Nothing Personal: James Baldwin, Richard Avedon, and the pursuit of Celebrity

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'This was a Conradian world I was entering': Postcolonial river-journeys beyond the Black Atlantic in Caryl Phillips's work

Caryl Phillips has been accused of replicating the stereotyped view of a timeless, ahistorical Africa that Paul Gilroy puts forward in his paradigm of the Black Atlantic. Yet this article shows that Crossing the River and Phillips’s essays about Africa suggest ways in which Gilroy’s important paradigm of the black Atlantic could be broadened to become more inclusive of writing about Africa. Phillips draws inspiration from writers such as V S Naipaul, Chinua Achebe, and especially Joseph Conrad, to update the literary journey upriver and make it relevant to contemporary West African issues. A complex interplay of racial identities occurs when people from the African diaspora travel to Africa; this is a key preoccupation for Phillips when he rewrites Conrad. During the course of his river-journeys, Phillips meditates upon the complexities of being a black Westerner in Africa, examines the memory of slavery, colonialism and postcolonial unrest, problematises diasporan attempts to ‘return’ to Africa, and recognises the longstanding modernity of African countries

Keck Spectroscopy of Redshift z ∼ 3 Galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field

We have obtained spectra with the 10 m Keck telescope of a sample of 24 galaxies having colors consistent with star-forming galaxies at redshifts 2 ≲ z ≲ 4.5 in the Hubble deep field (HDF). Eleven of these galaxies are confirmed to be at high redshift (z = 3.0), one is at z = 0.5, and the other 12 have uncertain redshifts but have spectra consistent with their being at z \u3e 2. The spectra of the confirmed high-redshift galaxies show a diversity of features, including weak Lyα emission, strong Lyα breaks or damped Lyα absorption profiles, and the stellar and interstellar rest-UV absorption lines common to local starburst galaxies and high-redshift star-forming galaxies reported recently by others. The narrow profiles and low equivalent widths of C IV, Si IV, and N V absorption lines may imply low stellar metallicities. Combined with the five high-redshift galaxies in the HDF previously confirmed with Keck spectra by Steidel et al. (1996a), the 16 confirmed sources yield a comoving volume density of n ≥ 2.4 × 10 h Mpc for q = 0.05, or n ≥ 1.1 × 10 h Mpc for q = 0.5. These densities are 3-4 times higher than the recent estimates of Steidel et al. (1996b) based on ground-based photometry with slightly brighter limits and are comparable to estimates of the local volume density of galaxies brighter than L*. The high-redshift density measurement is only a lower limit and could be almost 3 times higher still if all 29 of the unconfirmed candidates in our original sample, including those not observed, are indeed also at high redshift. The galaxies are small but luminous, with half-light radii 1.8 \u3c r \u3c 6.5 h kpc and absolute magnitudes -21.5 \u3e M \u3e -23. The HST images show a wide range of morphologies, including several with very close, small knots of emission embedded in wispy extended structures. Using rest-frame UV continuum fluxes with no dust correction, we calculate star formation rates in the range 7-24 or 3-9 h M yr for q = 0.05 and q = 0.5, respectively. These rates overlap those for local spiral and H II galaxies today, although they could be more than twice as high if dust extinction in the UV is significant. If the objects at z = 3 were simply to fade by 5 mag (assuming a 10 yr burst and passive evolution) without mergers in the 14 Gyr between then and now (for q = 0.05, h = 1.0), they would resemble average dwarf elliptical/spheroidal galaxies in both luminosity and size. However, the variety of morphologies and the high number density of z = 3 galaxies in the HDF suggest that they represent a range of physical processes and stages of galaxy formation and evolution, rather than any one class of object, such as massive ellipticals. A key issue remains the measurement of masses. These high-redshift objects are likely to be the low-mass, starbursting building blocks of more massive galaxies seen today

Keck Spectroscopy of Redshift z~3 Galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field

We have obtained spectra with the 10-m Keck telescope of a sample of 24 galaxies having colors consistent with star-forming galaxies at redshifts 2<z<4.5 in the Hubble Deep Field (HDF). Eleven of these galaxies are confirmed to be at high redshift (median z=3.0), one is at z=0.5, and the other 12 have uncertain redshifts but have spectra consistent with their being at z>2. Combined with 5 previously confirmed high-redshift galaxies in the HDF, the 16 confirmed sources yield a comoving volume density of n>2.5^-4 h50^3 Mpc^-3 for q0=0.05, or n>1.2^-3 h50^3 Mpc^-3 for q0=0.5. These densities are comparable to estimates of the local volume density of galaxies brighter than L*, and could be almost three times higher still if all 29 of the unconfirmed candidates in our original sample are indeed also at high redshift. The galaxies are small but luminous, with half-light radii 1.8 < r(1/2) < 6.5 h50^-1 kpc and absolute magnitudes -21.5 > M_B > -23. The HST images show a wide range of morphologies, including several with very close, small knots of emission embedded in wispy extended structures. Using rest-frame UV continuum fluxes with no dust correction, we calculate star formation rates in the range 7 - 24 or 3 - 9 h50^-2 Msun/yr for q0=0.05 and q0=0.5, respectively. The variety of morphologies and the high number density of z=3 galaxies in the HDF suggest that they represent a range of physical processes and stages of galaxy formation and evolution, rather than any one class of object, such as massive ellipticals. A key issue remains the measurement of masses. These high-redshift objects are likely to be the low-mass, starbursting building blocks of more massive galaxies seen today.Comment: 45 pages, AASLaTeX, 3 postscript tables, 2 JPG + 3 GIF + 5 encapsulated postscript figures. To appear in The Astrophysical Journal. Also available at http://www.ucolick.org/~deep/papers/papers.html and http://www.ucolick.org/~james/papers/hdf/hdf.htm

