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At least 883 records · Page 49

TIMING THE EVOLUTION OF QUIESCENT AND STAR-FORMING LOCAL GALAXIES

Constraining the star formation histories (SFHs) of individual galaxies is crucial for understanding the mechanisms that regulate their evolution. Here, we combine multi-wavelength (ultraviolet, optical, and infrared) measurements of a very large sample of galaxies (∼230,000) at z < 0.16, with physically motivated models of galaxy spectral energy distributions to extract constraints on galaxy physical parameters (such as stellar mass and star formation rate) as well as individual SFHs. In particular, we set constraints on the timescales in which galaxies form a certain percentage of their total stellar mass (namely, 10%, 50%, and 90%). The large statistics allows us to average such measurements over different populations of galaxies (quiescent and star-forming) and in narrow ranges of stellar mass. As in the downsizing scenario, we confirm that low-mass galaxies have more extended SFHs than high-mass galaxies. We also find that at the same observed stellar mass, galaxies that are now quiescent evolve more rapidly than galaxies that are currently still forming stars. This suggests that stellar mass is not the only driver of galaxy evolution, but plays along with other factors such as merger events and other environmental effects.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A Validation Study of the Compressible Rayleigh–Taylor Instability Comparing the Ares and Miranda Codes

In this paper, the compressible Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) instability is studied by performing a suite of large eddy simulations (LES) using the Miranda and Ares codes. A grid convergence study is carried out for each of these computational methods, and the convergence properties of integral mixing diagnostics and late-time spectra are established. A comparison between the methods is made using the data from the highest resolution simulations in order to validate the Ares hydro scheme. We find that the integral mixing measures, which capture the global properties of the RT instability, show good agreement between the two codes at this resolution. The late-time turbulent kinetic energy and mass fraction spectra roughly follow a Kolmogorov spectrum, and drop off as k approaches the Nyquist wave number of each simulation. The spectra from the highest resolution Miranda simulation follow a Kolmogorov spectrum for longer than the corresponding spectra from the Ares simulation, and have a more abrupt drop off at high wave numbers. The growth rate is determined to be between around 0.03 and 0.05 at late times; however, it has not fully converged by the end of the simulation. Finally, we study the transition from direct numerical simulation (DNS) to LES. The highest resolution simulations become LES at around t/τ ≃ 1.5. Finally, to have a fully resolved DNS through the end of our simulations, the grid spacing must be 3.6 (3.1) times finer than our highest resolution mesh when using Miranda (Ares).

42 ENGINEERING↗

Ice chemistry on outer solar system bodies: Carboxylic acids, nitriles, and urea detected in refractory residues produced from the UV photolysis of N{sub 2}:CH{sub 4}:CO-containing ices

Radiation processing of the surface ices of outer solar system bodies may result in the production of new chemical species even at low temperatures. Many of the smaller, more volatile molecules that are likely produced by the photolysis of these ices have been well characterized by laboratory experiments. However, the more complex refractory material formed in these experiments remains largely uncharacterized. In this work, we present a series of laboratory experiments in which low-temperature (15-20 K) N{sub 2}:CH{sub 4}:CO ices in relative proportions 100:1:1 are subjected to UV irradiation, and the resulting materials are studied with a variety of analytical techniques including infrared spectroscopy, X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy, gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, and high-resolution mass spectroscopy. Despite the simplicity of the reactants, these experiments result in the production of a highly complex mixture of molecules from relatively low-mass volatiles (tens of daltons) to high-mass refractory materials (hundreds of daltons). These products include various carboxylic acids, nitriles, and urea, which are also expected to be present on the surface of outer solar system bodies, including Pluto and other transneptunian objects. If these compounds occur in sufficient concentrations in the ices of outer solar system bodies, their characteristic bands may be detectable in the near-infrared spectra of these objects.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Environmental proteomics of microbial plankton in a highly productive coastal upwelling system

