137 research outputs found
Halpha-Derived Star-Formation Rates For Three z ~ 0.75 EDisCS Galaxy Clusters
We present Halpha-derived star-formation rates (SFRs) for three z ~ 0.75
galaxy clusters. Our 1 sigma flux limit corresponds to a star-formation rate of
0.10-0.24 solar mass per year, and our minimum reliable Halpha + [N II]
rest-frame equivalent width is 10\AA. We show that Halpha narrowband imaging is
an efficient method for measuring star formation in distant clusters. In two
out of three clusters, we find that the fraction of star-forming galaxies
increases with projected distance from the cluster center. We also find that
the fraction of star-forming galaxies decreases with increasing local galaxy
surface density in the same two clusters. We compare the median rate of star
formation among star-forming cluster galaxies to a small sample of star-forming
field galaxies from the literature and find that the median cluster SFRs are
\~50% less than the median field SFR. We characterize cluster evolution in
terms of the mass-normalized integrated cluster SFR and find that the z ~ 0.75
clusters have more SFR per cluster mass on average than the z <= 0.4 clusters
from the literature. The interpretation of this result is complicated by the
dependence of the mass-normalized SFR on cluster mass and the lack of
sufficient overlap in the mass ranges covered by the low and high redshift
samples. We find that the fraction and luminosities of the brightest starburst
galaxies at z ~ 0.75 are consistent with their being progenitors of the
post-starburst galaxies at z ~ 0.45 if the post-starburst phase lasts several
(~5) times longer than the starburst phase.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 20 pages, 24 figure
Deep Near-Infrared Observations of L1014: Revealing the nature of the core and its embedded source
Recently, the Spitzer Space Telescope discovered L1014-IRS, a mid-infrared
source with protostellar colors, toward the heretofore "starless" core L1014.
We present deep near-infrared observations that show a scattered light nebula
extending from L1014-IRS. This nebula resembles those typically associated with
protostars and young stellar objects, tracing envelope cavities presumably
evacuated by an outflow. The northern lobe of the nebula has an opening angle
of ~100 degrees, while the southern lobe is barely detected. Its morphology
suggests that the bipolar cavity and inferred protostellar disk is not inclined
more than 30 degrees from an edge-on orientation. The nebula extends at least
8" from the source at Ks, strongly suggesting that L1014-IRS is embedded within
L1014 at a distance of 200 pc rather than in a more distant cloud associated
with the Perseus arm at 2.6 kpc. In this case, the apparently low luminosity of
L1014-IRS, 0.090 Lsun, is consistent with it having a substellar mass. However,
if L1014-IRS is obscured by a circumstellar disk, its luminosity and inferred
mass may be greater. Using near-infrared colors of background stars, we
investigate characteristics of the L1014 molecular cloud core. We determine a
mass of 3.6 Msun for regions of the core with Av > 2 magnitudes. A comparison
of the radial extinction profile of L1014 with other cores suggests that L1014
may be among the most centrally condensed cores known, perhaps indicative of
the earliest stages of brown dwarf or star formation processes.Comment: Replacement includes revision to mass of core. 22 pages, 6 figures.
Accepted by Ap
Telescope to Observe Planetary Systems (TOPS): a high throughput 1.2-m visible telescope with a small inner working angle
The Telescope to Observe Planetary Systems (TOPS) is a proposed space mission
to image in the visible (0.4-0.9 micron) planetary systems of nearby stars
simultaneously in 16 spectral bands (resolution R~20). For the ~10 most
favorable stars, it will have the sensitivity to discover 2 R_E rocky planets
within habitable zones and characterize their surfaces or atmospheres through
spectrophotometry. Many more massive planets and debris discs will be imaged
and characterized for the first time. With a 1.2m visible telescope, the
proposed mission achieves its power by exploiting the most efficient and robust
coronagraphic and wavefront control techniques. The Phase-Induced Amplitude
Apodization (PIAA) coronagraph used by TOPS allows planet detection at 2
lambda/d with nearly 100% throughput and preserves the telescope angular
resolution. An efficient focal plane wavefront sensing scheme accurately
measures wavefront aberrations which are fed back to the telescope active
primary mirror. Fine wavefront control is also performed independently in each
of 4 spectral channels, resulting in a system that is robust to wavefront
chromaticity.Comment: 12 pages, SPIE conference proceeding, May 2006, Orlando, Florid
The First Definitive Binary Orbit Determined with the Hubble Space Telescope Fine Guidance Sensors: Wolf 1062 (Gliese 748)
The M dwarf binary, Wolf 1062 (Gliese 748), has been observed with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Fine Guidance Sensor 3 in the transfer function scan mode to determine the apparent orbit. This is the first orbit defined fully and exclusively with HST, and is the most accurate definitive orbit for any resolved, noneclipsing system. The orbital period is 2.4490 ± 0.0119 yr and the semimajor axis is 01470 ± 00007âboth quantities are now known to better than 1%. Using the weighted mean of seven parallax measurements and these HST data, we find the system mass to be 0.543 ± 0.031 Mâ, where the error of 6% is due almost entirely to the parallax error. An estimated fractional mass from the infrared brightness ratio and infrared mass-luminosity relation yields a mass for the primary of 0.37 Mâ, and the secondary falls in the regime of very low mass stars, with a mass of only 0.17 Mâ
TOPS: a small space telescope using phase induced-amplitude apodization (PIAA) to image rocky and giant exo-planets
The Telescope to Observe Planetary Systems (TOPS) is a proposed space mission to image planetary systems of nearby stars simultaneously in a few wide spectral bands covering the visible light (0.4-0.9 ÎŒm). It achieves its power by combining a high accuracy wavefront control system with a highly efficient Phase-Induced Amplitude Apodization (PIAA) coronagraph which provides strong suppression very close to the star (within 2 λ/D). The PIAA coronagraphic technique opens the possibility of imaging Earthlike planets in visible light with a smaller telescope than previously supposed. If sized at 1.2-m, TOPS would image and characterize many Jupiter-sized planets, and discover 2 RE rocky planets within habitable zones of the â10 most favorable stars. With a larger 2-m aperture, TOPS would have the sensitivity to reveal Earth-like planets in the habitable zone around â20 stars, and to characterize any found with low resolution spectroscopy. Unless the occurrence of Earth-like planets is very low (ηâ <~ 0.2), a useful fraction of the TPF-C scientific program would be possible with aperture much smaller than the baselined 8 by 3.5m for TPF, with its more conventional coronagraph. An ongoing laboratory experiment has successfully demonstrated high contrast coronagraphic imaging within 2 λ/d with the PIAA coronagraph / focal plane wavefront sensing scheme envisioned for TOPS
Detection of brown dwarf-like objects in the core of NGC3603
We use near-infrared data obtained with the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the
Hubble Space Telescope to identify objects having the colors of brown dwarfs
(BDs) in the field of the massive galactic cluster NGC 3603. These are
identified through use of a combination of narrow and medium band filters
spanning the J and H bands, and which are particularly sensitive to the
presence of the 1.3-1.5{\mu}m H2O molecular band - unique to BDs. We provide a
calibration of the relationship between effective temperature and color for
both field stars and for BDs. This photometric method provides effective
temperatures for BDs to an accuracy of {\pm}350K relative to spectroscopic
techniques. This accuracy is shown to be not significantly affected by either
stellar surface gravity or uncertainties in the interstellar extinction. We
identify nine objects having effective temperature between 1700 and 2200 K,
typical of BDs, observed J-band magnitudes in the range 19.5-21.5, and that are
strongly clustered towards the luminous core of NGC 3603. However, if these are
located at the distance of the cluster, they are far too luminous to be normal
BDs. We argue that it is unlikely that these objects are either artifacts of
our dataset, normal field BDs/M-type giants or extra-galactic contaminants and,
therefore, might represent a new class of stars having the effective
temperatures of BDs but with luminosities of more massive stars. We explore the
interesting scenario in which these objects would be normal stars that have
recently tidally ingested a Hot Jupiter, the remnants of which are providing a
short-lived extended photosphere to the central star. In this case, we would
expect them to show the signature of fast rotation.Comment: 26 Pages, 8 Figures, Accepted for publication on Ap
Sloan Digital Sky Survey Imaging of Low Galactic Latitude Fields: Technical Summary and Data Release
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) mosaic camera and telescope have obtained
five-band optical-wavelength imaging near the Galactic plane outside of the
nominal survey boundaries. These additional data were obtained during
commissioning and subsequent testing of the SDSS observing system, and they
provide unique wide-area imaging data in regions of high obscuration and star
formation, including numerous young stellar objects, Herbig-Haro objects and
young star clusters. Because these data are outside the Survey regions in the
Galactic caps, they are not part of the standard SDSS data releases. This paper
presents imaging data for 832 square degrees of sky (including repeats), in the
star-forming regions of Orion, Taurus, and Cygnus. About 470 square degrees are
now released to the public, with the remainder to follow at the time of SDSS
Data Release 4. The public data in Orion include the star-forming region NGC
2068/NGC 2071/HH24 and a large part of Barnard's loop.Comment: 31 pages, 9 figures (3 missing to save space), accepted by AJ, in
press, see http://photo.astro.princeton.edu/oriondatarelease for data and
paper with all figure
The Fifth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
This paper describes the Fifth Data Release (DR5) of the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey (SDSS). DR5 includes all survey quality data taken through June 2005 and
represents the completion of the SDSS-I project (whose successor, SDSS-II will
continue through mid-2008). It includes five-band photometric data for 217
million objects selected over 8000 square degrees, and 1,048,960 spectra of
galaxies, quasars, and stars selected from 5713 square degrees of that imaging
data. These numbers represent a roughly 20% increment over those of the Fourth
Data Release; all the data from previous data releases are included in the
present release. In addition to "standard" SDSS observations, DR5 includes
repeat scans of the southern equatorial stripe, imaging scans across M31 and
the core of the Perseus cluster of galaxies, and the first spectroscopic data
from SEGUE, a survey to explore the kinematics and chemical evolution of the
Galaxy. The catalog database incorporates several new features, including
photometric redshifts of galaxies, tables of matched objects in overlap regions
of the imaging survey, and tools that allow precise computations of survey
geometry for statistical investigations.Comment: ApJ Supp, in press, October 2007. This paper describes DR5. The SDSS
Sixth Data Release (DR6) is now public, available from http://www.sdss.or
The state of the Martian climate
60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981â2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes
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