Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “stellar”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,153 records · Page 64
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

CALIBRATING STELLAR POPULATION MODELS WITH MAGELLANIC CLOUD STAR CLUSTERS

Stellar population models are commonly calculated using star clusters as calibrators for those evolutionary stages that depend on free parameters. However, discrepancies exist among different models, even if similar sets of calibration clusters are used. With the aim of understanding these discrepancies, and of improving the calibration procedure, we consider a set of 43 Magellanic Cloud (MC) clusters, taking age and photometric information from the literature. We carefully assign ages to each cluster based on up-to-date determinations, ensuring that these are as homogeneous as possible. To cope with statistical fluctuations, we stack the clusters in five age bins, deriving for each of them integrated luminosities and colors. We find that clusters become abruptly red in optical and optical-infrared colors as they age from {approx}0.6 to {approx}1 Gyr, which we interpret as due to the development of a well-populated thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB). We argue that other studies missed this detection because of coarser age binnings. Maraston and Girardi et al. models predict the presence of a populated TP-AGB at {approx}0.6 Gyr, with a correspondingly very red integrated color, at variance with the data; Bruzual and Charlot and Conroy models run within the error bars at all ages. The discrepancy between the synthetic colors of Maraston models and the average colors of MC clusters results from the now obsolete age scale adopted. Finally, our finding that the TP-AGB phase appears to develop between {approx}0.6 and 1 Gyr is dependent on the adopted age scale for the clusters and may have important implications for stellar evolution.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE STELLAR OBLIQUITY AND THE LONG-PERIOD PLANET IN THE HAT-P-17 EXOPLANETARY SYSTEM

We present the measured projected obliquity-the sky-projected angle between the stellar spin axis and orbital angular momentum-of the inner planet of the HAT-P-17 multi-planet system. We measure the sky-projected obliquity of the star to be {lambda}=19{sup +14}{sub -16} deg by modeling the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect in Keck/HIRES radial velocities (RVs). The anomalous RV time series shows an asymmetry relative to the midtransit time, ordinarily suggesting a nonzero obliquity-but in this case at least part of the asymmetry may be due to the convective blueshift, increasing the uncertainty in the determination of {lambda}. We employ the semi-analytical approach of Hirano et al. that includes the effects of macroturbulence, instrumental broadening, and convective blueshift to accurately model the anomaly in the net RV caused by the planet eclipsing part of the rotating star. Obliquity measurements are an important tool for testing theories of planet formation and migration. To date, the measured obliquities of {approx}50 Jovian planets span the full range, from prograde to retrograde, with planets orbiting cool stars preferentially showing alignment of stellar spins and planetary orbits. Our results are consistent with this pattern emerging from tidal interactions in the convective envelopes of cool stars and close-in planets. In addition, our 1.8 yr of new RVs for this system show that the orbit of the outer planet is more poorly constrained than previously thought, with an orbital period now in the range of 10-36 yr.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

PERSPECTIVES ON INTRACLUSTER ENRICHMENT AND THE STELLAR INITIAL MASS FUNCTION IN ELLIPTICAL GALAXIES

Stars formed in galaxy cluster potential wells must be responsible for the high level of enrichment measured in the intracluster medium (ICM); however, there is increasing tension between this truism and the parsimonious assumption that the stars in the generally old population studied optically in cluster galaxies emerged from the same formation sites at the same epochs. We construct a phenomenological cluster enrichment model to demonstrate that ICM elemental abundances are underestimated by a factor >2 for standard assumptions about the stellar population-a discrepancy we call the ''cluster elemental abundance paradox''. Recent evidence of an elliptical galaxy initial mass function (IMF) skewed to low masses deepens the paradox. We quantify the adjustments to the star formation efficiency and IMF, and Type Ia supernovae (SNIa) production efficiency, required to resolve this while being consistent with the observed ICM abundance pattern. The necessary enhancement in metal enrichment may, in principle, originate in the observed stellar population if a larger fraction of stars in the supernova-progenitor mass range form from an IMF that is either bottom-light or top-heavy, with the latter in some conflict with observed ICM abundance ratios. Other alternatives that imply more modest revisions to the IMF, mass return and remnant fractions, and primordial fraction, posit an increase in the fraction of 3-8 M{sub Sun} stars that explode as SNIa or assume that there are more stars than conventionally thought-although the latter implies a high star formation efficiency. We discuss the feasibility of these various solutions and the implications for the diversity of star formation in the universe, the process of elliptical galaxy formation, and the origin of this ''hidden'' source of ICM metal enrichment.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

