2,063 research outputs found
The Evolution of Hydrocarbons in Saturn's Northern Storm Region
The massive storm at 40N on Saturn that began in December 2010 has produced significant and lasting effects in the northern hemisphere on temperature and species abundances (Fletcher et aL 2011). The northern storm region was observed on several occasions between March 2011 and April 2012 by Cassini's Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) at a spectral resolution (0.5/cm) which permits the study of trace species in Saturn's stratosphere. During this time period, stratospheric temperatures in regions referred to as "beacons" (warm regions at specific longitudes at the latitude of the storm) became significantly warmer than pre-storm values of 140K, peaking near 220K, and subsequently cooling. These warm temperatures led to greatly enhanced infrared emission due to C4H2, C3H4, C2H2, and C2H6 in the stratosphere as well as the first detection of C2H4 on Saturn in the thermal infrared (Hesman et al. 2012). Using CH4 as a thermometer of Saturn's stratosphere in the beacon regions, we can derive the mixing ratios of each of these molecules. The most common hydrocarbons (C2H2 and C2H6) serve as dynamical tracers on Saturn and their abundances may constrain vertical motion in the stratosphere. All of these hydrocarbons are products of methane photolysis. Since many of the photochemical reactions that produce heavier hydrocarbons such as C4H2 and C3H4 are temperature sensitive, the beacon region provides a natural laboratory for studying these reactions on Saturn. We will discuss the time evolution of the abundances of each of these hydrocarbons from their pre-storm values, through the period of maximum heating , and during the period of cooling that is taking place in Saturn's stratosphere
Thermal detection of single e-h pairs in a biased silicon crystal detector
We demonstrate that individual electron-hole pairs are resolved in a 1 cm
by 4 mm thick silicon crystal (0.93 g) operated at 35 mK. One side of the
detector is patterned with two quasiparticle-trap-assisted
electro-thermal-feedback transition edge sensor (QET) arrays held near ground
potential. The other side contains a bias grid with 20\% coverage. Bias
potentials up to 160 V were used in the work reported here. A fiber optic
provides 650~nm (1.9 eV) photons that each produce an electron-hole () pair in the crystal near the grid. The energy of the drifting charges
is measured with a phonon sensor noise 0.09 pair.
The observed charge quantization is nearly identical for 's or 's
transported across the crystal.Comment: 4 journal pages, 5 figure
A Compact Supermassive Binary Black Hole System
We report on the discovery of a supermassive binary black hole system in the
radio galaxy 0402+379, with a projected separation between the two black holes
of just 7.3 pc. This is the closest black hole pair yet found by more than two
orders of magnitude. These results are based upon recent multi-frequency
observations using the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) which reveal two
compact, variable, flat-spectrum, active nuclei within the elliptical host
galaxy of 0402+379. Multi-epoch observations from the VLBA also provide
constraints on the total mass and dynamics of the system. Low spectral
resolution spectroscopy using the Hobby-Eberly Telescope indicates two velocity
systems with a combined mass of the two black holes of ~1.5 x 10^8 solar
masses. The two nuclei appear stationary while the jets emanating from the
weaker of the two nuclei appear to move out and terminate in bright hot spots.
The discovery of this system has implications for the number of close binary
black holes that might be sources of gravitational radiation. Green Bank
Telescope observations at 22 GHz to search for water masers in this interesting
system are also presented.Comment: 34 pages, 7 figures, Accepted to The Astrophysical Journa
An antigen-independent contact mechanism as an early step in T cell-proliferative responses to dendritic cells.
