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2004-04-30
A look with BeppoSAX at the low-luminosity Galactic X-ray source 4U 2206+54
A pointed observation of the low-luminosity galactic source 4U 2206+54 was carried out in November 1998 with BeppoSAX. The light curve of 4U 2206+54 shows erratic variability on a timescale of about 1 hour; neither hardness variations nor time periodicities are detected throughout this 67 ks long observation. Thanks to...
0404603v2
2004-05-04
Galactic Evolution of Nitrogen
We present detailed spectroscopic analysis of nitrogen abundances in 31 unevolved metal-poor stars analysed by spectral synthesis of the near-UV NH band at 3360 A observed at high resolution with various telescopes. We found that [N/Fe] scales with that of iron in the metallicity range -3.1 < [Fe/H] <0 with the slope 0...
0405049v1
2004-05-07
Partial Covering Interpretation of the X-Ray Spectrum of the NLS1 1H 0707-495
The X-ray spectrum of 1H 0707-495 obtained with XMM-Newton showing a deep flux drop at ~7 keV (Boller et al. 2002) is studied based on the partial covering concept. The previously inferred extreme iron overabundance can be reduced down to ~3x solar if the hard component gradually steepens at high energies. The spectral...
0405158v1
2004-05-13
Outflows in Regions of Star Formation
The high spatial and spectral resolution offered by the new generation of infrared spectrometers at ESO is optimally suited for the observational study of outflows from young stellar objects. Models of interstellar shock waves would benefit from observations of spectrally resolved line profiles. This applies also to at...
0405248v1
2004-05-13
Isothermal Shock Formation in Non-Equatorial Accretion Flows around Kerr Black Holes
We explore isothermal shock formation in non-equatorial, adiabatic accretion flows onto a rotating black hole, with possible application to some active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The isothermal shock jump conditions as well as the regularity condition, previously developed for one-dimensional (1D) flows in the equatorial ...
0405269v1
2004-05-26
Nucleosynthesis inside Gamma-Ray Burst Accretion Disks
We investigate nucleosynthesis inside both a gamma-ray burst accretion disk and a wind launched from an inner region of the disk using one-dimensional models of the disk and wind and a nuclear reaction network. Far from a central black hole, the composition of accreting gas is taken to be that of an O-rich layer of a m...
0405510v1
2004-05-28
Stars as thermonuclear reactors: their fuels and ashes
Atomic nuclei are transformed into each other in the cosmos by nuclear reactions inside stars: -- the process of nucleosynthesis. The basic concepts of determining nuclear reaction rates inside stars and how they manage to burn their fuel so slowly most of the time are discussed. Thermonuclear reactions involving proto...
0405568v1
2004-06-05
Fe II and Mg II in Luminous, Intermediate-Redshift Narrow-line Seyfert 1 Galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
We present results from analysis of spectra from a sample of ~900 quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. These objects were selected for their intermediate redshift (1.2<z<1.8), placing MgII and UV FeII in the optical band pass, relatively narrow MgII lines, and moderately good signal-to-noise-ratio spectra. Using ...
0406137v2
2004-06-09
An Observation of the Intermediate Polar XY Arietis with Chandra
Chandra serendipitously observed the eclipsing (80 deg < i < 84 deg) intermediate polar, XY Arietis (=H0253+193), in two separate but continuous observations five weeks apart. XY Ari was in a quiescent state during both observations. We pursue the study of phase-resolved spectra for this system focusing on the Fe K lin...
0406245v1
2004-06-29
A New Contributor to Chemical Evolution in High-Redshift Galaxies
The recent discovery of a new population of stars exhibiting unusual elemental abundance patterns characterized by enhanced Ti to Ga elements and low alpha and n-capture elements suggests the contribution of a new class of supernovae, probably a kind of Type Ia supernovae associated with close binary evolution. The rol...
0406636v1
2004-07-03
Beyond the iron group: heavy metals in hot subdwarfs
We report the discovery of strong photospheric resonance lines of Ga III, Ge IV, Sn IV and Pb IV in the UV spectra of more than two dozen sdB and sdOB stars at temperatures ranging from 22000 K to 40000 K. Lines of other heavy elements are also detected, however in these cases more atomic data are needed. Based on thes...
0407067v1
2004-07-07
A possible feature of thermal matter in relativistic jets of radio-loud quasars
It has been suggested that relativistic jets in quasars may contain a considerable amount of thermal matter. In this paper, we explore the possibility that the K-alpha line from the thermal matter may appear at tens of keV due to a high Doppler blue-shift. In the jet comoving frame, the energy density of photons origin...
0407123v1
2004-07-08
Optical and near infrared observations of SN 1998bu
Infrared and optical spectra of SN 1998bu at an age of one year after explosion are presented. The data show evidence for the radioactive decay of 56Co to 56Fe, long assumed to be the powering source for the supernova light curve past maximum light. The spectra provide direct evidence for at least 0.4 solar masses of i...
