velocities permitted by Galactic rotation, which allows
us to derive a kinematic distance to the cloud of 21 kpc, suggesting that the
Leading Arm crosses the Galactic Plane at a Galactic radius of
kpc.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, accepted to Astrophysical Journal Letters. Full
resolution version available at
ftp://ftp.atnf.csiro.au/pub/people/nmcclure/papers/LeadingArm_apjl.pd
Extended HI Rotation Curve and Mass Distribution of M31
New HI observations of Messier 31 (M31) obtained with the Effelsberg and
Green Bank 100-m telescopes make it possible to measure the rotation curve of
that galaxy out to ~35 kpc. Between 20 and 35 kpc, the rotation curve is nearly
flat at a velocity of ~226 km/s. A model of the mass distribution shows that at
the last observed velocity point, the minimum dark-to-luminous mass ratio is
\~0.5 for a total mass of 3.4 10^11 Msol at R < 35 kpc. This can be compared to
the estimated MW mass of 4.9 10^11 Msol for R < 50 kpc.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Log-parabolic spectra and particle acceleration in blazars - II: The BeppoSAX wide band X-ray spectra of Mkn 501
We present the results of a spectral and temporal study of the complete set
of BeppoSAX NFI (11) and WFC (71) observations of the BL Lac object Mkn 501.
The WFC 2-28 keV data, reported here for the first time, were collected over a
period of about five years, from September 1996 to October 2001. These
observations, although not evenly distributed, show that Mkn 501, after going
through a very active phase from spring 1997 to early 1999, remained in a low
brightness state until late 2001. The data from the LECS, MECS and PDS
instruments, covering the wide energy interval 0.1-150 keV, have been used to
study in detail the spectral variability of the source. We show that the X-ray
energy distribution of Mkn 501 is well described by a log-parabolic law in all
luminosity states. This model allowed us to obtain good estimates of the SED
synchrotron peak energy and of its associated power. The strong spectral
variability observed, consisting of strictly correlated changes between the
synchrotron peak energy and bolometric flux, suggests that the main physical
changes are not only due to variations of the maximum Lorentz factor of the
emitting particles but that other quantities must be varying as well. During
the 1997 flare the high energy part of the spectrum of Mkn 501 shows evidence
of an excess above the best fit log-parabolic law suggesting the existence of a
second emission component that may be responsible for most of the observed
variability.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics (11 pages, 7
figures
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