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Full-Text Articles in Astrophysics and Astronomy

A Desktop Universe For The Introductory Astronomy Laboratory, Laurence A. Marschall, Glenn A. Snyder, Paul Richard Cooper Dec 2000

A Desktop Universe For The Introductory Astronomy Laboratory, Laurence A. Marschall, Glenn A. Snyder, Paul Richard Cooper

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

What is a well-intentioned astronomy instructor to do? There is no argument that experience with the real world is desirable in any astronomy course, especially the introductory classes that fulfill the science distribution requirements at many colleges and universities. Though it is a simple matter to take students out of doors, show them the motions of the Sun, Moon, and stars, and have them squint for a few seconds at Saturn's rings through a telescope, these activities represent only a small portion of the subject matter of modern astronomy. It is simply not possible, given the constraints of time, weather, …


The Relative Age Of The Thin And Thick Galactic Disks, Wilson M. Liu, Brian Chaboyer Dec 2000

The Relative Age Of The Thin And Thick Galactic Disks, Wilson M. Liu, Brian Chaboyer

Dartmouth Scholarship

We determine the relative ages of the open cluster NGC 188 and selected Hipparcos field stars by isochrone fitting and compare them to the age of the thick-disk globular cluster 47 Tuc. The best-fit age for NGC 188 was determined to be 6.5 ± 1.0 Gyr. The solar-metallicity Hipparcos field stars yielded a slightly older thin-disk age, 7.5 ± 0.7 Gyr. Two slightly metal-poor ([Fe/H] = -0.22) field stars whose kinematic and orbital parameters indicate that they are members of the thin disk were found to have an age of 9.7 ± 0.6 Gyr. The age for 47 Tuc was …


The Infall Region Of Abell 576: Independent Mass And Light Profiles, Kenneth Rines, Margaret J. Geller, Antonaldo Diaferio, Joseph J. Mohr, Gary A. Wegner Nov 2000

The Infall Region Of Abell 576: Independent Mass And Light Profiles, Kenneth Rines, Margaret J. Geller, Antonaldo Diaferio, Joseph J. Mohr, Gary A. Wegner

Dartmouth Scholarship

We describe observations of the nearby (cz = 11,487 km s-1) cluster of galaxies Abell 576 beyond the virial radius and into the infall region where galaxies are on their first or second pass through the cluster. Using 1057 redshifts, we use the infall pattern in redshift space to determine the mass profile of A576 to a radius of ~4 h-1 Mpc. This mass estimation technique makes no assumptions about the equilibrium state of the cluster. Within ~1 h-1 Mpc, the mass profile we derive exceeds that determined from X-ray observations by a factor of …


Rosat Hri And Asca Observations Of The Spiral Galaxy Ngc 6946 And Its Northeast Complex Of Luminous Supernova Remnants, Eric M. Schlegel, William P. Blair, Robert A. Fesen Aug 2000

Rosat Hri And Asca Observations Of The Spiral Galaxy Ngc 6946 And Its Northeast Complex Of Luminous Supernova Remnants, Eric M. Schlegel, William P. Blair, Robert A. Fesen

Dartmouth Scholarship

Analysis of 80 ks ASCA and 60 ks ROSAT HRI observations of the face-on spiral galaxy NGC 6946 are presented. The ASCA image is the first observation of this galaxy above ~2 keV. Diffuse emission may be present in the inner ~4' extending to energies above ~2–3 keV. In the HRI data, 14 pointlike sources are detected, the brightest two being a source very close to the nucleus and a source to the northeast that corresponds to a luminous complex of interacting supernova remnants (SNRs). We detect a point source that lies ~30'' west of the SNR complex but with …


Enear Redshift-Distance Survey: Cosmological Constraints, Stefano Borgani, Mariangela Bernardi, Luiz N. Da Costa, Gary Wegner Jul 2000

Enear Redshift-Distance Survey: Cosmological Constraints, Stefano Borgani, Mariangela Bernardi, Luiz N. Da Costa, Gary Wegner

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present an analysis of the ENEAR sample of peculiar velocities of field and cluster elliptical galaxies, obtained with Dn-σ distances. We use the velocity correlation function ψ1(r) to analyze the statistics of the field object's velocities, while the analysis of the cluster data is based on the estimate of their rms peculiar velocity Vrms. The results are compared with predictions from cosmological models using linear theory. The statistics of the model velocity field is parameterized by the amplitude η8 = σ8Ω and by the shape parameter Γ of the cold dark matter-like power spectrum. …


Grb 991216 Joins The Jet Set: Discovery And Monitoring Of Its Optical Afterglow, J. P. Halpern, R. Uglesich, N. Mirabal, S. Kassin, J. Thorstenson, W. C. Keel, A. Diercks, J. S. Bloom, F. Harrison, J. Mattox, M. Eracleous Jun 2000

Grb 991216 Joins The Jet Set: Discovery And Monitoring Of Its Optical Afterglow, J. P. Halpern, R. Uglesich, N. Mirabal, S. Kassin, J. Thorstenson, W. C. Keel, A. Diercks, J. S. Bloom, F. Harrison, J. Mattox, M. Eracleous

Dartmouth Scholarship

The optical light curve of the energetic γ-ray burst GRB 991216 is consistent with jetlike behavior in which a power-law decay steepens from t-1.22+-0.04 at early times to t-1.53 +- 0.05 in a gradual transition at around 2 days. The derivation of the late-time decay slope takes into account the constant contribution of a host or intervening galaxy, which was measured 110 days after the event at R = 24.56 +- 0.14, although the light curve deviates from a single power law whether or not a constant term is included. The early-time spectral energy distribution of the afterglow …


The Age Of The Inner Halo Globular Cluster Ngc 6652, Brian Chaboyer, Ata Sarajedini, Taft E. Armandroff Jan 2000

The Age Of The Inner Halo Globular Cluster Ngc 6652, Brian Chaboyer, Ata Sarajedini, Taft E. Armandroff

Dartmouth Scholarship

Hubble Space Telescope (V, I) photometry has been obtained for the inner halo globular cluster NGC 6652. The photometry reaches ~4 mag below the turnoff and includes a well-populated horizontal branch. This cluster is located close to the Galactic center, at RGC 2.0 kpc, with a reddening of E(V-I) = 0.15 ± 0.02, and has a metallicity of [Fe/H] -0.85. Based upon ΔV, NGC 6652 is 11.7 ± 1.6 Gyr old. Using ΔV, precise differential ages for 47 Tuc (a thick disk globular cluster), M107, and NGC …