11,245 research outputs found
Airline meteorological requirements
A brief review of airline meteorological/flight planning is presented. The effects of variations in meteorological parameters upon flight and operational costs are reviewed. Flight path planning through the use of meteorological information is briefly discussed
Discrete local altitude sensing device Patent
Device for use in descending spacecraft as altitude sensor for actuating deceleration retrorocket
Radio and X-ray observations of an exceptional radio flare in the extreme z=4.72 blazar GB B1428+4217
We report on the extreme behaviour of the high redshift blazar GB B1428+4217
at z=4.72. A continued programme of radio measurements has revealed an
exceptional flare in the lightcurve, with the 15.2 GHz flux density rising by a
factor ~3 from ~140 mJy to ~430 mJy in a rest-frame timescale of only ~4 months
-- much larger than any previous flares observed in this source. In addition to
new measurements of the 1.4-43 GHz radio spectrum we also present the analysis
and results of a target-of-opportunity X-ray observation using XMM-Newton, made
close to the peak in radio flux. Although the X-ray data do not show a flare in
the high energy lightcurve, we are able to confirm the X-ray spectral
variability hinted at in previous observations. GB B1428+4217 is one of several
high-redshift radio-loud quasars that display a low energy break in the X-ray
spectrum, probably due to the presence of excess absorption in the source.
X-ray spectral analysis of the latest XMM-Newton data is shown to be consistent
with the warm absorption scenario which we have hypothesized previously. Warm
absorption is also consistent with the observed X-ray spectral variability of
the source, in which the spectral changes can be successfully accounted-for
with a fixed column density of material in which the ionization state is
correlated with hardness of the underlying power-law emission.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, MNRAS accepte
Unveiling Sources of Heating in the Vicinity of the Orion BN/KL Hot Core as Traced by Highly Excited Inversion Transitions of Ammonia
Using the Expanded Very Large Array, we have mapped the vicinity of the Orion
BN/KL Hot Core with sub-arcsecond angular resolution in seven metastable
inversion transitions of ammonia: (J,K)=(6,6) to (12,12). This emission comes
from levels up to 1500 K above the ground state, enabling identification of
source(s) responsible for heating the region. We used this multi-transition
dataset to produce images of the rotational/kinetic temperature and the column
density of ammonia for ortho and para species separately and on a
position-by-position basis. We find rotational temperature and column density
in the range 160-490 K and (1-4)x10^17 cm^-2, respectively. Our
spatially-resolved images show that the highest (column) density and hottest
gas is found in a northeast-southwest elongated ridge to the southeast of
Source I. We have also measured the ortho-para ratio of ammonia, estimated to
vary in the range 0.9-1.6. Enhancement of ortho with respect to para and the
offset of hot ammonia emission peaks from known (proto)stellar sources provide
evidence that the ammonia molecules have been released from dust grains into
the gas-phase through the passage of shocks and not by stellar radiation. We
propose that the combined effect of Source I's proper motion and its
low-velocity outflow impinging on a pre-existing dense medium is responsible
for the excitation of ammonia and the Orion Hot Core. Finally, we found for the
first time evidence of a slow (5 km/s) and compact (1000 AU) outflow towards
IRc7.Comment: To appear in Astrophysical Journal Letters Special Issue on the EVLA.
8 pages, 4 figure
The Most Detailed Picture Yet of an Embedded High-mass YSO
High-mass star formation is not well understood chiefly because examples are
deeply embedded, relatively distant, and crowded with sources of emission.
Using VLA and VLBA observations of water and SiO maser emission, we have mapped
in detail the structure and proper motion of material 20-500 AU from the
closest high-mass YSO, radio source-I in the Orion KL region. We observe
streams of material driven in a rotating, wide angle, bipolar wind from the
surface of an edge-on accretion disk. The example of source-I provides strong
evidence that high-mass star formation proceeds via accretionComment: typo corrected and word added to abstract 6 pages including 4 B&W
figures. To appear in the Proceeding of IAU Symposium 221, Star Formation at
High Angular Resolution, Editors M. Burton, R. Jayawardhana & T. Bourke,
Astronomical Society of the Pacifi
First Results from a 1.3 cm EVLA Survey of Massive Protostellar Objects: G35.03+0.35
We have performed a 1.3 centimeter survey of 24 massive young stellar objects
(MYSOs) using the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA). The sources in the sample
exhibit a broad range of massive star formation signposts including Infrared
Dark Clouds (IRDCs), UCHII regions, and extended 4.5 micron emission in the
form of Extended Green Objects (EGOs). In this work, we present results for
G35.03+0.35 which exhibits all of these phenomena. We simultaneously image the
1.3 cm ammonia (1,1) through (6,6) inversion lines, four methanol transitions,
two H recombination lines, plus continuum at 0.05 pc resolution. We find three
areas of thermal ammonia emission, two within the EGO (designated the NE and SW
cores) and one toward an adjacent IRDC. The NE core contains an UCHII region
(CM1) and a candidate HCHII region (CM2). A region of non-thermal, likely
masing ammonia (3,3) and (6,6) emission is coincident with an arc of 44 GHz
methanol masers. We also detect two new 25 GHz Class I methanol masers. A
complementary Submillimeter Array 1.3 mm continuum image shows that the
distribution of dust emission is similar to the lower-lying ammonia lines, all
peaking to the NW of CM2, indicating the likely presence of an additional MYSO
in this protocluster. By modeling the ammonia and 1.3 mm continuum data, we
obtain gas temperatures of 20-220 K and masses of 20-130 solar. The diversity
of continuum emission properties and gas temperatures suggest that objects in a
range of evolutionary states exist concurrently in this protocluster.Comment: To appear in Astrophysical Journal Letters Special Issue on the EVLA.
