4,681 research outputs found
Lupus-TR-3b: A Low-Mass Transiting Hot Jupiter in the Galactic Plane?
We present a strong case for a transiting Hot Jupiter planet identified
during a single-field transit survey towards the Lupus Galactic plane. The
object, Lupus-TR-3b, transits a V=17.4 K1V host star every 3.91405d.
Spectroscopy and stellar colors indicate a host star with effective temperature
5000 +/- 150K, with a stellar mass and radius of 0.87 +/- 0.04M_sun and 0.82
+/- 0.05R_sun, respectively. Limb-darkened transit fitting yields a companion
radius of 0.89 +/- 0.07R_J and an orbital inclination of 88.3 +1.3/-0.8 deg.
Magellan 6.5m MIKE radial velocity measurements reveal a 2.4 sigma K=114 +/-
25m/s sinusoidal variation in phase with the transit ephemeris. The resulting
mass is 0.81 +/- 0.18M_J and density 1.4 +/- 0.4g/cm^3. Y-band PANIC image
deconvolution reveal a V>=21 red neighbor 0.4'' away which, although highly
unlikely, we cannot conclusively rule out as a blended binary with current
data. However, blend simulations show that only the most unusual binary system
can reproduce our observations. This object is very likely a planet, detected
from a highly efficient observational strategy. Lupus-TR-3b constitutes the
faintest ground-based detection to date, and one of the lowest mass Hot
Jupiters known.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
The EXPLORE Project I: A Deep Search for Transiting Extrasolar Planets
(Abridged) We discuss the design considerations of the EXPLORE (EXtra-solar
PLanet Occultation REsearch) project, a series of transiting planet searches
using 4-m-class telescopes to continuously monitor a single field of stars in
the Galactic Plane in each ~2 week observing campaign. We discuss the general
factors which determine the efficiency and the number of planets found by a
transit search, including time sampling strategy and field selection. The
primary goal is to select the most promising planet candidates for radial
velocity follow-up observations. We show that with very high photometric
precision light curves that have frequent time sampling and at least two
detected transits, it is possible to uniquely solve for the main parameters of
the eclipsing system (including planet radius) based on several important
assumptions about the central star. Together with a measured spectral type for
the star, this unique solution for orbital parameters provides a powerful
method for ruling out most contaminants to transiting planet candidates. For
the EXPLORE project, radial velocity follow-up observations for companion mass
determination of the best candidates are done on 8-m-class telescopes within
two or three months of the photometric campaigns. This same-season follow-up is
made possible by the use of efficient pipelines to produce high quality light
curves within weeks of the observations. We conclude by presenting early
results from our first search, EXPLORE I, in which we reached <1% rms
photometric precision (measured over a full night) on ~37,000 stars to I <=
18.2.Comment: accepted by ApJ. Main points unchanged but more thorough discussion
of some issues. 36 pages, including 14 figure
Catalysis-dependent stabilization of Bre1 fine-tunes histone H2B ubiquitylation to regulate gene transcription
Monoubiquitylation of histone H2B on Lys123 (H2BK123ub1) plays a multifaceted role in diverse DNA-templated processes, yet the mechanistic details by which this modification is regulated are not fully elucidated. Here we show in yeast that H2BK123ub1 is regulated in part through the protein stability of the E3 ubiquitin ligase Bre1. We found that Bre1 stability is controlled by the Rtf1 subunit of the polymerase-associated factor (PAF) complex and through the ability of Bre1 to catalyze H2BK123ub1. Using a domain in Rtf1 that stabilizes Bre1, we show that inappropriate Bre1 levels lead to defects in gene regulation. Collectively, these data uncover a novel quality control mechanism used by the cell to maintain proper Bre1 and H2BK123ub1 levels, thereby ensuring proper control of gene expression
The three-dimensional Ising model: A paradigm of liquid-vapor coexistence in nuclear multifragmentation
Clusters in the three-dimensional Ising model rigorously obey reducibility
and thermal scaling up to the critical temperature. The barriers extracted from
Arrhenius plots depend on the cluster size as where
is a critical exponent relating the cluster size to the cluster
surface. All the Arrhenius plots collapse into a single Fisher-like scaling
function indicating liquid-vapor-like phase coexistence and the univariant
equilibrium between percolating clusters and finite clusters. The compelling
similarity with nuclear multifragmentation is discussed.Comment: (4 pages, 4 figures
Double Bars, Inner Disks, and Nuclear Rings in Early-Type Disk Galaxies
We present results from an imaging survey of an unbiased sample of
thirty-eight early-type (S0--Sa), low-inclination, optically barred galaxies in
the field. Our goal was to find and characterize central stellar and gaseous
structures: secondary bars, inner disks, and nuclear rings. Bars inside bars
are surprisingly common: at least one quarter of the sample galaxies (possibly
as many as 40%) are double-barred, with no preference for Hubble type or the
strength of the primary bar. A typical secondary bar is ~12% of the size of its
primary bar and 240--750 pc in radius. We see no significant effect of
secondary bars on nuclear activity. We also find kiloparsec-scale inner disks
in at least 20% of our sample, almost exclusively in S0 galaxies. These disks
are on average 20% the size of their host bar, and show a wider range of
relative sizes than do secondary bars. Nuclear rings are present in about a
third of our sample. Most are dusty, sites of current or recent star formation,
or both; such rings are preferentially found in Sa galaxies. Three S0 galaxies
(15% of the S0's) appear to have purely stellar nuclear rings, with no evidence
for dust or recent star formation. The fact that these central stellar
structures are so common indicates that the inner regions of early-type barred
galaxies typically contain dynamically cool and disklike structures. This is
especially true for S0 galaxies, where secondary bars, inner disks, and/or
stellar nuclear rings are present at least two thirds of the time. (abridged)Comment: LaTeX, 15 pages, 7 EPS figures; to appear in The Astronomical Journal
(July 2002
A SAURON study of stars and gas in Sa bulges
We present results from our ongoing effort to understand the morphological
and kinematical properties of early-type galaxies using the integral-field
spectrograph SAURON. We discuss the relation between the stellar and gas
morphology and kinematics in our sub-sample of 24 representative Sa spiral
bulges. We focus on the frequency of kinematically decoupled components and on
the presence of star formation in circumnuclear rings.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures; To appear in the proceedings of the "Island
Universes: Structure and Evolution of Disk Galaxies" conference held in
Terschelling, Netherlands, July 2005, ed. R. de Jong. A high resolution
version is available at
http://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/~jfalcon/JFB_terschelling.pdf.g
Z-dependent Barriers in Multifragmentation from Poissonian Reducibility and Thermal Scaling
We explore the natural limit of binomial reducibility in nuclear
multifragmentation by constructing excitation functions for intermediate mass
fragments (IMF) of a given element Z. The resulting multiplicity distributions
for each window of transverse energy are Poissonian. Thermal scaling is
observed in the linear Arrhenius plots made from the average multiplicity of
each element. ``Emission barriers'' are extracted from the slopes of the
Arrhenius plots and their possible origin is discussed.Comment: 15 pages including 4 .ps figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Letters.
Also available at http://csa5.lbl.gov/moretto
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