841 research outputs found
174P/Echeclus: a strange case of outburst
Context. More than ten Centaurs are now known to have cometary activity at
large heliocentric distance (i.e. 5-13 AU). Among these objects,
174P/Echeclus which showed cometary activity at 13 AU from the Sun, is a unique
case, because of: (i) the amplitude of its outburst, (ii) the source of
cometary activity that appears distinct from Echeclus itself.
Aims. This paper aims at investigating the physical conditions that have led
to this unusual outburst. The purpose is also to quantify this phenomenon and
to provide observational constraints for its modeling.
Methods. We use observations from different telescopes, performed before,
during, and after the outburst. We performed the main observations on March 23
and 30, 2006, with the 8.2-m ESO Very Large Telescope and FORS 1 instrument.
They consist of visible images and spectra.
Results. Our main results are: (i) a cometary source distinct from Echeclus
itself that presents a brightness distribution compatible with a diffuse
source; (ii) a total dust production rate Q_dust equal to about 86 kg.s^-1 and
a parameter Afrho equal to 10,000cm; (iii) no emission lines (CN and C_2) can
be detected in the visible range; (iv) the upper limits for the CN and C_2
production rates are about 3.8x10^25 and 10^26 molecules.s^-1 respectively; (v)
we detected no Echeclus' satellite before the outburst up to M_R equal to about
26; (vi) the upper limit for the object generating the coma is about 8 km in
diameter; (vii) and we detected no cometary activity one year later, in March
2007
Minimizing Strong Telluric Absorption in Near Infra-red Stellar Spectra
We have obtained high resolution spectra (R = 25000) of an A star over
varying airmass to determine the effectiveness of telluric removal in the limit
of high signal to noise. The near infra-red line HeI at 2.058 microns, which is
a sensitive indicator of physical conditions in massive stars, supergiants, HII
regions and YSOs, resides among pressure broadened telluric absorption from
carbon dioxide and water vapor that varies both in time and with observed
airmass.
Our study shows that in the limit of bright stars at high resolution,
accuracies of 5% are typical for high airmass observations (greater than 1.9),
improving to a photon-limited accuracy of 2% at smaller airmasses (less than
1.15). We find that by using the continuum between telluric absorption lines of
a ro-vibrational fan a photon-limited 1% accuracy is achievable.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in PAS
Forbidden oxygen lines at various nucleocentric distances in comets
To study the formation of the [OI] lines - i.e., 5577 A (the green line),
6300 A and 6364 A (the two red lines) - in the coma of comets and to determine
the parent species of the oxygen atoms using the green to red-doublet emission
intensity ratio (G/R ratio) and the lines velocity widths. We acquired at the
ESO VLT high-resolution spectroscopic observations of comets C/2002 T7
(LINEAR), 73P-C/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, 8P/Tuttle, and, 103P/Hartley 2 when
they were close to the Earth (< 0.6 au). Using the observed spectra, we
determined the intensities and the widths of the three [OI] lines. We have
spatially extracted the spectra in order to achieve the best possible
resolution of about 1-2", i.e., nucleocentric projected distances of 100 to 400
km depending on the geocentric distance of the comet. We have decontaminated
the [OI] green line from C2 lines blends. It is found that the observed G/R
ratio on all four comets varies as a function of nucleocentric projected
distance. This is mainly due to the collisional quenching of O(1S) and O(1D) by
water molecules in the inner coma. The observed green emission line width is
about 2.5 km/s and decreases as the distance from the nucleus increases which
can be explained by the varying contribution of CO2 to the O(1S) production in
the innermost coma. The photodissociation of CO2 molecules seems to produce
O(1S) closer to the nucleus while the water molecule forms all the O(1S) and
O(1D) atoms beyond 1000 km. Thus we conclude that the main parent species
producing O(1S) and O(1D) in the inner coma is not always the same. The
observations have been interpreted in the framework of the
coupled-chemistry-emission model of Bhardwaj & Raghuram (2012) and the upper
limits of CO2 relative abundances are derived from the observed G/R ratios.
