13,395 research outputs found
Visible spectroscopy of the new ESO Large Program on trans-Neptunian objects and Centaurs: final results
A second large programme (LP) for the physical studies of TNOs and Centaurs,
started at ESO Cerro Paranal on October 2006 to obtain high-quality data, has
recently been concluded. In this paper we present the spectra of these pristine
bodies obtained in the visible range during the last two semesters of the LP.
We investigate the spectral behaviour of the TNOs and Centaurs observed, and we
analyse the spectral slopes distribution of the full data set coming from this
LP and from the literature. We computed the spectral slope for each observed
object, and searched for possible weak absorption features. A statistical
analysis was performed on a total sample of 73 TNOs and Centaurs to look for
possible correlations between dynamical classes, orbital parameters, and
spectral gradient. We obtained new spectra for 28 bodies, 15 of which were
observed for the first time. All the new presented spectra are featureless,
including 2003 AZ84, for which a faint and broad absorption band possibly
attributed to hydrated silicates on its surface has been reported. The data
confirm a wide variety of spectral behaviours, with neutral--grey to very red
gradients. An analysis of the spectral slopes available from this LP and in the
literature for a total sample of 73 Centaurs and TNOs shows that there is a
lack of very red objects in the classical population. We present the results of
the statistical analysis of the spectral slope distribution versus orbital
parameters. In particular, we confirm a strong anticorrelation between spectral
slope and orbital inclination for the classical population. A strong
correlation is also found between the spectral slope and orbital eccentricity
for resonant TNOs, with objects having higher spectral slope values with
increasing eccentricity.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure
The Spectral Slope and Kolmogorov Constant of MHD turbulence
The spectral slope of strong MHD turbulence has recently been a matter of
controversy. While Goldreich-Sridhar model (1995) predicts Kolmogorov's -5/3
slope of turbulence, shallower slopes were often reported by numerical studies.
We argue that earlier numerics was affected by driving due to a diffuse
locality of energy transfer in MHD case. Our highest-resolution simulation
(3072^2x1024) has been able to reach the asymptotic -5/3 regime of the energy
slope. Additionally, we found that so-called dynamic alignment, proposed in the
model with -3/2 slope, saturates and therefore can not affect asymptotic slope.
The observation of the asymptotic regime allowed us to measure Kolmogorov
constant C_KA=3.2+-0.2 for purely Alfv\'enic turbulence and C_K=4.1+-0.3 for
full MHD turbulence. These values are much higher than the hydrodynamic value
of 1.64. The larger value of Kolmogorov constant is an indication of a fairly
inefficient energy transfer and, as we show in this Letter, is in theoretical
agreement with our observation of diffuse locality. We also explain what has
been missing in numerical studies that reported shallower slopes.Comment: 5 pages 3 figure
Additional spectra of asteroid 1996 FG3, backup target of the ESA MarcoPolo-R mission
Near-Earth binary asteroid (175706) 1996 FG3 is the current backup target of
the ESA MarcoPolo-R mission, selected for the study phase of ESA M3 missions.
