613 research outputs found
A Search For Supernova Remnants in The Nearby Spiral Galaxy M74 (NGC 628)
We have identified nine new SNR candidates in M74 with [S II]/H
0.4 as the basic criterion. We obtain [S II]/H ratio in the
range from 0.40 to 0.91 and H intensities from 2.8
erg cm s to 1.7 erg cm s. We
also present spectral follow-up observations of the SNR candidates and can
confirm only three of them (SNR2, SNR3, and SNR5). The lack of confirmation for
the rest might be due to the contamination by the nearby H II emission regions
as well as due to the inaccurate positioning of the long slit on these objects.
In addition, we search the Observatory archival data for the X-ray
counterparts to the optically identified candidates. We find positional
coincidence with only three SNR candidates, SNR1, SNR2, and SNR8. The spectrum
of SNR2 yields a shock temperature of 10.8 keV with an ionization timescale of
1.6 10 s cm indicating a relatively young remnant in an
early Sedov phase which is not supported by our optical wavelength analysis.
Given the high luminosity of 10 erg s and the characteristics of
the X-ray spectrum, we favor an Ultra Luminous X-ray Source interpretation for
this source associated with an SNR. We calculate an X-ray flux upper limit of
9.0 erg cm s for the rest of the SNRs
including spectroscopically identified SNR3 and SNR5.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, accepted to be published in A&
Photon Propagation Around Compact Objects and the Inferred Properties of Thermally Emitting Neutron Stars
Anomalous X-ray pulsars, compact non-pulsing X-ray sources in supernova
remnants, and X-ray bursters are three distinct types of sources for which
there are viable models that attribute their X-ray emission to thermal emission
from the surface of a neutron star. Inferring the surface area of the emitting
regions in such systems is crucial in assessing the viability of different
models and in providing bounds on the radii of neutron stars. We show that the
inferred areas of the emitting regions may be over- or under-estimated by a
factor of <=2, because of the geometry of the system and general relativistic
light deflection, combined with the effects of phase averaging. Such effects
make the determination of neutron-star radii uncertain, especially when
compared to the ~5% level required for constraining the equation of state of
neutron-star matter. We also note that, for a given spectral shape, the
inferred source luminosities and pulse fractions are anticorrelated because
they depend on the same properties of the emitting regions, namely their sizes
and orientations, i.e., brighter sources have on average weaker pulsation
amplitudes than fainter sources. We argue that this property can be used as a
diagnostic tool in distinguishing between different spectral models. As an
example, we show that the high inferred pulse fraction and brightness of the
pulsar RXS J1708-40 are inconsistent with isotropic thermal emission from a
neutron-star surface. Finally, we discuss the implication of our results for
surveys in the soft X-rays for young, cooling neutron stars in supernova
remnants and show that the absence of detectable pulsations from the compact
source at the center of Cas A (at a level of >=30%) is not a strong argument
againts its identification with a spinning neutron star.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, to appear in the Astrophysical Journal; minor
change
Anisotropic Emission from Multilayered Plasmon Resonator Nanocomposites of Isotropic Semiconductor Quantum Dots
Cataloged from PDF version of article.We propose and demonstrate a nanocomposite localized surface plasmon resonator
embedded into an artificial three-dimensional construction. Colloidal semiconductor quantum dots
are assembled between layers of metal nanoparticles to create a highly strong plasmon-exciton
interaction in the plasmonic cavity. In such a multilayered plasmonic resonator architecture of
isotropic CdTe quantum dots, we observed polarized light emission of 80% in the vertical
polarization with an enhancement factor of 4.4, resulting in a steady-state anisotropy value of
0.26 and reaching the highest quantum efficiency level of 30% ever reported for such CdTe quantum
dot solids. Our electromagnetic simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental
characterization data showing a significant emission enhancement in the vertical polarization, for
which their fluorescence decay lifetimes are substantially shortened by consecutive replication of our
unit cell architecture design. Such strongly plasmon-exciton coupling nanocomposites hold great
promise for future exploitation and development of quantum dot plasmonic biophotonics and
quantum dot plasmonic optoelectronics
The not-so-massive black hole in the microquasar GRS1915+105
