436 research outputs found
Mixed aliphatic and aromatic composition of evaporating very small grains in NGC 7023 revealed by the 3.4/3.3 m ratio
In photon-dominated regions (PDRs), UV photons from nearby stars lead to the
evaporation of very small grains (VSGs) and the production of gas-phase
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Our goal is to achieve better insight
into the composition and evolution of evaporating very small grains (eVSGs) and
PAHs through analyzing the infrared (IR) aliphatic and aromatic emission bands.
We combined spectro-imagery in the near- and mid-IR to study the spatial
evolution of the emission bands in the prototypical PDR NGC 7023. We used
near-IR spectra obtained with AKARI to trace the evolution of the 3.3m and
3.4m bands, which are associated with aromatic and aliphatic C-H bonds on
PAHs. The spectral fitting involves an additional broad feature centred at
3.45m. Mid-IR observations obtained with Spitzer are used to discriminate
the signatures of eVSGs, neutral and cationic PAHs. We correlated the spatial
evolution of all these bands with the intensity of the UV field to explore the
processing of their carriers. The intensity of the 3.45m plateau shows an
excellent correlation with that of the 3.3m aromatic band (correlation
coefficient R = 0.95), indicating that the plateau is dominated by the emission
from aromatic bonds. The ratio of the 3.4m and 3.3m band intensity
() decreases by a factor of 4 at the PDR interface from the
more UV-shielded to the more exposed layers. The transition region between the
aliphatic and aromatic material is found to correspond spatially with the
transition zone between neutral PAHs and eVSGs. We conclude that the
photo-processing of eVSGs leads to the production of PAHs with attached
aliphatic sidegroups that are revealed by the 3.4m emission band. Our
analysis provides evidence for the presence of very small grains of mixed
aromatic and aliphatic composition in PDRs.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. Abstract abridged, language editing
applied in v
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
A Mid-Infrared Galaxy Atlas (MIGA)
A mid-infrared atlas of part of the Galactic plane () has been constructed using HIRES processed infrared
data to provide a mid-infrared data set for the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey
(CGPS). The addition of this data set to the CGPS will enable the study of the
emission from the smallest components of interstellar dust at an angular
resolution comparable to that of the radio, millimetre, and far-infrared data
in the CGPS. The Mid-Infrared Galaxy Atlas (MIGA) is a mid-infrared (12 m
and 25 m) counterpart to the far-infrared IRAS Galaxy Atlas (IGA), and
consists of resolution enhanced ( resolution) HIRES images along
with ancillary maps. This paper describes the processing and characteristics of
the atlas, the cross-beam simulation technique used to obtain high-resolution
ratio maps, and future plans to extend both the IGA and MIGA.Comment: 38 pages (including 15 tables), 13 figures (8 dithered GIF and 5
EPS). Submitted to Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. A preprint with
higher resolution figures is available at
http://www.cita.utoronto.ca/~kerton/publications.htm
O and Ne K absorption edge structures and interstellar abundance towards Cyg X-2
We have studied the O and Ne absorption features in the X-ray spectrum of Cyg
X-2 observed with the Chandra LETG. The O absorption edge is represented by the
sum of three absorption-edge components within the limit of the energy
resolution and the photon counting statistics. Two of them are due to the
atomic O; their energies correspond to two distinct spin states of
photo-ionized O atoms. The remaining edge component is considered to represent
compound forms of oxide dust grains. Since Cyg X-2 is about 1.4 kpc above the
galactic disk, the H column densities can be determined by radio (21 cm and CO
emission line) and H alpha observations with relatively small uncertainties.
Thus the O abundance relative to H can be determined from the absorption edges.
We found that the dust scattering can affect the apparent depth of the edge of
the compound forms. We determined the amplitude of the effect, which we
consider is the largest possible correction factor. The ratio of column
densities of O in atomic to compound forms and the O total abundance were
respectively determined to be in the range 1.7^{+3.0}_{-0.9} to
2.8^{+5.1}_{-1.5} (ratio), and 0.63 +/- 0.12 solar to 0.74 +/- 0.14 solar
(total), taking into account the uncertainties in the dust-scattering
correction and in the ionized H column density. We also determined the Ne
abundance from the absorption edge to be 0.75 +/- 0.20 solar. These abundance
values are smaller than the widely-used solar values but consistent with the
latest estimates of solar abundance.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures, AASTeX format. Accepted for publication in Ap
High Voltage CMOS Control Interface for Astronomy - Grade Charged Coupled Devices
The Pan-STARRS telescope consists of an array of smaller mirrors viewed by a
Gigapixel arrays of CCDs. These focal planes employ Orthogonal Transfer CCDs
(OTCCDs) to allow on-chip image stabilization. Each OTCCD has advanced logic
features that are controlled externally. A CMOS Interface Device for High
Voltage has been developed to provide the appropiate voltage signal levels from
a readout and control system designated STARGRASP. OTCCD chip output levels
range from -3.3V to 16.7V, with two different output drive strenghts required
depending on load capacitance (50pF and 1000pF), with 24mA of drive and a rise
time on the order of 100ns. Additional testing ADC structures have been
included in this chip to evaluate future functional additions for a next
version of the chip.Comment: 13 pages, 17 gigure
Star-galaxy separation by far-infrared color-color diagrams for the AKARI FIS All-Sky Survey (Bright Source Catalogue Version beta-1)
To separate stars and galaxies in the far infrared AKARI All-Sky Survey data,
we have selected a sample with the complete color information available in the
low extinction regions of the sky and constructed color-color plots for these
data. We looked for the method to separate stars and galaxies using the color
information. We performed an extensive search for the counterparts of these
selected All-Sky Survey sources in the NED and SIMBAD databases. Among 5176
objects, we found 4272 galaxies, 382 other extragalactic objects, 349 Milky Way
stars, 50 other Galactic objects, and 101 sources detected before in various
wavelengths but of an unknown origin. 22 sources were left unidentified. Then,
we checked colors of stars and galaxies in the far-infrared flux-color and
color-color plots. In the resulting diagrams, stars form two clearly separated
clouds. One of them is easy to be distinguished from galaxies and allows for a
simple method of excluding a large part of stars using the far-infrared data.
