340 research outputs found
Variability of a Stellar Corona on a Time Scale of Days: Evidence for Abundance Fractionation in an Emerging Coronal Active Region
Elemental abundance effects in active coronae have eluded our understanding for almost three decades, since the discovery of the first ionization potential (FIP) effect on the sun. The goal of this paper is to monitor the same coronal structures over a time interval of six days and resolve active regions on a stellar corona through rotational modulation. We report on four iso-phase X-ray spectroscopic observations of the RS CVn binary EI Eri with XMM-Newton, carried out approximately every two days, to match the rotation period of EI Eri. We present an analysis of the thermal and chemical structure of the EI Eri corona as it evolves over the six days. Although the corona is rather steady in its temperature distribution, the emission measure and FIP bias both vary and seem to be correlated. An active region, predating the beginning of the campaign, repeatedly enters into our view at the same phase as it rotates from beyond the stellar limb. As a result, the abundances tend slightly, but consistently, to increase for high FIP elements (an inverse FIP effect) with phase. We estimate the abundance increase of high FIP elements in the active region to be of about 75% over the coronal mean. This observed fractionation of elements in an active region on time scales of days provides circumstantial clues regarding the element enrichment mechanism of non-flaring stellar coronae
Abundance variations and first ionization potential trends during large stellar flares
The Solar First Ionization Potential (FIP) effect, where low-FIP elements are
enriched in the corona relative to the photosphere, while high-FIP abundances
remain unchanged, has been known for a long while. High resolution X-ray
spectroscopy has revealed that active stellar coronae show an opposite effect,
which was labeled the Inverse-FIP (IFIP) effect. The correlation found between
coronal activity and the FIP/IFIP bias suggested perhaps that flaring activity
is involved in switching from FIP to IFIP. This work aims at a more systematic
understanding of the FIP trends during stellar flares and complements an
earlier study based on Chandra alone. The eight brightest X-ray flares observed
with XMM-Newton are analyzed and compared with their respective quiescence
states. Together with six previous flares observed with Chandra, this
establishes the best currently available sample of flares. We look for
abundance variations during the flare and their correlation with FIP. For that
purpose, we define a new FIP bias measure. A trend is found where coronae that
are IFIP biased in quiescence, during flares show a FIP bias with respect to
their quiescence composition. This effect is reversed for coronae that are FIP
biased in quiescence. The observed trend is thus consistent with chromospheric
evaporation rather than with a FIP mechanism operating during flares. It also
suggests that the quiescent IFIP bias is real and that the large flares are not
the direct cause of the IFIP effect in stellar coronae.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, submitted to A&
The Far-Infrared, UV and Molecular Gas Relation in Galaxies up to z=2.5
We use the infrared excess (IRX) FIR/UV luminosity ratio to study the
relation between the effective UV attenuation (A_IRX) and the UV spectral slope
(beta) in a sample of 450 1<z<2.5 galaxies. The FIR data is from very deep
Herschel observations in the GOODS fields that allow us to detect galaxies with
SFRs typical of galaxies with log(M)>9.3. Thus, we are able to study galaxies
on and even below the main SFR-stellar mass relation (main sequence). We find
that main sequence galaxies form a tight sequence in the IRX--beta plane, which
has a flatter slope than commonly used relations. This slope favors a SMC-like
UV extinction curve, though the interpretation is model dependent. The scatter
in the IRX-beta plane, correlates with the position of the galaxies in the
SFR-M plane. Using a smaller sample of galaxies with CO gas masses, we study
the relation between the UV attenuation and the molecular gas content. We find
a very tight relation between the scatter in the IRX-beta plane and the
