The Io sulfur torus in 1981

A Fabry-Perot spectrometer was used to obtain images of the Io torus in emission lines of S II (wavelength 6716 and 6731) and S III (wavelength 9531) in February and March 1981, on the 2.1 meter telescope at KPNO. The S II and S III images showed a large variation in brightness and radial extent. There is an indication the S II and S III emissions in the warm torus are correlated. The S II and S III emissions in the warm torus also have similar scale heights along the magnetic field lines of approximately 0.6 to 0.72 R sub J. The east-west asymmetry in the S II images taken at similar magnetic longitudes, but 2.5 Jovian rotations apart, supports the theory of convective motions suggested by others. In addition to the images, simultaneous measurements of the S II (6731 wavelength) line profile were also made on one night using a Fabry-Perot scanning spectrometer on the 4 meter at KPNO. The S II spectral scans implied ion temperatures of 52 (+ or - 10) x 10 to the 3rd at 5.2 to 5.6 R sub J from Jupiter and a minimum temperature of at least 3 x 10 to the 5th K at 6 R sub J from Jupiter

Lyman‐α imaging of the SO 2 distribution on Io

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94916/1/grl12620.pd

Luminous Binary Supersoft X-Ray Sources

One of the key accomplishments of the two preceding years was our development of an algorithm to select SSSs in external galaxies which have been observed by Chandra or XMM-Newton. By applying this algorithm to data from a number of galaxies, we discovered an extension of the class of SSSs to sources that are somewhat harder (100 - 300 eV, instead of tens of eV), but which are nevertheless much softer than canonical X-ray sources. We call these new sources quasisoft sources (QSSs). During this past year, we have built on and extended this work. We have (1) continued to identify SSSs and QSSs in external galaxies, (2) worked on models for the sources and find that black hole models seem promising for a subset of them, and (3) have studied individual systems, especially M101-ULX1. This special system has been observed as an SSS in its high &ate, with a luminosity in excess of 10(exp 41) erg/s. It has also been observed as a QSS when it is less luminous, and as a hard source in its low state. It is one of the best candidates to be an accreting intermediate-mass black hole. We have several papers in preparation. Below we list papers which are complete, including only new work and papers whose status has changed (e.g., been accepted for publication) since our last report. In addition, our work on QSSs has received some publicity. It was the subject of a Chandra press release and was picked up by several media outlets

Chemical Compositions and Abundance Anomalies in Stellar Coronae ADP99

We have been investigating different statistical methods for analysing the metal abundances of sources with low S/N. A Bayesian technique has been developed that determines the most probable line-to-continuum ratio in the source, thereby leading to the metallicity. This method is a promising approach with which to mine the ASCA archive. Some of this work has now been published in conference proceedings. The flavour of the project has changed very slightly in the last year owing to the increasing availability of several good quality Chandra HETG and LETG spectra for stars for which we had reduced and analysed ASCA data. The Chandra grating spectra in principle provide a means of calibrating the results from the low resolution ASCA spectra and we have started some work toward that goal. One paper concerning abundance ratios in active stars is appearing shortly in conference proceedings and is being readied for publication in a main-stream astrophysical journal. This paper demonstrates for the first time that abundance anomalies cannot be categorized simply in terms of First Ionization Potential (FIP) or inverse-FIP based effects. Different Ne enhancements are found in different star types but a link between enhancement factors and stellar properties is not obvious. The publication noted as in preparation in an earlier report, finding strong Ne enhancements in active stars, is now published. These results will again be used to "calibrate" low resolution results for which line ratio techniques cannot be employed

The Evolution of Dust in the Multiphase Interstellar Medium

Interstellar dust has a profound effect on the structure and evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM) and on the processes by which stars form from it. Dust obscures regions of star formation from view, and the uncertain quantities of elements in dust makes it difficult to measure accurately the abundances of the elements in low density regions. Despite the central importance of dust in astrophysics, we cannot answer some of the most basic questions about it: Why is it that most of the refractory elements are in dust grains? What determines the sizes of interstellar grains? In our theoretical investigations we have addressed these questions by studying the destruction of interstellar grains. We describe here the investigations that we have completed to date. As part of our original proposal we proposed additional projects that have not been completed. We are requesting a no-cost extension to carry out those investigations and describe those in our request

Luminous Binary Supersoft X-Ray Sources

This grant was for the study of Luminous Supersoft X-Ray Sources (SSSs). During the first year a number of projects were completed and new projects were started. The projects include: 1) Time variability of SSSs 2) SSSs in M31; 3) Binary evolution scenarios; and 4) Acquiring new data

Physics of Galaxy Clusters and How it Affects Cosmological Tests

We have worked on the analysis of the Chandra observations of the nearby and distant clusters of galaxies, and on the expansion of the sample of distant X-ray clusters based on the archival ROSAT PSPC data. Some of the scientific results are discussed

Hard X-Ray Emission of X-Ray Bursters

The primary goal of this proposal was to increase our understanding of the accretion dynamics and emission mechanisms in neutron-star low-mass x-ray binaries via accurate measurements of their broad-band x-ray spectrum with particular emphasis on the hard x-ray emission. We obtained an extensive set of Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) observations of a bright hard x-ray outburst from the source 4U1728-34 including data obtained under this proposal and previously scheduled observations for another observer. We have constructed x-ray light curves in several energy bands, including hard energy bands, from these data. We also completed spectral analysis of several observations which show strong hard x-ray emission. We are currently performing timing analysis to search for possible correlations between the spectral and timing evolution of 4U1728-34. Due to the one-year delay in obtaining the observations made for the other observer (which are the ones containing the peak of the hard X-ray emission), the analysis for this project is not yet complete. Because 4U1728-34 shows interesting high-frequency timing behavior, we plan to complete the analysis as part of our on-going investigation of high-frequency timing of X-ray binaries

Seeing Red and Shooting Blanks: A Study of Red Quasars and Blank Field X-Ray Sources

We have identified a population of 'blank field sources' (or 'blanks') among the ROSAT (Roentgen Satellite) bright unidentified X-ray sources with faint optical counterparts. The extreme X-ray over optical flux ratio of blank field sources is not compatible with the main classes of X-ray emitters except for extreme BL Lacertae objects at fx/fv is equal to or less than 35. From the analysis of ROSAT archival data we found evidence for only three sources, out of 16, needing absorption in excess of the Galactic value and no indication of variability. We also found evidence for an extended nature for only one of the five blanks with a serendipitous HRI (High Resolution Imager) detection; this source (1WGA J1226.9+3332) was confirmed as a z=0.89 cluster of galaxies. Palomar images reveal the presence of a red (O - E is equal to or greater than 2) counterpart in the X-ray error circle for six blanks. The identification process brought to the discovery of another high z cluster of galaxies, one (possibly extreme) BL Lac and two apparently normal type 1 AGNs (Active Galactic Nuclei). These AGNs, together with four more AGN-like objects seem to form a well defined group: they present type 1 X-ray spectra but red Palomar counterparts. We discuss the possible explanations for the discrepancy between the X-ray and optical data, among which: a suppressed big blue bump emission, an extreme dust to gas (approximately 40 - 60 the Galactic ratio) ratio value and a high redshift (z is greater than or equal to 3.5) QSO (Quasi-Stellar Object) nature. These AGN-like blanks seem to be the bright (and easier to study) analogs of the sources which are being found in deep Chandra observations. Five more blanks have a still an unknown nature