90 research outputs found
High Precision Astrometry with MICADO at the European Extremely Large Telescope
In this article we identify and discuss various statistical and systematic
effects influencing the astrometric accuracy achievable with MICADO, the
near-infrared imaging camera proposed for the 42-metre European Extremely Large
Telescope (E-ELT). These effects are instrumental (e.g. geometric distortion),
atmospheric (e.g. chromatic differential refraction), and astronomical
(reference source selection). We find that there are several phenomena having
impact on ~100 micro-arcsec scales, meaning they can be substantially larger
than the theoretical statistical astrometric accuracy of an optical/NIR
42m-telescope. Depending on type, these effects need to be controlled via
dedicated instrumental design properties or via dedicated calibration
procedures. We conclude that if this is done properly, astrometric accuracies
of 40 micro-arcsec or better - with 40 micro-arcsec/year in proper motions
corresponding to ~20 km/s at 100 kpc distance - can be achieved in one epoch of
actual observationsComment: 15 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables. Accepted by MNRA
A brown dwarf desert for intermediate mass stars in Sco OB2?
We present JHK observations of 22 intermediate-mass stars in Sco OB2,
obtained with VLT/NACO. The survey was performed to determine the status of
(sub)stellar candidate companions of A and late-B members. The distinction
between companions and background stars is by a comparison with isochrones and
statistical arguments. We are sensitive to companions in the separation range
0.1''-11'' (13-1430 AU) and K<17. We detect 62 secondaries of which 18 are
physical companions (3 new), 11 candidates, and 33 background stars. The
companion masses are in the range 0.03<M<1.19 Msun, with mass ratios
0.06<q<0.55. We include in our sample a subset of 9 targets with multi-color
ADONIS observations from Kouwenhoven et al. (2005). In the ADONIS survey
secondaries with K12 as
background stars. Our multi-color analysis demonstrates that the simple K=12
criterion correctly classifies the secondaries in ~80% of the cases. We
reanalyse the total ADONIS/NACO sample and conclude that of the 176
secondaries, 25 are physical companions, 55 are candidates, and 96 are
background stars. Although we are sensitive and complete to brown dwarfs as
faint as K=14 in the separation range 130-520 AU, we detect only one, giving a
brown dwarf companion fraction of 0.5% (M>30 MJ). However, the number of brown
dwarfs is consistent with an extrapolation of the stellar companion mass
distribution. This indicates that the physical mechanism for the formation of
brown dwarfs around intermediate mass stars is similar to that of stellar
companions, and that the embryo ejection mechanism does not need to be invoked
in order to explain the small number of brown dwarf companions among these
stars.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, accepted by A&
The Blue Straggler population in the globular cluster M53 (NGC5024): a combined HST, LBT, CFHT study
We used a proper combination of multiband high-resolution and wide field
multi-wavelength observations collected at three different telescopes (HST, LBT
and CFHT) to probe Blue Straggler Star (BSS) populations in the globular
cluster M53. Almost 200 BSS have been identified over the entire cluster
extension. The radial distribution of these stars has been found to be bimodal
(similarly to that of several other clusters) with a prominent dip at ~60'' (~2
r_c) from the cluster center. This value turns out to be a factor of two
smaller than the radius of avoidance (r_avoid, the radius within which all the
stars of ~1.2 M_sun have sunk to the core because of dynamical friction effects
in an Hubble time). While in most of the clusters with a bimodal BSS radial
distribution, r_avoid has been found to be located in the region of the
observed minimum, this is the second case (after NGC6388) where this
discrepancy is noted. This evidence suggests that in a few clusters the
dynamical friction seems to be somehow less efficient than expected.
