8,250 research outputs found
Machine learning techniques to select Be star candidates. An application in the OGLE-IV Gaia south ecliptic pole field
Statistical pattern recognition methods have provided competitive solutions
for variable star classification at a relatively low computational cost. In
order to perform supervised classification, a set of features is proposed and
used to train an automatic classification system. Quantities related to the
magnitude density of the light curves and their Fourier coefficients have been
chosen as features in previous studies. However, some of these features are not
robust to the presence of outliers and the calculation of Fourier coefficients
is computationally expensive for large data sets. We propose and evaluate the
performance of a new robust set of features using supervised classifiers in
order to look for new Be star candidates in the OGLE-IV Gaia south ecliptic
pole field. We calculated the proposed set of features on six types of variable
stars and on a set of Be star candidates reported in the literature. We
evaluated the performance of these features using classification trees and
random forests along with K-nearest neighbours, support vector machines, and
gradient boosted trees methods. We tuned the classifiers with a 10-fold
cross-validation and grid search. We validated the performance of the best
classifier on a set of OGLE-IV light curves and applied this to find new Be
star candidates. The random forest classifier outperformed the others. By using
the random forest classifier and colour criteria we found 50 Be star candidates
in the direction of the Gaia south ecliptic pole field, four of which have
infrared colours consistent with Herbig Ae/Be stars. Supervised methods are
very useful in order to obtain preliminary samples of variable stars extracted
from large databases. As usual, the stars classified as Be stars candidates
must be checked for the colours and spectroscopic characteristics expected for
them
Kinematic study of planetary nebulae in NGC 6822
By measuring precise radial velocities of planetary nebulae (which belong to
the intermediate age population), H II regions, and A-type supergiant stars
(which are members of the young population) in NGC 6822, we aim to determine if
both types of population share the kinematics of the disk of H I found in this
galaxy.
Spectroscopic data for four planetary nebulae were obtained with the high
spectral resolution spectrograph Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle (MIKE) on the
Magellan telescope at Las Campanas Observatory. Data for other three PNe and
one H II region were obtained from the SPM Catalog of Extragalactic Planetary
Nebulae which employed the Manchester Echelle Spectrometer attached to the 2.1m
telescope at the Observatorio Astron\'omico Nacional, M\'exico. In the
wavelength calibrated spectra, the heliocentric radial velocities were measured
with a precision better than 5-6 km s. Data for three additional H II
regions and a couple of A-type supergiant stars were collected from the
literature. The heliocentric radial velocities of the different objects were
compared to the velocities of the H i disk at the same position.
From the analysis of radial velocities it is found that H II regions and
A-type supergiants do share the kinematics of the H I disk at the same
position, as expected for these young objects. On the contrary, planetary
nebula velocities differ significantly from that of the H I at the same
position. The kinematics of planetary nebulae is independent from the young
population kinematics and it is closer to the behavior shown by carbon stars,
which are intermediate-age members of the stellar spheroid existing in this
galaxy. Our results are confirming that there are at least two very different
kinematical systems in NGC 6822
Reversible Graphene decoupling by NaCl photo-dissociation
We describe the reversible intercalation of Na under graphene on Ir(111) by
photo-dissociation of a previously adsorbed NaCl overlayer. After room
temperature evaporation, NaCl adsorbs on top of graphene forming a bilayer.
With a combination of electron diffraction and photoemission techniques we
demonstrate that the NaCl overlayer dissociates upon a short exposure to an
X-ray beam. As a result, chlorine desorbs while sodium intercalates under the
graphene, inducing an electronic decoupling from the underlying metal. Low
energy electron diffraction shows the disappearance of the moir\'e pattern when
Na intercalates between graphene and iridium. Analysis of the Na 2p core-level
by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows a chemical change from NaCl to
metallic buried Na at the graphene/Ir interface. The intercalation-decoupling
process leads to a n-doped graphene due to the charge transfer from the Na, as
revealed by constant energy angle resolved X-ray photoemission maps. Moreover,
the process is reversible by a mild annealing of the samples without damaging
the graphene
- …