148 research outputs found
Clues to Nuclear Star Cluster Formation from Edge-on Spirals
We find 9 nuclear cluster candidates in a sample of 14 edge-on, late-type
galaxies observed with HST/ACS. These clusters have magnitudes (M_I ~ -11) and
sizes (r_eff ~ 3pc) similar to those found in previous studies of face-on,
late-type spirals and dE galaxies. However, three of the nuclear clusters are
significantly flattened and show evidence for multiple, coincident structural
components. The elongations of these three clusters are aligned to within 10
degrees of the galaxies' major axes. Structurally, the flattened clusters are
well fit by a combination of a spheroid and a disk or ring. The nuclear cluster
disks/rings have F606W-F814W (~V-I) colors 0.3-0.6 magnitudes bluer than the
spheroid components, suggesting that the stars in these components have ages <
1 Gyr. In NGC 4244, the nearest of the nuclear clusters, we further constrain
the stellar populations and provide a lower limit on the dynamical mass via
spectroscopy. We also present tentative evidence that another of the nuclear
clusters (in NGC 4206) may also host a supermassive black hole. Based on our
observational results we propose an in situ formation mechanism for nuclear
clusters in which stars form episodically in compact nuclear disks, and then
lose angular momentum or heat vertically to form an older spheroidal structure.
We estimate the period between star formation episodes to be 0.5 Gyr and
discuss possible mechanisms for tranforming the disk-like components into
spheroids. We also note the connection between our objects and massive globular
clusters (e.g. Cen), UCDs, and SMBHs. (Abridged)Comment: Accepted for publication in the A
Management of Complications Caused By a Massive Left Ventricle Tumor in a Neonate
We report a case of a neonate born with a giant fibroma occupying the entirety of her left ventricle. Due to the extensive resection, her postoperative course was complicated by severely diminished left ventricular function and complete heart block necessitating extracorporeal support. Ultimately, cardiac resynchronization therapy was employed, after which the infant’s ventricular function gradually improved and she was successfully discharged to home
Virgo cluster early-type dwarf galaxies with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. II. Early-type dwarfs with central star formation
Despite the common picture of an early-type dwarf (dE) as a quiescent galaxy
with no star formation and little gas, we identify 23 dEs that have blue
central colors caused by recent or ongoing star formation in our sample of 476
Virgo cluster dEs. In addition, 14 objects that were mostly classified as
(candidate) BCDs have similar properties. Among the certain cluster members,
the dEs with blue centers reach a fraction of more than 15% of the dE
population at brighter (B<=16) magnitudes. A spectral analysis of the centers
of 16 galaxies reveals in all cases an underlying old population that dominates
the mass, with M(old)>=90% for all but one object. Therefore the majority of
these galaxies will appear like ordinary dEs within ~one Gigayear or less after
the last episode of star formation. Their overall gas content is less than that
of dwarf irregular galaxies, but higher than that of ordinary dEs. Their
flattening distribution suggests the shape of a thick disk, similar to what has
been found for dEs with disk features in Paper I of this series. Their
projected spatial distribution shows no central clustering, and their
distribution with projected local density follows that of irregular galaxies,
indicative of an unrelaxed population. This is corroborated by their velocity
distribution, which displays two side peaks characteristic of recent infall. We
discuss possible formation mechanisms (ram-pressure stripping, tidally induced
star formation, harassment) that might be able to explain both the disk shape
and the central star formation of the dEs with blue centers.Comment: 16 pages + 15 figures. Accepted for publication in AJ. We recommend
downloading the full resolution version from
http://www.virgo-cluster.com/lisker2006b.ps.g
Galaxy populations in the Antlia cluster. I. Photometric properties of early-type galaxies
We present the first colour-magnitude relation (CMR) of early-type galaxies
in the central region of the Antlia cluster, obtained from CCD wide-field
photometry in the Washington photometric system. Integrated (C -T1) colours, T1
magnitudes, and effective radii have been measured for 93 galaxies (i.e. the
largest galaxies sample in the Washington system till now) from the FS90
catalogue (Ferguson & Sandage 1990). Membership of 37 objects can be confirmed
through new radial velocities and data collected from the literature. The
resulting colour-magnitude diagram shows that early-type FS90 galaxies that are
spectroscopically confirmed Antlia members or that were considered as definite
members by FS90, follow a well defined CMR (sigma_(C -T1) ~ 0.07 mag) that
spans 9 magnitudes in brightness with no apparent change of slope. This
relation is very tight for the whole magnitude range but S0 galaxies show a
larger dispersion, apparently due to a separation of ellipticals and S0s.
