535 research outputs found
MERLIN observations of Stephan's Quintet
We present MERLIN L-band images of the compact galaxy group, Stephan's
Quintet. The Seyfert 2 galaxy, NGC 7319, the brightest member of the compact
group, is seen to have a triple radio structure typical of many extra-galactic
radio sources which have a flat spectrum core and two steep spectrum lobes with
hot spots. The two lobes are asymmetrically distributed on opposite sides of
the core along the minor axis of the galaxy. Ultraviolet emission revealed in a
high resolution HRC/ACS HST image is strongly aligned with the radio plasma and
we interpret the intense star formation in the core and north lobe as an event
induced by the collision of the north radio jet with over-dense ambient
material. In addition, a re-mapping of archive VLA L-band observations reveals
more extended emission along the major axis of the galaxy which is aligned with
the optical axis. Images formed from the combined MERLIN and archive VLA data
reveal more detailed structure of the two lobes and hot spots.Comment: Completely revised version with new HST data included, to appear in
MNRA
3C254: MERLIN observations of a highly asymmetric quasar
Multifrequency, high-resolution radio observations of the quasar 3C254 using
MERLIN are presented. The quasar has a highly asymmetric radio structure, with
the eastern component of the double-lobed structure being much closer to the
nucleus and significantly less polarized than the western one. However, the two
lobes are more symmetric in their total flux densities. The observations show
the detailed structure of the hotspots which are very different on opposite
sides of the radio core, reveal no radio jet and suggest that the
oppositely-directed jets may be intrinsically asymmetric.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in MNRA
Monitoring of the prompt radio emission from the unusual supernova 2004dj in NGC2403
Supernova 2004dj in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC2403 was detected optically
in July 2004. Peaking at a magnitude of 11.2, this is the brightest supernova
detected for several years. Here we present Multi-Element Radio Linked
Interferometer Network (MERLIN) observations of this source, made over a four
month period, which give a position of R.A. = 07h37m17.044s, Dec
=+65deg35'57.84" (J2000.0). We also present a well-sampled 5 GHz light curve
covering the period from 5 August to 2 December 2004. With the exception of the
unusual and very close SN 1987A, these observations represent the first
detailed radio light curve for the prompt emission from a Type II-P supernova.Comment: (1) Jodrell Bank Observatory (2) University of Valencia (3)
University of Sheffield 6 pages, 1 figure. To appear in ApJ letter
VLA Observations of H I in the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293)
We report the detection of 21-cm line emission from H I in the planetary
nebula NGC 7293 (the Helix). The observations, made with the Very Large Array,
show the presence of a ring of atomic hydrogen that is associated with the
outer portion of the ionized nebula. This ring is most probably gas ejected in
the AGB phase that has been subsequently photodissociated by radiation from the
central star. The H I emission spreads over about 50 km/s in radial velocity.
The mass in H I is approximately 0.07 solar masses, about three times larger
than the mass in molecular hydrogen and comparable with the mass in ionized
hydrogen.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure
A graph theory-based multi-scale analysis of hierarchical cascade in molecular clouds : Application to the NGC 2264 region
The spatial properties of small star-clusters suggest that they may originate
from a fragmentation cascade of the cloud for which there might be traces up to
a few dozen of kAU. Our goal is to investigate the multi-scale spatial
structure of gas clumps, to probe the existence of a hierarchical cascade and
to evaluate its possible link with star production in terms of multiplicity.
From the Herschel emission maps of NGC 2264, clumps are extracted using getsf
software at each of their associated spatial resolution, respectively [8.4,
13.5, 18.2, 24.9, 36.3]". Using the spatial distribution of these clumps and
the class 0/I Young Stellar Object (YSO) from Spitzer data, we develop a
graph-theoretic analysis to represent the multi-scale structure of the cloud as
a connected network. From this network, we derive three classes of multi-scale
structure in NGC 2264 depending on the number of nodes produced at the deepest
level: hierarchical, linear and isolated. The structure class is strongly
correlated with the column density since the hierarchical ones
dominate the regions whose Ncm. Although
the latter are in minority, they contain half of the class 0/I YSOs proving
that they are highly efficient in producing stars. We define a novel
statistical metric, the fractality coefficient F that measure the fractal index
describing the scale-free process of the cascade. For NGC 2264, we estimate F =
1.450.12. However, a single fractal index fails to fully describe a
scale-free process since the hierarchical cascade starts at a 13 kAU
characteristic spatial scale. Our novel methodology allows us to correlate YSOs
with their multi-scale gaseous environment. This hierarchical cascade that
drives efficient star formation is suspected to be both hierarchical and rooted
by the larger-scale gas environment up to 13 kAU
3C459: A highly asymmetric radio galaxy with a starburst
Multifrequency radio observations of the radio galaxy 3C459 using MERLIN, VLA
and the EVN, and an optical HST image using the F702W filter are presented. The
galaxy has a very asymmetric radio structure, a high infrared luminosity and a
young stellar population. The eastern component of the double-lobed structure
is brighter, much closer to the nucleus and is significantly less polarized