STELLAR VELOCITY DISPERSION MEASUREMENTS IN HIGH-LUMINOSITY QUASAR HOSTS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE AGN BLACK HOLE MASS SCALE

We present new stellar velocity dispersion measurements for four luminous quasars with the Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrometer instrument and the ALTAIR laser guide star adaptive optics system on the Gemini North 8 m telescope. Stellar velocity dispersion measurements and measurements of the supermassive black hole (BH) masses in luminous quasars are necessary to investigate the coevolution of BHs and galaxies, trace the details of accretion, and probe the nature of feedback. We find that higher-luminosity quasars with higher-mass BHs are not offset with respect to the M{sub BH}-{sigma}{sub *} relation exhibited by lower-luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with lower-mass BHs, nor do we see correlations with galaxy morphology. As part of this analysis, we have recalculated the virial products for the entire sample of reverberation-mapped AGNs and used these data to redetermine the mean virial factor (f) that places the reverberation data on the quiescent M{sub BH}-{sigma}{sub *} relation. With our updated measurements and new additions to the AGN sample, we obtain (f) = 4.31 {+-} 1.05, which is slightly lower than, but consistent with, most previous determinations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY OF INFRARED-EXCESS STELLAR OBJECTS IN THE YOUNG SUPERNOVA REMNANT G54.1+0.3

We present the results of broadband near-infrared spectroscopic observations of the recently discovered mysterious stellar objects in the young supernova remnant G54.1+0.3. These objects, which show significant mid-infrared-excess emission, are embedded in a diffuse loop structure of {approx}1' in radius. Their near-infrared spectra reveal characteristics of late O- or early B-type stars with numerous H and He I absorption lines, and we classify their spectral types to be between O9 and B2 based on an empirical relation derived here between the equivalent widths of the H lines and stellar photospheric temperatures. The spectral types, combined with the results of spectral energy distribution fits, constrain the distance to the objects to be 6.0 {+-} 0.4 kpc. The photometric spectral types of the objects are consistent with those from the spectroscopic analyses, and the extinction distributions indicate a local enhancement of matter in the western part of the loop. If these objects originate via triggered formation by the progenitor star of G54.1+0.3, then their formations likely began during the later evolutionary stages of the progenitor, although a rather earlier formation may still be possible. If the objects and the progenitor belong to the same cluster of stars, then our results constrain the progenitor mass of G54.1+0.3 to be between 18 and {approx}35 M{sub Sun} and suggest that G54.1+0.3 was either a Type IIP supernova or, with a relatively lower possibility, Type Ib/c from a binary system.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

CONSTRAINING STELLAR FEEDBACK: SHOCK-IONIZED GAS IN NEARBY STARBURST GALAXIES

We investigate the properties of feedback-driven shocks in eight nearby starburst galaxies using narrow-band imaging data from the Hubble Space Telescope. We identify the shock-ionized component via the line diagnostic diagram [O III] (λ5007)/Hβ versus [S II] (λλ6716, 6731) (or [N II] (λ6583))/Hα, applied to resolved regions 3-15 pc in size. We divide our sample into three sub-samples: sub-solar, solar, and super-solar, for consistent shock measurements. For the sub-solar sub-sample, we derive three scaling relations: (1) L{sub shock}∝SFR{sup 0.62}, (2) L{sub shock}∝Σ{sub SFR,{sub HL}} {sup 0.92}, and (3) L{sub shock}/L{sub tot}∝(L{sub H} /L{sub ☉,{sub H}}){sup –0.65}, where L{sub shock} is the Hα luminosity from shock-ionized gas, Σ{sub SFR,{sub HL}} the star formation rate (SFR) per unit half-light area, L{sub tot} the total Hα luminosity, and L{sub H} /L{sub ☉,{sub H}} the absolute H-band luminosity from the Two Micron All Sky Survey normalized to solar luminosity. The other two sub-samples do not have enough number statistics, but appear to follow the first scaling relation. The energy recovered indicates that the shocks from stellar feedback in our sample galaxies are fully radiative. If the scaling relations are applicable in general to stellar feedback, our results are similar to those by Hopkins et al. for galactic superwinds. This similarity should, however, be taken with caution at this point, as the underlying physics that enables the transition from radiative shocks to gas outflows in galaxies is still poorly understood.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE SL2S GALAXY-SCALE LENS SAMPLE. III. LENS MODELS, SURFACE PHOTOMETRY, AND STELLAR MASSES FOR THE FINAL SAMPLE

