2,385 research outputs found
Mapping of interstellar clouds with infrared light scattered from dust: TMC-1N
Mapping of near-infrared (NIR) scattered light is a recent method for the
study of interstellar clouds, complementing other, more commonly used methods,
like dust emission and extinction. Our goal is to study the usability of this
method on larger scale, and compare the properties of a filament using NIR
scattering and other methods. We also study the radiation field and differences
in grain emissivity between diffuse and dense areas. We have used scattered J,
H, and K band surface brightness WFCAM-observations to map filament TMC-1N in
Taurus, covering an area of 1dx1d corresponding to ~(2.44 pc)^2. We have
converted the data into optical depth and compared the results with NIR
extinction and Herschel observations of submm dust emission. We see the
filament in scattered light in all three NIR bands. We note that our WFCAM
observations in TMC-1N show notably lower intensity than previous results in
Corona Australis using the same method. We show that 3D radiative transfer
simulations predict similar scattered surface brightness levels as seen in the
observations. However, changing the assumptions about the background can change
the results of simulations notably. We derive emissivity by using optical depth
in the J band as an independent tracer of column density. We obtain opacity
sigma(250um) values 1.7-2.4x10^-25 cm^2/H, depending on assumptions of the
extinction curve, which can change the results by over 40%. These values are
twice as high as obtained for diffuse areas, at the lower limit of earlier
results for denser areas. We show that NIR scattering can be a valuable tool in
making high resolution maps. We conclude, however, that NIR scattering
observations can be complicated, as the data can show relatively low-level
artefacts. This suggests caution when planning and interpreting the
observations.Comment: abstract shortened and figures reduced for astrop
Cosmology with redshift surveys of radio sources
We use the K-z relation for radio galaxies to illustrate why it has proved
difficult to obtain definitive cosmological results from studies based entirely
on catalogues of the brightest radio sources, e.g. 3C. To improve on this
situation we have been undertaking redshift surveys of complete samples drawn
from the fainter 6C and 7C radio catalogues. We describe these surveys, and
illustrate the new studies they are allowing. We also discuss our `filtered' 6C
redshift surveys: these have led to the discovery of a radio galaxy at z=4.4,
and are sensitive to similar objects at higher redshift provided the space
density of these objects is not declining too rapidly with z. There is
currently no direct evidence for a sharp decline in the space density of radio
galaxies for z > 4, a result only barely consistent with the observed decline
of flat-spectrum radio quasars.Comment: 8 pages Latex, To appear in the "Cosmology with the New Radio
Surveys" Conference - Tenerife 13-15 January 199
Mid-infrared selection of quasar-2s in Spitzer's First Look Survey
We present early results from the spectroscopic follow-up of a sample of
candidate obscured AGN selected in the mid-infrared from the Spitzer First Look
Survey. Our selection allows a direct comparison of the numbers of obscured and
unobscured AGN at a given luminosity for the first time, and shows that the
ratio of obscured to unobscured AGN at infrared luminosities corresponding to
low luminosity quasars is ~1:1 at z~0.5. Most of our optically-faint candidate
obscured AGN have the high-ionization, narrow-line spectra expected from type-2
AGN. A composite spectrum shows evidence for Balmer absorption lines,
indicating recent star-formation activity in the host galaxies. There is
tentative evidence for a decrease in the obscured AGN fraction with increasing
AGN luminosity.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the workshop "Multiband approach to
AGN" Bonn October 2004 in Memorie della Societa Astronomica Italian
Deep spectroscopy of z~1 6C radio galaxies - II. Breaking the redshift-radio power degeneracy
The results of a spectroscopic analysis of 3CR and 6C radio galaxies at
redshift z~1 are contrasted with the properties of lower redshift radio
galaxies, chosen to be matched in radio luminosity to the 6C sources studied at
z~1, thus enabling the P-z degeneracy to be broken. Partial rank correlations
and principal component analysis have been used to determine which of z and P
are the critical parameters underlying the observed variation of the ionization
state andd kinematics of the emission line gas. [OII]/H-beta is shown to be a
useful ionization mechanism diagnostic. Statistical analysis of the data shows
that the ionization state of the emission line gas is strongly correlated with
radio power, once the effects of other parameters are removed. No dependence of
