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At least 1,027 records · Page 57
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DOE OSTI2010

SUB-ALFVENIC NON-IDEAL MHD TURBULENCE SIMULATIONS WITH AMBIPOLAR DIFFUSION. II. COMPARISON WITH OBSERVATION, CLUMP PROPERTIES, AND SCALING TO PHYSICAL UNITS

Ambipolar diffusion (AD) is important in redistributing magnetic flux and in damping Alfven waves in molecular clouds. The importance of AD on a length scale l is governed by the AD Reynolds number, R {sub AD} = l/l{sub AD}, where l{sub AD} is the characteristic length scale for AD. The logarithmic mean of the AD Reynolds number in a sample of 15 molecular clumps with measured magnetic fields is 17, comparable to the theoretically expected value. We identify several regimes of AD in a turbulent medium, depending on the ratio of the flow time to collision times between ions and neutrals; the clumps observed by Crutcher in 1999 are all in the standard regime of AD, in which the neutrals and ions are coupled over a flow time. We have carried out two-fluid simulations of AD in isothermal, turbulent boxes for a range of values of R {sub AD}. The mean Mach numbers were fixed at M=3 and M{sub A}=0.67; self-gravity was not included. We study the properties of overdensities-i.e., clumps-in the simulation and show that the slope of the higher-mass portion of the clump mass spectrum increases as R {sub AD} decreases, which is qualitatively consistent with Padoan et al.'s finding that the mass spectrum in hydrodynamic turbulence is significantly steeper than in ideal MHD turbulence. For a value of R {sub AD} similar to the observed value, we find a slope that is consistent with that of the high-mass end of the initial mass function (IMF) for stars. However, the value we find for the spectral index in our ideal MHD simulation differs from theirs, presumably because our simulations have different initial conditions. This suggests that the mass spectrum of the clumps in the Padoan et al. turbulent fragmentation model for the IMF depends on the environment, which would conflict with evidence for a universal IMF. In addition, we give a general discussion of how the results of simulations of magnetized, turbulent, isothermal boxes can be scaled to physical systems. Each physical process that is introduced into the simulation, such as AD, introduces a dimensionless parameter, such as R {sub AD}, which must be fixed for the simulation, thereby reducing the number of scaling parameters by one. We show that the importance of self-gravity is fixed in any simulation of AD; it is not possible to carry out a simulation in which self-gravity and AD are varied independently unless the ionization is a free parameter. We show that our simulations apply to small regions in molecular clouds, generally with l{sub 0} {approx}< 0.4 pc and M {approx}< 25 M {sub sun}. A general discussion of the scaling relations for magnetized, isothermal, turbulent boxes, including self-gravitating systems, is given in the appendix.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2010

THE BOLOCAM GALACTIC PLANE SURVEY: {lambda} = 1.1 AND 0.35 mm DUST CONTINUUM EMISSION IN THE GALACTIC CENTER REGION

The Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey (BGPS) data for a 6 deg{sup 2} region of the Galactic plane containing the Galactic center are analyzed and compared to infrared and radio continuum data. The BGPS 1.1 mm emission consists of clumps interconnected by a network of fainter filaments surrounding cavities, a few of which are filled with diffuse near-IR emission indicating the presence of warm dust or with radio continuum characteristic of H II regions or supernova remnants. New 350 {mu}m images of the environments of the two brightest regions, Sgr A and B, are presented. Sgr B2 is the brightest millimeter-emitting clump in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) and may be forming the closest analog to a super star cluster in the Galaxy. The CMZ contains the highest concentration of millimeter- and submillimeter-emitting dense clumps in the Galaxy. Most 1.1 mm features at positive longitudes are seen in silhouette against the 3.6-24 {mu}m background observed by the Spitzer Space Telescope. However, only a few clumps at negative longitudes are seen in absorption, confirming the hypothesis that positive longitude clumps in the CMZ tend to be on the near side of the Galactic center, consistent with the suspected orientation of the central bar in our Galaxy. Some 1.1 mm cloud surfaces are seen in emission at 8 {mu}m, presumably due to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. A {approx}0.{sup 0}2 ({approx}30 pc) diameter cavity and infrared bubble between l{approx} 0.{sup 0}0 and 0.{sup 0}2 surround the Arches and Quintuplet clusters and Sgr A. The bubble contains several clumpy dust filaments that point toward Sgr A*; its potential role in their formation is explored. Bania's Clump 2, a feature near l = 3{sup 0}-3.{sup 0}5 which exhibits extremely broad molecular emission lines ({Delta}V> 150 km s{sup -1}), contains dozens of 1.1 mm clumps. These clumps are deficient in near- and mid-infrared emission in the Spitzer images when compared to both the inner Galactic plane and the CMZ. Thus, Bania's Clump 2 is either inefficient in forming stars or is in a pre-stellar phase of clump evolution. The Bolocat catalog of 1.1 mm clumps contains 1428 entries in the Galactic center between l = 358.{sup 0}5 and l = 4.{sup 0}5 of which about 80% are likely to be within about 500 pc of the center. The mass spectrum above about 80 M{sub sun} can be described by a power-law {Delta}N/{Delta}M = N{sub 0} M {sup -2.14(+0.1,-0.4)}. The power-law index is somewhat sensitive to systematic grain temperature variations, may be highly biased by source confusion, and is very sensitive to the spatial filtering inherent in the data acquisition and reduction.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