We present Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging data and Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) near-infrared ground-based images for the final sample of 56 candidate galaxy-scale lenses uncovered in the CFHT Legacy Survey as part of the Strong Lensing in the Legacy Survey project. The new images are used to perform lens modeling, measure surface photometry, and estimate stellar masses of the deflector early-type galaxies (ETGs). Lens modeling is performed on the HST images (or CFHT when HST is not available) by fitting the spatially extended light distribution of the lensed features assuming a singular isothermal ellipsoid mass profile and by reconstructing the intrinsic source light distribution on a pixelized grid. Based on the analysis of systematic uncertainties and comparison with inference based on different methods, we estimate that our Einstein radii are accurate to ∼3%. HST imaging provides a much higher success rate in confirming gravitational lenses and measuring their Einstein radii than CFHT imaging does. Lens modeling with ground-based images, however, when successful, yields Einstein radius measurements that are competitive with space-based images. Information from the lens models is used together with spectroscopic information from companion Paper IV to classify the systems, resulting in a final sample of 39 confirmed (grade A) lenses and 17 promising candidates (grade B,C). This represents an increase of half an order of magnitude in sample size with respect to the sample of confirmed lenses studied in Papers I and II. The Einstein radii of the confirmed lenses in our sample span the range 5-15 kpc and are typically larger than those of other surveys, probing the mass in regions where the dark matter contribution is more important. Stellar masses are in the range 10{sup 11}-10{sup 12} M{sub ☉}, covering the range of massive ETGs. The redshifts of the main deflector span a range 0.3 ≤ z{sub d} ≤ 0.8, which nicely complements low-redshift samples like the Sloan Lens ACS survey and thus provides an excellent sample for the study of the cosmic evolution of the mass distribution of ETGs over the second half of the history of the universe.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE SL2S GALAXY-SCALE LENS SAMPLE. IV. THE DEPENDENCE OF THE TOTAL MASS DENSITY PROFILE OF EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES ON REDSHIFT, STELLAR MASS, AND SIZE

We present optical and near-infrared spectroscopy obtained at Keck, Very Large Telescope, and Gemini for a sample of 36 secure strong gravitational lens systems and 17 candidates identified as part of the Strong Lensing Legacy Survey. The deflectors are massive early-type galaxies in the redshift range z{sub d} = 0.2-0.8, while the lensed sources are at z{sub s} = 1-3.5. We combine these data with photometric and lensing measurements presented in the companion paper III and with lenses from the Sloan Lens Advanced Camera for Surveys and Lènses Structure and Dynamics surveys to investigate the cosmic evolution of the internal structure of massive early-type galaxies over half the age of the universe. We study the dependence of the slope of the total mass density profile, γ' (ρ(r)∝r{sup -γ{sup '}}), on stellar mass, size, and redshift. We find that two parameters are sufficient to determine γ' with less than 6% residual scatter. At fixed redshift, γ' depends solely on the surface stellar mass density ∂γ'/∂Σ{sub *} = 0.38 ± 0.07, i.e., galaxies with denser stars also have steeper slopes. At fixed M{sub *} and R{sub eff}, γ' depends on redshift, in the sense that galaxies at a lower redshift have steeper slopes (∂γ'/∂z = –0.31 ± 0.10). However, the mean redshift evolution of γ' for an individual galaxy is consistent with zero dγ'/dz = –0.10 ± 0.12. This result is obtained by combining our measured dependencies of γ' on z, M{sub *},R{sub eff} with the evolution of the R{sub eff}-M{sub *} taken from the literature, and is broadly consistent with current models of the formation and evolution of massive early-type galaxies. Detailed quantitative comparisons of our results with theory will provide qualitatively new information on the detailed physical processes at work.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Surveying the agents of galaxy evolution in the tidally stripped, low metallicity small Magellanic Cloud (SAGE-SMC). III. Young stellar objects

