2,493 research outputs found
Midcourse maneuver operations program
Midcourse Maneuver Operations Program /MMOP/ computes the required velocity change to correct a spacecraft trajectory. The program establishes the existence of maneuvers which satisfy spacecraft constraints, explores alternate trajectories in the event that some out-of-tolerance condition forces a change in plans, and codes the maneuvers into commands
Wolf-Rayets in IC10: Probing the Nearest Starburst
IC10 is the nearest starburst galaxy, as revealed both by its Halpha surface
brightness and the large number of Wolf-Rayet stars (WRs) per unit area. The
relative number of known WC- to WN-type WRs has been thought to be unusually
high (~2), unexpected for IC10's metallicity. In this Letter we report the
first results of a new and deeper survey for WRs in IC10. We sucessfully
detected all of the spectroscopically known WRs, and based upon comparisons
with a neighboring control field, estimate that the total number of WRs in IC10
is about 100. We present spectroscopic confirmation of two of our WR
candidates, both of which are of WN type. Our photometric survey predicts that
the actual WC/WN ratio is ~0.3. This makes the WC/WN ratio of IC 10 consistent
with that expected for its metallicity, but greatly increases the already
unusually high number of WRs, resulting in a surface density that is about 20
times higher than in the LMC. If the majority of these candidates are
spectroscopically confirmed, IC10 must have an exceptional population of high
mass stars.Comment: Accepted by ApJL; only minor correction in this versio
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Cellular aspect ratio and cell division mechanics underlie the patterning of cell progeny in diverse mammalian epithelia.
Cell division is essential to expand, shape, and replenish epithelia. In the adult small intestine, cells from a common progenitor intermix with other lineages, whereas cell progeny in many other epithelia form contiguous patches. The mechanisms that generate these distinct patterns of progeny are poorly understood. Using light sheet and confocal imaging of intestinal organoids, we show that lineages intersperse during cytokinesis, when elongated interphase cells insert between apically displaced daughters. Reducing the cellular aspect ratio to minimize the height difference between interphase and mitotic cells disrupts interspersion, producing contiguous patches. Cellular aspect ratio is similarly a key parameter for division-coupled interspersion in the early mouse embryo, suggesting that this physical mechanism for patterning progeny may pertain to many mammalian epithelia. Our results reveal that the process of cytokinesis in elongated mammalian epithelia allows lineages to intermix and that cellular aspect ratio is a critical modulator of the progeny pattern
Dispersion Relations and Their Symmetry Properties for Electromagnetic and Elastic Metamaterials in Two Dimensions
In the framework of multiple-scattering theory, we show that the dispersion
relations of certain electromagnetic (EM) and elastic metamaterials can be
obtained analytically in the long-wavelength limit. Specific examples are given
to the two-dimensional metamaterials with cylindrical inclusions arranged in
square and triangular lattices. The role played by the lattice structure in
determining whether a dispersion relation is isotropic or not is shown
explicitly. Different lattice dependences between EM and elastic metamaterials
are also shown. In the case of isotropic dispersions, our results coincide with
those of isotropic effective medium theories obtained previously for EM and
elastic metamaterials, respectively, and, therefore, provide a more fundamental
support to those theories. In the case of elastic metamaterials with
anisotropic dispersions, our analytical results can provide an anisotropic
effective medium theory in the form of Christoffel's equation. In this case,
the isotropic effective medium theory can describe accurately the
angle-averaged dispersion relations. The properties of anisotropic dispersions
are discussed and verified by numerical calculations of a realistic elastic
metamaterial.Comment: 33pages, 2figure
The Herschel view of the nebula around the luminous blue variable star AG Carinae
Far-infrared Herschel PACS imaging and spectroscopic observations of the
nebula around the luminous blue variable (LBV) star AG Car have been obtained
along with optical imaging in the Halpha+[NII] filter. In the infrared light,
the nebula appears as a clumpy ring shell that extends up to 1.2 pc with an
inner radius of 0.4 pc. It coincides with the Halpha nebula, but extends
further out. Dust modeling of the nebula was performed and indicates the
presence of large grains. The dust mass is estimated to be ~ 0.2 Msun. The
infrared spectrum of the nebula consists of forbidden emission lines over a
dust continuum. Apart from ionized gas, these lines also indicate the existence
of neutral gas in a photodissociation region that surrounds the ionized region.
The abundance ratios point towards enrichment by processed material. The total
mass of the nebula ejected from the central star amounts to ~ 15 Msun, assuming
a dust-to-gas ratio typical of LBVs. The abundances and the mass-loss rate were
used to constrain the evolutionary path of the central star and the epoch at
which the nebula was ejected, with the help of available evolutionary models.
This suggests an ejection during a cool LBV phase for a star of ~ 55 Msun with
little rotation.Comment: accepted for publication in A&
Abundances of lithium, oxygen, and sodium in the turn-off stars of Galactic globular cluster 47 Tuc
We aim to determine abundances of Li, O and Na in a sample of of 110 turn-off
(TO) stars, in order to study the evolution of light elements in this cluster
and to put our results in perspective with observations of other globular and
open clusters, as well as with field stars. We use medium resolution spectra
obtained with the GIRAFFE spectrograph at the ESO 8.2m Kueyen VLT telescope and
use state of the art 1D model atmospheres and NLTE line transfer to determine
the abundances. We also employ CO5BOLD hydrodynamical simulations to assess the
impact of stellar granulation on the line formation and inferred abundances.
Our results confirm the existence of Na-O abundance anti-correlation and hint
towards a possible Li-O anti-correlation in the TO stars of 47 Tuc. We find no
convincing evidence supporting the existence of Li-Na correlation. The obtained
3D NLTE mean lithium abundance in a sample of 94 TO stars where Li lines were
detected reliably,
dex, appears to be significantly lower than what is observed in other globular
clusters. At the same time, star-to-star spread in Li abundance is also larger
than seen in other clusters. The highest Li abundance observed in 47 Tuc is
about 0.1 dex lower than the lowest Li abundance observed among the un-depleted
stars of the metal-poor open cluster NGC 2243. The lithium abundances in 47
Tuc, when put into context with observations in other clusters and field stars,
suggest that stars that are more metal-rich than [FeH] \sim -1.0 experience
significant lithium depletion during their lifetime on the main sequence, while
the more metal-poor stars do not. Rather strikingly, our results suggest that
initial lithium abundance with which the star was created may only depend on
its age (the younger the star, the higher its Li content) and not on its
metallicity.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures; discussion and conclusions expanded. Accepted
for publication in A&
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