DISCOVERY AND COSMOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF SPT-CL J2106-5844, THE MOST MASSIVE KNOWN CLUSTER AT z>1

Using the South Pole Telescope (SPT), we have discovered the most massive known galaxy cluster at z>1, SPT-CL J2106-5844. In addition to producing a strong Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect signal, this system is a luminous X-ray source and its numerous constituent galaxies display spatial and color clustering, all indicating the presence of a massive galaxy cluster. Very Large Telescope and Magellan spectroscopy of 18 member galaxies shows that the cluster is at z = 1.132{sup +0.002}{sub -0.003}. Chandra observations obtained through a combined HRC-ACIS GTO program reveal an X-ray spectrum with an Fe K line redshifted by z = 1.18 {+-} 0.03. These redshifts are consistent with the galaxy colors found in optical, near-infrared, and mid-infrared imaging. SPT-CL J2106-5844 displays extreme X-ray properties for a cluster having a core-excluded temperature of T{sub X} = 11.0{sup +2.6}{sub -1.9} keV and a luminosity (within r{sub 500}) of L{sub X} (0.5-2.0 keV) = (13.9 {+-} 1.0) x 10{sup 44} erg s{sup -1}. The combined mass estimate from measurements of the SZ effect and X-ray data is M{sub 200} = (1.27 {+-} 0.21) x 10{sup 15} h{sup -1}{sub 70} M{sub sun}. The discovery of such a massive gravitationally collapsed system at high redshift provides an interesting laboratory for galaxy formation and evolution, and is a probe of extreme perturbations of the primordial matter density field. We discuss the latter, determining that, under the assumption of {Lambda}CDM cosmology with only Gaussian perturbations, there is only a 7% chance of finding a galaxy cluster similar to SPT-CL J2106-5844 in the 2500 deg{sup 2} SPT survey region and that only one such galaxy cluster is expected in the entire sky.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

