704 research outputs found
Development of 2MASS Catalog Server Kit
We develop a software kit called "2MASS Catalog Server Kit" to easily
construct a high-performance database server for the 2MASS Point Source Catalog
(includes 470,992,970 objects) and several all-sky catalogs. Users can perform
fast radial search and rectangular search using provided stored functions in
SQL similar to SDSS SkyServer. Our software kit utilizes open-source RDBMS, and
therefore any astronomers and developers can install our kit on their personal
computers for research, observation, etc. Out kit is tuned for optimal
coordinate search performance. We implement an effective radial search using an
orthogonal coordinate system, which does not need any techniques that depend on
HTM or HEALpix. Applying the xyz coordinate system to the database index, we
can easily implement a system of fast radial search for relatively small (less
than several million rows) catalogs. To enable high-speed search of huge
catalogs on RDBMS, we apply three additional techniques: table partitioning,
composite expression index, and optimization in stored functions. As a result,
we obtain satisfactory performance of radial search for the 2MASS catalog. Our
system can also perform fast rectangular search. It is implemented using
techniques similar to those applied for radial search. Our way of
implementation enables a compact system and will give important hints for a
low-cost development of other huge catalog databases.Comment: 2011 PASP accepte
Effects of high-energy ionizing particles on the Si:As mid-infrared detector array on board the AKARI satellite
We evaluate the effects of high-energy ionizing particles on the Si:As
impurity band conduction (IBC) mid-infrared detector on board AKARI, the
Japanese infrared astronomical satellite. IBC-type detectors are known to be
little influenced by ionizing radiation. However we find that the detector is
significantly affected by in-orbit ionizing radiation even after spikes induced
by ionizing particles are removed. The effects are described as changes mostly
in the offset of detector output, but not in the gain. We conclude that the
changes in the offset are caused mainly by increase in dark current. We
establish a method to correct these ionizing radiation effects. The method is
essential to improve the quality and to increase the sky coverage of the AKARI
mid-infrared all-sky-survey map.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in PAS
High Precision CTE-Measurement of SiC-100 for Cryogenic Space-Telescopes
We present the results of high precision measurements of the thermal
expansion of the sintered SiC, SiC-100, intended for use in cryogenic
space-telescopes, in which minimization of thermal deformation of the mirror is
critical and precise information of the thermal expansion is needed for the
telescope design. The temperature range of the measurements extends from room
temperature down to 10 K. Three samples, #1, #2, and #3 were
manufactured from blocks of SiC produced in different lots. The thermal
expansion of the samples was measured with a cryogenic dilatometer, consisting
of a laser interferometer, a cryostat, and a mechanical cooler. The typical
thermal expansion curve is presented using the 8th order polynomial of the
temperature. For the three samples, the coefficients of thermal expansion
(CTE), \bar{\alpha}_{#1}, \bar{\alpha}_{#2}, and \bar{\alpha}_{#3} were
derived for temperatures between 293 K and 10 K. The average and the dispersion
(1 rms) of these three CTEs are 0.816 and 0.002 (/K),
respectively. No significant difference was detected in the CTE of the three
samples from the different lots. Neither inhomogeneity nor anisotropy of the
CTE was observed. Based on the obtained CTE dispersion, we performed an
finite-element-method (FEM) analysis of the thermal deformation of a 3.5 m
diameter cryogenic mirror made of six SiC-100 segments. It was shown that the
present CTE measurement has a sufficient accuracy well enough for the design of
the 3.5 m cryogenic infrared telescope mission, the Space Infrared telescope
for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA).Comment: in press, PASP. 21 pages, 4 figure
AKARI near-infrared spectroscopy of the aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbon emission features in the galactic superwind of M 82
Aims. We investigate the properties of hydrocarbon grains in the galactic
superwind of M 82. Methods. With AKARI, we performed near-infrared (2.5 - 4.5
um) spectroscopic observations of 34 regions in M 82 including its northern and
southern halos. Results. Many of the spectra show strong emission at 3.3 um due
to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and relatively weak features at 3.4
- 3.6 um due to aliphatic hydrocarbons. In particular, we clearly detect the
PAH 3.3 um emission and the 3.4 - 3.6 um features in halo regions, which are
located at a distance of 2 kpc away from the galactic center. We find that the
ratios of the 3.4 - 3.6 um features to the 3.3 um feature intensity
significantly increase with distance from the galactic center, while the ratios
of the 3.3 um feature to the AKARI 7 um band intensity do not. Conclusions. Our
results clearly confirm the presence of small PAHs even in a harsh environment
of the halo of M 82. The results also reveal that the aliphatic hydrocarbons
emitting the 3.4 - 3.6 um features are unusually abundant in the halo,
suggesting that small carbonaceous grains are produced by shattering of larger
grains in the galactic superwind.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in A&
High-precision CTE measurement of hybrid C/SiC composite for cryogenic space telescopes
This paper presents highly precise measurements of thermal expansion of a
"hybrid" carbon-fiber reinforced silicon carbide composite,
HB-Cesic\textregistered - a trademark of ECM, in the temperature region of
\sim310-10K. Whilst C/SiC composites have been considered to be promising for