0407177v1
2004-07-21
X-ray binaries and their descendants: binary radio pulsars; evidence for three classes of neutron stars?
An important recent discovery by Pfahl et al. (2002) is that there are two classes of Be X-ray binaries: one with orbits of small eccentricity (<0.25), in which the neutron stars received hardly any kick velocity at birth and a class with substantial orbital eccentricities, in which the neutron stars received a kick ve...
0407451v1
2004-07-23
Neutrinos from microquasars
The jets of microquasars with high-mass stellar companions are exposed to the dense matter field of the stellar wind as well as to the photon densities found in the surrounding medium. Photopion and proton-proton interactions could then lead to copious production of neutrinos. In this work, we analyze the hadronic micr...
0407494v1
2004-07-27
The isolated elliptical NGC 4555 observed with Chandra
We present analysis of a Chandra observation of the elliptical galaxy NGC 4555. The galaxy lies in a very low density environment, either isolated from all galaxies of similar mass or on the outskirts of a group. Despite this, NGC 4555 has a large gaseous halo, extending to ~60 kpc. We find the mean gas temperature to ...
0407552v1
2004-08-03
The Influence of Reaction Rates on the Final p-Abundances
The astrophysical p-process is responsible for the origin of the proton rich nuclei,which are heavier than iron. A huge network involving thousands of reaction rates is necessary to calculate the final p-abundances. But not all rates included in the network have a strong influence on the p-nuclei abundances. The p-proc...
0408060v1
2004-08-26
The narrow-line quasar NAB 0205+024 observed with XMM-Newton
The XMM-Newton observation of the narrow-line quasar NAB 0205+024 reveals three striking differences since it was last observed in the X-rays with ASCA. Firstly, the 2-10 keV power-law is notably steeper. Secondly, a hard X-ray flare is detected, very similar to that seen in I Zw 1. Thirdly, a strong and broad emission...
0408507v1
2004-09-13
Flux and energy modulation of redshifted iron emission in NGC3516: implications for the black hole mass
We report the tentative detection of the modulation of a transient, redshifted Fe Kalpha emission feature in the X-ray spectrum of the Seyfert galaxy NGC3516. The detection of the spectral feature at 6.1 keV, in addition to a stable 6.4 keV line, has been reported previously. We find on re-analysing the XMM-Newton data...
0409293v1
2004-09-14
Cosmogenic Neutrinos from Ultra-High Energy Nuclei
We calculate the flux of neutrinos generated by the propagation of ultra-high energy iron over cosmological distances and show that even if ultra-high energy cosmic rays are composed of heavy nuclei, a significant flux of high-energy neutrinos should be present throughout the universe. The resulting neutrino flux has a...
0409316v2
2004-09-22
Thorium-rich halo star HD221170: further evidence against the universality of the r-process
We report the abundance determination in the atmosphere of the bright halo star HD221170. The spectra were taken with the Terskol Observatory's 2.0-m telescope with a resolution R=45000 and signal-to-noise ratio up to 250 in the wavelength region 3638-10275 \AA. The adopted atmospheric parameters correspond to an effec...
0409547v1
2004-09-24
Three-Dimensional Delayed-Detonation Model of Type Ia Supernova
We study a Type Ia supernova explosion using large-scale three-dimensional numerical simulations based on reactive fluid dynamics with a simplified mechanism for nuclear reactions and energy release. The initial deflagration stage of the explosion involves a subsonic turbulent thermonuclear flame propagating in the gra...
0409598v1
2004-09-26
The Low X-Ray State of LS 5039 / RX J1826.2-1450
Recent XMM-Newton and Chandra observations of the high mass X-ray binary LS 5039 / RX J1826.2-1450 caught the source in a faint X-ray state. In contrast with previous RXTE observations, we fail to detect any evidence of iron line emission. We also fail to detect X-ray pulsations. The X-ray spectrum can be well fitted b...
0409608v1
2004-09-27
A puzzling event during the X-ray emission of the binary system GX 1+4
We report on a long X-ray observation of the slow-rotating binary pulsar GX 1+4. BeppoSAX observed, in the 0.1-200 keV energy range, an event in which the source flux dropped for almost a day, and then recovered. During this event only the high-energy emission was found to be pulsed and the pulsations were shifted in p...
0409626v3
2004-09-29
Fluorescence photons produced in air by extensive air showers
The air fluorescence technique has long been used to detect extensive air showers and to reconstruct its geometry and energy. The fluorescence photon yield of an electron in air is of main importance in the reconstruction procedure. Historically, the fluorescence yield used in the reconstruction of the showers is appro...
