633 research outputs found
Coupling MOAO with Integral Field Spectroscopy: specifications for the VLT and the E-ELT
[Abridged] We have developed an end-to-end simulation to specify the science
requirements of a MOAO-fed integral field spectrograph on either an 8m or 42m
telescope. Our simulations re-scales observations of local galaxies or results
from numerical simulations of disk or interacting galaxies. For the current
analysis, we limit ourselves to a local disk galaxy which exhibits simple
rotation and a simulation of a merger. We have attempted to generalize our
results by introducing the simple concepts of "PSF contrast" which is the
amount of light polluting adjacent spectra which we find drives the smallest EE
at a given spatial scale. The choice of the spatial sampling is driven by the
"scale-coupling", i.e., the relationship between the IFU pixel scale and the
size of the features that need to be recovered by 3D spectroscopy in order to
understand the nature of the galaxy and its substructure. Because the dynamical
nature of galaxies are mostly reflected in their large-scale motions, a
relatively coarse spatial resolution is enough to distinguish between a
rotating disk and a major merger. Although we used a limited number of
morpho-kinematic cases, our simulations suggest that, on a 42m telescope, the
choice of an IFU pixel scale of 50-75 mas seems to be sufficient. Such a coarse
sampling has the benefit of lowering the exposure time to reach a specific
signal-to-noise as well as relaxing the performance of the MOAO system. On the
other hand, recovering the full 2D-kinematics of z~4 galaxies requires high
signal-to-noise and at least an EE of 34% in 150 mas (2 pixels of 75 mas).
Finally, we carried out a similar study at z=1.6 with a MOAO-fed spectrograph
for an 8m, and find that at least an EE of 30% at 0.25 arcsec spatial sampling
is required to understand the nature of disks and mergers.Comment: 17 pages, 20 figures, accepted for publication in the MNRA
The Physics and Mass Assembly of distant galaxies with the E-ELT
One of the main science goal of the future European Extremely Large Telescope
will be to understand the mass assembly process in galaxies as a function of
cosmic time. To this aim, a multi-object, AO-assisted integral field
spectrograph will be required to map the physical and chemical properties of
very distant galaxies. In this paper, we examine the ability of such an
instrument to obtain spatially resolved spectroscopy of a large sample of
massive (0.1<Mstellar<5e11Mo) galaxies at 2<z<6, selected from future large
area optical-near IR surveys. We produced a set of about one thousand numerical
simulations of 3D observations using reasonable assumptions about the site,
telescope, and instrument, and about the physics of distant galaxies. These
data-cubes were analysed as real data to produce realistic kinematic
measurements of very distant galaxies. We then studied how sensible the
scientific goals are to the observational (i.e., site-, telescope-, and
instrument-related) and physical (i.e., galaxy-related) parameters. We
specifically investigated the impact of AO performance on the science goal. We
did not identify any breaking points with respect to the parameters (e.g., the
telescope diameter), with the exception of the telescope thermal background,
which strongly limits the performance in the highest (z>5) redshift bin. We
find that a survey of Ngal galaxies that fulfil the range of science goals can
be achieved with a ~90 nights program on the E-ELT, provided a multiplex
capability M Ngal/8.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures, 7 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Preparation and characterization of electrolytic alumina deposit on austenitic stainless steel
Conversion coating modified by alumina has been studied as a way for improving the resistance to thermal oxidation of an austenitic stainless steel. Conversion coating, characterized by a particular morphology and strong interfacial adhesion with the substrate, facilitate the electrochemical deposition of ceramic layers and enhance their adhesion to the substrate. The influence of the current density and treatment time on alumina deposit was studied using statistical experimental designs like Doehlert uniform shell design. After heating, coatings present a continuous composition gradient with refractory compounds at the surface. The behavior at high temperature (1000 8C) of the alumina coating was investigated. The presence of alumina increases the oxidation resistance of an austenitic stainless steel at 1000 8C. The morphology and the chemical composition of the deposit are analyzed. Results on the thermal stability of coating on austenitic stainless steel are presented
A temperature-controlled device for volumetric measurements of Helium adsorption in porous media
We describe a set-up for studying adsorption of helium in silica aerogels,
where the adsorbed amount is easily and precisely controlled by varying the
temperature of a gas reservoir between 80 K and 180 K. We present validation
experiments and a first application to aerogels. This device is well adapted to
study hysteresis, relaxation, and metastable states in the adsorption and
desorption of fluids in porous media
Oxford SWIFT IFS and multi-wavelength observations of the Eagle galaxy at z=0.77
The `Eagle' galaxy at a redshift of 0.77 is studied with the Oxford Short
Wavelength Integral Field Spectrograph (SWIFT) and multi-wavelength data from
the All-wavelength Extended Groth strip International Survey (AEGIS). It was
chosen from AEGIS because of the bright and extended emission in its slit