THE SUBSTELLAR POPULATION OF {sigma} ORIONIS: A DEEP WIDE SURVEY

We present a deep I, Z photometric survey covering a total area of 1.12 deg{sup 2} of the {sigma} Orionis cluster and reaching completeness magnitudes of I = 22 and Z = 21.5 mag. From I, I - Z color-magnitude diagrams we have selected 153 candidates that fit the previously known sequence of the cluster. They have magnitudes in the range I = 16-23 mag, which corresponds to a mass interval from 0.1 down to 0.008 M{sub Sun} at the most probable age of {sigma} Orionis (2-4 Myr). Using J-band photometry, we find that 124 of the 151 candidates within the completeness of the optical survey (82%) follow the previously known infrared photometric sequence of the cluster and are probably members. We have studied the spatial distribution of the very low mass stars and brown dwarf population of the cluster and found that there are objects located at distances greater than 30 arcmin to the north and west of {sigma} Orionis that probably belong to different populations of the Orion's Belt. For the 102 bona fide {sigma} Orionis cluster member candidates, we find that the radial surface density can be represented by a decreasing exponential function ({sigma}={sigma}{sub 0}e{sup -r/r{sub 0}}) with a central density of {sigma}{sub 0} = 0.23 {+-} 0.03 objects arcmin{sup -2} and a characteristic radius of r{sub 0} = 9.5 {+-} 0.7 arcmin. From a statistical comparison with Monte Carlo simulations, we conclude that the spatial distribution of the objects located at the same distance from the center of the cluster is compatible with a Poissonian distribution and, hence, that very low mass stars and brown dwarfs are not mainly forming aggregations or sub-clustering. Using near-infrared JHK-band data from Two Micron All Sky Survey and UKIRT Deep Infrared Sky Survey and mid-infrared data from Infrared Array Camera/Spitzer, we find that about 5%-9% of the brown dwarf candidates in the {sigma} Orionis cluster have K-band excesses and 30% {+-} 7% of them show mid-infrared excesses at wavelengths longer than 5.8 {mu}m. These are probably related to the presence of disks, most of which are 'transition disks'. We have also calculated the initial mass spectrum (dN/dm) of {sigma} Orionis from very low mass stars ({approx}0.10 M{sub Sun }) to the deuterium-burning mass limit (0.012-0.013 M{sub Sun }), i.e., complete in the entire brown dwarf regime. This mass spectrum is a rising function toward lower masses and can be represented by a power-law distribution (dN/dm {proportional_to} m{sup -{alpha}}) with an exponent {alpha} of 0.7 {+-} 0.3 for an age of 3 Myr.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

STAR FORMATION IN MASSIVE CLUSTERS VIA BONDI ACCRETION

Essentially all stars form in giant molecular clouds (GMCs). However, inside GMCs, most of the gas does not participate in star formation; rather, denser gas accumulates in clumps in the GMC, with the bulk of the stars in a given GMC forming in a few of the most massive clumps. In the Milky Way, these clumps have masses M{sub cl} {approx}< 5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -2} of the GMC, radii r{sub cl} {approx} 1 pc, and free-fall times {tau}{sub cl} {approx} 2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 5} yr. We show that clumps inside GMCs should accrete at a modified Bondi accretion rate, which depends on clump mass as M-dot{sub cl}{approx}M{sub cl}{sup 5/4}. This rate is initially rather slow, usually slower than the initial star formation rate inside the clump (we adopt the common assumption that inside the clump, M-dot{sub *}={epsilon}{sub ff}M{sub cl}/{tau}{sub cl}, with {epsilon}{sub ff} Almost-Equal-To 0.017). However, after {approx}2 GMC free-fall times {tau}{sub GMC}, the clump accretion rate accelerates rapidly; formally, the clump can accrete the entire GMC in {approx}3{tau}{sub GMC}. At the same time, the star formation rate accelerates, tracking the Bondi accretion rate. If the GMC is disrupted by feedback from the largest clump, half the stars in that clump form in the final {tau}{sub GMC} before the GMC is disrupted. The theory predicts that the distribution of effective star formation rates, measured per GMC free-fall time, is broad, ranging from {approx}0.001 up to 0.1 or larger and that the mass spectrum of star clusters is flatter than that of clumps, consistent with observations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

MONTE CARLO SIMULATIONS OF GLOBULAR CLUSTER EVOLUTION. VI. THE INFLUENCE OF AN INTERMEDIATE-MASS BLACK HOLE

We present results from a series of Monte Carlo (MC) simulations investigating the imprint of a central intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) on the structure of a globular cluster. We investigate the three-dimensional and projected density profiles, and stellar disruption rates for idealized as well as realistic cluster models, taking into account a stellar mass spectrum and stellar evolution, and allowing for a larger, more realistic number of stars than was previously possible with direct N-body methods. We compare our results to other N-body and Fokker-Planck simulations published previously. We find, in general, very good agreement for the overall cluster structure and dynamical evolution between direct N-body simulations and our MC simulations. Significant differences exist in the number of stars that are tidally disrupted by the IMBH, and this is most likely caused by the wandering motion of the IMBH, not included in the MC scheme. These differences, however, are negligible for the final IMBH masses in realistic cluster models, as the disruption rates are generally much lower than for single-mass clusters. As a direct comparison to observations we construct a detailed model for the cluster NGC 5694, which is known to possess a central surface brightness cusp consistent with the presence of an IMBH. We find that not only the inner slope but also the outer part of the surface brightness profile agree well with observations. However, there is only a slight preference for models harboring an IMBH compared to models without.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