The Spitzer Space Telescope Legacy Program SAGE-SMC allows global studies of resolved stellar populations in the SMC in a different environment than our Galaxy. Using the SAGE-SMC IRAC (3.6-8.0 μm) and MIPS (24 and 70 μm) catalogs and images combined with near-infrared (JHK {sub s}) and optical (UBVI) data, we identified a population of ∼1000 intermediate- to high-mass young stellar objects (YSOs) in the SMC (three times more than previously known). Our method of identifying YSO candidates builds on the method developed for the Large Magellanic Cloud by Whitney et al. with improvements based on what we learned from our subsequent studies and techniques described in the literature. We perform (1) color-magnitude cuts based on five color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs), (2) visual inspection of multi-wavelength images, and (3) spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting with YSO models. For each YSO candidate, we use its photometry to calculate a measure of our confidence that the source is not a non-YSO contaminant, but rather a true YSO, based on the source's location in the color-magnitude space with respect to non-YSOs. We use this CMD score and the SED fitting results to define two classes of sources: high-reliability YSO candidates and possible YSO candidates. We found that, due to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission, about half of our sources have [3.6]-[4.5] and [4.5]-[5.8] colors not predicted by previous YSO models. The YSO candidates are spatially correlated with gas tracers.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Stochastic stellar cluster initial mass functions: Models and impact on integrated cluster parameter determination

Stellar clusters are regularly used to study the evolution of their host galaxy. Except for a few nearby galaxies, these studies rely on the interpretation of integrated cluster properties, especially integrated photometry observed using multiple filters (i.e., the spectral energy distribution, SED). To allow interpretation of such observations, we present a large set of GALEV cluster models using the realistic approach of adopting stochastically sampled stellar initial mass functions. We provide models for a wide range of cluster masses (10{sup 3}-2 × 10{sup 5} M {sub ☉}), metallicities (–2.3 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ +0.18 dex), foreground extinction, and 184 regularly used filters. We analyze various sets of stochastic cluster SEDs by fitting them with non-stochastic models, which is the procedure commonly used in this field. We identify caveats and quantify the fitting uncertainties associated with this standard procedure. We show that this can yield highly unreliable fitting results, especially for low-mass clusters.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Dusty supernovae running the thermodynamics of the matter reinserted within young and massive super stellar clusters

Following the observational and theoretical evidence that points at core-collapse supernovae (SNe) as major producers of dust, here we calculate the hydrodynamics of the matter reinserted within young and massive super stellar clusters under the assumption of gas and dust radiative cooling. The large SN rate expected in massive clusters allows for a continuous replenishment of dust immersed in the high temperature thermalized reinserted matter and warrants a stationary presence of dust within the cluster volume during the type II SN era. We first show that such a balance determines the range of the dust-to-gas-mass ratio, and thus the dust cooling law. We then search for the critical line that separates stationary cluster winds from the bimodal cases in the cluster mechanical luminosity (or cluster mass) versus cluster size parameter space. In the latter, strong radiative cooling reduces considerably the cluster wind mechanical energy output and affects particularly the cluster central regions, leading to frequent thermal instabilities that diminish the pressure and inhibit the exit of the reinserted matter. Instead, matter accumulates there and is expected to eventually lead to gravitational instabilities and to further stellar formation with the matter reinserted by former massive stars. The main outcome of the calculations is that the critical line is almost two orders of magnitude or more, depending on the assumed value of V {sub A∞}, lower than when only gas radiative cooling is applied. And thus, many massive clusters are predicted to enter the bimodal regime.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

S-type and P-type habitability in stellar binary systems: A comprehensive approach. I. Method and applications

A comprehensive approach is provided for the study of both S-type and P-type habitability in stellar binary systems, which in principle can also be expanded to systems of higher order. P-type orbits occur when the planet orbits both binary components, whereas in the case of S-type orbits, the planet orbits only one of the binary components with the second component considered a perturbator. The selected approach encapsulates a variety of different aspects, which include: (1) the consideration of a joint constraint, including orbital stability and a habitable region for a putative system planet through the stellar radiative energy fluxes ({sup r}adiative habitable zone{sup ;} RHZ), needs to be met; (2) the treatment of conservative, general, and extended zones of habitability for the various systems as defined for the solar system and beyond; (3) the provision of a combined formalism for the assessment of both S-type and P-type habitability; in particular, mathematical criteria are presented for the kind of system in which S-type and P-type habitability is realized; (4) applications of the attained theoretical approach to standard (theoretical) main-sequence stars. In principle, five different cases of habitability are identified, which are S-type and P-type habitability provided by the full extent of the RHZs; habitability, where the RHZs are truncated by the additional constraint of planetary orbital stability (referred to as ST- and PT-type, respectively); and cases of no habitability at all. Regarding the treatment of planetary orbital stability, we utilize the formulae of Holman and Wiegert as also used in previous studies. In this work, we focus on binary systems in circular orbits. Future applications will also consider binary systems in elliptical orbits and provide thorough comparisons to other methods and results given in the literature.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Morphological parameters of a Spitzer survey of stellar structure in galaxies

