Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Open Access Articles

Constraints From Infrared Space Observatory Data On The Velocity Law And Clumpiness Of Wr 136., R. Ignace, M. F. Quigley, J. P. Cassinelli

Richard Ignace

Observations with the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) SWS spectrometer are used to constrain the velocity law and wind clumping of the well-studied Wolf-Rayet (WR) star WR 136 (HD 192163) (WN6). Because the free-free continuum opacity in WR winds increases steadily with wavelength in the IR, each point in the continuous spectrum may be regarded as forming in a pseudo-photosphere of larger radius for longer wavelength. Using this idea in combination with an analysis of the Doppler-broadened widths of several \ion{He}{2} recombination lines, we can derive information about the velocity law and clumpiness of the stellar wind of WR 136. Adopting …

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Xmm-Newton Observations Of The Nitrogen-Rich Wolf-Rayet Star Wr 1., R. Ignace, L. M. Oskinova, J. C. Brown

Richard Ignace

We present XMM-Newton results for the X-ray spectrum from the N-richWolf-Rayet (WR) star WR1. The EPIC instrument was used to obtain a medium-resolution spectrum. The following features characterize this spectrum: ( a) significant emission "bumps" appear that are coincident with the wavelengths of typical strong lines, such as MgXI, SiXIII, and SXV; (b) little emission is detected above 4 keV, in contrast to recent reports of a hard component in the stars WR 6 and WR 110 which are of similar subtype; and ( c) evidence for sulfur K-edge absorption at about 2.6 keV, which could only arise from absorption …

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The Zeeman Effect In The Sobolev Approximation: Applications To Spherical Stellar Winds., R. Ignace, K. G. Gayley

Richard Ignace

Modern spectropolarimeters are capable of detecting subkilogauss field strengths using the Zeeman effect in line profiles from the static photosphere, but supersonic Doppler broadening makes it more difficult to detect the Zeeman effect in the wind lines of hot stars. Nevertheless, the recent advances in observational capability motivate an assessment of the potential for detecting the magnetic fields threading such winds. We incorporate the weak-field longitudinal Zeeman effect in the Sobolev approximation to yield integral expressions for the flux of circularly polarized emission. To illustrate the results, two specific wind flows are considered: (i) spherical constant expansion with v(r) = …

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The Conspicuous Absence Of X-Ray Emission From Carbon-Enriched Wolf-Rayet Stars., L. M. Oskinova, R. Ignace, W.-R. Hamann, A. M. T. Pollock, J. C. Brown

Richard Ignace

The carbon-rich WC5 star WR 114 was not detected during a 15.9 ksec XMM-Newton observation, implying an upper limit to the X-ray luminosity of L-X less than or similar to 2.5 x 10(30) erg s(-1) and to the X-ray to bolometric luminosity ratio of L-X/L(bo)l less than or similar to 4 x 10(-9). This confirms indications from earlier less sensitive measurements that there has been no convincing X-ray detection of any single WC star. This lack of detections is reinforced by XMM-Newton and Chandra observations of WC stars. Thus the conclusion has to be drawn that the stars with radiatively-driven …

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Microlensing Of Circumstellar Envelopes Ii. Emission Lines From Radial And Azimuthal Flow During Fold Caustic Crossings., H. M. Bryce, R. Ignace, M. A. Hendry

Richard Ignace

This paper examines the line profile evolution due to bulk motion in circumstellar envelopes during microlensing fold caustic crossing events. These events have recently been shown to be a sensitive probe of stellar surface brightness profiles, thus providing a means - through both photometric and spectroscopic observations - to constrain and test stellar atmosphere models. Here it is demonstrated, through the examination of simplified line profiles, that spectroscopic studies of fold caustic crossings could also prove to be a powerful diagnostic of bulk motion in circumstellar envelopes.

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Complex C: A Low-Metallicity High-Velocity Cloud Plunging Into The Milky Way, Todd M. Tripp, Bart P. Wakker, Edward B. Jenkins, C. W. Bowers, A. C. Danks, R. F. Green, S. R. Heap, C. L. Joseph, M. E. Kaiser, J. L. Linsky, B. E. Woodgate

Todd M. Tripp

We present evidence that high-velocity cloud (HVC) complex C is a low-metallicity gas cloud that is plunging toward the disk and beginning to interact with the ambient gas that surrounds the Milky Way. This evidence begins with a new high-resolution (7 km s-1 FWHM) echelle spectrum of 3C 351 obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS). 3C 351 lies behind the low-latitude edge of complex C, and the new spectrum provides accurate measurements of O I, Si II, Al II, Fe II, and Si III absorption lines at the velocity of complex C; N I, S II, Si IV, …