We have also used this data base to construct the radial star density profile
of the cluster: this is the most extended and accurate radial profile ever
published for this cluster, including detailed star counts in the very inner
region. The star density profile is reproduced by a standard King Model with an
extended core (~25'') and a modest value of the concentration parameter
(c=1.58). A deviation from the model is noted in the most external region of
the cluster (at r>6.5' from the center). This feature needs to be further
investigated in order to address the possible presence of a tidal tail in this
cluster.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication on Ap
Deep into the core of dense star clusters: An astrometric and photometric test case for ELT
We present a novel analysis of a young star cluster in the Large Magellanic cloud, R136- like, as seen by the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). The main aim of this study is to quantify precision and accuracy of stellar proper motion measurements in crowded field when using an ELT working at its diffraction limit. This can serve as a reference study for future development of ELT scientific cases. In particular, we investigate our future ability to detect the dynamical signature of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) with mass âŒ104 Mâ through detailed measurements of stellar proper motions. We have simulated two N-body dynamical cluster models with and without an IMBH. For each model, we have chosen two snapshots temporally spaced by 5 yr. Stellar fluxes in IJHK filters and star positions have been used to create ELT mock images for both single- and multiconjugate adaptive optics observing modes following the requierements given by ESO technical specifications for the first light imager. These images have been analysed using a classical software for seeing-limited data reduction, DAOPHOT/ALLSTAR. We make accurate photometry till the very faint pre-main-sequence stars, i.e. depending on the adaptive optics (AO) mode, magnitudes down to K ⌠24 mag (singleconjugate AO) or K ⌠22 mag (multiconjugate AO) in a total integration time of 20 min on target. Although DAOPHOT suite of programs is not devoted to precise astrometry, the astrometric accuracy is impressive, reaching few ÎŒas yr-1 or km s-1. In these assumptions, we are able to detect the IMBH signature at the centre of the cluster
The Primordial Binary Population - I: A near-infrared adaptive optics search for close visual companions to A star members of Scorpius OB2
We present the results of a near-infrared adaptive optics survey with the aim
to detect close companions to Hipparcos members in the three subgroups of the
nearby OB association Sco OB2: Upper Scorpius (US), Upper Centaurus Lupus (UCL)
and Lower Centaurus Crux (LCC). We have targeted 199 A-type and late B-type
stars in the Ks band, and a subset also in the J and H band. We find 151
stellar components other than the target stars. A brightness criterion is used
to separate these components into 77 background stars and 74 candidate physical
companion stars. Out of these 74 candidate companions, 41 have not been
reported before (14 in US; 13 in UCL; 14 in LCC). Companion star masses range
from 0.1 to 3 Msun. The mass ratio distribution follows f(q) = q^-0.33, which
excludes random pairing. No close (rho < 3.75'') companion stars or background
stars are found in the magnitude range 12 < Ks < 14. The lack of stars with
these properties cannot be explained by low-number statistics, and may imply a
lower limit on the companion mass of ~ 0.1 Msun. Close stellar components with
Ks > 14 are observed. If these components are very low-mass companion stars, a
gap in the companion mass distribution might be present. The small number of
close low-mass companion stars could support the embryo-ejection formation
scenario for brown dwarfs. Our findings are compared with and complementary to
visual, spectroscopic, and astrometric data on binarity in Sco OB2. We find an
overall companion star fraction of 0.52 in this association. This paper is the
first step toward our goal to derive the primordial binary population in Sco
OB2.Comment: 27 pages, to accepted by A&
Direct evidence of a sub-stellar companion around CT Cha
In our ongoing search for close and faint companions around T Tauri stars, we
found a very faint (Ks=14.9mag, Ks_0=14.4mag) object, just ~2.67" northwest of
the Chamaeleon star-forming region member CT Cha corresponding to a projected
separation of ~440AU at 165+/-30 pc. We show that CT Cha A and this faint
object form a common proper motion pair from data of the VLT Adaptive Optics
(AO) instrument NACO taken in February 2006 and March 2007 and that the
companion is by >=4 sigma significance not a stationary background object. Our
AO integral field spectroscopy with SINFONI in J, and H+K bands yields a
temperature of 2600+/-250K for the companion and an optical extinction of
A_V=5.2+/-0.8mag, when compared to spectra calculated from Drift-Phoenix model
atmospheres. We demonstrate the validity of the model fits by comparison to
several other well-known young sub-stellar objects. Relative flux calibration
of the bands was achieved using photometry from the NACO imaging data. We
conclude that the CT Cha companion is a very low-mass member of Chamaeleon and
very likely a physical companion to CT Cha, as the probability for a by chance
alignment is <=0.01. Due to a prominent Pa-Beta emission in the J-band,
accretion is probably still ongoing onto the CT Cha companion. From temperature
and luminosity (log(Lbol/Lsun)= -2.68+/-0.21), we derive a radius of
R=2.20+0.81-0.60 R_Jup. We find a consistent mass of M=17+/-6 MJup for the CT
Cha companion from both its luminosity and temperature when placed on
evolutionary tracks. Hence, the CT Cha companion is most likely a wide brown
dwarf companion or possibly even a planetary mass object.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Wide and deep near-UV (360nm) galaxy counts and the extragalactic background light with the Large Binocular Camera
Deep multicolour surveys are the main tool to explore the formation and
evolution of the faint galaxies which are beyond the spectroscopic limit with
the present technology. The photometric properties of these faint galaxies are
usually compared with current renditions of semianalytical models to provide
constraints on the fundamental physical processes involved in galaxy formation
and evolution, namely the mass assembly and the star formation. Galaxy counts
over large sky areas in the near-UV band are important because they are
difficult to obtain given the low efficiency of near-UV instrumentation, even
at 8m class telescopes. A large instrumental field of view helps in minimizing
the biases due to the cosmic variance. We have obtained deep images in the
360nm U band provided by the blue channel of the Large Binocular Camera at the
prime focus of the Large Binocular Telescope. We have derived over an area of
~0.4 sq. deg. the galaxy number counts down to U=27 in the Vega system
(corresponding to U=27.86 in the AB system) at a completeness level of 30%
reaching the faintest current limit for this wavelength and sky area. The shape
of the galaxy counts in the U band can be described by a double power-law, the
bright side being consistent with the shape of shallower surveys of comparable
or greater areas. The slope bends over significantly at U>23.5 ensuring the
convergence of the contribution by star forming galaxies to the EBL in the
near-UV band to a value which is more than 70% of the most recent upper limits
derived for this band. We have jointly compared our near-UV and K band counts
collected from the literature with few selected hierarchical CDM models
emphasizing critical issues in the physical description of the galaxy formation
and evolution.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. Uses aa.cls, 9 pages, 4 figures.