spectrum. Three dimensional kinematic maps of the Eagle reveal a gradient in
velocity dispersion which spans 35-75 +/- 10 km/s and a rotation velocity of 25
+/- 5 km/s uncorrected for inclination. Hubble Space Telescope images suggest
it is close to face-on. In comparison with galaxies from AEGIS at similar
redshifts, the Eagle is extremely bright and blue in the rest-frame optical,
highly star-forming, dominated by unobscured star-formation, and has a low
metallicity for its size. This is consistent with its selection. The Eagle is
likely undergoing a major merger and is caught in the early stage of a
star-burst when it has not yet experienced metal enrichment or formed the mass
of dust typically found in star-forming galaxies.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRA
Characterizing the red optical sky background fluctuations from narrow-band imaging
The detection and characterization of the physical properties of very distant
galaxies will be one the prominent science case of all future Extremely Large
Telescopes, including the 39m E-ELT. Multi-Object Spectroscopic instruments are
potentially very important tools for studying these objects, and in particular
fiber-based concepts. However, detecting and studying such faint and distant
sources will require subtraction of the sky background signal (i.e., between OH
airglow lines) with an accuracy of ~1%. This requires a precise and accurate
knowledge of the sky background temporal and spatial fluctuations. Using FORS2
narrow-band filter imaging data, we are currently investigating what are the
fluctuations of the sky background at ~9000A. We present preliminary results of
sky background fluctuations from this study over spatial scales reaching ~4
arcmin, as well as first glimpses into the temporal variations of such
fluctuations over timescales of the order of the hour. This study (and other
complementary on-going studies) will be essential in designing the
next-generation fiber-fed instruments for the E-ELT.Comment: To be published in Proc SPIE 8446: Ground-based & Airborne
Instrumentation for Astronomy IV; 12 pages, 3 tables, 8 figure
EAGLE multi-object AO concept study for the E-ELT
EAGLE is the multi-object, spatially-resolved, near-IR spectrograph
instrument concept for the E-ELT, relying on a distributed Adaptive Optics,
so-called Multi Object Adaptive Optics. This paper presents the results of a
phase A study. Using 84x84 actuator deformable mirrors, the performed analysis
demonstrates that 6 laser guide stars and up to 5 natural guide stars of
magnitude R<17, picked-up in a 7.3' diameter patrol field of view, allow us to
obtain an overall performance in terms of Ensquared Energy of 35% in a 75x75
mas^2 spaxel at H band, whatever the target direction in the centred 5' science
field for median seeing conditions. The computed sky coverage at galactic
latitudes |b|~60 is close to 90%.Comment: 6 pages, to appear in the proceedings of the AO4ELT conference, held
in Paris, 22-26 June 200
Permeability and conductivity of platelet-reinforced membranes and composites
We present large scale simulations of the diffusion constant of a random
composite consisting of aligned platelets with aspect ratio in a
matrix (with diffusion constant ) and find that , where and is the platelet volume fraction. We
demonstrate that for large aspect ratio platelets the pair term ()
dominates suggesting large property enhancements for these materials. However a
small amount of face-to-face ordering of the platelets markedly degrades the
efficiency of platelet reinforcement.Comment: RevTeX, 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR
MASSIV: Mass Assembly Survey with SINFONI in VVDS. IV. Fundamental relations of star-forming galaxies at 1<z< 1.6
How mass assembly occurs in galaxies and which process(es) contribute to this
activity are among the most highly debated questions in galaxy formation
theories. This has motivated our survey MASSIV of 0.9<z<1.9 star-forming
galaxies selected from the purely flux-limited VVDS redshift survey. For the
first time, we derive the relations between galaxy size, mass, and internal
velocity, and the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation, from a statistically
representative sample of star-forming galaxies. We find a dynamical mass that
agrees with those of rotating galaxies containing a gas fraction of ~20%,
perfectly consistent with the content derived using the Kennicutt-Schmidt
formulation and the expected evolution. Non-rotating galaxies have more compact
sizes for their stellar component, and are less massive than rotators, but do
not have statistically different sizes for their gas-component. We measure a
marginal evolution in the size-stellar mass and size-velocity relations in
which discs become evenly smaller with cosmic time at fixed stellar mass or
velocity, and are less massive at a given velocity than in the local Universe.
The scatter in the Tully-Fisher relation is smaller when we introduce the S05
index, which we interpret as evidence of an increase in the contribution to
galactic kinematics of turbulent motions with cosmic time. We report a
persistently large scatter for rotators in our relations, that we suggest is
intrinsic, and possibly caused by complex physical mechanism(s) at work in our
stellar mass/luminosity regime and redshift range. Our results consistently
point towards a mild, net evolution of these relations, comparable to those
predicted by cosmological simulations of disc formation for at least 8Gyr and a
dark halo strongly coupled with galactic spectrophotometric properties
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