The Absolute Magnitudes of Type Ia Supernovae in the Ultraviolet

We examine the absolute magnitudes and light-curve shapes of 14 nearby(redshift z = 0.004--0.027) Type Ia supernovae (SNe~Ia) observed in the ultraviolet (UV) with the Swift Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope. Colors and absolute magnitudes are calculated using both a standard Milky Way (MW) extinction law and one for the Large Magellanic Cloud that has been modified by circumstellar scattering. We find very different behavior in the near-UV filters (uvw1_rc covering ~2600-3300 A after removing optical light, and u ~3000--4000 A) compared to a mid-UV filter (uvm2 ~2000-2400 A). The uvw1_rc-b colors show a scatter of ~0.3 mag while uvm2-b scatters by nearly 0.9 mag. Similarly, while the scatter in colors between neighboring filters is small in the optical and somewhat larger in the near-UV, the large scatter in the uvm2-uvw1 colors implies significantly larger spectral variability below 2600 A. We find that in the near-UV the absolute magnitudes at peak brightness of normal SNe Ia in our sample are correlated with the optical decay rate with a scatter of 0.4 mag, comparable to that found for the optical in our sample. However, in the mid-UV the scatter is larger, ~1 mag, possibly indicating differences in metallicity. We find no strong correlation between either the UV light-curve shapes or the UV colors and the UV absolute magnitudes. With larger samples, the UV luminosity might be useful as an additional constraint to help determine distance, extinction, and metallicity in order to improve the utility of SNe Ia as standardized candles.Comment: 59 pages, accepted for publication in Ap

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Conditions in Kenyan Rural Schools: Are Schools Meeting the Needs of Menstruating Girls?

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programs in African schools have received increased attention, particularly around the potential impact of poor menstrual hygiene management (MHM) on equity for girls’ education. This study was conducted prior to a menstrual feasibility study in rural Kenya, to examine current WASH in primary schools and the resources available for menstruating schoolgirls. Cross-sectional surveys were performed in 62 primary schools during unannounced visits. Of these, 60% had handwashing water, 13% had washing water in latrines for menstruating girls, and 2% had soap. Latrines were structurally sound and 16% were clean. Most schools (84%) had separate latrines for girls, but the majority (77%) had no lock. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) supported WASH in 76% of schools. Schools receiving WASH interventions were more likely to have: cleaner latrines (Risk Ratio (RR) 1.5; 95% Confidence Intervals [CI] 1.0, 2.1), handwashing facilities (RR 1.6, CI 1.1, 2.5), handwashing water (RR 2.7; CI 1.4, 5.2), and water in girls’ latrines (RR 4.0; CI 1.4, 11.6). Schools continue to lack essential WASH facilities for menstruating girls. While external support for school WASH interventions improved MHM quality, the impact of these contributions remains insufficient. Further support is required to meet international recommendations for healthy, gender-equitable schools

Optical Rotation Curves of Distant Field Galaxies: Sub-L* Systems

Moderate-resolution spectroscopic observations from the Keck 10m telescope are used to derive internal kinematics for eight faint disk galaxies in the fields flanking the Hubble Deep Field. The spectroscopic data are combined with high-resolution F814W WFPC2 images from the Hubble Space Telescope which provide morphologies and scale-lengths, inclinations and orientations. The eight galaxies have redshifts 0.15 < z < 0.75, magnitudes 18.6 < I_814 < 22.1 and luminosities -21.8 < M_B < -19.0 (H_0 = 75 and q_0 = 0.05). Terminal disk velocities are derived from the spatially-resolved velocity profiles by modeling the effects of seeing, slit width, slit misalignment with galaxy major axis, and inclination for each source. These data are combined with the sample of Vogt et al. (1996) to provide a high-redshift Tully-Fisher relation that spans three magnitudes. This sample was selected primarily by morphology and magnitude, rather than color or spectral features. We find no obvious change in the shape or slope of the relation with respect to the local Tully-Fisher relation. The small offset of < 0.4 B mag with respect to the local relation is presumably caused by luminosity evolution in the field galaxy population, and does not correlate with galaxy mass. A comparison of disk surface brightness between local and high-redshift samples yields a similar offset, ~0.6 mag. These results provide further evidence for only a modest increase in luminosity with lookback time.Comment: Text is 9 pages (13 with figures, images in JPG format here for brevity). Full text and postscript figures are available at http://www.ucolick.org/~nicole/pubs/pubs.html#vfp2 and http://tarkus.pha.jhu.edu/deep/publications.html . Accepted for publication by The Astrophysical Journal Letter

