720 research outputs found
Damped Lyman-alpha absorption from a nearby Low Surface Brightness galaxy
Ground-based & HST images of the nearby galaxy SBS 1543+593 (z=0.009) show it
to be a Low Surface Brightness (LSB) galaxy with a central surface brightness
of mu_B(0)=23.2 mag/arcsec-2 and scale length 0.9 h-1 kpc, values typical for
the local LSB galaxy population. The galaxy lies directly in front of the QSO
HS 1543+5921 (z=0.807); an HST STIS spectrum of the quasar reveals a damped
Lyman-alpha (DLA) line at the redshift of the interloper with an HI column
density of log N(HI) = 20.35, as well as several low-ionization metal lines
with strengths similar to those found in the Milky Way interstellar medium. Our
data show that LSB galaxies are certainly able to produce the DLA lines seen at
higher redshift, and fuels the speculation that LSB galaxies are a major
contributor to that population of absorbers.Comment: Submitted to A
On the Spectroscopic Diversity of Type Ia Supernovae
A comparison of the ratio of the depths of two absorption features in the
spectra of TypeIa supernovae (SNe Ia) near the time of maximum brightness with
the blueshift of the deep red Si II absorption feature 10 days after maximum
shows that the spectroscopic diversity of SNe Ia is multi-dimensional. There is
a substantial range of blueshifts at a given value of the depth ratio. We also
find that the spectra of a sample of SNe Ia obtained a week before maximum
brightness can be arranged in a ``blueshift sequence'' that mimics the time
evolution of the pre-maximum-light spectra of an individual SN Ia, the well
observed SN 1994D. Within the context of current SN Ia explosion models, we
suggest that some of the SNe Ia in our sample were delayed-detonations while
others were plain deflagrations.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ
The Role of a Hot Gas Environment on the Evolution of Galaxies
Most spiral galaxies are found in galaxy groups with low velocity
dispersions; most E/S0 galaxies are found in galaxy groups with relatively high
velocity dispersions. The mass of the hot gas we can observe in the E/S0 groups
via their thermal X-ray emission is, on average, as much as the baryonic mass
of the galaxies in these groups. By comparison, galaxy clusters have as much or
more hot gas than stellar mass. Hot gas in S-rich groups, however, is of low
enough temperature for its X-ray emission to suffer heavy absorption due to
Galactic HI and related observational effects, and hence is hard to detect. We
postulate that such lower temperature hot gas does exist in low velocity
dispersion, S-rich groups, and explore the consequences of this assumption. For
a wide range of metallicity and density, hot gas in S-rich groups can cool in
far less than a Hubble time. If such gas exists and can cool, especially when
interacting with HI in existing galaxies, then it can help link together a
number of disparate observations, both Galactic and extragalactic, that are
otherwise difficult to understand.Comment: 16 pages with one figure. ApJ Letters, in pres
Hot Gas in the Galactic Thick Disk and Halo Near the Draco Cloud
This paper examines the ultraviolet and X-ray photons generated by hot gas in
the Galactic thick disk or halo in the Draco region of the northern hemisphere.
Our analysis uses the intensities from four ions, C IV, O VI, O VII, and O
VIII, sampling temperatures of ~100,000 to ~3,000,000 K. We measured the O VI,
O VII and O VIII intensities from FUSE and XMM-Newton data and subtracted off
the local contributions in order to deduce the thick disk/halo contributions.
These were supplemented with published C IV intensity and O VI column density
measurements. Our estimate of the thermal pressure in the O VI-rich thick
disk/halo gas, p_{th}/k = 6500^{+2500}_{-2600} K cm^{-3}, suggests that the
thick disk/halo is more highly pressurized than would be expected from
theoretical analyses. The ratios of C IV to O VI to O VII to O VIII,
intensities were compared with those predicted by theoretical models. Gas which
was heated to 3,000,000 K then allowed to cool radiatively cannot produce
enough C IV or O VI-generated photons per O VII or O VIII-generated photon.
Producing enough C IV and O VI emission requires heating additional gas to
100,000 < T < 1,000,000 K. However, shock heating, which provides heating
across this temperature range, overproduces O VI relative to the others.
Obtaining the observed mix may require a combination of several processes,
including some amount of shock heating, heat conduction, and mixing, as well as
radiative cooling of very hot gas.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
UV Absorption Lines from High-Velocity Gas in the Vela Supernova Remnant: New insights from STIS Echelle Observations of HD72089
The star HD72089 is located behind the Vela supernova remnant and shows a
complex array of high and low velocity interstellar absorption features arising
from shocked clouds. A spectrum of this star was recorded over the wavelength
range 1196.4 to 1397.2 Angstroms at a resolving power lambda/Delta lambda =
110,000 and signal-to-noise ratio of 32 by STIS on the Hubble Space Telescope.
