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Stars, Interstellar Medium and the Galaxy

Dartmouth Scholarship

2009

Articles 1 - 10 of 10

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Dust And The Type Ii-Plateau Supernova 2004et, R. Kotak, W. P. S. Meikle, D. Farrah, C. L. Gerardy, R. J. Foley, S. D. Van Dyk, C. Fransson, P. Lundqvist, J. Sollerman, R. Fesen Oct 2009

Dust And The Type Ii-Plateau Supernova 2004et, R. Kotak, W. P. S. Meikle, D. Farrah, C. L. Gerardy, R. J. Foley, S. D. Van Dyk, C. Fransson, P. Lundqvist, J. Sollerman, R. Fesen

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present mid-infrared (MIR) observations of the Type II-plateau supernova (SN) 2004et, obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope between 64 and 1406 days past explosion. Late-time optical spectra are also presented. For the period 300-795 days past explosion, we argue that the spectral energy distribution (SED) of SN 2004et comprises (1) a hot component due to emission from optically thick gas, as well as free-bound radiation; (2) a warm component due to newly formed, radioactively heated dust in the ejecta; and (3) a cold component due to an IR echo from the interstellar-medium dust of the host galaxy, NGC 6946. …

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Sdss J102347.6+003841: A Millisecond Radio Pulsar Binary That Had A Hot Disk During 2000-2001, Zhongxiang Wang, Anne M. Archibald, John R. Thorstensen, Victoria M. Kaspi Oct 2009

Sdss J102347.6+003841: A Millisecond Radio Pulsar Binary That Had A Hot Disk During 2000-2001, Zhongxiang Wang, Anne M. Archibald, John R. Thorstensen, Victoria M. Kaspi

Dartmouth Scholarship

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) source J102347.6+003841 was recently revealed to be a binary 1.69 ms radio pulsar with a 4.75 hr orbital period and a ~0.2 M ☉ companion. Here, we analyze the SDSS spectrum of the source in detail. The spectrum was taken on 2001 February 1, when the source was in a bright state and showed broad, double-peaked hydrogen and helium lines—dramatically different from the G-type absorption spectrum seen from 2002 May onward. The lines are consistent with emission from a disk around the compact primary. We derive properties of the disk by fitting the SDSS …

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An Oosterhoff Analysis Of The Galactic Bulge Field Rr Lyrae Stars: Implications On Their Absolute Magnitudes, Andrea Kunder, Brian Chaboyer Sep 2009

An Oosterhoff Analysis Of The Galactic Bulge Field Rr Lyrae Stars: Implications On Their Absolute Magnitudes, Andrea Kunder, Brian Chaboyer

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present an analysis of the period-V-amplitude plane for RR0 Lyrae stars (fundamental mode pulsators) with "normal" light curves in the bulge using the MACHO bulge fields. Although bulge globular clusters (GCs) have RR Lyraes that divide into two reasonable distinct groups according to the average period of the RR0 Lyraes, there is no evidence of a gap between Oosterhoff I (OoI) and II (OoII) stars in the bulge field star sample. The majority of the bulge RR0 Lyrae field star population have a difference in period compared to the OoI cluster M3 (Δlog P) that is …

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Subaru High-Resolution Spectroscopy Of Star G In The Tycho Supernova Remnant, Wolfgang E. Kerzendorf, Brian P. Schmidt, M. Asplund, Ken'ichi Nomoto, Ph. Podsiadlowski, Anna Frebel, Robert A. Fesen, David Yong Aug 2009

Subaru High-Resolution Spectroscopy Of Star G In The Tycho Supernova Remnant, Wolfgang E. Kerzendorf, Brian P. Schmidt, M. Asplund, Ken'ichi Nomoto, Ph. Podsiadlowski, Anna Frebel, Robert A. Fesen, David Yong

Dartmouth Scholarship

It is widely believed that Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) originate in binary systems where a white dwarf accretes material from a companion star until its mass approaches the Chandrasekhar mass and carbon is ignited in the white dwarf's core. This scenario predicts that the donor star should survive the supernova (SNe) explosion, providing an opportunity to understand the progenitors of SNe Ia. In this paper, we argue that rotation is a generic signature expected of most nongiant donor stars that is easily measurable. Ruiz-Lapuente et al. examined stars in the center of the remnant of SN 1572 (Tycho SN) …

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Proper Motions And Brightness Variations Of Nonthermal X-Ray Filaments In The Cassiopeia A Supernova Remnant, Daniel J. Patnaude, Robert A. Fesen May 2009

Proper Motions And Brightness Variations Of Nonthermal X-Ray Filaments In The Cassiopeia A Supernova Remnant, Daniel J. Patnaude, Robert A. Fesen

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present Chandra ACIS X-ray observations of the Galactic supernova remnant Cassiopeia A taken in 2007 December. Combining these data with previous archival Chandra observations taken in 2000, 2002, and 2004, we estimate the remnant's forward shock velocity at various points around the outermost shell to range between 4200 and 5200 ± 500 km s–1. Using these results together with previous analyses of Cas A's X-ray emission, we present a model for the evolution of Cas A and find that it's expansion is well fit by a ρej ∝ r –(7–9) ejecta profile running into a circumstellar …