ionization state on z is observed, implying that the ionization state of the
emission line gas is solely a function of the AGN properties rather than the
hostt galaxy and/or environment. Statistical analysis of the kinematic
properties of the emission line gas shows that these are strongly correlated
independently withh both P and z. The correlation with redshift is the stronger
of the two, suggesting that host galaxy composition or environment may play a
role in producing the less extreme gas kinematics observed in the emission line
regions of low redshift galaxies. For both the ionization and kinematic
properties of thee galaxies, the independent correlations observed with radio
size are strongest. Radio source age is a determining factor for the extended
emission line regions.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Gravitational instabilities in a protosolar-like disc - I. Dynamics and chemistry
MGE gratefully acknowledges a studentship from the European Research Council (ERC; project PALs 320620). JDI gratefully acknowledges funding from the European Union FP7-2011 under grant agreement no. 284405. ACB's contribution was supported, in part, by The University of British Columbia and the Canada Research Chairs program. PC and TWH acknowledge the financial support of the European Research Council (ERC; project PALs 320620).To date, most simulations of the chemistry in protoplanetary discs have used 1 + 1D or 2D axisymmetric α-disc models to determine chemical compositions within young systems. This assumption is inappropriate for non-axisymmetric, gravitationally unstable discs, which may be a significant stage in early protoplanetary disc evolution. Using 3D radiative hydrodynamics, we have modelled the physical and chemical evolution of a 0.17 M⊙ self-gravitating disc over a period of 2000 yr. The 0.8 M⊙ central protostar is likely to evolve into a solar-like star, and hence this Class 0 or early Class I young stellar object may be analogous to our early Solar system. Shocks driven by gravitational instabilities enhance the desorption rates, which dominate the changes in gas-phase fractional abundances for most species. We find that at the end of the simulation, a number of species distinctly trace the spiral structure of our relatively low-mass disc, particularly CN. We compare our simulation to that of a more massive disc, and conclude that mass differences between gravitationally unstable discs may not have a strong impact on the chemical composition. We find that over the duration of our simulation, successive shock heating has a permanent effect on the abundances of HNO, CN and NH3, which may have significant implications for both simulations and observations. We also find that HCO+ may be a useful tracer of disc mass. We conclude that gravitational instabilities induced in lower mass discs can significantly, and permanently, affect the chemical evolution, and that observations with high-resolution instruments such as Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) offer a promising means of characterizing gravitational instabilities in protosolar discs.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Molecular line profiles as diagnostics of protostellar collapse: modelling the `blue asymmetry' in inside-out infall
The evolution of star-forming core analogues undergoing inside-out collapse
is studied with a multi-point chemodynamical model which self-consistently
computes the abundance distribution of chemical species in the core. For
several collapse periods the output chemistry of infall tracer species such as
HCO+, CS, and N2H+, is then coupled to an accelerated Lambda-iteration
radiative transfer code, which predicts the emerging molecular line profiles
using two different input gas/dust temperature distributions. We investigate
the sensitivity of the predicted spectral line profiles and line asymmetry
ratios to the core temperature distribution, the time-dependent model
chemistry, as well as to ad hoc abundance distributions. The line asymmetry is
found to be strongly dependent on the adopted chemical abundance distribution.
In general, models with a warm central region show higher values of blue
asymmetry in optically thick HCO+ and CS lines than models with a starless core
temperature profile. We find that in the formal context of Shu-type inside-out
infall, and in the absence of rotation or outflows, the relative blue asymmetry
of certain HCO+ and CS transitions is a function of time and, subject to the
foregoing caveats, can act as a collapse chronometer. The sensitivity of
simulated HCO+ line profiles to linear radial variations, subsonic or
supersonic, of the internal turbulence field is investigated in the separate
case of static cores.Comment: Accepted to MNRAS; 20 pages, 13 fig
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