4,931 research outputs found
Young and embedded clusters in Cygnus-X: evidence for building up the IMF?
We provide a new view on the Cygnus-X north complex by accessing for the
first time the low mass content of young stellar populations in the region.
CFHT/WIRCam camera was used to perform a deep near-IR survey of this complex,
sampling stellar masses down to ~0.1 M. Several analysis tools,
including a extinction treatment developed in this work, were employed to
identify and uniformly characterise a dozen unstudied young star clusters in
the area. Investigation of their mass distributions in low-mass domain revealed
a relatively uniform log-normal IMF with a characteristic mass of 0.320.08
M and mass dispersion of 0.400.06. In the high mass regime, their
derived slopes showed that while the youngest clusters (age < 4 Myr) presented
slightly shallower values with respect to the Salpeter's, our older clusters (4
Myr < age < 18 Myr) showed IMF compliant values and a slightly denser stellar
population. Although possibly evidencing a deviation from an 'universal' IMF,
these results also supports a scenario where these gas dominated young clusters
gradually 'build up' their IMF by accreting low-mass stars formed in their
vicinity during their first ~3 Myr, before the gas expulsion phase, emerging at
the age of ~4 Myr with a fully fledged IMF. Finally, the derived distances to
these clusters confirmed the existence of at least 3 different star forming
regions throughout Cygnus-X north complex, at distances of 500-900 pc, 1.4-1.7
kpc and 3.0 kpc, and revealed evidence of a possible interaction between some
of these stellar populations and the Cygnus-OB2 association.Comment: 20 pages, 19 figures. Contains an appendix with 10 extra figure
Mass distribution and structural parameters of Small Magellanic Cloud star clusters
In this work we estimate, for the first time, the total masses and mass
function slopes of a sample of 29 young and intermediate-age SMC clusters from
CCD Washington photometry. We also derive age, interstellar reddening and
structural parameters for most of the studied clusters by employing a
statistical method to remove the unavoidable field star contamination. Only
these 29 clusters out of 68 originally analysed cluster candidates present
stellar overdensities and coherent distribution in their colour-magnitude
diagrams compatible with the existence of a genuine star cluster. We employed
simple stellar population models to derive general equations for estimating the
cluster mass based only on its age and integrated light in the B, V, I, C and
T1 filter. These equations were tested against mass values computed from
luminosity functions, showing an excellent agreement. The sample contains
clusters with ages between 60 Myr and 3 Gyr and masses between 300 and 3000 Mo
distributed between ~0.5 deg. and ~2 deg. from the SMC optical centre. We
determined mass function slopes for 24 clusters, of which 19 have slopes
compatible with that of Kroupa IMF (2.3 +/- 0.7), considering the
uncertainties. The remaining clusters - H86-188, H86-190, K47, K63 and NGC242 -
showed flatter MFs. Additionally, only clusters with masses lower than ~1000 Mo
and flatter MF were found within ~0.6 deg. from the SMC rotational centre.Comment: 12 pages, 19 figures. Includes another 29 full-page figures of
supplementary material. Accepted for publication in the MNRA
Coupled quintessence and vacuum decay
We discuss observational consequences of a class of cosmological models
characterized by the dilution of pressureless matter attenuated with respect to
the usual scaling due to the decay of vacuum energy. We carry out a
joint statistical analysis of observational data from the new \emph{gold}
sample of 182 SNe Ia, recent estimates of the CMB shift parameter, and BAO
measurements from the SDSS to show that such models favor the decay of vacuum
only into the dark matter sector, and that the separately conserved baryons
cannot be neglected. In order to explore ways to more fundamentally motivated
models, we also derive a coupled scalar field version for this general class of
vacuum decay scenarios.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, LaTe
GeMs/GSAOI observations of La Serena 94: an old and far open cluster inside the solar circle
Physical properties were derived for the candidate open cluster La Serena 94,
recently unveiled by the VVV collaboration. Thanks to the exquisite angular
resolution provided by GeMS/GSAOI, we could characterize this system in detail,
for the first time, with deep photometry in JHK - bands. Decontaminated
JHK diagrams reach about 5 mag below the cluster turnoff in H. The locus
of red clump giants in the colour - colour diagram, together with an extinction
law, was used to obtain an average extinction of . The
same stars were considered as standard - candles to derive the cluster
distance, kpc. Isochrones were matched to the cluster colour -
magnitude diagrams to determine its age, , and
metallicity, . A core radius of pc was
found by fitting King models to the radial density profile. By adding up the
visible stellar mass to an extrapolated mass function, the cluster mass was
estimated as M, consistent with an
integrated magnitude of and a tidal radius of
pc. The overall characteristics of La Serena 94 confirm that
it is an old open cluster located in the Crux spiral arm towards the fourth
Galactic quadrant and distant kpc from the Galactic centre. The
cluster distorted structure, mass segregation and age indicate that it is a
dynamically evolved stellar system.Comment: 16 pages, 24 figures, 2 Tables, accepted by MNRAS; corrected typo
Biology of the iberian chub (Squalius carolitertii) in an atlantic-type stream (river Lima basin-north Portugal). A preliminary approach
The iberian chub (Squalius carolitertii) is an endemic species whose biology is yet largely unknown and which is catalogued as being endangered. Therefore more information about its biology is essential to develop appropriate management strategies. The Estorâos River population has been studied from December 1995 to March 2002 through regular electro-fishing surveys. Additionally, a fish trap installed in the river from November 2001 to July 2002 allowed for the collection of information on population movements and reproduction. The results revealed some fluctuations in the density estimates, though the Squalius carolitertii population in the Estorâos River is quite low. Six age classes (0+ to 5+) were identified. Iberian chub growth is isometric and can reach a final length of 33.5 cm. Sexual dimorphism is evident, with males maturing earlier and at smaller sizes. An increase of the Iberian chub movements was detected from middle April onwards. These movements were related to the beginning of the reproductive period and were mainly correlated with the rise of water temperature. Our results indicate that the population characteristics do not differ substantially from those of other endemic chub populations in the Iberic peninsula.El bordallo (Squalius carolitertii) es una especie cuya biología es en gran parte desconocida y que está catalogada en peligro de extinción. El estudio de su biología es importante para la gestión de sus poblaciones y de su hábitat. La población del río Estorâos (Cuenca del río Límia) ha sido estudiada de Diciembre de 1995 a Marzo de 2002 mediante muestreos con pesca eléctrica. Un sistema de redes utilizado de Noviembre de 2001 a Julio de 2002 permitió la obtención de información sobre los movimientos y parámetros reproductivos de la población. Los datos indican fluctuaciones de la densidad, a pesar de la población presentar valores muy bajos. Seis clases de edad (0+ a 5+) han sido identificadas. El crecimiento de Squalius carolitertii es isométrico y puede llegar a una talla final de 33,5 cm. El dimorfismo sexual es evidente y los machos maduran más temprano y con tallas inferiores a de las hembras. Un creciente de movimientos del bordallo ha sido encontrado a mediados del mes de Abril, lo que está de acuerdo con la fecha del período reproductivo y también con el incremento de la temperatura del agua. Nuestros datos indican que esta población no es muy distinta de otras poblaciones de bordallos endémicos de la península Ibérica
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