2,112 research outputs found
The X-ray Properties of M101 ULX-1 = CXOKM101 J140332.74+542102
We report our analysis of X-ray data on M101 ULX-1, concentrating on high
state Chandra and XMM-Newton observations. We find that the high state of M101
ULX-1 may have a preferred recurrence timescale. If so, the underlying clock
may have periods around 160 or 190 days, or possibly around 45 days. Its
short-term variations resemble those of X-ray binaries at high accretion rate.
If this analogy is correct, we infer that the accretor is a 20-40 Msun object.
This is consistent with our spectral analysis of the high state spectra of M101
ULX-1, from which we find no evidence for an extreme (> 10^40 ergs/s)
luminosity. We present our interpretation in the framework of a high mass X-ray
binary system consisting of a B supergiant mass donor and a large stellar-mass
black hole.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Alignment and Aperture Scan at the Fermilab Booster
The Fermilab booster has an intensity upgrade plan called the Proton
Improvement plan (PIP). The flux throughput goal is 2E17 protons/hour, which is
almost double the current operation at 1.1E17 protons/hour. The beam loss in
the machine is going to be the source of issues. The booster accelerates beam
from 400 MeV to 8 GeV and extracts to the Main Injector. Several percent of the
beam is lost within 3 msec after the injection. The aperture at injection
energy was measured and compared with the survey data. The magnets are going to
be realigned in March 2012 in order to increase the aperture. The beam studies,
analysis of the scan and alignment data, and the result of the magnet moves
will be discussed in this paper.Comment: 3 pp. 3rd International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC 2012)
20-25 May 2012, New Orleans, Louisian
M-Dwarf Fast Rotators and the Detection of Relatively Young Multiple M-Star Systems
We have searched the Kepler light curves of ~3900 M-star targets for evidence
of periodicities that indicate, by means of the effects of starspots, rapid
stellar rotation. Several analysis techniques, including Fourier transforms,
inspection of folded light curves, 'sonograms', and phase tracking of
individual modulation cycles, were applied in order to distinguish the
periodicities due to rapid rotation from those due to stellar pulsations,
eclipsing binaries, or transiting planets. We find 178 Kepler M-star targets
with rotation periods, P_rot, of < 2 days, and 110 with P_rot < 1 day. Some 30
of the 178 systems exhibit two or more independent short periods within the
same Kepler photometric aperture, while several have three or more short
periods. Adaptive optics imaging and modeling of the Kepler pixel response
function for a subset of our sample support the conclusion that the targets
with multiple periods are highly likely to be relatively young physical binary,
triple, and even quadruple M star systems. We explore in detail the one object
with four incommensurate periods all less than 1.2 days, and show that two of
the periods arise from one of a close pair of stars, while the other two arise
from the second star, which itself is probably a visual binary. If most of
these M-star systems with multiple periods turn out to be bound M stars, this
could prove a valuable way of discovering young hierarchical M-star systems;
the same approach may also be applicable to G and K stars. The ~5% occurrence
rate of rapid rotation among the ~3900 M star targets is consistent with spin
evolution models that include an initial contraction phase followed by magnetic
braking, wherein a typical M star can spend several hundred Myr before spinning
down to periods longer than 2 days.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables; accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journa
FUSE Observations of a Full Orbit of Hercules X-1: Signatures of Disk, Star, and Wind
We observed an entire 1.7 day orbit of the X-ray binary Hercules X-1 with the
Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE). Changes in the O VI 1032,1037
line profiles through eclipse ingress and egress indicate a Keplerian accretion
disk spinning prograde with the orbit. These observations may show the first
double-peaked accretion disk line profile to be seen in the Hercules X-1
system. Doppler tomograms of the emission lines show a bright spot offset from
the Roche lobe of the companion star HZ Her, but no obvious signs of the
accretion disk. Simulations show that the bright spot is too far offset from
the Roche lobe to result from uneven X-ray heating of its surface. The absence
of disk signatures in the tomogram can be reproduced in simulations which
include absorption from a stellar wind. We attempt to diagnose the state of the
emitting gas from the C III 977, C III 1175, and N III 991 emission lines. The
latter may be enhanced through Bowen fluorescence.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa
The polar ring galaxy AM1934-563 revisited
We report long-slit spectroscopic observations of the dust-lane polar-ring
galaxy AM1934-563 obtained with the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT)
during its performance-verification phase. The observations target the spectral
region of the Ha, [NII] and [SII] emission-lines, but show also deep NaI
stellar absorption lines that we interpret as produced by stars in the galaxy.
