1,218 research outputs found
The astroclimatological comparison of the Paranal Observatory and El Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory
The new extremely large telescope projects need accurate evaluation of the
candidate sites. In this paper we present the astroclimatological comparison
between the Paranal Observatory, located on the coast of the Atacama Desert
(Chile), and the Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos (ORM), located in La
Palma (Canary Islands). We apply a statistical analysis using long term
databases from Paranal and Carlsberg Meridian Telescope (CAMC) weather
stations. Significant differences between the two analyzed sites have been
found.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 11 pages, 12 figures, 12 table
Differential image motion in the short exposure regime
Whole atmosphere seeing \beta_0 is the most important parameter in site
testing measurements. Estimation of the seeing from a variance of differential
image motion is always biased by a non-zero DIMM exposure, which results in a
wind smoothing. In the paper, the wind effects are studied within short
exposure approximation, i.e. when the wind shifts turbulence during exposure by
distance lesser than device aperture. The method of correction for this effect
on the base of image motion correlation between adjacent frames is proposed. It
is shown that the correlation can be used for estimation of the mean wind speed
V_2 and atmospheric coherence time \tau_0. Total power of longitudinal and
transverse image motion is suggested for elimination of dependence on the wind
direction. Obtained theoretical results were tested on the data obtained on
Mount Shatdjatmaz in 2007--2010 with MASS/DIMM device and good agreement was
found.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Stellar scintillation in short exposure regime and atmospheric coherence time evaluation
Accurately measuring the atmospheric coherence time is still an important
problem despite a variety of applicable methods. The Multi-aperture
scintillation sensor (MASS) designed for the vertical profiling of optical
turbulence, also provides a measurements of coherence time, but its results
were found to be biased. Hence there is a need for a more robust method to
determine . The effect of smoothing the stellar scintillation by a
finite exposure of the detector is considered. The short exposure regime is
described and its limits are defined. The re-analysis of previous measurements
with the MASS is performed in order to test the applicability of this approach
in real data processing. It is shown that most of the actual measurements
satisfy the criteria of short exposures. The expressions for the mean wind
speeds in the free atmosphere from the measurement of the
scintillation indices are derived for this regime. These values provide an
estimate of the atmospheric coherence time without the need of
empirical calibration. The verification of the method based on real
measurements of the resulting are in good agreement with independent
methods.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 7 pages, 6
figure
Fraction of clear skies above astronomical sites: a new analysis from the GOES12 satellite
Comparing the number of clear nights (cloud free) available for astronomical
observations is a critical task because it should be based on homogeneous
methodologies. Current data are mainly based on different judgements based on
observer logbooks or on different instruments. In this paper we present a new
homogeneous methodology on very different astronomical sites for modern optical
astronomy, in order to quantify the available night time fraction. The data are
extracted from night time GOES12 satellite infrared images and compared with
ground based conditions when available. In this analysis we introduce a wider
average matrix and 3-Bands correlation in order to reduce the noise and to
distinguish between clear and stable nights. Temporal data are used for the
classification. In the time interval 2007-2008 we found that the percentage of
the satellite clear nights is 88% at Paranal, 76% at La Silla, 72.5% at La
Palma, 59% at Mt. Graham and 86.5% at Tolonchar. The correlation analysis of
the three GOES12 infrared bands B3, B4 and B6 indicates that the fraction of
the stable nights is lower by 2% to 20% depending on the site
Neutrinos and Gamma Rays from Galaxy Clusters
The next generation of neutrino and gamma-ray detectors should provide new
insights into the creation and propagation of high-energy protons within galaxy
clusters, probing both the particle physics of cosmic rays interacting with the
background medium and the mechanisms for high-energy particle production within
the cluster. In this paper we examine the possible detection of gamma-rays (via
the GLAST satellite) and neutrinos (via the ICECUBE and Auger experiments) from
the Coma cluster of galaxies, as well as for the gamma-ray bright clusters
Abell 85, 1758, and 1914. These three were selected from their possible
association with unidentified EGRET sources, so it is not yet entirely certain
that their gamma-rays are indeed produced diffusively within the intracluster
medium, as opposed to AGNs. It is not obvious why these inconspicuous
Abell-clusters should be the first to be seen in gamma-rays, but a possible
reason is that all of them show direct evidence of recent or ongoing mergers.
