1,475 research outputs found
New Constraints on the Escape of Ionizing Photons From Starburst Galaxies Using Ionization-Parameter Mapping
The fate of ionizing radiation in starburst galaxies is key to understanding
cosmic reionization. However, the galactic parameters on which the escape
fraction of ionizing radiation depend are not well understood.
Ionization-parameter mapping provides a simple, yet effective, way to study the
radiative transfer in starburst galaxies. We obtain emission-line ratio maps of
[SIII]/[SII] for six, nearby, dwarf starbursts: NGC 178, NGC 1482, NGC 1705,
NGC 3125, NGC 7126, and He 2-10. The narrow-band images are obtained with the
Maryland-Magellan Tunable Filter at Las Campanas Observatory. Using these data,
we previously reported the discovery of an optically thin ionization cone in
NGC 5253, and here we also discover a similar ionization cone in NGC 3125. This
latter cone has an opening angle of 40+/-5 degrees (0.4 ster), indicating that
the passageways through which ionizing radiation may travel correspond to a
small solid angle. Additionally, there are three sample galaxies that have
winds and/or superbubble activity, which should be conducive to escaping
radiation, yet they are optically thick. These results support the scenario
that an orientation bias limits our ability to directly detect escaping Lyman
continuum in many starburst galaxies. A comparison of the star-formation
properties and histories of the optically thin and thick galaxies is consistent
with the model that high escape fractions are limited to galaxies that are old
enough (> 3 Myr) for mechanical feedback to have cleared optically thin
passageways in the ISM, but young enough (< 5 Myr) that the ionizing stars are
still present.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
Keeping Kids Safe: Bicycle Safety
Children bicycle safety is an important issue in the United States, especially in bike friendly areas such as Vermont. 112 children age 19 and under died in 2010 as a result of a bicycle related injury. Helmets are an easy way to protect children from bicycle related head and brain injury and death, but some people do not understand the importance of helmets or cannot afford to buy helmets. With the help of North Country Hospital we are striving to keep kids safe in the North East Kingdom of Vermont by teaching bike safety and providing helmets at discounted cost.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1208/thumbnail.jp
An Ionization Cone in the Dwarf Starburst Galaxy NGC 5253
There are few observational constraints on how the escape of ionizing photons
from starburst galaxies depends on galactic parameters. Here, we report on the
first major detection of an ionization cone in NGC 5253, a nearby starburst
galaxy. This high-excitation feature is identified by mapping the emission-line
ratios in the galaxy using [S III] lambda 9069, [S II] lambda 6716, and H_alpha
narrow-band images from the Maryland-Magellan Tunable Filter at Las Campanas
Observatory. The ionization cone appears optically thin, which is suggestive of
the escape of ionizing photons. The cone morphology is narrow with an estimated
solid angle covering just 3% of 4pi steradians, and the young, massive clusters
of the nuclear starburst can easily generate the radiation required to ionize
the cone. Although less likely, we cannot rule out the possibility of an
obscured AGN source. An echelle spectrum along the minor axis shows complex
kinematics that are consistent with outflow activity. The narrow morphology of
the ionization cone supports the scenario that an orientation bias contributes
to the difficulty in detecting Lyman continuum emission from starbursts and
Lyman break galaxies.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Accepted to ApJ Letter
Optical and X-ray Properties of the Swift BAT-detected AGN
The Swift Gamma-Ray Burst satellite has detected a largely unbiased towards
absorption sample of local () AGN, based solely on their
14--195 keV flux. In the first 9 months of the survey, 153 AGN sources were
detected. The X-ray properties in the 0.3--10 keV band have been compiled and
presented based on analyses with XMM-Newton, Chandra, Suzaku, and the Swift XRT
(Winter et al. 2009). Additionally, we have compiled a sub-sample of sources
with medium resolution optical ground-based spectra from the SDSS or our own
observations at KPNO. In this sample of 60 sources, we have classified the
sources using standard emission line diagnostic plots, obtained masses for the
broad line sources through measurement of the broad H emission line, and
measured the [OIII] 5007\AA luminosity of this sample. Based on continuum fits
to the intrinsic absorption features, we have obtained clues about the stellar
populations of the host galaxies. We now present the highlights of our X-ray
and optical studies of this unique sample of local AGNs, including a comparison
of the 2--10 keV and 14--195 keV X-ray luminosities with the [OIII] 5007\AA
luminosity and the implications of our results towards measurements of
bolometric luminosities.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in proceedings for 'X-ray Astronomy
2009', Bologna 09/2009, AIP Conference Series, Eds. A. Comastri, M. Cappi, L.
