8,141 research outputs found

    Discovery of a bright eclipsing cataclysmic variable

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    We report on the discovery of J0644+3344, a bright deeply eclipsing cataclysmic variable (CV) binary. Spectral signatures of both binary components and an accretion disk can be seen at optical wavelengths. The optical spectrum shows broad H I, He I, and He II accretion disk emission lines with deep narrow absorption components from H I, He I, Mg II and Ca II. The absorption lines are seen throughout the orbital period, disappearing only during primary eclipse. These absorption lines are either the the result of an optically-thick inner accretion disk or from the photosphere of the primary star. Radial velocity measurements show that the H I, He I, and Mg II absorption lines phase with the the primary star, while weak absorption features in the continuum phase with the secondary star. Radial velocity solutions give a 150+/-4 km/s semi-amplitude for the primary star and 192.8+/-5.6 km/s for the secondary. The individual stellar masses are 0.63-0.69 Mdot for the primary and 0.49-0.54 Mdot for the secondary. The bright eclipsing nature of this binary has helped provide masses for both components with an accuracy rarely achieved for CVs. This binary most closely resembles a nova-like UX UMa or SW Sex type of CV. J0644+3344, however, has a longer orbital period than most UX UMa or SW Sex stars. Assuming an evolution toward shorter orbital periods, J0644+3344 is therefore likely to be a young interacting binary. The secondary star is consistent with the size and spectral type of a K8 star, but has an M0 mass.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figure, accepted for publication in A&

    VV Pup in a low state: secondary-star irradiation or stellar activity?

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    Aims. Emission lines in polars show complex profiles with multiple components that are typically ascribed to the accretion stream, threading region, accretion spot, and the irradiated secondary-star. In low-state polars the fractional contribution by the accretion stream, and the accretion spot is greatly reduced offering an opportunity to study the effect of the secondary-star irradiation or stellar activity. We observed VV Pup during an exceptional low-state to study and constrain the properties of the line-forming regions and to search for evidence of chromospheric activity and/or irradiation. Methods. We obtained phase-resolved optical spectra at the ESO VLT+FORS1 with the aim of analyzing the emission line profile and radial velocity as a function of the orbital period. We also tailored irradiated secondary-star models to compare the predicted and the observed emission lines and to establish the nature of the line-forming regions. Results. Our observations and data analysis, when combined with models of the irradiated secondary-star, show that, while the weak low ionization metal lines (FeI and MgI) may be consistent with irradiation processes, the dominant Balmer H emission lines, as well as NaI and HeI, cannot be reproduced by the irradiated secondary-star models. We favor the secondary-star chromospheric activity as the main forming region and cause of the observed H, NaI, and He emission lines, though a threading region very close to the L1 point cannot be excluded.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, in press on A&

    Comparative and integrative single cell analysis reveals new insights into the transcriptional immaturity of stem cell-derived β cells

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    Diabetes cell replacement therapy has the potential to be transformed by human pluripotent stem cell-derived β cells (SC-β cells). However, the precise identity of SC-β cells in relationship to primary fetal and adult β-cells remains unclear. Here, we used single-cell sequencing datasets to characterize the transcriptional identity of islets from in vitro differentiation, fetal islets, and adult islets. Our analysis revealed that SC-β cells share a core β-cell transcriptional identity with human adult and fetal β-cells, however SC-β cells possess a unique transcriptional profile characterized by the persistent expression and activation of progenitor and neural-biased gene networks. These networks are present in SC-β cells, irrespective of the derivation protocol used. Notably, fetal β-cells also exhibit this neural signature at the transcriptional level. Our findings offer insights into the transcriptional identity of SC-β cells and underscore the need for further investigation of the role of neural transcriptional networks in their development

    Correcting the z~8 Galaxy Luminosity Function for Gravitational Lensing Magnification Bias

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    We present a Bayesian framework to account for the magnification bias from both strong and weak gravitational lensing in estimates of high-redshift galaxy luminosity functions. We illustrate our method by estimating the z8z\sim8 UV luminosity function using a sample of 97 Y-band dropouts (Lyman break galaxies) found in the Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies (BoRG) survey and from the literature. We find the luminosity function is well described by a Schechter function with characteristic magnitude of M=19.850.35+0.30M^\star = -19.85^{+0.30}_{-0.35}, faint-end slope of α=1.720.29+0.30\alpha = -1.72^{+0.30}_{-0.29}, and number density of log10Ψ[Mpc3]=3.000.31+0.23\log_{10} \Psi^\star [\textrm{Mpc}^{-3}] = -3.00^{+0.23}_{-0.31}. These parameters are consistent within the uncertainties with those inferred from the same sample without accounting for the magnification bias, demonstrating that the effect is small for current surveys at z8z\sim8, and cannot account for the apparent overdensity of bright galaxies compared to a Schechter function found recently by Bowler et al. (2014a,b) and Finkelstein et al. (2014). We estimate that the probability of finding a strongly lensed z8z\sim8 source in our sample is in the range 315%\sim 3-15 \% depending on limiting magnitude. We identify one strongly-lensed candidate and three cases of intermediate lensing in BoRG (estimated magnification μ>1.4\mu>1.4) in addition to the previously known candidate group-scale strong lens. Using a range of theoretical luminosity functions we conclude that magnification bias will dominate wide field surveys -- such as those planned for the Euclid and WFIRST missions -- especially at z>10z>10. Magnification bias will need to be accounted for in order to derive accurate estimates of high-redshift luminosity functions in these surveys and to distinguish between galaxy formation models.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 20 pages, 13 figure

