Progettazione ed installazione di tre telecamere di sorveglianza per il monitoraggio dell’attività dell’Etna nel periodo Luglio-Agosto 2001

La sorveglianza visiva dei vulcani attivi siciliani è una delle attività dell’unità funzionale monitoraggio dell’INGV di Catania e consiste nel monitoraggio video continuo di detti vulcani mediante stazioni permanenti. A seguito dell’attività dell’Etna del Luglio-Agosto 2001, la stazione video che riprendeva i crateri sommitali del vulcano, posta in località La Montagnola, è stata completamente distrutta dall'attività esplosiva ed eruttiva della nuova bocca venutasi a creare a quota 2550 m. s.l.m. a ridosso del fianco settentrionale de La Montagnola. In questo lavoro è stata rappresentata l’opera di progettazione, realizzazione ed installazione di tre stazioni video, una prossimale e due periferiche, per consentire una visione completa e continua di detta attività eruttiva. La prima telecamera è stata installata al Centro Operativo Acquisizione Dati (CUAD) di Catania, la seconda in località Rifugio Sapienza sul tetto dell’Hotel Corsaro e la terza è stata posizionata al Comune di Milo nell'edificio comunale

ISO Detection of CO⁺ toward the protostar IRAS 16293-2422

In this letter we report the detection of eight high-N rotational transitions of CO+ towards a low mass protostar, IRAS 16293-2422. The source was observed with the Long Wavelength Spectrometer on board the Infrared Space Observatory. This is the first time that CO+ has been detected in a low luminosity source and the first time that high-N lines have been detected in any source. The detection of these lines was not predicted by models and consequently, their interpretation is a challenge. We discuss the possibility that the observed CO+ emission originates in the dense inner regions illuminated by the UV field created in the accretion shock (formed by infalling material), and conclude that this is an improbable explanation. We have also considered the possibility that a strong, dissociative J-shock at ~ 500 AU from the star is the origin of the CO+ emission. This model predicts CO+ column densities in rough agreement with the observations if the magnetic field is ~ 1 mG and the shock velocity is 100 km s-1

Detection of CO⁺ with ISO towards the protostar IRAS16293-242

We observed the low luminosity (and low mass) protostar IRAS16293-2422 with the Long Wavelength Spectrometer on board the Infrared Space Observatory. The observed line spectrum is very reach and shows transitions of several molecules and atoms. Here we report the detection of eight high-N rotational transitions of CO+. This is the first time that CO+ has been detected in a low luminosity source and the first time that high-N lines have been detected in any source. The detection of these lines was not predicted by models and consequently, their interpretation is a challenge. We discuss the possibility that the observed CO+ emission originates in the dense inner regions illuminated by the UV field created in the accretion shock (formed by infalling material), and conclude that this is an improbable explanation. We have also considered the possibility that a strong, dissociative J-shock at ~500 AU from the star is the origin of the CO+ emission. This model predicts CO+ column densities in rough agreement with the observations if the magnetic field is ~1 mG and the shock velocity is 100 km s-1

Shocks and PDRs in an intermediate mass star forming globule: the case of IC1396N

The dark globule IC1396N is a typical example of a star formation process induced by radiation driven implosion due to the strong UV field from a nearby O6 star. The IRAS source embedded in the globule and its associated molecular outflow have been observed with the Long Wavelength Spectrometer (LWS) on ISO revealing an extremely rich spectrum including: CO rotational lines from J=14-13 up to J=28-27, rotational lines from ortho-H2O, OH lines involving the first four rotational levels of both ladders, atomic (OI 63μm, OI 145μm) and ionic (CII 157μm, OIII 52μm, OIII 88μm) lines. A complex picture arises, where an externally illuminated PDR coexists with strong C-shocks within IC1396N and whose origin is not clear

High-J CO line emission from young stellar objects: from ISO to FIRST

we present the CO pure rotational spectrum at high J (Jup14) obtained with the Long Wavelength Spectrometer (LWS) on board of the ISO satellite towards molecular outflows exciting sources in nearby star formation regions. The physical conditions, derived using an LVG model for the line emission, indicate the presence of warm and dense gas, probably shock excited. The model fits show that often the bulk of this CO emission is expected in the spectral range that will be covered by FIRST, indicating the potentiality of this satellite to trace the warm component of gas emission in young stellar objects

