596 research outputs found
Polarization of Broad Absorption Line QSOs I. A Spectropolarimetric Atlas
We present a spectropolarimetric survey of 36 broad absorption line
quasi-stellar objects (BAL QSOs). The continuum, absorption trough, and
emission line polarization of BAL QSOs yield clues about their structure. We
confirm that BAL QSOs are in general more highly polarized than non-BAL QSOs,
consistent with a more equatorial viewing direction for the former than the
latter. We have identified two new highly-polarized QSOs in our sample
(1232+1325 and 1333+2840). The polarization rises weakly to the blue in most
objects, perhaps due to scattering and absorption by dust particles. We find
that a polarization increase in the BAL troughs is a general property of
polarized BAL QSOs, indicating an excess of scattered light relative to direct
light, and consistent with the unification of BAL QSOs and non-BAL QSOs. We
have also discovered evidence of resonantly scattered photons in the red wing
of the C IV broad emission lines of a few objects. In most cases, the broad
emission lines have lower polarization and a different position angle than the
continuum. The polarization characteristics of low-ionization BAL QSOs are
similar to those of high-ionization BAL QSOs, suggesting a similar BAL wind
geometry.Comment: 39 pages, 6 figures (20 .gif files), accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journal Supplement
POLOCAM: a millimeter wavelength cryogenic polarimeter prototype for MUSIC-POL
As a proof-of-concept, we have constructed and tested a cryogenic polarimeter in the laboratory as a prototype for the MUSIC instrument (Multiwavelength Sub/millimeter Kinetic Inductance Camera). The POLOCAM instrument consists of a rotating cryogenic polarization modulator (sapphire half-waveplate) and polarization analyzer (lithographed copper polarizers deposited on a thin film) placed into the optical path at the Lyot stop (4K cold pupil stop) in a cryogenic dewar. We present an overview of the project, design and performance results of the POLOCAM instrument (including polarization efficiencies and instrumental polarization), as well as future application to the MUSIC-POL instrument
Time-resolved optical spectroscopy of the pulsating DA white dwarf HS 0507+0434B: New constraints on mode identification and pulsation properties
We present a detailed analysis of time-resolved optical spectra of the ZZ
Ceti white dwarf, HS 0507+0434B. Using the wavelength dependence of observed
mode amplitudes, we deduce the spherical degree, l, of the modes, most of which
have l=1. The presence of a large number of combination frequencies (linear
sums or differences of the real modes) enabled us not only to test theoretical
predictions but also to indirectly infer spherical and azimuthal degrees of
real modes that had no observed splittings. In addition to the above, we
measure line-of-sight velocities from our spectra. We find only marginal
evidence for periodic modulation associated with the pulsation modes: at the
frequency of the strongest mode in the lightcurve, we measure an amplitude of
2.6+/-1.0 km/s, which has a probability of 2% of being due to chance; for the
other modes, we find lower values. Our velocity amplitudes and upper limits are
smaller by a factor of two compared to the amplitudes found in ZZ Psc. We find
that this is consistent with expectations based on the position of HS
0507+0434B in the instability strip. Combining all the available information
from data such as ours is a first step towards constraining atmospheric
properties in a convectionally unstable environment from an observational
perspective.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figs.; accepted for publication in A&
A "superstorm": When moral panic and new risk discourses converge in the media
This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Health, Risk and Society, 15(6), 681-698, 2013, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13698575.2013.851180.There has been a proliferation of risk discourses in recent decades but studies of these have been polarised, drawing either on moral panic or new risk frameworks to analyse journalistic discourses. This article opens the theoretical possibility that the two may co-exist and converge in the same scare. I do this by bringing together more recent developments in moral panic thesis, with new risk theory and the concept of media logic. I then apply this theoretical approach to an empirical analysis of how and with what consequences moral panic and new risk type discourses converged in the editorials of four newspaper campaigns against GM food policy in Britain in the late 1990s. The article analyses 112 editorials published between January 1998 and December 2000, supplemented with news stories where these were needed for contextual clarity. This analysis shows that not only did this novel food generate intense media and public reactions; these developed in the absence of the type of concrete details journalists usually look for in risk stories. Media logic is important in understanding how journalists were able to engage and hence how a major scare could be constructed around convergent moral panic and new risk type discourses. The result was a media âsuperstormâ of sustained coverage in which both types of discourse converged in highly emotive mutually reinforcing ways that resonated in a highly sensitised context. The consequence was acute anxiety, social volatility and the potential for the disruption of policy and social change
The masses of the millisecond pulsar J1012+5307 and its white-dwarf companion
We report on spectroscopy of the white-dwarf companion of the millisecond
radio pulsar PSR J1012+5307. We find strong Balmer absorption lines, as would
be expected for a cool DA white dwarf. The profiles are much narrower than
usual, however, and lines are seen up to H12, indicating that the companion has
a low gravity and hence a low mass. This is consistent with the
expectation---based on evolutionary considerations and on the mass
function---that it is a low-mass white dwarf with a helium core. By comparing
the spectra to model atmospheres, we derive an effective temperature
K and a surface gravity (cgs
units). Using the Hamada-Salpeter mass-radius relation for helium white dwarfs,
with an approximate correction for finite-temperature effects, we infer a mass
\mwd=0.16\pm0.02\,\msun. This is the lowest mass among all spectroscopically
identified white dwarfs. We determine radial velocities from our spectra, and
find a radial-velocity amplitude of 280\pm15\,\kms. With the pulsar's
radial-velocity amplitude, the mass ratio \mpsr/\mwd=13.3\pm0.7. From all
constraints, we find that with 95\% confidence 1.5<\mpsr/\msun<3.2.Comment: 6 pages of text and figures. Refereed version, resubmitted to ApJL.
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