3,209 research outputs found
Echoes of multiple outbursts of Sagittarius A* revealed by Chandra
The relatively rapid spatial and temporal variability of the X-ray radiation
from some molecular clouds near the Galactic center shows that this emission
component is due to the reflection of X-rays generated by a source that was
luminous in the past, most likely the central supermassive black hole,
Sagittarius A*. Studying the evolution of the molecular cloud reflection
features is therefore a key element to reconstruct Sgr A*'s past activity. The
aim of the present work is to study this emission on small angular scales in
order to characterize the source outburst on short time scales. We use Chandra
high-resolution data collected from 1999 to 2011 to study the most rapid
variations detected so far, those of clouds between 5' and 20' from Sgr A*
towards positive longitudes. Our systematic spectral-imaging analysis of the
reflection emission, notably of the Fe Kalpha line at 6.4 keV and its
associated 4-8 keV continuum, allows us to characterize the variations down to
15" angular scale and 1-year time scale. We reveal for the first time abrupt
variations of few years only and in particular a short peaked emission, with a
factor of 10 increase followed by a comparable decrease, that propagates along
the dense filaments of the Bridge cloud. This 2-year peaked feature contrasts
with the slower 10-year linear variations we reveal in all the other molecular
structures of the region. Based on column density constraints, we argue that
these two different behaviors are unlikely to be due to the same illuminating
event. The variations are likely due to a highly variable active phase of Sgr
A* sometime within the past few hundred years, characterized by at least two
luminous outbursts of a few-year time scale and during which the Sgr A*
luminosity went up to at least 10^39 erg/s.Comment: 17 pages, 16 figures, Accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Unlocking the chromatin code by deciphering protein–DNA interactions
Characterizing the composition of protein complexes bound to different genomic loci is essential for advancing our mechanistic understanding of transcriptional regulation. In their recent study, Krijgsveld and colleagues (Rafiee et al, 2016) report ChIP‐SICAP, a powerful tool for deciphering the chromatin proteome by combining chromatin immunoprecipitation, selective isolation of chromatin‐associated proteins and mass spectrometry
ESTABLISHMENT AND OPTIMIZATION OF THE CHROP APPROACH, COMBINING CHIP AND MS-BASED PROTEOMICS, FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE CHROMATOME AT DISTINCT FUNCTIONAL DOMAINS
Chromatin is a highly dynamic, well-structured nucleoprotein complex of DNA and proteins that controls virtually all DNA-transactions. Chromatin dynamicity is regulated at specific loci by the presence of various associated proteins, histones post-translational modifications, histone variants and DNA methylation. Until now the characterization of the proteomic component of chromatin domains has been held back by the challenge of enriching distinguishable, homogeneous regions for the subsequent mass spectrometry analysis and thus remains a very attractive unachieved goal. I contributed in this direction developing and optimizing a proteomic strategy that combines chromatin immunoprecipitation with quantitative proteomics based on stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture to identify known and novel histone modifications, variants and complexes that specifically associate with silent and active chromatin domains. This chromatin proteomics strategy revealed unique functional interactions among various chromatin modifiers, thus suggesting new regulatory pathways, such as an heterochromatin-specific modulation of DNA damage response involving H2A.X and WICH, both enriched in silent domains. Chromatin proteomics expands the arsenal of tools for deciphering how all the distinct protein components act together to enforce a given region-specific chromatin status
A comprehensive analysis of the hard X-ray spectra of bright Seyfert galaxies
Hard X-ray spectra of 28 bright Seyfert galaxies observed with INTEGRAL were
analyzed together with the X-ray spectra from XMM-Newton, Suzaku and RXTE.
These broad-band data were fitted with a model assuming a thermal
Comptonization as a primary continuum component. We tested several model
options through a fitting of the Comptonized continuum accompanied by a complex
absorption and a Compton reflection. Both the large data set used and the model
space explored allowed us to accurately determine a mean temperature kTe of the
electron plasma, the Compton parameter y and the Compton reflection strength R
for the majority of objects in the sample. Our main finding is that a vast
majority of the sample (20 objects) is characterized by kTe < 100 keV, and only
for two objects we found kTe > 200 keV. The median kTe for entire sample is
48(-14,+57) keV. The distribution of the y parameter is bimodal, with a broad
component centered at ~0.8 and a narrow peak at ~1.1. A complex, dual absorber
model improved the fit for all data sets, compared to a simple absorption
model, reducing the fitted strength of Compton reflection by a factor of about
2. Modest reflection (median R ~0.32) together with a high ratio of Comptonized
to seed photon fluxes point towards a geometry with a compact hard X-ray
emitting region well separated from the accretion disc. Our results imply that
the template Seyferts spectra used in AGN population synthesis models should be
revised.Comment: 26 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
The First INTEGRAL AGN Catalog
We present the first INTEGRAL AGN catalog, based on observations performed
from launch of the mission in October 2002 until January 2004. The catalog
includes 42 AGN, of which 10 are Seyfert 1, 17 are Seyfert 2, and 9 are
intermediate Seyfert 1.5. The fraction of blazars is rather small with 5
detected objects, and only one galaxy cluster and no star-burst galaxies have
been detected so far. A complete subset consists of 32 AGN with a significance
limit of 7 sigma in the INTEGRAL/ISGRI 20-40 keV data. Although the sample is
not flux limited, the distribution of sources shows a ratio of obscured to
unobscured AGN of 1.5 - 2.0, consistent with luminosity dependent unified
models for AGN. Only four Compton-thick AGN are found in the sample. Based on
the INTEGRAL data presented here, the Seyfert 2 spectra are slightly harder
(Gamma = 1.95 +- 0.01) than Seyfert 1.5 (Gamma = 2.10 +- 0.02) and Seyfert 1
(Gamma = 2.11 +- 0.05).Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
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