2,271 research outputs found
Infrared fine-structure line diagnostics of shrouded active galactic nuclei
Far-infrared spectroscopy of celestial objects will improve dramatically in the coming decade, allowing astronomers to use fine-structure line emission to probe photoionized regions obscured in the optical band by thick clouds of dust. The ultraluminous far-IR galaxies revealed by IRAS, quasar-like in luminosity but smothered in molecular gas, probably conceal either immense starbursts or luminous active nuclei. In both scenarios, these objects ought to produce copious infrared fine-structure emission with several lines comparable to H(beta) in luminosity. This paper shows how these lines, if detected, can be used to determine the electron densities and far-IR obscurations of shrouded photoionized regions and to constrain the shape and ionization parameter of the ionizing spectra. The presence of (Ne V) emission in particular will distinguish shrouded AGN's from shrouded starbursts. Since all active galaxies photoionize at least some surrounding material, these diagnostics can also be applied to active galaxies in general and will aid in studying how an active nucleus interacts with the interstellar medium of its host galaxy
Quasisteady Configurations of Conductive Intracluster Media
The radial distributions of temperature, density, and gas entropy among
cool-core clusters tend to be quite similar, suggesting that they have entered
a quasi-steady state. If that state is regulated by a combination of thermal
conduction and feedback from a central AGN, then the characteristics of those
radial profiles ought to contain information about the spatial distribution of
AGN heat input and the relative importance of thermal conduction. This paper
addresses those topics by deriving steady-state solutions for clusters in which
radiative cooling, electron thermal conduction, and thermal feedback fueled by
accretion are all present, with the aim of interpreting the configurations of
cool-core clusters in terms of steady-state models. It finds that the core
configurations of many cool-core clusters have entropy levels just below those
of conductively balanced solutions in which magnetic fields have suppressed
electron thermal conduction to ~1/3 of the full Spitzer value, suggesting that
AGN feedback is triggered when conduction can no longer compensate for
radiative cooling. And even when feedback is necessary to heat the central ~30
kpc, conduction may still be the most important heating mechanism within a
cluster's central ~100 kpc.Comment: ApJ in press, 13 pages, 5 figure
IUE absorption studies of broad- and narrow-line gas in Seyfert galaxies
The interstellar medium of a galaxy containing an active nucleus may be profoundly affected by the high energy (X-ray, EUV) continuum flux emanating from the central source. The energetic source may photoionize the interstellar medium out to several kiloparsecs, thereby creating a global H II region. The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite has attempted to observe in several Seyfert galaxies (NGC 3516, NGC 4151, NGC 1068, 3C 120) the narrow absorption lines expected from such global H II regions. Instead, in two of the galaxies (NGC 3516, NGC 4151) broad, variable absorption lines at C IV lambda 1550, N V lambda 1240, and Si IV lambda 1400 were found, as well as weaker absorption features at O I lambda 1302 and C II lambda 1335. These features swamp any possible global H II region absorption. Such broad absorption features have previously been observed in IUE data, but their origin is still not well understood
High redshift X-ray galaxy clusters. II. The L_X-T relationship revisited
In this paper we re-visit the observational relation between X-ray luminosity
and temperature for high-z galaxy clusters and compare it with the local L_X-T
and with theoretical models. To these ends we use a sample of 17 clusters
extracted from the Chandra archive supplemented with additional clusters from
the literature, either observed by Chandra or XMM-Newton, to form a final
sample of 39 high redshift (0.25 < z < 1.3) objects. Different statistical
approaches are adopted to analyze the L_X-T relation. The slope of the L_X-T
relation of high redshift clusters is steeper than expected from the
self-similar model predictions and steeper, even though still compatible within
the errors, than the local L_X-T slope. The distant cluster L_X-T relation
shows a significant evolution with respect to the local Universe: high-z
clusters are more luminous than the local ones by a factor ~2 at any given
temperature. The evolution with redshift of the L_X-T relation cannot be
described by a single power law nor by the evolution predicted by the
self-similar model. We find a strong evolution, similar or stronger than the
self-similar model, from z = 0 to z <0.3 followed by a much weaker, if any,
evolution at higher redshift. The weaker evolution is compatible with
non-gravitational models of structure formation. According to us a
statistically significant sample of nearby clusters (z < 0.25) should be
observed with the current available X-ray telescopes to completely exclude
observational effects due to different generation detectors and to understand
this novel result.Comment: 14 pages, 10 postscript figures. Accepted for publication in
Astronomy & Astrophysics. Corrected typo
Development of a relatchable cover mechanism for a cryogenic IR-sensor
A cover mechanism for use on the Infrared Background Signature Survey (IBSS) cryostat was developed. The IBSS IR-instrument is scheduled for STS launch in early 1991 as a payload of the Shuttle Payload Satellite (SPS) 2. The cover is hinged, with a motorized rope drive. During ground processing, launch, entry, and landing, the cryostat, which houses the IR-instrument, is required to be a sealed vacuum tight container for cooling purposes and contamination prevention. When on orbit, the cover is opened to provide an unobstructed field of view for the IR-instrument. A positive seal is accomplished through the use of latch mechanism. The cover and the latch are driven by a common redundant actuator consisting of dc motors, spur gears, and a differential gear. Hall probe limit switches and position sensors (rotary variable transformer) are used to determine the position of the cover and the latch. The cover mechanism was successfully qualified for thermal vacuum (-25 to 35 C), acoustic noise, vibration (6 Gs sine, 9.7 G RMS) and life cycles. Constricting requirements, mechanical and electronic control design, specific design details, test results of functional performance, and environmental and life tests are described
A General Precipitation-Limited L_X-T-R Relation Among Early-Type Galaxies
The relation between X-ray luminosity (L_X) and ambient gas temperature (T)
among massive galactic systems is an important cornerstone of both
observational cosmology and galaxy-evolution modeling. In the most massive
galaxy clusters, the relation is determined primarily by cosmological structure
formation. In less massive systems, it primarily reflects the feedback response
to radiative cooling of circumgalactic gas. Here we present a simple but
powerful model for the L_X-T relation as a function of physical aperture R
within which those measurements are made. The model is based on the
precipitation framework for AGN feedback and assumes that the circumgalactic
medium is precipitation-regulated at small radii and limited by cosmological
structure formation at large radii. We compare this model with many different
data sets and show that it successfully reproduces the slope and upper envelope
of the L_X-T-R relation over the temperature range from ~0.2 keV through >10
keV. Our findings strongly suggest that the feedback mechanisms responsible for
regulating star formation in individual massive galaxies have much in common
with the precipitation-triggered feedback that appears to regulate
galaxy-cluster cores.Comment: Submitted to ApJ, 9 pages, 3 figures (v2 fixes a few small typos
Phase diagram of an asymmetric spin ladder
We investigate an asymmetric zig-zag spin ladder with different exchange
integrals on both legs using bosonization and renormalization group. When the
leg exchange integrals and frustration both are sufficiently small,
renormalization group analysis shows that the Heisenberg critical point flows
to an intermediate-coupling fixed point with gapless excitations and a
vanishing spin velocity. When they are large, a spin gap opens and a dimer
liquid is realized. Here, we find a continuous manifold of Hamiltonians with
dimer product ground states, interpolating between the Majumdar-Ghosh and
sawtooth spin-chain model.Comment: 4 pages, 2 EPS figures, to be published in PR
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