4,274 research outputs found
Low cost laboratory micro-grid hardware and control for electrical power systems teaching
There is a growing trend within education establishments to teach electrical power system theory within lectures and back this up with software simulation laboratory sessions. This allows the courses to be taught at a lower cost than if real hardware was implemented. However, the students that are graduating from these programs are missing out on the opportunity to learn about real equipment and issues such as health and safety of voltages above 50V, mismatching component sizes and accuracy. Bespoke electrical power systems teaching equipment is expensive to buy. This paper details a low cost hardware setup that can be used to enforce electrical power system theory. The proposed equipment employs real off-the shelf equipment with some interfacing units which can be reproduced by laboratory technicians to enhance the student learning experience by offering students experience of real machines operating on an electrical power systems network
The quest for hot gas in the halo of NGC 1511
XMM-Newton observations of the starburst galaxy NGC 1511 reveal the presence
of a previously unknown extended hot gaseous phase of its ISM, which partly
extends out of the disk plane. The emission distribution is asymmetric, being
brightest in the eastern half of the galaxy, where also radio continuum
observations suggest the highest level of star formation. Spectral analysis of
the integral 0.2-12 keV X-ray emission from NGC 1511 indicates a complex
emission composition. A model comprising a power law plus thermal plasma
component, both absorbed by foreground gas, cannot explain all details of the
observed spectrum, requiring a third spectral component to be added. This
component can be a second thermal plasma, but other spectral models can be
fitted as well. Its X-ray properties characterize NGC 1511 as a starburst
galaxy. The X-ray-to-infrared luminosity ratio is consistent with this result.
Together with the X-ray data, XMM-Newton obtained UV images of NGC 1511,
tracing massive stars heating the ambient gas, which is then seen in H\alpha
emission. UV, H\alpha and near-infrared imagery suggest that NGC 1511 is
disturbed, most likely by its two small companions, NGC 1511a and NGC 1511b.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&
On the Physical Origin of OVI Absorption-Line Systems
We present a unified analysis of the O{\sc vi} absorption-lines seen in the
disk and halo of the Milky Way, high velocity clouds, the Magellanic Clouds,
starburst galaxies, and the intergalactic medium. We show that these disparate
systems define a simple relationship between the O{\sc vi} column density and
absorption-line width that is independent of the Oxygen abundance over the
range O/H 10% to twice solar. We show that this relation is exactly that
predicted theoretically as a radiatively cooling flow of hot gas passes through
the coronal temperature regime - independent of its density or metallicity (for
O/H 0.1 solar). Since most of the intregalactic O{\sc vi} clouds obey
this relation, we infer that they can not have metallicities less than a few
percent solar. In order to be able to cool radiatively in less than a Hubble
time, the intergalactic clouds must be smaller than 1 Mpc in size. We
show that the cooling column densities for the O{\sc iv}, O{\sc v}, Ne{\sc v},
and Ne{\sc vi} ions are comparable to those seen in O{\sc vi}. This is also
true for the Li-like ions Ne{\sc viii}, Mg{\sc x}, and Si{\sc xii} (if the gas
is cooling from K). All these ions have strong resonance lines
in the extreme-ultraviolet spectral range, and would be accessible to at
0.2 to 0.8. We also show that the Li-like ions can be used to probe
radiatively cooling gas at temperatures an order-of-magnitude higher than where
their ionic fraction peaks. We calculate that the H-like (He-like) O, Ne, Mg,
Si, and S ions have cooling columns of cm. The O{\sc vii},
O{\sc viii}, and Ne{\sc ix} X-ray absorption-lines towards PKS 2155-304 may
arise in radiatively cooling gas in the Galactic disk or halo.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure
Comparing Chandra and SIRTF Observations for Obscured Starbursts and AGN at High Redshift
Tracking the star formation rate to high redshifts requires knowledge of the
contribution from both optically visible and obscured sources. The dusty,
optically-obscured galaxies can be located by X-ray and infrared surveys. To
establish criteria for selecting such sources based only on X-ray and infrared
surveys, we determine the ratio of infrared to X-ray brightness that would be
observed by SIRTF and Chandra for objects with the same spectral shapes as
nearby starbursts if seen at high redshift. The parameter IR/X is defined as
IR/X = (flux density observed in SIRTF MIPS 24 m filter in mJy)/(total
flux observed within 0.5-2.0 keV in units of 10^-16 ergs\s\cm^2). Based on
observations of NGC 4038/39 (``The Antennae''), NGC 3690+IC 694 (Arp 299 or Mkn
171), M 82, and Arp 220, nine starburst regions are compared using mid-infrared
spectra taken by the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) and X-ray spectra
obtained with Chandra . The IR/X are determined as they would appear for 1<z<3.
