8,617 research outputs found
The Deep Diffuse Extragalactic Radio Sky at 1.75 GHz
We present a study of diffuse extragalactic radio emission at GHz
from part of the ELAIS-S1 field using the Australia Telescope Compact Array.
The resulting mosaic is deg, with a roughly constant noise region
of deg used for analysis. The image has a beam size of arcsec and instrumental Jy beam. Using point-source models from the ATLAS survey, we
subtract the discrete emission in this field for Jy
beam. Comparison of the source-subtracted probability distribution, or
\pd, with the predicted distribution from unsubtracted discrete emission and
noise, yields an excess of Jy beam. Taking this as
an upper limit on any extended emission we constrain several models of extended
source counts, assuming arcmin. The best-fitting
models yield temperatures of the radio background from extended emission of
mK, giving an upper limit on the total temperature at
GHz of mK. Further modelling shows that our data are
inconsistent with the reported excess temperature of ARCADE2 to a source-count
limit of Jy. Our new data close a loop-hole in the previous
constraints, because of the possibility of extended emission being resolved out
at higher resolution. Additionally, we look at a model of cluster halo emission
and two WIMP dark matter annihilation source-count models, and discuss general
constraints on any predicted counts from such sources. Finally, we report the
derived integral count at GHz using the deepest discrete count plus our
new extended-emission limits, providing numbers that can be used for planning
future ultra-deep surveys.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures, 7 tables, Accepted by MNRA
Lunar nitrogen: Secular variation or mixing?
The two current models to explain the nearly 40% variation of the lunar nitrogen isotopic composition are: (1) secular variation of solar wind nitrogen; and (2) a two component mixing model having a constant, heavy solar wind admixed with varying amounts of indigenous light lunar N (LLN). Both models are needed to explain the step pyrolysis extraction profile. The secular variation model proposes that the low temperature release is modern day solar wind implanted into grain surfaces, the 900 C to 1100 C release is from grain surfaces which were once exposed to the ancient solar wind but which are now trapped inside agglutinates, and the >1100 C release as spallogenic N produced by cosmic rays. The mixing model ascribes the components to solar wind, indigenous lunar N and spallogenic N respectively. An extension of either interpretation is that the light N seen in lunar breccias or deep drill cores represent conditions when more N-14 was available to the lunar surface
Calibration of Tests for Time Dilation in GRB Pulse Structures
Two tests for cosmological time dilation in -ray bursts -- the peak
alignment and auto-correlation statistics -- involve averaging information near
the times of peak intensity. Both tests require width corrections, assuming
cosmological origin for bursts, since narrower temporal structure from higher
energy would be redshifted into the band of observation, and since intervals
between pulse structures are included in the averaging procedures. We analyze
long ( 2 s) BATSE bursts and estimate total width corrections for trial
time-dilation factors (TDF = [1+]/[1+]) by
time-dilating and redshifting bright bursts. Both tests reveal significant
trends of increasing TDF with decreasing peak flux, but neither provides
sufficient discriminatory power to distinguish between actual TDFs in the range
2--3.Comment: 5 pages in LATeX, REVTEX style, 2 embedded figures. To appear in
Third Huntsville GRB Workshop Proceeding
Test for Time Dilation of Intervals Between Pulse Structures in GRBs
If -ray bursts are at cosmological distances, then not only their
constituent pulses but also the intervals between pulses should be
time-dilated. Unlike time-dilation measures of pulse emission, intervals would
appear to require negligible correction for redshift of narrower temporal
structure from higher energy into the band of observation. However, stretching
of pulse intervals is inherently difficult to measure without incurring a
timescale-dependent bias since, as time profiles are stretched, more structure
can appear near the limit of resolution. This problem is compounded in dimmer
bursts because identification of significant structures becomes more
problematic. We attempt to minimize brightness bias by equalizing
signal-to-noise (s/n) level of all bursts. We analyze wavelet-denoised burst
profiles binned to several resolutions, identifying significant fluctuations
between pulse structures and interjacent valleys. When bursts are ranked by
peak flux, an interval time-dilation signature is evident, but its magnitude
and significance are dependent upon temporal resolution and s/n level.Comment: 5 pages in LATeX, REVTEX style, 2 embedded figures. To appear in
Third Huntsville GRB Workshop Proceeding
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