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At least 901 records · Page 50

Molecular gas in intermediate luminosity IRAS galaxies

Single dish CO (J = 1-0) measurements are reported for 29 galaxies of intermediate IR lumionosity in the IRAS Bright Galaxy sample, at distances in the range 20-40 Mpc. Most of the galaxies were mapped at 3-7 points with a 55 arcsec beam. The total H2 masses, assuming a standard Galactic CO-to-H2 conversion ratio, lie in the range of 500 million to 20 billion solar masses. The mean ratio of L(FIR)/M(H2) for this intermediate luminosity sample is approximately three times that found for Virgo spirals and approximately one-third of that found for a sample of higher-luminosity IRAS Bright Galaxies.

Tinney, C. G.↗

Weak gravitational lensing due to large-scale structure of the universe

The effect of the large-scale structure of the universe on the propagation of light rays is studied. The development of the large-scale density fluctuations in the omega = 1 universe is calculated within the cold dark matter scenario using a smooth particle approximation. The propagation of about 10 to the 6th random light rays between the redshift z = 5 and the observer was followed. It is found that the effect of shear is negligible, and the amplification of single images is dominated by the matter in the beam. The spread of amplifications is very small. Therefore, the filled-beam approximation is very good for studies of strong lensing by galaxies or clusters of galaxies. In the simulation, the column density was averaged over a comoving area of approximately (1/h Mpc)-squared. No case of a strong gravitational lensing was found, i.e., no 'over-focused' image that would suggest that a few images might be present. Therefore, the large-scale structure of the universe as it is presently known does not produce multiple images with gravitational lensing on a scale larger than clusters of galaxies.

Jaroszynski, Michal↗

A deep Abell cluster redshift survey

Redshifts have been measured for a complete sample of 145 Abell clusters of galaxies of median redshift 0.16 covering a 561 sq deg region at high Galactic latitude. Clustering on scales greater than about 70/h Mpc cannot be detected. A large void of diameter about 20,000 km/s seen in maps of the cluster distribution is consistent with smaller scale behavior of the correlation function of the survey. Large-scale peculiar motions are about 1000 km/s or less, a limit inconsistent with the claimed detection by Bahcall et al. (1986) of peculiar motions of about 2000 km/s.

Huchra, John P.↗

Coherent peculiar velocities and periodic redshifts

A coherent, sinusoidal peculiar velocity field of 0.003 amplitude and wavelength of 128/h Mpc could explain the apparent redshift periodicity seen in the recent pencil-beam survey of Broadhurst et al. (1990). Such a peculiar velocity field could arise if the power spectrum of density perturbations has a strong feature at about this wavelength. This explanation has additional predictions: the phase, period, and strength of the periodicity should vary in different directions; the strength of the periodicity should decrease at higher redshifts; and there should be more 'thin' structures perpendicular to the line of sight than parallel to it.

Hill, Christopher T.↗

Measures of large-scale structure in the CfA redshift survey slices

Variations of the counts-in-cells with cell size are used here to define two statistical measures of large-scale clustering in three 6 deg slices of the CfA redshift survey. A percolation criterion is used to estimate the filling factor which measures the fraction of the total volume in the survey occupied by the large-scale structures. For the full 18 deg slice of the CfA redshift survey, f is about 0.25 + or - 0.05. After removing groups with more than five members from two of the slices, variations of the counts in occupied cells with cell size have a power-law behavior with a slope beta about 2.2 on scales from 1-10/h Mpc. Application of both this statistic and the percolation analysis to simulations suggests that a network of two-dimensional structures is a better description of the geometry of the clustering in the CfA slices than a network of one-dimensional structures. Counts-in-cells are also used to estimate at 0.3 galaxy h-squared/Mpc the average galaxy surface density in sheets like the Great Wall.

De Lapparent, Valerie↗

A ubiquitous absorption feature in the X-ray spectra of BL Lacertae objects

The paper presents the broadband (0.5-20-keV) X-ray spectra of five X-ray bright BL Lac objects observed with the Einstein Observatory Solid State Spectrometer (SSS) and Monitor Proportional Counter (MPC) detectors. The combination of moderate energy resolution and broad spectral coverage makes it possible to confirm the presence of an absorption feature at an energy of 650 eV in the BL Lac object PKS 2155-304, originally reported by Canizares and Kruper (1984) based on higher resolution Einstein Objective Grating Spectrometer (OGS) data.