Metaproteomics is one of a suite of new approaches providing insights into the activities of microorganisms in natural environments. Proteins, the final products of gene expression, indicate cellular priorities, taking into account both transcriptional and posttranscriptional control mechanisms that control adaptive responses. Here, we report the proteomic composition of the o 1.2 lm fraction of a microbial community from Oregon coast summer surface waters, detected with two-dimensional liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. Spectra corresponding to proteins involved in protein folding and biosynthesis, transport, and viral capsid structure were the most frequently detected. A total of 36% of all the detected proteins were best matches to the SAR11 clade, and other abundant coastal microbial clades were also well represented, including the Roseobacter clade (17%), oligotrophic marine gammaproteobacteria group (6%), OM43 clade (1%). Viral origins were attributed to 2.5% of proteins. In contrast to oligotrophic waters, phosphate transporters were not highly detected in this nutrient-rich system. However, transporters for amino acids, taurine, polyamines and glutamine synthetase were among the most highly detected proteins, supporting predictions that carbon and nitrogen are more limiting than phosphate in this environment. Intriguingly, one of the highly detected proteins was methanol dehydrogenase originating from the OM43 clade, providing further support for recent reports that the metabolism of one-carbon compounds by these streamlined methylotrophs might be an important feature of coastal ocean biogeochemistry.

10 SYNTHETIC FUELS↗

Fast and accurate database searches with MS-GF+Percolator

To identify peptides and proteins from the large number of fragmentation spectra in mass spectrometrybased proteomics, researches commonly employ so called database search engines. Additionally, postprocessors like Percolator have been used on the results from such search engines, to assess confidence, infer peptides and generally increase the number of identifications. A recent search engine, MS-GF+, has previously been showed to out-perform these classical search engines in terms of the number of identified spectra. However, MS-GF+ generates only limited statistical estimates of the results, hence hampering the biological interpretation. Here, we enabled Percolator-processing for MS-GF+ output, and observed an increased number of identified peptides for a wide variety of datasets. In addition, Percolator directly reports false discovery rate estimates, such as q values and posterior error probabilities, as well as p values, for peptide-spectrum matches, peptides and proteins, functions useful for the whole proteomics community.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗

HST/WFC3 near-infrared spectroscopy of quenched galaxies at z ∼ 1.5 from the WISP survey: Stellar population properties

We combine Hubble Space Telescope (HST) G102 and G141 near-IR (NIR) grism spectroscopy with HST/WFC3-UVIS, HST/WFC3-IR, and Spitzer/IRAC [3.6 μm] photometry to assemble a sample of massive (log (M {sub star}/M {sub ☉}) ∼ 11.0) and quenched (specific star formation rate <0.01 Gyr{sup –1}) galaxies at z ∼ 1.5. Our sample of 41 galaxies is the largest with G102+G141 NIR spectroscopy for quenched sources at these redshifts. In contrast to the local universe, z ∼ 1.5 quenched galaxies in the high-mass range have a wide range of stellar population properties. We find that their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are well fitted with exponentially decreasing star formation histories and short star formation timescales (τ ≤ 100 Myr). Quenched galaxies also show a wide distribution in ages, between 1 and 4 Gyr. In the (u – r){sub 0}-versus-mass space quenched galaxies have a large spread in rest-frame color at a given mass. Most quenched galaxies populate the z ∼ 1.5 red sequence (RS), but an important fraction of them (32%) have substantially bluer colors. Although with a large spread, we find that the quenched galaxies on the RS have older median ages (3.1 Gyr) than the quenched galaxies off the RS (1.5 Gyr). We also show that a rejuvenated SED cannot reproduce the observed stacked spectra of (the bluer) quenched galaxies off the RS. We derive the upper limit on the fraction of massive galaxies on the RS at z ∼ 1.5 to be <43%. We speculate that the young quenched galaxies off the RS are in a transition phase between vigorous star formation at z > 2 and the z ∼ 1.5 RS. According to their estimated ages, the time required for quenched galaxies off the RS to join their counterparts on the z ∼ 1.5 RS is of the order of ∼1 Gyr.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A SPITZER INFRARED SPECTROGRAPH DETECTION OF CRYSTALLINE SILICATES IN A PROTOSTELLAR ENVELOPE

