46 research outputs found
Chandra Observations of Type Ia Supernovae: Upper Limits to the X-ray Flux of SN 2002bo, SN 2002ic, SN 2005gj, and SN 2005ke
We set sensitive upper limits to the X-ray emission of four Type Ia
supernovae (SNe Ia) using the Chandra X-ray Observatory. SN 2002bo, a normal,
although reddened, nearby SN Ia, was observed 9.3 days after explosion. For an
absorbed, high temperature bremsstrahlung model the flux limits are 3.2E-16
ergs/cm^2/s (0.5-2 keV band) and 4.1E-15 ergs/cm^2/s (2-10 keV band). Using
conservative model assumptions and a 10 km/s wind speed, we derive a mass loss
rate of \dot{M} ~ 2E-5 M_\odot/yr, which is comparable to limits set by the
non-detection of Halpha lines from other SNe Ia. Two other objects, SN 2002ic
and SN 2005gj, observed 260 and 80 days after explosion, respectively, are the
only SNe Ia showing evidence for circumstellar interaction. The SN 2002ic X-ray
flux upper limits are ~4 times below predictions of the interaction model
currently favored to explain the bright optical emission. To resolve this
discrepancy we invoke the mixing of cool dense ejecta fragments into the
forward shock region, which produces increased X-ray absorption. A modest
amount of mixing allows us to accommodate the Chandra upper limit. SN 2005gj is
less well studied at this time. Assuming the same circumstellar environment as
for SN 2002i, the X-ray flux upper limits for SN 2005gj are ~4 times below the
predictions, suggesting that mixing of cool ejecta into the forward shock has
also occurred here. Our reanalysis of Swift and Chandra data on SN 2005ke does
not confirm a previously reported X-ray detection. The host galaxies NGC 3190
(SN 2002bo) and NGC 1371 (SN 2005ke) each harbor a low luminosity (L_X ~ 3-4E40
ergs/s) active nucleus in addition to wide-spread diffuse soft X-ray emission.Comment: 16 pages, to appear in ApJ (20 Nov 2007
Skunk River Review 2010-11, vol 23
Welcome to the 2010-2011 edition of The Skunk River Review!
As the new editor of this publication, I was excited to see the number of submissions and the overwhelming enthusiasm of the students. This year\u27s publication includes work from Composition I, Composition II, Literature, and College Resources courses.
Whereas The Skunk River Review is academic work that begins in the classroom, it also reflects student\u27s interests. The essays are not edited for MLA format or general errors because the publication is used as a teaching tool in many classrooms.https://openspace.dmacc.edu/skunkriver/1002/thumbnail.jp
EVLA Observations Constrain the Environment and Progenitor System of Type Ia Supernova 2011fe
We report unique EVLA observations of SN 2011fe representing the most
sensitive radio study of a Type Ia supernova to date. Our data place direct
constraints on the density of the surrounding medium at radii ~10^15-10^16 cm,
implying an upper limit on the mass loss rate from the progenitor system of
Mdot <~ 6 x 10^-10 Msol/yr (assuming a wind speed of 100 km/s), or expansion
into a uniform medium with density n_CSM <~ 6 cm^-3. Drawing from the observed
properties of non-conservative mass transfer among accreting white dwarfs, we
use these limits on the density of the immediate environs to exclude a phase
space of possible progenitors systems for SN 2011fe. We rule out a symbiotic
progenitor system and also a system characterized by high accretion rate onto
the white dwarf that is expected to give rise to optically-thick accretion
winds. Assuming that a small fraction, 1%, of the mass accreted is lost from
the progenitor system, we also eliminate much of the potential progenitor
parameter space for white dwarfs hosting recurrent novae or undergoing stable
nuclear burning. Therefore, we rule out the most popular single degenerate
progenitor models for SN 2011fe, leaving a limited phase space inhabited by
some double degenerate systems and exotic progenitor scenarios.Comment: Accepted to Ap
First-year Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II (SDSS-II) Supernova Results: Hubble Diagram and Cosmological Parameters
We present measurements of the Hubble diagram for 103 Type Ia supernovae
(SNe) with redshifts 0.04 < z < 0.42, discovered during the first season (Fall
2005) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II (SDSS-II) Supernova Survey. These data
fill in the redshift "desert" between low- and high-redshift SN Ia surveys. We
combine the SDSS-II measurements with new distance estimates for published SN
data from the ESSENCE survey, the Supernova Legacy Survey, the Hubble Space
Telescope, and a compilation of nearby SN Ia measurements. Combining the SN
Hubble diagram with measurements of Baryon Acoustic Oscillations from the SDSS
Luminous Red Galaxy sample and with CMB temperature anisotropy measurements
from WMAP, we estimate the cosmological parameters w and Omega_M, assuming a
spatially flat cosmological model (FwCDM) with constant dark energy equation of
state parameter, w. For the FwCDM model and the combined sample of 288 SNe Ia,
we find w = -0.76 +- 0.07(stat) +- 0.11(syst), Omega_M = 0.306 +- 0.019(stat)
+- 0.023(syst) using MLCS2k2 and w = -0.96 +- 0.06(stat) +- 0.12(syst), Omega_M
= 0.265 +- 0.016(stat) +- 0.025(syst) using the SALT-II fitter. We trace the
discrepancy between these results to a difference in the rest-frame UV model
combined with a different luminosity correction from color variations; these
differences mostly affect the distance estimates for the SNLS and HST
supernovae. We present detailed discussions of systematic errors for both
light-curve methods and find that they both show data-model discrepancies in
rest-frame -band. For the SALT-II approach, we also see strong evidence for
redshift-dependence of the color-luminosity parameter (beta). Restricting the
analysis to the 136 SNe Ia in the Nearby+SDSS-II samples, we find much better
agreement between the two analysis methods but with larger uncertainties.Comment: Accepted for publication by ApJ
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey: Search Algorithm and Follow-up Observations
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey has identified a large
number of new transient sources in a 300 sq. deg. region along the celestial
equator during its first two seasons of a three-season campaign. Multi-band
(ugriz) light curves were measured for most of the sources, which include solar
system objects, Galactic variable stars, active galactic nuclei, supernovae
(SNe), and other astronomical transients. The imaging survey is augmented by an
extensive spectroscopic follow-up program to identify SNe, measure their
redshifts, and study the physical conditions of the explosions and their
environment through spectroscopic diagnostics. During the survey, light curves
are rapidly evaluated to provide an initial photometric type of the SNe, and a
selected sample of sources are targeted for spectroscopic observations. In the
first two seasons, 476 sources were selected for spectroscopic observations, of
which 403 were identified as SNe. For the Type Ia SNe, the main driver for the
Survey, our photometric typing and targeting efficiency is 90%. Only 6% of the
photometric SN Ia candidates were spectroscopically classified as non-SN Ia
instead, and the remaining 4% resulted in low signal-to-noise, unclassified
spectra. This paper describes the search algorithm and the software, and the
real-time processing of the SDSS imaging data. We also present the details of
the supernova candidate selection procedures and strategies for follow-up
spectroscopic and imaging observations of the discovered sources.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal (66 pages, 13
figures); typos correcte
LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products
(Abridged) We describe here the most ambitious survey currently planned in
the optical, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). A vast array of
science will be enabled by a single wide-deep-fast sky survey, and LSST will
have unique survey capability in the faint time domain. The LSST design is
driven by four main science themes: probing dark energy and dark matter, taking
an inventory of the Solar System, exploring the transient optical sky, and
mapping the Milky Way. LSST will be a wide-field ground-based system sited at
Cerro Pach\'{o}n in northern Chile. The telescope will have an 8.4 m (6.5 m
effective) primary mirror, a 9.6 deg field of view, and a 3.2 Gigapixel
camera. The standard observing sequence will consist of pairs of 15-second
exposures in a given field, with two such visits in each pointing in a given
night. With these repeats, the LSST system is capable of imaging about 10,000
square degrees of sky in a single filter in three nights. The typical 5
point-source depth in a single visit in will be (AB). The
project is in the construction phase and will begin regular survey operations
by 2022. The survey area will be contained within 30,000 deg with
, and will be imaged multiple times in six bands, ,
covering the wavelength range 320--1050 nm. About 90\% of the observing time
will be devoted to a deep-wide-fast survey mode which will uniformly observe a
18,000 deg region about 800 times (summed over all six bands) during the
anticipated 10 years of operations, and yield a coadded map to . The
remaining 10\% of the observing time will be allocated to projects such as a
Very Deep and Fast time domain survey. The goal is to make LSST data products,
including a relational database of about 32 trillion observations of 40 billion
objects, available to the public and scientists around the world.Comment: 57 pages, 32 color figures, version with high-resolution figures
available from https://www.lsst.org/overvie
LSST Science Book, Version 2.0
A survey that can cover the sky in optical bands over wide fields to faint
magnitudes with a fast cadence will enable many of the exciting science
opportunities of the next decade. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST)
will have an effective aperture of 6.7 meters and an imaging camera with field
of view of 9.6 deg^2, and will be devoted to a ten-year imaging survey over
20,000 deg^2 south of +15 deg. Each pointing will be imaged 2000 times with
fifteen second exposures in six broad bands from 0.35 to 1.1 microns, to a
total point-source depth of r~27.5. The LSST Science Book describes the basic
parameters of the LSST hardware, software, and observing plans. The book
discusses educational and outreach opportunities, then goes on to describe a
broad range of science that LSST will revolutionize: mapping the inner and
outer Solar System, stellar populations in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies,
the structure of the Milky Way disk and halo and other objects in the Local
Volume, transient and variable objects both at low and high redshift, and the
properties of normal and active galaxies at low and high redshift. It then
turns to far-field cosmological topics, exploring properties of supernovae to
z~1, strong and weak lensing, the large-scale distribution of galaxies and
baryon oscillations, and how these different probes may be combined to
constrain cosmological models and the physics of dark energy.Comment: 596 pages. Also available at full resolution at
http://www.lsst.org/lsst/sciboo
