990 research outputs found
Nova Sagittarii 1994 #1 (V4332 Sagittarii): The Discovery and Evolution of an Unusual Luminous Red Variable Star
We report photometry and spectroscopy of the evolution of Nova Sagittarii
1994 #1 (V4332 Sagittarii) during outburst. We compare the photometric and
spectral evolution of this outburst to known classes of outbursts -- including
classical novae and outbursts occurring on symbiotic stars -- and find this
object does NOT conform to any known class of outburst. The closest match to
the behavior of this unusual object is M31 RV, an extremely luminous and red
variable object discovered in the bulge of M31 in 1988. However, the temporal
behavior and maximum luminosity of the two events differ by several orders of
magnitude, requiring substantial intrinsic variation if these two events are
members the same type of outburst.
Our model of the spectroscopic evolution of this outburst shows that the
effective temperature cooled from 4400 K to 2300 K over the three month span of
our observations. In combination with line diagnostics in our later spectra,
including [OI] lambda 5577 and the dramatic increase in the Halpha to Hbeta
ratio, we infer the existence of a cool, dense (N_e ~ 10^{8-9} cm^{-3})
envelope that is optically thick in the Hydrogen Balmer recombination lines
(case C). We suggest that a nuclear event in a single star, in which a slow
shock drove the photosphere outwards, can power the observed luminosity
evolution and the emission spectrum.Comment: Accepted for publication in AJ. 24 pages including 8 embedded
postscript figures. Also available at
http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~martini/pub
Pauli-principle driven correlations in four-neutron nuclear decays
Mechanism of simultaneous non-sequential four-neutron () emission (or
`true' -decay) has been considered in phenomenological five-body approach.
This approach is analogous to the model of the direct decay to the continuum
often applied to - and -decays. It is demonstrated that -decay
fragments should have specific energy and angular correlations reflecting
strong spatial correlations of `valence' nucleons orbiting in their
-precursors. Due to the Pauli exclusion principle, the valence neutrons are
pushed to the symmetry-allowed configurations in the -precursor structure,
which causes a `Pauli focusing' effect. Prospects of the observation of the
Pauli focusing have been considered for the -precursors H and O.
Fingerprints of their nuclear structure or/and decay dynamics are predicted
1 Bounds and Constructions for Granular Media Coding
Abstract—Bounds on the rates of grain-correcting codes are presented. The lower bounds are Gilbert–Varshamov-like ones, whereas the upper bounds improve on the previously known result by Mazumdar et al. Constructions of t-grain-correcting codes of length n for certain values of n and t are discussed. Finally, an infinite family of codes of rate approaching 1 that can detect an arbitrary number of grain errors is shown to exist. Index Terms—convex optimization, Gilbert–Varshamov bound, grain-correcting codes, granular media, lower bounds, magnetic recording, Markov chain, upper bounds. I
2MASS NIR photometry for 693 candidate globular clusters in M31 and the Revised Bologna Catalogue
We have identified in the 2MASS database 693 known and candidate globular
clusters in M31. The 2MASS J,H,K magnitudes of these objects have been
transformed to the same homogeneous photometric system of existing near
infrared photometry of M31 globulars, finally yielding J,H,K integrated
photometry for 279 confirmed M31 clusters, 406 unconfirmed candidates and 8
objects with controversial classification. Of these objects 529 lacked any
previous estimate of their near infrared magnitudes. The newly assembled near
infrared dataset has been implemented into a revised version of the Bologna
Catalogue of M31 globulars, with updated optical (UBVRI) photometry taken, when
possible, from the most recent sources of CCD photometry available in the
literature and transformed to a common photometric system. The final Revised
Bologna Catalogue (available in electronic form) is the most comprehensive list
presently available of confirmed and candidate M31 globular clusters, with a
total of 1164 entries. In particular, it includes 337 confirmed GCs, 688 GC
candidates, 10 objects with controversial classification, 70 confirmed
galaxies, 55 confirmed stars, and 4 HII regions lying within ~3 deg. from the
center of the M31 galaxy. Using the newly assembled database we show that the
V-K color provides a powerful tool to discriminate between M31 clusters and
background galaxies, and we identify a sample of 83 globular cluster
candidates, which is not likely to be contaminated by misclassified galaxies.Comment: 9 pages,5 figures,accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysics ASCII (commented) version of the tables 2,3,4 are available at
http://www.bo.astro.it/M3
Hadronic Regge Trajectories: Problems and Approaches
We scrutinized hadronic Regge trajectories in a framework of two different
models --- string and potential. Our results are compared with broad spectrum
of existing theoretical quark models and all experimental data from PDG98. It
was recognized that Regge trajectories for mesons and baryons are not straight
and parallel lines in general in the current resonance region both
experimentally and theoretically, but very often have appreciable curvature,
which is flavor-dependent. For a set of baryon Regge trajectories this fact is
well described in the considered potential model. The standard string models
predict linear trajectories at high angular momenta J with some form of
nonlinearity at low J.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, LaTe
Optical novae: the major class of supersoft X-ray sources in M 31
We searched for X-ray counterparts of optical novae detected in M 31 and M
33. We combined an optical nova catalogue from the WeCAPP survey with optical
novae reported in the literature and correlated them with the most recent X-ray
catalogues from ROSAT, XMM-Newton and Chandra, and - in addition - searched for
nova correlations in archival data. We report 21 X-ray counterparts for novae
in M 31 - mostly identified as supersoft sources (SSS) by their hardness ratios
- and two in M 33. Our sample more than triples the number of known optical
novae with supersoft X-ray phase. Most of the counterparts are covered in
several observations allowing us to constrain their X-ray light curves.