The morphology of galaxies can be quantified to some degree using a set of scale-invariant parameters. Concentration (C), asymmetry (A), smoothness (S), the Gini index (G), the relative contribution of the brightest pixels to the second-order moment of the flux (M {sub 20}), ellipticity (E), and the Gini index of the second-order moment (G{sub M} ) have all been applied to morphologically classify galaxies at various wavelengths. Here, we present a catalog of these parameters for the Spitzer Survey of stellar structure in Galaxies, a volume-limited, near-infrared (NIR) imaging survey of nearby galaxies using the 3.6 and 4.5 μm channels of the Infrared Array Camera on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. Our goal is to provide a reference catalog of NIR quantified morphology for high-redshift studies and galaxy evolution models with enough detail to resolve stellar mass morphology. We explore where normal, non-interacting galaxies—those typically found on the Hubble tuning fork—lie in this parameter space and show that there is a tight relation between concentration (C {sub 82}) and M {sub 20} for normal galaxies. M {sub 20} can be used to classify galaxies into earlier and later types (i.e., to separate spirals from irregulars). Several criteria using these parameters exist to select systems with a disturbed morphology, i.e., those that appear to be undergoing a tidal interaction. We examine the applicability of these criteria to Spitzer NIR imaging. We find that four relations, based on the parameters A and S, G and M {sub 20}, G{sub M} , C, and M {sub 20}, respectively, select outliers in morphological parameter space, but each selects different subsets of galaxies. Two criteria (G{sub M} > 0.6, G > –0.115 × M {sub 20} + 0.384) seem most appropriate to identify possible mergers and the merger fraction in NIR surveys. We find no strong relation between lopsidedness and most of these morphological parameters, except for a weak dependence of lopsidedness on concentration and M {sub 20}.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Diffuse optical intracluster light as a measure of stellar tidal stripping: The cluster CL0024+17 at z ∼ 0.4 observed at the large binocular telescope

We have evaluated the diffuse intracluster light (ICL) in the central core of the galaxy cluster CL0024+17 at z ∼ 0.4 observed with the prime focus camera (Large Binocular Camera) at the Large Binocular Telescope. The measure required an accurate removal of the galaxies' light within ∼200 kpc from the center. The residual background intensity has then been integrated in circular apertures to derive the average ICL intensity profile. The latter shows an approximate exponential decline as expected from theoretical cold dark matter models where the ICL is due to the integrated contribution of light from stars that are tidally stripped from the halo of their host galaxies due to encounters with other galaxies in the cluster cold dark matter (CDM) potential. The radial profile of the ICL over the galaxies intensity ratio (ICL fraction) is increasing with decreasing radius, but near the cluster center it starts to bend and then decreases where the overlap of the halos of the brightest cluster galaxies becomes dominant. Theoretical expectations in a simplified CDM scenario show that the ICL fraction profile can be estimated from the stripped over galaxy stellar mass ratio in the cluster. It is possible to show that the latter quantity is almost independent of the properties of the individual host galaxies but mainly depends on the average cluster properties. The predicted ICL fraction profile is thus very sensitive to the assumed CDM profile, total mass, and concentration parameter of the cluster. Adopting values very similar to those derived from the most recent lensing analysis in CL0024+17, we find a good agreement with the observed ICL fraction profile. The galaxy counts in the cluster core have then been compared with that derived from composite cluster samples in larger volumes, up to the clusters virial radius. The galaxy counts in the CL0024+17 core appear flatter and the amount of bending with respect to the average cluster galaxy counts imply a loss of total emissivity in broad agreement with the measured ICL fraction. The present analysis shows that the measure of the ICL fraction in clusters can quantitatively account for the stellar stripping activity in their cores and can be used to probe their CDM distribution and evolutionary status.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Stellar granulation as the source of high-frequency flicker in Kepler light curves

