7,213 research outputs found

    Dark Matter Scaling Relations

    Get PDF
    We establish the presence of a dark matter core radius, for the first time in a very large number of spiral galaxies of all luminosities. Contrary to common opinion we find that the sizes of these cores and the " DM core problem" are bigger for more massive spirals. As a result the Burkert profile provides an excellent mass model for dark halos around disk galaxies. Moreover, we find that the spiral dark matter core densities ρ0\rho_{0} and core radii r0r_{0} lie in the same scaling relation ρ0=4.5×102(r0/kpc)2/3Mpc3\rho_{0}=4.5\times 10^-2 (r_{0}/kpc)^{-2/3} M_{\odot}pc^{-3} of dwarf galaxies with core radii upto ten times more smaller.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Accepted for Publication in Apj Let

    Warm dust in the terrestrial planet zone of a sun-like Pleiad: collisions between planetary embryos?

    Get PDF
    Only a few solar-type main sequence stars are known to be orbited by warm dust particles; the most extreme is the G0 field star BD+20 307 that emits ~4% of its energy at mid-infrared wavelengths. We report the identification of a similarly dusty star HD 23514, an F6-type member of the Pleiades cluster. A strong mid-IR silicate emission feature indicates the presence of small warm dust particles, but with the primary flux density peak at the non-standard wavelength of ~9 micron. The existence of so much dust within an AU or so of these stars is not easily accounted for given the very brief lifetime in orbit of small particles. The apparent absence of very hot (>~1000 K) dust at both stars suggests the possible presence of a planet closer to the stars than the dust. The observed frequency of the BD+20 307/HD 23514 phenomenon indicates that the mass equivalent of Earth's Moon must be converted, via collisions of massive bodies, to tiny dust particles that find their way to the terrestrial planet zone during the first few hundred million years of the life of many (most?) sun-like stars. Identification of these two dusty systems among youthful nearby solar-type stars suggests that terrestrial planet formation is common.Comment: ApJ in press, 19 pages including 3 figures and 2 tables, minor changes to the tables and figure

    Suppression of mitochondrial respiration through recruitment of p160 myb binding protein to PGC-1α : modulation by p38 MAPK

    Get PDF
    The transcriptional coactivator PPAR gamma coactivator 1 α (PGC-1α) is a key regulator of metabolic processes such as mitochondrial biogenesis and respiration in muscle and gluconeogenesis in liver. Reduced levels of PGC-1α in humans have been associated with type II diabetes. PGC-1α contains a negative regulatory domain that attenuates its transcriptional activity. This negative regulation is removed by phosphorylation of PGC-1α by p38 MAPK, an important kinase downstream of cytokine signaling in muscle and β-adrenergic signaling in brown fat. We describe here the identification of p160 myb binding protein (p160MBP) as a repressor of PGC-1α. The binding and repression of PGC-1α by p160MBP is disrupted by p38 MAPK phosphorylation of PGC-1α. Adenoviral expression of p160MBP in myoblasts strongly reduces PGC-1α's ability to stimulate mitochondrial respiration and the expression of the genes of the electron transport system. This repression does not require removal of PGC-1α from chromatin, suggesting that p160MBP is or recruits a direct transcriptional suppressor. Overall, these data indicate that p160MBP is a powerful negative regulator of PGC-1α function and provide a molecular mechanism for the activation of PGC-1α by p38 MAPK. The discovery of p160MBP as a PGC-1α regulator has important implications for the understanding of energy balance and diabetes

    Time--Splitting Schemes and Measure Source Terms for a Quasilinear Relaxing System

    Full text link
    Several singular limits are investigated in the context of a 2×22 \times 2 system arising for instance in the modeling of chromatographic processes. In particular, we focus on the case where the relaxation term and a L2L^2 projection operator are concentrated on a discrete lattice by means of Dirac measures. This formulation allows to study more easily some time-splitting numerical schemes

    Superconducting gap structure of the 115's revisited

    Full text link
    Density functional theory calculations of the electronic structure of Ce- and Pu-based heavy fermion superconductors in the so-called 115 family are performed. The gap equation is used to consider which superconducting order parameters are most favorable assuming a pairing interaction that is peaked at (\pi,\pi,q_z) - the wavevector for the antiferromagnetic ordering found in close proximity. In addition to the commonly accepted dx2y2d_{x^2-y^2} order parameter, there is evidence that an extended s-wave order parameter with nodes is also plausible. We discuss whether these results are consistent with current observations and possible measurements that could help distinguish between these scenarios.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures; Accepted for publication in JPC

    The Tucana/Horologium, Columba, AB Doradus, and Argus Associations: New Members and Dusty Debris Disks

    Get PDF
    We propose 35 star systems within ~70 pc of Earth as newly identified members of nearby young stellar kinematic groups; these identifications include the first A- and late-B type members of the AB Doradus moving group and field Argus Association. All but one of the 35 systems contain a bright solar- or earlier-type star that should make an excellent target for the next generation of adaptive optics (AO) imaging systems on large telescopes. AO imaging has revealed four massive planets in orbit around the {\lambda} Boo star HR 8799. Initially the planets were of uncertain mass due in large part to the uncertain age of the star. We find that HR 8799 is a likely member of the ~30 Myr old Columba Association implying planet masses ~6 times that of Jupiter. We consider Spitzer Space Telescope MIPS photometry of stars in the ~30 Myr old Tucana/Horologium and Columba Associations, the ~40 Myr old field Argus Association, and the ~70 Myr old AB Doradus moving group. The percentage of stars in these young stellar groups that display excess emission above the stellar photosphere at 24 and 70 \mu m wavelengths - indicative of the presence of a dusty debris disk - is compared with corresponding percentages for members of 11 open clusters and stellar associations with ages between 8 and 750 Myr, thus elucidating the decay of debris disks with time.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

    FUSE and STIS Observations of the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium towards PG1259+593

    Full text link
    We use FUSE and STIS spectra to study intergalactic absorption towards the quasar PG1259+593 (z=0.478). We identify 135 intergalactic absorption lines with equivalent widths >10mA, tracing 78 absorption components in 72 Ly alpha/beta absorption-line systems. We concentrate on the distribution and physical properties of the WHIM as sampled by OVI and intrinsically broad Ly alpha lines. The number of intervening OVI absorbers for equivalent widths W>24 mA is 3-6 over an unobscured redshift path of dz=0.368. This implies a number density of OVI systems, dN/dz, of ~8-16 along this sight line. This range is consistent with estimates from other sight lines, supporting the idea that intervening intergalactic OVI absorbers contain an substantial fraction of the baryonic mass in the low-redshift Universe. We identify a number of broad Ly alpha absorbers with large Doppler parameters (b~40-200 km/s) and low column densities (N(HI)<10^14 cm^-2). For pure thermal broadening, these widths correspond to temperatures of ~1x10^5 to 3x10^6 K. While these broad absorbers could be caused by blends of multiple, unresolved lines, continuum undulations, or by kinematic flows and Hubble broadening, we consider the possibility that some of these features are single-component, thermally broadened Ly alpha lines. These systems could represent WHIM absorbers that are too weak, too metal-poor, and/or too hot to be detected in OVI. If so, their widths and their frequency in the PG1259+593 spectrum imply that these absorbers trace an even larger fraction of the baryons in the low-redshift Universe than the OVI absorbing systems (abridged version).Comment: 71 pages, 25 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ
    corecore