1,306 research outputs found
Infrared Helium-Hydrogen Line Ratios as a Measure of Stellar Effective Temperature
We have observed a large sample of compact planetary nebulae in the
near-infrared to determine how the 2^1P-2^1S HeI line at 2.058um varies as a
function of stellar effective temperature, Teff. The ratio of this line with HI
Br g at 2.166um has often been used as a measure of the highest Teff present in
a stellar cluster, and hence on whether there is a cut-off in the stellar
initial mass function at high masses. However, recent photoionisation modelling
has revealed that the behaviour of this line is more complex than previously
anticipated. Our work shows that in most aspects the photoionisation models are
correct. In particular, we confirm the weakening of the 2^1P-2^1S as Teff
increases beyond 40000K. However, in many cases the model underpredicts the
observed ratio when we consider the detailed physical conditions in the
individual planetary nebulae. Furthermore, there is evidence that there is
still significant 2^1P-2^1S HeI line emission even in the planetary nebulae
with very hot (Teff>100000K) central stars. It is clear from our work that this
ratio cannot be considered as a reliable measure of effective temperature on
its own.Comment: 24 pages 11 figures (in 62 separate postscript files) Accepted for
publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ
Near Infrared Spectra of Compact Planetary Nebulae
This paper continues our study of the behaviour of near infrared helium
recombination lines in planetary nebula. We find that the 1.7007um 4^3D-3^3P
HeI line is a good measure of the HeI recombination rate, since it varies
smoothly with the effective temperature of the central star. We were unable to
reproduce the observed data using detailed photoionisation models at both low
and high effective temperatures, but plausible explanations for the difference
exist for both. We therefore conclude that this line could be used as an
indicator of the effective temperature in obscured nebula. We also
characterised the nature of the molecular hydrogen emission present in a
smaller subset of our sample. The results are consistent with previous data
indicating that ultraviolet excitation rather than shocks is the main cause of
the molecular hydrogen emission in planetary nebulae.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
The Near-Infrared Extinction Law in Regions of High Av
We present a spectroscopic study of the shape of the dust-extinction law
between 1.0 and 2.2um towards a set of nine ultracompact HII regions with Av >
15 mag. We find some evidence that the reddening curve may tend to flatten at
higher extinctions, but just over half of the sample has extinction consistent
with or close to the average for the interstellar medium. There is no evidence
of extinction curves significantly steeper than the standard law, even where
water ice is present. Comparing the results to the predictions of a simple
extinction model, we suggest that a standard extinction law implies a robust
upper limit to the grain-size distribution at around 0.1 - 0.3um. Flatter
curves are most likely due to changes in this upper limit, although the effects
of flattening due to unresolved clumpy extinction cannot be ruled out.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
Forbidden Fe+ Emission from Supernovae Remnants in M33
Supernovae remnants are known to be luminous sources of infrared [FeII]
emission. By studying how the luminosity scales with age, environment and other
relevant factors, we can construct an [FeII] luminosity function for supernovae
remnants. This will enable us to predict supernovae rates in starburst galaxies
that are too distant for individual remnants to be resolved. First, however, we
require accurate luminosities for a sample of remnants of varying ages, and in
varying physical environments. As part of this project we have carried out an
initial study of a small sample of evolved (ages greater than a few thousand
years) remnants in M33. From these data we tentatively conclude that there is
evidence for the peak luminosity in the [FeII] lines of these sources to arise
in a narrow range of ages. In other respects, the M33 remnants are similar to
their galactic and Magellanic Cloud counterparts in the observed peak
luminosity. From this, and internal evidence as to the environment present in
these regions, we conclude that the luminosity of evolved remnants is only
marginally dependent on density and metallicity.Comment: 12 pages, uuencoded compressed postscript. Also available as
postscript file from ftp://aaoepp.aao.gov.au/local/sll/snr.ps Accepted for
publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ
Helium and Hydrogen Line Ratios and The Stellar Content of Compact HII Regions
We present observations and models of the behaviour of the HI and HeI lines
between 1.6 and 2.2um in a small sample of compact HII regions. As in our
previous papers on planetary nebulae, we find that the `pure' 1.7007um