Angelin
Three-Dimensional Simulations of a Starburst-Driven Galactic Wind
We have performed a series of three-dimensional simulations of a
starburst-driven wind in an inhomogeneous interstellar medium. The introduction
of an inhomogeneous disk leads to differences in the formation of a wind, most
noticeably the absence of the ``blow-out'' effect seen in homogeneous models. A
wind forms from a series of small bubbles that propagate into the tenuous gas
between dense clouds in the disk. These bubbles merge and follow the path of
least resistance out of the disk, before flowing freely into the halo.
Filaments are formed from disk gas that is broken up and accelerated into the
outflow. These filaments are distributed throughout a biconical structure
within a more spherically distributed hot wind. The distribution of the
inhomogeneous interstellar medium in the disk is important in determining the
morphology of this wind, as well as the distribution of the filaments. While
higher resolution simulations are required in order to ascertain the importance
of mixing processes, we find that soft X-ray emission arises from gas that has
been mass-loaded from clouds in the disk, as well as from bow shocks upstream
of clouds, driven into the flow by the ram pressure of the wind, and the
interaction between these shocks.Comment: 37 pages, 16 figures, mpg movie can be obtained at
http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~jcooper/movie/video16.mpg, accepted for
publication in Ap
The Smith Cloud: HI associated with the Sgr dwarf?
The Smith high velocity cloud (V(LSR) = 98 kms) has been observed at two
locations in the emission lines [OIII]5007, [NII]6548 and H-alpha. Both the
[NII] and H-alpha profiles show bright cores due to the Reynolds layer, and red
wings with emission extending to V(LSR) = 130 kms. This is the first
simultaneous detection of two emission lines towards a high velocity cloud,
allowing us to form the ratio of these line profiles as a function of LSR
velocity. At both cloud positions, we see a clear distinction between emission
at the cloud velocity, and the Reynolds layer emission (V(LSR) = 0). The
[NII]/H-alpha ratio (=0.25) for the Reynolds layer is typical of the warm
ionised medium. At the cloud velocity, this ratio is enhanced by a factor of
3-4 compared to emission at rest with respect to the LSR. A moderately deep
upper limit at [OIII] (0.12R at 3-sigma) was derived from our data. If the
emission arises from dilute photoionisation from hot young stars, the highly
enhanced [NII]/H-alpha ratio, the [OIII] non-detection and weak H-alpha
emission (0.24-0.30R) suggest that the Smith Cloud is 26+/-4 kpc from the Sun,
at a Galactocentric radius of 20+/-4 kpc. This value assumes that the emission
arises from an optically thick slab, with a covering fraction of unity as seen
by the ionizing photons, whose orientation is either (a) parallel to the
Galactic disk, or (b) such as to maximize the received flux from the disk. The
estimated mass and size of the cloud are 4x10^6 Msun and 6 kpc. We discuss a
possible association with the much larger Sgr dwarf, at a galactocentric radius
of 16+/-2 kpc, which lies within 35 degrees (~12 kpc) of the Smith Cloud.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures, mn.sty. Our first application of a new method
for establishing distances to high velocity clouds. This version matches
paper to appear in MNRAS, 299, 611-624 (Sept. 11 issue
ISO observations of four active galaxies
We present ISO PHOT-S spectra of four galaxies known or suspected to host a
central AGN, selected from the initial Iras/Rosat sample of Boller et al.
(1992). Two of them had no obvious Seyfert features in their previous optical
spectra: IRAS 14201+2956, and IRAS 21582+1018. The latter was bright enough to
also allow SWS observations around selected neon lines, to establish its
excitation. While both PHOT-S spectra are characteristic of starburst-dominated
galaxies, the neon line ratios in IRAS 21582+1018 indicate the presence of a
hard excitation source. New, high-resolution, optical spectra show only a weak,
broad component around Halpha, classifying now these two objects as Sey 1.9
galaxies. The two other galaxies observed are the NLS1 galaxies Mrk 359 and Mrk
1388. Their ISO spectra however do not reveal the typical, strong PAH features
found in the starburst galaxies and are more like those of standard Seyferts.
These results show therefore that, although IR observations were expected to be
able to always reveal the presence of an active nucleus by piercing through the
central obscuration, the result may be ambiguous: the broad band IR energy
distribution can still be dominated by starburts located in a circumnuclear
region, and the AGN appear only in specific observations (high-excitation lines
in the IR, or optical spectra with better quality than classification spectra).