The mean IR/X over this redshift range is 1.3 and is not a significant function
of redshift or luminosity, indicating that SIRTF surveys reaching 0.4 mJy at 24
m should detect the same starbursts as deep CXO surveys detect at a flux
of 0.3x10^-16 ergs/s/cm^2. The lower bound of IR/X for starbursts is about 0.2,
suggesting that objects with IR/X smaller than this have an AGN X-ray component
in addition to the starburst. Values of IR/X for the obscured AGN within NGC
1068, the Circinus galaxy, and NGC 6240 are also determined for comparison
although interpretation is complicated by the circumnuclear starbursts in these
galaxies. Any sources found in surveys having IR/X>4 would not match any of the
objects considered.Comment: accepted for publication in Ap
Atomic physics and the polar cap
Fundamental mechanisms in polar cap phenomena related to atomic physic
Chemical Abundances Of Open Clusters From High-Resolution Infrared Spectra. I. NGC 6940
We present near-infrared spectroscopic analysis of 12 red giant members of
the Galactic open cluster NGC 6940. High-resolution (R45000) and high
signal-to-noise ratio (S/N > 100) near-infrared H and K band spectra were
gathered with the Immersion Grating Infrared Spectrograph (IGRINS) on the 2.7m
Smith Telescope at McDonald Observatory. We obtained abundances of H-burning
(C, N, O), (Mg, Si, S, Ca), light odd-Z (Na, Al, P, K), Fe-group
(Sc, Ti, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni) and neutron-capture (Ce, Nd, Yb) elements. We report
the abundances of S, P, K, Ce, and Yb in NGC 6940 for the first time. Many OH
and CN features in the H band were used to obtain O and N abundances. C
abundances were measured from four different features: CO molecular lines in
the K band, high excitation C I lines present in both near-infrared and
optical, CH and bands in the optical region. We have also determined
ratios from the R-branch band heads of first overtone (2-0) and
(3-1) (2-0) lines near 23440
\overset{\lower.5em\circ}{\mathrm{A}} and (3-1) lines at about
23730 \overset{\lower.5em\circ}{\mathrm{A}}. We have also investigated the HF
feature at 23358.3 \overset{\lower.5em\circ}{\mathrm{A}}, finding solar
fluorine abundances without ruling out a slight enhancement. For some elements
(such as the group), IGRINS data yield more internally
self-consistent abundances. We also revisited the CMD of NGC 6940 by
determining the most probable cluster members using Gaia DR2. Finally, we
applied Victoria isochrones and MESA models in order to refine our estimates of
the evolutionary stages of our targets.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure
The dynamics and high-energy emission of conductive gas clouds in supernova-driven galactic superwinds
In this paper we present high-resolution hydrodynamical models of warm
ionized clouds embedded in a superwind, and compare the OVI and soft X-ray
properties to the existing observational data. These models include thermal
conduction, which we show plays an important role in shaping both the dynamics
and radiative properties of the resulting wind/cloud interaction. Heat
conduction stabilizes the cloud by inhibiting the growth of K-H and R-T
instabilities, and also generates a shock wave at the cloud's surface that
compresses the cloud. This dynamical behaviour influences the observable
properties. We find that while OVI emission and absorption always arises in
cloud material at the periphery of the cloud, most of the soft X-ray arises in
the region between the wind bow shock and the cloud surface, and probes either
wind or cloud material depending on the strength of conduction and the relative
abundances of the wind with respect to the cloud. In general only a small
fraction (<1%) of the wind mechanical energy intersecting a cloud is radiated
away at UV and X-ray wavelengths, with more wind energy going into accelerating
the cloud. Models with heat conduction at Spitzer-levels are found to produce
observational properties closer to those observed in superwinds than models
with no thermal conduction, in particular in terms of the OVI-to-X-ray
luminosity ratio, but cloud life times are uncomfortably short (<1Myr) compared
to the dynamical ages of real winds. We experimented with reducing the thermal
conductivity and found that even when we reduced conduction by a factor of 25
that the simulations retained the beneficial hydrodynamical stability and low
O{\sc vi}-to-X-ray luminosity ratio found in the Spitzer-level conductive
models, while also having reduced evaporation rates.Comment: 27 pages, 12 figures (4 in color), MNRAS accepte
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