Antlia displays a slope of -13.6 in a T1 vs. (C -T1) diagram, in agreement with
results for clusters like Fornax, Virgo, Perseus and Coma, which are
dynamically different to Antlia. This fact might indicate that the build up of
the CMR in cluster of galaxies is more related to galaxies internal processes
than to the influence of the environment. Interpreting the CMR as a
luminosity-metallicity relation of old stellar systems, the metallicities of
the Antlia galaxies define a global relation down to Mv ~ -13. We also find,
for early-type dwarfs, no clear relation between luminosity and effective
radius, indicating a nearly constant mean effective radius of ~ 1 kpc. This
value is also found in several samples of dwarf galaxies in Virgo and Coma.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Exact solution of a 2D interacting fermion model
We study an exactly solvable quantum field theory (QFT) model describing
interacting fermions in 2+1 dimensions. This model is motivated by physical
arguments suggesting that it provides an effective description of spinless
fermions on a square lattice with local hopping and density-density
interactions if, close to half filling, the system develops a partial energy
gap. The necessary regularization of the QFT model is based on this proposed
relation to lattice fermions. We use bosonization methods to diagonalize the
Hamiltonian and to compute all correlation functions. We also discuss how,
after appropriate multiplicative renormalizations, all short- and long distance
cutoffs can be removed. In particular, we prove that the renormalized two-point
functions have algebraic decay with non-trivial exponents depending on the
interaction strengths, which is a hallmark of Luttinger-liquid behavior.Comment: 59 pages, 3 figures, v2: further references added; additional
subsections elaborating mathematical details; additional appendix with
details on the relation to lattice fermion
Direct Evidence for Hadronic Cosmic-Ray Acceleration in the Supernova Renmant IC 443
The Supernova Remnant (SNR) IC 443 is an intermediate-age remnant well known
for its radio, optical, X-ray and gamma-ray energy emissions. In this Letter we
study the gamma-ray emission above 100 MeV from IC 443 as obtained by the AGILE
satellite. A distinct pattern of diffuse emission in the energy range 100 MeV-3
GeV is detected across the SNR with its prominent maximum (source "A")
localized in the Northeastern shell with a flux F = (47 \pm 10) 10^{-8} photons
cm^{-2} s^{-1} above 100 MeV. This location is the site of the strongest shock
interaction between the SNR blast wave and the dense circumstellar medium.
Source "A" is not coincident with the TeV source located 0.4 degree away and
associated with a dense molecular cloud complex in the SNR central region. From
our observations, and from the lack of detectable diffuse TeV emission from its
Northeastern rim, we demonstrate that electrons cannot be the main emitters of
gamma-rays in the range 0.1-10 GeV at the site of the strongest SNR shock. The
intensity, spectral characteristics, and location of the most prominent
gamma-ray emission together with the absence of co-spatial detectable TeV
emission are consistent only with a hadronic model of cosmic-ray acceleration
in the SNR. A high-density molecular cloud (cloud "E") provides a remarkable
"target" for nucleonic interactions of accelerated hadrons: our results show
enhanced gamma-ray production near the molecular cloud/shocked shell
interaction site. IC 443 provides the first unambiguous evidence of cosmic-ray
acceleration by SNRs.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; accepted by ApJLetters on Jan 21, 201
The flaring blazars of the first 1.5 years of the AGILE mission
We report the AGILE gamma-ray observations and the results of the
multiwavelength campaigns on seven flaring blazars detected by the mission:
During two multiwavelength campaigns, we observed gamma-ray activity from two
Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars of the Virgo region, e.g. 3C 279 and 3C 273 (the
latter being the first extragalactic source simultaneously observed with the
gamma-ray telescope and the hard X ray imager of the mission). Due to the large
FOV of the AGILE/GRID instrument, we achieved an almost continuous coverage of
the FSRQ 3C 454.3. The source showed flux above 10E-6 photons/cm2/s (E > 100
MeV) and showed day by day variability during all the AGILE observing periods.
In the EGRET era, the source was found in high gamma-ray activity only once. An
other blazar, PKS 1510-089 was frequently found in high gamma-ray activity. S5
0716+71, an intermediate BL Lac object, exhibited a very high gamma-ray
activity and fast gamma-ray variability during a period of intense optical
activity. We observed high gamma-ray activity from W Comae, a BL Lac object,
and Mrk 421, an high energy peaked BL Lac object. For this source, a
multiwavelength campaign from optical to TeV has been performed
Detection of Gamma-ray Emission from the Eta-Carinae Region
We present the results of extensive observations by the gamma-ray AGILE
satellite of the Galactic region hosting the Carina nebula and the remarkable
colliding wind binary Eta Carinae (Eta Car) during the period 2007 July to 2009
January. We detect a gamma-ray source (1AGL J1043-5931) consistent with the
position of Eta Car. If 1AGL J1043-5931 is associated with the Eta Car system
our data provide the long sought first detection above 100 MeV of a colliding
wind binary. The average gamma-ray flux above 100 MeV and integrated over the
pre-periastron period 2007 July to 2008 October is F = (37 +/- 5) x 10-8 ph
cm-2 s-1 corresponding to an average gamma-ray luminosity of L = 3.4 x 10^34
erg s-1 for a distance of 2.3 kpc. We also report a 2-day gamma-ray flaring
episode of 1AGL J1043-5931 on 2008 Oct. 11-13 possibly related to a transient
acceleration and radiation episode of the strongly variable shock in the
system.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Cosmological neutrinos
The current status of neutrino cosmology is reviewed, from the question of
neutrino decoupling and the presence of sterile neutrinos to the effects of
neutrinos on the cosmic microwave background and large scale structure.
Particular emphasis is put on cosmological neutrino mass measurements.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, review for NJP focus issue on neutrino
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