The DEEP Groth Strip Galaxy Redshift Survey. III. Redshift Catalog and Properties of Galaxies

The Deep Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe (DEEP) is a series of spectroscopic surveys of faint galaxies, targeted at the properties and clustering of galaxies at redshifts z ~ 1. We present the redshift catalog of the DEEP 1 GSS pilot phase of this project, a Keck/LRIS survey in the HST/WFPC2 Groth Survey Strip. The redshift catalog and data, including reduced spectra, are publicly available through a Web-accessible database. The catalog contains 658 secure galaxy redshifts with a median z=0.65, and shows large-scale structure walls to z = 1. We find a bimodal distribution in the galaxy color-magnitude diagram which persists to z = 1. A similar color division has been seen locally by the SDSS and to z ~ 1 by COMBO-17. For red galaxies, we find a reddening of only 0.11 mag from z ~ 0.8 to now, about half the color evolution measured by COMBO-17. We measure structural properties of the galaxies from the HST imaging, and find that the color division corresponds generally to a structural division. Most red galaxies, ~ 75%, are centrally concentrated, with a red bulge or spheroid, while blue galaxies usually have exponential profiles. However, there are two subclasses of red galaxies that are not bulge-dominated: edge-on disks and a second category which we term diffuse red galaxies (DIFRGs). The distant edge-on disks are similar in appearance and frequency to those at low redshift, but analogs of DIFRGs are rare among local red galaxies. DIFRGs have significant emission lines, indicating that they are reddened mainly by dust rather than age. The DIFRGs in our sample are all at z>0.64, suggesting that DIFRGs are more prevalent at high redshifts; they may be related to the dusty or irregular extremely red objects (EROs) beyond z>1.2 that have been found in deep K-selected surveys. (abridged)Comment: ApJ in press. 24 pages, 17 figures (12 color). The DEEP public database is available at http://saci.ucolick.org

Optical Rotation Curves of Distant Field Galaxies I : Keck Results at Redshifts to z ~ 1

Spatially resolved velocity profiles are presented for nine faint field galaxies in the redshift range 0.1 < z < 1, based on moderate-resolution spectroscopy obtained with the Keck 10 m telescope. These data were augmented with high-resolution HST images from WFPC2, which provided V and I photometry, galaxy type, orientation, and inclination. The effects of seeing, slit width, and slit misalignment with respect to galaxy major axis were modeled along with inclination for each source, in order to derive a maximum circular velocity from the observed rotation curve. The lowest redshift galaxy, though highly elongated, shows a distorted low-amplitude rotation curve that suggests a merger in progress seen perpendicular to the collision path. The remaining rotation curves appear similar to those of local galaxies in both form and amplitude, implying that some massive disks were in place at z ~ 1. The key result is that the kinematics of these distant galaxies show evidence for only a modest increase in luminosity of delta M_B < 0.6 compared to velocity-luminosity (Tully-Fisher) relations for local galaxies.Comment: Text is 16 pages (21 with table and figures, in GIF format here for brevity). Full text and postscript figures are available at http://www.ucolick.org/~nicole/pubs/pubs.html#vfp and http://tarkus.pha.jhu.edu/deep/publications.html . Accepted for publication by The Astrophysical Journal Letter

Redshift z ~ 1 Field Galaxies Observed with the Keck Telescope and the HST

We report results based on 35 new spectroscopic redshifts obtained with the Keck Telescope for field galaxies that also have photometry and morphology from survey images taken by the refurbished HST. A sample of 24 redshifts for galaxies fainter than I = 22 has a median redshift of z ~ 0.81. This result is inconsistent with the lower median redshift of z ~ 0.6 predicted by the ``maximal merger models'' of Carlberg (1996), which otherwise fit existing data. The data match an extrapolation of the CFRS, as well as predictions of certain mild luminosity-evolution models. Nearly half of the redshifts lie in two structures at z ~ 0.81 and z ~ 1.0, showing the presence of high density concentrations spanning scales of ~ 1/h Mpc, i.e., the size of groups. We find emission lines or the presence of possible neighbors in 7 of 9 otherwise luminous galaxies with red central regions at redshifts beyond z ~ 0.7. We also note a diversity of morphological types among blue galaxies at z ~ 1, including small compact galaxies, ``chains,'' and ``blue nucleated galaxies.'' These morphologies are found among local, but generally less luminous, galaxies. Distant blue galaxies also include apparently normal late-type spirals. These findings could imply modest bursts of star formation caused by mergers or interactions of small, gas-rich galaxies with each other or with larger, well-formed galaxies. This first glimpse of very faint z ~ 1 field galaxies of diverse colors and morphologies suggests that a mixture of physical processes is at work in the formation and evolution of faint field galaxies.Comment: 20 pages (31 with table and GIF figures). Full text and postscript figures are available at http://www.ucolick.org/~nicole/pubs/pubs.html#gs1 and http://tarkus.pha.jhu.edu/deep/publications.html . Accepted by The Astrophysical Journa