45 research outputs found
OCTAD-S: Digital Fast Fourier Transform Spectrometers by FPGA
We have developed a digital fast Fourier transform (FFT) spectrometer made of
an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a field-programmable gate array
(FPGA). The base instrument has independent ADC and FPGA modules, which allow
us to implement different spectrometers in a relatively easy manner. Two types
of spectrometers have been instrumented, one with 4.096 GS/s sampling speed and
2048 frequency channels and the other with 2.048 GS/s sampling speed and 32768
frequency channels. The signal processing in these spectrometers has no dead
time and the accumulated spectra are recorded in external media every 8 ms. A
direct sampling spectroscopy up to 8 GHz is achieved by a microwave
track-and-hold circuit, which can reduce the analog receiver in front of the
spectrometer. Highly stable spectroscopy with a wide dynamic range was
demonstrated in a series of laboratory experiments and test observations of
solar radio bursts.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Earth, Planets and
Spac
The Distance to the Galactic Center Derived From Infrared Photometry of Bulge Red Clump Stars
On the basis of the near infrared observations of bulge red clump stars near
the Galactic center, we have determined the galactocentric distance to be R_0 =
7.52 +- 0.10 (stat) +- 0.35 (sys) kpc. We observed the red clump stars at |l| <
1.0 deg and 0.7 deg < |b| < 1.0 deg with the IRSF 1.4 m telescope and the
SIRIUS camera in the H and Ks bands. After extinction and population
corrections, we obtained (m - M)_0 = 14.38 +- 0.03 (stat) +- 0.10 (sys). The
statistical error is dominated by the uncertainty of the intrinsic local red
clump stars' luminosity. The systematic error is estimated to be +- 0.10
including uncertainties in extinction and population correction, zero-point of
photometry, and the fitting of the luminosity function of the red clump stars.
Our result, R_0 = 7.52 kpc, is in excellent agreement with the distance
determined geometrically with the star orbiting the massive black hole in the
Galactic center. The recent result based on the spatial distribution of
globular clusters is also consistent with our result. In addition, our study
exhibits that the distance determination to the Galactic center with the red
clump stars, even if the error of the population correction is taken into
account, can achieve an uncertainty of about 5%, which is almost the same level
as that in recent geometrical determinations.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, accepted by Ap
Near-Infrared Extinction in The Coalsack Globule 2
We have conducted J, H, and Ks imaging observations for the Coalsack Globule
2 with the SIRIUS infrared camera on the IRSF 1.4 m telescope at SAAO, and
determined the color excess ratio, E(J-H)/E(H-Ks). The ratio is determined in
the same photometric system as our previous study for the rho Oph and Cha
clouds without any color transformation; this enables us to directly compare
the near-infrared extinction laws among these regions. The current ratio
E(J-H)/E(H-Ks) = 1.91 +- 0.01 for the extinction range 0.5 < E(J-H) <1.8 is
significantly larger than the ratios for the rho Oph and Cha clouds
(E(J-H)/E(H-Ks) = 1.60-1.69). This ratio corresponds to a large negative index
alpha = 2.34 +- 0.01 when the wavelength dependence of extinction is
approximated by a power law which might indicate little growth of dust grains,
or larger abundance of dielectric non-absorbing components such as silicates,
or both in this cloud. We also confirm that the color excess ratio for the
Coalsack Globule 2 has a trend of increasing with decreasing optical depth,
which is the same trend as the rho Oph and Cha clouds have.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, and 2 tables, Ap
Interstellar Extinction Law in the J, H, and Ks Bands toward the Galactic Center
We have determined the ratios of total to selective extinction in the
near-infrared bands (J, H, Ks) toward the Galactic center from the observations
of the region |l| < 2.0deg and 0.5deg < |b| < 1.0deg with the IRSF telescope
and the SIRIUS camera. Using the positions of red clump stars in
color-magnitude diagrams as a tracer of the extinction and reddening, we
determine the average of the ratios of total to selective extinction to be
A(Ks)/E(H-Ks) = 1.44+-0.01, A(Ks)/E(J-Ks) = 0.494+-0.006, and A(H)/E(J-H) =
1.42+-0.02, which are significantly smaller than those obtained in previous
studies. From these ratios, we estimate that A(J) : A(H) : A(Ks) = 1 :
0.573+-0.009 : 0.331+-0.004 and E(J-H)/E(H-Ks) = 1.72+-0.04, and we find that
the power law A(lambda) \propto lambda^{-1.99+-0.02} is a good approximation
over these wavelengths. Moreover, we find a small variation in A(Ks)/E(H-Ks)
across our survey. This suggests that the infrared extinction law changes from
one line of sight to another, and the so-called ``universality'' does not
necessarily hold in the infrared wavelengths.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in the Ap
Aurora and Airglow Observations with an All-Sky Imager on Shirase to Fill the Observation Gap over the Southern Ocean
The Tenth Symposium on Polar Science/Special session: [S] Future plan of Antarctic research: Towards phase X of the Japanese Antarctic Research Project (2022-2028) and beyond, Tue. 3 Dec. / Entrance Hall (1st floor) at National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR
Atacama Compact Array Antennas
We report major performance test results of the Atacama Compact Array (ACA)
7-m and 12-m antennas of ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array).