The administration ofan antigen to the immune system can lead to the selection and expansion of clones precommitted to respond to that antigen. Antigens are not presented directly to T lymphocytes. Instead, antigens are processed and complexed to transmembrane products of genes in the MHC. The antigen-MHC complexes then are presented on the surface of APC (1-4). How might antigen-MHC complexes on the surface ofAPC find and select clones of T cells that are specific to that antigen, since neither the ligand nor the TCR are free to diffuse in solution? Also, the amount of peptide/MHC complex and the frequency of antigen-specificTcell clones both may be small. Nonetheless, it is evident that antigens on dendritic cells are capable of selecting specificTlymphocytes from a pool of lymphocytes in culture. For example, on the first day of a primary MLR, most of the antigen-specific T cells have formed clusters with dendritic cells (5, 6). The clustered lymphocytes then proliferate and release lymphokines. The specificity of the dendriticT cell binding is evident by the facts that (a) the nonclustered population is selectively depleted of antigen-reactive T cells; and (b) th
EVOLUTION OF THE STRATOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OVER ONE TITANIAN YEAR
Since the Voyager 1 (V1) flyby in 1980, Titans exploration from space and the ground has been ongoing for more than a full revolution of Saturn around the Sun (one Titan year or 29.5 Earth years was completed in May 2010). In this study we search for temporal variations affecting Titans atmospheric thermal and chemical structure within that year. We process Cassini CIRS data taken during the Titan flybys from 2006-2013 and compare them to the 1980 V1IRIS spectra (re-analyzed here). We also consider data from Earth-based and -orbiting observatories (such as from the ISO, re-visited). When we compare the CIRS 2010 and the IRIS data we find limited inter-annual variations, below the 25 or35 levels for the lower and middle, or the high latitudes, respectively. A return to the 1980 stratospheric temperatures and abundances is generally achieved from 50degN to 50degS, indicative of the solar radiation being the dominating energy source at 10 AU, as for the Earth, as predicted by GCM and photochemical models. However, some exceptions exist among the most complex hydrocarbons (C4H2 and C3H4), especially in the North. In the Southern latitudes, since 2012, we see a trend for an increase of several trace gases, possibly indicative of a seasonal atmospheric reversal. At the Northern latitudes we found enhanced abundances around the period of the northern spring equinox in mid-2009 (as in Bampasidis et al. 2012), which subsequently decreased (from 2010-2012) returning to values similar to those found in the V1 epoch a Titanian year before
Intrinsic Size OF Sgr A*: 72 Schwarzschild Radii
Recent proper motion studies of stars at the very center of the Galaxy
strongly suggest that Sagittarius (Sgr) A*, the compact nonthermal radio source
at the Galactic Center, is a 2.5 million solar mass black hole. By means of
near-simultaneous multi-wavelength Very Long Baseline Array measurements, we
determine for the first time the intrinsic size and shape of Sgr A* to be 72
Rsc by < 20 Rsc, with the major axis oriented essentially north-south, where
Rsc (= 7.5 x 10^{11} cm) is the Schwarzschild radius for a 2.5 million solar
mass black hole. Contrary to previous expectation that the intrinsic structure
of Sgr A* is observable only at wavelengths shorter than 1 mm, we can discern
the intrinsic source size at 7 mm because (1) the scattering size along the
minor axis is half that along the major axis, and (2) the near simultaneous
multi-wavelength mapping of Sgr A* with the same interferometer makes it
possible to extrapolate precisely the minor axis scattering angle at 7 mm. The
intrinsic size and shape place direct constraints on the various emission
models for Sgr A*. In particular, the advection dominated accretion flow model
may have to incorporate a radio jet in order to account for the structure of
Sgr A*.Comment: 15 pages including 2 ps figures and 1 table, to appear in ApJ Letter
PSR J2030+3641: radio discovery and gamma-ray study of a middle-aged pulsar in the now identified Fermi-LAT source 1FGL J2030.0+3641
In a radio search with the Green Bank Telescope of three unidentified low
Galactic latitude Fermi-LAT sources, we have discovered the middle-aged pulsar
J2030+3641, associated with 1FGL J2030.0+3641 (2FGL J2030.0+3640). Following
