8,874 research outputs found
How young are early-type cluster galaxies ? Quantifying the young stellar component in a rich cluster at z=0.41
We present a new method of quantifying the mass fraction of young stars in
galaxies by analyzing near-ultraviolet (NUV)-optical colors. We focus our
attention on early-type cluster galaxies, whose star formation history is at
present undetermined. Rest-frame NUV (F300W) and optical (F702W) images of
cluster Abell 851 (z=0.41) using HST/WFPC2 allow us to determine a NUV-optical
color-magnitude relation, whose slope is incompatible with a monolithic
scenario for star formation at high redshift. A degeneracy between a young
stellar component and its fractional mass contribution to the galaxy is found,
and a photometric analysis comparing the data with the predictions for a simple
two-stage star formation history is presented. The analysis shows that some of
the early-type galaxies may have fractions higher than 10% of the total mass
content in stars formed at z~0.5. An increased scatter is found in the
color-magnitude relation at the faint end, resulting in a significant fraction
of faint blue early-type systems. This would imply that less massive galaxies
undergo more recent episodes of star formation, and this can be explained in
terms of a positive correlation between star formation efficiency and
luminosity.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters. Uses emulateapj.sty. 5 pages
with 3 embedded EPS figure
Explaining the entropy excess in clusters and groups of galaxies without additional heating
The X-ray luminosity and temperature of clusters and groups of galaxies do
not scale in a self-similar manner. This has often been interpreted as a sign
that the intracluster medium has been substantially heated by non-gravitational
sources. In this paper, we propose a simple model which, instead, uses the
properties of galaxy formation to explain the observations. Drawing on
available observations, we show that there is evidence that the efficiency of
galaxy formation was higher in groups than in clusters. If confirmed, this
would deplete the low-entropy gas in groups, increase their central entropy and
decrease their X-ray luminosity. A simple, empirical, hydrostatic model appears
to match both the luminosity-temperature relation of clusters and properties of
their internal structure as well.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted in ApJL; added one reference, otherwise
unchange
Interferometric thermometry of a single sub-Doppler cooled atom
Efficient self-interference of single-photons emitted by a sideband-cooled
Barium ion is demonstrated. First, the technical tools for performing efficient
coupling to the quadrupolar transition of a single Ba ion are
presented. We show efficient Rabi oscillations of the internal state of the ion
using a highly stabilized 1.76 fiber laser resonant with the
S-D transition. We then show sideband cooling of the ion's
motional modes and use it as a means to enhance the interference contrast of
the ion with its mirror-image to up to 90%. Last, we measure the dependence of
the self-interference contrast on the mean phonon number, thereby demonstrating
the potential of the set-up for single-atom thermometry close to the motional
ground state.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
ACCESS - V. Dissecting ram-pressure stripping through integral-field spectroscopy and multi-band imaging
We study the case of a bright (L>L*) barred spiral galaxy from the rich
cluster A3558 in the Shapley supercluster core (z=0.05) undergoing ram-pressure
stripping. Integral-field spectroscopy, complemented by multi-band imaging,
allows us to reveal the impact of ram pressure on the interstellar medium. We
study in detail the kinematics and the physical conditions of the ionized gas
and the properties of the stellar populations. We observe one-sided extraplanar
ionized gas along the full extent of the galaxy disc. Narrow-band Halpha
imaging resolves this outflow into a complex of knots and filaments. The gas
velocity field is complex with the extraplanar gas showing signature of
rotation. In all parts of the galaxy, we find a significant contribution from
shock excitation, as well as emission powered by star formation. Shock-ionized
gas is associated with the turbulent gas outflow and highly attenuated by dust.
All these findings cover the whole phenomenology of early-stage ram-pressure
stripping. Intense, highly obscured star formation is taking place in the
nucleus, probably related to the bar, and in a region 12 kpc South-West from
the centre. In the SW region we identify a starburst characterized by a 5x
increase in the star-formation rate over the last ~100 Myr, possibly related to
the compression of the interstellar gas by the ram pressure. The scenario
suggested by the observations is supported and refined by ad hoc
N-body/hydrodynamical simulations which identify a rather narrow temporal range
for the onset of ram-pressure stripping around t~60 Myr ago, and an angle
between the galaxy rotation axis and the intra-cluster medium wind of ~45 deg.
