414 research outputs found
The Gravitational Lens Candidate FBQ 1633+3134
We present our ground-based optical imaging, spectral analysis, and high
resolution radio mapping of the gravitational lens candidate FBQ 1633+3134.
This z=1.52, B=17.7 quasar appears double on CCD images with an image
separation of 0.66 arcseconds and a flux ratio of ~3:1 across BVRI filters. A
single 0.27 mJy radio source is detected at 8.46 GHz, coincident to within an
arcsecond of both optical components, but no companion at radio wavelengths is
detected down to a flux level of 0.1 mJy (3 sigma). Spectral observations
reveal a rich metal-line absorption system consisting of a strong Mg II doublet
and associated Fe I and Fe II absorption features, all at an intervening
redshift of z=0.684, suggestive of a lensing galaxy. Point spread function
subtraction however shows no obvious signs of a third object between the two
quasar images, and places a detection limit of I > 23.0 if such an object
exists. Although the possibility that FBQ 1633+3134 is a binary quasar cannot
be ruled out, the evidence is consistent with it being a single quasar lensed
by a faint, metal-rich galaxy.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by AJ. A calibration error affecting B
and V band apparent magnitudes has been corrected. The conclusions of the
paper are not change
Discovery of Damped Lyman-Alpha Systems at Redshifts Less Than 1.65 and Results on their Incidence and Cosmological Mass Density
We report results on the incidence and cosmological mass density of damped
Lyman-alpha (DLA) systems at redshifts less that 1.65. We used HST and an
efficient non-traditional (but unbiased) survey technique to discover DLA
systems at redshifts z<1.65, where we observe the Lyman-alpha line in known
MgII absorption-line systems. We uncovered 14 DLA lines including 2
serendipitously. We find that (1) The DLA absorbers are drawn almost
exclusively from the population of MgII absorbers which have rest equivalent
widths W(2796)>0.6A. (2) The incidence of DLA systems per unit redshift,
n(DLA), is observed to decrease with decreasing redshift. (3) On the other
hand, the cosmological mass density of neutral gas in low-redshift DLA
absorbers, Omega(DLA), is observed to be comparable to that observed at high
redshift. (4) The low-redshift DLA absorbers exhibit a significantly larger
fraction of very high column density systems in comparison to determinations at
both high redshift and locally.Comment: 47 pages in LaTeX - emulateapj style with included tables and
encapsulated postscript figures. Accepted for Publication in Astrophysical
Journal Supplements. Results unchanged, text revise
SOPHIE+: First results of an octagonal-section fiber for high-precision radial velocity measurements
High-precision spectrographs play a key role in exoplanet searches and
Doppler asteroseismology using the radial velocity technique. The 1 m/s level
of precision requires very high stability and uniformity of the illumination of
the spectrograph. In fiber-fed spectrographs such as SOPHIE, the fiber-link
scrambling properties are one of the main conditions for high precision. To
significantly improve the radial velocity precision of the SOPHIE spectrograph,
which was limited to 5-6 m/s, we implemented a piece of octagonal-section fiber
in the fiber link. We present here the scientific validation of the upgrade of
this instrument, demonstrating a real improvement. The upgraded instrument,
renamed SOPHIE+, reaches radial velocity precision in the range of 1-2 m/s. It
is now fully efficient for the detection of low-mass exoplanets down to 5-10
Earth mass and for the identification of acoustic modes down to a few tens of
cm/s.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysic
Probing the ISM Near Star Forming Regions with GRB Afterglow Spectroscopy: Gas, Metals, and Dust
We study the chemical abundances of the interstellar medium surrounding high
z gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) through analysis of the damped Lya systems (DLAs)
identified in afterglow spectra. These GRB-DLAs are characterized by large HI
column densities N(HI) and metallicities [M/H] spanning 1/100 to nearly solar,
with median [M/H]>-1. The majority of GRB-DLAs have [M/H] values exceeding the
cosmic mean metallicity of atomic gas at z>2, i.e. if anything, the GRB-DLAs
are biased to larger metallicity. We also observe (i) large [Zn/Fe] values
(>+0.6) and sub-solar Ti/Fe ratios which imply substantial differential
depletion, (ii) large a/Fe ratios suggesting nucleosynthetic enrichment by
massive stars, and (iii) low C^0/C^+ ratios (<10^{-4}). Quantitatively, the
observed depletion levels and C^0/C^+ ratios of the gas are not characteristic
of cold, dense HI clouds in the Galactic ISM. We argue that the GRB-DLAs
represent the ISM near the GRB but not gas directly local to the GRB (e.g. its
molecular cloud or circumstellar material). We compare these observations with
DLAs intervening background quasars (QSO-DLAs). The GRB-DLAs exhibit larger
N(HI) values, higher a/Fe and Zn/Fe ratios, and have higher metallicity than