0409727v1
2004-10-05
Black Hole Spin in AGN and GBHCs
We discuss constraints on black hole spin and spin-related astrophysics as derived from X-ray spectroscopy. After a brief discussion about the robustness with which X-ray spectroscopy can be used to probe strong gravity, we summarize how these techniques can constrain black hole spin. In particular, we highlight XMM-Ne...
0410116v1
2004-10-08
Magnetorotational supernovae
We present the results of 2D simulations of the magnetorotational model of a supernova explosion. After the core collapse the core consists of rapidly a rotating proto-neutron star and a differentially rotating envelope. The toroidal part of the magnetic energy generated by the differential rotation grows linearly with...
0410234v2
2004-10-19
Metallicity measurements using atomic lines in M and K dwarf stars
We report the first survey of chemical abundances in M and K dwarf stars using atomic absorption lines in high resolution spectra. We have measured Fe and Ti abundances in 35 M and K dwarf stars using equivalent widths measured from (lambda / Delta lambda) = 33,000 spectra. Our analysis takes advantage of recent improv...
0410452v1
2004-10-22
Is the interstellar gas of starburst galaxies well mixed?
The extent to which the ISM in galaxies is well mixed is not yet settled. Measured metal abundances in the diffuse neutral gas of star--forming gas--rich dwarf galaxies are deficient with respect to that of the ionized gas. The reasons, if real, are not clear and need to be based on firm grounds. Far-UV spectroscopy of...
0410528v1
2004-10-29
On the primary particle type of the most energetic Fly's Eye event
The longitudinal profile of the 320 EeV event observed by the Fly's Eye experiment is analysed. A method of testing the hypothesis of a specific primary particle type is described. Results for different particle types are summarized. For hadronic primaries between proton and iron nuclei, the discrepancy between observe...
0410739v1
2004-11-08
The Metallicity dependence of the Cepheid Period-Luminosity relation: methodology and results
We present the results of an observational campaign undertaken to assess the influence of the iron content on the Cepheid Period-Luminosity relation. Our data indicate that this dependence is not well represented by a simple linear relation. Rather, the behaviour is markedly non monotonic, with the correction peaking a...
0411190v1
2004-11-10
High Resolution Spectroscopy of 4U 1728-34 from a Simultaneous Chandra-RXTE Observation
We report on a simultaneous Chandra and RossiXTE observation of the LMXB atoll bursting source 4U 1728-34 performed on 2002 March 3-5. We fitted the 1.2-35 keV continuum spectrum with a blackbody plus a Comptonized component. An overabundance of Si by a factor of ~2 with respect to Solar abundance is required for a sat...
0411270v2
2004-11-15
XMM-Newton observations of the Lockman Hole: III. A relativistic Fe line in the mean X-ray spectra of type-1 and type-2 AGN
Using the 770 ksec XMM-Newton survey of the Lockman Hole field in combination with extensive optical identifications of the AGN population, we derive an average rest-frame spectrum of AGN types-1 and 2. The most prominent feature in the averaged spectrum is a strong fluorescent Fe line. In both type-1 and type-2 AGN, a...
0411340v2
2004-11-25
Muons with E_th >= 1 Gev and Mass Composition in the Energy Range 10^{18}-10^{20} ev Observed by Yakutsk Eas Array
The ratio of the muon flux density to charged particle flux density at distances of 300 and 600 m from the shower axis ($\rhom(300)/\rhos(300)$ and $\rhom(600)/\rhos(600)$) is measured. In addition, the energy dependence of $\rhom(1000)$ is analysed for showers with energies above $10^{18}$ eV. A comparison between the...
0411683v2
2004-12-03
Stellar Evolution with Enriched Surface Convection Zones I. General Effects of Planet Consumption
Abundance analyses of stars with planets have revealed that their metallicities are enhanced relative to field stars. Such a trend was originally suggested to be due to accretion of iron-rich planetary material. Based on this assumption, we have developed a stellar evolution code to model stars with non-uniform metalli...
0412104v2
2004-12-09
XMM-Newton observation of 4U 1543-475: the X-ray spectrum of a stellar-mass black-hole at low luminosity
We report the results of an observation of the galactic black-hole binary 4U 1543-475 performed by XMM-Newton on 2002 August 18, about two months after the start of an outburst detected by Rossi-XTE. Despite the relatively low flux of the source, corresponding to a luminosity Lx ~ 4x10^34 erg/s (i.e. about 10^(-5) time...
0412209v1
2004-12-15
The XMM-Newton spectrum of the high-z optically-obscured QSO RX J1343.4+0001: a classic radio quiet QSO
We present a 30 ks XMM-Newton observation of the z = 2.35 Type II radio quiet quasar RX J1343.4+0001. These data provide the first good quality X-ray spectrum for this object. We measured a continuum slope Gamma = 1.85+/-0.10 with only an upper limit on the column density of the absorbing material of Nh(z) <~ 10^22 cm^...