Taking into account that the galaxy is found ~1 Mpc from the cluster centre in
a relatively low-density region, this study shows that ram-pressure stripping
still acts efficiently on massive galaxies well outside the cluster cores.Comment: 46 pages, 21 figures, accepted for publication; MNRAS 201
Magellan Spectroscopy of the Galaxy Cluster RX J1347.5-1145: Redshift Estimates for the Gravitationally Lensed Arcs
We present imaging and spectroscopic observations of the gravitationally
lensed arcs in the field of RX J1347.5-1145, the most X-ray luminous galaxy
cluster known. Based on the detection of the [OII] 3727 emission line, we
confirm that the redshift of one of the arcs is z = 0.806. Its color and [OII]
line strength are consistent with those of distant, actively star forming
galaxies. In a second arc, we tentatively identify a pair of absorption lines
superposed on a red continuum; the lines are consistent with Ca II H & K at z =
0.785. We detected a faint blue continuum in two additional arcs, but no
spectral line features could be measured. We establish lower limits to their
redshifts based on the absence of [OII] emission, which we argue should be
present and detectable in these objects. Redshifts are also given for a number
of galaxies in the field of the cluster.Comment: To appear in The Astrophysical Journal (September 2002). 6 page
Dark Matter and Baryon Fraction at the Virial Radius in Abell 2256
We combine ASCA and ROSAT X-ray data to constrain the radial dark matter
distribution in the primary cluster of A2256, free from the isothermality
assumption. Both instruments indicate that the temperature declines with
radius. The region including the central galaxy has a multicomponent spectrum,
which results in a wide range of allowed central temperatures. We find that the
secondary subcluster has a temperature and luminosity typical of a rich
cluster; however, the ASCA temperature map shows no signs of an advanced
merger. It is therefore assumed that the primary cluster is in hydrostatic
equilibrium. The data then require dark matter density profiles steeper than
rho ~ r^-2.5 in its outer part. Acceptable models have a total mass within
r=1.5 Mpc (the virial radius) of 6.0+-1.5 10^14 Msun at the 90% confidence,
about 1.6 times smaller than the mass derived assuming isothermality. Near the
center, dark matter profiles with and without central cusps are consistent with
the data. Total mass inside the X-ray core (r=0.26 Mpc) is 1.28+-0.08 10^14
Msun, which exceeds the isothermal value by a factor of 1.4. Although the
confidence intervals above may be underestimates since they do not include
possible asymmetry and departures from hydrostatic equilibrium, the behavior of
the mass distribution, if applicable to other clusters, can bring into better
agreement X-ray and lensing mass estimates, but aggravate the ``baryon
catastrophe''. The observed considerable increase in the gas content with
radius, not anticipated by simulations, may imply that a significant fraction
of thermal gas energy comes from sources other than gravity and merger shocks.Comment: Added dynamic argument against advanced merger. Latex, 10 pages, 3
figures; uses emulateapj.sty. ApJ in pres
DAC-Less amplifier-less generation and transmission of QAM signals using sub-volt silicon-organic hybrid modulators
We demonstrate generation and transmission of optical signals by directly interfacing highly efficient silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) modulators to binary output ports of a field-programmable gate array. Using an SOH Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) and an SOH IQ modulator we generate ON-OFF- keying and binary phase-shift keying signals as well as quadrature phase-shift keying and 16-state quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) formats. Peak-to-peak voltages amount to only 0.27 V-pp for driving the MZM and 0.41 V-pp for the IQ modulator. Neither digital-to-analog converters nor drive amplifiers are required, and the RF energy consumption in the modulator amounts to record-low 18 fJ/bit for 16QAM signaling
J1420--0545: The radio galaxy larger than 3C236
We report the discovery of the largest giant radio galaxy, J1420-0545: a FR
type II radio source with an angular size of 17.4' identified with an optical
galaxy at z=0.3067. Thus, the projected linear size of the radio structure is
4.69 Mpc (if we assume that H_{0}=71 km\s\Mpc, Omega_{m}=0.27, and
Omega_{\Lambda}=0.73). This makes it larger than 3C236, which is the largest
double radio source known to date. New radio observations with the 100 m
Effelsberg telescope and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope, as well as
optical identification with a host galaxy and its optical spectroscopy with the
William Herschel Telescope are reported. The spectrum of J1420-0545 is typical
of elliptical galaxies in which continuum emission with the characteristic
4000A discontinuity and the H and K absorption lines are dominated by evolved
stars. The dynamical age of the source, its jets' power, the energy density,
and the equipartition magnetic field are calculated and compared with the
corresponding parameters of other giant and normal-sized radio galaxies from a
comparison sample. The source is characterized by the exceptionally low density
of the surrounding IGM and an unexpectedly high expansion speed of the source
along the jet axis. All of these may suggest a large inhomogeneity of the IGM.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, 3 table
Atom-atom entanglement by single-photon detection
A scheme for entangling distant atoms is realized, as proposed in the seminal
paper by Cabrillo et al. [Phys. Rev. A 59, 1025 (1999)]. The protocol is based
on quantum interference and detection of a single photon scattered from two
effectively one meter distant laser-cooled and trapped atomic ions. The
detection of a single photon heralds entanglement of two internal states of the
trapped ions with high rate and with a fidelity limited mostly by atomic
motion. Control of the entangled state phase is demonstrated by changing the
path length of the single-photon interferometer
UV Imaging of the Galaxy Cluster CL0939+4713 (Abell 851) at z=0.41
The first UV F300W and F218W WFPC2 observations of the rich galaxy cluster
CL0939+4713 at z=0.41 are presented and discussed. UV/optical two-color and c-m
diagrams of the sources detected in the F300W waveband are constructed. Thanks
to pre-existing HST optical images of the same field a morphological
classification for the majority of these objects is also provided. Moreover,
taking advantage of recent redshift surveys along CL0939+4713 line of sight,
separate diagrams comparing the properties of galaxies belonging to the cluster
and to its close projected field are presented. Possible evolutionary effects
in the UV from z~0.4 to present time are investigated by comparing the
restframe [mid-UV-Optical] colors of galaxies in CL0939+4713 with balloon-borne
data of the Coma cluster, as well as by resorting to suitable galaxy evolution
models. Finally, current attempts to constrain the epoch of the UV-upturn onset
in evolved populations by means of HST UV observations are discussed.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX, with 6 PostScript figures, Submitted to The
Astrophysical Journal, Figures 1 and 2 have lower resolution than the ApJ
submitted versio
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