1,148 research outputs found
The early history of protostellar disks, outflows, and binary stars
In star formation, magnetic fields act as a cosmic angular momentum extractor
that increases mass accretion rates onto protostars and in the process, creates
spectacular outflows. However, recently it has been argued that this magnetic
brake is so strong that early protostellar disks -- the cradles of planet
formation -- cannot form. Our three-dimensional numerical simulations of the
early stages of collapse (\lesssim 10^5 yr) of overdense star--forming clouds
form early outflows and have magnetically regulated and rotationally dominated
disks (inside 10 AU) with high accretion rates, despite the slip of the field
through the mostly neutral gas. We find that in three dimensions, magnetic
fields suppress gravitationally driven instabilities which would otherwise
prevent young, well ordered disks from forming. Our simulations have surprising
consequences for the early formation of disks, their density and temperature
structure, the mechanism and structure of early outflows, the flash heating of
dust grains through ambipolar diffusion, and the origin of planets and binary
stars.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, accepted by ApJ Letters; corrected text to match
journal version; movies can be found at
http://www.physics.mcmaster.ca/~duffindf/movies.htm
Data calibration for the MASCARA and bRing instruments
Aims: MASCARA and bRing are photometric surveys designed to detect
variability caused by exoplanets in stars with . Such variability
signals are typically small and require an accurate calibration algorithm,
tailored to the survey, in order to be detected. This paper presents the
methods developed to calibrate the raw photometry of the MASCARA and bRing
stations and characterizes the performance of the methods and instruments.
Methods: For the primary calibration a modified version of the coarse
decorrelation algorithm is used, which corrects for the extinction due to the
earth's atmosphere, the camera transmission, and intrapixel variations.
Residual trends are removed from the light curves of individual stars using
empirical secondary calibration methods. In order to optimize these methods, as
well as characterize the performance of the instruments, transit signals were
injected in the data. Results: After optimal calibration an RMS scatter of 10
mmag at is achieved in the light curves. By injecting transit
signals with periods between one and five days in the MASCARA data obtained by
the La Palma station over the course of one year, we demonstrate that MASCARA
La Palma is able to recover 84.0, 60.5 and 20.7% of signals with depths of 2, 1
and 0.5% respectively, with a strong dependency on the observed declination,
recovering 65.4% of all transit signals at versus 35.8% at
. Using the full three years of data obtained by MASCARA La
Palma to date, similar recovery rates are extended to periods up to ten days.
We derive a preliminary occurrence rate for hot Jupiters around A-stars of , knowing that many hot Jupiters are still overlooked. In the era of
TESS, MASCARA and bRing will provide an interesting synergy for finding
long-period ( days) transiting gas-giant planets around the brightest
stars.Comment: 18 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Constraining the period of the ringed secondary companion to the young star J1407 with photographic plates
Context. The 16 Myr old star 1SWASP J140747.93-394542.6 (V1400 Cen) underwent
a series of complex eclipses in May 2007, interpreted as the transit of a giant
Hill sphere filling debris ring system around a secondary companion, J1407b. No
other eclipses have since been detected, although other measurements have
constrained but not uniquely determined the orbital period of J1407b. Finding
another eclipse towards J1407 will help determine the orbital period of the
system, the geometry of the proposed ring system and enable planning of further
observations to characterize the material within these putative rings. Aims. We
carry out a search for other eclipses in photometric data of J1407 with the aim
of constraining the orbital period of J1407b. Methods. We present photometry
from archival photographic plates from the Harvard DASCH survey, and Bamberg
and Sonneberg Observatories, in order to place additional constraints on the
orbital period of J1407b by searching for other dimming and eclipse events.
Using a visual inspection of all 387 plates and a period-folding algorithm we
performed a search for other eclipses in these data sets. Results. We find no
other deep eclipses in the data spanning from 1890 to 1990, nor in recent
time-series photometry from 2012-2018. Conclusions. We rule out a large
fraction of putative orbital periods for J1407b from 5 to 20 years. These
limits are still marginally consistent with a large Hill sphere filling ring
system surrounding a brown dwarf companion in a bound elliptical orbit about
J1407. Issues with the stability of any rings combined with the lack of
detection of another eclipse, suggests that J1407b may not be bound to J1407.Comment: 8 pages, 3 tables, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A&A. LaTeX
files of the paper, scripts for the figures, and a minimal working FPA can be
found under https://github.com/robinmentel/Constraining-Period
The Protostellar Luminosity Function
The protostellar luminosity function (PLF) is the present-day luminosity
function of the protostars in a region of star formation. It is determined
using the protostellar mass function (PMF) in combination with a stellar
evolutionary model that provides the luminosity as a function of instantaneous
and final stellar mass. As in McKee & Offner (2010), we consider three main
accretion models: the Isothermal Sphere model, the Turbulent Core model, and an
approximation of the Competitive Accretion model. We also consider the effect
of an accretion rate that tapers off linearly in time and an accelerating star
formation rate. For each model, we characterize the luminosity distribution
using the mean, median, maximum, ratio of the median to the mean, standard
deviation of the logarithm of the luminosity, and the fraction of very low
luminosity objects. We compare the models with bolometric luminosities observed
in local star forming regions and find that models with an approximately
constant accretion time, such as the Turbulent Core and Competitive Accretion
models, appear to agree better with observation than those with a constant
accretion rate, such as the Isothermal Sphere model. We show that observations
of the mean protostellar luminosity in these nearby regions of low-mass star
formation suggest a mean star formation time of 0.30.1 Myr. Such a
timescale, together with some accretion that occurs non-radiatively and some
that occurs in high-accretion, episodic bursts, resolves the classical
"luminosity problem" in low-mass star formation, in which observed protostellar
luminosities are significantly less than predicted. An accelerating star
formation rate is one possible way of reconciling the observed star formation
time and mean luminosity.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, accepted to Ap
Recommended from our members
Can an Off-Nominal Landing by an MMRTG-Powered Spacecraft Induce a Special Region on Mars When No Ice Is Present?