specific attenuation (S_A), a quantity that represents the attenuation
contributed by the molecular gas mass per young star. S_A is sensitive to both
the geometrical arrangement of stars and dust, and to the compactness of the
star forming regions. We use this empirical relation to derive a method for
estimating molecular gas masses using only widely available integrated
rest-frame UV and FIR photometry. The method produces gas masses with an
accuracy between 0.12-0.16 dex in samples of normal galaxies between z~0 and
z~1.5. Major mergers and sub-millimeter galaxies follow a different S_A
relation.Comment: 11 pages, 6 pages appendix, 11 figures, accepted to Ap
Dust temperature and CO-to-H2 conversion factor variations in the SFR-M* plane
Deep Herschel imaging and 12CO(2-1) line luminosities from the IRAM PdBI are
combined for a sample of 17 galaxies at z>1 from the GOODS-N field. The sample
includes galaxies both on and above the main sequence (MS) traced by
star-forming galaxies in the SFR-M* plane. The far-infrared data are used to
derive dust masses, Mdust. Combined with an empirical prescription for the
dependence of the gas-to-dust ratio on metallicity (GDR), the CO luminosities
and Mdust values are used to derive for each galaxy the CO-to-H2 conversion
factor, alpha_co. Like in the local Universe, the value of alpha_co is a factor
of ~5 smaller in starbursts compared to normal star-forming galaxies (SFGs). We
also uncover a relation between alpha_co and dust temperature (Tdust; alpha_co
decreasing with increasing Tdust) as obtained from modified blackbody fits to
the far-infrared data. While the absolute normalization of the alpha_co(Tdust)
relation is uncertain, the global trend is robust against possible systematic
biases in the determination of Mdust, GDR or metallicity. Although we cannot
formally distinguish between a step and a smooth evolution of alpha_co with the
dust temperature, we can conclude that in galaxies of near-solar metallicity, a
critical value of Tdust=30K can be used to determine whether the appropriate
alpha_co is closer to the starburst value (1.0 Msun(K kms pc^2)^-1, if
Tdust>30K) or closer to the Galactic value (4.35 Msun (K kms pc^2)^-1, if
Tdust<30K). This indicator has the great advantage of being less subjective
than visual morphological classifications of mergers/SFGs, which can be
difficult at high z because of the clumpy nature of SFGs. In the absence of
far-infrared data, the offset of a galaxy from the main sequence (i.e.,
log[SSFR(galaxy)/SSFR_MS(M*,z)]) can be used to identify galaxies requiring the
use of an alpha_co conversion factor lower than the Galactic value.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics (A&A); 15
pages, 6 figures; V2: updated reference lis
The Mean Star-Forming Properties of QSO Host Galaxies
Quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) occur in galaxies in which supermassive black
holes (SMBHs) are growing substantially through rapid accretion of gas. Many
popular models of the co-evolutionary growth of galaxies and SMBHs predict that
QSOs are also sites of substantial recent star formation, mediated by important
processes, such as major mergers, which rapidly transform the nature of
galaxies. A detailed study of the star-forming properties of QSOs is a critical
test of such models. We present a far-infrared Herschel/PACS study of the mean
star formation rate (SFR) of a sample of spectroscopically observed QSOs to z~2
from the COSMOS extragalactic survey. This is the largest sample to date of
moderately luminous AGNs studied using uniform, deep far-infrared photometry.
We study trends of the mean SFR with redshift, black hole mass, nuclear
bolometric luminosity and specific accretion rate (Eddington ratio). To
minimize systematics, we have undertaken a uniform determination of SMBH
properties, as well as an analysis of important selection effects within
spectroscopic QSO samples that influence the interpretation of SFR trends. We
find that the mean SFRs of these QSOs are consistent with those of normal
massive star-forming galaxies with a fixed scaling between SMBH and galaxy mass
at all redshifts. No strong enhancement in SFR is found even among the most
rapidly accreting systems, at odds with several co-evolutionary models.