the QSO-DLAs. We argue that the differences primarily result from
galactocentric radius-dependent differences in the ISM: GRB-DLAs preferentially
probe denser, more depleted, higher metallicity gaslocated in the inner few kpc
whereas QSO-DLAs are more likely to intersect the less dense, less enriched,
outer regions of the galaxy. Finally, we investigate whether dust obscuration
may exclude GRB-DLA sightlines from QSO-DLA samples; we find that the majority
of GRB-DLAs would be recovered which implies little observational bias against
large N(HI) systems.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures. Submitted to Ap
Continuum and discrete models for structures including (quasi-) inextensible elasticae with a view to the design and modeling of composite reinforcements
Inspired by some composite fiber reinforcements used in aeronautical engineering and by the need of conceiving new metamaterials, some discrete models including (quasi-) inextensible elasticae are considered. A class of continuum models approximately describing the macroscopic mechanical behavior of introduced structures is then heuristically proposed. Some of these continuum models can be regarded as a special kind of second-gradient elastic media, in which the higher-gradient elasticity is conferred by the flexural stiffnesses of elasticae constituting the microscopic lattice. The discrete models are studied by means of suitably tailored numerical codes designed to avoid numerical instabilities and locking and a comparison of discrete versus continuum models is attempted. The obtained results show that the theory of generalized continua may be useful in some engineering applications and it plays a relevant role in the mechanics of woven composites. The introduced discrete and continuum models are used to describe the so-called bias extension test on woven fabrics and it is shown that a good choice to correctly reproduce the targeted phenomenology is to use a second gradient continuum theory. However, as discussed throughout the paper, in the context of rigorous micro-macro identification procedures there still remain many open problems to be solved, especially when dealing with systems subjected to particular constraints, such as inextensibility. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd
The SOPHIE search for northern extrasolar planets. V. Follow-up of ELODIE candidates: Jupiter-analogs around Sun-like stars
We present radial-velocity measurements obtained in a programs underway to
search for extrasolar planets with the spectrograph SOPHIE at the 1.93-m
telescope of the Haute-Provence Observatory. Targets were selected from
catalogs observed with ELODIE, mounted previously at the telescope, in order to
detect long-period planets with an extended database close to 15 years. Two new
Jupiter-analog candidates are reported to orbit the bright stars HD150706 and
HD222155 in 16.1 and 10.9 yr at 6.7 (+4.0,-1.4) and 5.1(+0.6,-0.7) AU and to
have minimum masses of 2.71 (+1.44,-0.66) and 1.90 (+0.67,-0.53) M_Jup,
respectively. Using the measurements from ELODIE and SOPHIE, we refine the
parameters of the long-period planets HD154345b and HD89307b, and publish the
first reliable orbit for HD24040b. This last companion has a minimum mass of
4.01 +/- 0.49 M_Jup orbiting its star in 10.0 yr at 4.92 +/- 0.38 AU. Moreover,
the data provide evidence of a third bound object in the HD24040 system. With a
surrounding dust debris disk, HD150706 is an active G0 dwarf for which we
partially corrected the effect of the stellar spot on the SOPHIE
radial-velocities. HD222155 is an inactive G2V star. On the basis of the
previous findings of Lovis and collaborators and since no significant
correlation between the radial-velocity variations and the activity index are
found in the SOPHIE data, these variations are not expected to be only due to
stellar magnetic cycles. Finally, we discuss the main properties of this new
population of long-period Jupiter-mass planets, which for the moment, consists
of fewer than 20 candidates. These stars are preferential targets either for
direct-imaging or astrometry follow-up to constrain the system parameters and
for higher precision radial-velocity to search for lower mass planets, aiming
to find a Solar System twin.Comment: accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
The UCSD HIRES/KeckI Damped Lya Abundance Database: II. The Implications
We present a comprehensive analysis of the damped Lya abundance database
presented in the first paper of this series. This database provides a
homogeneous set of abundance measurements for many elements including Si, Cr,
Ni, Zn, Fe, Al, S, Co, O, and Ar from 38 damped Lya systems with z > 1.5. With
little exception, these damped Llya systems exhibit very similar relative
abundances. There is no significant correlation in X/Fe with [Fe/H] metallicity
and the dispersion in X/Fe is small at all metallicity.
We search the database for trends indicative of dust depletion and in a few
cases find strong evidence. Specifically, we identify a correlation between
[Si/Ti] and [Zn/Fe] which is unambiguous evidence for depletion.
