154 research outputs found
Deep near-infrared survey of the Southern Sky (DENIS)
DENIS (Deep Near-Infrared Survey of the Southern Sky) will be the first complete census of astronomical sources in the near-infrared spectral range. The challenges of this novel survey are both scientific and technical. Phenomena radiating in the near-infrared range from brown dwarfs to galaxies in the early stages of cosmological evolution, the scientific exploitation of data relevant over such a wide range requires pooling expertise from several of the leading European astronomical centers. The technical challenges of a project which will provide an order of magnitude more sources than given by the IRAS space mission, and which will involve advanced data-handling and image-processing techniques, likewise require pooling of hardware and software resources, as well as of human expertise. The DENIS project team is composed of some 40 scientists, computer specialists, and engineers located in 5 European Community countries (France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, and Spain), with important contributions from specialists in Australia, Brazil, Chile, and Hungary. DENIS will survey the entire southern sky in 3 colors, namely in the I band at a wavelength of 0.8 micron, in the 1.25 micron J band, and in the 2.15 micron K' band. The sensitivity limits will be 18th magnitude in the I band, 16th in the J band, and 14.5th in the K' band. The angular resolution achieved will be 1 arcsecond in the I band, and 3.0 arcseconds in the J and K' bands. The European Southern Observatory 1 m telescope on La Silla will be dedicated to survey use during operations expected to last four years, commencing in late 1993. DENIS aims to provide the astronomical community with complete digitized infrared images of the full southern sky and a catalogue of extracted objects, both of the best quality and in readily accessible form. This will be achieved through dedicated software packages and specialized catalogues, and with assistance from the Leiden and Paris Data Analysis Centers. The data will be mailed on DAT tapes from La Silla to the two Data Analysis Centers for further processing. Two centers are necessary because of the shear quantity of data and because of the complementary roles the Centers will develop, each exploiting its own particular expertise. The Leiden Data Analysis Center (LDAC) will extract objects, establish their parameters, and archive them into a source catalogue. The LDAC will collaborate with the Groningen Space Research group that has gained experience in infrared image handling from the IRAS satellite. The Paris Data Analysis Center (PDAC) will be responsible for archiving and preprocessing the raw data to provide a homogeneous set of data suitable for further reduction in both the Leiden and Paris data analysis streams. The PDAC will also extract and archive images for the sources flagged by the LDAC as extended, and create a catalogue of galaxies. In exploiting the DENIS data we foresee the collaboration with other data analysis centers, such as the Observatoire de Lyon where the relevant DENIS catalogue of galaxies can be incorporated into their extragalactic database. The Point Sources and the Small Extended Sources catalogues could be incorporated in the Late Type Star database at Montpellier, and in the SIMBAD database as CDS. At Groningen the IRAS Point Source catalogue and/or image data can be merged with the DENIS catalogues. At Meudon algorithms and software will be developed with main goal assessing the limits reachable for the homogeneity and intrinsic consistency between the ensemble of the images in the data base (flat-fielding, relative positioning of the fields, bootstrapped flux calibration) but also for the data analysis
High Resolution Molecular Gas Maps of M33
New observations of CO (J=1->0) line emission from M33, using the 25 element
BEARS focal plane array at the Nobeyama Radio Observatory 45-m telescope, in
conjunction with existing maps from the BIMA interferometer and the FCRAO 14-m
telescope, give the highest resolution (13'') and most sensitive (RMS ~ 60 mK)
maps to date of the distribution of molecular gas in the central 5.5 kpc of the
galaxy. A new catalog of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) has a completeness limit
of 1.3 X 10^5 M_sun. The fraction of molecular gas found in GMCs is a strong
function of radius in the galaxy, declining from 60% in the center to 20% at
galactocentric radius R_gal ~ 4 kpc. Beyond that radius, GMCs are nearly
absent, although molecular gas exists. Most (90%) of the emission from low mass
clouds is found within 100 pc projected separation of a GMC. In an annulus 2.1<
R_gal <4.1 kpc, GMC masses follow a power law distribution with index -2.1.
