739 research outputs found
Low-Density Self-Driven Electromagnetic Wheel: Comparison of Different Tracks
The rotation of a permanent magnetic multipole wheel near a conducting non-magnetic plate creates a time-varying magnetic field that can produce by induction both repulsive levitation and propulsion forces. We constructed such an electrodynamic wheel using a motorized bicycle wheel with a radius of 12 inches and 36 one-inch cube Nd magnets attached to the rim of the wheel. The radial magnetic field on the outer rim of the wheel was maximized by arranging the magnets into a series of Halbach arrays which amplify the field along the rim. When a conductive metal “track” is immersed in this area of strong reversing magnetic flux, the time-dependent flux produces eddy currents, generating both lift (levitation) and drag (propulsion) forces on the wheel’s magnets, measured with force gauges. Measurements were taken at a variety of wheel speeds, and the results were compared to the existing theoretical predictions. The results depend on the resistivity and thickness of the conducting plate and on the clearance between plate and magnets. Partial levitation was achieved with the current electrodynamic wheel. Lift force per unit magnet volume was found. In the future, the wheel will be upgraded by doubling the number of magnets. Increasing the density of the magnetic poles will double the frequency at which the magnetic field oscillates, and so the thrust/lift force at a given angular velocity, because the magnetic flux will reverse itself through the track at a faster rate. Electrodynamic wheels may have applications in the magnetic levitation based transportation, since multiple electrodynamic wheels could be used on a vehicle to produce by the same mechanism levitation, propulsion and guidance forces over a conductive track. Our configuration of a plate suspended above the rotating wheel can serve also as a model of noncontact conveyance of conductive plates in electrodynamic conveyor belts
The APOGEE-2 Survey of the Orion Star Forming Complex: I. Target Selection and Validation with early observations
The Orion Star Forming Complex (OSFC) is a central target for the APOGEE-2
Young Cluster Survey. Existing membership catalogs span limited portions of the
OSFC, reflecting the difficulty of selecting targets homogeneously across this
extended, highly structured region. We have used data from wide field
photometric surveys to produce a less biased parent sample of young stellar
objects (YSOs) with infrared (IR) excesses indicative of warm circumstellar
material or photometric variability at optical wavelengths across the full 420
square degrees extent of the OSFC. When restricted to YSO candidates with H <
12.4, to ensure S/N ~100 for a six visit source, this uniformly selected sample
includes 1307 IR excess sources selected using criteria vetted by Koenig &
Liesawitz and 990 optical variables identified in the Pan-STARRS1 3
survey: 319 sources exhibit both optical variability and evidence of
circumstellar disks through IR excess. Objects from this uniformly selected
sample received the highest priority for targeting, but required fewer than
half of the fibers on each APOGEE-2 plate. We fill the remaining fibers with
previously confirmed and new color-magnitude selected candidate OSFC members.
Radial velocity measurements from APOGEE-1 and new APOGEE-2 observations taken
in the survey's first year indicate that ~90% of the uniformly selected targets
have radial velocities consistent with Orion membership.The APOGEE-2 Orion
survey will include >1100 bona fide YSOs whose uniform selection function will
provide a robust sample for comparative analyses of the stellar populations and
properties across all sub-regions of Orion.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ
A Catalog of Chandra X-ray Sources in the Carina Nebula
We present a catalog of ~14,000 X-ray sources observed by the ACIS instrument
on the Chandra X-ray Observatory within a 1.42 square degree survey of the
Great Nebula in Carina, known as the Chandra Carina Complex Project (CCCP).
