2,114 research outputs found
Identification of the donor in GRS 1915+105
We report on the results of medium-resolution spectroscopy of GRS 1915+105 in
the H and K band using the 8m VLT at ESO. We clearly identify absorption
bandheads from CO12 and CO13. Together with other features this results in a
classification of the donor as a K-M III star.Comment: 4 pages, Kluwer style, to appear in Astrophys. Space Sci. Rev, Proc.
of 3rd Microquasar workshop, Granada, Sep. 2000, Eds. A.J. Castro-Tirado, J.
Greiner, J.M. Paredes; all proceedings contr. available at
http://www.aip.de/~jcg/granada.htm
The GRB 030328 host: another case of a blue starburst galaxy
We present for the first time the detection of the GRB 030328 host galaxy in
four optical bands equivalent to UBRI. The host galaxy spectral energy
distribution is consistent with a low extinction (E(B-V) < 0.21) starburst
galaxy. The restframe B-band magnitude of the host is M_B ~ -20.4Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Il nuovo cimento (4th
Workshop Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Afterglow Era, Rome, 18-22 October 2004
The 2011 October Draconids Outburst. II. Meteoroid Chemical Abundances from Fireball Spectroscopy
On October 8, 2011 the Earth crossed dust trails ejected from comet
21P/Giacobini-Zinner in the late 19th and early 20th Century. This gave rise to
an outburst in the activity of the October Draconid meteor shower, and an
international team was organized to analyze this event. The SPanish Meteor
Network (SPMN) joined this initiative and recorded the October Draconids by
means of low light level CCD cameras. In addition, spectroscopic observations
were carried out. Tens of multi-station meteor trails were recorded, including
an extraordinarily bright October Draconid fireball (absolute mag. -10.5) that
was simultaneously imaged from three SPMN meteor ob-serving stations located in
Andalusia. Its spectrum was obtained, showing a clear evolution in the relative
intensity of emission lines as the fireball penetrated deeper into the
atmosphere. Here we focus on the analysis of this remarkable spectrum, but also
discuss the atmospheric trajectory, atmospheric penetration, and orbital data
computed for this bolide which was probably released during
21P/Giacobini-Zinner return to perihelion in 1907. The spectrum is discussed
together with the tensile strength for the October Draconid meteoroids. The
chemical profile evolution of the main rocky elements for this extremely bright
bolide is compared with the elemental abundances obtained for 5 October
Draconid fireballs also recorded during our spectroscopic campaign but observed
only at a single station. Significant chemical heterogeneity between the small
meteoroids is found as we should expect for cometary aggregates being formed by
diverse dust components.Comment: Manuscript in press in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Society. Accepted for publication in MNRAS on April 28th, 2013 Manuscript
Pages: 28 Tables: 5 Figures: 12. Manuscript associated: "The 2011 October
Draconids outburst. I. Orbital elements, meteoroid fluxes and
21P/Giacobini-Zinner delivered mass to Earth" by Trigo-Rodriguez et al. is
also in press in the same journa
Does Low Frequency X-ray QPO Behavior in GRS 1915+105 Influence Subsequent X-ray and Infrared Evolution?
Using observations with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, we examine the
behavior of 2-10 Hz quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) during spectrally-hard
dips in the x-ray light curve of GRS 1915+105 that are accompanied by infrared
flares. Of the twelve light-curves examined, nine are beta-class and three are
alpha-class following the scheme of Belloni et al. (2000). In most cases, the
QPO frequency is most strongly correlated to the power law flux, which
partially contradicts some earlier claims that the strongest correlation is
between QPO frequency and blackbody flux. Seven beta-class curves are highly
correlated to blackbody features. In several cases, the QPO evolution appears
to decouple from the spectral evolution. We find that beta-class light-curves
with strong correlations can be distinguished from those without by their
``trigger spike'' morphology. We also show that the origin and strength of the
subsequent infrared flare may be causally linked to the variations in QPO
frequency evolution and not solely tied to the onset of soft x-ray flaring
behavior. We divide the twelve alpha- and beta-class light-curves into three
groups based on the evolution of the QPO, the morphology of the trigger spike,
and the infrared flare strength. An apparent crossover case leads us to
conclude that these groups are not unique modes but represent part of a
continuum of accretion behaviors. We believe the QPO behavior at the initiation
of the hard dip can ultimately be used to determine the terminating x-ray
behavior, and the following infrared flaring behavior.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, to be published in Ap
Follow-up of X-ray transients detected by SWIFT with COLORES using the BOOTES network
The Burst Observer and Optical Transient Exploring System (BOOTES) is a
network of telescopes that allows the continuous monitoring of transient
astrophysical sources. It was originally devoted to the study of the optical
emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) that occur in the Universe. In this paper
we show the initial results obtained using the spectrograph COLORES (mounted on
BOOTES-2), when observing compact objects of diverse nature.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figues, to appear in "Swift: 10 years of discovery",
Proceedings of Scienc
Optical and near-infrared observations of the GRB 970616 error box
We report on near-infrared and optical observations of the GRB 970616 error
box and of the X-ray sources discovered by ASCA and ROSAT in the region. No
optical transient was found either within the IPN band or in the X-ray error
boxes, similarly to other bursts, and we suggest that either considerable
intrinsic absorption was present (like GRB 970828) or that the optical
transient displayed a very fast decline (like GRB 980326 and GRB 980519).Comment: 2 pages with one encapsulated PostScript figure included. Uses
Astronomy & Astrophysics LaTeX macros. Accepted for publication in Astronomy
& Astrophysics Supplement Serie
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