Inside that radius, the mass distribution is truncated, and clouds more massive
than 8 X 10^5 M_sun are absent. The cloud mass distribution shows no
significant difference in the grand design spiral arms versus the interarm
region. The CO surface brightness ratio for the arm to interarm regions is 1.5,
typical of other flocculent galaxies.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, accepted in ApJ. Some tables poorly typeset in
emulateapj; see source files for raw dat
Giant Molecular Clouds in M33 - I. BIMA All Disk Survey
We present the first interferometric CO(J=1->0) map of the entire H-alpha
disk of M33. The 13" diameter synthesized beam corresponds to a linear
resolution of 50 pc, sufficient to distinguish individual giant molecular
clouds (GMCs). From these data we generated a catalog of 148 GMCs with an
expectation that no more than 15 of the sources are spurious. The catalog is
complete down to GMC masses of 1.5 X 10^5 M_sun and contains a total mass of
2.3 X 10^7 M_sun. Single dish observations of CO in selected fields imply that
our survey detects ~50% of the CO flux, hence that the total molecular mass of
M33 is 4.5 X 10^7 M_sun, approximately 2% of the HI mass. The GMCs in our
catalog are confined largely to the central region (R < 4 kpc). They show a
remarkable spatial and kinematic correlation with overdense HI filaments; the
geometry suggests that the formation of GMCs follows that of the filaments. The
GMCs exhibit a mass spectrum dN/dM ~ M^(-2.6 +/- 0.3), considerably steeper
than that found in the Milky Way and in the LMC. Combined with the total mass,
this steep function implies that the GMCs in M33 form with a characteristic
mass of 7 X 10^4 M_sun. More than 2/3 of the GMCs have associated HII regions,
implying that the GMCs have a short quiescent period. Our results suggest the
rapid assembly of molecular clouds from atomic gas, with prompt onset of
massive star formation.Comment: 19 pages, Accepted for Publication in the Astrophysical Journal
Supplemen
Bar imprints on the inner gas kinematics of M33
We present measurements of the stellar and gaseous velocities in the central
5' of the Local Group spiral M33. The data were obtained with the ARC 3.5m
telescope. Blue and red spectra with resolutions from 2 to 4\AA covering the
principal gaseous emission and stellar absorption lines were obtained along the
major and minor axes and six other position angles. The observed radial
velocities of the ionized gas along the photometric major axis of M33 remain
flat at ~22 km s^{-1} all the way into the center, while the stellar velocities
show a gradual rise from zero to 22 km s^{-1} over that same region. The
central star cluster is at or very close to the dynamical center, with a
velocity that is in accordance with M33's systemic velocity to within our
uncertainties. Velocities on the minor axis are non-zero out to about 1' from
the center in both the stars and gas. Together with the major axis velocities,
they point at significant deviations from circular rotation. The most likely
explanation for the bulk of the velocity patterns are streaming motions along a
weak inner bar with a PA close to that of the minor axis, as suggested by
previously published IR photometric images. The presence of bar imprints in M33
implies that all major Local Group galaxies are barred. The non-circular
motions over the inner 200 pc make it difficult to constrain the shape of M33's
inner dark matter halo profile. If the non-circular motions we find in this
nearby Sc galaxy are present in other more distant late-type galaxies, they
might be difficult to recognize.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, ApJ in pres
UV Observations of the Powering Source of the Supergiant Shell in IC2574
A multi-band analysis of the region containing the supergiant HI shell in the
nearby dwarf irregular galaxy IC2574 presents evidence of a causal relationship
between a central star cluster, the surrounding expanding HI shell, and
secondary star formation sites on the rim of the HI shell. Comparisons of the
far-UV (FUV, 1521 A), optical broad-band, H-alpha, X-ray, and HI morphologies
suggest that the region is in an auspicious moment of star formation triggered
by the central stellar cluster. The derived properties of the HI shell, the
central stellar cluster, and the star forming regions on the rim support this
scenario: The kinematic age of the HI shell is <14 Myr and in agreement with
the age of the central stellar cluster derived from the FUV observations (sim
11 Myr). An estimate for the mechanical energy input from SN and stellar winds
of the central stellar cluster made from FUV photometry and the derived cluster
age is 4.1 x 10^52 erg, roughly a few times higher than the kinetic energy of
the HI shell. The requisite energy input needed to create the HI shell, derived
in the `standard' fashion from the HI observations (using the numerical models
of Chevalier), is 2.6 x 10^53 erg which is almost an order of magnitude higher
than the estimated energy input as derived from the FUV data. Given the
overwhelming observational evidence that the central cluster is responsible for
the expanding HI shell, this discrepancy suggests that the required energy
input is overestimated using the `standard' method. This may explain why some
other searches for remnant stellar clusters in giant HI holes have been
unsuccessful so far. Our observations also show that stellar clusters are
indeed able to create supergiant HI shells, even at large galactocentric radii,
a scenario which has recently been questioned by a number of authors.Comment: AJ, accepted, 16 pages, 6 figure
ESO Imaging Survey VII. Distant Cluster Candidates over 12 square degrees
In this paper the list of candidate clusters identified from the I-band data
of the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) is completed using the images obtained over a
total area of about 12 square degrees. Together with the data reported earlier
the total I-band coverage of EIS is 17 square degrees, which has yielded a
sample of 252 cluster candidates in the redshift range 0.2 \lsim z \lsim 1.3.
This is the largest optically-selected sample currently available in the
Southern Hemisphere. It is also well distributed in the sky thus providing
targets for a variety of VLT programs nearly year round.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysic
Infrared Excess and Molecular Gas in the Galactic Worm GW46.4+5.5
We have carried out high-resolution (~3') HI and CO line observations along
one-dimensional cuts through the Galactic worm GW46.4+5.5. By comparing the HI
data with IRAS data, we have derived the distributions of I_100 excess and
tau_100 excess, which are respectively the 100 mum intensity and 100 mum
optical depth in excess of what would be expected from HI emission. In two
observed regions, we were able to make a detailed comparison of the infrared
excess and the CO emission. We have found that tau_100 excess has a very good
correlation with the integrated intensity of CO emission, W_CO, but I_100
excess does not. There are two reasons for the poor correlation between I_100
excess and W_CO: firstly, there are regions with enhanced infrared emissivity
without CO, and secondly, dust grains associated with molecular gas have a low
infrared emissivity. In one region, these two factors completely hide the
presence of molecular gas in the infrared. In the second region, we could
identify the area with molecular gas, but I_100 excess significantly
underestimates the column density of molecular hydrogen because of the second
factor mentioned above. We therefore conclude that tau_100 excess, rather than
I_100 excess, is an accurate indicator of molecular content along the line of
sight. We derive tau_100/N(H)=(1.00+-0.02)*10^-5~(10^20 cm^-2)^-1, and
X=N(H_2)/W_CO=~0.7*10^20 cm^-2 (K km s^-1)^-1. Our results suggest that I_100
excess could still be used to estimate the molecular content if the result is
multiplied by a correction factor xi_c=_HI/_H_2 (~2 in
the second region), which accounts for the different infrared emissivities of
atomic and molecular gas. We also discuss some limitations of this work.Comment: 10 pages, 9 postscript figures, uses aas2pp4.sty to be published in
Astrophyslcal Journa
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