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Potential Impact Of Subsonic And Supersonic Aircraft Exhaust On Water Vapor In The Lower Stratosphere Assessed Via A Trajectory Model, Gary A. Morris, Joan A. Rosenfield, Mark R. Schoeberl, Charles A. Jackman

Gary A. Morris

We employ a trajectory model to assess the impact on the stratosphere of water vapor present in the exhaust of subsonic and a proposed fleet of supersonic aircraft. Air parcels into which water vapor from aircraft exhaust has been injected are run through a 6-year simulation in the trajectory model using meteorological data from the UKMO analyses with emissions dictated by the standard 2015 emissions scenario. For the subsonic aircraft, our results suggest maximum enhancements of ~150 ppbv just above the Northern Hemisphere tropopause and of much less than 50 ppbv in most other regions. Inserting the perturbed water vapor …

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Smooth(Er) Stellar Mass Maps In Candels: Constraints On The Longevity Of Clumps In High-Redshift Star-Forming Galaxies, Stijn Wuyts, Natascha M. Förster Schreiber, Reinhard Genzel, Yicheng Guo, Guillermo Barro, Eric F. Bell, Avishai Dekel, Sandra M. Faber, Henry C. Ferguson, Mauro Giavalisco, Norman A. Grogin, Nimish P. Hathi, Kuang-Han Huang, Dale D. Kocevski, Anton M. Koekemoer, David C. Koo, Jennifer Lotz, Dieter Lutz, Elizabeth Mcgrath, Jeffrey A, Newman, David Rosario, Amelie Saintonge, Linda J. Tacconi, Benjamin J. Weiner, Arjen Van Der Wel

Mauro Giavalisco

We perform a detailed analysis of the resolved colors and stellar populations of a complete sample of 323 star-forming galaxies at 0.5 < z < 1.5, and 326 star-forming galaxies at 1.5 < z < 2.5 in the ERS and CANDELS-Deep region of GOODS-South. Galaxies were selected to be more massive than 10^10 Msun and have specific star formation rates above 1/t_H. We model the 7-band optical ACS + near-IR WFC3 spectral energy distributions of individual bins of pixels, accounting simultaneously for the galaxy-integrated photometric constraints available over a longer wavelength range. We analyze variations in rest-frame color, stellar surface mass density, age, and extinction as a function of galactocentric radius and local surface brightness/density, and measure structural parameters on luminosity and stellar mass maps. We find evidence for redder colors, older stellar ages, and increased dust extinction in the nuclei of galaxies. Big star-forming clumps seen in star formation tracers are less prominent or even invisible on the inferred stellar mass distributions. Off-center clumps contribute up to ~20% to the integrated SFR, but only 7% or less to the integrated mass of all massive star-forming galaxies at z ~ 1 and z ~ 2, with the fractional contributions being a decreasing function of wavelength used to select the clumps. The stellar mass profiles tend to have smaller sizes and M20 coefficients, and higher concentration and Gini coefficients than the light distribution. Our results are consistent with an inside-out disk growth scenario with brief (100 - 200 Myr) episodic local enhancements in star formation superposed on the underlying disk. Alternatively, the young ages of off-center clumps may signal inward clump migration, provided this happens efficiently on the order of an orbital timescale.

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A Direct Simulation Monte Carlo Method For The Uehling-Uhlenbeck-Boltzmann Equation, Alejandro Garcia, Wolfgang Wagner

Alejandro Garcia

In this paper we describe a direct simulation Monte Carlo algorithm for the Uehling-Uhlenbeck-Boltzmann equation in terms of Markov processes. This provides a unifying framework for both the classical Boltzmann case as well as the Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein cases. We establish the foundation of the algorithm by demonstrating its link to the kinetic equation. By numerical experiments we study its sensitivity to the number of simulation particles and to the discretization of the velocity space, when approximating the steady-state distribution.

