86 research outputs found
Discovery of Spectral Transitions from Two Ultra-Luminous Compact X-Ray Sources in Ic342
Two {\it ASCA} observations were made of two ultra-luminous compact X-ray
sources (ULXs), Source 1 and Source 2, in the spiral galaxy IC 342. In the 1993
observation, Source 2 showed a 0.5--10 keV luminosity of
ergs s (assuming a distance of 4.0 Mpc), and a hard power-law spectrum
of photon index . As already reported, Source 1 was times
brighter on that occasion, and exhibited a soft spectrum represented by a
multi-color disk model of inner-disk temperature keV. The second
observation made in February 2000 revealed that Source 1 had made a transition
into a hard spectral state, while Source 2 into a soft spectral state. The ULXs
are therefore inferred to exhibit two distinct spectral states, and sometimes
make transitions between them. These results significantly reinforce the
scenario which describes ULXs as mass-accreting black holes.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures; acceoted for ApJ
Observation of an energetic radiation burst from mountain-top thunderclouds
During thunderstorms on 2008 September 20, a simultaneous detection of gamma
rays and electrons was made at a mountain observatory in Japan located 2770 m
above sea level. Both emissions, lasting 90 seconds, were associated with
thunderclouds rather than lightning. The photon spectrum, extending to 10 MeV,
can be interpreted as consisting of bremsstrahlung gamma rays arriving from a
source which is 60 - 130 m in distance at 90% confidence level. The observed
electrons are likely to be dominated by a primary population escaping from an
acceleration region in the clouds.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review
Letter
Suzaku Reveals Helium-burning Products in the X-ray Emitting Planetary Nebula BD+303639
BD+303639, the brightest planetary nebula at X-ray energies, was observed
with Suzaku, an X-ray observatory launched on 2005 July 10. Using the X-ray
Imaging Spectrometer, the K-lines from C VI, O VII, and O VIII were resolved
for the first time, and C/O, N/O, and Ne/O abundance ratios determined. The C/O
and Ne/O abundance ratios exceed the solar value by a factor of at least 30 and
5, respectively. These results indicate that the X-rays are emitted mainly by
helium shell-burning products.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journal Letter
Effects of a second intron on recombinant MFG retroviral vector
âThe retroviral vectors based on an MFG-type backbone have superior expression characteristics, in part, due to the presence of the retroviral chimeric intron (MFG intron). We tested the hypothesis that inclusion of a second intron in MFG vectors may influence packaging and/or LTR-driven transgene expression. We constructed two MFG retroviral vectors, MFG/hFIXc and MFG/hFIXm2, containing human factor IX (hFIX) cDNA without and with a 0.3-kb hFIX intron, respectively. When tested with primary mouse myoblasts or HepG2 cells in culture for transient expression activity, pMFG/hFIXm2 plasmid produced two-to-three fold higher hFIX than pMFG/hFIXc. These vectors produced equivalent retroviral titers from packaging cells. In transduced cells, the splicing of the MFG intron in the retroviral transcripts occured at a similar efficiency; however, MFG/hFIXc virus gave two-fold higher hFIX expression than that of the MFG/hFIXm2 viral infection. Analyses of MFG/hFIXm2 virion RNA and transduced cell genomic DNA suggested that, although the hFIX intron containing viral RNA are packaged, these viruses fail to integrate their transgenes into the genome of transduced cells, suggesting a block at the reverse transcription and/or integration steps. Similar results were also obtained with the prototype vectors, LIXcSN and LIXm2SN, lacking the MFG intron. Together, these results suggest that a hFIX cDNA sequence in the retroviral vectors performs better over hFIX intron-containing minigene.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42460/1/705-146-3-601_11460601.pd
Sialic-acid-binding lectin from the slug Limax flavus
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66061/1/j.1432-1327.1998.2540217.x.pd
Accretion Disk Spectra of the Ultra-luminous X-ray Sources in Nearby Spiral Galaxies and Galactic Superluminal Jet Sources
Ultra-luminous Compact X-ray Sources (ULXs) in nearby spiral galaxies and
Galactic superluminal jet sources share the common spectral characteristic that
they have unusually high disk temperatures which cannot be explained in the
framework of the standard optically thick accretion disk in the Schwarzschild
metric. On the other hand, the standard accretion disk around the Kerr black
hole might explain the observed high disk temperature, as the inner radius of
the Kerr disk gets smaller and the disk temperature can be consequently higher.
However, we point out that the observable Kerr disk spectra becomes
significantly harder than Schwarzschild disk spectra only when the disk is
highly inclined. This is because the emission from the innermost part of the
accretion disk is Doppler-boosted for an edge-on Kerr disk, while hardly seen
for a face-on disk. The Galactic superluminal jet sources are known to be
highly inclined systems, thus their energy spectra may be explained with the
standard Kerr disk with known black hole masses. For ULXs, on the other hand,
the standard Kerr disk model seems implausible, since it is highly unlikely
that their accretion disks are preferentially inclined, and, if edge-on Kerr
disk model is applied, the black hole mass becomes unreasonably large (> 300
M_solar). Instead, the slim disk (advection dominated optically thick disk)
model is likely to explain the observed super-Eddington luminosities, hard
energy spectra, and spectral variations of ULXs. We suggest that ULXs are
accreting black holes with a few tens of solar mass, which is not unexpected
from the standard stellar evolution scenario, and that their X-ray emission is
from the slim disk shining at super-Eddington luminosities.Comment: ApJ, accepte
Diffuse X-ray emission from the spiral galaxy NGC 2403 discovered with Chandra
We have detected diffuse soft X-ray emission (0.4-1 keV) from the disk of the
spiral galaxy NGC 2403 with Chandra. This diffuse emission (with a total
luminosity of 2.1 x 10^38 erg/s and a gas temperature of 2-8 x 10^6 K) is well
separated from the numerous bright point sources. NGC 2403 is a luminous spiral
galaxy with a high rate of star formation. Recent HI observations have revealed
an extended HI halo with anomalous velocities and a general inflow towards the
central regions of the galaxy. This result and the present detection of a
diffuse, hot X-ray emitting gas point at a very active disk-halo connection and
galactic fountain types of phenomena.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Suzaku Reveals He-burning Products in the X-ray Emitting Planetary Nebula BD +30deg 3639
BD +30deg 3639, the brightest planetary nebula at X-ray energies, was observed with Suzaku, an X-ray observatory launched on 2005 July 10. Using the X-ray Imaging Spectrometer, the K-lines from C VI, O VII, and O VIII were resolved for the first time, and C/O, N/O, and Ne/O abundance ratios determined. The C/O abundance ratio exceeds the solar value by nearly two orders of magnitude, and that of Ne/O by at least a factor of 5. These results indicate that the X-rays are emitted mainly by helium shell-burning products
- âŠ