1,321 research outputs found
Two protogalaxy candidates in one night
In spite of a lookback time of 77 to 89 percent of the age of the universe, Lilly provided evidence that the dominant stellar population in 0902 was surprisingly old, over 1 Gyr. This age estimate was based on the values K = 18.8 and I-K = 4.5 in the central 3.5 x 3.5 inch. At Lilly's suggestion, we reobserved 0902 at K, and in initial reductions of our data found only an upper limit (K greater than 19.5). After extensive experimentation with reduction techniques and correction for low-level systematic effects, we succeeded in extracting a four sigma detection at K = 19.9 in a 4 inch diameter circular aperture. The morphology and location of this detection were more reminescent of the Ly alpha image than of CCD continuum images, and in Mar. 1992, we obtained a narrow band image which included redshifted (OIII) 4959,5007 A line emission at 2.20 microns. This (OIII) image gave a strong detection which demonstrates that most of the central K flux, already reduced by a magnitude, is due to line emission. Our formal line corrected values in a 4 inch aperture are K = 21.5 and R-K = 1.9. Hence, 0902 has been transformed from relaxed maturity into unsettled youth
Die Wirklichkeit ist im Grunde geistig : ĂŒber die Information als Substanz der Welt
Rezension zu: Thomas Görnitz und Brigitte Görnitz : Die Evolution des Geistigen. Quantenphysik â Bewusstsein â Religion. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2008. ISBN 978-3-525-56717-3. 372 Seiten, 49,90 Euro
It from Bit? : Auf der Suche nach dem kreativen Kosmos
Rezension zu: Thomas Görnitz, Brigitte Görnitz : Der kreative Kosmos â Geist und Materie aus Information ; Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-8274-1368-0, 407 Seiten, 29,90 Euro
The K-selected Butcher-Oemler Effect
[abridged] We investigate the Butcher-Oemler effect in a sample of K-selected
galaxies in 33 clusters at 0.15 < z < 0.92. We attempt to duplicate the
original Butcher-Oemler analysis as closely as possible given the
characteristics of our data. We find that the infrared selected blue fractions
are lower than those measured in the optical and that the trend with redshift
is much weaker. Comparison with optical data in clusters in common with Butcher
& Oemler (1984) shows that infrared selection is the primary difference between
our study and optically selected samples. We suggest that the Butcher-Oemler
effect is in large part due to a population of star-forming low mass galaxies
which will evolve into dwarf galaxies. These early results point to the need
for larger and deeper infrared samples of cluster galaxies to address this
issueComment: 37 pages, 19 figures, ApJ accepted (vol 598 n1
Spitzer Constraints on the z=6.56 Galaxy Lensed by Abell 370
We report on Spitzer IRAC observations of the spectroscopically confirmed
z=6.56 lensed Ly-alpha emitting source HCM 6A which was found behind the
cluster Abell 370. Detection of the source at 3.6 and 4.5 microns,
corresponding to rest-frame optical emission, allows us to study the stellar
population of this primeval galaxy. The broadband flux density at 4.5 microns
is enhanced compared to the continuum at other wavelengths, likely due to the
presence of strong H-alpha in emission. The derived H-alpha line flux
corresponds to a star-formation rate of around 140 M_{sun}/yr, more than an
order of magnitude larger than estimates from the ultraviolet continuum and
Ly-alpha emission line. The dust extinction required to explain the discrepancy
is A_V of about 1 mag. The inference of dust at such high redshifts is
surprising and implies that the first epoch of star-formation in this galaxy
occurred at z~20.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, ApJ Letters in pres
An IR-Selected Galaxy Cluster at z=1.27
We report the discovery of a galaxy cluster at z=1.27. ClG J0848+4453 was
found in a near-IR field survey as a high density region of objects with very
red J-K colors. Optical spectroscopy of a limited number of 24 < R < 25 objects
in the area shows that 6 galaxies within a 90 arcsec (0.49/h Mpc, q_O = 0.1)
diameter region lie at z=1.273 +/- 0.002. Most of these 6 member galaxies have
broad-band colors consistent with the expected spectral energy distribution of
a passively-evolving elliptical galaxy formed at high redshift. An additional 2
galaxies located ~2 arcmin from the cluster center are also at z=1.27. Using
all 8 of these spectroscopic members, we estimate the velocity dispersion is
700 +/- 180 km/s, similar to that of Abell R=1 clusters in the present epoch. A
deep Rosat PSPC observation detects X-ray emission at the 5 sigma level
coincident with the nominal cluster center. Assuming that the X-ray flux is
emitted by hot gas trapped in the potential well of a collapsed system (no AGN
is known to exist in the area), the resulting X-ray luminosity in the rest
frame 0.1-2.4 keV band of L_x = 1.5 x 10^44 ergs/s suggests the presence of a
moderately large mass. ClG J0848+4453 is the highest redshift cluster found
without targetting a central active galaxy.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal; 22 pages, 6
figures; corrected titl
[Tagungsbericht] : Naturwissenschaftliche Raum- und Zeitbegriffe im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert
Am 27. und 28. September 2005 tagten Historiker und Philosophen der Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften in Frankfurt a.M. im GebĂ€ude des Physikalischen Vereins. Eine Besonderheit des Internationalen Symposiums war der Dialog mit Vertretern der aktuellen Grundlagendebatte der Basiswissenschaft Physik. In zwölf VortrĂ€gen wurden an zwei Tagen Raum- und Zeitkonzeptionen bedeutender Naturphilosophen der letzten 400 Jahre vorgestellt. Naturwissenschaftshistoriker rekonstruierten die EntwĂŒrfe von Giordano Bruno, Marin Mersenne, RenĂ© Descartes, Otto von Guericke, Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Isaac Newton und Leonhard Euler, wĂ€hrend Grundlagentheoretiker der Physik einen Ăberblick ĂŒber eigene Konzeptionen mit einem systematischen Anschluss an die Denktraditionen vorfĂŒhrten. Die Tagung wurde von der Fritz Thyssen Stiftung gefördert sowie vom Förderverein des Frankfurter Institutes fĂŒr Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften "Arbor Scientiarum" und dem Physikalischen Verein finanziell unterstĂŒtzt. ..