We present the Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Spectrograph spectrum of the Orion A protostar HOPS-68. The mid-infrared spectrum reveals crystalline substructure at 11.1, 16.1, 18.8, 23.6, 27.9, and 33.6 {mu}m superimposed on the broad 9.7 and 18 {mu}m amorphous silicate features; the substructure is well matched by the presence of the olivine end-member forsterite (Mg{sub 2}SiO{sub 4}). Crystalline silicates are often observed as infrared emission features around the circumstellar disks of Herbig Ae/Be stars and T Tauri stars. However, this is the first unambiguous detection of crystalline silicate absorption in a cold, infalling, protostellar envelope. We estimate the crystalline mass fraction along the line of sight by first assuming that the crystalline silicates are located in a cold absorbing screen and secondly by utilizing radiative transfer models. The resulting crystalline mass fractions of 0.14 and 0.17, respectively, are significantly greater than the upper limit found in the interstellar medium ({approx}<0.02-0.05). We propose that the amorphous silicates were annealed within the hot inner disk and/or envelope regions and subsequently transported outward into the envelope by entrainment in a protostellar outflow.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The gas-rich disk of HR 4049: A study of the infrared spectrum

Here, we present a summary of our analyses of the mid-and near-infrared spectrum of the unusual evolved binary HR 4049. We f nd that the disk is massive (M > 8 × 10{sup −3} M{sub ⊙}), warm and radially extended. We also report some enrichment in {sup 17}O and {sup 18}O and a comparison of observations from Spitzer-IRS to those obtained by ISO-SWS 10 years earlier reveals that the CO{sub 2} f ux has more than doubled in this time, indicating active and ongoing chemical evolution in the circumbinary disk. Given the high column densities of the gas in the disk, we expect that the molecular gas plays a crucial role in the thermal properties of the circumbinary disk by allowing visible light to heat the dust and then trapping the IR photons emitted by the dust. This will result in higher temperatures and a more homogeneous temperature structure in the disk. Finally, we estimate a mass for the primary in HR 4049 which is too low for the star to have experienced a typical evolutionary path.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

MULTIPLICITY, DISKS, AND JETS IN THE NGC 2071 STAR-FORMING REGION

We present centimeter (cm) and millimeter (mm) observations of the NGC 2071 star-forming region performed with the Very Large Array (VLA) and Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA). We detected counterparts at 3.6 cm and 3 mm for the previously known sources IRS 1, IRS 2, IRS 3, and VLA 1. All these sources show spectral energy distributions (SEDs) dominated by free-free thermal emission at cm wavelengths and thermal dust emission at mm wavelengths, suggesting that all of them are associated with young stellar objects (YSOs). IRS 1 shows a complex morphology at 3.6 cm, with changes in the direction of its elongation. We discuss two possible explanations to this morphology: the result of changes in the direction of a jet due to interactions with a dense ambient medium, or that we are actually observing the superposition of two jets arising from two components of a binary system. Higher angular resolution observations at 1.3 cm support the second possibility, since a double source is inferred at this wavelength. IRS 3 shows a clear jet-like morphology at 3.6 cm. Over a timespan of four years, we observed changes in the morphology of this source that we interpret as due to ejection of ionized material in a jet. The emission at 3 mm of IRS 3 is angularly resolved, with a deconvolved size (FWHM) of {approx}120 AU, and seems to be tracing a dusty circumstellar disk perpendicular to the radio jet. An irradiated accretion disk model around an intermediate-mass YSO can account for the observed SED and spatial intensity profile at 3 mm, supporting this interpretation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