The other smaller branch, overplotting galaxies, consists of stars known to
have an infrared excess, like Vega and some fainter stars discovered by IRAS or
2MASS. The color properties of these objects in any case make them very
difficult to distinguish from galaxies. We conclude that the FIR color-color
diagrams allow for a high-quality star-galaxy separation. With the proposed
simple method we can select more that 95 % of galaxies rejecting at least 80 %
of stars.Comment: 20 pages, 41 figures, "Astronomy & Astrophysics", accepted, to appear
in the AKARI special issu
Tracing the development of dust around evolved stars: The case of 47 Tuc
We observed mid-infrared (7.5-22 mum) spectra of AGB stars in the globular
cluster 47 Tuc with the Spitzer telescope and find significant dust features of
various types. Comparison of the characteristics of the dust spectra with the
location of the stars in a logP-K-diagram shows that dust mineralogy and
position on the AGB are related. A 13 mum feature is seen in spectra of low
luminosity AGB stars. More luminous AGB stars show a broad feature at 11.5 mum.
The spectra of the most luminous stars are dominated by the amorphous silicate
bending vibration centered at 9.7 mum. For 47 Tuc AGB stars, we conclude that
early on the AGB dust consisting primarily of Mg-, Al- and Fe oxides is formed.
With further AGB evolution amorphous silicates become the dominant species.Comment: 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Large-scale mapping of the massive star-forming region RCW38 in the [CII] and PAH emission
We investigate the large-scale structure of the interstellar medium (ISM)
around the massive star cluster RCW38 in the [CII] 158 um line and polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission. We carried out [CII] line mapping of an
area of ~30'x15' for RCW~38 by a Fabry-Perot spectrometer on a 100 cm
balloon-borne telescope with an angular resolution of ~1'.5. We compared the
[CII] intensity map with the PAH and dust emission maps obtained by the AKARI
satellite. The [CII] emission shows a highly nonuniform distribution around the
cluster, exhibiting the structure widely extended to the north and the east
from the center. The [CII] intensity rapidly drops toward the southwest
direction, where a CO cloud appears to dominate. We decompose the 3-160 um
spectral energy distributions of the surrounding ISM structure into PAH as well
as warm and cool dust components with the help of 2.5-5 um spectra. We find
that the [CII] emission spatially corresponds to the PAH emission better than
to the dust emission, confirming the relative importance of PAHs for
photo-electric heating of gas in photo-dissociation regions. A naive
interpretation based on our observational results indicates that molecular
clouds associated with RCW38 are located both on the side of and behind the
cluster.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Electric Dipole Radiation from Spinning Dust Grains
We discuss the rotational excitation of small interstellar grains and the
resulting electric dipole radiation from spinning dust. Attention is given to
excitation and damping of rotation by: collisions with neutrals; collisions
with ions; plasma drag; emission of infrared radiation; emission of microwave
radiation; photoelectric emission; and formation of H_2 on the grain surface.
We introduce dimensionless functions F and G which allow direct comparison of
the contributions of different mechanisms to rotational drag and excitation.
Emissivities are estimated for dust in different phases of the interstellar
medium, including diffuse HI, warm HI, low-density photoionized gas, and cold
molecular gas. Spinning dust grains can explain much, and perhaps all, of the
14-50 GHz background component recently observed in CBR studies. It should be
possible to detect rotational emission from small grains by ground-based
observations of molecular clouds.Comment: 59 pages, 19 eps figures, uses aaspp4.sty . Submitted to Ap.
Unidentified Infrared Emission Bands in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium
Using the Mid-Infrared Spectrometer on board the Infrared Telescope in Space
and the low-resolution grating spectrometer (PHT-S) on board the Infrared Space
Observatory, we obtained 820 mid-infrared (5 to 12 m) spectra of the
diffuse interstellar medium (DIM) in the Galactic center, W51, and Carina
Nebula regions. These spectra indicate that the emission is dominated by the
unidentified infrared (UIR) emission bands at 6.2, 7.7, 8.6, and 11.2 m.
The relative band intensities (6.2/7.7 m, 8.6/7.7 m, and 11.2/7.7
m) were derived from these spectra, and no systematic variation in these
ratios was found in our observed regions, in spite of the fact that the
incident radiation intensity differs by a factor of 1500. Comparing our results
with the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) model for the UIR band
carriers, PAHs in the DIM have no systematic variation in their size
distribution, their degree of dehydrogenation is independent of the strength of
UV radiation field, and they are mostly ionized. The latter finding is
incompatible with past theoretical studies, in which a large fraction of
neutral PAHs is predicted in this kind of environment. A plausible resolution
of this discrepancy is that the recombination coefficients for electron and
large PAH positive ion are by at least an order of magnitude less than those
adopted in past theoretical studies. Because of the very low population of
neutral state molecules, photoelectric emission from interstellar PAHs is
probably not the dominant source of heating of the diffuse interstellar gas.
The present results imply constant physical and chemical properties of the
carriers of the UIR emission bands in the DIM.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
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