2,241 research outputs found
Pre-enriched, not primordial ellipticals
We follow the chemical evolution of a galaxy through star formation and its
feedback into the inter-stellar medium, starting from primordial gas and
allowing for gas to inflow into the region being modelled. We attempt to
reproduce observed spectral line-strengths for early-type galaxies to constrain
their star formation histories. The efficiencies and times of star formation
are varied as well as the amount and duration of inflow. We evaluate the
chemical enrichment and the mass of stars made with time. Single stellar
population (SSP) data are then used to predict line-strengths for composite
stellar populations. The results are compared with observed line-strengths in
ten ellipticals, including some features which help to break the problem of
age-metallicity degeneracy in old stellar populations. We find that the
elliptical galaxies modelled require high metallicity SSPs (>3 x solar) at
later times. In addition the strong lines observed cannot be produced by an
initial starburst in primordial gas, even if a large amount of inflow is
allowed for during the first few x 10E+8 years. This is because some
pre-enrichment is required for lines in the bulk of the stars to approach the
observed line-strengths in ellipticals.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, Latex, accepted for publication in MNRA
The impact of binary-star yields on the spectra of galaxies
One of the complexities in modelling integrated spectra of stellar populations is the effect of interacting binary stars besides Type Ia supernovae (SNeIa). These include common envelope systems, cataclysmic variables, novae, and are usually ignored in models predicting the chemistry and spectral absorption line strengths in galaxies. In this paper, predictions of chemical yields from populations of single and binary stars are incorporated into a galactic chemical evolution model to explore the significance of the effects of these other binary yields. Effects on spectral line strengths from different progenitor channels of SNeIa are also explored. Small systematic effects are found when the yields from binaries, other than SNeIa, are included, for a given star formation history. These effects are, at present, within the observational uncertainties on the line strengths. More serious differences can arise in considering different types of SNIa models, their rates and contributions
Constraining the Star Formation Histories of Spiral Bulges
Long-slit spectroscopic observations of line-strengths and kinematics made
along the minor axes of four spiral bulges are reported. Comparisons are made
between central line-strengths in spiral bulges and those in other
morphological types. The bulges are found to have central line-strengths
comparable with those of single stellar populations (SSPs) of approximately
solar abundance or above. Negative radial gradients are observed in
line-strengths, similar to those in elliptical galaxies. The bulge data are
consistent with correlations between Mg2, and central velocity dispersion
observed in elliptical galaxiess. In contrast to elliptical galaxies, central
line-strengths lie within the loci defining the range of and Mg2 achieved
by Worthey's (1994) solar abundance ratio, SSPs. The implication of solar
abundance ratios indicates differences in the star formation histories of
spiral bulges and elliptical galaxies. A ``single zone with in- fall'' model of
galactic chemical evolution, using Worthey's (1994) SSPs, is used to constrain
possible star formation histories in our sample. We show that , Mg2 and
Hbeta line-strengths observed in these bulges cannot be reproduced using
primordial collapse models of formation but can be reproduced by models with
extended in-fall of gas and star formation (2-17 Gyr) in the region modelled.
One galaxy (NGC 5689) shows a central population with luminosity weighted
average age of ~5 Gyr, supporting the idea of extended star formation.
