105 research outputs found
Stellar populations in superclusters of galaxies
A catalogue of superclusters of galaxies is used to investigate the influence
of the supercluster environment on galaxy populations, considering galaxies
brighter than M-21+5 h. Empirical spectral synthesis techniques are
applied to obtain the stellar population properties of galaxies which belong to
superclusters and representative values of stellar population parameters are
attributed to each supercluster. We show that richer superclusters present
denser environments and older stellar populations. The galaxy populations of
superclusters classified as filaments and pancakes are statistically similar,
indicating that the morphology of superclusters does not have a significative
influence on the stellar populations. Clusters of galaxies within superclusters
are also examined in order to evaluate the influence of the supercluster
environment on their galaxy properties. Our results suggest that the
environment affects galaxy properties but its influence should operate on
scales of groups and clusters, more than on the scale of superclusters.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures; accepted to MNRA
Optical Monitoring of Quasars: I. Variability
We present an analysis of quasar variability from data collected during a
photometric monitoring of 50 objects carried out at CNPq/Laboratorio Nacional
de Astrofisica, Brazil, between March 1993 and July 1996. A distinctive feature
of this survey is its photometric accuracy, ~ 0.02 V mag, achieved through
differential photometry with CCD detectors, what allows the detection of faint
levels of variability. We find that the relative variability, delta = sigma /
L, observed in the V band is anti-correlated with both luminosity and redshift,
although we have no means of discovering the dominant relation, given the
strong coupling between luminosity and redshift for the objects in our
sample.We introduce a model for the dependence of quasar variability on
frequency that is consistent with multi-wavelength observations of the nuclear
variability of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151. We show that correcting the
observed variability for this effect slightly increases the significance of the
trends of variability with luminosity and redshift. Assuming that variability
depends only on the luminosity, we show that the corrected variability is
anti-correlated with luminosity and is in good agreement with predictions of a
simple Poissonian model. The energy derived for the hypothetical pulses, ~
10^50 erg, agrees well with those obtained in other studies. We also find that
the radio-loud objects in our sample tend to be more variable than the
radio-quiet ones, for all luminosities and redshifts.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS (uses MNRAS
style
Environment and the cosmic evolution of star formation
We present a mark correlation analysis of the galaxies in the Sloan Digital
Sky Survey using weights provided by MOPED. The large size of the sample
permits statistically significant statements about how galaxies with different
metallicities and star formation histories are spatially correlated. Massive
objects formed a larger fraction of their stars at higher redshifts and over
shorter timescales than did less massive objects (sometimes called
down-sizing). We find that those galaxies which dominated the cosmic star
formation at z~3 are predominantly in clusters today, whereas galaxies which
dominate the star formation at z~0 inhabit substantially lower mass objects in
less dense regions today. Hence, our results indicate that star formation and
chemical enrichment occured first in the denser regions of the Universe, and
moved to less dense regions at later times.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to ApJ
JPCam: A 1.2Gpixel camera for the J-PAS survey
JPCam is a 14-CCD mosaic camera, using the new e2v 9k-by-9k 10microm-pixel
16-channel detectors, to be deployed on a dedicated 2.55m wide-field telescope
at the OAJ (Observatorio Astrofisico de Javalambre) in Aragon, Spain. The
camera is designed to perform a Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) survey of
the northern sky. The J-PAS survey strategy will use 54 relatively narrow-band
(~13.8nm) filters equi-spaced between 370 and 920nm plus 3 broad-band filters
to achieve unprecedented photometric red-shift accuracies for faint galaxies
over ~8000 square degrees of sky. The cryostat, detector mosaic and read
electronics is being supplied by e2v under contract to J-PAS while the
mechanical structure, housing the shutter and filter assembly, is being
designed and constructed by a Brazilian consortium led by INPE (Instituto
Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais). Four sets of 14 filters are placed in the
ambient environment, just above the dewar window but directly in line with the
detectors, leading to a mosaic having ~10mm gaps between each CCD. The massive
500mm aperture shutter is expected to be supplied by the Argelander-Institut
fur Astronomie, Bonn. We will present an overview of JPCam, from the filter
configuration through to the CCD mosaic camera. A brief outline of the main
J-PAS science projects will be included.Comment: 11 pages and 9 figure
Mass Models and Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect Predictions for a Flux Limited Sample of 22 Nearby X-Ray Clusters
We define a 90% complete, volume-limited sample of 31 z<0.1 x-ray clusters
and present a systematic analysis of public ROSAT PSPC data on 22 of these
objects. Our efforts are undertaken in support of the Penn/OVRO SZE survey, and
to this end we present predictions for the inverse Compton optical depth
towards all 22 of these clusters. We have performed detailed Monte Carlo
simulations to understand the effects of the cluster profile uncertainties on
the SZE predictions given the OVRO 5.5-meter telescope beam and switching
patterns; we find that the profile uncertainties are one of the least
significant components of our error budget for SZE-based distance measurements.
We also present baryonic masses and baryon mass fractions derived under the
assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium for these 22 clusters. The mean baryonic
mass fraction within R_500 \sim 500 h^-1 kpc is (7.02 \pm 0.28) x 10^-2 h^-3/2,
or (19.8 \pm 0.8) x 10^-2 for h=0.5. We confirm the Allen et al. (1993) claim
of an excess absorbing column density towards Abell 478, but do not find
similar anomalies in the other 21 clusters in our sample. We also find some
evidence for an excess of soft counts in the ROSAT PSPC data.
