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Evolution Scenario (evolution + scenario)
Selected AbstractsLong-term monitoring in IC4665: fast rotation and weak variability in very low mass objectsMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 3 2009Alexander Scholz ABSTRACT We present the combined results of three photometric monitoring campaigns targeting very low mass (VLM) stars and brown dwarfs in the young open cluster IC4665 (age ,40 Myr). Each of our observing runs covers time-scales of ,5 d in the seasons 1999, 2001 and 2002, respectively. In all three runs, we observe ,100 cluster members, allowing us for the first time to put limits on the evolution of spots and magnetic activity in fully convective objects on time-scales of a few years. For 20 objects covering masses from 0.05 to 0.5 M,, we detect a periodic flux modulation, indicating the presence of magnetic spots co-rotating with the objects. The detection rate of photometric periods (,20 per cent) is significantly lower than in solar-mass stars at the same age, which points to a mass dependence in the spot properties. With two exceptions, none of the objects exhibits variability and thus spot activity in more than one season. This is contrary to what is seen in solar-mass stars and indicates that spot configurations capable of producing photometric modulations occur relatively rarely and are transient in VLM objects. The rotation periods derived in this paper range from 3 to 30 h, arguing for a lack of slow rotators among VLM objects. The periods fit into a rotational evolution scenario with pre-main sequence contraction and moderate (40,50 per cent) angular momentum losses due to wind braking. By combining our findings with literature results, we identify two regimes of rotational and magnetic properties, called C- and I-sequence. Main properties on the C-sequence are fast rotation, weak wind braking, H, emission and saturated activity levels, while the I-sequence is characterized by slow rotation, strong wind braking, no H, emission and linear activity-rotation relationship. Rotation rate and stellar mass are the primary parameters that determine in which regime an object is found. We outline a general scheme to understand rotational evolution for low-mass objects in the context of these two regimes and discuss the potential as well as the problems of this picture. [source] Where are z= 4 Lyman Break Galaxies?MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 4 2006Results from conditional luminosity function models of luminosity-dependent clustering ABSTRACT Using the conditional luminosity function (CLF) , the luminosity distribution of galaxies in a dark matter halo , as a way to model galaxy statistics, we study how z= 4 Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) are distributed in dark matter haloes. For this purpose, we measure luminosity-dependent clustering of LBGs in the Subaru/XMM,Newton Deep Field by separating a sample of 16 920 galaxies to three magnitude bins in i, band between 24.5 and 27.5. Our model fits to data show a possible trend for more-luminous galaxies to appear as satellites in more-massive haloes; the minimum halo mass in which satellites appear is 3.9+4.1,3.5× 1012, 6.2+3.8,4.9× 1012 and 9.6+7.0,4.6× 1012 M, (1, errors) for galaxies with 26.5 < i, < 27.5, 25.5 < i, < 26.5 and 24.5 < i, < 25.5 mag, respectively. The satellite fraction of galaxies at z= 4 in these magnitude bins is 0.13,0.3, 0.09,0.22 and 0.03,0.14, respectively, where the 1, ranges account for differences coming from two different estimates of the z= 4 LF from the literature. To jointly explain the LF and the large-scale linear bias factor of z= 4 LBGs as a function of rest UV luminosity requires central galaxies to be brighter in UV at z= 4 than present-day galaxies in same dark matter mass haloes. Moreover, UV luminosity of central galaxies in haloes with total mass greater than roughly 1012 M, must decrease from z= 4 to today by an amount more than the luminosity change for galaxies in haloes below this mass. This mass-dependent luminosity evolution is preferred at more than 3, confidence level compared to a pure-luminosity evolution scenario where all galaxies decrease in luminosity by the same amount from z= 4 to today. The scenario preferred by the data is consistent with the ,downsizing' picture of galaxy evolution. [source] On the evolution of young radio-loud AGNMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 2 2000I. A. G. Snellen This paper describes an investigation of the early evolution of extragalactic radio sources using samples of faint and bright gigahertz peaked spectrum (GPS) and compact steep spectrum (CSS) radio galaxies. Correlations found between their peak frequency, peak flux density and angular size provide strong evidence that synchrotron self-absorption is the cause of the spectral turnovers, and indicate that young radio sources evolve in a self-similar way. In addition, the data seem to suggest that the sources are in equipartition while they evolve. If GPS sources evolve to large size radio sources, their redshift dependent birth-functions should be the same. Therefore, since the lifetimes of radio sources are thought to be short compared to the Hubble time, the observed difference in redshift distribution between GPS and large size sources must be due to a difference in slope of their luminosity functions. We argue that this slope is strongly affected by the luminosity evolution of the individual sources. A scenario for the luminosity evolution is proposed in which GPS sources increase in luminosity and large-scale radio sources decrease in luminosity with time. This evolution scenario is expected for a ram-pressure confined radio source in a surrounding medium with a King profile density. In the inner parts of the King profile, the density of the medium is constant and the radio source builds up its luminosity, but after it grows large enough the density of the surrounding medium declines and the luminosity of the radio source decreases. A