We present a discussion on the nucleosynthetic history of the damped Lya
systems by focusing on abundance patterns which are minimally affected by dust
depletion. We find [Si/Fe] -> +0.25 dex as [Zn/Fe] -> 0 and that the [Si/Fe]
values exhibit a plateau of ~+0.3 dex at [Si/H] < -1.5 dex. Together these
trends indicate significant alpha-enrichment in the damped Lya systems at low
metallicity, an interpretation further supported by the observed O/Fe, S/Fe and
Ar/Fe ratios. We also discuss Fe-peak nucleosynthesis and the odd-even effect.
To assess the impact of dust obscuration, we present estimates of the
dust-to-gas ratios for the damped Lya sightlines and crudely calculate dust
extinction corrections. The distribution of extinction corrections suggests the
effects of dust obscuration are minimal and that the population of 'missing'
damped systems has physical characteristics similar to the observed sample.
We update our investigation on the chemical evolution of the early universe
in neutral gas. [significantly abridged]Comment: 29 pages, 26 figures. Uses emulateapj.sty. Accepted to ApJ: Oct 15,
200
Chandra Detection of X-ray Absorption Associated with a Damped Lyman Alpha System
We have observed three quasars, PKS 1127-145, Q 1331+171 and Q0054+144, with
the ACIS-S aboard the Chandra X-ray Observatory, in order to measure soft X-ray
absorption associated with intervening 21-cm and damped Ly absorbers.
For PKS 1127-145, we detect absorption which, if associated with an intervening
z_{abs}=0.312 absorber, implies a metallicity of 23% solar. If the absorption
is not at z_{abs}=0.312, then the metallicity is still constrained to be less
than 23% solar. The advantage of the X-ray measurement is that the derived
metallicity is insensitive to ionization, inclusion of an atom in a molecule,
or depletion onto grains. The X-ray absorption is mostly due to oxygen, and is
consistent with the oxygen abundance of 30% solar derived from optical nebular
emission lines in a foreground galaxy at the redshift of the absorber.
For Q1331+171 and Q 0054+144, only upper limits were obtained, although the
exposure times were intentionally short, since for these two objects we were
interested primarily in measuring flux levels to plan for future observations.
The imaging results are presented in a companion paper.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Emission Line Spectroscopy of a Damped Lyman-alpha Absorbing Galaxy at z = 0.437
We present Keck/LRIS spectra of a candidate damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) galaxy
toward the QSO 3C196 (z_em = 0.871). The DLA absorption system has a redshift
of z_DLA = 0.437, and a galaxy at 1.5" from the QSO has been identified in high
resolution imaging with WFPC2/HST. We have detected emission lines of [O II]
3727A, Hbeta, [O III] 5007A, Halpha and [N II] 6584A at the absorption
redshift. Based on the emission lines, we have found the redshift of the galaxy
to be z_em = 0.4376 +/- 0.0006. The emission lines also enabled us to calculate
the extinction-corrected luminosities and metallicity indicators using
established indices based on line strengths of different emission lines. These
indicators suggest that the ISM of the DLA galaxy has a high metallicity
comparable to or perhaps twice as much as solar (e.g. 12+log (O/H) = 8.98 +/-
0.07). Based on the strengths of Halpha and on the reddening derived from the
relative strengths of Halpha and Hbeta, the star formation rate is 4.7 +/- 0.8
M_solar/yr. This places the galaxy in the range of gas-rich spiral galaxies.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in A
Cosmic Histories of Stars, Gas, Heavy Elements, and Dust
We present a set of coupled equations that relate the stellar, gaseous,
chemical, and radiation constituents of the universe averaged over the whole
galaxy population. Using as input the available data from quasar
absorption-line surveys, optical imaging and redshift surveys, and the COBE
DIRBE and FIRAS extragalactic infrared background measurements, we obtain
solutions for the cosmic histories of stars, interstellar gas, heavy elements,
dust, and radiation from stars and dust in galaxies. Our solutions reproduce
remarkably well a wide variety of observations that were not used as input,
including the integrated background light from galaxy counts, the optical and
near-infrared emissivities from galaxy surveys, the local infrared emissivities
from the IRAS survey, the mean abundance of heavy elements from surveys of
damped Lyman-alpha systems, and the global star formation rates from H
surveys and submillimeter observations. The solutions presented here suggest
that the process of galaxy formation appears to have undergone an early period
of substantial inflow to assemble interstellar gas at , a subsequent
period of intense star formation and chemical enrichment at , and a recent period of rapid decline in the gas content, star
formation rate, optical stellar emissivity, and infrared dust emission at
. [abridged version]Comment: 29 pages, ApJ in press, 10 Sept 9
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