11 research outputs found
Astro2010: State of the Profession Position Paper: The Value of Observatory-Class Missions
The dramatic success of NASA’s astrophysics science program over the past 20 years has resulted from a series of assets in space ranging from Small Explorers to Observatory-Class
missions. NASA’s Observatory-Class missions, such as the Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO), the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and the Spitzer Space Telescope (SST), form the
cornerstone of this program by providing all researchers, regardless of institutional affiliation, a spectrum of science opportunities across programs large and small. These observatories stand out in their breadth of capabilities and consequent diversity of high impact science, their reach within the scientific community, and their proven ability to inspire the nation. Each mission was
designed to address specific scientific imperatives recognized by past Decadal Survey Committees, whether it was to refine the extragalactic distance scale, examine galaxies as they were in the distant past, determine the relationship between black holes and quasars, observe the
ultimate fate of stars in their death throes, or reveal heavily obscured regions of star-formation. These were ambitious goals, as are those envisioned for future Observatory-Class missions, such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
Application of nanoimprinting technique for fabrication of trifocal diffractive lens with sine-like radial profile
The fabrication of submicron-height sine-like relief of a trifocal diffractive zone plate using a nanoimprinting technique is studied. The zone plate is intended for use in combined trifocal diffractive-refractive lenses and provides the possibility to form trifocal intraocular lenses with predetermined light intensity distribution between foci. The optical properties of the designed zone plate having the optical powers 3 D, 0, -3D in the three main diffraction orders are theoretically and experimentally investigated. The results of the theoretical investigations are in good agreement with experimental measurements. The effects of the pupil size (lens diameter) as well as the wavelength-dependent behavior of the zone plate are also discussed
Extending PLE models into the mid-IR, far-IR & sub-mm
Simple pure luminosity evolution (PLE) models, in which galaxies brighten at
high redshift due to increased star-formation rates (SFRs), are known to
provide a good fit to the colours and number counts of galaxies throughout the
optical and near-infrared. We show that optically defined PLE models, where
dust reradiates absorbed optical light into infrared spectra composed of local
galaxy templates, fit galaxy counts and colours out to 8um and to at least
z=2.5. At 24-70um, the model is able to reproduce the observed source counts
with reasonable success if 16% of spiral galaxies show an excess in mid-IR flux
due to a warmer dust component and a higher SFR, in line with observations of
local starburst galaxies. There remains an under-prediction of the number of
faint-flux, high-z sources at 24um, so we explore how the evolution may be
altered to correct this. At 160um and longer wavelengths, the model fails, with
our model of normal galaxies accounting for only a few percent of sources in
these bands. However, we show that a PLE model of obscured AGN, which we have
previously shown to give a good fit to observations at 850um, also provides a
reasonable fit to the Herschel/BLAST number counts and redshift distributions
at 250-500um. In the context of a LCDM cosmology, an AGN contribution at
250-870um would remove the need to invoke a top-heavy IMF for high-redshift
starburst galaxies, although the excellent fit of the galaxy PLE model at
shorter wavelengths would still need to be explained.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures; submitted to MNRA
A nova-like red variable in M31
A late-type supergiant which appeared in the bulge of M31 in the last observing season faded 3 bolometric magnitudes in 100 days and is now no longer detectable. It is suggested that the object was a nova of an unusual type
The First Measurements of Galaxy Clustering from IRAC Data of the Spitzer First Look Survey
We present the first results of the angular auto-correlation function of the
galaxies detected by the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) instrument in the First
Look Survey (FLS) of the Spitzer Space Telescope. We detect significant signals
of galaxy clustering within the survey area. The angular auto-correlation
function of the galaxies detected in each of the four IRAC instrument channels
is consistent with a power-law form out to
\theta = 0.2\arcdeg, with the slope ranging from to 1.8. We
estimate the correlation amplitudes to be , , , and at
\theta=1\arcdeg for galaxies detected in the IRAC 3.6m, 4.5m,
5.8m, and 8.0m instrument channels, respectively. We compare our
measurements at 3.6m with the previous K-band measurements, and discuss
the implications of these results.Comment: Accepted for publication in the ApJ Supplements Spitzer Special
Issue; 12 pages including 3 figures and 1 tabl