SPECTROSCOPIC CONFIRMATION OF THE DRAGONFISH ASSOCIATION: THE GALAXY'S MOST LUMINOUS OB ASSOCIATION

Young OB associations with masses greater than 10{sup 4} M{sub Sun} have been inferred to exist in the Galaxy but have largely evaded detection. Recently, a candidate OB association has been identified within the most luminous star-forming complex in the Galaxy, the Dragonfish Nebula. We identify 18 young, massive stars with near-infrared spectroscopy from a sample of 50 members within the candidate OB association, including 15 O-type and 3 luminous blue variables or Wolf-Rayet stars. This number matches the expected yield of massive stars from the candidate association, confirming its existence and ability to power the parent star-forming complex. These results demonstrate the existence of a 10{sup 5} M{sub Sun} OB association, more powerful than any previously known in the Galaxy, comparable in mass only to Westerlund 1. Further, the results also validate the color selection method used to identify the association, adding credence to others discovered in the same way.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

HERSCHEL OBSERVATIONS OF GAS AND DUST IN THE UNUSUAL 49 Ceti DEBRIS DISK

We present far-IR/sub-mm imaging and spectroscopy of 49 Ceti, an unusual circumstellar disk around a nearby young A1V star. The system is famous for showing the dust properties of a debris disk, but the gas properties of a low-mass protoplanetary disk. The data were acquired with the Herschel Space Observatory PACS and SPIRE instruments, largely as part of the ''Gas in Protoplanetary Systems'' (GASPS) Open Time Key Programme. Disk dust emission is detected in images at 70, 160, 250, 350, and 500 {mu}m; 49 Cet is significantly extended in the 70 {mu}m image, spatially resolving the outer dust disk for the first time. Spectra covering small wavelength ranges centered on eight atomic and molecular emission lines were obtained, including [O I] 63 {mu}m and [C II] 158 {mu}m. The C II line was detected at the 5{sigma} level-the first detection of atomic emission from the disk. No other emission lines were seen, despite the fact that the O I line is the brightest one observed in Herschel protoplanetary disk spectra. We present an estimate of the amount of circumstellar atomic gas implied by the C II emission. The new far-IR/sub-mm data fills in a large gap in the previous spectral energy distribution (SED) of 49 Cet. A simple model of the new SED confirms the two-component structure of the disk: warm inner dust and cold outer dust that produces most of the observed excess. Finally, we discuss preliminary thermochemical modeling of the 49 Cet gas/dust disk and our attempts to match several observational results simultaneously. Although we are not yet successful in doing so, our investigations shed light on the evolutionary status of the 49 Cet gas, which might not be primordial gas but rather secondary gas coming from comets.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

UV-Vis, infrared, and mass spectroscopy of electron irradiated frozen oxygen and carbon dioxide mixtures with water

Ozone has been detected on the surface of Ganymede via observation of the Hartley band through the use of ultraviolet spectroscopy and is largely agreed upon to be formed by radiolytic processing via interaction of magnetospheric energetic ions and/or electrons with oxygen-bearing ices on Ganymede's surface. Interestingly, a clearly distinct band near 300 nm within the shoulder of the UV-Vis spectrum of Ganymede was also observed, but currently lacks an acceptable physical or chemical explanation. Consequently, the primary motivation behind this work was the collection of UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy of ozone formation by energetic electron bombardment of a variety of oxygen-bearing ices (oxygen, carbon dioxide, water) relevant to this moon as well as other solar system. Ozone was indeed synthesized in pure ices of molecular oxygen, carbon dioxide and a mixture of water and oxygen, in agreement with previous studies. The Hartley band of the ozone synthesized in these ice mixtures was observed in the UV-Vis spectra and compared with the spectrum of Ganymede. In addition, a solid state ozone absorption cross section of 6.0 ± 0.6 × 10{sup –17} cm{sup 2} molecule{sup –1} was obtained from the UV-Vis spectral data. Ozone was not produced in the irradiated carbon dioxide-water mixtures; however, a spectrally 'red' UV continuum is observed and appears to reproduce well what is observed in a large number of icy moons such as Europa.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