This work aims at addressing whether a catastrophic failure of an entry, descent, and landing event of a Multimission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator-based lander could embed the heat sources into the martian subsurface and create a local environment that (1) would temporarily satisfy the conditions for a martian Special Region and (2) could establish a transport mechanism through which introduced terrestrial organisms could be mobilized to naturally occurring Special Regions elsewhere on Mars. Two models were run, a primary model by researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a secondary model by researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, both of which were based on selected starting conditions for various surface composition cases that establish the worst-case scenario, including geological data collected by the Mars Science Laboratory at Gale Crater. The summary outputs of both modeling efforts showed similar results: that the introduction of the modeled heat source could temporarily create the conditions established for a Special Region, but that there would be no transport mechanism by which an introduced terrestrial microbe, even if it was active during the temporarily induced Special Region conditions, could be transported to a naturally occurring Special Region of Mars
Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS Polarization Observations of Three Edge-on Massive YSOs
Massive young stellar objects (YSOs), like low-mass YSOs, appear to be
surrounded by optically thick envelopes and/or disks and have regions, often
bipolar, that are seen in polarized scattered light at near-infrared
wavelengths. We are using the 0.2'' spatial resolution of NICMOS on Hubble
Space Telescope to examine the structure of the disks and outflow regions of
massive YSOs in star-forming regions within a few kpc of the Sun. Here we
report on 2 micron polarimetry of NGC 6334 V and S255 IRS1. NGC 6334 V consists
of a double-lobed bright reflection nebula seen against a dark region, probably
an optically thick molecular cloud. Our polarization measurements show that the
illuminating star lies ~ 2'' south of the line connecting the two lobes; we do
not detect this star at 2 micron, but there are a small radio source and a
mid-infrared source at this location. S255 IRS1 consists of two YSOs (NIRS1 and
NIRS3) with overlapping scattered light lobes and luminosities corresponding to
early B stars. Included in IRS1 is a cluster of stars from whose polarization
we determine the local magnetic field direction. Neither YSO has its scattered
light lobes aligned with this magnetic field. The line connecting the scattered
light lobes of NIRS1 is twisted symmetrically around the star; the best
explanation is that the star is part of a close binary and the outflow axis of
NIRS1 is precessing as a result of non-coplanar disk and orbit. The star NIRS3
is also offset from the line connecting its two scattered light lobes. We
suggest that all three YSOs show evidence of episodic ejection of material as
they accrete from dense, optically thick envelopes.Comment: 39 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables To be published in The Astrophysical
Journa
Introduction to special section on the Phoenix Mission: Landing Site Characterization Experiments, Mission Overviews, and Expected Science
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94752/1/jgre2486.pd
KELT-7b: A hot Jupiter transiting a bright V=8.54 rapidly rotating F-star
We report the discovery of KELT-7b, a transiting hot Jupiter with a mass of
MJ, radius of RJ, and an orbital
period of days. The bright host star (HD33643;
KELT-7) is an F-star with , Teff K, [Fe/H]
, and . It has a mass of
Msun, a radius of Rsun, and
is the fifth most massive, fifth hottest, and the ninth brightest star known to
host a transiting planet. It is also the brightest star around which KELT has
discovered a transiting planet. Thus, KELT-7b is an ideal target for detailed
characterization given its relatively low surface gravity, high equilibrium
temperature, and bright host star. The rapid rotation of the star (
km/s) results in a Rossiter-McLaughlin effect with an unusually large amplitude
of several hundred m/s. We find that the orbit normal of the planet is likely
to be well-aligned with the stellar spin axis, with a projected spin-orbit
alignment of degrees. This is currently the second most
rapidly rotating star to have a reflex signal (and thus mass determination) due
to a planetary companion measured.Comment: Accepted to The Astronomical Journa
Water induced sediment levitation enhances downslope transport on Mars
On Mars, locally warm surface temperatures (~293 K) occur, leading to the possibility of (transient) liquid water on the surface. However, water exposed to the martian atmosphere will boil, and the sediment transport capacity of such unstable water is not well understood. Here, we present laboratory studies of a newly recognized transport mechanism: âlevitationâ of saturated sediment bodies on a cushion of vapor released by boiling. Sediment transport where this mechanism is active is about nine times greater than without this effect, reducing the amount of water required to transport comparable sediment volumes by nearly an order of magnitude. Our calculations show that the effect of levitation could persist up to ~48 times longer under reduced martian gravity. Sediment levitation must therefore be considered when evaluating the formation of recent and present-day martian mass wasting features, as much less water may be required to form such features than previously thought
- âŠ