Measuring the [OI] lines could indeed provide a new way to determine the CO2
relative abundance in comets.Comment: accepted for publication in A&A, the abstract is shortene
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Incidence, outcomes, and risk factors of pleural effusion in patients receiving dasatinib therapy for Philadelphia chromosome-positive leukemia.
Dasatinib, a second-generation BCR-ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is approved for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia and Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia, both as first-line therapy and after imatinib intolerance or resistance. While generally well tolerated, dasatinib has been associated with a higher risk for pleural effusions. Frequency, risk factors, and outcomes associated with pleural effusion were assessed in two phase 3 trials (DASISION and 034/Dose-optimization) and a pooled population of 11 trials that evaluated patients with chronic myeloid leukemia and Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated with dasatinib (including DASISION and 034/Dose-optimization). In this largest assessment of patients across the dasatinib clinical trial program (N=2712), pleural effusion developed in 6-9% of patients at risk annually in DASISION, and in 5-15% of patients at risk annually in 034/Dose-optimization. With a minimum follow up of 5 and 7 years, drug-related pleural effusion occurred in 28% of patients in DASISION and in 33% of patients in 034/Dose-optimization, respectively. A significant risk factor identified for developing pleural effusion by a multivariate analysis was age. We found that overall responses to dasatinib, progression-free survival, and overall survival were similar in patients who developed pleural effusion and in patients who did not. clinicaltrials.gov identifier 00481247; 00123474
A Medium Resolution Near-Infrared Spectral Atlas of O and Early B Stars
We present intermediate resolution (R ~ 8,000 - 12,000) high signal-to-noise
H- and K-band spectroscopy of a sample of 37 optically visible stars, ranging
in spectral type from O3 to B3 and representing most luminosity classes.
Spectra of this quality can be used to constrain the temperature, luminosity
and general wind properties of OB stars, when used in conjunction with
sophisticated atmospheric model codes. Most important is the need for
moderately high resolutions (R > 5000) and very high signal-to-noise (S/N >
150) spectra for a meaningful profile analysis. When using near-infrared
spectra for a classification system, moderately high signal-to-noise (S/N ~
100) is still required, though the resolution can be relaxed to just a thousand
or two. In the appendix we provide a set of very high quality near-infrared
spectra of Brackett lines in six early-A dwarfs. These can be used to aid in
the modeling and removal of such lines when early-A dwarfs are used for
telluric spectroscopic standards.Comment: 12 pages, 3 tables, 14 figures. AASTex preprint style. To appear in
ApJS, November 2005. All spectra are available by contacting M.M. Hanso
The Detection of Low Mass Companions in Hyades Cluster Spectroscopic Binary Stars
We have observed a large sample of spectroscopic binary stars in the Hyades
Cluster, using high resolution infrared spectroscopy to detect low mass
companions. We combine our double-lined infrared measurements with well
constrained orbital parameters from visible light single-lined observations to
derive dynamical mass ratios. Using these results, along with photometry and
theoretical mass-luminosity relationships, we estimate the masses of the
individual components in our binaries. In this paper we present double-lined
solutions for 25 binaries in our sample, with mass ratios from ~0.1-0.8. This
corresponds to secondary masses as small as ~0.15 Msun. We include here our
preliminary detection of the companion to vB 142, with a very small mass ratio
of q=0.06+-0.04; this indicates that the companion may be a brown dwarf. This
paper is an initial step in a program to produce distributions of mass ratio
and secondary mass for Hyades cluster binaries with a wide range of periods, in
order to better understand binary star formation. As such, our emphasis is on
measuring these distributions, not on measuring precise orbital parameters for
individual binaries.Comment: 36 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
The Smallest Mass Ratio Young Star Spectroscopic Binaries