0412360v1
2004-12-15
Determining the grain composition of the interstellar medium with high resolution X-ray spectroscopy
We investigate the ability of high resolution X-ray spectroscopy to directly probe the grain composition of the interstellar medium. Using iron K-edge experimental data of likely ISM dust candidates taken at the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Advanced Photon Source at Argonn...
0412393v1
2004-12-16
The Metallicity of Post-T Tauri Stars: A preliminary approach to the understanding of the metal enrichment of stars harboring planets
The metallicity of young low mass Post-T Tauri stars in coeval associations is practically unknown. This work is the beginning of a systematic measurement of these metallicities based on high resolution spectra of low rotating members of these associations. Here, we present an application by examining the behavior of t...
0412398v1
2004-12-19
Extreme Test of Quantum Theory with Black Holes
We propose an extreme test of quantum theory using astrophysical black holes and entangled photons from atomic cascades. The identification of a cascade emission close to a black-hole event horizon would allow us to observe photons entangled with partners that have fallen behind the horizon. The experiment involves tes...
0412503v1
2005-01-20
Superfluidity in the Solar Interior: Implications for Solar Eruptions and Climate
Efforts to understand unusual weather or abrupt changes in climate have been plagued by deficiencies of the standard solar model (SSM). While it assumes that our primary source of energy began as a homogeneous ball of hydrogen (H) with a steady, well-behaved H-fusion reactor at its core, observations instead reveal a v...
0501441v1
2005-01-31
New Elemental Abundances for V1974 Cygni
We present a new analysis of existing optical and ultraviolet spectra of the ONeMg nova V1974 Cygni 1992. Using these data and the photoionization code Cloudy, we have determined the physical parameters and elemental abundances for this nova. Many of the previous studies of this nova have made use of incorrect analyses...
0501648v1
2005-02-28
Nuclear Astrophysics
Nuclear physics has a long and productive history of application to astrophysics which continues today. Advances in the accuracy and breadth of astrophysical data and theory drive the need for better experimental and theoretical understanding of the underlying nuclear physics. This paper will review some of the scenari...
0502588v1
2005-03-08
One-armed Spiral Instability in a Low T/|W| Postbounce Supernova Core
A three-dimensional, Newtonian hydrodynamic technique is used to follow the postbounce phase of a stellar core collapse event. For realistic initial data we have employed post core-bounce snapshots of the iron core of a 20 solar mass star. The models exhibit strong differential rotation but have centrally condensed den...
0503187v2
2005-03-23
Abundance trends in kinematical groups of the Milky Way's disk
We have compiled a large catalogue of metallicities and abundance ratios from the literature in order to investigate abundance trends of several alpha and iron peak elements in the thin disk and the thick disk of the Galaxy. The catalogue includes 743 stars with abundances of Fe, O, Mg, Ca, Ti, Si, Na, Ni and Al in the...
0503498v1
2005-03-30
X-ray line tomography of AGN-induced motion in clusters of galaxies
The thermal broadening of emission lines of heavy ions is small enough such that Doppler shifts due to bulk motions may be detected with the next generation of X-ray observatories. This opens up the possibility to study gas velocities in the intra-cluster medium. Here we study the effect of bulk motions induced by a ce...
0503656v2
2005-03-30
On the fine structure of the sunspot penumbrae. II. The nature of the Evershed flow
We investigate the fine structure of the sunspot penumbra by means of a model that allows for a flux tube in horizontal pressure balance with the magnetic background atmosphere in which it is embedded. We apply this model to spectropolarimetric observations of two neutral iron lines at 1.56 $\mu$m and invert several ra...
0503677v1
2005-04-12
The temperature structure in the core of Sersic 159-03
We present results from a new 120 ks XMM-Newton observation of the cluster of galaxies Sersic 159-03. In this paper we focus on the high-resolution X-ray spectra obtained with the Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS). The spectra allow us to constrain the temperature structure in the core of the cluster and determine ...
0504262v1
2005-05-06
Dust Scattering in Miras R Car and RR Sco resolved by optical interferometric polarimetry
We present optical interferometric polarimetry measurements of the Mira-like variables R Car and RR Sco, using the Sydney University Stellar Interferometer. By making visibility measurements in two perpendicular polarisations, the relatively low-surface brightness light scattered by atmospheric dust could be spatially ...
0505112v1
2005-05-14
Family ties: abundances in Terzan 7, a Sgr dSph globular cluster
We study the chemical composition of 5 giant stars in the globular cluster Terzan 7 associated with the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy (Sgr dSph), based on high resolution UVES-VLT spectra. We confirm the metallicity found by previous high resolution investigations: [Fe/H] ~ -0.6. We also show that this cluster di...
