20,017 research outputs found
Ion-by-Ion DEM Determination: I. Method
We describe a technique to derive constraints on the differential emission
measure (DEM) distribution, a measure of the temperature distribution, of
collisionally ionized hot plasmas from their X-ray emission line spectra. This
technique involves fitting spectra using a number of components, each of which
is the entire X-ray line emission spectrum for a single ion. It is applicable
to high-resolution X-ray spectra of any collisionally ionized plasma and
particularly useful for spectra in which the emission lines are broadened and
blended such as those of the winds of hot stars. This method does not require
that any explicit assumptions about the form of the DEM distribution be made
and is easily automated.Comment: This paper was split in two. This version is part I. Part II may be
found at astro-ph/050343
Systematic search for high-energy gamma-ray emission from bow shocks of runaway stars
Context. It has been suggested that the bow shocks of runaway stars are
sources of high-energy gamma rays (E > 100 MeV). Theoretical models predicting
high-energy gamma-ray emission from these sources were followed by the first
detection of non-thermal radio emission from the bow shock of BD+43^\deg 3654
and non-thermal X-ray emission from the bow shock of AE Aurigae. Aims. We
perform the first systematic search for MeV and GeV emission from 27 bow shocks
of runaway stars using data collected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard
the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi). Methods. We analysed 57 months of
Fermi-LAT data at the positions of 27 bow shocks of runaway stars extracted
from the Extensive stellar BOw Shock Survey catalogue (E-BOSS). A likelihood
analysis was performed to search for gamma-ray emission that is not compatible
with diffuse background or emission from neighbouring sources and that could be
associated with the bow shocks. Results. None of the bow shock candidates is
detected significantly in the Fermi-LAT energy range. We therefore present
upper limits on the high-energy emission in the energy range from 100 MeV to
300 GeV for 27 bow shocks of runaway stars in four energy bands. For the three
cases where models of the high-energy emission are published we compare our
upper limits to the modelled spectra. Our limits exclude the model predictions
for Zeta Ophiuchi by a factor 5.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, accepted by A&
Environmental variables, pesticide pollution and meiofaunal community structure in two contrasting temporarily open/closed false bay estuaries
Environmental variables (including natural and anthropogenic stressors) and meiobenthic communities were sampled in a ‘natural’ (Rooiels) and a ‘disturbed’ (Lourens) estuary in the Western Cape, South Africa, bimonthly for 20 months. A primary aim of the study was to assess if the meiobenthic community structure is driven by different variables when comparing ‘natural’ versus ‘disturbed’ system. Due to the much smaller catchment of the Rooiels Estuary, many environmental variables were significantly different (p<0.001) from the variables in the Lourens Estuary, e.g. salinity, temperature, pH, total suspended solids, nitrate and depth. No pesticide concentrations were expected in the Rooiels Estuary due to the absence of agricultural development in the catchment. However, chlorpyrifos (8.9 µg/kg), prothiofos (22.0 µg/kg) and cypermethrin concentrations (0.42 µg/kg) were detected frequently, with the highest concentrations recorded during the summer months. Principal response curve analysis showed that temporal variability between sampling dates explained 42% of the variance in environmental variables and pesticide concentrations and spatial variability between the 2 estuaries explained 58%. Variables contributing most to the differences were higher concentrations of endosulfan, p,p-DDE and nitrate concentrations in the Lourens Estuary and larger grain size and higher salinity at the bottom in the Rooiels Estuary. In general the meiofaunal community in the Rooiels Estuary showed a significantly higher number of taxa (p<0.001), a significantly higher Shannon Wiener Diversity Index (
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Effectiveness of acidizing geothermal wells in the South German Molasse Basin
In Germany, many hydro-geothermal plants have been constructed in recent years, primarily in the region of Munich. As the host formation here mainly consists of carbonates, nearly all recently drilled wells have been acidized in order to improve the well yield. In this study, the effectiveness of these acid treatments is analyzed with respect to the amount of acid used and the number of acid treatments carried out per well. The results show that the first acid treatment has the largest effect, while subsequent acidizing improves the well only marginally. Data also indicate that continued acidizing can lead to degradation of the well. These findings may not only be important for geothermal installations in Germany but also for projects, for example, in Austria, France or China where geothermal energy is produced from carbonate formations as well
Growth of Oxide Compounds under Dynamic Atmosphere Composition
Commercially available gases contain residual impurities leading to a
background oxygen partial pressure of typically several 10^{-6} bar,
independent of temperature. This oxygen partial pressure is inappropriate for
the growth of some single crystals where the desired oxidation state possesses
a narrow stability field. Equilibrium thermodynamic calculations allow the
determination of dynamic atmosphere compositions yielding such self adjusting
and temperature dependent oxygen partial pressures, that crystals like ZnO,
Ga2O3, or Fe{1-x}O can be grown from the melt.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, talk on CGCT-4 Sendai, May 21-24, 200
X-ray Properties of Low-Mass Pre-Main Sequence Stars in the Orion Trapezium Cluster
The Chandra High Energy Transmission Gratings (HETG) Orion Legacy Project
(HOLP) is the first comprehensive set of observations of a very young massive
stellar cluster which provides high resolution X-ray spectra of very young
stars over a wide mass range (0.7 - 2.3 Msun). In this paper, we focus on the
six brightest X-ray sources with T Tauri stellar counterparts which are
well-characterized at optical and infra-red wavelengths. All stars show column
densities which are substantially smaller than expected from optical extinction
indicating that the sources are located on the near side of the cluster with
respect to the observer as well as that these stars are embedded in more dusty
environments. Stellar X-ray luminosities are well above erg/s, in
some cases exceeding erg/s for a substantial amount of time. The
stars during these observations show no flares but are persistently bright. The
spectra can be well fit with two temperature plasma components of 10 MK and 40
MK, of which the latter dominates the flux by a ratio 6:1 on average. The total
EMs range between 3 - 8 cm and are comparable to active
coronal sources. Limits on the forbidden to inter-combination line ratios in
the He-Like K-shell lines show that we observe a predominantely optically thin
plasma with electron densities below cm. Observed abundances
compare well with active coronal sources underlying the coronal nature of these
sources. The surface flux in this sample of 0.6 to 2.3 Msun classical T Tauri
stars shows that coronal activity and possibly coronal loop size increase
significantly between ages 0.1 to 10 Myrs.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, submitted to the Astrophysical Journa
Mapping the interstellar medium in galaxies with Herschel/SPIRE
The standard method of mapping the interstellar medium in a galaxy, by observing the molecular gas in the CO 1-0 line and the atomic gas in the 21-cm line, is largely limited with current telescopes to galaxies in the nearby universe. In this letter, we use SPIRE observations of the galaxies
M99 and M100 to explore the alternative approach of mapping the interstellar medium using the continuum emission from the dust. We have compared the methods by measuring the relationship between the star-formation rate and the surface density of gas in the galaxies using both
methods. We find the two methods give relationships with a similar dispersion, confirming that observing the continuum emission from the dust is a promising method of mapping the interstellar medium in galaxies
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