We have identified 7 narrow components of C I and have measured their relative
populations in excited fine-structure levels. Broader features at heliocentric
velocities ranging from -70 to +130 km/s are seen in C II, N I, O I, Si II, S
II and Ni II. In the high-velocity components, the unusually low abundances of
N I and O I, relative to S II and Si II, suggest that these elements may be
preferentially ionized to higher stages by radiation from hot gas immediately
behind the shock fronts.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, Latex. Submitted for the special HST ERO issue
of the Astrophysical Journal Letter
Large-scale structure in the Lyman-alpha forest II: analysis of a group of ten QSOs
The spatial distribution of Ly-alpha forest absorption systems towards ten
QSOs has been analysed to search for large-scale structure over the redshift
range 2.2 < z < 3.4. The QSOs form a closely spaced group on the sky and are
concentrated within a 1 deg^2 field. We have employed a technique based on the
first and second moments of the transmission probability density function which
is capable of identifying and assessing the significance of regions of over- or
underdense Ly-alpha absorption. We find evidence for large-scale structure in
the distribution of Ly-alpha forest absorption at the > 99 per cent confidence
level. In individual spectra we find overdense Ly-alpha absorption on scales of
up to 1200 km s^-1. There is also strong evidence for correlated absorption
across line of sight pairs separated by < 3 h^-1 proper Mpc (q_0 = 0.5). For
larger separations the cross-correlation signal becomes progressively less
significant.Comment: 15 pages, LaTeX, 6 Postscript figures, accepted for publication in
MNRA
Optical and Near-Infrared Observations of the Highly Reddened, Rapidly Expanding Type Ia Supernova 2006X in M100
We present extensive optical (UBVRI), near-infrared (JK) light curves and
optical spectroscopy of the Type Ia supernova (SN) 2006X in the nearby galaxy
NGC 4321 (M100). Our observations suggest that either SN 2006X has an
intrinsically peculiar color evolution, or it is highly reddened [E(B -
V)_{host} = 1.42+/-0.04 mag] with R_V = 1.48+/-0.06, much lower than the
canonical value of 3.1 for the average Galactic dust. SN 2006X also has one of
the highest expansion velocities ever published for a SN Ia. Compared with the
other SNe Ia we analyzed, SN 2006X has a broader light curve in the U band, a
more prominent bump/shoulder feature in the V and R bands, a more pronounced
secondary maximum in the I and near-infrared bands, and a remarkably smaller
late-time decline rate in the B band. The B - V color evolution shows an
obvious deviation from the Lira-Phillips relation at 1 to 3 months after
maximum brightness. At early times, optical spectra of SN 2006X displayed
strong, high-velocity features of both intermediate-mass elements (Si, Ca, and
S) and iron-peak elements, while at late times they showed a relatively blue
continuum, consistent with the blue U-B and B-V colors at similar epochs. A
light echo and/or the interaction of the SN ejecta and its circumstellar
material may provide a plausible explanation for its late-time photometric and
spectroscopic behavior. Using the Cepheid distance of M100, we derive a Hubble
constant of 72.7+/-8.2 km s^{-1} Mpc^{-1}(statistical) from the normalized
dereddened luminosity of SN 2006X. We briefly discuss whether abnormal dust is
a universal signature for all SNe Ia, and whether the most rapidly expanding
objects form a subclass with distinct photometric and spectroscopic properties.Comment: 48 pages, 20 figures and 11 tables. Accepted Version (ApJ, 2008,
March issue
Gas Accretion in Star-Forming Galaxies
Cold-mode gas accretion onto galaxies is a direct prediction of LCDM
simulations and provides galaxies with fuel that allows them to continue to
form stars over the lifetime of the Universe. Given its dramatic influence on a
galaxy's gas reservoir, gas accretion has to be largely responsible for how
galaxies form and evolve. Therefore, given the importance of gas accretion, it
is necessary to observe and quantify how these gas flows affect galaxy
evolution. However, observational data have yet to conclusively show that gas
accretion ubiquitously occurs at any epoch. Directly detecting gas accretion is
a challenging endeavor and we now have obtained a significant amount of
observational evidence to support it. This chapter reviews the current
observational evidence of gas accretion onto star-forming galaxies.Comment: Invited review to appear in Gas Accretion onto Galaxies, Astrophysics
and Space Science Library, eds. A. J. Fox & R. Dav\'e, to be published by
Springer. This chapter includes 22 pages with 7 Figure
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