A large fraction of cool, low-mass stars exhibit brightness fluctuations that arise from a combination of convective granulation, acoustic oscillations, magnetic activity, and stellar rotation. Much of the short-timescale variability takes the form of stochastic noise, whose presence may limit the progress of extrasolar planet detection and characterization. In order to lay the groundwork for extracting useful information from these quasi-random signals, we focus on the origin of the granulation-driven component of the variability. We apply existing theoretical scaling relations to predict the star-integrated variability amplitudes for 508 stars with photometric light curves measured by the Kepler mission. We also derive an empirical correction factor that aims to account for the suppression of convection in F-dwarf stars with magnetic activity and shallow convection zones. So that we can make predictions of specific observational quantities, we performed Monte Carlo simulations of granulation light curves using a Lorentzian power spectrum. These simulations allowed us to reproduce the so-called flicker floor (i.e., a lower bound in the relationship between the full light-curve range and power in short-timescale fluctuations) that was found in the Kepler data. The Monte Carlo model also enabled us to convert the modeled fluctuation variance into a flicker amplitude directly comparable with observations. When the magnetic suppression factor described above is applied, the model reproduces the observed correlation between stellar surface gravity and flicker amplitude. Observationally validated models like these provide new and complementary evidence for a possible impact of magnetic activity on the properties of near-surface convection.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Measurements of stellar inclinations for Kepler planet candidates. II. Candidate spin-orbit misalignments in single- and multiple-transiting systems

We present a test for spin-orbit alignment for the host stars of 25 candidate planetary systems detected by the Kepler spacecraft. The inclination angle of each star's rotation axis was estimated from its rotation period, rotational line broadening, and radius. The rotation periods were determined using the Kepler photometric time series. The rotational line broadening was determined from high-resolution optical spectra with the Subaru High Dispersion Spectrograph. Those same spectra were used to determine the star's photospheric parameters (effective temperature, surface gravity, metallicity), which were then interpreted with stellar-evolutionary models to determine stellar radii. We combine the new sample with the seven stars from our previous work on this subject, finding that the stars show a statistical tendency to have inclinations near 90°, in alignment with the planetary orbits. Possible spin-orbit misalignments are seen in several systems, including three multiple-planet systems (KOI-304, 988, 2261). Ideally, these systems should be scrutinized with complementary techniques, such as the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect, starspot-crossing anomalies, or asteroseismology, but the measurements will be difficult owing to the relatively faint apparent magnitudes and small transit signals in these systems.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Stellar and gaseous nuclear disks observed in nearby (U)LIRGs

We present near-infrared integral field spectroscopy of the central kiloparsec of 17 nearby luminous and ultra-luminous infrared galaxies undergoing major mergers. These observations were taken with OSIRIS assisted by the Keck I and II Adaptive Optics systems, providing spatial resolutions of a few tens of parsecs. The resulting kinematic maps reveal gas disks in at least 16 out of 19 nuclei and stellar disks in 11 out of 11 nuclei observed in these galaxy merger systems. In our late-stages mergers, these disks are young (stellar ages <30 Myr) and likely formed as gas disks that became unstable to star formation during the merger. On average, these disks have effective radii of a few hundred parsecs, masses between 10{sup 8} and 10{sup 10} M {sub ☉}, and v/σ between 1 and 5. These disks are similar to those created in high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations of gas-rich galaxy mergers, and favor short coalescence times for binary black holes. The few galaxies in our sample in earlier stages of mergers have disks that are larger (r {sub eff} ∼ 200-1800 pc) and are likely remnants of the galactic disks that have not yet been completely disrupted by the merger.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

The formation of eccentric compact binary inspirals and the role of gravitational wave emission in binary-single stellar encounters

The inspiral and merger of eccentric binaries leads to gravitational waveforms distinct from those generated by circularly merging binaries. Dynamical environments can assemble binaries with high eccentricity and peak frequencies within the LIGO band. In this paper, we study binary-single stellar scatterings occurring in dense stellar systems as a source of eccentrically inspiraling binaries. Many interactions between compact binaries and single objects are characterized by chaotic resonances in which the binary-single system undergoes many exchanges before reaching a final state. During these chaotic resonances, a pair of objects has a non-negligible probability of experiencing a very close passage. Significant orbital energy and angular momentum are carried away from the system by gravitational wave (GW) radiation in these close passages, and in some cases this implies an inspiral time shorter than the orbital period of the bound third body. We derive the cross section for such dynamical inspiral outcomes through analytical arguments and through numerical scattering experiments including GW losses. We show that the cross section for dynamical inspirals grows with increasing target binary semi-major axis a and that for equal-mass binaries it scales as a {sup 2/7}. Thus, we expect wide target binaries to predominantly contribute to the production of these relativistic outcomes. We estimate that eccentric inspirals account for approximately 1% of dynamically assembled non-eccentric merging binaries. While these events are rare, we show that binary-single scatterings are a more effective formation channel than single-single captures for the production of eccentrically inspiraling binaries, even given modest binary fractions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