EARLY-STAGE MASSIVE STAR FORMATION NEAR THE GALACTIC CENTER: Sgr C

We present near-infrared spectroscopy and 1 mm line and continuum observations of a recently identified site of high mass star formation likely to be located in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) near Sgr C. Located on the outskirts of the massive evolved H II region associated with Sgr C, the area is characterized by an Extended Green Object (EGO) measuring ∼10'' in size (0.4 pc), whose observational characteristics suggest the presence of an embedded massive protostar driving an outflow. Our data confirm that early-stage star formation is taking place on the periphery of the Sgr C H II region, with detections of two protostellar cores and several knots of H{sub 2} and Brackett γ emission alongside a previously detected compact radio source. We calculate the cores' joint mass to be ∼10{sup 3} M {sub ☉}, with column densities of 1-2 × 10{sup 24} cm{sup –2}. We show the host molecular cloud to hold ∼10{sup 5} M {sub ☉} of gas and dust with temperatures and column densities favorable for massive star formation to occur, however, there is no evidence of star formation outside of the EGO, indicating that the cloud is predominantly quiescent. Given its mass, density, and temperature, the cloud is comparable to other remarkable non-star-forming clouds such as G0.253 in the eastern CMZ.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The Broad-Lined Type Ic SN 2012ap and the Nature of Relativistic Supernovae Lacking a Gamma-Ray Burst Detection

We present ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared observations of SN2012ap, a broad-lined Type Ic supernova in the galaxy NGC 1729 that produced a relativistic and rapidly decelerating outflow without a gamma-ray burst signature. Photometry and spectroscopy follow the flux evolution from −13 to +272 days past the B-band maximum of −17.4 +/- 0.5 mag. The spectra are dominated by Fe II, O I, and Ca II absorption lines at ejecta velocities of v approx. 20,000 km s(exp. −1) that change slowly over time. Other spectral absorption lines are consistent with contributions from photospheric He I, and hydrogen may also be present at higher velocities (v approx. greater than 27,000 km s(exp. −1)). We use these observations to estimate explosion properties and derive a total ejecta mass of 2.7 Solar mass, a kinetic energy of 1.0×1052 erg, and a (56)Ni mass of 0.1−0.2 Solar mass. Nebular spectra (t > 200 d) exhibit an asymmetric double-peaked [O I] lambda lambda 6300, 6364 emission profile that we associate with absorption in the supernova interior, although toroidal ejecta geometry is an alternative explanation. SN2012ap joins SN2009bb as another exceptional supernova that shows evidence for a central engine (e.g., black-hole accretion or magnetar) capable of launching a non-negligible portion of ejecta to relativistic velocities without a coincident gamma-ray burst detection. Defining attributes of their progenitor systems may be related to notable properties including above-average environmental metallicities of Z approx. greater than Solar Z, moderate to high levels of host-galaxy extinction (E(B −V ) > 0.4 mag), detection of high-velocity helium at early epochs, and a high relative flux ratio of [Ca II]/[O I] > 1 at nebular epochs. These events support the notion that jet activity at various energy scales may be present in a wide range of supernovae.

nature↗

A mass spectrometric system for analyzing thermal desorption spectra of ion-implanted argon and cesium in tungsten

A mass spectrometric system for determining the characteristics of materials used in instrumental development and aerospace applications was developed. The desorption spectra of cesium that was ion-implanted into polycrystalline tungsten and the effects on the spectra of bombardment of the tungsten by low energy (70 eV) electrons were investigated. Work function changes were measured by the retarding potential diode method. Flash desorption characteristics were observed and gas-reaction mechanisms of the surface of heated metal filaments were studied. Desorption spectra were measured by linearly increasing the sample temperature at a selected rate, the temperature cycling being generated from a ramp-driven dc power supply, with the mass spectrometer tuned to a mass number of interest. Results of the study indicate an anomolous desorption mechanism following an electron bombardment of the sample surface. The enhanced spectra are a function of the post-bombardment time and energy and are suggestive of an increased concentration of cesium atoms, up to 10 or more angstroms below the surface.

