8,837 research outputs found
Discovery of Water Vapor in the High-redshift Quasar APM 08279+5255 at z = 3.91
We report a detection of the excited 2_(20)-2_(11) rotational transition of para-H_2O in APM 08279+5255 using the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer. At z = 3.91, this is the highest-redshift detection of interstellar water to date. From large velocity gradient modeling, we conclude that this transition is predominantly radiatively pumped and on its own does not provide a good estimate of the water abundance. However, additional water transitions are predicted to be detectable in this source, which would lead to an improved excitation model. We also present a sensitive upper limit for the hydrogen fluoride (HF) J = 1-0 absorption toward APM 08279+5255. While the face-on geometry of this source is not favorable for absorption studies, the lack of HF absorption is still puzzling and may be indicative of a lower fluorine abundance at z = 3.91 compared with the Galactic interstellar medium
SiO collimated outflows driven by high-mass YSOs in G24.78+0.08
We imaged the molecular outflows towards the cluster of high-mass young
stellar objects G24.78+0.08 at high-angular resolution using SiO emission,
which is considered the classical tracer of protostellar jets. We performed SiO
observations with the VLA interferometer in the J = 1-0 v=0 transition and with
the SMA array in the 5-4 transition. A complementary IRAM 30-m single-dish
survey in the (2-1), (3-2), (5-4), and (6-5) SiO lines was also carried out.
Two collimated SiO high-velocity outflows driven by the A2 and C millimeter
continuum massive cores have been imaged. On the other hand, we detected no SiO
outflow driven by the young stellar objects in more evolved evolutionary phases
that are associated with ultracompact (B) or hypercompact (A1) HII regions. The
LVG analysis reveals high-density gas (10^3-10^4 cm-3), with well constrained
SiO column densities (0.5-1 10^15 cm-2). The driving source of the A2 outflow
is associated with typical hot core tracers such as methyl formate, vinyl
cyanide, cyanoacetilene, and acetone. The driving source of the main SiO
outflow in G24 has an estimated luminosity of a few 10^4 Lsun (typical of a
late O-type star) and is embedded in the 1.3 mm continuum core A2, which in
turn is located at the centre of a hot core that rotates on a plane
perpendicular to the outflow main axis. The present SiO images support a
scenario similar to the low-mass case for massive star formation, where jets
that are clearly traced by SiO emission, create outflows of swept-up ambient
gas usually traced by CO.Comment: Astronomy & Astrophysics, in pres
A Keplerian gaseous disk around the B0 star R Mon
We present high-angular resolution observations of the circumstellar disk
around the massive Herbig Be star R Mon (M~8 Msun) in the continuum at 2.7mm
and 1.3mm and the CO 1->0 and 2->1 rotational lines. Based on the new 1.3mm
continuum image we estimate a disk mass (gas+dust) of 0.007 Msun and an outer
radius of <150 AU. Our CO images are consistent with the existence of a
Keplerian rotating gaseous disk around this star. Up to our knowledge, this is
the most clear evidence for the existence of Keplerian disks around massive
stars reported thus far. The mass and physical characteristics of this disk are
similar to thoseof the more evolved T Tauri stars and indicate a shorter
timescale for the evolution and dispersal of circumstellar disks around massive
stars which lose most of their mass before the star becomes visible.Comment: 5 page
The Toxoplasma gondii active serine hydrolase 4 regulates parasite division and intravacuolar parasite architecture
ABSTRACT Hydrolase are enzymes that regulate diverse biological processes, including posttranslational protein modifications. Recent work identified four active serine hydrolases (ASHs) in Toxoplasma gondii as candidate depalmitoylases. However, only TgPPT1 (ASH1) has been confirmed to remove palmitate from proteins. ASH4 (TgME49_264290) was reported to be refractory to genetic disruption. We demonstrate that recombinant ASH4 is an esterase that processes short acyl esters but not palmitoyl thioesters. Genetic disruption of ASH4 causes defects in cell division and premature scission of parasites from residual bodies. These defects lead to the presence of vacuoles with a disordered intravacuolar architecture, with parasites arranged in pairs around multiple residual bodies. Importantly, we found that the deletion of ASH4 correlates with a defect in radial dispersion from host cells after egress. This defect in dispersion of parasites is a general phenomenon that is observed for disordered vacuoles that