A measurement of H_o using these models and OVRO SZE determinations will be
presented in a second paper.Comment: 51 pages, 6 figures included in text. Added comparison of different
cosmologies; accepted for publication in Ap
The MDLe Engine -- A Software Tool for Hybrid Motion Control
One of the important but often overlooked practical challenges in motion control for robotics and other autonomous machines has to do with the implementation of theoretical tools into software that will allow the system to interact effectively with the physical world. More often than not motion control programs are machine-specific and not reusable, even when the underlying algorithm does not require any changes. The work on Motion Description Languages (MDL) has been an effort to formalize a general-purpose robot programming language that allows one to incorporate both switching logic and differential equations. Extended MDL (MDLe) is a device-independent programming language for hybrid motion control, accommodating hybrid controllers, multi-robot interactions and robot-to-robot communications. The purpose of this paper is to describe the "MDLe engine," a software tool that implements the MDLe language. We have designed a basic compiler/software foundation for writing MDLe code. We provide a brief description of the MDLe syntax, implementation architecture, and functionality. Sample programs are presented together with the results of their execution on a set of physical and simulated mobile robots
A comparative environmental life cycle assessment of hatchery, cultivation, and preservation of the kelp Saccharina latissima
Seaweed cultivation and processing industries could contribute to sustainable blue growth and the European bioeconomy. This article contributes a case study evaluation of environmental sustainability of preserved brown seaweed Saccharina latissima by means of environmental life cycle assessment of a pilot facility in Sweden. The study accounts for nutrient bioremediation and carbon capture and includes two alternative hatchery processes, a 2-ha longline cultivation, and four alternative preservation methods (hang-drying outdoors, heated air-cabinet drying, ensiling, and freezing). The study found that as a result of carbon capture and nitrogen and phosphorus uptake (bioremediation) by seaweed, more CO2 and PO4 equivalents are (temporarily) absorbed than emitted by the supply chain. The extent of emissions is most affected by preservation methods undertaken. Impact profiles of the supply chain show that the greatest impact shares result from freezing and air-cabinet drying, both the two most energy-intensive processes, followed by the cultivation infrastructure, highlighting strategic optimization opportunities. Hatchery processes, harvesting, and the low-energy ensilage and hang-drying outdoors were found to have relatively small impact shares. These findings presage the environmentally friendliness of seaweed-based products by documenting their potential to mitigate eutrophication and climate change, even when taking a life cycle perspective
Automatic Redshift Determination by use of Principal Component Analysis --- I: Fundamentals
With the advent of very large redshift surveys of tens to hundreds of
thousands of galaxies reliable techniques for automatically determining galaxy
redshifts are becoming increasingly important. The most common technique
currently in common use is the cross-correlation of a galactic spectrum with a
set of templates. This series of papers presents a new method based on
Principal Component Analysis. The method generalizes the cross-correlation
approach by replacing the individual templates by a simultaneous linear
combination of orthogonal templates. This effectively eliminates the mismatch
between templates and data and provides for the possibility of better error
estimates. In this paper, the first of a series, the basic mathematics are
presented along with a simple demonstration of the application.Comment: 23 pages, 9 Figures, minor revisions, accepted for publication in
Astrophysical Journa
The Luminosity Function of Early-Type Galaxies at z~0.75
We measure the luminosity function of morphologically selected E/S0 galaxies
from to using deep high resolution Advanced Camera for Surveys
imaging data. Our analysis covers an area of 48\Box\arcmin (8 the
area of the HDF-N) and extends 2 magnitudes deeper ( mag) than was
possible in the Deep Groth Strip Survey (DGSS). At , we find
and , and at
, we find . These luminosity
functions are similar in both shape and number density to the luminosity
function using morphological selection (e.g., DGSS), but are much steeper than
the luminosity functions of samples selected using morphological proxies like
the color or spectral energy distribution (e.g., CFRS, CADIS, or COMBO-17). The
difference is due to the `blue', , E/S0 galaxies, which make up to
of the sample at all magnitudes and an increasing proportion of faint
galaxies. We thereby demonstrate the need for {\it both morphological and
structural information} to constrain the evolution of galaxies.
We find that the `blue' E/S0 galaxies have the same average sizes and Sersic
parameters as the `red', , E/S0 galaxies at brighter luminosities
(), but are increasingly different at fainter magnitudes where
`blue' galaxies are both smaller and have lower Sersic parameters. Fits of the
colors to stellar population models suggest that most E/S0 galaxies have short
star-formation time scales ( Gyr), and that galaxies have formed at an
increasing rate from until after which there has been a
gradual decline.Comment: 39 pages, 21 figures, accepted in A
Accelerating Cold Dark Matter Cosmology ()
A new kind of accelerating flat model with no dark energy that is fully
dominated by cold dark matter (CDM) is investigated. The number of CDM
particles is not conserved and the present accelerating stage is a consequence
of the negative pressure describing the irreversible process of gravitational
particle creation. A related work involving accelerating CDM cosmology has been
discussed before the SNe observations [Lima, Abramo & Germano, Phys. Rev. D53,
4287 (1996)]. However, in order to have a transition from a decelerating to an
accelerating regime at low redshifts, the matter creation rate proposed here
includes a constant term of the order of the Hubble parameter. In this case,
does not need to be small in order to solve the age problem and the
transition happens even if the matter creation is negligible during the
radiation and part of the matter dominated phase. Therefore, instead of the
vacuum dominance at redshifts of the order of a few, the present accelerating
stage in this sort of Einstein-de Sitter CDM cosmology is a consequence of the
gravitational particle creation process. As an extra bonus, in the present
scenario does not exist the coincidence problem that plagues models with
dominance of dark energy. The model is able to harmonize a CDM picture with the
present age of the universe, the latest measurements of the Hubble parameter
and the Supernovae observations.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, typos corrected, references added, discussion in
Appendix B extende
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