ISO-LWS grating spectroscopy: the case of R CrA star forming region

We present the far infrared spectra of the R CrA star forming region obtained with ISO-LWS. We collected a pointed observation on the Herbig Ae star R CrA and a raster scan covering the surrounding region, where HH100 (with its exciting source) and the pre-Main Sequence star T CrA are located. The OI 63μm and the CII 158μm lines have been detected in all the pointed positions, with a ratio consistent with PDR excitation. CO rotational lines (between Jup=14 and Jup=19) are detected on R CrA; from their intensities we derived, using a LVG model, the density and temperature of the emitting region. Other molecular transitions (OH and H2O) have been detected on the investigated objects; the derived cooling of all the molecular species is in agreement with C-shock as the likely excitation mechanism. The continuum emission of R CrA peaks around 100μm (as expected for a Herbig star) while the other sources (T CrA, HH100) show increasing continua up to ~200μm, indicating that they are probably less evolved sources

ISO-LWS observations of IRAS16293-2422

We obtained LWS grating spectra toward IRAS 16293-2422 and the surrounding region, which covers the entire extent of the molecular outflow. The LWS spectra show that the region is relatively uncontaminated by PhotoDissociationRegion (PDR)-like emission, showing only a weak diffuse CII emission. The on-source spectrum revealed the presence of the OI(63μm) line and several lines from CO, H2O and OH molecules. In this work we derive the macroscopic quantities associated with the UV-illuminated emitting gas which surrounds IRAS16293-2422 and compare it with previous studies. We show that the molecular lines originate in a hot (~1600 K), dense (~ 3·104cm-3) and extended (~ 8·1016cm) region, that we interprete as the shock of the wind impacting obliquely with the walls of the cavity created by the wind itself. The OI(63μm) line observed by the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO: Ceccarelli et al. 1997a) at ~ 1.2·1017cm west from the central source is hence interpreted as the head of the shock where the wind strikes the ambient gas. Finally we speculate that the OI(63μm) line emission seen on-source originates in the collapsing envelope that surrounds the central object(s

Hippocampal Dendritic Spines Modifications Induced by Perinatal Asphyxia

Perinatal asphyxia (PA) affects the synaptic function and morphological organization. In previous works, we have shown neuronal and synaptic changes in rat neostriatum subjected to hypoxia leading to long-term ubi-protein accumulation. Since F-actin is highly concentrated in dendritic spines, modifications in its organization could be related with alterations induced by hypoxia in the central nervous system (CNS). In the present study, we investigate the effects of PA on the actin cytoskeleton of hippocampal postsynaptic densities (PSD) in 4-month-old rats. PSD showed an increment in their thickness and in the level of ubiquitination. Correlative fluorescence-electron microscopy photooxidation showed a decrease in the number of F-actin-stained spines in hippocampal excitatory synapses subjected to PA. Although Western Blot analysis also showed a slight decrease in β-actin in PSD in PA animals, the difference was not significant. Taken together, this data suggests that long-term actin cytoskeleton might have role in PSD alterations which would be a spread phenomenon induced by PA

Strong H₂O and high-<i>J</i> CO emission towards the Class 0 protostar L1448-mm

The spectrum of the Class 0 source L1448-mm has been measured over the wavelength range extending from 6 to 190 μm with the Long Wavelength Spectrometer (LWS) and the Short Wavelength Spectrometer (SWS) on the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). The far infrared spectrum is dominated by strong emission from gaseous H2O and from CO transitions with rotational quantum numbers J ≥ 14; in addition, the H2 pure rotational lines S(3), S(4) and S(5), the OH fundamental line at 119 μm, as well as emission from [O I]63 μm and [C II] 158 μm are also observed. The strong CO and water emission can be consistently explained as originating in a warm gas component at T ~ 700-1400 K and nH2~(3-50) 104cm-3 , which fills about 0.2-2% of the ~ 75" LWS field of view (corresponding, assuming a single emitting region, to a physical size of about (3-12)" or (0.5-2) 10-2 pc at d = 300 pc). We derive an H2O/CO abundance ratio ~ 5, which, assuming a standard CO/H2 abundance of 10-4, corresponds to H2O/H2 ~ 5 10-4. This value implies that water is enhanced by about a factor ~ 103 with respect to its expected abundance in the ambient gas. This is consistent with models of warm shocked regions which predict that most of the free atomic oxygen will be rapidly converted into water once the temperature of the post-shocked gas exceeds ~ 300 K. The relatively high density and compact size inferred for this emission may suggest an origin in the shocked region along the molecular jet traced by SiO and EHV CO millimeter line emission. Further support is given by the fact that the observed enhancement in H2O can be explained by shock conditions similar to those expected to produce the abundant SiO observed in the region. L1448-mm shows the largest water abundance so far observed by ISO amongst young sources displaying outflow activity; we argue that the occurrence of multiple shocks over a relatively short interval of time, like that evidenced in the surroundings of L1448-mm, could have contributed to enrich the molecular jet with a high H2O column density