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Inverted Velocity Profile In The Cylindrical Couette Flow Of A Rarefied Gas, Alejandro Garcia, K. Aoki, H. Yoshida, T. Nakanishi

Alejandro Garcia

The cylindrical Couette flow of a rarefied gas is investigated, under the diffuse-specular reflection condition of Maxwell’s type on the cylinders, in the case where the inner cylinder is rotating whereas the outer cylinder is at rest. The inverted velocity profile for small accommodation coefficients, pointed out by Tibbs, Baras, and Garcia [Phys. Rev. E 56, 2282 (1997)] on the basis of a Monte Carlo simulation, is investigated extensively by means of a systematic asymptotic analysis for small Knudsen numbers as well as the direct numerical analysis of the Boltzmann equation, and the parameter range in which the phenomenon appears …

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A Dearth Of Dark Matter In Ordinary Elliptical Galaxies, Aaron J. Romanowsky, N. G. Douglas, M. Arnaboldi, K. Kuijken, M. R. Merrifield, N. R. Napolitano, M. Capaccioli

Aaron J. Romanowsky

The kinematics of the outer parts of three intermediate-luminosity elliptical galaxies were studied with the Planetary Nebula Spectrograph. The galaxies' velocity-dispersion profiles were found to decline with the radius, and dynamical modeling of the data indicates the presence of little if any dark matter in these galaxies' halos. This unexpected result conflicts with findings in other galaxy types and poses a challenge to current galaxy formation theories.

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Tracing The Star Stream Through M31 Using Planetary Nebula Kinematics, H. R. Merrett, K. Kuijken, M. R. Merrifield, Aaron J. Romanowsky, N. G. Douglas, N. R. Napolitano, M. Arnaboldi, M. Capaccioli, K. C. Freeman, O. Gerhard, N. W. Evans, M. I. Wilkinson, C. Halliday, T. J. Bridges, D. Carter

Aaron J. Romanowsky

We present a possible orbit for the Southern Stream of stars in M31, which connects it to the Northern Spur. Support for this model comes from the dynamics of planetary nebulae (PNe) in the disc of M31: analysis of a new sample of 2611 PNe obtained using the Planetary Nebula Spectrograph reveals ∼20 objects with kinematics inconsistent with the normal components of the galaxy, but which lie at the right positions and velocities to connect the two photometric features via this orbit. The satellite galaxy M32 is coincident with the stream both in position and velocity, adding weight to the …

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Constraints From Infrared Space Observatory Data On The Velocity Law And Clumpiness Of Wr 136., R. Ignace, M. F. Quigley, J. P. Cassinelli

Richard Ignace

Xmm-Newton Observations Of The Nitrogen-Rich Wolf-Rayet Star Wr 1., R. Ignace, L. M. Oskinova, J. C. Brown

Richard Ignace

The Zeeman Effect In The Sobolev Approximation: Applications To Spherical Stellar Winds., R. Ignace, K. G. Gayley

Richard Ignace

The Conspicuous Absence Of X-Ray Emission From Carbon-Enriched Wolf-Rayet Stars., L. M. Oskinova, R. Ignace, W.-R. Hamann, A. M. T. Pollock, J. C. Brown

Richard Ignace

Microlensing Of Circumstellar Envelopes Ii. Emission Lines From Radial And Azimuthal Flow During Fold Caustic Crossings., H. M. Bryce, R. Ignace, M. A. Hendry

Richard Ignace

Complex C: A Low-Metallicity High-Velocity Cloud Plunging Into The Milky Way, Todd M. Tripp, Bart P. Wakker, Edward B. Jenkins, C. W. Bowers, A. C. Danks, R. F. Green, S. R. Heap, C. L. Joseph, M. E. Kaiser, J. L. Linsky, B. E. Woodgate

Todd M. Tripp

Potential Impact Of Subsonic And Supersonic Aircraft Exhaust On Water Vapor In The Lower Stratosphere Assessed Via A Trajectory Model, Gary A. Morris, Joan A. Rosenfield, Mark R. Schoeberl, Charles A. Jackman

Gary A. Morris

Mauro Giavalisco

A Direct Simulation Monte Carlo Method For The Uehling-Uhlenbeck-Boltzmann Equation, Alejandro Garcia, Wolfgang Wagner

Alejandro Garcia

Inverted Velocity Profile In The Cylindrical Couette Flow Of A Rarefied Gas, Alejandro Garcia, K. Aoki, H. Yoshida, T. Nakanishi

Alejandro Garcia

A Dearth Of Dark Matter In Ordinary Elliptical Galaxies, Aaron J. Romanowsky, N. G. Douglas, M. Arnaboldi, K. Kuijken, M. R. Merrifield, N. R. Napolitano, M. Capaccioli

Aaron J. Romanowsky

Tracing The Star Stream Through M31 Using Planetary Nebula Kinematics, H. R. Merrett, K. Kuijken, M. R. Merrifield, Aaron J. Romanowsky, N. G. Douglas, N. R. Napolitano, M. Arnaboldi, M. Capaccioli, K. C. Freeman, O. Gerhard, N. W. Evans, M. I. Wilkinson, C. Halliday, T. J. Bridges, D. Carter

Aaron J. Romanowsky