We present a new dynamical study of the black hole X-ray transient GRS1915+105 making use of near-infrared spectroscopy obtained with X-shooter at the VLT. We detect a large number of donor star absorption features across a wide range of wavelengths spanning the H and K bands. Our 24 epochs covering a baseline of over 1 year permit us to determine a new binary ephemeris including a refined orbital period of P=33.85 +/- 0.16 d. The donor star radial velocity curves deliver a significantly improved determination of the donor semi-amplitude which is both accurate (K_2=126 +/- 1 km/s) and robust against choice of donor star template and spectral features used. We furthermore constrain the donor star's rotational broadening to vsini=21 +/-4 km/s, delivering a binary mass ratio of q=0.042 +/- 0.024. If we combine these new constraints with distance and inclination estimates derived from modelling the radio emission, a black hole mass of M_BH=10.1 +/- 0.6 M_sun is inferred, paired with an evolved mass donor of M_2=0.47 +/- 0.27 M_sun. Our analysis suggests a more typical black hole mass for GRS1915+105 rather than the unusually high values derived in the pioneering dynamical study by Greiner et al. (2001). Our data demonstrate that high-resolution infrared spectroscopy of obscured accreting binaries can deliver dynamical mass determinations with a precision on par with optical studies
Diffuse Gamma-Ray Emission from Starburst Galaxies and M31
We present a search for high energy gamma-ray emission from 9 nearby
starburst galaxies and M31 with the EGRET instrument aboard CGRO. Though the
diffuse gamma-ray emission from starburst galaxies was suspected to be
detectable, we find no emission from NGC 253, M82 nor from the average of all 9
galaxies. The 2 sigma upper limit for the EGRET flux above 100 MeV for the
averaged survey observations is 1.8 x 10-8 ph cm-2 s-1. From a model of the
expected radio and gamma-ray emission, we find that the magnetic field in the
nuclei of these galaxies is > 25 micro Gauss, and the ratio of proton and
electron densities is < 400. The EGRET limits indicate that the rate of massive
star formation in the survey galaxies is only about an order of magnitude
higher than in the Milky Way. The upper limit to the gamma-ray flux above 100
MeV for M31 is 1.6 x 10-8 ph cm-2 s-1. At the distance of M31, the Milky Way
flux would be over twice this value, indicating higher gamma-ray emissivities
in our Galaxy. Therefore, since the supernova rate of the Milky Way is higher
than in M31, our null detection of M31 supports the theory of the supernova
origin of cosmic rays in galaxies.Comment: 17 pages, plus 1 Postscript figure, AAS Latex macros v4.0, accepted
for publication in ApJ Main Journa
The identification of the optical companion to the binary millisecond pulsar J0610-2100 in the Galactic field
We have used deep V and R images acquired at the ESO Very Large Telescope to
identify the optical companion to the binary pulsar PSR J0610-2100, one of the
black-widow millisecond pulsars recently detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray
Telescope in the Galactic plane. We found a faint star (V~26.7) nearly
coincident (\delta r ~0".28) with the pulsar nominal position. This star is
visible only in half of the available images, while it disappears in the
deepest ones (those acquired under the best seeing conditions), thus indicating
that it is variable. Although our observations do not sample the entire orbital
period (P=0.28 d) of the pulsar, we found that the optical modulation of the
variable star nicely correlates with the pulsar orbital period and describes a
well defined peak (R~25.6) at \Phi=0.75, suggesting a modulation due to the
pulsar heating. We tentatively conclude that the companion to PSR J0610-2100 is
a heavily ablated very low mass star (~ 0.02Msun) that completely filled its
Roche Lobe.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures - Accepted for pubblication in Ap
Precise Localization of the Soft Gamma Repeater SGR 1627-41 and the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar AXP 1E1841-045 with Chandra
We present precise localizations of AXP 1E1841-045 and SGR 1627-41 with
Chandra. We obtained new infrared observations of SGR 1627-41 and reanalyzed
archival observations of AXP 1E1841-045 in order to refine their positions and
search for infrared counterparts. A faint source is detected inside the error
circle of AXP 1E1841-045. In the case of SGR 1627-41, several sources are
located within the error radius of the X-ray position and we discuss the
likelihood of one of them being the counterpart. We compare the properties of
our candidates to those of other known AXP and SGR counterparts. We find that
the counterpart candidates for SGR 1627-41 and SGR 1806-20 would have to be