    Hidden Double-Peaked Emitters in Seyfert 2 Galaxies

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    We present the detection of extremely broad, double-peaked, highly polarized Halpha emission lines in the nuclei of the well-known Seyfert 2 galaxies NGC 2110 and NGC 5252. These hidden broad Halpha emission lines, visible only in scattered light, are shown to display significant variability in strength and profile on timescales of <~ 1 yr. That the broad emission line exhibits variability in polarized flux also suggests that the scattering region must be very compact, possibly confined in a small number of electron clouds <~ 1 lt-yr in size. Our observational constraints place these clouds within ~10 pc of the nucleus with temperatures < 10^6 K and densities ~ 10^7 cm^-3, consistent with a region just outside the obscuring torus between the broad-line region and narrow-line region. These scattering clouds could arise from the clumpy torus itself. These findings and other properties indicate that NGC 2110 and NGC 5252 are the hidden counterparts to the broad-line double-peaked emission-line AGNs, whose examples include Arp 102B and 3C 332.Comment: 11 pages in emulateapj; ApJ vol. 711, 2010 March 10; v2: minor corrections to text for consistency with published versio

    The bright-end galaxy candidates at z ~ 9 from 79 independent HST fields

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    We present a full data analysis of the pure-parallel Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging observations in the Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies Survey (BoRG[z9]) in Cycle 22. The medium-deep exposures with five HST/WFC3IR+UVIS filter bands from 79 independent sightlines (~370 arcmin^2) provide the least biased determination of number density for z>9 bright galaxies against cosmic variance. After a strict two-step selection for candidate galaxies, including dropout color and photometric redshift analyses, and revision of previous BoRG candidates, we identify one source at z~10 and two sources at z~9. The z~10 candidate shows evidence of line-of-sight lens magnification (mu~1.5), yet it appears surprisingly luminous (MUV ~ -22.6\pm0.3 mag), making it one of the brightest candidates at z > 8 known (~ 0.3 mag brighter than the z = 8.68 galaxy EGSY8p7, spectroscopically confirmed by Zitrin and collaborators). For z ~ 9 candidates, we include previous data points at fainter magnitudes and find that the data are well fitted by a Schechter luminosity function with alpha ~ -2.1, MUV ~ -21.5 mag, and log phi ~ -4.5 Mpc^-3mag^-1, for the first time without fixing any parameters. The inferred cosmic star formation rate density is consistent with unaccelerated evolution from lower redshift.Comment: 18pages, 7figures, 6tables. accepted to the Astrophysical Journa

    Bright galaxies at Hubble's redshift detection frontier: Preliminary results and design from the redshift z~9-10 BoRG pure-parallel HST survey

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    We present the first results and design from the redshift z~9-10 Brightest of the Reionizing Galaxies {\it Hubble Space Telescope} survey BoRG[z9-10], aimed at searching for intrinsically luminous unlensed galaxies during the first 700 Myr after the Big Bang. BoRG[z9-10] is the continuation of a multi-year pure-parallel near-IR and optical imaging campaign with the Wide Field Camera 3. The ongoing survey uses five filters, optimized for detecting the most distant objects and offering continuous wavelength coverage from {\lambda}=0.35{\mu}m to {\lambda}=1.7{\mu}m. We analyze the initial ~130 arcmin2^2 of area over 28 independent lines of sight (~25% of the total planned) to search for z>7 galaxies using a combination of Lyman break and photometric redshift selections. From an effective comoving volume of (5-25) times105times 10^5 Mpc3^3 for magnitudes brighter than mAB=26.524.0m_{AB}=26.5-24.0 in the H160H_{160}-band respectively, we find five galaxy candidates at z~8.3-10 detected at high confidence (S/N>8), including a source at z~8.4 with mAB=24.5 (S/N~22), which, if confirmed, would be the brightest galaxy identified at such early times (z>8). In addition, BoRG[z9-10] data yield four galaxies with 7.3z87.3 \lesssim z \lesssim 8. These new Lyman break galaxies with m26.5\lesssim26.5 are ideal targets for follow-up observations from ground and space based observatories to help investigate the complex interplay between dark matter growth, galaxy assembly, and reionization.Comment: Accepted for publication on ApJ. 21 pages, 11 figures, 4 table