The obscuration needs however to be patchy rather than complete, to explain the
detection of the high-excitation lines or broad Balmer wings. Only high-energy
observations can then establish the strength of the central
AGN and the amount of extinction with certainty.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, accepted in Astronomy & Astrophysic
A Deep HST H-Band Imaging Survey of Massive Gas-Rich Mergers. II. The QUEST PG QSOs
We report the results from a deep HST NICMOS H-band imaging survey of 28 z <
0.3 QSOs from the Palomar-Green (PG) sample. This program is part of QUEST
(Quasar / ULIRG Evolution STudy) and complements a similar set of data on 26
highly-nucleated ULIRGs presented in Paper I. Our analysis indicates that the
fraction of QSOs with elliptical hosts is higher among QSOs with undetected
far-infrared (FIR) emission, small infrared excess, and luminous hosts. The
hosts of FIR-faint QSOs show a tendency to have less pronounced merger-induced
morphological anomalies and larger QSO-to-host luminosity ratios on average
than the hosts of FIR-bright QSOs, consistent with late-merger evolution from
FIR-bright to FIR-faint QSOs. The spheroid sizes and total host luminosities of
the radio-quiet PG QSOs in our sample are statistically indistinguishable from
the ULIRG hosts presented in Paper I, while those of radio-loud PG QSOs are
systematically larger and more luminous. ULIRGs and PG QSOs with elliptical
hosts fall near, but not exactly on, the fundamental plane of inactive
spheroids. We confirm the systematic trend noted in Paper I for objects with
small (< 2 kpc) spheroids to be up to ~1 mag. brighter than inactive spheroids.
The host colors and wavelength dependence of their sizes support the idea that
these deviations are due at least in part to non-nuclear star formation.
However, the amplitudes of these deviations does not depend on host R-H colors.
Taken at face value (i.e., no correction for extinction or the presence of a
young stellar population), the H-band spheroid-host luminosities imply BH
masses ~5 -- 200 x 10^7 M_sun and sub-Eddington mass accretion rates for both
QSOs and ULIRGs. These results are compared with published BH mass estimates
derived from other methods. (abridged)Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 701,
August 20 issue. Paper with high-resolution figures can be downloaded at
http://www.astro.umd.edu/~veilleux/pubs/nicmos2.pd
Spectroscopic follow-up of FIRBACK-South-Marano bright galaxies
We present optical spectroscopy of the brightest 170 microns sources in the
FIRBACK South Marano (FSM) field. The survey is 90% complete at the 4 sigma
level. The spectra are compared with those of a reference sample of faint IRAS
(60 microns selected) sources observed in the same conditions . The galaxies in
both samples are characterized by a predominance of emission-line spectra and
moderate IR luminosities (10E10.5 < L_IR < 10E12 L_Sun). The fraction of AGN's
is low (about 15%) and the majority of sources are nearby (z<0.3), dusty, star
forming galaxies, with moderate star formation rates (a few 10 solar masses per
year). The infrared emission of the FSM galaxies shows also a colder spectral
energy distribution than was expected.
The galaxies in both samples (IRAS faint sources and FSM) are essentially
undistinguishable with the available data, and seem to represent a population
of closeby, cold, star forming galaxies rather neglected up to now. Although
their contribution to the far-IR background seems to be low, they deserve a
more detailed study on their own. The contribution of fainter, presumably more
distant, galaxies to the far-IR background will be discussed when we will have
completed the follow-up of the fainter part of this 170 microns survey. It
seems however already clear that the fraction of closeby, cold galaxies is much
larger than expected by the earlier models, at least down to the sensitivity
achieved by this ISO survey.Comment: 16 pages + 9 figures (Figs 1, 8 and 9 too big to be included)
Accepted in Astronomy & Astrophysic
Optical Spectral Properties of Swift BAT Hard X-ray Selected Active Galactic Nuclei Sources
The Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) survey of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN)
is providing an unprecedented view of local AGNs ( = 0.03) and their host
galaxy properties. In this paper, we present an analysis of the optical spectra
of a sample of 64 AGNs from the 9-month survey, detected solely based on their
14-195 keV flux. Our analysis includes both archived spectra from the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey and our own observations from the 2.1-m Kitt Peak National
Observatory telescope. Among our results, we include line ratio classifications
utilizing standard emission line diagnostic plots, [O III] 5007 A luminosities,
and H-beta derived black hole masses. As in our X-ray study, we find the type 2
sources to be less luminous (in [O III] 5007 A and 14-195 keV luminosities)
with lower accretion rates than the type 1 sources. We find that the optically
classified LINERs, H II/composite galaxies, and ambiguous sources have the
lowest luminosities, while both broad line and narrow line Seyferts have
similar luminosities. From a comparison of the hard X-ray (14-195 keV) and [O
III] luminosities, we find that both the observed and extinction-corrected [O
III] luminosities are weakly correlated with X-ray luminosity. In a study of
the host galaxy properties from both continuum fits and measurements of the
stellar absorption indices, we find that the hosts of the narrow line sources
have properties consistent with late type galaxies.Comment: 84 pages, 20 figures, 17 tables, accepted in Ap
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