The enigma of GCIRS 3 - Constraining the properties of the mid-infrared reference star of the central parsec of the Milky Way with optical long baseline interferometry

GCIRS3 is the most prominent MIR source in the central pc of the Galaxy. NIR spectroscopy failed to solve the enigma of its nature. The properties of extreme individual objects of the central stellar cluster contribute to our knowledge of star and dust formation close to a supermassive black hole. We initiated an interferometric experiment to understand IRS3 and investigate its properties as spectroscopic and interferometric reference star at 10um. VISIR imaging separates a compact source from diffuse, surrounding emission. The VLTI/MIDI instrument was used to measure visibilities at 10mas resolution of that compact 10um source, still unresolved by a single VLT. Photometry data were added to enable simple SED- and full radiative transfer-models of the data. The luminosity and size estimates show that IRS3 is probably a cool carbon star enshrouded by a complex dust distribution. Dust temperatures were derived. The coinciding interpretation of multiple datasets confirm dust emission at several spatial scales. The IF data resolve the innermost area of dust formation. Despite observed deep silicate absorption towards IRS3 we favor a carbon rich chemistry of the circumstellar dust shell. The silicate absorption most probably takes place in the outer diffuse dust, which is mostly ignored by MIDI measurements. This indicates physically and chemically distinct conditions of the local dust, changing with the distance to IRS3. We have demonstrated that optical long baseline interferometry at infrared wavelengths is an indispensable tool to investigate sources at the Galactic Center. Our findings suggest further studies of the composition of interstellar dust and the shape of the 10um silicate feature at this outstanding region.Comment: accepted by A&A, now in press; 19 pages, 22 figures, 5 table

First VLTI infrared spectro-interferometry on GCIRS 7 - Characterizing the prime reference source for Galactic center observations at highest angular resolution

Investigating the environment of the massive black hole SgrA* at the center of the Galaxy requires the highest angular resolution available to avoid source confusion and to study the physical properties of the individual objects. GCIRS7 has been used as wavefront and astrometric reference. Our studies investigate, for the first time, its properties at 2&10um using VLTI/AMBER and MIDI. We aim at analyzing the suitability of IRS7 as an IF-phase-reference for the upcoming generation of dual-field facilities at optical interferometers. We observed with (R~30) and 50m (proj.) baseline, resulting in 9 and 45mas resolution for NIR and MIR, resp. The first K-band fringe detection of a GC star suggests that IRS7 could be marginally resolved at 2um, which would imply that the photosphere of the supergiant is enshrouded by a molecular and dusty envelope. At 10um, IRS7 is strongly resolved with a visibility of approximately 0.2. The MIR is dominated by moderately warm (200 K), extended dust, mostly distributed outside of a radius of about 120 AU (15 mas) around the star. A deep 9.8-silicate absorption in excess of the usual extinction law with respect to the NIR extinction has been found. This confirms recent findings of a relatively enhanced, interstellar 9.8-silicate absorption with respect to the NIR extinction towards another star in the central arcsec, suggesting an unusual dust composition in that region. Our VLTI observations show that interferometric NIR phase-referencing experiments with mas resolution using IRS7 as phase-reference appear to be feasible, but more such studies are required to definitely characterize the close environment around this star. We demonstrate that interferometry is required to resolve the innermost environment of stars at the Galactic center.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Respostas das plantas após diferentes distúrbios no Pantanal: estudo de caso de algumas forrageiras.

O conhecimento sobre a resposta das forrageiras aos distúrbios antrópicos e naturais é fundamental para auxiliar os tomadores de decisão na avaliação da condição de conservação e tendência das pastagens nativas ou no desenvolvimento de estratégias adequadas de manejo adaptativas. Este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a resposta de algumas forrageiras nativas em relação a diferentes distúrbios antrópicos (pastejo e fogo) e naturais (seca e inundação) no Pantanal. Dentre as diversas espécies de plantas do Pantanal, foram escolhidas oito gramíneas e quatro espécies herbáceo-arbustivas. A resposta das plantas ao distúrbio foi classificada como: ?aumenta?, ?diminui? e/ou ?invade?. Observou-se que muitas das espécies podem apresentar aumento ou diminuição quando submetida ao mesmo distúrbio, pois a resposta depende da intensidade e duração do distúrbio, história da dinâmica da vegetação do local, época, ambiente e regime climático. Trabalhos desta natureza devem ser intensificados no Pantanal, envolvendo um maior número de espécies e distúrbios, de preferência com a utilização de parcelas fixas, juntamente com a participação da comunidade local. The knowledge of forage response following anthropogenic and natural disturbance is essential to make decisions making assess of rangeland conservation conditions and trends, or for the development of sound management strategies. The objective of this study was to evaluate the response of some native forage following anthropogenic disturbance (grazing and fire) and natural disturbance (drought and flood) in the Pantanal. Eight grasses and four shrub-herb were selected for this study. Plant response was classified as ?decreaser?, ?increaser? and/or ?invader? species. It was observed that several forages species can to increase or decrease following the same disturbances depending of the frequency, intensity and duration of the disturbance, history of the vegetation dynamic in the area, season, environment and climatical regime. Studies of this type should be intensified in the Pantanal and involve other plants species and disturbance, use fix plots and encourage the participation of the local community