16 pages, 3 figures. Includes the complete version of Figure 3, which was
unable to fit into the journal article due to the number of panel
The Protocluster G18.67+0.03: A Test Case for Class I Methanol Masers as Evolutionary Indicators for Massive Star Formation
We present high angular resolution Submillimeter Array (SMA) and Karl G.
Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) observations of the massive protocluster
G18.67+0.03. Previously targeted in maser surveys of GLIMPSE Extended Green
Objects (EGOs), this cluster contains three Class I methanol maser sources,
providing a unique opportunity to test the proposed role of Class I masers as
evolutionary indicators for massive star formation. The millimeter observations
reveal bipolar molecular outflows, traced by 13CO(2-1) emission, associated
with all three Class I maser sources. Two of these sources (including the EGO)
are also associated with 6.7 GHz Class II methanol masers; the Class II masers
are coincident with millimeter continuum cores that exhibit hot core line
emission and drive active outflows, as indicated by the detection of SiO(5-4).
In these cases, the Class I masers are coincident with outflow lobes, and
appear as clear cases of excitation by active outflows. In contrast, the third
Class I source is associated with an ultracompact HII region, and not with
Class II masers. The lack of SiO emission suggests the 13CO outflow is a relic,
consistent with its longer dynamical timescale. Our data show that massive
young stellar objects associated only with Class I masers are not necessarily
young, and provide the first unambiguous evidence that Class I masers may be
excited by both young (hot core) and older (UC HII) MYSOs within the same
protocluster.Comment: Astrophysical Journal Letters, accepted. emulateapj, 7 pages
including 4 figures and 1 table. Figures compressed. v2: coauthor affiliation
updated, emulateapj versio
Role of the first coordination shell in determining the equilibrium structure and dynamics of simple liquids
The traditional view that the physical properties of a simple liquid are
determined primarily by its repulsive forces was recently challenged by
Berthier and Tarjus, who showed that in some cases ignoring the attractions
leads to large errors in the dynamics [L. Berthier and G. Tarjus, Phys. Rev.
Lett. 103, 170601 (2009); J. Chem. Phys. 134, 214503 (2011)]. We present
simulations of the standard Lennard-Jones liquid at several condensed-fluid
state points, including a fairly low density state and a very high density
state, as well as simulations of the Kob-Andersen binary Lennard-Jones mixture
at several temperatures. By varying the range of the forces, results for the
thermodynamics, dynamics, and structure show that the determining factor for
getting the correct statics and dynamics is not whether or not the attractive
forces {\it per se} are included in the simulations. What matters is whether or
not interactions are included from all particles within the first coordination
shell (FCS) - the attractive forces can thus be ignored, but only at extremely
high densities. The recognition of the importance of a local shell in condensed
fluids goes back to van der Waals; our results confirm this idea and thereby
the basic picture of the old hole- and cell theories for simple condensed
fluids
VLA Observations of the Infrared Dark Cloud G19.30+0.07
We present Very Large Array observations of ammonia (NH3) (1,1), (2,2), and
CCS (2_1-1_0) emission toward the Infrared Dark Cloud (IRDC) G19.30+0.07 at
~22GHz. The NH3 emission closely follows the 8 micron extinction. The NH3 (1,1)
and (2,2) lines provide diagnostics of the temperature and density structure
within the IRDC, with typical rotation temperatures of ~10 to 20K and NH3
column densities of ~10^15 cm^-2. The estimated total mass of G19.30+0.07 is
~1130 Msun. The cloud comprises four compact NH3 clumps of mass ~30 to 160
Msun. Two coincide with 24 micron emission, indicating heating by protostars,
and show evidence of outflow in the NH3 emission. We report a water maser
associated with a third clump; the fourth clump is apparently starless. A
non-detection of 8.4GHz emission suggests that the IRDC contains no bright HII
regions, and places a limit on the spectral type of an embedded ZAMS star to
early-B or later. From the NH3 emission we find G19.30+0.07 is composed of
three distinct velocity components, or "subclouds." One velocity component
contains the two 24 micron sources and the starless clump, another contains the
clump with the water maser, while the third velocity component is diffuse, with
no significant high-density peaks. The spatial distribution of NH3 and CCS
emission from G19.30+0.07 is highly anti-correlated, with the NH3 predominantly
in the high-density clumps, and the CCS tracing lower-density envelopes around
those clumps. This spatial distribution is consistent with theories of
evolution for chemically young low-mass cores, in which CCS has not yet been
processed to other species and/or depleted in high-density regions.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication by ApJ. Please contact
the authors for higher resolution versions of the figure
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