1,125 research outputs found
Bright X-ray flares in Orion young stars from COUP: evidence for star-disk magnetic fields?
We have analyzed a number of intense X-ray flares observed in the Chandra
Orion Ultradeep Project (COUP), a 13 days observation of the Orion Nebula
Cluster (ONC). Analysis of the flare decay allows to determine the size, peak
density and magnetic field of the flaring structure. A total of 32 events (the
most powerful 1% of COUP flares), have sufficient statistics for the analysis.
A broad range of decay times (from 10 to 400 ks) are present in the sample.
Peak flare temperatures are often very high, with half of the flares in the
sample showing temperatures in excess of 100 MK. Significant sustained heating
is present in the majority of the flares. The magnetic structures which are
found, are in a number of cases very long, with semi-lengths up to 10^12 cm,
implying the presence of magnetic fields of hundreds of G extending to
comparable distance from the stellar photosphere. These very large sizes for
the flaring structures ($ >> R_*) are not found in more evolved stars, where,
almost invariably, the same type of analysis results in structures with L <=
R_*. As the majority of young stars in the ONC are surrounded by disks, we
speculate that the large magnetic structures which confine the flaring plasma
are actually the same type of structures which channel the plasma in the
magnetospheric accretion paradigm, connecting the star's photosphere with the
accretion disk.Comment: Accepted to ApJS, COUP special issu
The Discovery of a Companion to the Very Cool Dwarf Gl~569~B with the Keck Adaptive Optics Facility
We report observations obtained with the Keck adaptive optics facility of the
nearby (d=9.8 pc) binary Gl~569. The system was known to be composed of a cool
primary (dM2) and a very cool secondary (dM8.5) with a separation of 5" (49
Astronomical Units). We have found that Gl~569~B is itself double with a
separation of only 0".1010".002 (1 Astronomical Unit). This detection
demonstrates the superb spatial resolution that can be achieved with adaptive
optics at Keck. The difference in brightness between Gl~569~B and the companion
is 0.5 magnitudes in the J, H and K' bands. Thus, both objects have
similarly red colors and very likely constitute a very low-mass binary system.
For reasonable assumptions about the age (0.12~Gyr--1.0~Gyr) and total mass of
the system (0.09~M--0.15~M), we estimate that the orbital
period is 3 years. Follow-up observations will allow us to obtain an
astrometric orbit solution and will yield direct dynamical masses that can
constrain evolutionary models of very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs
Some Like it Hot: The X-Ray Emission of The Giant Star YY Mensae
(Abridged abstract) We present an analysis of the X-ray emission of the
rapidly rotating giant star YY Mensae observed by Chandra HETGS and XMM-Newton.
Although no obvious flare was detected, the X-ray luminosity changed by a
factor of two between the XMM-Newton and Chandra observations taken 4 months
apart. The coronal abundances and the emission measure distribution have been
derived from three different methods using optically thin collisional
ionization equilibrium models. The abundances show an inverse first ionization
potential (FIP) effect. We further find a high N abundance which we interpret
as a signature of material processed in the CNO cycle. The corona is dominated
by a very high temperature (20-40 MK) plasma, which places YY Men among the
magnetically active stars with the hottest coronae. Lower temperature plasma
also coexists, albeit with much lower emission measure. Line broadening is
reported, which we interpret as Doppler thermal broadening, although rotational
broadening due to X-ray emitting material high above the surface could be
present as well. We use two different formalisms to discuss the shape of the
emission measure distribution. The first one infers the properties of coronal
loops, whereas the second formalism uses flares as a statistical ensemble. We
find that most of the loops in the corona of YY Men have their maximum
temperature equal to or slightly larger than about 30 MK. We also find that
small flares could contribute significantly to the coronal heating in YY Men.
Although there is no evidence of flare variability in the X-ray light curves,
we argue that YY Men's distance and X-ray brightness does not allow us to
detect flares with peak luminosities Lx <= 10^{31} erg/s with current
detectors.Comment: Accepted paper to appear in Astrophysical Journal, issue Nov 10, 2004
(v615). This a revised version. Small typos are corrected. Figure 7 and its
caption and some related text in Sct 7.2 are changed, without incidence for
the conclusion
Line Broadening in Field Metal-poor Red Giant and Red Horizontal Branch Stars
We report 349 radial velocities for 45 metal-poor field red giant and red
horizontal branch stars. We have have identified one new spectroscopic binary,
HD 4306, and one possible such system, HD 184711. We also report 57 radial
velocities for 11 of the 91 stars reported on previously by Carney et al.