This study appears in a Special Issue of the ApJS devoted to the CCCP. Here, we
describe the data reduction and analysis procedures performed on the X-ray
observations, including calibration and cleaning of the X-ray event data, point
source detection, and source extraction. The catalog appears to be complete
across most of the field to an absorption-corrected total-band luminosity of
~10^{30.7} erg/s for a typical low-mass pre-main sequence star. Counterparts to
the X-ray sources are identified in a variety of visual, near-infrared, and
mid-infrared surveys. The X-ray and infrared source properties presented here
form the basis of many CCCP studies of the young stellar populations in Carina.Comment: Accepted for the ApJS Special Issue on the Chandra Carina Complex
Project (CCCP), scheduled for publication in May 2011. All 16 CCCP Special
Issue papers are available at
http://cochise.astro.psu.edu/Carina_public/special_issue.html through 2011 at
least. 29 pages, 11 figure
TOI-150: A transiting hot Jupiter in the TESS southern CVZ
We report the detection of a hot Jupiter ($M_{p}=1.75_{-0.17}^{+0.14}\
M_{J}R_{p}=1.38\pm0.04\ R_{J}\log
g=4.152^{+0.030}_{-0.043}\beta=-79.59^{\circ}$). We confirm the
planetary nature of the candidate TOI-150.01 using radial velocity observations
from the APOGEE-2 South spectrograph and the Carnegie Planet Finder
Spectrograph, ground-based photometric observations from the robotic
Three-hundred MilliMeter Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, and Gaia
distance estimates. Large-scale spectroscopic surveys, such as APOGEE/APOGEE-2,
now have sufficient radial velocity precision to directly confirm the signature
of giant exoplanets, making such data sets valuable tools in the TESS era.
Continual monitoring of TOI-150 by TESS can reveal additional planets and
subsequent observations can provide insights into planetary system
architectures involving a hot Jupiter around a star about halfway through its
main-sequence life.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, accepted to ApJ
Kepler-730: A hot Jupiter system with a close-in, transiting, Earth-sized planet
Kepler-730 is a planetary system hosting a statistically validated hot
Jupiter in a 6.49-day orbit and an additional transiting candidate in a
2.85-day orbit. We use spectroscopic radial velocities from the APOGEE-2N
instrument, Robo-AO contrast curves, and Gaia distance estimates to
statistically validate the planetary nature of the additional Earth-sized
candidate. We perform astrophysical false positive probability calculations for
the candidate using the available Kepler data and bolster the statistical
validation by using radial velocity data to exclude a family of possible binary
star solutions. Using a radius estimate for the primary star derived from
stellar models, we compute radii of and
() for Kepler-730b and
Kepler-730c, respectively. Kepler-730 is only the second compact system hosting
a hot Jupiter with an inner, transiting planet.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables, published in ApJ
A Pan-Carina YSO Catalog: Intermediate-Mass Young Stellar Objects in the Carina Nebula Identified Via Mid-Infrared Excess Emission
We present a catalog of 1439 young stellar objects (YSOs) spanning the 1.42
deg^2 field surveyed by the Chandra Carina Complex Project (CCCP), which
includes the major ionizing clusters and the most active sites of ongoing star
formation within the Great Nebula in Carina. Candidate YSOs were identified via
infrared (IR) excess emission from dusty circumstellar disks and envelopes,
using data from the Spitzer Space Telescope Vela--Carina survey and the
Two-Micron All Sky Survey. We model the 1--24 /mu m IR spectral energy
distributions of the YSOs to constrain physical properties. Our Pan-Carina YSO
Catalog (PCYC) is dominated by intermediate-mass (2 Msun < m < 10 Msun) objects
with disks, including Herbig Ae/Be stars and their less evolved progenitors.
The PCYC provides a valuable complementary dataset to the CCCP X-ray source
catalogs, identifying 1029 YSOs in Carina with no X-ray detection. We also
catalog 410 YSOs with X-ray counterparts, including 62 candidate protostars.
Candidate protostars with X-ray detections tend to be more evolved than those
without. In most cases, X-ray emission apparently originating from
intermediate-mass, disk-dominated YSOs is consistent with the presence of
low-mass companions, but we also find that X-ray emission correlates with
cooler stellar photospheres and higher disk masses. We suggest that
intermediate-mass YSOs produce X-rays during their early pre-main sequence
evolution, perhaps driven by magnetic dynamo activity during the convective
atmosphere phase, but this emission dies off as the stars approach the main
sequence. Extrapolating over the stellar initial mass function scaled to the
PCYC population, we predict a total population of >2x10^4 YSOs and a
present-day star formation rate (SFR) of >0.008 Msun/yr. The global SFR in the
Carina Nebula, averaged over the past ~5 Myr, has been approximately constant.Comment: 23 pages, 11 figures, accepted for the ApJS Special Issue on the
Chandra Carina Complex Project (CCCP), scheduled for publication in May 2011.