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Sdss Unveils A Population Of Intrinsically Faint Cataclysmic Variables At The Minimum Orbital Period, B. T. Gänsicke, M. Dillon, J. Southworth, J. R. Thorstensen May 2009

Sdss Unveils A Population Of Intrinsically Faint Cataclysmic Variables At The Minimum Orbital Period, B. T. Gänsicke, M. Dillon, J. Southworth, J. R. Thorstensen

Dartmouth Scholarship

We discuss the properties of 137 cataclysmic variables (CVs) which are included in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectroscopic data base, and for which accurate orbital periods have been measured. 92 of these systems are new discoveries from SDSS and were followed-up in more detail over the past few years. 45 systems were previously identified as CVs because of the detection of optical outbursts and/or X-ray emission, and subsequently re-identified from the SDSS spectroscopy. The period distribution of the SDSS CVs differs dramatically from that of all the previously known CVs, in particular it contains a significant accumulation of …

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The Acs Survey Of Galactic Globular Clusters. Vii. Relative Ages, Antonio Marín-Franch, Antonio Aparicio, Giampaolo Piotto, Alfred Rosenberg, Brian Chaboyer Apr 2009

The Acs Survey Of Galactic Globular Clusters. Vii. Relative Ages, Antonio Marín-Franch, Antonio Aparicio, Giampaolo Piotto, Alfred Rosenberg, Brian Chaboyer

Dartmouth Scholarship

The ACS Survey of Galactic globular clusters is a Hubble Space Telescope Treasury program designed to provide a new large, deep, and homogeneous photometric database. Based on observations from this program, we have measured precise relative ages for a sample of 64 Galactic globular clusters by comparing the relative position of the clusters' main-sequence (MS) turnoffs, using MS fitting to cross-compare clusters within the sample. This method provides relative ages to a formal precision of 2%-7%. We demonstrate that the calculated relative ages are independent of the choice of theoretical model. We find that the Galactic globular cluster sample can …

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Stellar Population Models And Individual Element Abundances. Ii. Stellar Spectra And Integrated Light Models, Hyun-Chul Lee, Guy Worthey, Aaron Dotter, Brian Chaboyer Apr 2009

Stellar Population Models And Individual Element Abundances. Ii. Stellar Spectra And Integrated Light Models, Hyun-Chul Lee, Guy Worthey, Aaron Dotter, Brian Chaboyer

Dartmouth Scholarship

The first paper in this series explored the effects of altering the chemical mixture of the stellar population on an element-by-element basis on stellar evolutionary tracks and isochrones to the end of the red giant branch. This paper extends the discussion by incorporating the fully consistent synthetic stellar spectra with those isochrone models in predicting integrated colors, Lick indices, and synthetic spectra. Older populations display element ratio effects in their spectra at higher amplitude than younger populations. In addition, spectral effects in the photospheres of stars tend to dominate over effects from isochrone temperatures and lifetimes, but, further, the isochrone-based …

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New Neighbors: Parallaxes Of 18 Nearby Stars Selected From The Lspm-North Catalog, Sébastien Lépine, John R. Thorstensen, Michael M. Shara, R. Michael Rich Mar 2009

New Neighbors: Parallaxes Of 18 Nearby Stars Selected From The Lspm-North Catalog, Sébastien Lépine, John R. Thorstensen, Michael M. Shara, R. Michael Rich

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present astrometric parallaxes for 18 suspected nearby stars selected from the LSPM-north proper motion catalog. 16 objects are confirmed to be main-sequence M dwarfs within 16 pc of the Sun, including three stars (LSPM J0011+5908, LSPM J0330+5413, and LSPM J0510+2714) which lie just within the 10 pc horizon. Two other targets (LSPM J1817+1328, LSPM J2325+1403) are confirmed to be nearby white dwarfs at distances of 14 and 22 pc, respectively. One of our targets, the common proper motion pair LSPM J0405+7116E + LSPM J0405+7116W, is revealed to be a triple system, with the western component resolved into a pair …

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The Evolution Of Late-Time Optical Emission From Sn 1979c, Dan Milisavljevic, Robert A. Fesen, Robert P. Kirshner, Peter Challis Feb 2009

The Evolution Of Late-Time Optical Emission From Sn 1979c, Dan Milisavljevic, Robert A. Fesen, Robert P. Kirshner, Peter Challis

Dartmouth Scholarship

Optical spectra of the bright Type II-L supernova SN 1979C obtained in April 2008 with the 6.5 m Multiple Mirror Telescope are compared with archival late-time spectra to follow the evolution of its optical emission over the age range of 11-29 years. We estimate an Hα flux decrease of around 35% from 1993 to 2008 but noticeable increases in the strength of blueshifted emission of forbidden oxygen lines. While the maximum expansion of the broad ~6700 km s–1 Hα emission appears largely unchanged from 1993, we find a significant narrowing of the double-peaked emission profiles in the [O I] …

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