817 research outputs found
Evidence of grain growth in the disk of the bipolar proto-planetary nebula M 1--92
We investigate the dust size and dust shell structure of the bipolar
proto-planetary nebula M 1--92 by means of radiative transfer modeling. Our
models consists of a disk and bipolar lobes that are surrounded by an AGB
shell, each component having different dust characteristics. The upper limit of
the grain size in the lobes is estimated to be m from
the polarization value in the bipolar lobe. The value of the
disk is constrained with the disk mass (0.2 M_{\sun}), which was estimated
from a previous CO emission line observation. We find a good model with
m, which provides an approximated disk mass of 0.15
M_{\sun}. Even taking into account uncertainties such as the gas-to-dust mass
ratio, a significantly larger dust of m, comparing to
the dust in the lobe, is expected.
We also estimated the disk inner radius, the disk outer radius, and the
envelope mass to be 30 (=9 AU), 4500 AU, and 4 M_{\sun},
respectively, where is the expansion velocity. If the dust
existing in the lobes in large separations from the central star undergoes
little dust processing, the dust sizes preserves the ones in the dust
formation. Submicron-sized grains are found in many objects besides M 1--92,
suggesting that the size does not depend much on the object properties, such as
initial mass of the central star and chemical composition of the stellar
system. On the other hand, the grain sizes in the disk do. Evidence of large
grains has been reported in many bipolar PPNs, including M 1--92. This result
suggests that disks play an important role in grain growth.Comment: 8 pages with 3 figures. Accepted for publication in A&
Photon polarization entanglement induced by biexciton: experimental evidence for violation of Bell's inequality
We have investigated the polarization entanglement between photon pairs
generated from a biexciton in a CuCl single crystal via resonant hyper
parametric scattering. The pulses of a high repetition pump are seen to provide
improved statistical accuracy and the ability to test Bell's inequality. Our
results clearly violate the inequality and thus manifest the quantum
entanglement and nonlocality of the photon pairs. We also analyzed the quantum
state of our photon pairs using quantum state tomography.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Spitzer/MIPS Imaging of NGC 650: Probing the History of Mass Loss on the Asymptotic Giant Branch
We present the far-infrared (IR) maps of a bipolar planetary nebula (PN), NGC
650, at 24, 70, and 160 micron taken with the Multiband Imaging Photometer for
Spitzer (MIPS) on-board the Spitzer Space Telescope. While the two-peak
emission structure seen in all MIPS bands suggests the presence of a near
edge-on dusty torus, the distinct emission structure between the 24 micron map
and the 70/160 micron maps indicates the presence of two distinct emission
components in the central torus. Based on the spatial correlation of these two
far-IR emission components with respect to various optical line emission, we
conclude that the 24 micron emission is largely due to the [O IV] line at 25.9
micron arising from highly ionized regions behind the ionization front, whereas
the 70 and 160 micron emission is due to dust continuum arising from
low-temperature dust in the remnant asymptotic giant branch (AGB) wind shell.
The far-IR nebula structure also suggests that the enhancement of mass loss at
the end of the AGB phase has occurred isotropically, but has ensued only in the
equatorial directions while ceasing in the polar directions. The present data
also show evidence for the prolate spheroidal distribution of matter in this
bipolar PN. The AGB mass loss history reconstructed in this PN is thus
consistent with what has been previously proposed based on the past optical and
mid-IR imaging surveys of the post-AGB shells.Comment: 9 pages in the emulated ApJ format with 6 figures, to appear in Ap
Microscopic Theory of Current-Spin Interaction in Ferromagnets
Interplay between magnetization dynamics and electric current in a conducting
ferromagnet is theoretically studied based on a microscopic model calculation.