Citations update
Near infrared flares of Sagittarius A*: Importance of near infrared polarimetry
We report on the results of new simulations of near-infrared (NIR)
observations of the Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) counterpart associated with the
super-massive black hole at the Galactic Center. The observations have been
carried out using the NACO adaptive optics (AO) instrument at the European
Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope and CIAO NIR camera on the Subaru
telescope (13 June 2004, 30 July 2005, 1 June 2006, 15 May 2007, 17 May 2007
and 28 May 2008). We used a model of synchrotron emission from relativistic
electrons in the inner parts of an accretion disk. The relativistic simulations
have been carried out using the Karas-Yaqoob (KY) ray-tracing code. We probe
the existence of a correlation between the modulations of the observed flux
density light curves and changes in polarimetric data. Furthermore, we confirm
that the same correlation is also predicted by the hot spot model. Correlations
between intensity and polarimetric parameters of the observed light curves as
well as a comparison of predicted and observed light curve features through a
pattern recognition algorithm result in the detection of a signature of
orbiting matter under the influence of strong gravity. This pattern is detected
statistically significant against randomly polarized red noise. Expected
results from future observations of VLT interferometry like GRAVITY experiment
are also discussed.Comment: 26 pages, 38 figures, accepted for publication by A&
Near-infrared proper motions and spectroscopy of infrared excess sources at the Galactic Center
There are a number of faint compact infrared excess sources in the central
stellar cluster of the Milky Way. Their nature and origin is unclear. In
addition to several isolated objects of this kind we find a small but dense
cluster of co-moving sources (IRS13N) about 3" west of SgrA* just 0.5" north of
the bright IRS13E cluster of WR and O-type stars. Based on their color and
brightness, there are two main possibilities: (1) they may be dust embedded
stars older than few Myr, or (2) extremely young, dusty stars with ages less
than 1Myr. We present fist H- and Ks-band identifications or proper motions of
the IRS13N members, the high velocity dusty S-cluster object (DSO), and other
infrared excess sources in the central field. We also present results of NIR H-
and Ks-band ESO-SINFONI integral field spectroscopy of ISR13N. We show that
within the uncertainties, the proper motions of the IRS13N sources in Ks- and
L'-band are identical. This indicates that the bright L'-band IRS13N sources
are indeed dust enshrouded stars rather than core-less dust clouds. The proper
motions show that the IRS13N sources are not strongly gravitationally bound to
each other implying that they have been formed recently. We also present a
first H- and Ks-band identification as well as proper motions and HKsL'-colors
of a fast moving DSO which was recently found in the cluster of high speed
S-stars that surround the super-massive black hole Sagittarius A* (SgrA*). Most
of the compact L'-band excess emission sources have a compact H- or Ks-band
counterpart and therefore are likely stars with dust shells or disks. Our new
results and orbital analysis from our previous work favor the hypothesis that
the infrared excess IRS13N members and other dusty sources close to SgrA* are
very young dusty stars and that star formation at the GC is a continuously
ongoing process.Comment: 20 pages, 18 figures, 4 tables plus appendix with 16 figures and 3
tables accepted by A&
Simultaneous NIR/sub-mm observation of flare emission from SgrA*
We report on a successful, simultaneous observation and modeling of the
sub-millimeter to near-infrared flare emission of the Sgr A* counterpart
associated with the super-massive black hole at the Galactic center. Our
modeling is based on simultaneous observations that have been carried out on 03
June, 2008 using the NACO adaptive optics (AO) instrument at the ESO VLT and
the LABOCA bolometer at the APEX telescope. Inspection and modeling of the
light curves show that the sub-mm follows the NIR emission with a delay of
1.5+/-0.5 hours. We explain the flare emission delay by an adiabatic expansion
of the source components.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables, in press with A&
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