0505307v1
2005-05-19
Early star formation in the Galaxy from beryllium and oxygen abundances
We investigate the evolution of the star formation rate in the early Galaxy using beryllium and oxygen abundances in metal poor stars. Specifically, we show that stars belonging to two previously identified kinematical classes (the so-called ``accretion'' and ``dissipative'' populations) are neatly separated in the [O/...
0505396v1
2005-06-20
Nitrogen-deficient and iron-rich associated absorbers with oversolar metallicities towards the quasar HE0141-3932
HE0141-3932 (zem=1.80) is a bright blue radio-quite quasar which reveals an emission line spectrum with an unusually weak Ly-alpha line. In addition, large redshift differences (Delta z=0.05) are observed between high ionization and low ionization emission lines. Absorption systems identified at z=1.78, 1.71, and 1.68 ...
0506446v1
2005-06-24
Kappa-mechanism excitation of retrograde mixed modes in rotating B-type stars
I examine the stability of retrograde mixed modes in rotating B-type stars. These modes can be regarded as a hybrid between the Rossby modes that arise from conservation of vorticity, and the Poincare modes that are gravity waves modified by the Coriolis force. Using a non-adiabatic pulsation code based around the trad...
0506580v3
2005-06-25
The Ital-FLAMES survey of the Sagittarius dwarf Spheroidal galaxy. I. Chemical abundances of bright RGB stars
We present iron and $\alpha$ element (Mg, Ca, Ti) abundances for a sample of 15 Red Giant Branch stars belonging to the main body of the Sagittarius dwarf Spheroidal galaxy. Abundances have been obtained from spectra collected using the high resolution spectrograph FLAMES-UVES mounted at the VLT. Stars of our sample ha...
0506622v2
2005-07-08
The relativistic shift of narrow spectral features from black-hole accretion discs
Transient spectral features have been discovered in the X-ray spectra of Active Galactic Nuclei, mostly in the 5--7 keV energy range. Several interpretations were proposed for the origin of these features. We examined a model of Doppler boosted blue horns of the iron line originating from a spot in a black hole accreti...
0507196v1
2005-07-08
Probing the outer edge of an accretion disk: A Her X-1 turn-on observed with RXTE
We present the analysis of Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) observations of the turn-on phase of a 35 day cycle of the X-ray binary Her X-1. During the early phases of the turn-on, the energy spectrum is composed of X-rays scattered into the line of sight plus heavily absorbed X-rays. The energy spectra in the 3-17 k...
0507198v1
2005-07-14
Heavy element abundances in DAO white dwarfs measured from FUSE data
We present heavy element abundance measurements for 16 DAO white dwarfs, determined from Far-Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer {FUSE} spectra. Evidence of absorption by heavy elements was found in the spectra of all the objects. Measurements were made using models that adopted the temperatures, gravities and helium ab...
0507341v1
2005-07-19
The Type Ia Supernova Rate
We explore the idea that the Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) rate consists of two components: a prompt piece that is proportional to the star formation rate (SFR) and an extended piece that is proportional to the total stellar mass. We fit the parameters of this model to the local observations of Mannucci and collaborators...
0507456v2
2005-07-20
UHECR Composition Measurements Using the HiRes-II Detector
While stereo measurements of extensive air showers allow a more precise determination of the depth of shower maximum and hence the composition of UHECR's, monocular measurements allow one to go much lower in energy. Since the composition of UHECR seems to constant throughout the HiRes stereo energy range but changing j...
0507483v1
2005-07-27
Gamma-Rays from Single Lobe Supernova Explosions
Multi-dimensional simulations of the neutrino-driven mechanism behind core-collapse supernovae have long shown that the explosions from this mechanism would be asymmetric. Recently, detailed core-collapse simulations have shown that the explosion may be strongest in a single direction. We present a suite of simulations...
0507651v1
2005-08-10
Relativistic outflow in CXO CDFS J033260.0-274748
In this letter we report the detection of a strong and extremely blueshifted X-ray absorption feature in the 1 Ms Chandra spectrum of CXO CDFS J033260.0-274748, a quasar at z = 2.579 with L_2-10keV ~ 4x10^44 ergs/s. The broad absorption feature at ~ 6.3 keV in the observed frame can be fitted either as an absorption ed...
0508225v1
2005-08-19
The magnetic structure of neutron stars and their surface-to-core temperature relation
We study the relation between the mean effective surface temperature T_s and the internal temperature T_b for magnetic neutron stars, assuming that the magnetic field near the surface has a presumably small-scale structure. The heavy-element (iron) and light-element (accreted) heat-blanketing envelopes are considered, ...
0508415v2
2005-08-29
Highly ionized iron absorption lines from outflowing gas in the X-ray spectrum of NGC 1365
We present the discovery of four absorption lines in the X-ray spectrum of the Seyfert Galaxy NGC 1365, at energies between 6.7 and 8.3 keV. The lines are detected with high statistical confidence (from >20sigma for the strongest to \~4sigma for the weakest) in two XMM-Newton observations 60 ksec long. We also detect t...