First, the effects of the current on magnetization dynamics (spin torques) are
studied with special attention to the "dissipative" torques arising from
spin-relaxation processes of conduction electrons. Next, an analysis is given
of the "spin motive force", namely, a spin-dependent 'voltage' generation due
to magnetization dynamics, which is the reaction to spin torques. Finally, an
attempt is presented of a unified description of these effects.Comment: Written in December 2008, published in July 200
The interface between the stellar wind and interstellar medium around R Cassiopeiae revealed by far-infrared imaging
The circumstellar dust shells of intermediate initial-mass (about 1 to 8
solar masses) evolved stars are generated by copious mass loss during the
asymptotic giant branch phase. The density structure of their circumstellar
shell is the direct evidence of mass loss processes, from which we can
investigate the nature of mass loss. We used the AKARI Infrared Astronomy
Satellite and the Spitzer Space Telescope to obtain the surface brightness maps
of an evolved star R Cas at far-infrared wavelengths, since the temperature of
dust decreases as the distance from the star increases and one needs to probe
dust at lower temperatures, i.e., at longer wavelengths. The observed shell
structure and the star's known proper motion suggest that the structure
represents the interface regions between the dusty wind and the interstellar
medium. The deconvolved structures are fitted with the analytic bow shock
structure to determine the inclination angle of the bow shock cone. Our data
show that (1) the bow shock cone of 1 - 5 x 10^-5 solar masses (dust mass) is
inclined at 68 degrees with respect to the plane of the sky, and (2) the dust
temperature in the bow shock cone is raised to more than 20 K by collisional
shock interaction in addition to the ambient interstellar radiation field. By
comparison between the apex vector of the bow shock and space motion vector of
the star we infer that there is a flow of interstellar medium local to R Cas
whose flow velocity is at least 55.6 km/s, consistent with an environment
conducive to dust heating by shock interactions.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
An AKARI Search for Intracluster Dust of Globular Clusters
We report the observations of 12 globular clusters with the AKARI/FIS. Our
goal is to search for emission from the cold dust within clusters. We detect
diffuse emissions toward NGC 6402 and 2808, but the IRAS 100-micron maps show
the presence of strong background radiation. They are likely emitted from the
galactic cirrus, while we cannot rule out the possible association of a bump of
emission with the cluster in the case of NGC 6402. We also detect 28 point-like
sources mainly in the WIDE-S images (90 micron). At least several of them are
not associated with the clusters but background galaxies based on some external
catalogs. We present the SEDs by combining the near-and-mid infrared data
obtained with the IRC if possible. The SEDs suggest that most of the point
sources are background galaxies. We find one candidate of the intracluster dust
which has no mid-infrared counterpart unlike the other point-like sources,
although some features such as its point-like appearance should be explained
before we conclude its intracluster origin. For most of the other clusters, we
have confirmed the lack of the intracluster dust. We evaluate upper limits of
the intracluster dust mass to be between 1.0E-05 and 1.0E-03 solar mass
depending on the dust temperature. The lifetime of the intracluster dust
inferred from the upper limits is shorter than 5 Myr (T=70K) or 50 Myr (35K).
Such short lifetime indicates some mechanism(s) are at work to remove the
intracluster dust. We also discuss its impact on the chemical evolution of
globular clusters.Comment: Accepted for publication in PASJ AKARI special issue. 14 pages, 11
figure
The extinction and dust-to-gas structure of the planetary nebula NGC 7009 observed with MUSE
The large field and wavelength range of MUSE is well suited to mapping
Galactic planetary nebulae (PN). The bright PN NGC 7009 was observed with MUSE
on the VLT during the Science Verification of the instrument in seeing of 0.6".
Emission line maps in hydrogen Balmer and Paschen lines were formed from
analysis of the MUSE cubes. The measured electron temperature and density from
the MUSE cube were employed to predict the theoretical hydrogen line ratios and
map the extinction distribution across the nebula. After correction for the
interstellar extinction to NGC 7009, the internal dust-to-gas ratio (A_V/N_H)
has been mapped for the first time in a PN. The extinction map of NGC 7009 has
considerable structure, broadly corresponding to the morphological features of
the nebula. A large-scale feature in the extinction map, consisting of a crest
and trough, occurs at the rim of the inner shell. The nature of this feature
was investigated and instrumental and physical causes considered; no convincing
mechanisms were identified to produce this feature, other than mass loss
variations in the earlier asymptotic giant branch phase. The dust-to-gas ratio
A_V/N_H increases from 0.7 times the interstellar value to >5 times from the
centre towards the periphery of the ionized nebula. The integrated A_V/N_H is
about 2 times the mean ISM value. It is demonstrated that extinction mapping
with MUSE provides a powerful tool for studying the distribution of PN internal
dust and the dust-to-gas ratio. (Abridged.)Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures. Accepted by A&
Kinematics and H_2 morphology of the multipolar Post-AGB star IRAS 16594-4656
context: The spectrum of IRAS 16594-4656 shows shock excited H_2 emission and
collisionally excited emission lines such as[O I],[C I],and [Fe II]. aim: The
goal is to determine the location of the H_2 and [Fe II] shock emission, to
determine the shock velocities,and constrain the physical properties in the
shock. methods: High resolution spectra of the H_2 1-0 S(1),H_2 2-1 S(1), [Fe
II], and Pa emission lines were obtained with the near infrared
spectrograph Phoenix on Gemini South. results: The position-velocity diagrams
of H_2 1-0 S(1), H_2 2-1 S(1), and [Fe II] are presented. The H_2 and [Fe II]
emission is spatially extended. The collisionally excited [O I] and [C I]
optical emission lines have a similar double peaked profile compared to the
extracted H_2 profile and appear to be produced in the same shock. They all
indicate an expansion velocity of ~8 km/s and the presence of a neutral, very
high density region with about 3 x 10^6 to 5 x10^7 cm. The
[Fe II] emission however is single peaked. It has a gaussian FWHM of 30 km/s
and a total width of 62 km/s at 1% of the peak. The Pa profile is even
wider with a gaussian FWHM of 48 km/s and a total width of 75 km/s at 1% of the
peak. conclusions: The H emission is excited in a slow 5 to 20 km/s shock
into dense material at the edge of the lobes, caused by the interaction of the
AGB ejecta and the post-AGB wind. The 3D representation of the H_2 data shows a
hollow structure with less H_2 emission in the equatorial region. The [Fe II]
emission is not present in the lobes, but originates close to the central star
in fast shocks in the post-AGB wind or in a disk. The Pa emission also
appears to originate close to the star.Comment: 11 pages and 8 figures; A&A in press; the paper includig high
resolution figures can be downloaded from
http://homepage.oma.be/gsteene/publications.htm
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