NEW ISOLATED PLANETARY-MASS OBJECTS AND THE STELLAR AND SUBSTELLAR MASS FUNCTION OF THE {sigma} ORIONIS CLUSTER

We report on our analysis of the VISTA Orion ZY JHK{sub s} photometric data (completeness magnitudes of Z = 22.6 and J = 21.0 mag) focusing on a circular area of 2798.4 arcmin{sup 2} around the young {sigma} Orionis star cluster ({approx}3 Myr, {approx}352 pc, and solar metallicity). The combination of the VISTA photometry with optical, WISE and Spitzer data allows us to identify a total of 210 {sigma} Orionis member candidates with masses in the interval 0.25-0.004 M{sub Sun }, 23 of which are new planetary-mass object findings. These discoveries double the number of cluster planetary-mass candidates known so far. One object has colors compatible with a T spectral type. The {sigma} Orionis cluster harbors about as many brown dwarfs (69, 0.072-0.012 M{sub Sun }) and planetary-mass objects (37, 0.012-0.004 M{sub Sun }) as very low mass stars (104, 0.25-0.072 M{sub Sun }). Based on Spitzer data, we derive a disk frequency of {approx}40% for very low mass stars, brown dwarfs, and planetary-mass objects in {sigma} Orionis. The radial density distributions of these three mass intervals are alike: all are spatially concentrated within an effective radius of 12' (1.2 pc) around the multiple star {sigma} Ori, and no obvious segregation between disk-bearing and diskless objects is observed. Using the VISTA data and the Mayrit catalog, we derive the cluster mass spectrum ({Delta}N/{Delta}M {approx} M{sup -{alpha}}) from {approx}19 to 0.006 M{sub Sun} (VISTA ZJ completeness), which is reasonably described by two power-law expressions with indices of {alpha} = 1.7 {+-} 0.2 for M > 0.35 M{sub Sun }, and {alpha} = 0.6 {+-} 0.2 for M < 0.35 M{sub Sun }. The {sigma} Orionis mass spectrum smoothly extends into the planetary-mass regime down to 0.004 M{sub Sun }. Our findings of T-type sources (<0.004 M{sub Sun }) in the VISTA {sigma} Orionis exploration appear to be smaller than what is predicted by the extrapolation of the cluster mass spectrum down to the survey J-band completeness.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

HST SPECTRAL MAPPING OF L/T TRANSITION BROWN DWARFS REVEALS CLOUD THICKNESS VARIATIONS

Most directly imaged giant exoplanets are fainter than brown dwarfs with similar spectra. To explain their relative underluminosity, unusually cloudy atmospheres have been proposed. However, with multiple parameters varying between any two objects, it remained difficult to observationally test this idea. We present a new method, sensitive time-resolved Hubble Space Telescope near-infrared spectroscopy, to study two rotating L/T transition brown dwarfs (2M2139 and SIMP0136). The observations provide spatially and spectrally resolved mapping of the cloud decks of the brown dwarfs. The data allow the study of cloud structure variations while other parameters are unchanged. We find that both brown dwarfs display variations of identical nature: J- and H-band brightness variations with minimal color and spectral changes. Our light curve models show that even the simplest surface brightness distributions require at least three elliptical spots. We show that for each source the spectral changes can be reproduced with a linear combination of only two different spectra, i.e., the entire surface is covered by two distinct types of regions. Modeling the color changes and spectral variations together reveal patchy cloud covers consisting of a spatially heterogeneous mix of low-brightness, low-temperature thick clouds and brighter, thin, and warm clouds. We show that the same thick cloud patches seen in our varying brown dwarf targets, if extended to the entire photosphere, predict near-infrared colors/magnitudes matching the range occupied by the directly imaged exoplanets that are cooler and less luminous than brown dwarfs with similar spectral types. This supports the models in which thick clouds are responsible for the near-infrared properties of these ''underluminous'' exoplanets.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