0508608v1
2005-09-07
An Observationally Motivated Framework for AGN Heating of Cluster Cores
The cooling-flow problem is a long-standing puzzle that has received considerable recent attention, in part because the mechanism that quenches cooling flows in galaxy clusters is likely to be the same mechanism that sharply truncates the high end of the galaxy luminosity function. Most of the recent models for halting...
0509176v1
2005-09-09
A Comparison of the Chemical Evolutionary Histories of the Galactic Thin Disk and Thick Disk Stellar Populations
We have studied 23 long-lived G dwarfs that belong to the thin disk and thick disk stellar populations. Abundances have been derived for 24 elements: O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr, Y, Zr, Ba, La, Ce, Nd, and Eu. We find that the behavior of [alpha/Fe] and [Eu/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] are quite ...
0509267v1
2005-09-13
Formation of the First Stars
How and when did the first generation of stars form at the end of the cosmic dark ages? Quite generically, within variants of the cold dark matter model of cosmological structure formation, the first sources of light are expected to form in ~ 10^{6} M_sun dark matter potential wells at redshifts z > 20. I discuss the p...
0509354v1
2005-09-15
Evolution of Galaxies and the Tully-Fisher Relation
We study the evolution of the [O/Fe]-[Fe/H] relation and the dependence of the iron abundance on distance from the galactic plane z in a one-zone model for a disk galaxy, starting from the beginning of star formation (Wiebe98). We obtain good agreement with the observational data, including, for the first time, agreeme...
0509423v2
2005-09-16
Analysis of extensive air showers with the hybrid code SENECA
The ultrahigh energy tail of the cosmic ray spectrum has been explored with unprecedented detail. For this reason, new experiments are exerting a severe pressure on extensive air shower modeling. Detailed fast codes are in need in order to extract and understand the richness of information now available. In this sense ...
0509503v1
2005-09-20
Acceptance of fluorescence detectors and its implication in energy spectrum inference at the highest energies
Along the years HiRes and AGASA experiments have explored the fluorescence and the ground array experimental techniques to measure extensive air showers, being both essential to investigate the ultra-high energy cosmic rays. However, such Collaborations have published contradictory energy spectra for energies above the...
0509597v1
2005-09-28
An abundance analysis of the symbiotic star CH Cyg
The photospheric abundances for the cool component of the symbiotic star CH Cyg were calculated for the first time using high-resolution near-infrared spectra and the method of of standard LTE analysis and atmospheric models. The iron abundance for CH Cyg was found to be solar, [Fe/H] = 0.0+/-0.19. The atmospheric para...
0509852v1
2005-10-07
Dust obscuration of DLA galaxies
We show that the extinction of quasar absorbers increases exponentially with the logarithmic column density of any volatile metal (e.g. zinc), with a charateristic turning point above which the quasars are severely dimmed. We derive the relation between extinction, HI column density, metallicity and fraction of iron in...
0510216v1
2005-10-14
Thermonuclear supernova simulations with stochastic ignition
We apply an ad hoc model for dynamical ignition in three-dimensional numerical simulations of thermonuclear supernovae assuming pure deflagrations. The model makes use of the statistical description of temperature fluctuations in the pre-supernova core proposed by Wunsch & Woosley (2004). Randomness in time is implemen...
0510427v1
2005-10-18
The Chemical Composition of Cepheids in the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds
We have measured the elemental abundances of 68 Galactic and Magellanic Cepheids from FEROS and UVES high-resolution and high signal-to-noise spectra in order to establish the influence of the chemical composition on the properties of these stars (see Romaniello et al. 2005). Here we describe the robust analytical proc...
0510514v1
2005-10-19
On the fine structure of the sunspot penumbrae. III The vertical extension of penumbral filaments
In this paper we study the fine structure of the penumbra as inferred from the uncombed model (flux tube embedded in a magnetic surrounding) when applied to penumbral spectropolarimetric data from the neutral iron lines at 6300 \AA. The inversion infers very similar radial dependences in the physical quantities (LOS ve...
0510586v1
2005-10-27
Phase-resolved spectroscopy of the helium dwarf nova 'SN 2003aw' in quiescence
High time resolution spectroscopic observations of the ultra-compact helium dwarf nova 'SN 2003aw' in its quiescent state at V=20.5 reveal its orbital period at 2027.8 +/- 0.5 seconds or 33.80 minutes. Together with the photometric 'superhump' period of 2041.5 +/- 0.5 seconds, this implies a mass ratio q of 0.036. We c...
0510767v1
2005-11-17
X-ray reflections on AGN
X-ray reflection generates much of the spectral complexity in the X-ray spectra of AGN. It is argued that strong relativistic blurring of the reflection spectrum should commonly be expected from objects accreting at a high Eddington rate. The good agreement found between the local density in massive black holes and the...
