193 research outputs found
A Complete Spectroscopic Survey of the Milky Way Satellite Segue 1: The Darkest Galaxy
We present the results of a comprehensive Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopic survey of
the ultra-faint Milky Way satellite galaxy Segue 1. We have obtained velocity
measurements for 98.2% of the stars within 67 pc (10 arcmin, or 2.3 half-light
radii) of the center of Segue 1 that have colors and magnitudes consistent with
membership, down to a magnitude limit of r=21.7. Based on photometric,
kinematic, and metallicity information, we identify 71 stars as probable Segue
1 members, including some as far out as 87 pc. After correcting for the
influence of binary stars using repeated velocity measurements, we determine a
velocity dispersion of 3.7^{+1.4}_{-1.1} km/s, with a corresponding mass within
the half-light radius of 5.8^{+8.2}_{-3.1} x 10^5 Msun. The stellar kinematics
of Segue 1 require very high mass-to-light ratios unless the system is far from
dynamical equilibrium, even if the period distribution of unresolved binary
stars is skewed toward implausibly short periods. With a total luminosity less
than that of a single bright red giant and a V-band mass-to-light ratio of 3400
Msun/Lsun, Segue 1 is the darkest galaxy currently known. We critically
re-examine recent claims that Segue 1 is a tidally disrupting star cluster and
that kinematic samples are contaminated by the Sagittarius stream. The
extremely low metallicities ([Fe/H] < -3) of two Segue 1 stars and the large
metallicity spread among the members demonstrate conclusively that Segue 1 is a
dwarf galaxy, and we find no evidence in favor of tidal effects. We also show
that contamination by the Sagittarius stream has been overestimated. Segue 1
has the highest measured dark matter density of any known galaxy and will
therefore be a prime testing ground for dark matter physics and galaxy
formation on small scales.Comment: 24 pages, 4 tables, 11 figures (10 in color). Submitted for
publication in ApJ. V3 revised according to comments from the refere
A Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopic survey of the faint M31 satellites And IX, And XI, And XII, and And XIII
We present the first spectroscopic analysis of the faint M31 satellite
galaxies, AndXI and AndXIII, and a reanalysis of existing spectroscopic data
for two further faint companions, And IX and AndXII. By combining data obtained
using the DEIMOS spectrograph mounted on the Keck II telescope with deep
photometry from the Suprime-Cam instrument on Subaru, we have calculated global
properties for the dwarfs, such as systemic velocities, metallicites and
half-light radii.We find each dwarf to be very metal poor ([Fe/H] -2 both
photometrically and spectroscopically, from their stacked spectrum), and as
such, they continue to follow the luminosity-metallicity relationship
established with brighter dwarfs. We are unable to resolve a dispersion for And
XI due to small sample size and low S/N, but we set a one sigma upper limit of
sigma-v <5 km/s. For And IX, And XII and And XIII we resolve velocity
dispersions of v=4.5 (+3.4,-3.2), 2.6(+5.1,-2.6) and 9.7(+8.9,-4.5) km/s, and
derive masses within the half light radii of 6.2(+5.3,-5.1)x10^6 Msun, 2.4
(+6.5,-2.4)x10^6 Msun and 1.1(+1.4,-0.7)x10^7 Msun respectively. We discuss
each satellite in the context of the Mateo relations for dwarf spheroidal
galaxies, and the Universal halo profiles established for Milky Way dwarfs
(Walker et al. 2009). For both galaxies, this sees them fall below the
Universal halo profiles of Walker et al. (2009). When combined with the
findings of McConnachie & Irwin (2006a), which reveal that the M31 satellites
are twice as extended (in terms of both half-light and tidal radii) as their
Milky Way counterparts, these results suggest that the satellite population of
the Andromeda system could inhabit halos that are significantly different from
those of the Milky Way in terms of their central densities (abridged).Comment: 26 pages, 18 figures, MNRAS submitte
Behavioural syndrome in a solitary predator is independent of body size and growth rate.