It is a primitive (C-type) asteroid that shows significant variation in its
visible and near-infrared spectra. Here we present new spectra of 1996 FG3 and
we compare our new data with other published spectra, analysing the variation
in the spectral slope. The asteroid will not be observable again over the next
three years at least. We obtained the spectra using DOLORES and NICS
instruments at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), a 3.6m telescope located
at El Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma, Spain. To compare with
other published spectra of the asteroid, we computed the spectral slope S', and
studied any plausible correlation of this quantity with the phase angle
(alpha). In the case of visible spectra, we find a variation in spectral slope
of Delta S' = 0.15 +- 0.10 %/10^3 A/degree for 3 < alpha < 18 degrees, in good
agreement with the values found in the literature for the phase reddening
effect. In the case of the near-infrared, we find a variation in the slope of
Delta S' = 0.04 +- 0.08 %/10^3 A/degree for 6 < alpha < 51 degrees. Our
computed variation in S' agrees with the only two values found in the
literature for the phase reddening in the near-infrared. The variation in the
spectral slope of asteroid 1996 FG3 shows a trend with the phase angle at the
time of the observations, both in the visible and the near-infrared. It is
worth noting that, to fully explain this spectral variability we should take
into account other factors, like the position of the secondary component of the
binary asteroid 1999 FG3 with respect to the primary, or the spin axis
orientation at the time of the observations. More data are necessary for an
analysis of this kind.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Accepted in A&A 25 June 201
The Turbulence Power Spectrum in Optically Thick Interstellar Clouds
The Fourier power spectrum is one of the most widely used statistical tools
to analyze the nature of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in the interstellar
medium. Lazarian & Pogosyan (2004) predicted that the spectral slope should
saturate to -3 for an optically thick medium and many observations exist in
support of their prediction. However, there have not been any numerical studies
to-date testing these results. We analyze the spatial power spectrum of MHD
simulations with a wide range of sonic and Alfv\'enic Mach numbers, which
include radiative transfer effects of the CO transition. We confirm
numerically the predictions of Lazarian & Pogosyan (2004) that the spectral
slope of line intensity maps of an optically thick medium saturates to -3.
Furthermore, for very optically thin supersonic CO gas, where the density or CO
abundance values are too low to excite emission in all but the densest shock
compressed gas, we find that the spectral slope is shallower than expected from
the column density. Finally, we find that mixed optically thin/thick CO gas,
which has average optical depths on order of unity, shows mixed behavior: for
super-Alfv\'enic turbulence, the integrated intensity power spectral slopes
generally follow the same trend with sonic Mach number as the true column
density power spectrum slopes. However, for sub-Alfv\'enic turbulence the
spectral slopes are steeper with values near -3 which are similar to the very
optically thick regime.Comment: accepted to Ap
Confronting Synchrotron Shock and Inverse Comptonization Models with GRB Spectral Evolution
The time-resolved spectra of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) remain in conflict with
many proposed models for these events. After proving that most of the bursts in
our sample show evidence for spectral "shape-shifting", we discuss what
restrictions that BATSE time-resolved burst spectra place on current models. We
find that the synchrotron shock model does not allow for the steep low-energy
spectral slope observed in many bursts, including GRB 970111. We also determine
that saturated Comptonization with only Thomson thinning fails to explain the
observed rise and fall of the low-energy spectral slope seen in GRB 970111 and
other bursts. This implies that saturated Comptonization models must include
some mechanism which can cause the Thomson depth to increase intially in
pulses.Comment: (5 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Proceedings of the Fourth
Huntsville Symposium on Gamma-Ray Bursts
Some Aspects of Measurement Error in Linear Regression of Astronomical Data
I describe a Bayesian method to account for measurement errors in linear
regression of astronomical data. The method allows for heteroscedastic and
possibly correlated measurement errors, and intrinsic scatter in the regression
relationship. The method is based on deriving a likelihood function for the
measured data, and I focus on the case when the intrinsic distribution of the
independent variables can be approximated using a mixture of Gaussians. I
generalize the method to incorporate multiple independent variables,
non-detections, and selection effects (e.g., Malmquist bias). A Gibbs sampler
is described for simulating random draws from the probability distribution of
the parameters, given the observed data. I use simulation to compare the method
with other common estimators. The simulations illustrate that the Gaussian
mixture model outperforms other common estimators and can effectively give
constraints on the regression parameters, even when the measurement errors
dominate the observed scatter, source detection fraction is low, or the
intrinsic distribution of the independent variables is not a mixture of
Gaussians. I conclude by using this method to fit the X-ray spectral slope as a
function of Eddington ratio using a sample of 39 z < 0.8 radio-quiet quasars. I
confirm the correlation seen by other authors between the radio-quiet quasar
X-ray spectral slope and the Eddington ratio, where the X-ray spectral slope
softens as the Eddington ratio increases.Comment: 39 pages, 11 figures, 1 table, accepted by ApJ. IDL routines
(linmix_err.pro) for performing the Markov Chain Monte Carlo are available at
the IDL astronomy user's library, http://idlastro.gsfc.nasa.gov/homepage.htm
- …