13,176 research outputs found
Hybrid receiver study
The results are presented of a 4 month study to design a hybrid analog/digital receiver for outer planet mission probe communication links. The scope of this study includes functional design of the receiver; comparisons between analog and digital processing; hardware tradeoffs for key components including frequency generators, A/D converters, and digital processors; development and simulation of the processing algorithms for acquisition, tracking, and demodulation; and detailed design of the receiver in order to determine its size, weight, power, reliability, and radiation hardness. In addition, an evaluation was made of the receiver's capabilities to perform accurate measurement of signal strength and frequency for radio science missions
Mars: Seasonally variable radar reflectivity
Since reflectivity is a quantity characteristic of a given target at a particular geometry, the same (temporally unchanging) target examined by radar on different occasions should have the same reflectivity. Zisk and Mouginis-Mark noted that the average reflectivities in the Goldstone Mars data increased as the planet's S hemisphere passed from the late spring into early summer. The same data set was re-examined and the presence of the phenomenon of the apparent seasonal variability of radar reflectivity was confirmed. Two objections to these findings are addressed: (1) reflectivity variations may be present in the Goldstone Mars data as a result of an instrument/calibration error; and (2) the variations were introduced into the analysis through comparing reflectivities from two incompatible subsets of the data
PILOT: design and capabilities
The proposed design for PILOT is a general-purpose, wide-field 1 degree 2.4m,
f/10 Ritchey-Chretien telescope, with fast tip-tilt guiding, for use 0.5-25
microns. The design allows both wide-field and diffraction-limited use at these
wavelengths. The expected overall image quality, including median seeing, is
0.28-0.3" FWHM from 0.8-2.4 microns. Point source sensitivities are estimated.Comment: 4 pages, Proceedings of 2nd ARENA conference 'The Astrophysical
Science Cases at Dome C', Potsdam, 17-21 September 200
Clustering of the Diffuse Infrared Light from the COBE DIRBE maps. III. Power spectrum analysis and excess isotropic component of fluctuations
The cosmic infrared background (CIB) radiation is the cosmic repository for
energy release throughout the history of the universe. Using the all-sky data
from the COBE DIRBE instrument at wavelengths 1.25 - 100 mic we attempt to
measure the CIB fluctuations. In the near-IR, foreground emission is dominated
by small scale structure due to stars in the Galaxy. There we find a strong
correlation between the amplitude of the fluctuations and Galactic latitude
after removing bright foreground stars. Using data outside the Galactic plane
() and away from the center () we extrapolate
the amplitude of the fluctuations to cosec. We find a positive intercept
of nW/m2/sr at 1.25, 2.2,3.5 and 4.9 mic
respectively, where the errors are the range of 92% confidence limits. For
color subtracted maps between band 1 and 2 we find the isotropic part of the
fluctuations at nW/m2/sr. Based on detailed numerical and
analytic models, this residual is not likely to originate from the Galaxy, our
clipping algorithm, or instrumental noise. We demonstrate that the residuals
from the fit used in the extrapolation are distributed isotropically and
suggest that this extra variance may result from structure in the CIB. For
2\deg< \theta < 15^\deg, a power-spectrum analysis yields firm upper limits
of (\theta/5^\deg) \times\delta F_{\rm rms} (\theta) < 6, 2.5, 0.8, 0.5
nW/m2/sr at 1.25, 2.2, 3.5 and 4.9 mic respectively. From 10-100 mic, the upper
limits <1 nW/m2/sr.Comment: Ap.J., in press. 69 pages including 24 fig
Luminosity Density of Galaxies and Cosmic Star Formation Rate from Lambda-CDM Hydrodynamical Simulations
We compute the cosmic star formation rate (SFR) and the rest-frame comoving
luminosity density in various pass-bands as a function of redshift using
large-scale \Lambda-CDM hydrodynamical simulations with the aim of
understanding their behavior as a function of redshift. To calculate the
luminosity density of galaxies, we use an updated isochrone synthesis model
which takes metallicity variations into account. The computed SFR and the
UV-luminosity density have a steep rise from z=0 to 1, a moderate plateau
between z=1 - 3, and a gradual decrease beyond z=3. The raw calculated results
are significantly above the observed luminosity density, which can be explained
either by dust extinction or the possibly inappropriate input parameters of the
simulation. We model the dust extinction by introducing a parameter f; the
fraction of the total stellar luminosity (not galaxy population) that is
heavily obscured and thus only appears in the far-infrared to sub-millimeter
wavelength range. When we correct our input parameters, and apply dust
extinction with f=0.65, the resulting luminosity density fits various
observations reasonably well, including the present stellar mass density, the
local B-band galaxy luminosity density, and the FIR-to-submm extragalactic
background. Our result is consistent with the picture that \sim 2/3 of the
total stellar emission is heavily obscured by dust and observed only in the
FIR. The rest of the emission is only moderately obscured which can be observed
in the optical to near-IR wavelength range. We also argue that the steep
falloff of the SFR from z=1 to 0 is partly due to the shock-heating of the
universe at late times, which produces gas which is too hot to easily condense
into star-forming regions.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures. Accepted version in ApJ. Substantially revised
from the previous version. More emphasis on the comparison with various
observations and the hidden star formation by dust extinctio
The Power Spectrum of the PSC Redshift Survey
We measure the redshift-space power spectrum P(k) for the recently completed
IRAS Point Source Catalogue (PSC) redshift survey, which contains 14500
galaxies over 84% of the sky with 60 micron flux >= 0.6 Jansky. Comparison with
simulations shows that our estimated errors on P(k) are realistic, and that
systematic errors due to the finite survey volume are small for wavenumbers k
>~ 0.03 h Mpc^-1. At large scales our power spectrum is intermediate between
those of the earlier QDOT and 1.2 Jansky surveys, but with considerably smaller
error bars; it falls slightly more steeply to smaller scales. We have fitted
families of CDM-like models using the Peacock-Dodds formula for non-linear
evolution; the results are somewhat sensitive to the assumed small-scale
velocity dispersion \sigma_V. Assuming a realistic \sigma_V \approx 300 km/s
yields a shape parameter \Gamma ~ 0.25 and normalisation b \sigma_8 ~ 0.75; if
\sigma_V is as high as 600 km/s then \Gamma = 0.5 is only marginally excluded.