The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment
The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) has been in
operation since July 2014. This paper describes the second data release from
this phase, and the fourteenth from SDSS overall (making this, Data Release
Fourteen or DR14). This release makes public data taken by SDSS-IV in its first
two years of operation (July 2014-2016). Like all previous SDSS releases, DR14
is cumulative, including the most recent reductions and calibrations of all
data taken by SDSS since the first phase began operations in 2000. New in DR14
is the first public release of data from the extended Baryon Oscillation
Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS); the first data from the second phase of the
Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2),
including stellar parameter estimates from an innovative data driven machine
learning algorithm known as "The Cannon"; and almost twice as many data cubes
from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey as were in the previous
release (N = 2812 in total). This paper describes the location and format of
the publicly available data from SDSS-IV surveys. We provide references to the
important technical papers describing how these data have been taken (both
targeting and observation details) and processed for scientific use. The SDSS
website (www.sdss.org) has been updated for this release, and provides links to
data downloads, as well as tutorials and examples of data use. SDSS-IV is
planning to continue to collect astronomical data until 2020, and will be
followed by SDSS-V.Comment: SDSS-IV collaboration alphabetical author data release paper. DR14
happened on 31st July 2017. 19 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by ApJS on 28th Nov
2017 (this is the "post-print" and "post-proofs" version; minor corrections
only from v1, and most of errors found in proofs corrected
Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV: mapping the Milky Way, nearby galaxies, and the distant universe
We describe the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV), a project encompassing three major spectroscopic programs. The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2) is observing hundreds of thousands of Milky Way stars at high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratios in the near-infrared. The Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey is obtaining spatially resolved spectroscopy for thousands of nearby galaxies (median ). The extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) is mapping the galaxy, quasar, and neutral gas distributions between and 3.5 to constrain cosmology using baryon acoustic oscillations, redshift space distortions, and the shape of the power spectrum. Within eBOSS, we are conducting two major subprograms: the SPectroscopic IDentification of eROSITA Sources (SPIDERS), investigating X-ray AGNs and galaxies in X-ray clusters, and the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS), obtaining spectra of variable sources. All programs use the 2.5 m Sloan Foundation Telescope at the Apache Point Observatory; observations there began in Summer 2014. APOGEE-2 also operates a second near-infrared spectrograph at the 2.5 m du Pont Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, with observations beginning in early 2017. Observations at both facilities are scheduled to continue through 2020. In keeping with previous SDSS policy, SDSS-IV provides regularly scheduled public data releases; the first one, Data Release 13, was made available in 2016 July
The 13th Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-IV Survey Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory
The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) began observations in July 2014. It pursues three core programs: APOGEE-2,MaNGA, and eBOSS. In addition, eBOSS contains two major subprograms: TDSS and SPIDERS. This paper describes the first data release from SDSS-IV, Data Release 13 (DR13), which contains new data, reanalysis of existing data sets and, like all SDSS data releases, is inclusive of previously released data. DR13 makes publicly available 1390 spatially resolved integral field unit observations of nearby galaxies from MaNGA,the first data released from this survey. It includes new observations from eBOSS, completing SEQUELS. In addition to targeting galaxies and quasars, SEQUELS also targeted variability-selected objects from TDSS and X-ray selected objects from SPIDERS. DR13 includes new reductions ofthe SDSS-III BOSS data, improving the spectrophotometric calibration and redshift classification. DR13 releases new reductions of the APOGEE-1data from SDSS-III, with abundances of elements not previously included and improved stellar parameters for dwarf stars and cooler stars. For the SDSS imaging data, DR13 provides new, more robust and precise photometric calibrations. Several value-added catalogs are being released in tandem with DR13, in particular target catalogs relevant for eBOSS, TDSS, and SPIDERS, and an updated red-clump catalog for APOGEE.This paper describes the location and format of the data now publicly available, as well as providing references to the important technical papers that describe the targeting, observing, and data reduction. The SDSS website, http://www.sdss.org, provides links to the data, tutorials and examples of data access, and extensive documentation of the reduction and analysis procedures. DR13 is the first of a scheduled set that will contain new data and analyses from the planned ~6-year operations of SDSS-IV.PostprintPeer reviewe