0511537v1
2005-12-15
The mass of cosmic rays above 1017 eV
Interpretation of the energy spectrum and arrival distribution of cosmic rays is complicated by lack of knowledge of the nature of the primaries. We review claims for the mass composition above 1017 eV where it can be determined only indirectly from air-shower observables. Difficulties in comparisons between data arise...
0512408v1
2005-12-16
Lateral distribution of Cherenkov light in extensive air showers at high mountain altitude produced by different primary particles in wide energy range
The general aim of this work is to obtain the lateral distribution of atmospheric Cherenkov light in extensive air showers produced by different primary particles precisely by. protons, Helium, Iron, Oxygen, Carbon, Nitrogen, Calcium, Silicon and gamma quanta in wide energy range at high mountain observation level of C...
0512432v1
2005-12-16
INTEGRAL and RXTE Observations of Centaurus A
INTEGRAL and RXTE performed three simultaneous observations of the nearby radio galaxy Cen A in 2003 March, 2004 January, and 2004 February with the goals of investigating the geometry and emission processes via the spectral/temporal variability of the X-ray/low energy gamma ray flux, and intercalibration of the INTEGR...
0512451v1
2005-12-20
An Overview of Extremely Large Telescopes Projects
IAU Symposium 232 allows a snapshot of ELTs at a stage when design work in several critical mass projects has been seriously underway for two to three years. The status and som eof the main initial design choices are reviewed for the North American Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) and the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) pro...
0512499v1
2005-12-21
The Oxygen Abundance of HE 1327-2326
From a newly obtained VLT/UVES spectrum we have determined the oxygen abundance of HE 1327-2326, the most iron-poor star known to date. UV-OH lines yield a 1D LTE abundance of [O/Fe]_OH = 3.7 (subgiant case) and [O/Fe]_OH = 3.4 (dwarf case). Using a correction of -1.0 dex to account for 3D effects on OH line formation,...
0512543v1
2006-01-08
Excitation of g modes in Wolf-Rayet stars by a deep opacity bump
We examine the stability of l=1 and l=2 g modes in a pair of nitrogen-rich Wolf-Rayet stellar models characterized by differing hydrogen abundances. We find that modes with intermediate radial orders are destabilized by a kappa mechanism operating on an opacity bump at an envelope temperature log T ~ 6.25. This `deep o...
0601154v2
2006-01-18
Observable Effects of Dust Formation in Dynamic Atmospheres of M-type Mira Variables
The formation of dust with temperature-dependent non-grey opacity is considered in a series of self-consistent model atmospheres at different phases of an O-rich Mira variable of mass 1.2 $M_\odot$. Photometric and interferometric properties of these models are predicted under different physical assumptions regarding t...
0601383v1
2006-02-21
Tracing gas motions in the Centaurus Cluster
We apply the stochastic model of iron transport developed by Rebusco et. al. (2005) to the Centaurus cluster. Using this model, we find that an effective diffusion coefficient D in the range 2x10^28 - 4x10^28 cm^2 s^-1 can approximately reproduce the observed abundance distribution. Reproducing the flat central profile...
0602466v1
2006-02-25
Luminosity dependent study of the High Mass X-ray Binary Pulsar 4U~0114+65 with ASCA
Here we report the spectral characteristics of the high and low states of the pulsar 4U~0114+65 and examine the change in the parameters of the spectral model. A power law and a photoelectric absorption by material along the line of sight together with a high energy cut-off suffice to describe the continuum spectrum in...
0602558v1
2006-03-03
Metallicity structure in X-ray bright galaxy groups
Using Chandra X-ray data of a sample of 15 X-ray bright galaxy groups, we present preliminary results of a coherent study of the radial distribution of metal abundances in the hot gas in groups. The iron content in group outskirts is found to be lower than in clusters by a factor of ~2, despite showing mean levels in t...
0603085v1
2006-03-16
Yields of Population III Supernovae and the Abundance Patterns of Extremely Metal-Poor Stars
The abundance patterns of extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars provide us with important information on nucleosynthesis in supernovae (SNe) formed in a Pop III or EMP environment, and thus on the nature of the first stars in the Universe. We review nucleosynthesis yields of various types of those SNe, focusing on core-coll...
0603433v1
2006-04-01
Chemical abundances in LMC stellar populations I. The Inner disk sample Based on observations collected at the VLT UT2 telescope
The advent of the new class 8 meters telescopes allows for the first time the detailed study of numerous stars of galaxies other than our own. The Large Magellanic Cloud is one of the most interesting targets due to its proximity and its relatively face-on disk, permitting to separate populations pertaining to the diff...
