SN 2008iy: An Unusual Type IIn Supernova with an Enduring 400 Day Rise Time

We present spectroscopic and photometric observations of the Type IIn supernova (SN) 2008iy. SN 2008iy showed an unprecedentedly long rise time of ~400 days, making it the first SN to take significantly longer than 100 days to reach peak optical luminosity. The peak absolute magnitude of SN 2008iy was M_r ~ -19.1 mag, and the total radiated energy over the first ~700 days was ~2 x 10^50 erg. Spectroscopically, SN 2008iy is very similar to the Type IIn SN 1988Z at late times, and, like SN 1988Z, it is a luminous X-ray source (both supernovae had an X-ray luminosity L_ X > 10^41 erg/s). The Halpha emission profile of SN 2008iy shows a narrow P Cygni absorption component, implying a pre-SN wind speed of ~100 km/s. We argue that the luminosity of SN 2008iy is powered via the interaction of the SN ejecta with a dense, clumpy circumstellar medium. The ~400 day rise time can be understood if the number density of clumps increases with distance over a radius ~1.7 x 10^16 cm from the progenitor. This scenario is possible if the progenitor experienced an episodic phase of enhanced mass-loss < 1 century prior to explosion or the progenitor wind speed increased during the decades before core collapse. We favour the former scenario, which is reminiscent of the eruptive mass-loss episodes observed for luminous blue variable (LBV) stars. The progenitor wind speed and increased mass-loss rates serve as further evidence that at least some, and perhaps all, Type IIn supernovae experience LBV-like eruptions shortly before core collapse. We also discuss the host galaxy of SN 2008iy, a subluminous dwarf galaxy, and offer a few reasons why the recent suggestion that unusual, luminous supernovae preferentially occur in dwarf galaxies may be the result of observational biases.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, MNRAS accepte

Supernova PTF 09uj: A possible shock breakout from a dense circumstellar wind

Type-IIn supernovae (SNe), which are characterized by strong interaction of their ejecta with the surrounding circumstellar matter (CSM), provide a unique opportunity to study the mass-loss history of massive stars shortly before their explosive death. We present the discovery and follow-up observations of a Type IIn SN, PTF 09uj, detected by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF). Serendipitous observations by GALEX at ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths detected the rise of the SN light curve prior to the PTF discovery. The UV light curve of the SN rose fast, with a time scale of a few days, to a UV absolute AB magnitude of about -19.5. Modeling our observations, we suggest that the fast rise of the UV light curve is due to the breakout of the SN shock through the dense CSM (n~10^10 cm^-3). Furthermore, we find that prior to the explosion the progenitor went through a phase of high mass-loss rate (~0.1 solar mass per year) that lasted for a few years. The decay rate of this SN was fast relative to that of other SNe IIn.Comment: Accepted to Apj, 6 pages, 4 figure

Resting State Functional Connectivity in Perfusion Imaging: Correlation Maps with BOLD Connectivity and Resting State Perfusion

Functional connectivity is a property of the resting state that may provide biomarkers of brain function and individual differences. Classically, connectivity is estimated as the temporal correlation of spontaneous fluctuations of BOLD signal. We investigated differences in connectivity estimated from the BOLD and CBF signal present in volumes acquired with arterial spin labeling technique in a large sample (N = 265) of healthy individuals. Positive connectivity was observable in both BOLD and CBF signal, and was present in the CBF signal also at frequencies lower than 0.009 Hz, here investigated for the first time. Negative connectivity was more variable. The validity of positive connectivity was confirmed by the existence of correlation across individuals in its intensity estimated from the BOLD and CBF signal. In contrast, there was little or no correlation across individuals between intensity of connectivity and mean perfusion levels, suggesting that these two biomarkers correspond to distinct sources of individual differences

Optical photometry and spectroscopy of the type Ibn supernova SN 2006jc until the onset of dust formation

We present optical UBVRI photometric and spectroscopic data of the type Ibn supernova SN 2006jc, until the onset of the dust forming phase. The optical spectrum shows a blue continuum and is dominated by the presence of moderately narrow (velocity ~2500 km/s) He I emission lines superimposed over a relatively weak supernova spectrum. The helium lines are produced in a pre-existing He rich circumstellar shell. The observed helium line fluxes indicate the circumstellar shell is dense, with a density of ~10^9 - 10^{10} cm^{-3}. The helium mass in this shell is estimated to be <~0.07 Msun. The optical light curves show a clear signature of dust formation, indicated by a sharp decrease in the magnitudes around day 50, accompanied by a reddening of the colours. The evolution of the optical light curves during the early phase and that of the uvoir bolometric light curve at all phases is reasonably similar to normal Ib/c supernovae.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA

Methods for biogeochemical studies of sea ice: The state of the art, caveats, and recommendations

Over the past two decades, with recognition that the ocean’s sea-ice cover is neither insensitive to climate change nor a barrier to light and matter, research in sea-ice biogeochemistry has accelerated significantly, bringing together a multi-disciplinary community from a variety of fields. This disciplinary diversity has contributed a wide range of methodological techniques and approaches to sea-ice studies, complicating comparisons of the results and the development of conceptual and numerical models to describe the important biogeochemical processes occurring in sea ice. Almost all chemical elements, compounds, and biogeochemical processes relevant to Earth system science are measured in sea ice, with published methods available for determining biomass, pigments, net community production, primary production, bacterial activity, macronutrients, numerous natural and anthropogenic organic compounds, trace elements, reactive and inert gases, sulfur species, the carbon dioxide system parameters, stable isotopes, and water-ice-atmosphere fluxes of gases, liquids, and solids. For most of these measurements, multiple sampling and processing techniques are available, but to date there has been little intercomparison or intercalibration between methods. In addition, researchers collect different types of ancillary data and document their samples differently, further confounding comparisons between studies. These problems are compounded by the heterogeneity of sea ice, in which even adjacent cores can have dramatically different biogeochemical compositions. We recommend that, in future investigations, researchers design their programs based on nested sampling patterns, collect a core suite of ancillary measurements, and employ a standard approach for sample identification and documentation. In addition, intercalibration exercises are most critically needed for measurements of biomass, primary production, nutrients, dissolved and particulate organic matter (including exopolymers), the CO2 system, air-ice gas fluxes, and aerosol production. We also encourage the development of in situ probes robust enough for long-term deployment in sea ice, particularly for biological parameters, the CO2 system, and other gases

Juvenile Songbirds Compensate for Displacement to Oceanic Islands during Autumn Migration

To what degree juvenile migrant birds are able to correct for orientation errors or wind drift is still largely unknown. We studied the orientation of passerines on the Faroe Islands far off the normal migration routes of European migrants. The ability to compensate for displacement was tested in naturally occurring vagrants presumably displaced by wind and in birds experimentally displaced 1100 km from Denmark to the Faroes. The orientation was studied in orientation cages as well as in the free-flying birds after release by tracking departures using small radio transmitters. Both the naturally displaced and the experimentally displaced birds oriented in more easterly directions on the Faroes than was observed in Denmark prior to displacement. This pattern was even more pronounced in departure directions, perhaps because of wind influence. The clear directional compensation found even in experimentally displaced birds indicates that first-year birds can also possess the ability to correct for displacement in some circumstances, possibly involving either some primitive form of true navigation, or ‘sign posts’, but the cues used for this are highly speculative. We also found some indications of differences between species in the reaction to displacement. Such differences might be involved in the diversity of results reported in displacement studies so far

A model of the Arctic Ocean carbon cycle

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2011. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 116 (2011): C12020, doi:10.1029/2011JC006998.A three dimensional model of Arctic Ocean circulation and mixing, with a horizontal resolution of 18 km, is overlain by a biogeochemical model resolving the physical, chemical and biological transport and transformations of phosphorus, alkalinity, oxygen and carbon, including the air-sea exchange of dissolved gases and the riverine delivery of dissolved organic carbon. The model qualitatively captures the observed regional and seasonal trends in surface ocean PO4, dissolved inorganic carbon, total alkalinity, and pCO2. Integrated annually, over the basin, the model suggests a net annual uptake of 59 Tg C a−1, within the range of published estimates based on the extrapolation of local observations (20–199 Tg C a−1). This flux is attributable to the cooling (increasing solubility) of waters moving into the basin, mainly from the subpolar North Atlantic. The air-sea flux is regulated seasonally and regionally by sea-ice cover, which modulates both air-sea gas transfer and the photosynthetic production of organic matter, and by the delivery of riverine dissolved organic carbon (RDOC), which drive the regional contrasts in pCO2 between Eurasian and North American coastal waters. Integrated over the basin, the delivery and remineralization of RDOC reduces the net oceanic CO2 uptake by ~10%.This study has been carried out as part of ECCO2 and SASS (Synthesis of the Arctic System Science) projects funded by NASA and NSF, respectively. MM and MJF are grateful for support from the National Science Foundation (ARC-0531119 and ARC-0806229) for financial support. MM also acknowledges NASA for providing computer time, the use of the computing facilities at NAS center and also the Scripps post-doctoral program for further financial support that helped to complete the manuscript. RMK also acknowledges NOAA for support (NA08OAR4310820 and NA08OAR4320752).2012-06-1