Models explaining behavioural syndromes often focus on state-dependency, linking behavioural variation to individual differences in other phenotypic features. Empirical studies are, however, rare. Here, we tested for a size and growth-dependent stable behavioural syndrome in the juvenile-stages of a solitary apex predator (pike, Esox lucius), shown as repeatable foraging behaviour across risk. Pike swimming activity, latency to prey attack, number of successful and unsuccessful prey attacks was measured during the presence/absence of visual contact with a competitor or predator. Foraging behaviour across risks was considered an appropriate indicator of boldness in this solitary predator where a trade-off between foraging behaviour and threat avoidance has been reported. Support was found for a behavioural syndrome, where the rank order differences in the foraging behaviour between individuals were maintained across time and risk situation. However, individual behaviour was independent of body size and growth in conditions of high food availability, showing no evidence to support the state-dependent personality hypothesis. The importance of a combination of spatial and temporal environmental variation for generating growth differences is highlighted
Modelling the spectral energy distribution of galaxies. V. The dust and PAH emission SEDs of disk galaxies
We present a self-consistent model of the spectral energy distributions
(SEDs) of spiral galaxies from the ultraviolet (UV) to the mid-infrared
(MIR)/far-infrared (FIR)/submillimeter (submm) based on a full radiative
transfer calculation of the propagation of starlight in galaxy disks. This
model predicts not only the total integrated energy absorbed in the UV/optical
and re-emitted in the infrared/submm, but also the colours of the dust emission
based on an explicit calculation of the strength and colour of the UV/optical
radiation fields heating the dust, and incorporating a full calculation of the
stochastic heating of small dust grains and PAH molecules.
The geometry of the translucent components of the model is empirically
constrained using the results from the radiation transfer analysis of Xilouris
et al. on spirals in the middle range of the Hubble sequence, while the
geometry of the optically thick components is constrained from physical
considerations with a posteriori checks of the model predictions with
observational data.
These geometrical constraints enable the dust emission to be predicted in
terms of a minimum set of free parameters: the central face-on dust opacity in
the B-band tau^f_B, a clumpiness factor F for the star-forming regions, the
star-formation rate SFR, the normalised luminosity of the old stellar
population old and the bulge-to-disk ratio B/D. We show that these parameters
are almost orthogonal in their predicted effect on the colours of the dust/PAH
emission.
The results of the calculations are made available in the form of a large
library of simulated dust emission SEDs spanning the whole parameter space of
our model, together with the corresponding library of dust attenuation
calculated using the same model. (see full abstract in the paper)Comment: 39 pages; accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics; For a
higher resolution version of Fig.1 and Fig.20 see
http://www.star.uclan.ac.uk/~ccp/index.shtm
Observations of Milky Way Dwarf Spheroidal galaxies with the Fermi-LAT detector and constraints on Dark Matter models
We report on the observations of 14 dwarf spheroidal galaxies with the Fermi
Gamma-Ray Space Telescope taken during the first 11 months of survey mode
operations. The Fermi telescope provides a new opportunity to test particle
dark matter models through the expected gamma-ray emission produced by pair
annihilation of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). Local Group dwarf
spheroidal galaxies, the largest galactic substructures predicted by the cold
dark matter scenario, are attractive targets for such indirect searches for
dark matter because they are nearby and among the most extreme dark matter
dominated environments. No significant gamma-ray emission was detected above
100 MeV from the candidate dwarf galaxies. We determine upper limits to the
gamma-ray flux assuming both power-law spectra and representative spectra from
WIMP annihilation. The resulting integral flux above 100 MeV is constrained to
be at a level below around 10^-9 photons cm^-2 s^-1. Using recent stellar
kinematic data, the gamma-ray flux limits are combined with improved
determinations of the dark matter density profile in 8 of the 14 candidate
dwarfs to place limits on the pair annihilation cross-section of WIMPs in
several widely studied extensions of the standard model. With the present data,
we are able to rule out large parts of the parameter space where the thermal
relic density is below the observed cosmological dark matter density and WIMPs
(neutralinos here) are dominantly produced non-thermally, e.g. in models where
supersymmetry breaking occurs via anomaly mediation. The gamma-ray limits
presented here also constrain some WIMP models proposed to explain the Fermi
and PAMELA e^+e^- data, including low-mass wino-like neutralinos and models
with TeV masses pair-annihilating into muon-antimuon pairs. (Abridged)Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures, accepted to ApJ, Corresponding authors: J.