Their identification with the EGRET gamma-ray sources is also supported by the
close correlation between their radio and (purported) gamma-ray fluxes. Under
favorable conditions (including a proton spectral index of 2.5 in the case of
Abell 85, and sim 2.3 for Coma, and Abell 1758 and 1914), we expect ICECUBE to
make as many as 0.3 neutrino detections per year from the Coma cluster of
galaxies, and as many as a few per year from the Abell clusters 85, 1758, and
1914. Also, Auger may detect as many as 2 events per decade at ~ EeV energies
from these gamma-ray bright clusters.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
The cluster M-T relation from temperature profiles observed with ASCA and ROSAT
We calibrate the galaxy cluster mass - temperature relation using the
temperature profiles of intracluster gas observed with ASCA (for hot clusters)
and ROSAT (for cool groups). Our sample consists of apparently relaxed clusters
for which the total masses are derived assuming hydrostatic equilibrium. The
sample provides data on cluster X-ray emission-weighted cooling flow-corrected
temperatures and total masses up to r_1000. The resulting M-T scaling in the
1-10 keV temperature range is M_1000 = (1.23 +- 0.20)/h_50 10^15 Msun (T/10
keV)^{1.79 +- 0.14} with 90% confidence errors, or significantly (99.99%
confidence) steeper than the self-similar relation M propto T^{3/2}. For any
given temperature, our measured mass values are significantly smaller compared
to the simulation results of Evrard et al. (1996) that are frequently used for
mass-temperature scaling. The higher-temperature subsample (kT > 4 keV) is
consistent with M propto T^{3/2}, allowing the possibility that the
self-similar scaling breaks down at low temperatures, perhaps due to heating by
supernovae that is more important for low-temperature groups and galaxies as
suggested by earlier works.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, accepted by Ap
An analysis of electron distributions in galaxy clusters by means of the flux ratio of iron lines FeXXV and XXVI
The interpretation of hard X-ray emission from galaxy clusters is still
ambiguous and different models proposed can be probed using various
observational methods. Here we explore a new method based on Fe line
observations.
Spectral line emissivities have usually been calculated for a Maxwellian
electron distribution. In this paper a generalized approach to calculate the
iron line flux for a modified Maxwellian distribution is considered.
We have calculated the flux ratio of iron lines for the various possible
populations of electrons that have been proposed to account for measurements of
hard X-ray excess emission from the clusters A2199 and Coma. We found that the
influence of the suprathermal electron population on the flux ratio is more
prominent in low temperature clusters (as Abell 2199) than in high temperature
clusters (as Coma).Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Accurate seeing measurements with MASS and DIMM
Astronomical seeing is quantified by a single parameter, turbulence integral,
in the framework of the Kolmogorov turbulence model. This parameter can be
routinely measured by a Differential Image Motion Monitor, DIMM. A new
instrument, Multi-Aperture Scintillation Sensor (MASS), permits to measure the
seeing in the free atmosphere above ~0.5km and, together with a DIMM, to
estimate the ground-layer seeing. The absolute accuracy of both methods is
studied here using analytical theory, numerical simulation, and experiments. A
modification of the MASS data processing to compensate for partially saturated
scintillation is developed. We find that the DIMM can be severely biased by
optical aberrations (e.g. defocus) and propagation. Seeing measurements with
DIMM and MASS can reach absolute accuracy of ~10% when their biases are
carefully controlled. Pushing this limit to 1% appears unrealistic because the
seeing itself is just a model-dependent parameter of a non-stationary random
process.Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
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