The four major performances of the ACA antennas are all-sky pointing (to be not
more than 2.0 arcsec), offset pointing (to be < 0.6 arcsec) surface accuracy (<
25(20) micrometer for 12(7)m-antenna), stability of path-length (15 micrometer
over 3 min), and high servo capability (6 degrees/s for Azimuth and 3 degrees/s
for Elevation). The high performance of the ACA antenna has been extensively
evaluated at the Site Erection Facility area at an altitude of about 2900
meters. Test results of pointing performance, surface performance, and fast
motion capability are demonstrated.Comment: 3 pages, 2010 Asia-Pacific Radio Science Conference: J2 Millimeter-
and Sub-millimeter-wave Telescope and Arra
A Distinct Structure Inside the Galactic Bar
We present the result of a near-infrared (J H Ks) survey along the Galactic
plane, -10.5deg < l < +10.5deg and b=+1.0deg, with the IRSF 1.4m telescope and
the SIRIUS camera. Ks vs. H-Ks color-magnitude diagrams reveal a well-defined
population of red clump (RC) stars whose apparent magnitude peak changes
continuously along the Galactic plane, from Ks=13.4 at l=-10deg to Ks=12.2 at
l=+10deg after dereddening. This variation can be explained by the bar-like
structure found in previous studies, but we find an additional inner structure
at |l| < 4deg, where the longitude - apparent magnitude relation is distinct
from the outer bar, and the apparent magnitude peak changes by only 0.1 mag
over the central 8deg. The exact nature of this inner structure is as yet
uncertain.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. accepted by ApJ
Near Infrared Imaging Survey of Bok Globules: Density Structure
On the basis of near-infrared imaging observations, we derived visual
extinction (Av) distribution toward ten Bok globules through measurements of
both the color excess (E_{H-K}) and the stellar density at J, H, and Ks (star
count). Radial column density profiles for each globule were analyzed with the
Bonnor-Ebert sphere model. Using the data of our ten globules and four globules
in the literature, we investigated the stability of globules on the basis of
xi_max, which characterizes the Bonnor-Ebert sphere as well as the stability of
the equilibrium state against the gravitational collapse. We found that more
than half of starless globules are located near the critical state (xi_max =
6.5 +/- 2). Thus, we suggest that a nearly critical Bonnor-Ebert sphere
characterizes the typical density structure of starless globules. Remaining
starless globules show clearly unstable states (xi_max > 10). Since unstable
equilibrium states are not long maintained, we expect that these globules are
on the way to gravitational collapse or that they are stabilized by non-thermal
support. It was also found that all the star-forming globules show unstable
solutions of xi_max >10, which is consistent with the fact that they have
started gravitational collapse. We investigated the evolution of a collapsing
gas sphere whose initial condition is a nearly critical Bonnor-Ebert sphere. We
found that the column density profiles of the collapsing sphere mimic those of
the static Bonnor-Ebert spheres in unstable equilibrium. The collapsing gas
sphere resembles marginally unstable Bonnor-Ebert spheres for a long time. We
found that the frequency distribution of xi_max for the observed starless
globules is consistent with that from model calculations of the collapsing
sphere.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal. 39 pages in
preprint format, including 10 figures. The version with higher resolution
figures can be obtained at the following site
(http://alma.mtk.nao.ac.jp/~kandori/preprint/