occur at low frequency in wild-type parasites, suggesting a possible general link between intravacuolar organization and dispersion after egress. IMPORTANCE This work defines the function of an enzyme in the obligate intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii. We show that this previously uncharacterized enzyme is critical for aspects of cellular division by the parasite and that loss of this enzyme leads to parasites with cell division defects and which also are disorganized inside their vacuoles. This leads to defects in the ability of the parasite to disseminate from the site of an infection and may have a significant impact on the parasite's overall infectivity of a host organism
Modelling the Molecular Gas in NGC 6240
We present the first observations of HCN, HCO
and SiO in NGC\,6240, obtained with the IRAM PdBI. Combining a Markov
Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) code with Large Velocity Gradient (LVG) modelling, and
with additional data from the literature, we simultaneously fit three gas
phases and six molecular species to constrain the physical condition of the
molecular gas, including massluminosity conversion factors. We find
of dense molecular gas in cold, dense clouds (\,K, \,cm) with a volume filling factor
, embedded in a shock heated molecular medium (\,K,
\,cm), both surrounded by an extended diffuse
phase (\,K, \,cm). We
derive a global with gas masses
, dominated by the
dense gas. We also find , which traces the
cold, dense gas. The [C]/[C] ratio is only slightly elevated
(), contrary to the very high [CO]/[CO] ratio (300-500)
reported in the literature. However, we find very high [HCN]/[HCN] and
[HCO]/[HCO] abundance ratios which we
attribute to isotope fractionation in the cold, dense clouds.Comment: 27 pages, 17 figures, 9 tables. Accepted in Ap
Interferometric Observations of Powerful CO Emission from the three Submillimeter Galaxies at z=2.30, 2.51 and 3.35
We report IRAM Plateau de Bure, millimeter interferometry of three z=~2.4 to
3.4, SCUBA deep field galaxies. Our CO line observations confirm the rest-frame
UV/optical redshifts, thus more than doubling the number of confirmed,
published redshifts of the faint submillimeter population and proving their
high-z nature. In all three sources our measurements of the intrinsic gas and
dynamical mass are large (1e10 to 1e11 Msun). In at least two cases the data
show that the submillimeter sources are part of an interacting system. Together
with recent information gathered in the X-ray, optical and radio bands our
observations support the interpretation that the submm-population consists of
gas rich (gas to dynamical mass ratio ~0.5) and massive, composite
starburst/AGN systems, which are undergoing a major burst of star formation and
are evolving into m*-galaxies.Comment: only minor modifications to comply with the ApJL edition rule
Observational evidence of the formation of cyanopolyynes in CRL618 through the polimerization of HCN
The abundance ratio of consecutive members of the cyanopolyynes family has
been explored in CRL618 using data acquired in a complete line survey covering
the frequency range 81-356 GHz. The Jup range explored for the different
molecules is the following: 1 to 4 for HCN and HNC, 9 to 39 for HC3N, 31 to 133
for HC5N, and 72 to 85 for HC7N (not detected beyond Jup=85). The lowest
vibrationally excited state of HC7N (nu_15 at 62 cm^-1) has been tentatively
detected. Data analysis has been performed by extending our previous
geometrical and radiative transfer model of the slowly expanding envelope (SEE)
surrounding the compact central continuum source of CRL 618, that was
established from the study of rotational lines in several vibrationally excited
states of HC_3N. The new lines analyzed here require to model the high velocity
wind (HVW) component and the colder circumstellar gas, remnant of the AGB phase
of CRL618. The derived HC3N/HC5N and HC5N/HC7N abundance ratios from this set
of uniformly calibrated lines are between 3 and 6 in the different regions,
similar to standard values in the CSM and ISM, and consistent with previous
estimates obtained from ISO observations and chemical models. However, the
abundance ratios of HC3N, HC5N and HC7N with respect to HCN are at least two
orders of magnitude larger than those typical for AGB C-rich stars, such as
IRC+10216. This fact indicates that, in the short transition toward the
Planetary Nebula phase, HCN is quickly reprocessed into longer cyanopolyyne
chains. A similar behavior was previously found in this object for the
polyacetylenic chains (C(2n)H2).Comment: 8 figures, accepted in ApJ main journa
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