VLTI observations of IRS~3: The brightest compact MIR source at the Galactic Centre

The dust enshrouded star IRS~3 in the central light year of our galaxy was partially resolved in a recent VLTI experiment. The presented observation is the first step in investigating both IRS~3 in particular and the stellar population of the Galactic Centre in general with the VLTI at highest angular resolution. We will outline which scientific issues can be addressed by a complete MIDI dataset on IRS~3 in the mid infrared.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, published in: The ESO Messenge

Cobertura vegetal do Parque Estadual Pantanal do Rio Negro (PEPRN) - MS.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo a elaboração do mapa da cobertura vegetal na escala de 1:50.000 do Parque Estadual Pantanal do Rio Negro, MS, para fins de plano de manejo. A legenda do mapeamento da cobertura vegetal foi baseada no sistema fisionômico-ecológico do IBGE, seguida das denominações regionais. A seguinte seqüência metodológica foi seguida: a) georreferenciamento, realce e mosaico das imagens, b) aplicação de segmentação por crescimento da região, c) interpretação visual de imagens digitais obtidas pelo satélite Landsat-TM, ano 2002, d) informações georreferenciadas (foto e identificação fisionômica) com GPS obtidas em trabalho de campo, e) análise e comparação com trabalhos já existentes, f) elaboração de mapas preliminares, g) correção dos mapas, h) reinterpretação e finalização. Foi utilizado o SIG SPRING. No mapeamento foram obtidas 12 classes fisionômicas: Floresta Estacional Semidecidual Aluvial (1), formação de Cerrado (5), área de tensão ecológica - misturas ou contatos florísticos (4), área antrópica (1) e corpos d´água (1). Contatos florísticos predominam no Parque, com destaque para a Savana Gramíneo-Lenhosa com formações pioneiras, que representa 39% da cobertura vegetal, localizando-se principalmente nos alagados do rio Negro. Áreas antrópicas são representadas por pastagem plantada do tipo Brachiaria em Savana e ocupam apenas 1% deste tipo de cobertura vegetal. A área possui três ambientes bastante distintos: o Norte representado pelas áreas de Savana (Cerrado) com lagoas, o centro pelas áreas de brejo e o Sul pelos campos com paratudais, vegetação de Savana (Chaco), constituindo-se desta forma uma área bastante representativa da diversidade de fisionomias destas duas sub-regiões do Pantanal.GeoPantanal 2009

Significance of durability of mineral fibers for their toxicity and carcinogenic potency in the abdominal cavity of rats in comparison with the low sensitivity of inhalation studies.

At the same time that carcinogenicity of very thin glass fibers after intrapleural and intraperitoneal (ip) administration was demonstrated (1,2) researchers found that gypsum fibers and HCI-leached chrysotile fibers were easily soluble in the peritoneal cavity. This led to the conclusion that the chemical composition of fibers was not responsible for the carcinogenesis but that the degree of carcinogenic potency of a fiber depended on the extent to which it retained its fibrous structure. A thin glass fiber with a low biodurability did not induce tumors after ip injection of a high dose, although the ip test had been criticized for being "overly sensitive." The ip model has been the most successful for determining carcinogenicity of inorganic fibers and establishing dose-response relationships; but to determine the possibilities and limitations of this test model, very high doses of nonfibrous silicon carbide and of a slightly durable glass fiber type were injected ip in Wistar rats. No obviously acute or chronic toxic effect was observed in 90 weeks, but there was a 40% incidence of serosal tumors in the group treated with glass fibers. A pilot study on the persistence of slag fibers in the omentum of rats after ip injection showed a half-time of about 1 year. It was calculated that an ip injection of 10(9) fibers would lead to a concentration of fiber numbers in the ash of the omentum in the same range as the concentration in the lung after 2 years of inhalation exposure. The long-term inhalation study with fibers in rats has been called the "gold standard" for risk characterization.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS