SINFONI Observations of Starclusters in Starburst Galaxies

We have used ESO's new NIR IFS SINFONI during its Science Verification period to observe the central regions of local starburst galaxies. Being Science Verification observations, the aim was two-fold: to demonstrate SINFONI's capabilities while obtaining information on the nature of starclusters in starburst galaxies. The targets chosen include a number of the brighter clusters in NGC1808 and NGC253. Here we present first results.Comment: Submitted to "Adaptive Optics-Assisted Integral-Field Spectroscopy", Rutten R.G.M., Benn C.R., Mendez J., eds., May 2005, La Palma (Spain), New Astr. Re

Lesbian Love Sonnets: Adrienne Rich and Carol Ann Duffy

Our conceptualization of sexuality is rooted in gender. Modern, western society defines sexuality as which genders one is and is not attracted to—often appearing as a binary between homosexuality and heterosexuality. Recently, however, queer theorists have begun to push against the idea of binary sexuality altogether. The interplay between gender and sexuality additionally manifests in the history of literature. Because the two are so intimately intertwined, writing about sexuality necessitates writing about gender. Twenty-One Love Poems by Adrienne Rich and Rapture by Carol Ann Duffy are two poetry collections where, as lesbian poets, gender and sexuality play an important role. Both Twenty-One Love Poems and Rapture draw on the tradition of sonnet sequences, a tradition defined by strict structure and gendered power dynamics. As lesbians with female speaker-poets writing about other women, Rich and Duffy both include and subvert themes and tropes, highlighted by their playing with the prescribed structure. Viewing the collections through the lens of sonnet sequences provides an intriguing perspective for examining the depiction of gender and, by extension, sexuality

Lesbian Love Sonnets: \u3cem\u3eTwenty-One Love Poems\u3c/em\u3e and \u3cem\u3eRapture\u3c/em\u3e

This presentation provides a comparative analysis of the poetry collections Twenty-One Love Poems by Adrienne Rich and Rapture by Carol Ann Duffy, focusing on the utilization and subversion of similar structural and thematic elements from the tradition of love sonnets and sonnet sequences. However, the collections differ when it comes to the gendering of the beloved. In Twenty-One Love Poems, her identity as a woman is revealed early on in the sequence but not until later in Rapture. This seemingly inconsequential difference highlights the more subtle splits between the two collections in terms of depicting binary and non-binary sexuality as well as different conceptualizations of politicalized lesbian identity

Digging Deeper: James Connolly in America

This project continued research into James Connolly\u27s time in America from 1902-1910. It focused on primary sources in the hopes to unearth things not found in the secondary writing on Connolly’s activities during this influential time. The O’Brien papers are an eclectic collection of primary documents from Connolly’s life, including letters between James Connolly and his friend John Matheson, correspondence with other socialists, and some of Connolly’s own writing. The New York Call was a daily socialist newspaper that contains ads for Connolly’s lectures and his magazine, The Harp, as well as meetings of his organization, the Irish Socialist Federation. Through these primary sources and others, more of James Connolly’s activities and perspectives during his time in America come to light

NIR spectroscopy of the most massive open cluster in the Galaxy: Westerlund 1

Using ISAAC/VLT, we have obtained individual spectra of all NIR-bright stars in the central 2'x2' of the cluster Westerlund 1 (Wd 1) with a resolution of R~9000 at a central wavelength of 2.30 micron. This allowed us to determine radial velocities of ten post-main-sequence stars, and from these values a velocity dispersion. Assuming virial equilibrium, the dispersion of sigma=8.4 km/s leads to a total dynamical cluster mass of 1.25x10^5 solar masses, comparable to the photometric mass of the cluster. There is no extra-virial motion which would have to be interpreted as a signature of cluster expansion or dissolution.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of IAU 246: "Dynamical Evolution of Dense Stellar Systems" (E. Vesperini, M. Giersz, A. Sills, eds.

Letter from E. C. and Mrs. E. C. Garman to Emma P. Larimore

Letter from E. C. and Mrs. E. C. Garman to Emma P. Larimore. The one-page typewritten letter is dated 20 November 1912

Anadromous fish as marine nutrient vectors

The tidal freshwater of Virginia supports anadromous herring (Alosa spp.) spawning runs in the spring; however, their importance as nutrient delivery vectors to the freshwater fish food web remains unknown. The stable isotope signatures of fishes from 21 species and four different guilds (predators, carnivores, generalists, and planktivores) were examined in this study to test the hypothesis that marine derived nutrients (MDNs) brought by anadromous fish would be traced into the guilds that incorporated them. Spawning anadromous fish were 13C and 34S-enriched (δ13C and δ34S of approximately 18‰ and 17.7‰, respectively) relative to resident freshwater fish. Of the guilds examined, only predators showed 13C and 34S-enrichment similar to the anadromous fish; however, some generalist catfish also showed enriched signatures. Specific fatty acid δ13C signatures for gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum), blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus), and alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), show a 10‰ range among fishes, clearly reflecting isotopically distinct dietary sources. The δ13C and δ34S distribution and range among the freshwater fishes suggest that both autochthonous and allochthonous (terrestrial C3 photosynthetic production and MDN) nutrient sources are important to the tidal freshwater fish community