EARLY EVOLUTION OF PRESTELLAR CORES

Prestellar cores are approximated by singular polytropic spheres. Their early evolution is studied analytically with a Bondi-like scheme. The considered approximation is meaningful for polytropic exponents {gamma} between 0 and 6/5, implying radial power-law density profiles between r {sup -1} and r {sup -2.5}. Gravitationally unstable Jeans and Bonnor-Ebert masses differ at most by a factor of 3.25. Tidally stable prestellar cores must have a mean density contrast {approx}> 8 with respect to the external parent cloud medium. The mass-accretion rate relates to the cube of equivalent sound speed, as in Shu's seminal paper. The prestellar masses accreted over 10{sup 5} years cover the whole stellar mass spectrum; they are derived in simple closed form, depending only on the polytropic equation of state. The stellar masses that can be formed via strict conservation of angular momentum are at most of the order of a brown dwarf.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Observational signatures of binary supermassive black holes

Observations indicate that most massive galaxies contain a supermassive black hole, and theoretical studies suggest that when such galaxies have a major merger, the central black holes will form a binary and eventually coalesce. Here we discuss two spectral signatures of such binaries that may help distinguish them from ordinary active galactic nuclei. These signatures are expected when the mass ratio between the holes is not extreme and the system is fed by a circumbinary disk. One such signature is a notch in the thermal continuum that has been predicted by other authors; we point out that it should be accompanied by a spectral revival at shorter wavelengths and also discuss its dependence on binary properties such as mass, mass ratio, and separation. In particular, we note that the wavelength λ {sub n} at which the notch occurs depends on these three parameters in such a way as to make the number of systems displaying these notches ∝λ{sub n}{sup 16/3}; longer wavelength searches are therefore strongly favored. A second signature, first discussed here, is hard X-ray emission with a Wien-like spectrum at a characteristic temperature ∼100 keV produced by Compton cooling of the shock generated when streams from the circumbinary disk hit the accretion disks around the individual black holes. We investigate the observability of both signatures. The hard X-ray signal may be particularly valuable as it can provide an indicator of black hole merger a few decades in advance of the event.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

The effect of stochastic re-acceleration on the energy spectrum of shock-accelerated protons

The energy spectra of particles in gradual solar energetic particle (SEP) events do not always have a power-law form attributed to the diffusive shock acceleration mechanism. In particular, the observed spectra in major SEP events can take the form of a broken (double) power law. In this paper, we study the effect of a process that can modify the power-law spectral form produced by the diffusive shock acceleration: the stochastic re-acceleration of energetic protons by enhanced Alfvénic turbulence in the downstream region of a shock wave. There are arguments suggesting that this process can be important when the shock propagates in the corona. We consider a coronal magnetic loop traversed by a shock and perform Monte Carlo simulations of interactions of shock-accelerated protons with Alfvén waves in the loop. The wave-particle interactions are treated self-consistently, so the finiteness of the available turbulent energy is taken into account. The initial energy spectrum of particles is taken to be a power law. The simulations reveal that the stochastic re-acceleration leads either to the formation of a spectrum that is described in a wide energy range by a power law (although the resulting power-law index is different from the initial one) or to a broken power-law spectrum. The resulting spectral form is determined by the ratio of the energy density of shock-accelerated protons to the wave energy density in the shock's downstream region.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

The mass spectrum of the first stars

We perform cosmological hydrodynamics simulations with non-equilibrium primordial chemistry to obtain 59 minihalos that host first stars. The obtained minihalos are used as the initial conditions of local three-dimensional radiation hydrodynamics simulations to investigate the formation of the first stars. We find that two-thirds of the minihalos host multiple stars, while the other third has single stars. The mass of the stars found in our simulations are in the range of 1 M {sub ☉} ≲ M ≲ 300 M {sub ☉}, peaking at several× 10 M {sub ☉}. Most of the very massive stars of ≳ 140 M {sub ☉} are born as single stars, although not all of the single stars are very massive. We also find a few stars of ≲ 1 M {sub ☉} that are kicked by the gravitational three body interactions to the position distant from the center of mass. The frequency that a star forming minihalo contains a binary system is ∼50%. We also investigate the abundance pattern of the stellar remnants by summing up the contributions from the first stars in the simulations. Consequently, the pattern is compatible with that of the low metallicity damped Lyα systems or the extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars, if the mass spectrum obtained in our experiment is shifted to the low mass side by 0.2 dex. If we consider the case that an EMP star is born in the remnant of the individual minihalo without mixing with others, the chemical signature of the pair instability supernova is more prominent, because most of them are born as single stars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

