165 research outputs found
Dust Embedded Sources at the Galactic Center. 2 to 4m imaging and spectroscopy in the central parsec
We present the first L-band spectroscopic observations for a dozen stellar
sources in the central 0.5 pc of the GC stellar cluster that are bright in the
2-4 micron wavelength domain. With the aid of additional K-band spectroscopic
data, we derive optical depth spectra of the sources after fitting their
continuum emission with a single reddened blackbody continuum. We also derive
intrinsic source spectra by correcting the line of sight extinction via the
optical depth spectrum of a late type star that is most likely not affected by
local dust emission or extinction at the Galactic Center. The good agreement
between the two approaches shows that the overall variation of the
line-of-sight extinction across the central 0.5 pc is mag. The extinction corrected spectra of the hot
He-stars are in good agreement with pure Rayleigh Jeans continuum spectra. The
intrinsic spectra of all other sources are in agreement with continuum emission
and absorption features due to the dust in which they are embedded. We
interprete both facts as evidence that a significant amount of the absorption
takes place within the central parsec of the Galactic Center and is most likely
associated with the individual sources there. We find absorption features at
3.0 micron, 3.4 micron, and 3.48 micron wavelength. Correlations between all
three features show that they are very likely to arise in the ISM of the
central 0.5 pc. Spectroscopy of high MIR-excess sources 0.5'' north of the IRS
13 complex is largely consistent with them being YSOs. However, a bow-shock
nature of these sources cannot be excluded.Comment: 19 pages. 19 figures. 6 tables. Accepted in A&
Role of the Subunits Interactions in the Conformational Transitions in Adult Human Hemoglobin: an Explicit Solvent Molecular Dynamics Study
Hemoglobin exhibits allosteric structural changes upon ligand binding due to
the dynamic interactions between the ligand binding sites, the amino acids
residues and some other solutes present under physiological conditions. In the
present study, the dynamical and quaternary structural changes occurring in two
unligated (deoxy-) T structures, and two fully ligated (oxy-) R, R2 structures
of adult human hemoglobin were investigated with molecular dynamics. It is
shown that, in the sub-microsecond time scale, there is no marked difference in
the global dynamics of the amino acids residues in both the oxy- and the deoxy-
forms of the individual structures. In addition, the R, R2 are relatively
stable and do not present quaternary conformational changes within the time
scale of our simulations while the T structure is dynamically more flexible and
exhibited the T\rightarrow R quaternary conformational transition, which is
propagated by the relative rotation of the residues at the {\alpha}1{\beta}2
and {\alpha}2{\beta}1 interface.Comment: Reprinted (adapted) with permission from J. Phys. Chem. B
DOI:10.1021/jp3022908. Copyright (2012) American Chemical Societ
Mercury's Exosphere During MESSENGER's Second Flyby: Detection of Magnesium and Distinct Distributions of Neutral Species
During MESSENGER's second Mercury flyby, the Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer observed emission from Mercury's neutral exosphere. These observations include the first detection of emission from magnesium. Differing spatial distributions for sodium, calcium, and magnesium were revealed by observations beginning in Mercury's tail region, approximately 8 Mercury radii anti-sunward of the planet, continuing past the nightside, and ending near the dawn terminator. Analysis of these observations, supplemented by observations during the first Mercury flyby as well as those by other MESSENGER instruments, suggests that the distinct spatial distributions arise from a combination of differences in source, transfer, and loss processes
The Galactic Center Black Hole Laboratory
The super-massive 4 million solar mass black hole Sagittarius~A* (SgrA*)
shows flare emission from the millimeter to the X-ray domain. A detailed
analysis of the infrared light curves allows us to address the accretion
phenomenon in a statistical way. The analysis shows that the near-infrared
flare amplitudes are dominated by a single state power law, with the low states
in SgrA* limited by confusion through the unresolved stellar background. There
are several dusty objects in the immediate vicinity of SgrA*. The source G2/DSO
is one of them. Its nature is unclear. It may be comparable to similar stellar
dusty sources in the region or may consist predominantly of gas and dust. In
this case a particularly enhanced accretion activity onto SgrA* may be expected
in the near future. Here the interpretation of recent data and ongoing
observations are discussed.Comment: 30 pages - 7 figures - accepted for publication by Springer's
"Fundamental Theories of Physics" series; summarizing GC contributions of 2
conferences: 'Equations of Motion in Relativistic Gravity' at the
Physikzentrum Bad Honnef, Bad Honnef, Germany, (Feb. 17-23, 2013) and the
COST MP0905 'The Galactic Center Black Hole Laboratory' Granada, Spain (Nov.