(2003). As was found in the previous study, radial velocity "jitter" is present
in many of the most luminous stars. Excluding stars showing spectroscopic
binary orbital motion, all 7 of the red giants with M(V) <= -2.0 display
jitter, as well as 3 of the 14 stars with -2.0 <= M(V) <= -1.4. We have also
measured line broadening in all of the new spectra, using synthetic spectra as
templates. The most luminous red giants show significant line broadening, as do
many of the red horizontal branch stars, and we discuss briefly possible
causes.Comment: To appear in the Astronomical Journa
The orbit of the brown dwarf binary Gl 569B
We present photometric, astrometric and spectroscopic observations of the
nearby (9.8 pc) low-mass binary Gl 569Bab (in turn being a companion to the
early-M star Gl 569A), made with the Keck adaptive optics facility. Having
observed Gl 569Bab since August 1999, we are able to see orbital motion and to
determine the orbital parameters of the pair. We find the orbital period to be
892 +/- 25 days, the semi-major axis to be 0.90 +/- 0.02 AU, the eccentricity
to be 0.32 +/- 0.02 and the inclination of the system to be 34+/- 3 degrees
(1-sigma). The total mass is found to be 0.123 (-0.022/+0.027) Msun (3-sigma).
In addition, we have obtained low resolution (R=1500-1700) near-infrared
spectra of each of the components in the J- and K-bands. We determine the
spectral types of the objects to be M8.5V (Gl 569Ba) and M9V (Gl 569Bb) with an
uncertainty of half a subclass. We also present new J- and K-band photometry
which allows us to accurately place the objects in the HR diagram. Most likely
the binary system is comprised of two brown dwarfs with a mass ratio of 0.89
and with an age of approximately 300 Myr.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 28 pages, figures include
Observing Ultra High Energy Cosmic Particles from Space: SEUSO, the Super Extreme Universe Space Observatory Mission
The experimental search for ultra high energy cosmic messengers, from eV to beyond eV, at the very end of the known energy
spectrum, constitutes an extraordinary opportunity to explore a largely unknown
aspect of our universe. Key scientific goals are the identification of the
sources of ultra high energy particles, the measurement of their spectra and
the study of galactic and local intergalactic magnetic fields. Ultra high
energy particles might, also, carry evidence of unknown physics or of exotic
particles relics of the early universe. To meet this challenge a significant
increase in the integrated exposure is required. This implies a new class of
experiments with larger acceptances and good understanding of the systematic
uncertainties. Space based observatories can reach the instantaneous aperture
and the integrated exposure necessary to systematically explore the ultra high
energy universe. In this paper, after briefly summarising the science case of
the mission, we describe the scientific goals and requirements of the SEUSO
concept. We then introduce the SEUSO observational approach and describe the
main instrument and mission features. We conclude discussing the expected
performance of the mission
A New Association of Post-T Tauri Stars Near The Sun
Observing ROSAT sources in 20 x 25 deg centered at the high latitude active
star ER Eri, we found evidences for a new young nearby association (~30Myr
at~60pc), the Horologium Association (HorA), formed by at least 10 probable and
6 possible members, some being Post-T Tauri stars. We examine several
requirements that characterize a young association and they, together, create a
strong evidence for the reality of the HorA. In fact, the Li line intensities
are between those of the oldest classical T Tauri stars and the ones of the
Local Association stars. The space velocities of the HorA relative to the Sun,
U= -9.5+/-1.0, V = -20.9 +/- 1.1, W = -2.1 +/- 1.9, are not far from those of
the Local Association. We suggest that some hotter and non-X-ray active stars,
with similar space velocities, could be massive members of the HorA, among
them, the nearby Be star Achernar. The maximum of the mass distribution
function of the HorA is around 0.8 solar masses. At its distance, the projected
size of the HorA, ~50 pc, would be larger than our surveyed area and many other
members could have been missed. We also observed 3 control regions, two at
northern and southern galactic latitudes and a third one in the known TW Hya
Association (TWA), and the properties and distribution of their young stars
strengthen the reality of the HorA. Contrary to the TWA, the only known
binaries in the HorA are 2 very wide systems. The HorA is much more isolated
from clouds and older than the TWA and could give some clues about the lifetime
of the disks around T Tauri stars. Actually, none of the proposed members is an
IRAS source indicating an advanced stage of the evolution of their accreting
disks. ER Eri itself was found to be a RS CVn-like system.Comment: 25 pages, 5 eps figures, to appear in Astron.
Four-Fermion Production in Electron-Positron Collisions
This report summarises the results of the four-fermion working group of the
LEP2-MC workshop, held at CERN from 1999 to 2000. Recent developments in the
calculation of four-fermion processes in electron-positron collisions at LEP-2
centre-of-mass energies are presented, concentrating on predictions for four
main reactions: W-pair production, visible photons in four-fermion events,
single-W production and Z-pair production. Based on a comparison of results
derived within different approaches, theoretical uncertainties on these
predictions are established.Comment: 150 pages, 73 figures, 45 table
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