intrinsically much brighter than AXPs to have detectable counterparts with the
observational limits currently available for these sources. To confirm the
reported counterpart of SGR 1806-20, we obtained new IR observations during the
July 2003 burst activation of the source. No brightening of the suggested
counterpart is detected, implying that the counterpart of SGR 1806-20 remains
yet to be identified.Comment: 29 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Phase diagram of neutron-rich nuclear matter and its impact on astrophysics
Dense matter as it can be found in core-collapse supernovae and neutron stars
is expected to exhibit different phase transitions which impact the matter
composition and equation of state, with important consequences on the dynamics
of core-collapse supernova explosion and on the structure of neutron stars. In
this paper we will address the specific phenomenology of two of such
transitions, namely the crust-core solid-liquid transition at sub-saturation
density, and the possible strange transition at super-saturation density in the
presence of hyperonic degrees of freedom. Concerning the neutron star
crust-core phase transition at zero and finite temperature, it will be shown
that, as a consequence of the presence of long-range Coulomb interactions, the
equivalence of statistical ensembles is violated and a clusterized phase is
expected which is not accessible in the grand-canonical ensemble. A specific
quasi-particle model will be introduced to illustrate this anomalous
thermodynamics and some quantitative results relevant for the supernova
dynamics will be shown. The opening of hyperonic degrees of freedom at higher
densities corresponding to the neutron stars core modifies the equation of
state. The general characteristics and order of phase transitions in this
regime will be analyzed in the framework of a self-consistent mean-field
approach.Comment: Invited Talk given at the 11th International Conference on
Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (NN2012), San Antonio, Texas, USA, May 27-June 1,
2012. To appear in the NN2012 Proceedings in Journal of Physics: Conference
Series (JPCS
Shear thickening and jamming in densely packed suspensions of different particle shapes
We investigated the effects of particle shape on shear thickening in densely
packed suspensions. Rods of different aspect ratios and non-convex hooked rods
were fabricated. Viscosity curves and normal stresses were measured using a
rheometer for a wide range of packing fractions for each shape. Suspensions of
each shape exhibit qualitatively similar Discontinuous Shear Thickening. The
logarithmic slope of the stress/shear-rate relation increases dramatically with
packing fraction and diverges at a critical packing fraction phi_c which
depends on particle shape. The packing fraction dependence of the viscosity
curves for different convex shapes can be collapsed when the packing fraction
is normalized by phi_c. Intriguingly, viscosity curves for non-convex particles
do not collapse on the same set as convex particles, showing strong shear
thickening over a wider range of packing fraction. The value of phi_c is found
to coincide with the onset of a yield stress at the jamming transition,
suggesting the jamming transition also controls shear thickening. The yield
stress is found to correspond with trapped air in the suspensions, and the
scale of the stress can be attributed to interfacial tension forces which
dramatically increase above phi_c due to the geometric constraints of jamming.
The relationship between shear and normal stresses is found to be linear in
both the shear thickening and jammed regimes, indicating that the shear
stresses come from friction. In the limit of zero shear rate, normal stresses
pull the rheometer plates together due to the surface tension of the liquid
below phi_c, but push the rheometer plates apart due to jamming above phi_c.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures. published in Physical Review
The Dark Side of ROTSE-III Prompt GRB Observations
We present several cases of optical observations during gamma-ray bursts
(GRBs) which resulted in prompt limits but no detection of optical emission.
These limits constrain the prompt optical flux densities and the optical
brightness relative to the gamma-ray emission. The derived constraints fall
within the range of properties observed in GRBs with prompt optical detections,
though at the faint end of optical/gamma flux ratios. The presently accessible
prompt optical limits do not require a different set of intrinsic or
environmental GRB properties, relative to the events with prompt optical
detections.Comment: ApJ accepted. 20 pages in draft manuscript form, which includes 6
pages of tables and 2 figure
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