than the western one. This is consistent with the jet on the eastern side
interacting with dense gas, which could be due to a merged companion or dense
cloud of gas. The HST image of the galaxy presented here exhibits filamentary
structures, and is compared with the MERLIN 5-GHz radio map. EVN observations
of the prominent central component, which has a steep radio spectrum, show a
strongly curved structure suggesing a bent or helical radio jet. The radio
structure of 3C459 is compared with other highly asymmetric, Fanaroff-Riley II
radio sources, which are also good candidates for studying jet-cloud
interactions. Such sources are usually of small linear size and it is possible
that the jets are interacting with clouds of infalling gas that fuel the radio
source.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, 2 table
Radio sources at low Galactic latitudes
We present high-resolution radio observations of a sample of 65 radio sources
at low Galactic latitudes. The sources were all observed at 5 GHz with the Very
Large Array A-array. MERLIN observations at 5 GHz of the ultracompact HII
region G34.26+0.15 and one of the extragalactic sources, B1857-000, are also
presented, as are GMRT observations of HI in the direction of three sources,
B1801-203, B1802-196 and B1938+229. These observations were made with the
objectives of (i) finding compact components suitable for studying the effects
of interstellar scattering at lower frequencies, (ii) identifying high
surface-brightness lobes of background radio sources to probe the Galactic
magnetic field on different scales via polarization observations, and (iii)
searching for young supernova remnants. We discuss the nature of the sources
found to have shell or shell-like structure and exhibiting both thermal and
non-thermal spectra. Of the remaining sources, B1749-281 is coincident within
the positional errors of a known pulsar, not detected earlier at 5 GHz. The
rest are likely to be background extragalactic objects.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures (most with multiple images), 1 table. Accepted
for publicaton in MNRA
A possible radio supernova in the outer part of NGC 3310
As part of an on-going radio supernova monitoring program, we have discovered
a variable, compact steep spectrum radio source ~65 arcsec (~4 kpc) from the
centre of the starburst galaxy NGC 3310. If the source is at the distance of
NGC 3310, then its 5 GHz luminosity is ~3 x 10^{19} WHz^-1. The source
luminosity, together with its variability characteristics, compact structure
(<17 mas) and its association with a group of HII regions, leads us to propose
that it is a previously uncatalogued type II radio supernova. A search of
archival data also shows an associated X-ray source with a luminosity similar
to known radio supernova.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Accepted by MNRA
Prevalence and co-infection of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum in Apodemus sylvaticus in an area relatively free of cats
The protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is prevalent worldwide and can infect a remarkably wide range of hosts despite
felids being the only definitive host. As cats play a major role in transmission to secondary mammalian hosts, the interaction
between cats and these hosts should be a major factor determining final prevalence in the secondary host. This study
investigates the prevalence of T. gondii in a natural population of Apodemus sylvaticus collected from an area with low cat
density (<2·5 cats/km2). A surprisingly high prevalence of 40·78% (95% CI: 34·07%â47·79%) was observed despite this.
A comparable level of prevalence was observed in a previously published study using the same approaches where a
prevalence of 59% (95% CI: 50·13%â67·87%) was observed in a natural population of Mus domesticus from an area with high
cat density (>500 cats/km2). Detection of infected foetuses frompregnant dams in both populations suggests that congenital
transmission may enable persistence of infection in the absence of cats. The prevalences of the related parasite, Neospora
caninum were found to be low in both populations (A. sylvaticus: 3·39% (95% CI: 0·12%â6·66%); M. domesticus: 3·08%
(95% CI: 0·11%â6·05%)). These results suggest that cat density may have a lower than expected effect on final prevalence in
these ecosystems
Anomalous radio emission from dust in the Helix
A byproduct of experiments designed to map the CMB is the recent detection of
a new component of foreground Galactic emission. The anomalous foreground at ~
10--30 GHz, unexplained by traditional emission mechanisms, correlates with
100um dust emission. We report that in the Helix the emission at 31 GHz and
100um are well correlated, and exhibit similar features on sky images, which
are absent in H\beta. Upper limits on the 250 GHz continuum emission in the
Helix rule out cold grains as candidates for the 31 GHz emission, and provide
spectroscopic evidence for an excess at 31 GHz over bremsstrahlung. We estimate
that the 100um-correlated radio emission, presumably due to dust, accounts for
at least 20% of the 31 GHz emission in the Helix. This result strengthens
previous tentative interpretations of diffuse ISM spectra involving a new dust
emission mechanism at radio frequencies. Very small grains have not been
detected in the Helix, which hampers interpreting the new component in terms of
spinning dust. The observed iron depletion in the Helix favors considering the
identity of this new component to be magnetic dipole emission from hot
ferromagnetic grains. The reduced level of free-free continuum we report also
implies an electronic temperature of Te=4600\pm1200K for the free-free emitting
material, which is significantly lower than the temperature of 9500\pm500K
inferred from collisionally-excited lines (abridged).Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
- âŠ