363 research outputs found
HD 152246 - a new high-mass triple system and its basic properties
Analyses of multi-epoch, high-resolution (R ~ 50.000) optical spectra of the
O-type star HD 152246 (O9 IV according to the most recent classification),
complemented by a limited number of earlier published radial velocities, led to
the finding that the object is a hierarchical triple system, where a close
inner pair (Ba-Bb) with a slightly eccentric orbit (e = 0.11) and a period of
6.0049 days revolves in a 470-day highly eccentric orbit (e = 0.865) with
another massive and brighter component A. The mass ratio of the inner system
must be low since we were unable to find any traces of the secondary spectrum.
The mass ratio A/(Ba+Bb) is 0.89. The outer system has recently been resolved
using long-baseline interferometry on three occasions. The interferometry
confirms the spectroscopic results and specifies elements of the system. Our
orbital solutions, including the combined radial-velocity and interferometric
solution indicate an orbital inclination of the outer orbit of 112{\deg} and
stellar masses of 20.4 and 22.8 solar masses. We also disentangled the spectra
of components A and Ba and compare them to synthetic spectra from two
independent programmes, TLUSTY and FASTWIND. In either case, the fit was not
satisfactory and we postpone a better determination of the system properties
for a future study, after obtaining observations during the periastron passage
of the outer orbit (the nearest chance being March 2015). For the moment, we
can only conclude that component A is an O9 IV star with v*sin(i) = 210 +\- 10
km/s and effective temperature of 33000 +\- 500 K, while component Ba is an O9
V object with v*sin(i) = 65 +/- 3 km/s and T_eff = 33600 +\- 600 K.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Ellipsoidal primary of the RS CVn binary zeta And: Investigation using high-resolution spectroscopy and optical interferometry
We have obtained high-resolution spectroscopy, optical interferometry, and
long-term broad band photometry of the ellipsoidal primary of the RS CVn-type
binary system zeta And. Based on the optical interferometry the apparent limb
darkened diameter of zeta And is 2.55 +/- 0.09 mas using a uniform disk fit.
The Hipparcos distance and the limb-darkened diameter obtained with a uniform
disk fit give stellar radius of 15.9 +/- 0.8 Rsolar, and combined with
bolometric luminosity, it implies an effective temperature of 4665 +/- 140 K.
The temperature maps obtained from high resolution spectra using Doppler
imaging show a strong belt of equatorial spots and hints of a cool polar cap.
The equatorial spots show a concentration around the phase 0.75. This spot
configuration is reminiscent of the one seen in the earlier published
temperature maps of zeta And. Investigation of the Halpha line reveals both
prominences and cool clouds in the chromosphere. Long-term photometry spanning
12 years shows hints of a spot activity cycle, which is also implied by the
Doppler images, but the cycle length cannot be reliably determined from the
current data.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, accepted for A&
GCIRS 7, a pulsating M1 supergiant at the Galactic centre. Physical properties and age
The stellar population in the central parsec of the Galaxy is dominated by an
old (several Gyr) population, but young, massive stars dominate the luminosity
function. We have studied the most luminous of these stars, GCIRS 7, in order
to constrain the age of the recent star formation event in the Galactic Centre
and to characterise it as an interferometric reference for observations of the
Galactic Centre with the instrument GRAVITY, which will equip the Very Large
Telescope Interferometer in the near future. We present the first H-band
interferometric observations of GCIRS 7, obtained using the PIONIER visitor
instrument on the VLTI using the four 8.2-m unit telescopes. In addition, we
present unpublished K-band VLTI/AMBER data, build JHKL light-curves based on
data spanning 4 decades, and measured the star's effective temperature using
SINFONI spectroscopy. GCIRS 7 is marginally resolved at H-band (in 2013:
uniform-disk diameter=1.076+/-0.093mas, R=960+/-92Rsun at 8.33+/-0.35kpc). We
detect a significant circumstellar contribution at K-band. The star and its
environment are variable in brightness and in size. The photospheric H-band
variations are well modelled with two periods: P0~470+/-10 days (amplitude
~0.64mag) and long secondary period LSP~2700-2850 days (~1.1mag). As measured
from CO equivalent width, =3600+/-195K. The size, periods, luminosity
(=-8.44+/-0.22) and effective temperature are consistent with an M1
supergiant with an initial mass of 22.5+/-2.5Msun and an age of 6.5-10Myr
(depending on rotation). This age is in remarkable agreement with most
estimates for the recent star formation event in the central parsec. Caution
should be taken when using this star as an interferometric reference as it is
variable in size, is surrounded by a variable circumstellar environment and
large convection cells may form on its photosphere.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 10 pages, 12 figure
GG Tau: the fifth element
We aim at unveiling the observational imprint of physical mechanisms that
govern planetary formation in young, multiple systems. In particular, we
investigate the impact of tidal truncation on the inner circumstellar disks. We
observed the emblematic system GG Tau at high-angular resolution: a
hierarchical quadruple system composed of low-mass T Tauri binary stars
surrounded by a well-studied, massive circumbinary disk in Keplerian rotation.