First Weak-lensing Results from "See Change": Quantifying Dark Matter in the Two Z>1.5 High-redshift Galaxy Clusters SPT-CL J2040-4451 and IDCS J1426+3508
We present a weak-lensing study of SPT-CLJ2040-4451 and IDCSJ1426+3508 at
z=1.48 and 1.75, respectively. The two clusters were observed in our "See
Change" program, a HST survey of 12 massive high-redshift clusters aimed at
high-z supernova measurements and weak-lensing estimation of accurate cluster
masses. We detect weak but significant galaxy shape distortions using IR images
from the WFC3, which has not yet been used for weak-lensing studies. Both
clusters appear to possess relaxed morphology in projected mass distribution,
and their mass centroids agree nicely with those defined by both the galaxy
luminosity and X-ray emission. Using an NFW profile, for which we assume that
the mass is tightly correlated with the concentration parameter, we determine
the masses of SPT-CL J2040-4451 and IDCS J1426+3508 to be
M_{200}=8.6_{-1.4}^{+1.7}x10^14 M_sun and 2.2_{-0.7}^{+1.1}x10^14 M_sun,
respectively. The weak-lensing mass of SPT-CLJ2040-4451 shows that the cluster
is clearly a rare object. Adopting the central value, the expected abundance of
such a massive cluster at z>1.48 is only ~0.07 in the parent 2500 sq. deg.
survey. However, it is yet premature to claim that the presence of this cluster
creates a serious tension with the current LCDM paradigm unless that tension
will remain in future studies after marginalizing over many sources of
uncertainties such as the accuracy of the mass function and the
mass-concentration relation at the high mass end. The mass of IDCSJ1426+3508 is
in excellent agreement with our previous ACS-based weak-lensing result while
the much higher source density from our WFC3 imaging data makes the current
statistical uncertainty ~40% smaller.Comment: Accepted to Ap
The Stellar Masses and Star Formation Histories of Galaxies at z â 6: Constraints from Spitzer Observations in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey
Using the deep Spitzer Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) observations of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS), we study the stellar masses and star formation histories of galaxies at z approx 6 based on the i_(775)-band dropout sample selected from the GOODS fields. In total, we derive stellar masses for 53 i_(775)-band dropouts that have robust IRAC detections. These galaxies have typical stellar masses of ~10^(10) M_â and typical ages of a couple of hundred million years, consistent with earlier results based on a smaller sample of z â 6 galaxies. The existence of such massive galaxies at z â 6 can be explained by at least one set of N-body simulations of the hierarchical paradigm. We also study 79 i_(775)-band dropouts that are invisible in the IRAC data and find that they are typically less massive by a factor of 10. These galaxies are much bluer than those detected by the IRAC, indicating that their luminosities are dominated by stellar populations with ages ⟠40 Myr. Based on our mass estimates, we derive a lower limit to the global stellar mass density at z â 6, which is 1.1-6.7 Ă 10^6 M_â Mpc^(-3). The prospect of detecting the progenitors of the most massive galaxies at yet higher redshifts is explored. We also investigate the implication of our results for reionization and find that the progenitors of the galaxies comparable to those in our sample, even in the most optimized (probably unrealistic) scenario, cannot sustain the reionization for a period longer than ~2 Myr. Thus most of the photons required for reionization must have been provided by other sources, such as the progenitors of the dwarf galaxies that are far below our current detection capability
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