comparison of the local luminosity function (LLF) of GPS galaxies with that of extended sources is a good test for this evolution scenario. Unfortunately, only a handful of GPS sources are known at low redshift, and an LLF can only be derived, assuming that their cosmological number density evolution is similar to that of steep spectrum sources. The LLF derived in this way is shown to be in good agreement with the proposed evolution scenario. However, the uncertainties are large, and larger, homogeneously selected samples of GPS sources are needed. [source] Accreting white dwarfs as supersoft X-ray sourcesASTRONOMISCHE NACHRICHTEN, Issue 2 2010M. Kato Abstract I review various phenomena associated with mass-accreting white dwarfs (WDs) in the view of supersoft X-ray sources. When the mass-accretion rate is low (,acc < a few × 10,7 M,yr,1), hydrogen nuclear burning is unstable and nova outbursts occur. A nova is a transient supersoft X-ray source (SSS) in its later phase which timescale depends strongly on the WD mass. The X-ray turn on/off time is a good indicator of the WD mass. At an intermediate mass-accretion rate an accreting WD becomes a persistent SSS with steady hydrogen burning. For a higher mass-accretion rate, the WD undergoes "accretion wind evolution" in which the WD accretes matter from the equatorial plane and loses mass by optically thick winds from the other directions. Two SSS, namely RX J0513-6951 and V Sge, are corresponding objects to this accretion wind evolution. We can specify mass increasing WDs from light-curve analysis based on the optically thick wind theory using multiwavelength observational data including optical, IR, and supersoft X-rays. Mass estimates of individual objects give important information for the binary evolution scenario of type Ia supernovae (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] A First Estimate of Ground Water Ages for the Deep Aquifer of the Kathmandu Basin, Nepal, Using the Radioisotope Chlorine-36GROUND WATER, Issue 3 2001Richard G. Cresswell The Kathmandu Basin in Nepal contains up to 550 m of Pliocene-Quaternary fluvio-lacustrine sediments which have formed a dual aquifer system. The unconfined sand and gravel aquifer is separated by a clay aquitard, up to 200 m thick, from the deeper, confined aquifer, comprised of Pliocene sand and gravel beds, intercalated with clay, peat, and lignite. The confined aquifer currently provides an important water supply to the central urban area but there are increasing concerns about its sus-tainability due to overexploitation. A limited number of determinations of the radioisotope 36Cl have been made on bore waters in the basin, allowing us to postulate on the age of ground water in the deeper, confined aquifer. Ground water evolution scenarios based on radioisotope decay, gradual dissolution of formational salts as the ground waters move downgradient, and flow velocity estimations produce comparable ground water ages for the deep waters, ranging from 200,000 to 400,000 years. From these ages, we deduce a mean ground water flow velocity of only 45 mm/year from recharge in the northeast to the main extraction region 15 km to the southwest. We thus estimate current recharge at about 5 to 15 mm/year, contributing 40,000 to 1.2 million m3/year to the ground water system. Current ground water extraction is estimated to be 20 times this amount. The low specific discharge confirms that the resource is being mined, and, based on current projections, reserves will be used up within 100 years. [source] A spectroscopic survey of EC4, an extended cluster in Andromeda's halo,MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 3 2009M. L. M. Collins ABSTRACT We present a spectroscopic survey of candidate red giant branch stars in the extended star cluster, EC4, discovered in the halo of M31 from our Canada,France,Hawaii Telescope/MegaCam survey, overlapping the tidal streams, Streams ,Cp' and ,Cr'. These observations used the DEep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph mounted on the Keck II telescope to obtain spectra around the Caii triplet region with ,1.3 Å resolution. Six stars lying on the red giant branch within two core radii of the centre of EC4 are found to have an average vr=,287.9+1.9,2.4 km s,1 and ,v,corr = 2.7+4.2,2.7 km s,1, taking instrumental errors into account. The resulting mass-to-light ratio for EC4 is M/L = 6.7+15,6.7 M,/L,, a value that is consistent with a globular cluster within the 1, errors we derive. From the summed spectra of our member stars, we find EC4 to be metal-poor, with [Fe/H]=,1.6 ± 0.15. We discuss several formation and evolution scenarios which could account for our kinematic and metallicity constraints on EC4, and conclude that EC4 is most comparable with an extended globular cluster. We also compare the kinematics and metallicity of EC4 with Streams ,Cp' and ,Cr', and find that EC4 bears a striking resemblance to Stream ,Cp' in terms of velocity, and that the two structures are identical in terms of both their spectroscopic and photometric metallicities. From this, we conclude that EC4 is likely related to Stream ,Cp'. [source] A SAURON look at galaxy bulgesASTRONOMISCHE NACHRICHTEN, Issue 2 2004J. Falcón-Barroso Abstract Kinematic and population studies show that bulges are generally rotationally flattened systems similar to lowluminosity ellipticals. However, observations with state-of-the-art integral field spectrographs, such as SAURON, indicate that the situation is much more complex, and allow us to investigate phenomena such as triaxiality, kinematic decoupling and population substructure, and to study their connection to current formation and evolution scenarios for bulges of early-type galaxies. We present the examples of two S0 bulges from galaxies in our sample of nearby galaxies: one that shows all the properties expected from classical bulges (NGC5866), and another case that presents kinematic features appropriate for barred disk galaxies (NGC7332). (© 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] |