Hubble Space Telescope faint object camera instrument handbook (Post-COSTAR), version 5.0

The faint object camera (FOC) is a long-focal-ratio, photon-counting device capable of taking high-resolution two-dimensional images of the sky up to 14 by 14 arc seconds squared in size with pixel dimensions as small as 0.014 by 0.014 arc seconds squared in the 1150 to 6500 A wavelength range. Its performance approaches that of an ideal imaging system at low light levels. The FOC is the only instrument on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to fully use the spatial resolution capabilities of the optical telescope assembly (OTA) and is one of the European Space Agency's contributions to the HST program

Closed-form sums for some perturbation series involving associated Laguerre polynomials

Infinite series sum_{n=1}^infty {(alpha/2)_n / (n n!)}_1F_1(-n, gamma, x^2), where_1F_1(-n, gamma, x^2)={n!_(gamma)_n}L_n^(gamma-1)(x^2), appear in the first-order perturbation correction for the wavefunction of the generalized spiked harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian H = -d^2/dx^2 + B x^2 + A/x^2 + lambda/x^alpha 0 0, A >= 0. It is proved that the series is convergent for all x > 0 and 2 gamma > alpha, where gamma = 1 + (1/2)sqrt(1+4A). Closed-form sums are presented for these series for the cases alpha = 2, 4, and 6. A general formula for finding the sum for alpha/2 = 2 + m, m = 0,1,2, ..., in terms of associated Laguerre polynomials, is also provided.Comment: 16 page

Pembangunan Aplikasi Perhitungan Honor Dan Pengukuran Kinerja Asisten Praktikum Berbasis SaaS

Bagi suatu perguruan tinggi, kegiatan praktikum sangat penting untuk mendukung pembelajaran di kelas. Beberapa masalah yang muncul dalam pengelolaan kegiatan praktikum seperti keterlambatan pengumpulan berita acara praktikum (BAP) sehingga memperlambat perhitungan, pembayaran dan pelaporan honor asprak. Dibutuhkan waktu sekitar dua minggu untuk rekapitulasi dan validasi ratusan lembar BAP yang telah terkumpul setiap bulannya. Dibutuhkan pengolahan data lebih lanjut untuk menilai kinerja asprak berdasarkan data BAP. Untuk mengatasi permasalahan di atas maka dibangun aplikasi perhitungan honor dan kinerja asprak. Aplikasi ini digunakan untuk mengelola data BAP, perhitungan dan pelaporan honor, perhitungan nilai transkrip aktivitas kemahasiswaan (TAK) dan pencetakan sertifikat asprak. Keterbatasan SDM atau biaya menyebabkan tidak semua perguruan tinggi dapat langsung membuat aplikasi yang dibutuhkan. Oleh karena itu aplikasi ini dibangun berbasis Software as A Service (SaaS). Aplikasi ini dikembangkan dengan metode analisis perancangan terstruktur dengan model waterfall. Pengumpulan data kebutuhan aplikasi dilakukan dengan survey ke fakultas-fakultas di Universitas Telkom. Hasilnya dianalisis dan dikembangkan menjadi rancangan aplikasi. Aplikasi diimplementasikan pada pemrograman PHP. Pengujian dilakukan dengan metode black box testing. Hasilnya berupa aplikasi SaaS untuk perhitungan honor dan pengukuran kinerja asisten praktikum. Perguruan tinggi pengguna aplikasi SaaS ini dapat melakukan kostumisasi terhadap fitur yang ada sesuai dengan kebutuhan

The Low End of the Initial Mass Function in Young LMC Clusters: I. The Case of R136

We report the result of a study in which we have used very deep broadband V and I WFPC2 images of the R136 cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud from the HST archive, to sample the luminosity function below the detection limit of 2.8 Mo previously reached. In these new deeper images, we detect stars down to a limiting magnitude of m_F555W = 24.7 (~ 1 magnitude deeper than previous works), and identify a population of red stars evenly distributed in the surrounding of the R136 cluster. A comparison of our color-magnitude diagram with recentely computed evolutionary tracks indicates that these red objects are pre-main sequence stars in the mass range 0.6 - 3 Mo. We construct the initial mass function (IMF) in the 1.35 - 6.5 Mo range and find that, after correcting for incompleteness, the IMF shows a definite flattening below ~ 2 Mo. We discuss the implications of this result for the R136 cluster and for our understanding of starburst galaxies formation and evolution in general.Comment: 29 pages, 6 tables, 11 figures included + 3 external files, accepted for publication by Ap.