4^3D-3^3P and 2.16475um 7^(3,1)G-4^(3,1)F HeI recombination lines behave
approximately as expected as the effective temperature of the central exciting
star(s) increases. However, the 2.058um 2^1P-2^1S HeI line does not behave as
the model predicts, or as seen in planetary nebulae. Both models and planetary
nebulae showed a decrease in the HeI 2^1P-2^1S/HI Br gamma ratio above an
effective temperature of 40000K. The compact HII regions do not show any such
decrease. The problem with this line ratio is probably due to the fact that the
photoionisation model does not account correctly for the high densities seen in
these HII regions, and that we are therefore seeing more collisional excitation
of the 2^1P level than the model predicts. It may also reflect some deeper
problem in the assumed model stellar atmospheres. In any event, although the
normal HeI recombination lines can be used to place constraints on the
temperature of the hottest star present, the HeI 2^1P-2^1S/HI Br gamma ratio
should not be used for this purpose in either Galactic HII regions or in
starburst galaxies, and conclusions from previous work using this ratio should
be regarded with extreme caution. We also show that the combination of the near
infrared `pure' recombination line ratios with mid-infrared forbidden line data
provides a good discriminant of the form of the far ultraviolet spectral energy
distribution of the exciting star(s). From this we conclude that CoStar models
are a poor match to the available data for our sources, though the more recent
WM-basic models are a better fit.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
Completeness in Photometric and Spectroscopic Searches for Clusters
We investigate, using simulated galaxy catalogues, the completeness of
searches for massive clusters of galaxies in redshift surveys or imaging
surveys with photometric redshift estimates, i.e. what fraction of clusters
(M>10^14/h Msun) are found in such surveys. We demonstrate that the matched
filter method provides an efficient and reliable means of identifying massive
clusters even when the redshift estimates are crude. In true redshift surveys
the method works extremely well. We demonstrate that it is possible to
construct catalogues with high completeness, low contamination and both varying
little with redshift.Comment: ApJ in press, 15 pages, 10 figure
The RMS Survey: The Bolometric Fluxes and Luminosity Distributions of Young Massive Stars
Context: The Red MSX Source (RMS) survey is returning a large sample of
massive young stellar objects (MYSOs) and ultra-compact (UC) \HII{} regions
using follow-up observations of colour-selected candidates from the MSX point
source catalogue. Aims: To obtain the bolometric fluxes and, using kinematic
distance information, the luminosities for young RMS sources with far-infrared
fluxes. Methods: We use a model spectral energy distribution (SED) fitter to
obtain the bolometric flux for our sources, given flux data from our work and
the literature. The inputs to the model fitter were optimised by a series of
investigations designed to reveal the effect varying these inputs had on the
resulting bolometric flux. Kinematic distances derived from molecular line
observations were then used to calculate the luminosity of each source.
Results: Bolometric fluxes are obtained for 1173 young RMS sources, of which
1069 have uniquely constrained kinematic distances and good SED fits. A
comparison of the bolometric fluxes obtained using SED fitting with trapezium
rule integration and two component greybody fits was also undertaken, and
showed that both produce considerable scatter compared to the method used here.
Conclusions: The bolometric flux results allowed us to obtain the luminosity
distributions of YSOs and UC\HII{} regions in the RMS sample, which we find to
be different. We also find that there are few MYSOs with L
10\lsol{}, despite finding many MYSOs with 10\lsol{} L
10\lsol{}.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables, accepted to A&A. The full versions of
tables 1 and 2 will be available via the CDS upon publicatio
Singlet-triplet dispersion reveals additional frustration in the triangular dimer compound BaMnO
We present single crystal inelastic neutron scattering measurements of the
S=1 dimerized quasi-two-dimensional antiferromagnet BaMnO. The
singlet-triplet dispersion reveals nearest-neighbor and next-nearest-neighbor
ferromagnetic interactions between adjacent bilayers that compete against each
other. Although the inter-bilayer exchange is comparable to the intra-bilayer
exchange, this additional frustration reduces the effective coupling along the
c-axis and leads to a quasi-two dimensional behavior. In addition, the obtained
exchange values are able to reproduce the four critical fields in the phase
diagram.Comment: 4 pages, 3 color figures, submitted to an APS physical review journa
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