Cohen-Tanugi, C. Farnier, T.E. Jeltema, E. Nuss, and S. Profum
Essential versus accessory aspects of cell death: recommendations of the NCCD 2015
Cells exposed to extreme physicochemical or mechanical stimuli die in an uncontrollable manner, as a result of their immediate structural breakdown. Such an unavoidable variant of cellular demise is generally referred to as âaccidental cell deathâ (ACD). In most settings, however, cell death is initiated by a genetically encoded apparatus, correlating with the fact that its course can be altered by pharmacologic or genetic interventions. âRegulated cell deathâ (RCD) can occur as part of physiologic programs or can be activated once adaptive responses to perturbations of the extracellular or intracellular microenvironment fail. The biochemical phenomena that accompany RCD may be harnessed to classify it into a few subtypes, which often (but not always) exhibit stereotyped morphologic features. Nonetheless, efficiently inhibiting the processes that are commonly thought to cause RCD, such as the activation of executioner caspases in the course of apoptosis, does not exert true cytoprotective effects in the mammalian system, but simply alters the kinetics of cellular demise as it shifts its morphologic and biochemical correlates. Conversely, bona fide cytoprotection can be achieved by inhibiting the transduction of lethal signals in the early phases of the process, when adaptive responses are still operational. Thus, the mechanisms that truly execute RCD may be less understood, less inhibitable and perhaps more homogeneous than previously thought. Here, the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death formulates a set of recommendations to help scientists and researchers to discriminate between essential and accessory aspects of cell death
The impact of egg incubation temperature on the personality of oviparous reptiles
Personality traits, defined as differences in the behavior of individual animals of the same species that are consistent over time and context, such as âboldness,â have been shown to be both heritable and be influenced by external factors, such as predation pressure. Currently, we know very little about the role that early environmental factors have upon personality. Thus, we investigated the impact of incubation temperature upon the boldness on an oviparous reptile, the bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps). Eggs, from one clutch, were incubated at two different average temperatures within the normal range. After hatching the lizards were raised under the same environmental conditions. Novel object and novel environment tests were used to assess personality. Each test was repeated in both the short term and the long term. The results revealed that incubation temperature did impact upon âboldnessâ but only in the short term and suggests that, rather than influencing personality, incubation temperature may have an effect on the development of behavioral of oviparous reptiles at different stages across ontogeny
She\u27s So Bubbly
We introduce the Automatic Learning for the Rapid Classification of Events (ALeRCE) broker, an astronomical alert broker designed to provide a rapid and self-consistent classification of large etendue telescope alert streams, such as that provided by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and, in the future, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). ALeRCE is a Chilean-led broker run by an interdisciplinary team of astronomers and engineers working to become intermediaries between survey and follow-up facilities. ALeRCE uses a pipeline that includes the real-time ingestion, aggregation, cross-matching, machine-learning (ML) classification, and visualization of the ZTF alert stream. We use two classifiers: a stamp-based classifier, designed for rapid classification, and a light curveâbased classifier, which uses the multiband flux evolution to achieve a more refined classification. We describe in detail our pipeline, data products, tools, and services, which are made public for the community (see https://alerce.science). Since we began operating our real-time ML classification of the ZTF alert stream in early 2019, we have grown a large community of active users around the globe. We describe our results to date, including the real-time processing of 1.5 Ă 10âž alerts, the stamp classification of 3.4 Ă 10â· objects, the light-curve classification of 1.1 Ă 10ⶠobjects, the report of 6162 supernova candidates, and different experiments using LSST-like alert streams. Finally, we discuss the challenges ahead in going from a single stream of alerts such as ZTF to a multistream ecosystem dominated by LSST
Chromatin and epigenetics: current biophysical views
Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing experiments and their theoretical descriptions have determined fast dynamics of the "chromatin and epigenetics" field, with new concepts appearing at high rate. This field includes but is not limited to the study of DNA-protein-RNA interactions, chromatin packing properties at different scales, regulation of gene expression and protein trafficking in the cell nucleus, binding site search in the crowded chromatin environment and modulation of physical interactions by covalent chemical modifications of the binding partners. The current special issue does not pretend for the full coverage of the field, but it rather aims to capture its development and provide a snapshot of the most recent concepts and approaches. Eighteen open-access articles comprising this issue provide a delicate balance between current theoretical and experimental biophysical approaches to uncover chromatin structure and understand epigenetic regulation, allowing free flow of new ideas and preliminary results
The Incidence of AIDS-Defining Illnesses at a Current CD4 Count â„200 Cells/”L in the Post-Combination Antiretroviral Therapy Era
The incidence of AIDS was higher in patients with a current CD4 count of 500-749 cells/”L compared to 750-999 cells/”L, but did not decrease further at higher CD4 levels. Results were similar in those virologically suppressed on combination antiretroviral therapy, suggesting immune reconstitution is incomplete until CD4 >750/”
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