We used the near-IR 4-telescope combiner PIONIER on the VLTI and
sparse-aperture-masking techniques on VLT/NaCo to probe this proto-planetary
system at sub-AU scales. We report the discovery of a significant closure-phase
signal in H and Ks bands that can be reproduced with an additional low-mass
companion orbiting GG Tau Ab, at a (projected) separation rho = 31.7 +/- 0.2mas
(4.4 au) and PA = 219.6 +/- 0.3deg. This finding offers a simple explanation
for several key questions in this system, including the missing-stellar-mass
problem and the asymmetry of continuum emission from the inner dust disks
observed at millimeter wavelengths. Composed of now five co-eval stars with
0.02 <= Mstar <= 0.7 Msun, the quintuple system GG Tau has become an ideal test
case to constrain stellar evolution models at young ages (few 10^6yr).Comment: 5pages, 3 figures, 1 appendix (online material
The (black hole mass)-(color) relations for early- and late-type galaxies: red and blue sequences
[Abridged] Tight correlations between supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass
() and the properties of the host galaxy have useful implications
for our understanding of the growth of SMBHs and evolution of galaxies. Here,
we present newly observed correlations between and the host galaxy
total UV [3.6] color (, Pearson's r = )
for a sample of 67 galaxies (20 early-type galaxies and 47 late-type galaxies)
with directly measured in the GALEX/SG survey. The colors
are carefully measured in a homogeneous manner using the galaxies' FUV, NUV and
3.6 \micron magnitudes and their multi-component structural decompositions in
the literature. We find that more massive SMBHs are hosted by (early- and
late-type) galaxies with redder colors, but the relations for the two morphological types have slopes that differ at
level. Early-type galaxies define a red sequence in the diagrams, while late-type galaxies trace a blue
sequence. Within the assumption that the specific star formation rate of a
galaxy (sSFR) is well traced by , it follows that the
SMBH masses for late-type galaxies exhibit a steeper dependence on sSFR than
those for early-type galaxies. The and
relations for the sample galaxies reveal a
comparable level of vertical scatter in the log direction, roughly
more than the vertical scatter of the relation.
