Engineering topics

Vogel, S. N.

Publications and source records attributed to Vogel, S. N..

7 records

NASA NTRS2012

The Galactic Centre Mini-Spiral in the MM-Regime

Context: The mini-spiral is a feature of the interstellar medium in the central approx.2 pc of the Galactic center. It is composed of several streamers of dust and ionised and atomic gas with temperatures between a few 100 K to 10(exp 4) K. There is evidence that these streamers are related to the so-called circumnuclear disk of molecular gas and are ionized by photons from massive, hot stars in the central parsec. Aims: We attempt to constrain the emission mechanisms and physical properties of the ionized gas and dust of the mini-spiral region with the help of our multiwavelength data sets. Methods: Our observations were carried out at 1.3 mm and 3 mm with the mm interferometric array CARMA in California in March and April 2009, with the MIR instrument VISIR at ESO's VLT in June 2006, and the NIR Bry with VLT NACO in August 2009. Results: We present high resolution maps of the mini-spiral, and obtain a spectral index of 0.5 +/- 0.25 for Sgr A *, indicating an inverted synchrotron spectrum. We find electron densities within the range 0.8-1.5 x 10(exp 4)/cu cm for the mini-spiral from the radio continuum maps, along with a dust mass contribution of approx. 0.25 Mo from the MIR dust continuum. and extinctions ranging from 1.8-3 at 2.16 microns in the Bry line. Conclusions: We observe a mixture of negative and positive spectral indices in our 1.3 mm and 3 mm observations of the extended emission of the mini-spiral, which we interpret as evidence that there are a range of contributions to the thermal free-free emission by the ionized gas emission and by dust at 1.3 mm.

Kunneriath, D.↗

NASA NTRS2012

The Galactic Centre Mini-Spiral with CARMA

The Galactic centre mini-spiral region is a mixture of gas and dust with temperatures ranging from a few hundred K to 10(exp 4) K. We report results from 1.3 and 3mm radio interferometric observations of this region with CARMA, and present a spectral index map of this region. We find a range of emission mechanisms in the region, including the inverted synchrotron spectrum of Sgr A*, free-free emission from the mini-spiral arms, and a possible dust emission contribution indicated by a positive spectral index.

Kunneriath, D.↗

NASA NTRS1998

The [N II] Kinematics of R Aquarii

We report a kinematic study of the symbiotic star system R Aqr derived from [N H]lambda 6584 emission observations with a Fabry-Perot imaging spectrometer. The [N II] spatial structure of the R Aqr jet, first observed circa 1977, and surrounding hourglass-shaped nebulosity, due to an explosion approximately 660 years ago, are derived from 41 velocity planes spaced at approximately 12 km/s intervals. Fabry-Perot imagery shows the elliptical nebulosity comprising the waist of the hourglass shell is consistent with a circular ring expanding radially at 55 km/s as seen at an inclination angle, i approximately 70 deg. Fabry-Perot imagery shows the two-sided R Aqr jet is collimated flow in opposite directions. The intensity-velocity structure of the strong NE jet component is shown in contrast to the amorphous SW jet component. We offer a idealized schematic model for the R Aqr jet motion which results in a small-scale helical structure forming around a larger-scale helical path. The implications of such a jet model are discussed. We present a movie showing a side-by-side comparison of the spatial structure of the model and the data as a function of the 41 velocity planes.

Hollis, J. M.↗

NASA NTRS1993

An H II region beyond the optical disk of the galaxy

The detection of a faint H II region at a kinematic distance of 28 kpc from the Galactic center is reported. The velocity and morphology of H-alpha emission obtained using a Fabry-Perot indicate that the H II region is associated with a molecular cloud detected by Digel et al. (1993). The ionizing source must be close to the cloud and is constrained to be an early B star; a distant blue star, probably an early B supergiant, is identified as the ionizing star. Although its precise luminosity is uncertain, the likely range implies a distance modulus placing the H II region well beyond the optical disk of the Galaxy. Photometry of other stars associated with the GMC/H II region will allow a reliable distance determination and extend the rotation curve of the Galaxy by 60 percent. The implications of current star formation beyond the optical disk are discussed.

De Geus, E. J.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Identification of the nebula G70.7 + 1.2 as a bow shock powered by a pulsar/Be-star binary

New data are presented here that firmly establish the nonthermal nature of the radio emission from the enigmatic radio and optical nebula G70.7 + 1.2. H-alpha and forbidden O I Fabry-Perot observations are used to argue that the extended optical emission from the nebula arises from a bow shock powered by a mass-losing luminous star moving supersonically through dense gas. The strong nonthermal radio emission from the object is then explained as the shocked relativistic wind from a pulsar, which is proposed here as a companion to the Be star. The coincidence of the optical and radio emission requires the pulsar and stellar winds to be mixed together. The system has a large overall velocity of about 60 km/s which is inexplicable in all other models but which is typical of binary pulsars.

Kulkarni, S. R.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Probing the circumstellar environments of very young low-mass stars using water masers

The VLA is used to search nearby very young low-mass stars for water maser emission. The sample consists of 26 low-luminosity IRAS sources embedded in dense molecular cores, a class of sources suspected to be newly forming low-mass stars on the order of a few hundred thousand years old. Three sources were detected. High spatial resolution maps show the region of maser emission is generally confined to an area smaller than about 0.5 arcsec near the star, and the velocities of individual components span intervals ranging from 20 to 40 km/s. It is inferred from the fact that the maser velocities are too large to be due to gravitational motions in at least two of the sources that the masers are associated with the winds from the young low-mass stars. A comparison of the high spatial resolution maser data to lower-resolution CO data shows no evidence for higher collimation close to the star; the stellar wind cavity appears to have similar collimation at 10 exp 15 cm as at 10 exp 7 to 10 exp 18 cm.

Terebey, S.↗

NASA NTRS1975

A newly observed solar feature - Macrospicules in He II 304 A

He II 304 A spectroheliograms, obtained with the NRL extreme-ultraviolet slitless spectrograph during the Skylab mission, show spikelike structures at the sun's polar limb which resemble the familiar H-alpha spicules. However, the relatively large size and long life of these He II features has led to distinguishing them by the name 'macrospicules'. The macrospicules appear as protuberances or jets, ranging from 5 to over 60 sec in length, from 5 to 30 sec in width, and from 5 to over 40 minutes in lifetime. Perhaps the most radical departure from H-alpha spicules is that macrospicules occur only within the chromospheric boundaries of coronal holes. Thus macrospicules are most easily visible over the solar poles due to the coronal holes normally present there, and much less frequently at lower latitudes during limb passage of relatively rare, low-latitude coronal holes.

Bohlin, J. D.↗