the mirrors and other structures of space-borne cryogenic telescopes, the
anisotropic thermal expansion has been a potential disadvantage of this
material. HB-Cesic\textregistered is a newly developed composite using a
mixture of different types of chopped, short carbon-fiber, in which one of the
important aims of the development was to reduce the anisotropy. The
measurements indicate that the anisotropy was much reduced down to 4% as a
result of hybridization. The thermal expansion data obtained are presented as
functions of temperature using eighth-order polynomials separately for the
horizontal (XY-) and vertical (Z-) directions of the fabrication process. The
average CTEs and their dispersion (1{\sigma}) in the range 293-10K derived from
the data for the XY- and Z-directions were 0.8050.003\times10
K and 0.837\pm0.001\times10 K, respectively. The absolute
accuracy and the reproducibility of the present measurements are suggested to
be better than 0.01\times10 K and 0.001\times(10)^{-6} K^{-1},
respectively. The residual anisotropy of the thermal expansion was consistent
with our previous speculation regarding carbon-fiber, in which the residual
anisotropy tended to lie mainly in the horizontal plane.Comment: Accepted by Cryogeincs. 12 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabll
Large-scale distributions of mid- and far-infrared emission from the center to the halo of M82 revealed with AKARI
The edge-on starburst galaxy M82 exhibits complicated distributions of
gaseous materials in its halo, which include ionized superwinds driven by
nuclear starbursts, neutral materials entrained by the superwinds, and
large-scale neutral streamers probably caused by a past tidal interaction with
M81. We investigate detailed distributions of dust grains and polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) around M82 to understand their interplay with the
gaseous components. We performed mid- (MIR) and far-infrared (FIR) observations
of M82 with the Infrared Camera and Far-Infrared Surveyor on board AKARI. We
obtain new MIR and FIR images of M82, which reveal both faint extended emission
in the halo and very bright emission in the center with signal dynamic ranges
as large as five and three orders of magnitude for the MIR and FIR,
respectively. We detect MIR and FIR emission in the regions far away from the
disk of the galaxy, reflecting the presence of dust and PAHs in the halo of
M82. We find that the dust and PAHs are contained in both ionized and neutral
gas components, implying that they have been expelled into the halo of M82 by
both starbursts and galaxy interaction. In particular, we obtain a tight
correlation between the PAH and H emission, which provides evidence
that the PAHs are well mixed in the ionized superwind gas and outflowing from
the disk.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Characterization and Improvement of the Image Quality of the Data Taken with the Infrared Camera (IRC) Mid-Infrared Channels onboard AKARI
Mid-infrared images frequently suffer artifacts and extended point spread
functions (PSFs). We investigate the characteristics of the artifacts and the
PSFs in images obtained with the Infrared Camera (IRC) onboard AKARI at four
mid-infrared bands of the S7 (7{\mu}m), S11 (11{\mu}m), L15 (15{\mu}m), and L24
(24 {\mu}m). Removal of the artifacts significantly improves the reliability of
the ref- erence data for flat-fielding at the L15 and L24 bands. A set of
models of the IRC PSFs is also constructed from on-orbit data. These PSFs have
extended components that come from diffraction and scattering within the
detector arrays. We estimate the aperture correction factors for point sources
and the surface brightness correction factors for diffuse sources. We conclude
that the surface brightness correction factors range from 0.95 to 0.8, taking
account of the extended component of the PSFs. To correct for the extended PSF
effects for the study of faint structures, we also develop an image
reconstruction method, which consists of the deconvolution with the PSF and the
convolution with an appropriate Gaussian. The appropriate removal of the
artifacts, improved flat-fielding, and image reconstruction with the extended
PSFs enable us to investigate de- tailed structures of extended sources in IRC
mid-infrared images.Comment: 35 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in PAS
AKARI Detections of Hot Dust in Luminous Infrared Galaxies
We present a new sample of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) identified using the
catalog of the AKARI Mid-infrared(MIR) All-Sky Survey. Our MIR search has an
advantage in detecting AGNs that are obscured at optical wavelengths due to
extinction. We first selected AKARI 9micron excess sources with
F(9micron)/F(K_S)>2 where K_S magnitudes were taken from the Two Micron All Sky
Survey. We then obtained follow-up near-infrared spectroscopy with the
AKARI/IRC, to confirm that the excess is caused by hot dust. We also obtained
optical spectroscopy with the Kast Double Spectrograph on the Shane 3-m
telescope at Lick Observatory. On the basis of on these observations, we
detected hot dust with a characteristic temperature of ~500K in two luminous
infrared galaxies. The hot dust is suspected to be associated with AGNs that
exhibit their nonstellar activity not in the optical, but in the near- and
mid-infrared bands, i.e., they harbor buried AGNs. The host galaxy stellar
masses of 4-6 x 10^9 M_sun are small compared with the hosts in
optically-selected AGN populations. These objects were missed by previous
surveys, demonstrating the power of the AKARI MIR All-Sky Survey to widen AGN
searches to include more heavily obscured objects. The existence of multiple
dusty star clusters with massive stars cannot be completely ruled out with our
current data.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Astronomy & Astrophysic
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