Our relations suggest different channels
of SMBH growth for early- and late-type galaxies, consistent with their
distinct formation and evolution scenarios.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in Ap
The 2008 outburst in the young stellar system ZCMa: I. Evidence of an enhanced bipolar wind on the AU-scale
Accretion is a fundamental process in star formation. Although the time
evolution of accretion remains a matter of debate, observations and modelling
studies suggest that episodic outbursts of strong accretion may dominate the
formation of the protostar. Observing young stellar objects during these
elevated accretion states is crucial to understanding the origin of unsteady
accretion. ZCMa is a pre-main-sequence binary system composed of an embedded
Herbig Be star, undergoing photometric outbursts, and a FU Orionis star. The
Herbig Be component recently underwent its largest optical photometric outburst
detected so far. We aim to constrain the origin of this outburst by studying
the emission region of the HI Brackett gamma line, a powerful tracer of
accretion/ejection processes on the AU-scale in young stars. Using the
AMBER/VLTI instrument at spectral resolutions of 1500 and 12 000, we performed
spatially and spectrally resolved interferometric observations of the hot gas
emitting across the Brackett gamma emission line, during and after the
outburst. From the visibilities and differential phases, we derive
characteristic sizes for the Brackett gamma emission and spectro-astrometric
measurements across the line, with respect to the continuum. We find that the
line profile, the astrometric signal, and the visibilities are inconsistent
with the signature of either a Keplerian disk or infall of matter. They are,
instead, evidence of a bipolar wind, maybe partly seen through a disk hole
inside the dust sublimation radius. The disappearance of the Brackett gamma
emission line after the outburst suggests that the outburst is related to a
period of strong mass loss rather than a change of the extinction along the
line of sight. Based on these conclusions, we speculate that the origin of the
outburst is an event of enhanced mass accretion, similar to those occuring in
EX Ors and FU Ors.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics Letter
Masses of the components of SB2 binaries observed with Gaia. II. Masses derived from PIONIER interferometric observations for Gaia validation
In anticipation of the Gaia astrometric mission, a sample of spectroscopic
binaries is being observed since 2010 with the Sophie spectrograph at the
Haute--Provence Observatory. Our aim is to derive the orbital elements of
double-lined spectroscopic binaries (SB2s) with an accuracy sufficient to
finally obtain the masses of the components with relative errors as small as 1
% when combined with Gaia astrometric measurements. In order to validate the
masses derived from Gaia, interferometric observations are obtained for three
SB2s in our sample with F-K components: HIP 14157, HIP 20601 and HIP 117186.
The masses of the six stellar components are derived. Due to its edge-on
orientation, HIP 14157 is probably an eclipsing binary. We note that almost all
the derived masses are a few percent larger than the expectations from the
standard spectral-type-mass calibration and mass-luminosity relation. Our
calculation also leads to accurate parallaxes for the three binaries, and the
Hipparcos parallaxes are confirmed.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, accepted by MNRA
Conception de signaux de référence pour l'évaluation de la qualité perçue des codecs de la parole et du son
Ce travail vise à fournir les signaux de référence représentatifs des nouvelles techniques de codage pour l'évaluation subjective de la qualité de parole codée. La démarche adoptée consiste à caractériser d'un point de vue perceptif les dégradations apportées par les nouveaux codecs, puis à les relier aux techniques de codage afin de pouvoir les recréer artificiellement. La MDS (Multidimensional Scaling ou analyse multidimensionnelle des proximités) non métrique pondérée est utilisée pour générer l'espace perceptif de dégradations de codecs wideband. L'analyse révèle un espace perceptif à quatre dimensions interprétable vis-à-vis des techniques de codage
Back-hopping in Spin-Transfer-Torque switching of perpendicularly magnetized tunnel junctions
We analyse the phenomenon of back-hopping in spin-torque induced switching of
the magnetization in perpendicularly magnetized tunnel junctions. The analysis
is based on single-shot time-resolved conductance measurements of the
pulse-induced back-hopping. Studying several material variants reveals that the
back-hopping is a feature of the nominally fixed system of the tunnel junction.
The back-hopping is found to proceed by two sequential switching events that
lead to a final state P' of conductance close to --but distinct from-- that of
the conventional parallel state. The P' state does not exist at remanence. It
generally relaxes to the conventional antiparallel state if the current is
removed. The P' state involves a switching of the sole spin-polarizing part of
the fixed layers. The analysis of literature indicates that back-hopping occurs
only when the spin-polarizing layer is too weakly coupled to the rest of the
fixed system, which justifies a posteriori the mitigation strategies of
back-hopping that were implemented empirically in spin-transfer-torque magnetic
random access memories.Comment: submitted to Phys Rev.
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