316 research outputs found
Diffraction-limited 3 μm spectroscopy of IRAS 04296+3429 and IRAS 05341+0852: Spatial extent of hydrocarbon dust emission and dust evolutionary sequence
We present 3 μm spectroscopy of the carbon-rich protoplanetary nebulae IRAS 04296+3429 and IRAS 05341+0852, conducted with the adaptive optics system at the Subaru Telescope. We utilize the nearly diffraction-limited spectroscopy to probe the spatial extent of the hydrocarbon dust emitting zone. We find a hydrocarbon emission core extending up to 100-160 mas from the center of IRAS 04296+3429, corresponding to a physical diameter of 400-640 AU, assuming a distance of 4 kpc. However, we find that IRAS 05341+0852 is not spatially resolved with this instrumentation. The physical extent of these protoplanetary nebulae, along with the reanalyzed data of IRAS 22272+5435 published previously, suggests a correlation between the physical extent of the hydrocarbon dust emission and the spectral evolution of the aliphatic to aromatic features in these post-AGB stars. These measurements represent the first direct test of the proposed chemical synthesis route of carbonaceous dust in the circumstellar environment of evolved stars. © 2007, The American Astronomical Society, Ail rights reserved.published_or_final_versio
A Single-Year Cosmic Ray Event at 5410 BCE Registered in C-14 of Tree Rings
The annual C-14 data in tree rings is an outstanding proxy for uncovering extreme solar energetic particle (SEP) events in the past. Signatures of extreme SEP events have been reported in 774/775 CE, 992/993 CE, and similar to 660 BCE. Here, we report another rapid increase of C-14 concentration in tree rings from California, Switzerland, and Finland around 5410 BCE. These C-14 data series show a significant increase of similar to 6 parts per thousand in 5411-5410 BCE. The signature of C-14 variation is very similar to the confirmed three SEP events and points to an extreme short-term flux of cosmic ray radiation into the atmosphere. The rapid C-14 increase in 5411/5410 BCE rings occurred during a period of high solar activity and 60 years after a grand C-14 excursion during 5481-5471 BCE. The similarity of our C-14 data to previous events suggests that the origin of the 5410 BCE event is an extreme SEP event.Peer reviewe
Search for exotic neutrino-electron interactions using solar neutrinos in XMASS-I
We have searched for exotic neutrino-electron interactions that could be
produced by a neutrino millicharge, by a neutrino magnetic moment, or by dark
photons using solar neutrinos in the XMASS-I liquid xenon detector. We observed
no significant signals in 711 days of data. We obtain an upper limit for
neutrino millicharge of 5.410 at 90\% confidence level
assuming all three species of neutrino have common millicharge. We also set
flavor dependent limits assuming the respective neutrino flavor is the only one
carrying a millicharge, for , for , and for .
These limits are the most stringent yet obtained from direct measurements. We
also obtain an upper limit for the neutrino magnetic moment of
1.810 Bohr magnetons. In addition, we obtain upper limits for
the coupling constant of dark photons in the model of
1.310 if the dark photon mass is 1 MeV,
and 8.810 if it is 10 MeV
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