Kinematic substructure, possibly associated with a central spike in
metallicity, is observed at the centre of the Sa galaxy NGC 3623.Comment: 14 pages. MNRAS latex file. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Dust effects on the derived Sersic indexes of disks and bulges in spiral galaxies
We present a theoretical study that quantifies the effect of dust on the
derived Sersic indexes of disks and bulges. The changes in the derived
parameters from their intrinsic values (as seen in the absence of dust) were
obtained by fitting Sersic distributions on simulated images of disks and
bulges produced using radiative transfer calculations and the model of Popescu
et al. 2011. We found that dust has the effect of lowering the measured Sersic
index in most cases, with stronger effects for disks and bulges seen through
more optically thick lines of sight.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of the IAU Symposium
No.284, "The Spectral Energy Distribution of Galaxies", 5-9 sept. 2011,
editors Richard J. Tuffs and Cristina C. Popesc
Calcium signalling links MYC to NUAK1
NUAK1 is a member of the AMPK-related family of kinases. Recent evidence suggests that NUAK1 is an important regulator of cell adhesion and migration, cellular and organismal metabolism, and regulation of TAU stability. As such, NUAK1 may play key roles in multiple diseases ranging from neurodegeneration to diabetes and metastatic cancer. Previous work revealed a crucial role for NUAK1 in supporting viability of tumour cells specifically when MYC is overexpressed. This role is surprising, given that NUAK1 is activated by the tumour suppressor LKB1. Here we show that, in tumour cells lacking LKB1, NUAK1 activity is maintained by an alternative pathway involving calcium-dependent activation of PKCα. Calcium/PKCα-dependent activation of NUAK1 supports engagement of the AMPK-TORC1 metabolic checkpoint, thereby protecting tumour cells from MYC-driven cell death, and indeed, MYC selects for this pathway in part via transcriptional regulation of PKCα and ITPR. Our data point to a novel role for calcium in supporting tumour cell viability and clarify the synthetic lethal interaction between NUAK1 and MYC
Bimodality in low-luminosity E and S0 galaxies
Stellar population characteristics are presented for a sample of low-luminosity early-type galaxies (LLEs) in order to compare them with their more luminous counterparts. Long-slit spectra of a sample of 10 LLEs were taken with the ESO New Technology Telescope, selected for their low luminosities. Line strengths were measured on the Lick standard system. Lick indices for these LLEs were correlated with velocity dispersion (σ), alongside published data for a variety of Hubble types. The LLEs were found to fall below an extrapolation of the correlation for luminous ellipticals and were consistent with the locations of spiral bulges in plots of line strengths versus σ. Luminosity weighted average ages, metallicities and abundance ratios were estimated from χ2 fitting of 19 Lick indices to predictions from simple stellar population models. The LLEs appear younger than luminous ellipticals and of comparable ages to spiral bulges. These LLEs show a bimodal metallicity distribution, consisting of a low-metallicity group (possibly misclassified dwarf spheroidal galaxies) and a high-metallicity group (similar to spiral bulges). Finally, they have low α-element to iron peak abundance ratios indicative of slow, extended star formation
A Bayesian framework for verification and recalibration of ensemble forecasts: How uncertain is NAO predictability?
Predictability estimates of ensemble prediction systems are uncertain due to
limited numbers of past forecasts and observations. To account for such
uncertainty, this paper proposes a Bayesian inferential framework that provides
a simple 6-parameter representation of ensemble forecasting systems and the
corresponding observations. The framework is probabilistic, and thus allows for
quantifying uncertainty in predictability measures such as correlation skill
and signal-to-noise ratios. It also provides a natural way to produce
recalibrated probabilistic predictions from uncalibrated ensembles forecasts.
The framework is used to address important questions concerning the skill of
winter hindcasts of the North Atlantic Oscillation for 1992-2011 issued by the
Met Office GloSea5 climate prediction system. Although there is much
uncertainty in the correlation between ensemble mean and observations, there is
strong evidence of skill: the 95% credible interval of the correlation
coefficient of [0.19,0.68] does not overlap zero. There is also strong evidence
that the forecasts are not exchangeable with the observations: With over 99%
certainty, the signal-to-noise ratio of the forecasts is smaller than the
signal-to-noise ratio of the observations, which suggests that raw forecasts
should not be taken as representative scenarios of the observations. Forecast
recalibration is thus required, which can be coherently addressed within the
proposed framework.Comment: 36 pages, 10 figure
Chandra Observations of "The Antennae" Galaxies (NGC 4038/39)
We report the results of a deep Chandra ACIS pointing at the merging system
NGC 4038/39. We detect an extraordinarily luminous population of X-ray sources,
with luminosity well above that of XRBs in M31 and the Milky Way. If these
sources are unbeamed XRBs, our observations may point to them being 10-100Mo
black hole counterparts. We detect an X-ray bright hot ISM, with features
including bright superbubbles associated with the actively star-forming knots,
regions where hot and warm (H) ISM intermingle, and a large-scale
outflow.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap
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