Madejski, Greg M.↗

A high-resolution radio image of a young supernova

A VLBI radio images of the bright supernova 1986J, which occurred in the galaxy NGC891 at a distance of about 12 Mpc, is presented. No detailed image of any supernova or remnant has been obtained before so soon after the explosion. The image shows a shell of emission with jetlike protrusions. Analysis of the images should advance understanding of the dynamics of the expanding debris, the dissipation of energy into the surrounding circumstellar medium, and the evolution of the supernova into the remnant.

Bartel, N.↗

Simulation of deep one- and two-dimensional redshift surveys

It is shown that slice or pencil-beam redshift surveys of galaxies can be simulated in a box with nonequal sides. This method saves a lot of computer time and memory while providing essentially the same results as from whole-cube simulations. A 2457.6/h Mpc-long rod (out to a redshift z = 0.58 in two opposite directions) is simulated using the standard biased cold dark matter model as an example to mimic the recent deep pencil-beam surveys by Broadhurst et al. (1990). The structures (spikes) seen in these simulated samples occur when the narrow pencil-beam pierces walls, filaments, and clusters appearing randomly along the line-of-sight. A statistical test for goodness of fit to a periodic lattice has been applied to the observations and the simulations. It is found that the statistical significance level (P = 15.4 percent) is not strong enough to reject the null hypothesis that the observations and the simulations were drawn at random from the same set.

Park, Changbom↗

The rate and efficiency of high-mass star formation along the Hubble sequence

Data obtained with IRAS are used to compare and contrast the global star formation rates for a galactic sample which represents essentially all known noninteracting spiral and lenticular galaxies within 40 Mpc. The distribution of 60 micron luminosity is similar for spirals of types Sa-Scd inclusively, although the luminosities of the very early and very late types are, on average, one order of magnitude lower. High-mass star formation rates are similar for early, intermediate, and late type spirals, and the average high-mass star formation rate per unit molecular gas mass is independent of type for spiral galaxies. A remarkable homogeneity exists in the high-mass star-forming capabilities of spiral galaxies, particularly among the Sa-Scd types. The Hubble sequence is therefore not a sequence in the present-day rate or production efficiency of high-mass stars.

Devereux, Nicholas A.↗

A measurement of the mass fluctuation spectrum from the cluster X-ray temperature function

A statistically complete sample of galaxy clusters is presented which also has complete X-ray temperature information. Using this sample, the cluster bolometric luminosity and temperature functions are derived. The temperature function constrains the shape and amplitude of the mass fluctuation power spectrum. For a power law, i.e., with the fluctuation power spectrum proportional to k exp n, n = -(1.7 + 0.65, - 0.35), and an amplitude is obtained which implies that the rms value of delta-M/M is 0.59 + or - 0.02 on a scale of 8/h Mpc at the present epoch.

Henry, J. Patrick↗

Cross-correlation of the X-ray background with nearby galaxies

The detection of a signal in the cross-correlation of the diffuse 2-10 keV HEAO 1 A-2 X-ray surface brightness with the galaxy surface density derived from diameter-limited samples from the Uppsala General Catalogue is reported. An ad hoc relationship between the X-ray flux and the galaxy counts is used to estimate the local X-ray volume emissivity at 2.8 + or - 1.0 x 10 to the 38th ergs/s/cu Mpc. This result implies that unevolved populations of X-ray sources correlated with present-epoch galaxies can contribute only 13 + or - 5 percent of the cosmic X-ray background.

Jahoda, Keith↗

Interactive stars - Normal and compact stars in close binaries

The missions planned for the 1990's will greatly expand the knowledge of close binary systems and the physical phenomena that can be studied in a member of a close binary, from stellar active regions to the highest density black hole candidates known. These systems and the phenomena are reviewed with reference to major outstanding questions, the expected capability to answer them, and the expansion of capability that would be necessary. A 'super' XMM or LAMAR experiment with larger area, but similar moderate energy resolution and moderate spatial resolution, could detect 0.1 millisecond bursts from Cyg X-1 and 1 millisecond bursts in quiescent black hole candidates, measure Doppler and gravitational energy shifts in the iron line features for black holes and neutron stars. It would also identify these objects in galaxies a few Mpc away and open the way for evolution studies. A somewhat less ambitious goal would be high energy resolution of about the area of LAMAR to make full use of the information in the emission lines in both normal and compact binaries.