Finally, we consider the qualitative effects on mean SFR trends from different
assumptions about the star-forming properties of QSO hosts and redshift
evolution of the SMBH-galaxy relationship. While limited currently by
uncertainties, valuable constraints on AGN-galaxy co-evolution can emerge from
our approach.Comment: 10 figures, 1 table; accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
The far-infrared/radio correlation and radio spectral index of galaxies in the SFR-M* plane up to z 2
[Abridged] We study the evolution of the radio spectral index and
far-infrared/radio correlation (FRC) across the star-formation rate-stellar
masse (i.e. SFR-M*) plane up to z 2. We start from a M*-selected sample of
galaxies with reliable SFR and redshift estimates. We then grid the SFR-M*
plane in several redshift ranges and measure the infrared luminosity, radio
luminosity, radio spectral index, and ultimately the FRC index (i.e. qFIR) of
each SFR-M*-z bin. The infrared luminosities of our SFR-M*-z bins are estimated
using their stacked far-infrared flux densities inferred from observations
obtained with Herschel. Their radio luminosities and radio spectral indices
(i.e. alpha, where Snu nu^-alpha) are estimated using their stacked 1.4GHz and
610MHz flux densities from the VLA and GMRT, respectively. Our far-infrared and
radio observations include the most widely studied blank extragalactic fields
-GOODS-N/S, ECDFS, and COSMOS- covering a sky area of 2deg^2. Using this
methodology, we constrain the radio spectral index and FRC index of
star-forming galaxies with M*>10^10Msun and 0<z<2.3. We find that
alpha^1.4GHz_610MHz does not evolve significantly with redshift or with the
distance of a galaxy with respect to the main sequence (MS) of the SFR-M* plane
(i.e. Delta_log(SSFR)_MS=log[SSFR(galaxy)/SSFR_MS(M*,z)]). Instead,
star-forming galaxies have a radio spectral index consistent with a canonical
value of 0.8, which suggests that their radio spectra are dominated by
non-thermal optically thin synchrotron emission. We find that qFIR displays a
moderate but statistically significant redshift evolution as
qFIR(z)=(2.35+/-0.08)*(1+z)^(-0.12+/-0.04), consistent with some previous
literature. Finally, we find no significant correlation between qFIR and
Delta_log(SSFR)_MS, though a weak positive trend, as observed in one of our
redshift bins, cannot be firmly ruled out using our dataset.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A; 18 pages, 10 figure
Six Large Coronal X-ray Flares Observed With Chandra
A study of the six largest coronal X-ray flares in the Chandra archive is
presented. The flares were observed on II Peg, OU And, Algol, HR 1099, TZ CrB
and CC Eri, all with the High Energy Transmission Grating spectrometer (HETG)
and the ACIS detectors. We reconstruct an Emission Measure Distribution EMD(T),
using a spectral line analysis method, for flare and quiescence states
separately and compare the two. Subsequently, elemental abundaces are obtained
from the EMD. We find similar behaviour of the EMD in all flares, namely a
large high-T component appears while the low-T (kT < 2 keV) plasma is mostly
unaffected, except for a small rise in the low-T Emission Measure. In five of
the six flares we detect a First Ionization Potential (FIP) effect in the flare
abundances relative to quiescence. This may contradict previous suggestions
that flares are the cause of an inverse FIP effect in highly active coronae.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&A. Corrected
luminocities on table
PEP: first Herschel probe of dusty galaxy evolution up to z~3
We exploit the deepest existing far-infrared (FIR) data obtained so far by
Herschel at 100 and 160 um in the GOODS-N, as part of the PACS Evolutionary
Probe (PEP) survey, to derive for the first time the evolution of the
rest-frame 60-um, 90-um, and total IR luminosity functions (LFs) of galaxies
and AGNs from z=0 to unprecedented high redshifts (z~2-3). The PEP LFs were
computed using the 1/Vmax method. The FIR sources were classified by means of a
detailed broad- band SED-fitting analysis and spectral characterisation. Based
on the best-fit model results, k-correction and total IR (8-1000 um) luminosity
were obtained for each source. LFs (monochromatic and total) were then derived
for various IR populations separately in different redshift bins and compared
to backward evolution model predictions. We detect strong evolution in the LF
to at least z~2. Objects with SEDs similar to local spiral galaxies are the
major contributors to the star formation density (SFD) at z< 0.3, then, as
redshift increases, moderate SF galaxies - most likely containing a
low-luminosity AGN - start dominating up to z ~= 1.5. At >1.5 the SFD is
dominated by the contributions of starburst galaxies. In agreement with
previous findings, the comoving IR LD derived from our data evolves
approximately as (1 + z)^(3.8+/-0.3) up to z~1, there being some evidence of
flattening up to z~2.Comment: Accepted for publication in the A&A Herschel first results Special
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