AKARI observations of brown dwarfs. IV. Effect of elemental abundances on near-infrared spectra between 1.0 and 5.0 μm

The detection of the CO{sub 2} absorption band at 4.2 μm in brown dwarf spectra by AKARI has made it possible to discuss CO{sub 2} molecular abundance in brown dwarf atmospheres. In our previous studies, we found an excess in the 4.2 μm CO{sub 2} absorption band of three brown dwarf spectra, and suggested that these deviations were caused by high C and O elemental abundances in their atmospheres. To validate this hypothesis, we have constructed a set of models of brown dwarf atmospheres with various elemental abundance patterns, and we investigate the variations of the molecular composition and the thermal structure, and how they affect the near-infrared spectra between 1.0 and 5.0 μm. The 4.2 μm CO{sub 2} absorption band in some late-L and T dwarfs taken by AKARI is stronger or weaker than predicted by corresponding models with solar abundance. By comparing the CO{sub 2} band in the model spectra to the observed near-infrared spectra, we confirm possible elemental abundance variations among brown dwarfs. We find that the band strength is especially sensitive to O abundance, but C is also needed to reproduce the entire near-infrared spectra. This result indicates that both the C and O abundances should increase and decrease simultaneously for brown dwarfs. We find that a weaker CO{sub 2} absorption band in a spectrum can also be explained by a model with lower 'C and O' abundances.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

An evolutionary model for collapsing molecular clouds and their star formation activity. II. Mass dependence of the star formation rate

We discuss the evolution and dependence on cloud mass of the star formation rate (SFR) and efficiency (SFE) of star-forming molecular clouds (MCs) within the scenario that clouds are undergoing global collapse and that the SFR is controlled by ionization feedback. We find that low-mass clouds (M {sub max} ≲ 10{sup 4} M {sub ☉}) spend most of their evolution at low SFRs, but end their lives with a mini-burst, reaching a peak SFR ∼10{sup 4} M {sub ☉} Myr{sup –1}, although their time-averaged SFR is only (SFR) ∼ 10{sup 2} M {sub ☉} Myr{sup –1}. The corresponding efficiencies are SFE{sub final} ≲ 60% and (SFE) ≲ 1%. For more massive clouds (M {sub max} ≳ 10{sup 5} M {sub ☉}), the SFR first increases and then reaches a plateau because the clouds are influenced by stellar feedback since earlier in their evolution. As a function of cloud mass, (SFR) and (SFE) are well represented by the fits (SFR) ≈ 100(1 + M {sub max}/1.4 × 10{sup 5} M {sub ☉}){sup 1.68} M {sub ☉} Myr{sup –1} and (SFE) ≈ 0.03(M {sub max}/2.5 × 10{sup 5} M {sub ☉}){sup 0.33}, respectively. Moreover, the SFR of our model clouds follows closely the SFR-dense gas mass relation recently found by Lada et al. during the epoch when their instantaneous SFEs are comparable to those of the clouds considered by those authors. Collectively, a Monte Carlo integration of the model-predicted SFR(M) over a Galactic giant molecular cloud mass spectrum yields values for the total Galactic SFR that are within half an order of magnitude of the relation obtained by Gao and Solomon. Our results support the scenario that star-forming MCs may be in global gravitational collapse and that the low observed values of the SFR and SFE are a result of the interruption of each SF episode, caused primarily by the ionizing feedback from massive stars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Reverberation mapping of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 7469

A large reverberation-mapping study of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 7469 has yielded emission-line lags for Hβ λ4861 and He II λ4686 and a central black hole mass measurement M {sub BH} ≈ 1 × 10{sup 7} M {sub ☉}, consistent with previous measurements. A very low level of variability during the monitoring campaign precluded meeting our original goal of recovering velocity-delay maps from the data, but with the new Hβ measurement, NGC 7469 is no longer an outlier in the relationship between the size of the Hβ-emitting broad-line region and the luminosity of the active galactic nucleus. It was necessary to detrend the continuum and Hβ and He II λ4686 line light curves and those from archival UV data for different time-series analysis methods to yield consistent results.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Dynamical friction in multi-component evolving globular clusters