All 16 CCCP Special Issue papers, including a version of this article with
high-quality figures and full electronic tables, are available at
http://cochise.astro.psu.edu/Carina_public/special_issue.html (through 2011
at least
Characterization of low-mass companions to objects of interest observed with APOGEE-N
We report the characterization of 28 low-mass
() companions
to objects of interest (KOIs), eight of which were previously
designated confirmed planets. These objects were detected as transiting
companions to Sun-like stars (G and F dwarfs) by the mission
and are confirmed as single-lined spectroscopic binaries in the current work
using the northern multiplexed Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution
Experiment near-infrared spectrograph (APOGEE-N) as part of the third and
fourth Sloan Digital Sky Surveys. We have observed hundreds of KOIs using
APOGEE-N and collected a total of 43,175 spectra with a median of 19 visits and
a median baseline of years per target. We jointly model the
photometry and APOGEE-N radial velocities to derive
fundamental parameters for this subset of 28 transiting companions. The radii
for most of these low-mass companions are over-inflated (by ) when
compared to theoretical models. Tidally locked M dwarfs on short period orbits
show the largest amount of inflation, but inflation is also evident for
companions that are well separated from the host star. We demonstrate that
APOGEE-N data provides reliable radial velocities when compared to precise
high-resolution spectrographs that enable detailed characterization of
individual systems and the inference of orbital elements for faint ()
KOIs. The data from the entire APOGEE-KOI program is public and presents an
opportunity to characterize an extensive subset of the binary population
observed by .Comment: 98 pages (include 56 for the figure sets), 10 tables, 7 figures, 2
figure sets, accepted for publication in ApJ
Kepler-503b: An Object at the Hydrogen Burning Mass Limit Orbiting a Subgiant Star
Using spectroscopic radial velocities with the APOGEE instrument and Gaia
distance estimates, we demonstrate that Kepler-503b, currently considered a
validated Kepler planet, is in fact a brown-dwarf/low-mass star in a nearly
circular 7.2-day orbit around a subgiant star. Using a mass estimate for the
primary star derived from stellar models, we derive a companion mass and radius
of () and
(),
respectively. Assuming the system is coeval, the evolutionary state of the
primary indicates the age is Gyr. Kepler-503b sits right at the
hydrogen burning mass limit, straddling the boundary between brown dwarfs and
very low-mass stars. More precise radial velocities and secondary eclipse
spectroscopy with James Webb Space Telescope will provide improved measurements
of the physical parameters and age of this important system to better constrain
and understand the physics of these objects and their spectra. This system
emphasizes the value of radial velocity observations to distinguish a genuine
planet from astrophysical false positives, and is the first result from the
SDSS-IV monitoring of Kepler planet candidates with the multi-object APOGEE
instrument.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJL, 12 pages, 3 figures, 2 table
Light Curve Templates and Galactic Distribution of RR Lyrae Stars from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe 82
We present an improved analysis of halo substructure traced by RR Lyrae stars
in the SDSS stripe 82 region. With the addition of SDSS-II data, a revised
selection method based on new ugriz light curve templates results in a sample
of 483 RR Lyrae stars that is essentially free of contamination. The main
result from our first study persists: the spatial distribution of halo stars at
galactocentric distances 5--100 kpc is highly inhomogeneous. At least 20% of
halo stars within 30 kpc from the Galactic center can be statistically
associated with substructure. We present strong direct evidence, based on both
RR Lyrae stars and main sequence stars, that the halo stellar number density
profile significantly steepens beyond a Galactocentric distance of ~30 kpc, and
a larger fraction of the stars are associated with substructure. By using a
novel method that simultaneously combines data for RR Lyrae and main sequence
stars, and using photometric metallicity estimates for main sequence stars
derived from deep co-added u-band data, we measure the metallicity of the
Sagittarius dSph tidal stream (trailing arm) towards R.A.2h-3h and Dec~0 deg to
be 0.3 dex higher ([Fe/H]=-1.2) than that of surrounding halo field stars.
Together with a similar result for another major halo substructure, the
Monoceros stream, these results support theoretical predictions that an early
forming, smooth inner halo, is metal poor compared to high surface brightness
material that have been accreted onto a later-forming outer halo. The mean
metallicity of stars in the outer halo that are not associated with detectable
clumps may still be more metal-poor than the bulk of inner-halo stars, as has
been argued from other data sets.Comment: Submitted to ApJ, 68 pages, 26 figures, supplemental material (light
curves, templates, animation) can be downloaded from
http://www.astro.washington.edu/bsesar/S82_RRLyr.htm
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