the detection of gamma-ray pulsations using a radio ephemeris, we have obtained
a phase-coherent timing solution based on gamma-ray and radio pulse arrival
times that spans the entire Fermi mission. With a rotation period of 0.2 s,
spin-down luminosity of 3e34 erg/s, and characteristic age of 0.5 Myr, PSR
J2030+3641 is a middle-aged neutron star with spin parameters similar to those
of the exceedingly gamma-ray-bright and radio-undetected Geminga. Its gamma-ray
flux is 1% that of Geminga, primarily because of its much larger distance, as
suggested by the large integrated column density of free electrons, DM=246
pc/cc. We fit the gamma-ray light curve, along with limited radio polarimetric
constraints, to four geometrical models of magnetospheric emission, and while
none of the fits have high significance some are encouraging and suggest that
further refinements of these models may be worthwhile. We argue that not many
more non-millisecond radio pulsars may be detected along the Galactic plane
that are responsible for LAT sources, but that modified methods to search for
gamma-ray pulsations should be productive -- PSR J2030+3641 would have been
found blindly in gamma rays if only >0.8 GeV photons had been considered, owing
to its relatively flat spectrum and location in a region of high soft
background.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 9 pages, 6 figure
PSRs J0248+6021 and J2240+5832: Young Pulsars in the Northern Galactic Plane. Discovery, Timing, and Gamma-ray observations
Pulsars PSR J0248+6021 (rotation period P=217 ms and spin-down power Edot =
2.13E35 erg/s) and PSR J2240+5832 (P=140 ms, Edot = 2.12E35 erg/s) were
discovered in 1997 with the Nancay radio telescope during a northern Galactic
plane survey, using the Navy-Berkeley Pulsar Processor (NBPP) filter bank. GeV
gamma-ray pulsations from both were discovered using the Fermi Large Area
Telescope. Twelve years of radio and polarization data allow detailed
investigations. The two pulsars resemble each other both in radio and in
gamma-ray data. Both are rare in having a single gamma-ray pulse offset far
from the radio peak. The high dispersion measure for PSR J0248+6021 (DM = 370
pc cm^-3) is most likely due to its being within the dense, giant HII region W5
in the Perseus arm at a distance of 2 kpc, not beyond the edge of the Galaxy as
obtained from models of average electron distributions. Its high transverse
velocity and the low magnetic field along the line-of-sight favor this small
distance. Neither gamma-ray, X-ray, nor optical data yield evidence for a
pulsar wind nebula surrounding PSR J0248+6021. The gamma-ray luminosity for PSR
J0248+6021 is L_ gamma = (1.4 \pm 0.3)\times 10^34 erg/s. For PSR J2240+5832,
we find either L_gamma = (7.9 \pm 5.2) \times 10^34 erg/s if the pulsar is in
the Outer arm, or L_gamma = (2.2 \pm 1.7) \times 10^34 erg/s for the Perseus
arm. These luminosities are consistent with an L_gamma ~ sqrt(Edot) rule.
Comparison of the gamma-ray pulse profiles with model predictions, including
the constraints obtained from radio polarization data, favor emission in the
far magnetosphere. These two pulsars differ mainly in their inclination angles
and acceleration gap widths, which in turn explains the observed differences in
the gamma-ray peak widths.Comment: 13 pages, Accepted to Astronomy & Astrophysic
Magnetized Iron Atmospheres for Neutron Stars
Using a Hartree-Fock formalism, we estimate energy levels and photon cross
sections for atomic iron in magnetic fields B ~ 10^13 G. Computing ionization
equilibrium and normal mode opacities with these data, we construct LTE neutron
star model atmospheres at 5.5 < Log(T_eff) < 6.5 and compute emergent spectra.
We examine the dependence of the emergent spectra on T_eff and B. We also show
the spectral variation with the angle between the magnetic field and the
atmosphere normal and describe the significant limb darkening in the X-ray
band. These results are compared with recent detailed computations of neutron
star H model atmospheres in high fields and with low field Fe and H model
atmospheres constructed from detailed opacities. The large spectral differences
for different surface compositions may be discernible with present X-ray data;
we also note improvements needed to allow comparison of Fe models with high
quality spectra.Comment: 18 pages with 5 eps figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Replaced
due to clerical error only: one more author, no new conten
- …