We use the Chandrasekhar formalism and direct N-body simulations to study the effect of dynamical friction on a test object only slightly more massive than the field stars, orbiting a spherically symmetric background of particles with a mass spectrum. The main goal is to verify whether the dynamical friction time (t {sub DF}) develops a non-monotonic radial dependence that could explain the bimodality of the blue straggler radial distributions observed in globular clusters. In these systems, in fact, relaxation effects lead to a mass and velocity radial segregation of the different mass components, so that mass-spectrum effects on t {sub DF} are expected to be dependent on radius. We find that in spite of the presence of different masses, t {sub DF} is always a monotonic function of radius, at all evolutionary times and independently of the initial concentration of the simulated cluster. This is because the radial dependence of t {sub DF} is largely dominated by the total mass density profile of the background stars (which is monotonically decreasing with radius). Hence, a progressive temporal erosion of the blue straggler star (BSS) population at larger and larger distances from the cluster center remains the simplest and the most likely explanation of the shape of the observed BSS radial distributions, as suggested in previous works. We also confirm the theoretical expectation that approximating a multi-mass globular cluster as made of (averaged) equal-mass stars can lead to significant overestimations of t {sub DF} within the half-mass radius.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Deep z-band observations of the coolest Y dwarf

WISE J085510.83-071442.5 (hereafter, WISE 0855-07) is the coolest Y dwarf known to date and is located at a distance of 2.31 ± 0.08 pc, giving it the fourth largest parallax of any known star or brown dwarf system. We report deep z-band observations of WISE 0855-07 using FORS2 on UT1/Very Large Telescope. We do not detect any counterpart to WISE 0855-07 in our z-band images and estimate a brightness upper limit of AB mag > 24.8 (F {sub ν} < 0.45 μJy) at 910 ± 65 nm with 3σ confidence. We combine our z-band upper limit with previous near- and mid-infrared photometry to place constraints on the atmospheric properties of WISE 0855-07 via comparison to models which implement water clouds in the atmospheres of T {sub eff} < 300 K substellar objects. We find that none of the available models that implement water clouds can completely reproduce the observed spectral energy distribution of WISE 0855-07. Every model significantly disagrees with the (3.6 μm/4.5 μm) flux ratio and at least one other bandpass. Since methane is predicted to be the dominant absorber at 3-4 μm, these mismatches might point to an incorrect or incomplete treatment of methane in current models. We conclude that (a) WISE0855-07 has T {sub eff} ∼ 200-250 K, (b) <80% of its surface is covered by clouds, and (c) deeper observations, and improved models of substellar evolution, atmospheres, clouds, and opacities will be necessary to better characterize this object.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

KEPLER FLARES. I. ACTIVE AND INACTIVE M DWARFS

We analyzed Kepler short-cadence M dwarf observations. Spectra from the Astrophysical Research Consortium 3.5 m telescope identify magnetically active (Hα in emission) stars. The active stars are of mid-M spectral type, have numerous flares, and have well-defined rotational modulation due to starspots. The inactive stars are of early M type, exhibit less starspot signature, and have fewer flares. A Kepler to U-band energy scaling allows comparison of the Kepler flare frequency distributions with previous ground-based data. M dwarfs span a large range of flare frequency and energy, blurring the distinction between active and inactive stars designated solely by the presence of Hα. We analyzed classical and complex (multiple peak) flares on GJ 1243, finding strong correlations between flare energy, amplitude, duration, and decay time, with only a weak dependence on rise time. Complex flares last longer and have higher energy at the same amplitude, and higher energy flares are more likely to be complex. A power law fits the energy distribution for flares with log E{sub K{sub p}}> 31 erg, but the predicted number of low-energy flares far exceeds the number observed, at energies where flares are still easily detectable, indicating that the power-law distribution may flatten at low energy. There is no correlation of flare occurrence or energy with starspot phase, the flare waiting time distribution is consistent with flares occurring randomly in time, and the energies of consecutive flares are uncorrelated. These observations support a scenario where many independent active regions on the stellar surface are contributing to the observed flare rate.

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