19 - 22, 2013
The structure of the nuclear stellar cluster of the Milky Way
We present high-resolution seeing limited and AO NIR imaging observations of
the stellar cluster within about one parsec of Sgr A*, the massive black hole
at the centre of the Milky Way. Stellar number counts and the diffuse
background light density were extracted from these observations in order to
examine the structure of the nuclear stellar cluster.Our findings are as
follows: (a) A broken-power law provides an excellent fit to the overall
structure of the GC nuclear cluster. The power-law slope of the cusp is
, the break radius is or
pc, and the cluster density decreases with a power-law index of
outside of . (b) Using the best velocity
dispersion measurements from the literature, we derive higher mass estimates
for the central parsec than assumed until now. The inferred density of the
cluster at the break radius is . This high density agrees well with the small extent and flat slope
of the cusp. Possibly, the mass of the stars makes up only about 50% of the
total cluster mass. (c) Possible indications of mass segregation in the cusp
are found (d) The cluster appears not entirely homogeneous. Several density
clumps are detected that are concentrated at projected distances of and
from Sgr A*.(e) There appears to exist an under-density of horizontal
branch/red clump stars near , or an over-density of stars of similar
brightness at and . (f) The extinction map in combination with
cometary-like features in an L'-band image may provide support for the
assumption of an outflow from Sgr A*.Comment: accepted for publication by A&A; please contact first author for
higher quality figure
Nonrenewable Resources, Strategic Behavior and the Hotelling Rule: An Experiment
This study uses the methods of experimental economics to investigate possible causes for the failure of the Hotelling rule for nonrenewable resources. We argue that as long as resource stocks are large enough, producers may choose to (partially) ignore the dynamic component of their production decision, shifting production to the present and focusing more on strategic behavior. We experimentally vary stock size in a nonrenewable resource duopoly setting and find that producers with large stocks indeed pay significantly less attention to variables related to dynamic optimization,leading to a failure of the Hotelling rule
Inward Bound: Studying the Galactic Centre with NAOS/CONICA
We report on the first results obtained using adaptive optics measurements of
the Galactic Centre done with NAOS/CONICA.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figure
Spontaneous Quaternary and Tertiary T-R Transitions of Human Hemoglobin in Molecular Dynamics Simulation
We present molecular dynamics simulations of unliganded human hemoglobin (Hb) A under physiological conditions, starting from the R, R2, and T state. The simulations were carried out with protonated and deprotonated HC3 histidines His(ÎČ)146, and they sum up to a total length of 5.6”s. We observe spontaneous and reproducible TâR quaternary transitions of the Hb tetramer and tertiary transitions of the α and ÎČ subunits, as detected from principal component projections, from an RMSD measure, and from rigid body rotation analysis. The simulations reveal a marked asymmetry between the α and ÎČ subunits. Using the mutual information as correlation measure, we find that the ÎČ subunits are substantially more strongly linked to the quaternary transition than the α subunits. In addition, the tertiary populations of the α and ÎČ subunits differ substantially, with the ÎČ subunits showing a tendency towards R, and the α subunits showing a tendency towards T. Based on the simulation results, we present a transition pathway for coupled quaternary and tertiary transitions between the R and T conformations of Hb
Closest Star Seen Orbiting the Supermassive Black Hole at the Centre of the Milky Way
Measurements of stellar velocities and variable X-ray emission near the
centre of the Milky Way have provided the strongest evidence so far that the
dark mass concentrations seen in many galactic nuclei are likely supermassive
black holes, but have not yet excluded several alternative configurations. Here
we report ten years of high resolution astrometric imaging that allow us to
trace two thirds of the orbit of the star currently closest to the compact
radio source and massive black hole candidate SgrA*. In particular, we have
observed both peri- and apocentre passages. Our observations show that the star
is on a bound, highly elliptical Keplerian orbit around SgrA*, with an orbital
period of 15.2 years and a peri-centre distance of only 17 light hours. The
orbital elements require an enclosed point mass of 3.7+-1.5x10^6 solar masses.
The data exclude with high confidence that the central dark mass consists of a
cluster of astrophysical objects or massive, degenerate fermions, and strongly
constrain the central density structure.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, scheduled for publication in Nature on 17 Oct
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Circulating power: humanitarian logistics, militarism and the United Arab Emirates
While critical authors have interrogated the roots of business logistics, this paper extends the analysis and contributes to a larger critique of the cohering field of Humanitarian Logistics (HL), noting the overlap in the logistical cartographies of militarism and humanitarianism. The focus is on the UAEâs expanding logistics space into the Horn of Africa and the production of specialised HL zones like Dubai International Humanitarian City (DIHC). The article makes three core arguments. First, a logistics lens enables us to expand the study of aid beyond immediate conflict zones, into more distant spaces often constructed as âstableâ. Second, the placement of logistics at the core of aid delivery has been a key mechanism for inserting market imperatives into humanitarian activities. Third, this gives countries outside the advanced core, such as the UAE, power to leverage and expand their logistics space for multiple purposes, in war making, aid, and commercial activities
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