83 research outputs found
A new sdO+dM binary with extreme eclipses and reflection effect
We report the discovery of a new totally-eclipsing binary (RA=06:40:29.11;
Dec=+38:56:52.2; J=2000.0; Rmax=17.2 mag) with an sdO primary and a strongly
irradiated red dwarf companion. It has an orbital period of
Porb=0.187284394(11) d and an optical eclipse depth in excess of 5 magnitudes.
We obtained two low-resolution classification spectra with GTC/OSIRIS and ten
medium-resolution spectra with WHT/ISIS to constrain the properties of the
binary members. The spectra are dominated by H Balmer and He II absorption
lines from the sdO star, and phase-dependent emission lines from the irradiated
companion. A combined spectroscopic and light curve analysis implies a hot
subdwarf temperature of Teff(spec) = 55 000 +/- 3000K, surface gravity of log
g(phot) = 6.2 +/- 0.04 (cgs) and a He abundance of log(nHe/nH) = -2.24 +/-
0.40. The hot sdO star irradiates the red-dwarf companion, heating its
substellar point to about 22 500K. Surface parameters for the companion are
difficult to constrain from the currently available data: the most remarkable
features are the strong H Balmer and C II-III lines in emission. Radial
velocity estimates are consistent with the sdO+dM classification. The
photometric data do not show any indication of sdO pulsations with amplitudes
greater than 7mmag, and Halpha-filter images do not provide evidence of the
presence of a planetary nebula associated with the sdO star.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures; accepted for publication in Ap
Activity of 50 Long-Period Comets Beyond 5.2 AU
Remote investigations of the ancient solar system matter has been
traditionally carried out through the observations of long-period (LP) comets
that are less affected by solar irradiation than the short-period counterparts
orbiting much closer to the Sun. Here we summarize the results of our
decade-long survey of the distant activity of LP comets. We found that the most
important separation in the dataset is based on the dynamical nature of the
objects. Dynamically new comets are characterized by a higher level of activity
on average: the most active new comets in our sample can be characterized by
afrho values >3--4 higher than that of our most active returning comets. New
comets develop more symmetric comae, suggesting a generally isotropic outflow.
Contrary to this, the coma of recurrent comets can be less symmetrical,
ocassionally exhibiting negative slope parameters, suggesting sudden variations
in matter production. The morphological appearance of the observed comets is
rather diverse. A surprisingly large fraction of the comets have long, teniouos
tails, but the presence of impressive tails does not show a clear correlation
with the brightness of the comets.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A
MicroRNA-155 Deficiency Attenuates Liver Steatosis and Fibrosis without Reducing Inflammation in a Mouse Model of Steatohepatitis
BACKGROUND & AIM: MicroRNAs (miRs) regulate hepatic steatosis, inflammation and fibrosis. Fibrosis is the consequence of chronic tissue damage and inflammation. We hypothesized that deficiency of miR-155, a master regulator of inflammation, attenuates steatohepatitis and fibrosis. METHODS: Wild type (WT) and miR-155-deficient (KO) mice were fed methionine-choline-deficient (MCD) or -supplemented (MCS) control diet for 5 weeks. Liver injury, inflammation, steatosis and fibrosis were assessed. RESULTS: MCD diet resulted in steatohepatitis and increased miR-155 expression in total liver, hepatocytes and Kupffer cells. Steatosis and expression of genes involved in fatty acid metabolism were attenuated in miR-155 KO mice after MCD feeding. In contrast, miR-155 deficiency failed to attenuate inflammatory cell infiltration, nuclear factor kappa beta (NF-kappaB) activation and enhanced the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP1) in MCD diet-fed mice. We found a significant attenuation of apoptosis (cleaved caspase-3) and reduction in collagen and alpha smooth muscle actin (alphaSMA) levels in miR-155 KO mice compared to WTs on MCD diet. In addition, we found attenuation of platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), a pro-fibrotic cytokine; SMAD family member 3 (Smad3), a protein involved in transforming growth factor-beta (TGFbeta) signal transduction and vimentin, a mesenchymal marker and indirect indicator of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in miR-155 KO mice. Nuclear binding of CCAAT enhancer binding protein beta (C/EBPbeta) a miR-155 target involved in EMT was significantly increased in miR-155 KO compared to WT mice. CONCLUSIONS: Our novel data demonstrate that miR-155 deficiency can reduce steatosis and fibrosis without decreasing inflammation in steatohepatitis
Wind Accretion and State Transitions in Cygnus X-1
We present the results of a spectroscopic monitoring program (from 1998 to
2002) of the H-alpha emission strength in HDE 226868, the optical counterpart
of the black hole binary, Cyg X-1. The H-alpha profiles consist of (1) a P
Cygni component associated with the wind of the supergiant, (2) emission
components that attain high velocity at the conjunctions and that probably form
in enhanced outflows both towards and away from the black hole, and (3) an