    The surprising Far-UV spectrum of the polar BY Camelopardalis

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    We report on the first far-UV observations of the asynchronous polar BY Cam made by the Far-Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE). The source is known to exhibit the most extreme NV/CIV emission resonance line ratio observed among polars. The FUSE observations reveal a OVI resonance line weaker than in the prototype of polars, AM Her, with the absence of a detectable narrow component. The OVI broad line is detected with an equivalent width of the same order as in AM Her, the blueward doublet component is clearly present but the redward component is strongly affected by H2 absorption. The presence of a strong NIII line and weak CIII lines also confirms the peculiar CNO line flux. We compare the resonance CNO line intensities with the predictions of the CLOUDY plasma code coupled to a geometrical model of the accretion column. Varying the temperature and/or intensity of the ionising spectrum is unable to reproduce the observed broad line ratios. A solution is obtained by significantly altering the element abundances with a strong depletion of C, overabundance of N and a weak underabundance of O. This confirms previous suggestions of non-solar abundances which may result from redistribution in the accreted material following nova outbursts and/or the secondary nuclear evolution. A very significant H2 absorption is observed in front of the source, a possible indication for either the existence of a dense interstellar cloud or of circumstellar material.Comment: 6 pages, 4 Postscript figures, accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysics, uses aa.st

    Constraining Lyman-alpha spatial offsets at 3<z<5.53<z<5.5 from VANDELS slit spectroscopy

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    We constrain the distribution of spatially offset Lyman-alpha emission (Lyα\alpha) relative to rest-frame ultraviolet emission in 300\sim300 high redshift (3<z<5.53<z<5.5) Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) exhibiting Lyα\alpha emission from VANDELS, a VLT/VIMOS slit-spectroscopic survey of the CANDELS Ultra Deep Survey and Chandra Deep Field South fields (0.2 deg2{\simeq0.2}~\mathrm{deg}^2 total). Because slit spectroscopy compresses two-dimensional spatial information into one spatial dimension, we use Bayesian inference to recover the underlying Lyα\alpha spatial offset distribution. We model the distribution using a 2D circular Gaussian, defined by a single parameter σr,Lyα\sigma_{r,\mathrm{Ly}\alpha}, the standard deviation expressed in polar coordinates. Over the entire redshift range of our sample (3<z<5.53<z<5.5), we find σr,Lyα=1.700.08+0.09\sigma_{r,\mathrm{Ly}\alpha}=1.70^{+0.09}_{-0.08} kpc (68%68\% conf.), corresponding to 0.25\sim0.25 arcsec at z=4.5\langle z\rangle=4.5. We also find that σr,Lyα\sigma_{r,\mathrm{Ly}\alpha} decreases significantly with redshift. Because Lyα\alpha spatial offsets can cause slit-losses, the decrease in σr,Lyα\sigma_{r,\mathrm{Ly}\alpha} with redshift can partially explain the increase in the fraction of Lyα\alpha emitters observed in the literature over this same interval, although uncertainties are still too large to reach a strong conclusion. If σr,Lyα\sigma_{r,\mathrm{Ly}\alpha} continues to decrease into the reionization epoch, then the decrease in Lyα\alpha transmission from galaxies observed during this epoch might require an even higher neutral hydrogen fraction than what is currently inferred. Conversely, if spatial offsets increase with the increasing opacity of the IGM, slit losses may explain some of the drop in Lyα\alpha transmission observed at z>6z>6. Spatially resolved observations of Lyα\alpha and UV continuum at 6<z<86<z<8 are needed to settle the issue.Comment: Submitted to MNRA

    Sprouty2 mediated tuning of signalling is essential for somite myogenesis

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    Background: Negative regulators of signal transduction cascades play critical roles in controlling different aspects of normal embryonic development. Sprouty2 (Spry2) negatively regulates receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) and FGF signalling and is important in differentiation, cell migration and proliferation. In vertebrate embryos, Spry2 is expressed in paraxial mesoderm and in forming somites. Expression is maintained in the myotome until late stages of somite differentiation. However, its role and mode of action during somite myogenesis is still unclear. Results: Here, we analysed chick Spry2 expression and showed that it overlaps with that of myogenic regulatory factors MyoD and Mgn. Targeted mis-expression of Spry2 led to inhibition of myogenesis, whilst its C-terminal domain led to an increased number of myogenic cells by stimulating cell proliferation. Conclusions: Spry2 is expressed in somite myotomes and its expression overlaps with myogenic regulatory factors. Overexpression and dominant-negative interference showed that Spry2 plays a crucial role in regulating chick myogenesis by fine tuning of FGF signaling through a negative feedback loop. We also propose that mir-23, mir-27 and mir-128 could be part of the negative feedback loop mechanism. Our analysis is the first to shed some light on in vivo Spry2 function during chick somite myogenesis
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