0604009v2
2006-04-03
Abundance analysis of cool extreme helium star: LSS 3378
Abundance analysis of the cool extreme helium (EHe) star LSS 3378 is presented. The abundance analysis is done using LTE line formation and LTE model atmospheres constructed for EHe stars. The atmosphere of LSS 3378 shows evidence of H-burning, He-burning, and s-process nucleosynthesis. The derived abundances of iron...
0604023v1
2006-04-03
High resolution infrared spectroscopy of the old open cluster NGC6791
We report abundance analysis for 6 M giant members of the old open cluster NGC6791, based on infrared spectroscopy (1.5-1.8 micron) at R=25,000, using the NIRSPEC spectrograph at the Keck II telescope. We find the iron abundance <[Fe/H]>= +0.35 +/- 0.02$, confirming the super solar metallicity of this cluster derived f...
0604030v1
2006-04-13
The flow field in the sunspot canopy
We investigate the flow field in the sunspot canopy using simultaneous Stokes vector spectropolarimetry of three sunspots ($\theta$ = 27, 50, 75 deg) and their surroundings in visible (630.15 and 630.25 nm) and near infrared (1564.8 and 1565.2 nm) neutral iron lines.} {To calibrate the Doppler shifts, we compare an abs...
0604301v1
2006-04-27
Resonance scattering, absorption and off-centre abundance peaks in clusters of galaxies
A possible explanation for the central abundance dips found from spatially-resolved X-ray spectroscopy of several groups and clusters of galaxies is resonance scattering. A number of the prominent iron emission lines are resonance lines. We construct a unique spectral model which takes account of resonance scattering f...
0604575v1
2006-05-04
Variable iron-line emission near the black hole of Markarian 766
We investigate the link between ionised Fe X-ray line emission and continuum emission in the bright nearby AGN, Mrk 766. A new long (433 ks) XMM-Newton observation is analysed, together with archival data from 2000 and 2001. The contribution from ionised line emission is measured and its time variations on short (5-20 ...
0605130v1
2006-06-13
Unveiling the nature of the highly absorbed X-ray source SAXJ1748.2-2808 with XMM-Newton
We report on the results of an EPIC XMM-Newton observation of the faint source SAXJ1748.2-2808 and the surrounding field. This source was discovered during the BeppoSAX Galactic center survey performed in 1997-1998. A spatial analysis resulted in the detection of 31 sources within the EPIC field of view. SAXJ1748.2-280...
0606307v1
2006-06-27
Outgassing of Ordinary Chondritic Material and Some of its Implications for the Chemistry of Asteroids, Planets, and Satellites
We used chemical equilibrium calculations to model thermal outgassing of ordinary chondritic material as a function of temperature, pressure, and bulk compositions and use our results to discuss outgassing on asteroids and the early Earth. The calculations include ~1,000 solids and gases of the elements Al, C, Ca, Cl, ...
0606671v1
2006-06-27
They Came From the Deep in the Supernova: The Origin of TiC and Metal Subgrains in Presolar Graphite Grains
A new formation scenario for TiC and Fe,Ni-metal inclusions in presolar graphite grains of supernova origin is described. The mineralogy and chemistry require condensation of (Fe,Ni)-titanides from Fe, Ni, and Ti-rich gaseous ejecta, subsequent carburization to make TiC and metal, and encapsulation into graphite. Titan...
0606673v1
2006-07-03
Sulphur abundances in disk stars as determined from the forbidden 10821 A [SI] line
Aims: In this paper we aim to study the chemical evolution of sulphur in the galactic disk, using a new optimal abundance indicator: the [SI] line at 10821 A. Similar to the optimal oxygen indicators, the [OI] lines, the [SI] line has the virtues of being less sensitive to the assumed temperatures of the stars investig...
0607017v1
2006-07-06
Enrichment in the Centaurus cluster of galaxies
We perform a detailed spatially-resolved, spectroscopic, analysis of the core of the Centaurus cluster of galaxies using a deep Chandra X-ray observation and XMM-Newton data. The Centaurus cluster core has particularly high metallicity, upto twice Solar values, and we measure the abundances of Fe, O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Ar,...
0607113v1
2006-07-11
Atomic and Molecular Opacities for Brown Dwarf and Giant Planet Atmospheres
We present a comprehensive description of the theory and practice of opacity calculations from the infrared to the ultraviolet needed to generate models of the atmospheres of brown dwarfs and extrasolar giant planets. Methods for using existing line lists and spectroscopic databases in disparate formats are presented a...
0607211v4
2006-07-13
The puzzling abundance pattern of HD134439 and HD134440
Abundances of 18 elements are determined for the common proper-motion pair, HD134439 and HD134440, which shows high [Mn/Fe] and low [\alpha/Fe] ratios as compared to normal halo stars. Moreover, puzzling abundances are indicated from elements whose origins are normally considered to be from the same nucleosynthesis his...
0607287v1