Selected brighter sources were classified by their XMM-Newton EPIC spectra. We
use the well determined start time of the SSS state in two novae to estimate
the hydrogen mass ejected in the outburst to ~10^{-5}M_sun and ~10^{-6}M_sun,
respectively. The supersoft X-ray phase of at least 15% of the novae starts
within a year. At least one of the novae shows a SSS state lasting 6.1 years
after the optical outburst. Six of the SSSs turned on between 3 and 9 years
after the optical discovery of the outburst and may be interpreted as recurrent
novae. If confirmed, the detection of a delayed SSS phase turn-on may be used
as a new method to classify novae as recurrent. At the moment, the new method
yields a ratio of recurrent novae to classical novae of 0.3 which is in
agreement (within the errors) with previous works.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, A&A revised version, 1 nova in M33 added,
restructured discussion, summary and conclusion
Updated analysis of NN elastic scattering to 3 GeV
A partial-wave analysis of NN elastic scattering data has been updated to
include a number of recent measurements. Experiments carried out at the Cooler
Synchrotron (COSY) by the EDDA Collaboration have had a significant impact
above 1 GeV. Results are discussed in terms of the partial-wave and
direct-reconstruction amplitudes.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures, 2 tables; Fig 10 error corrected; Accepted for
publication in Physical Review
Transient Gamma Ray Spectrometer Measurements of Gamma-Ray Lines from Novae. II. Constraining the Galactic Nova Rate from a Survey of the Southern Sky during 1995-1997
The good energy resolution (3--4 keV FWHM) of the Transient Gamma Ray
Spectrometer (TGRS) on board the WIND spacecraft makes it sensitive to
Doppler-shifted outbursts of 511 keV electron-positron annihilation radiation,
the reason being that the Doppler shift causes the cosmic line to be slightly
offset from a strong instrumental background 511 keV line at rest, which is
ubiquitous in space environments. Such a cosmic line (blueshifted) is predicted
to arise in classical novae due to the annihilation of positrons from
-decay on a timescale of a few hours in an expanding envelope. A further
advantage of TGRS - its broad field of view, containing the entire southern
ecliptic hemisphere - has enabled us to make a virtually complete and unbiased
3-year search for classical novae at distances up to ~1 kpc. We present
negative results of this search, and estimate its implications for the
highly-uncertain Galactic classical nova rate and for future space missions.Comment: 22 pp. + 3 fig
The M31 Globular Cluster Luminosity Function
We combine our compilation of photometry of M31 globular cluster and probable
cluster candidates with new near-infrared photometry for 30 objects. Using
these data we determine the globular cluster luminosity function (GCLF) in
multiple filters for the M31 halo clusters. We find a GCLF peak and dispersion
of V_0^0=16.84 +/-0.11, sigma_t=0.93 +/- 0.13 (Gaussian sigma = 1.20 +/- 0.14),
consistent with previous results. The halo GCLF peak colors (e.g., B^0_0 -
V^0_0) are consistent with the average cluster colors. We also measure V-band
GCLF parameters for several other subsamples of the M31 globular cluster
population. The inner third of the clusters have a GCLF peak significantly
brigher than that of the outer clusters (delta V =~ 0.5mag). Dividing the
sample by both galacticentric distance and metallicity, we find that the GCLF
also varies with metallicity, as the metal-poor clusters are on average 0.36
mag fainter than the metal-rich clusters. Our modeling of the catalog selection
effects suggests that they are not the cause of the measured differences, but a
more complete, less-contaminated M31 cluster catalog is required for
confirmation. Our results imply that dynamical destruction is not the only
factor causing variation in the M31 GCLF: metallicity, age, and cluster initial
mass function may also be important.Comment: AJ, in press. 36 pages, including 7 figure
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