We derive rotation curves along the major axis of the galaxy that extend out to
about 8 kpc from the center for both the gaseous and the stellar components,
using the emission and absorption lines. We derive similar rotation curves
along the major axis of the polar ring and point out differences between these
and the ones of the main galaxy. We identify a small diffuse object visible
only in Ha emission and with a low velocity dispersion as a dwarf HII galaxy
and argue that it is probably metal-poor. Its velocity indicates that it is a
fourth member of the galaxy group in which AM1934-563 belongs. We discuss the
observations in the context of the proposal that the object is the result of a
major merger and point out some observational discrepancies from this
explanation. We argue that an alternative scenario that could better fit the
observations may be the slow accretion of cold intergalactic gas, focused by a
dense filament of galaxies in which this object is embedded (abridged).Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures, submitted to MNRAS. Some figures were bitmapped
to reduce the size. Full resolution version is available from
http://www.saao.ac.za/~akniazev/pub/AM1934_563.pd
Structure-function evolution of the Transforming acidic coiled coil genes revealed by analysis of phylogenetically diverse organisms
BACKGROUND: Examination of ancient gene families can provide an insight into how the evolution of gene structure can relate to function. Functional homologs of the evolutionarily conserved transforming acidic coiled coil (TACC) gene family are present in organisms from yeast to man. However, correlations between functional interactions and the evolution of these proteins have yet to be determined. RESULTS: We have performed an extensive database analysis to determine the genomic and cDNA sequences of the TACCs from phylogenetically diverse organisms. This analysis has determined the phylogenetic relationship of the TACC proteins to other coiled coil proteins, the resolution of the placement of the rabbit TACC4 as the orthologue of human TACC3, and RHAMM as a distinct family of coiled coil proteins. We have also extended the analysis of the TACCs to the interaction databases of C. elegans and D. melanogaster to identify potentially novel TACC interactions. The validity of this modeling was confirmed independently by the demonstration of direct binding of human TACC2 to the nuclear hormone receptor RXRβ. CONCLUSION: The data so far suggest that the ancestral TACC protein played a role in centrosomal/mitotic spindle dynamics. TACC proteins were then recruited to complexes involved in protein translation, RNA processing and transcription by interactions with specific bridging proteins. However, during evolution, the TACC proteins have now acquired the ability to directly interact with components of these complexes (such as the LSm proteins, nuclear hormone receptors, GAS41, and transcription factors). This suggests that the function of the TACC proteins may have evolved from performing assembly or coordination functions in the centrosome to include a more intimate role in the functional evolution of chromatin remodeling, transcriptional and posttranscriptional complexes in the cell
Optical Follow-up of New SMC Wing Be/X-ray Binaries
We investigate the optical counterparts of recently discovered Be/X-ray
binaries in the Small Magellanic Cloud. In total four sources, SXP101, SXP700,
SXP348 and SXP65.8 were detected during the Chandra Survey of the Wing of the
SMC. SXP700 and SXP65.8 were previously unknown. Many optical ground based
telescopes have been utilised in the optical follow-up, providing coverage in
both the red and blue bands. This has led to the classification of all of the
counterparts as Be stars and confirms that three lie within the Galactic
spectral distribution of known Be/X-ray binaries. SXP101 lies outside this
distribution becoming the latest spectral type known. Monitoring of the Halpha
emission line suggests that all the sources bar SXP700 have highly variable
circumstellar disks, possibly a result of their comparatively short orbital
periods. Phase resolved X-ray spectroscopy has also been performed on SXP65.8,
revealing that the emission is indeed harder during the passage of the X-ray
beam through the line of sight.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
The Origin of Soft X-rays in DQ Herculis
DQ Herculis (Nova Herculis 1934) is a deeply eclipsing cataclysmic variable
containing a magnetic white dwarf primary. The accretion disk is thought to
block our line of sight to the white dwarf at all orbital phases due to its
extreme inclination angle. Nevertheless, soft X-rays were detected from DQ Her
with ROSAT PSPC. To probe the origin of these soft X-rays, we have performed
Chandra ACIS observations. We confirm that DQ Her is an X-ray source. The bulk
of the X-rays are from a point-like source and exhibit a shallow partial
eclipse. We interpret this as due to scattering of the unseen central X-ray
source, probably in an accretion disk wind. At the same time, we observe what
appear to be weak extended X-ray features around DQ Her, which we interpret as
an X-ray emitting knot in the nova shell.Comment: 18 pages including 4 figures, accepted for publication in
Astrphyisical Journa
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