Swank, J. H.↗

Late time cosmological phase transitions 1: Particle physics models and cosmic evolution

We described a natural particle physics basis for late-time phase transitions in the universe. Such a transition can seed the formation of large-scale structure while leaving a minimal imprint upon the microwave background anisotropy. The key ingredient is an ultra-light pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson with an astronomically large (O(kpc-Mpc)) Compton wavelength. We analyze the cosmological signatures of and constraints upon a wide class of scenarios which do not involve domain walls. In addition to seeding structure, coherent ultra-light bosons may also provide unclustered dark matter in a spatially flat universe, omega sub phi approx. = 1.

Frieman, Joshua A.↗

VLBI observations of the nuclear jet in Cygnus A

An image of the 'core' and inner jet of Cygnus A is presented at an angular resolution of 2 mas, obtained from Mark III VLBI observations at 6 cm wavelength with an array of nine antennas. The core is resolved, at least partly due to its being broadened by scattering in the Galactic interstellar medium. The jet has several condensations out to a distance of about 25 mas from the core and has a fairly constant FWHM of about 2.2 mas. The parsec-scale jet points toward the arcsec-scale jet observed with the VLA to within 4 deg. The ratio between the flux density of the jet and that of the counterjet is greater than 15:1. From a comparison with an earlier VLBI image of Cygnus A, an upper limit to the apparent velocity of the brightest knot in the jet is found to be about 2c, where c is the speed of light (for H0 = 60 km/sec Mpc, q0 = 0).

Carilli, Christopher L.↗

Void statistics of the CfA redshift survey

Clustering properties of two samples from the CfA redshift survey, each containing about 2500 galaxies, are studied. A comparison of the velocity distributions via a K-S test reveals structure on scales comparable with the extent of the survey. The void probability function (VPF) is employed for these samples to examine the structure and to test for scaling relations in the galaxy distribution. The galaxy correlation function is calculated via moments of galaxy counts. The shape and amplitude of the correlation function roughly agree with previous determinations. The VPFs for distance-limited samples of the CfA survey do not match the scaling relation predicted by the hierarchical clustering models. On scales not greater than 10/h Mpc, the VPFs for these samples roughly follow the hierarchical pattern. A variant of the VPF which uses nearly all the data in magnitude-limited samples is introduced; it accounts for the variation of the sampling density with velocity in a magnitude-limited survey.

Vogeley, Michael S.↗

The coherence length of the peculiar velocity field in the universe and the large-scale galaxy correlation data

This study presents a method for obtaining the true rms peculiar flow in the universe on scales up to 100-120/h Mpc using APM data as an input assuming only that peculiar motions are caused by peculiar gravity. The comparison to the local (Great Attractor) flow is expected to give clear information on the density parameter, Omega, and the local bias parameter, b. The observed peculiar flows in the Great Attractor region are found to be in better agreement with the open (Omega = 0.1) universe in which light traces mass (b = 1) than with a flat (Omega = 1) universe unless the bias parameter is unrealistically large (b is not less than 4). Constraints on Omega from a comparison of the APM and PV samples are discussed.

Kashlinsky, A.↗

The topology of large-scale structure. VI - Slices of the universe

Results of an investigation of the topology of large-scale structure in two observed slices of the universe are presented. Both slices pass through the Coma cluster and their depths are 100 and 230/h Mpc. The present topology study shows that the largest void in the CfA slice is divided into two smaller voids by a statistically significant line of galaxies. The topology of toy models like the white noise and bubble models is shown to be inconsistent with that of the observed slices. A large N-body simulation was made of the biased cloud dark matter model and the slices are simulated by matching them in selection functions and boundary conditions. The genus curves for these simulated slices are spongelike and have a small shift in the direction of a meatball topology like those of observed slices.

Park, Changbom↗

Statistics of cosmological gamma-ray bursts

A phenomenological model of gamma-ray burst spectra is used to calculate the statistics of gamma-ray bursts originating at cosmological distances. A model of bursters with no source evolution in a q sub 0 = 1/2 Friedmann cosmology is in accord with recent observations of the differential V/Vmax distribution. The data are best fit with an average peak-burst luminosity of (4 +/- 2) x 10 exp 51 ergs/s and a present-day source emissivity of 940 +/- 440 bursts/(10 exp 10 yr) cu Mpc. A spectral test of the cosmological hypothesis is proposed.

Dermer, Charles D.↗