Using high resolution near-infrared spectroscopy with the Keck telescope, we
have detected the radial velocity signatures of the cool secondary components
in four optically identified pre-main-sequence, single-lined spectroscopic
binaries. All are weak-lined T Tauri stars with well-defined center of mass
velocities. The mass ratio for one young binary, NTTS 160905-1859, is M2/M1 =
0.18+/-0.01, the smallest yet measured dynamically for a pre-main-sequence
spectroscopic binary. These new results demonstrate the power of infrared
spectroscopy for the dynamical identification of cool secondaries. Visible
light spectroscopy, to date, has not revealed any pre-main-sequence secondary
stars with masses <0.5 M_sun, while two of the young systems reported here are
in that range. We compare our targets with a compilation of the published young
double-lined spectroscopic binaries and discuss our unique contribution to this
sample.Comment: Accepted for publication in the April, 2002, ApJ; 6 figure
The CFEPS Kuiper Belt Survey: Strategy and Pre-survey Results
We present the data acquisition strategy and characterization procedures for
the Canada-France Ecliptic Plane Survey (CFEPS), a sub-component of the
Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey. The survey began in early 2003
and as of summer 2005 has covered 430 square degrees of sky within a few
degrees of the ecliptic. Moving objects beyond the orbit of Uranus are detected
to a magnitude limit of =23 -- 24 (depending on the image quality). To
track as large a sample as possible and avoid introducing followup bias, we
have developed a multi-epoch observing strategy that is spread over several
years. We present the evolution of the uncertainties in ephemeris position and
orbital elements as the objects progress through the epochs. We then present a
small 10-object sample that was tracked in this manner as part of a preliminary
survey starting a year before the main CFEPS project.
We describe the CFEPS survey simulator, to be released in 2006, which allows
theoretical models of the Kuiper Belt to be compared with the survey
discoveries since CFEPS has a well-documented pointing history with
characterized detection efficiencies as a function of magnitude and rate of
motion on the sky. Using the pre-survey objects we illustrate the usage of the
simulator in modeling the classical Kuiper Belt.Comment: to be submitted to Icaru
Distant activity of comet C/2002 VQ94 (LINEAR): optical spectrophotometric monitoring between 8.4 and 16.8 au from the Sun
Spectrophotometric monitoring of distant comet C/2002 VQ94 (LINEAR) was
performed with the 6-m telescope of SAO RAS and with the 2.5-m Nordic Optical
Telescope between 2008 and 2013. During this period the comet was on the
outbound segment of its orbit, between heliocentric distances of 8.36 au and
16.84 au. Analysis of the spectra revealed the presence of the CO and
N emissions in the cometary coma at a distance of 8.36 au from the Sun.
This distance is larger than ionic emissions have been detected in any previous
objects. Only continuum, with no traces of emissions, was detected in the
spectrum obtained in 2009 when the comet was at a distance of 9.86 au. From the
spectra obtained in 2008, average column densities of 2.0410 mol
cm for N and 3.2610 mol cm for CO were
measured in the cometary coma. The derived values correspond to
N/CO=0.06 within the projected slit. The parameter, which is used as
an indicator of cometary activity, was measured as 2000 cm in 2008, and 800 cm
in 2009 and 2011. The values correspond to dust production rates between 10-20
kg s, 4-6 kg s and 3-5 kg s at 8.36, 9.86, and 13.40 au
respectively. There is an obvious correlation between the decrease of the dust
production rate of the nucleus and the disappearance of the emissions in the
spectrum of C/2002 VQ94 (LINEAR) at heliocentric distances greater than 9 au.
The colors and size of the nucleus of C/2002 VQ94 (LINEAR) were estimated from
the images obtained during the late stage at a heliocentric distance of 16.84
au, when the activity had probable ceased. The B-V and V-R colors were
estimated to be 1.070.05 and 0.540.03 respectively. The effective
nucleus radius of 482 km is in agreement with the previously published
results, obtained from the observations of the comet during its early inactive
stage.Comment: Accepted for publication in Icarus; 19 pages, 4 tables, 9 figure
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