NGC 602 Environment, Kinematics and Origins

The young star cluster NGC 602 and its associated HII region, N90, formed in a relatively isolated and diffuse environment in the Wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud. Its isolation from other regions of massive star formation and the relatively simple surrounding HI shell structure allows us to constrain the processes that may have led to its formation and to study conditions leading to massive star formation. We use images from Hubble Space Telescope and high resolution echelle spectrographic data from the Anglo-Australian Telescope along with 21-cm neutral hydrogen (HI) spectrum survey data and the shell catalogue derived from it to establish a likely evolutionary scenario leading to the formation of NGC 602. We identify a distinct HI cloud component that is likely the progenitor cloud of the cluster and HII region which probably formed in blister fashion from the cloud's periphery. We also find that the past interaction of HI shells can explain the current location and radial velocity of the nebula. The surrounding Interstellar Medium is diffuse and dust-poor as demonstrated by a low visual optical depth throughout the nebula and an average HI density of the progenitor cloud estimated at 1 cm^-3. These conditions suggest that the NGC 602 star formation event was produced by compression and turbulence associated with HI shell interactions. It therefore represents a single star forming event in a low gas density region.Comment: Accepted for publication in PASP. 25 pages, 10 figure

Multiple shells around G79.29+0.46 revealed from near-IR to millimeter data

Aiming to perform a study of the warm dust and gas in the luminous blue variable star G79.29+0.46 and its associated nebula, we present infrared Spitzer imaging and spectroscopy, and new CO J=2-->1 and 4-->3 maps obtained with the IRAM 30m radio telescope and with the Submillimeter Telescope, respectively. We have analyzed the nebula detecting multiple shells of dust and gas connected to the star. Using Infrared Spectrograph-Spitzer spectra, we have compared the properties of the central object, the nebula, and their surroundings. These spectra show a rich variety of solid-state features (amorphous silicates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and CO2 ices) and narrow emission lines, superimposed on a thermal continuum. We have also analyzed the physical conditions of the nebula, which point to the existence of a photo-dissociation region.Comment: Received by ApJ 2009 November 20, accepted for publication 2010 February 25, Published 2010 March 2

A Prediction of Brown Dwarfs in Ultracold Molecular Gas

A recent model for the stellar initial mass function (IMF), in which the stellar masses are randomly sampled down to the thermal Jeans mass from hierarchically structured pre-stellar clouds, predicts that regions of ultra-cold CO gas, such as those recently found in nearby galaxies by Allen and collaborators, should make an abundance of Brown Dwarfs with relatively few normal stars. This result comes from the low value of the thermal Jeans mass, considering that the hierarchical cloud model always gives the Salpeter IMF slope above this lower mass limit. The ultracold CO clouds in the inner disk of M31 have T~3K and pressures that are probably 10 times higher than in the solar neighborhood. This gives a mass at the peak of the IMF equal to 0.01 Msun, well below the Brown Dwarf limit of 0.08 Msun. Using a functional approximation to the IMF, the ultracold clouds would have 50% of the star-like mass and 90% of the objects below the Brown Dwarf limit. The brightest of the Brown Dwarfs in M31 should have an apparent, extinction-corrected K-band magnitude of ~21 mag in their pre-main sequence phase.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, to be published in Astrophysical Journal, Vol 522, September 10, 199

Past and present star formation in the SMC: NGC 346 and its neighborhood

In the quest of understanding how star formation occurs and propagates in the low metallicity environment of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), we acquired deep F555W (~V), and F814W (~I) HST/ACS images of the young and massive star forming region NGC 346. These images and their photometric analysis provide us with a snapshot of the star formation history of the region. We find evidence for star formation extending from ~10 Gyr in the past until ~150 Myr in the field of the SMC. The youngest stellar population (~3 +/- 1 Myr) is associated with the NGC 346 cluster. It includes a rich component of low mass pre-main sequence stars mainly concentrated in a number of sub-clusters, spatially co- located with CO clumps previously detected by Rubio et al. (2000). Within our analysis uncertainties, these sub-clusters appear coeval with each other. The most massive stars appear concentrated in the central sub-clusters, indicating possible mass segregation. A number of embedded clusters are also observed. This finding, combined with the overall wealth of dust and gas, could imply that star formation is still active. An intermediate age star cluster, BS90, formed ~4.3 +/-0.1 Gyr ago, is also present in the region. Thus, this region of the SMC has supported star formation with varying levels of intensity over much of the cosmic time.Comment: 38 pages, 13 figures, 3 tables; AJ accepte