964 research outputs found
Chandra Observations of SNR 1987A
We report on the results of our monitoring program of the X-ray remnant of
supernova 1987A with the {\it Chandra X-Ray Observatory}. We have performed two
new observations during the {\it Chandra} Cycle 3 period, bringing the total to
six monitoring observations over the past three years. These six observations
provide a detailed time history of the birth of a new supernova remnant in
X-rays. The high angular resolution images indicate that soft X-ray bright
knots are associated with the optical spots, while hard X-ray features are
better correlated with radio images. We interpret this in terms of a model in
which fast shocks propagating through the circumstellar HII region produce the
hard X-ray and radio emission, while the soft X-ray and optical emission arise
in slower shocks entering into dense knots in the circumstellar inner ring. New
observations begin to show changes in the morphology that may herald a new
stage in the development of this incipient supernova remnant. The observed
X-ray fluxes increase by nearly a factor of three over the last 30 months. The
X-ray remnant is expanding at a velocity of 5000 km s.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, 2 color figures, To appear in AdSpR (Proceedings
34th COSPAR Synposium E1.4 "High Energy Studies of Supernova Remnants and
Neutron stars" For high resolution color figures contact [email protected]
The Diverse Stellar Populations of the W3 Star Forming Complex
An 800 sq-arcmin mosaic image of the W3 star forming complex obtained with
the Chandra X-ray Observatory gives a valuable new view of the spatial
structure of its young stellar populations. The Chandra image reveals about
1300 faint X-ray sources, most of which are PMS stars in the cloud. Some, but
not all, of the high-mass stars producing hypercompact and ultracompact H II
(UCHII) regions are also seen, as reported in a previous study.
The Chandra images reveal three dramatically different embedded stellar
populations. The W3 Main cluster extends over 7 pc with about 900 X-ray stars
in a nearly-spherical distribution centered on the well-studied UCHII regions
and high-mass protostars. The cluster surrounding the prototypical UCHII region
W3(OH) shows a much smaller (<0.6 pc), asymmetrical, and clumpy distribution of
about 50 PMS stars. The massive star ionizing the W3 North H II region is
completely isolated without any accompanying PMS stars. In W3 Main, the
inferred ages of the widely distributed PMS stars are significantly older than
the inferred ages of the central OB stars illuminating the UCHIIs. We suggest
that different formation mechanisms are necessary to explain the diversity of
the W3 stellar populations: cluster-wide gravitational collapse with delayed OB
star formation in W3 Main, collect-and-collapse triggering by shock fronts in
W3(OH), and a runaway O star or isolated massive star formation in W3 North.Comment: To appear in the Astrophysical Journal. 21 pages, 5 figures. A
version with high-quality figures is available at
http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/edf/W3_Chandra.pd
Detection of Pulsed X-ray Emission from PSR B1706-44
We report the first detection of pulsed X-ray emission from the young,
energetic radio and Gamma-ray pulsar PSR B1706-44. We find a periodic signal at
a frequency of f = 9.7588088 +/- 0.0000026 Hz (at epoch 51585.34104 MJD),
consistent with the radio ephemeris, using data obtained with the High
Resolution Camera on-board the Chandra X-ray Observatory}. The probability that
this detection is a chance occurrence is 3.5E-5 as judged by the Rayleigh test.
The folded light curve has a broad, single-peaked profile with a pulsed
fraction of 23% +/- 6%. This result is consistent the ROSAT PSPC upper limit of
< 18% after allowing for the ability of Chandra to resolve the pulsar from a
surrounding synchrotron nebula. We also fitted Chandra spectroscopic data on
PSR B1706-44, which require at least two components, e.g., a blackbody of
temperature T(infinity) between 1.51E6 K and 1.83E6 K and a power-law of Gamma
= 2.0 +/- 0.5. The blackbody radius at the nominal 2.5 kpc distance is only
R(infinity) = 3.6 +/- 0.9 km, indicating either a hot region on a cooler
surface, or the need for a realistic atmosphere model that would allow a lower
temperature and larger area. Because the power-law and blackbody spectra each
contribute more than 23% of the observed flux, it is not possible to decide
which component is responsible for the modulation in the spectrally unresolved
light curve.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, Latex, emulateapj. Published version. Includes an
updated radio ephemeris and presents the absolute radio/X-ray phase alignmen
The CHANDRA HETGS X-ray Grating Spectrum of Eta Car
Eta Car may be the most massive and luminous star in the Galaxy and is
suspected to be a massive, colliding wind binary system. The CHANDRA X-ray
observatory has obtained a calibrated, high-resolution X-ray spectrum of the
star uncontaminated by the nearby extended soft X-ray emisssion. Our 89 ksec
CHANDRA observation with the High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer
(HETGS) shows that the hot gas near the star is non-isothermal. The temperature
distribution may represent the emission on either side of the colliding wind
bow shock, effectively ``resolving'' the shock. If so, the pre-shock wind
velocities are ~ 700 and ~ 1800 km/s in our analysis, and these velocities may