Wood, G. M., Jr.↗

Hadron spectrum and infrared-finite behavior of QCD running coupling

We study the behavior of the QCD effective coupling α{sub s} in the low-energy region by exploiting the conventional meson spectrum within a relativistic quantum-field model based on analytical confinement of quarks and gluons. The spectra of quark-antiquark and two-gluon bound states are defined by using a master equation similar to the ladder Bethe-Salpeter equation. A new, independent and specific infrared-finite behavior of QCD coupling is found below energy scale ∼1 GeV. Particularly, an infrared-fixed point is extracted at α{sub s}(0) ≅ 0.757 for confinement scale Λ = 345 MeV. We provide a new analytic estimate of the lowest-state glueball mass. As applications, we also estimate masses of some intermediate and heavy mesons as well as the weak-decay constants of light mesons. By introducing only a minimal set of parameters (the quark masses m{sub f} and Λ) we obtain results in reasonable agreement with recent experimental data in a wide range of energy scale ∼0.1–10 GeV. We demonstrate that global properties of some low-energy phenomena may be explained reasonably in the framework of a simple relativistic quantum-field model if one guesses correct symmetry structure of the quark-gluon interaction in the confinement region and uses simple forms of propagators in the hadronisation regime. The model may serve a reasonable framework to describe simultaneously different sectors in low-energy particle physics.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

The Spectrum of SS 433 in the H and K Bands

SS 433 is an X-ray binary and the source of sub-relativistic, precessing, baryonic jets. We present high-resolution spectrograms of SS 433 in the infrared H and K bands. The spectrum is dominated by hydrogen and helium emission lines. The precession phase of the emission lines from the jet continues to be described by a constant period, P{sub jet}=162.375 days. The limit on any secularly changing period is | P-dot |≲10{sup −5}. The He i λ2.0587 μm line has complex and variable P-Cygni absorption features produced by an inhomogeneous wind with a maximum outflow velocity near 900 km s{sup −1}. The He ii emission lines in the spectrum also arise in this wind. The higher members of the hydrogen Brackett lines show a double-peaked profile with symmetric wings extending more than ±1500 km s{sup −1} from the line center. The lines display radial velocity variations in phase with the radial velocity variation expected of the compact star, and they show a distortion during disk eclipse that we interpret as a rotational distortion. We fit the line profiles with a model in which the emission comes from the surface of a symmetric, Keplerian accretion disk around the compact object. The outer edge of the disk has velocities that vary from 110 to 190 km s{sup −1}. These comparatively low velocities place an important constraint on the mass of the compact star: its mass must be less than 2.2 M{sub ⊙} and is probably less than 1.6 M{sub ⊙}.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A chemical TROMPE-L’ŒIL: No iron spread in the globular clusteR M22

We present the analysis of high-resolution spectra obtained with UVES and UVES-FLAMES at the Very Large Telescope of 17 giants in the globular cluster (GC) M22, a stellar system suspected to have an intrinsic spread in iron abundance. We find that when surface gravities are derived spectroscopically (in order to obtain the same iron abundance from Fe i and Fe ii lines) the [Fe/H] distribution spans ∼0.5 dex, according to previous analyses. However, the gravities obtained in this way correspond to unrealistically low stellar masses (0.1–0.5 M{sub ⊙}) for most of the surveyed giants. Instead, when photometric gravities are adopted, the [Fe ii/H] distribution shows no evidence of spread, in variance with the [Fe i/H] distribution. This difference has been recently observed in other clusters and could be due to non-local thermodynamical equilibrium effects driven by over-ionization mechanisms that mainly affect the neutral species (thus providing lower [Fe i/H]), but leave [Fe ii/H] unaltered. We confirm that the s-process elements show significant star-to-star variations and their abundances appear to be correlated with the difference between [Fe i/H] and [Fe ii/H]. This puzzling finding suggests that the peculiar chemical composition of some cluster stars may be related to effects able to spuriously decrease [Fe i/H]. We conclude that M22 is a GC with no evidence of intrinsic iron spread, ruling out that it has retained the supernovae ejecta in its gravitational potential well.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