There is little evidence for any `preferred scale' in the power spectrum or
non-Gaussian behaviour in the distribution of large-scale power.Comment: Latex, uses mn.sty, 14 pages including 11 Postscript figures.
Accepted by MNRA
Southern Sky Redshift Survey: Clustering of Local Galaxies
We use the two-point correlation function to calculate the clustering
properties of the recently completed SSRS2 survey. The redshift space
correlation function for the magnitude-limited SSRS2 is given by xi(s)=(s/5.85
h-1 Mpc)^{-1.60} for separations between 2 < s < 11 h-1 Mpc, while our best
estimate for the real space correlation function is xi(r) = (r/5.36 h-1
Mpc)^{-1.86}. Both are comparable to previous measurements using surveys of
optical galaxies over much larger and independent volumes. By comparing the
correlation function calculated in redshift and real space we find that the
redshift distortion on intermediate scales is small. This result implies that
the observed redshift-space distribution of galaxies is close to that in real
space, and that beta = Omega^{0.6}/b < 1, where Omega is the cosmological
density parameter and b is the linear biasing factor for optical galaxies. We
also use the SSRS2 to study the dependence of xi on the internal properties of
galaxies. We confirm earlier results that luminous galaxies (L>L*) are more
clustered than sub-L* galaxies and that the luminosity segregation is
scale-independent. We find that early types are more clustered than late types,
but that in the absence of rich clusters, the relative bias between early and
late types in real space, is not as strong as previously estimated.
Furthermore, both morphologies present a luminosity-dependent bias, with the
early types showing a slightly stronger dependence on luminosity. We also find
that red galaxies are significantly more clustered than blue ones, with a mean
relative bias stronger than that seen for morphology. Finally, we find that the
relative bias between optical and iras galaxies in real space is b_o/b_I
1.4.Comment: 43 pages, uses AASTeX 4.0 macros. Includes 8 tables and 16 Postscript
figures, updated reference
Band structures of rare gas solids within the GW approximation
Band structures for solid rare gases (Ne, Ar) have been calculated using the
GW approximation. All electron and pseudopotential ab initio calculations were
performed using Gaussian orbital basis sets and the dependence of particle-hole
gaps and electron affinities on basis set and treatment of core electrons is
investigated. All electron GW calculations have a smaller particle-hole gap
than pseudopotential GW calculations by up to 0.2 eV. Quasiparticle electron
and hole excitation energies, valence band widths and electron affinities are
generally in very good agreement with those derived from optical absorption and
photoemission measurements.Comment: 7 pages 1 figur
STIS ultraviolet/optical spectroscopy of `warm' ultraluminous infrared galaxies
(Abridged) We present high spatial resolution ultraviolet and optical
spectroscopy, obtained using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on board
the Hubble Space Telescope, of nuclear structures within four `warm'
Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs). We find an AGN in at least three, and
probably all four of our sample, hosted in a compact, optically luminous
`knot'. In three cases these knots were previously identified as a putative AGN
nucleus from multiband optical imaging. Three of the sample also harbor a
starburst in one or more knots, suggesting that the optically luminous knots
seen in local ULIRGs are the most likely sites of the dust-shrouded starburst
and AGN activity that power the infrared emission. The four AGN have a diverse
range of properties; two are classical narrow line AGN, one shows both broad
and narrow lines and evidence for lines of sight from the narrow through to the
broad line regions, and one is plausibly a FeLoBAL AGN. The probable presence
in one object of an FeLoBAL AGN, which are extremely rare in the QSO
population, supports the idea that LoBAL AGN may be youthful systems shrouded
in gas and dust rather than AGN viewed along a certain line of sight. The three
starbursts for which detailed constraints are possible show a smaller range in
properties; all three bursts are young with two having ages of ~4Myr and the
third having an age of 20Myr, suggesting that ULIRGs undergo several bursts of
star formation during their lifetimes. None of the starbursts show evidence for
Initial Mass Function slopes steeper than about 3.3. The metallicities of the
knots for which metallicities can be derived are all at least 1.5 times the
Solar value. The properties of one further starburst knot are consistent with
it being the forming core of an elliptical galaxy.Comment: ApJ, accepte
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