be interpreted as the terminal velocities of the winds from Eta Car and from
the hidden companion star. The forbidden-to-intercombination (f/i) line ratios
for the He-like ions of S, Si and Fe are large, indicating that the line
forming region lies far from the stellar photosphere. The iron fluorescent line
at 1.93 Angstrom, first detected by ASCA, is clearly resolved from the thermal
iron line in the CHANDRA grating spectrum. The Fe fluorescent line is weaker in
our CHANDRA observation than in any of the ASCA spectra. The CHANDRA
observation also provides an uninterrupted high-time resolution lightcurve of
the stellar X-ray emission from Eta Car and suggests that there was no
significant, coherent variability during the CHANDRA observation. The Eta Car
CHANDRA grating spectrum is unlike recently published X-ray grating spectra of
single massive stars in significant ways and is generally consistent with
colliding wind emission in a massive binary.Comment: revised after comments from referee and includes a new variability
analysis, taking into account the effects of CCD pileu
The Impact of Standards-Based Learning: Tracking High School Students’ Transition to the University
This study sought to determine if the implementation of standards-based learning in high schools affects students’ transition to learning in university courses. Surveys and interviews with 13 students who had graduated from high schools implementing standards-based learning and who had completed their first academic semester at a midsize, private, Midwest university revealed no detrimental effects. The most frequently mentioned transition difficulties related to social issues and time management. Implications for implementing high school grading reforms are discussed
The Detonation Mechanism of the Pulsationally-Assisted Gravitationally-Confined Detonation Model of Type Ia Supernovae
We describe the detonation mechanism comprising the "Pulsationally Assisted"
Gravitationally Confined Detonation (GCD) model of Type Ia supernovae SNe Ia.
This model is analogous to the previous GCD model reported in Jordan et
al.(2008); however, the chosen initial conditions produce a substantively
different detonation mechanism, resulting from a larger energy release during
the deflagration phase. The resulting final kinetic energy and nickel-56 yields
conform better to observational values than is the case for the "classical" GCD
models. In the present class of models, the ignition of a deflagration phase
leads to a rising, burning plume of ash. The ash breaks out of the surface of
the white dwarf, flows laterally around the star, and converges on the
collision region at the antipodal point from where it broke out. The amount of
energy released during the deflagration phase is enough to cause the star to
rapidly expand, so that when the ash reaches the antipodal point, the surface
density is too low to initiate a detonation. Instead, as the ash flows into the
collision region (while mixing with surface fuel), the star reaches its
maximally expanded state and then contracts. The stellar contraction acts to
increase the density of the star, including the density in the collision
region. This both raises the temperature and density of the fuel-ash mixture in
the collision region and ultimately leads to thermodynamic conditions that are
necessary for the Zel'dovich gradient mechanism to produce a detonation. We
demonstrate feasibility of this scenario with three 3-dimensional (3D), full
star simulations of this model using the FLASH code. We characterized the
simulations by the energy released during the deflagration phase, which ranged
from 38% to 78% of the white dwarf's binding energy. We show that the necessary
conditions for detonation are achieved in all three of the models.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures; Ap
Rapid Circumstellar Disk Evolution and an Accelerating Star Formation Rate in the Infrared Dark Cloud M17 SWex
We present a catalog of 840 X-ray sources and first results from a 100 ks
Chandra X-ray Observatory imaging study of the filamentary infrared dark cloud
G014.22500.506, which forms the central regions of a larger cloud complex
known as the M17 southwest extension (M17 SWex). In addition to the rich
population of protostars and young stellar objects with dusty circumstellar
disks revealed by Spitzer Space Telescope archival data, we discover a
population of X-ray-emitting, intermediate-mass pre--main-sequence stars (IMPS)
that lack infrared excess emission from circumstellar disks. We model the
infrared spectral energy distributions of this source population to measure its
mass function and place new constraints on the inner dust disk destruction
timescales for 2-8 stars. We also place a lower limit on the star
formation rate (SFR) and find that it is quite high ( yr), equivalent to several Orion Nebula Clusters in
G14.2250.506 alone, and likely accelerating. The cloud complex has not
produced a population of massive, O-type stars commensurate with its SFR. This
absence of very massive () stars suggests that either (1)
M17 SWex is an example of a distributed mode of star formation that will
produce a large OB association dominated by intermediate-mass stars but
relatively few massive clusters, or (2) the massive cores are still in the
process of accreting sufficient mass to form massive clusters hosting O stars.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, accepted to Ap
- …