emission component that moves in anti-phase with the supergiant's motion. We
argue that the third component forms in accreted gas near the black hole, and
the radial velocity curve of the emission is consistent with a mass ratio of
M_X / M_opt = 0.36 +/- 0.05. We find that there is a general anti-correlation
between the H-alpha emission strength and X-ray flux in the sense that when the
H-alpha emission is strong (W_\lambda < -0.5 Angstroms) the X-ray flux is
weaker and the spectrum harder. On the other hand, there is no correlation
between H-alpha emission strength and X-ray flux when H-alpha is weak. During
the low/hard X-ray state, the strong wind is fast and the accretion rate is
relatively low, while in the high/soft state the weaker, highly ionized wind
attains only a moderate velocity and the accretion rate increases. We argue
that the X-ray transitions from the normal low/hard to the rare high/soft state
are triggered by episodes of decreased mass loss rate in the supergiant donor
star.Comment: 45 pages, 16 figures, ApJ, in pres
Transit Photometry of the Core-Dominated Planet HD 149026b
We report g, V, and r photometric time series of HD 149026 spanning predicted
times of transit of the Saturn-mass planetary companion, which was recently
discovered by Sato and collaborators. We present a joint analysis of our
observations and the previously reported photometry and radial velocities of
the central star. We refine the estimate of the transit ephemeris to Tc [HJD] =
2453527.87455^{+0.00085}_{-0.00091} + N * 2.87598^{+0.00012}_{-0.00017}.
Assuming that the star has a radius of 1.45 +/- 0.10 R_Sun and a mass of 1.30
+/- 0.10 M_Sun, we estimate the planet radius to be 0.726 +/- 0.064 R_Jup,
which implies a mean density of 1.07^{+0.42}_{-0.30} g/cm^3. This density is
significantly greater than that predicted for models which include the effects
of stellar insolation and for which the planet has only a small core of solid
material. Thus we confirm that this planet likely contains a large core, and
that the ratio of core mass to total planet mass is more akin to that of Uranus
and Neptune than that of either Jupiter or Saturn.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Ap
HATS-2b: A transiting extrasolar planet orbiting a K-type star showing starspot activity
We report the discovery of HATS-2b, the second transiting extrasolar planet
detected by the HATSouth survey. HATS-2b is moving on a circular orbit around a
V=13.6 mag, K-type dwarf star (GSC 6665-00236), at a separation of 0.0230 \pm
0.0003 AU and with a period of 1.3541 days. The planetary parameters have been
robustly determined using a simultaneous fit of the HATSouth,
MPG/ESO~2.2\,m/GROND, Faulkes Telescope South/Spectral transit photometry and
MPG/ESO~2.2\,m/FEROS, Euler~1.2\,m/CORALIE, AAT~3.9\,m/CYCLOPS radial-velocity
measurements. HATS-2b has a mass of 1.37 \pm 0.16 M_J, a radius of 1.14 \pm
0.03 R_J and an equilibrium temperature of 1567 \pm 30 K. The host star has a
mass of 0.88 \pm 0.04 M_Sun, radius of 0.89 \pm 0.02 R_Sun and shows starspot
activity. We characterized the stellar activity by analysing two photometric
follow-up transit light curves taken with the GROND instrument, both obtained
simultaneously in four optical bands (covering the wavelength range of
3860-9520 \AA). The two light curves contain anomalies compatible with
starspots on the photosphere of the parent star along the same transit chord.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, accepted by A&
Planet Hunters IX. KIC 8462852-where's the flux?
Over the duration of the Kepler mission, KIC 8462852 was observed to undergo irregularly shaped, aperiodic dips in flux of up to similar to 20 per cent. The dipping activity can last for between 5 and 80 d. We characterize the object with high-resolution spectroscopy, spectral energy distribution fitting, radial velocity measurements, high-resolution imaging, and Fourier analyses of the Kepler light curve. We determine that KIC 8462852 is a typical main-sequence F3 V star that exhibits no significant IR excess, and has no very close interacting companions. In this paper, we describe various scenarios to explain the dipping events observed in the Kepler light curve. We confirm that the dipping signals in the data are not caused by any instrumental or data processing artefact, and thus are astrophysical in origin. We construct scenario-independent constraints on the size and location of a body in the system that are needed to reproduce the observations. We deliberate over several assorted stellar and circumstellar astrophysical scenarios, most of which have problems explaining the data in hand. By considering the observational constraints on dust clumps in orbit around a normal main-sequence star, we conclude that the scenario most consistent with the data in hand is the passage of a family of exocomet or planetesimal fragments, all of which are associated with a single previous break-up event, possibly caused by tidal disruption or thermal processing. The minimum total mass associated with these fragments likely exceeds 10(-6) M-circle plus, corresponding to an original rocky body of > 100 km in diameter. We discuss the necessity of future observations to help interpret the system.Peer reviewe
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