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Interstellar Medium (interstellar + medium)
Kinds of Interstellar Medium Selected AbstractsModeling formation of molecules in the interstellar medium by radical reactions with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbonsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF QUANTUM CHEMISTRY, Issue 13 2010Yenner Bentarcurt Abstract Adsorptions of CH°2, CH°3, NH°2, and OH° radicals and molecule formation on a partially hydrogenated surface of a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) (C24H27+) were modeled. It was found that radical adsorptions are feasible with important modifications of surface bond strengths and bond distances. Adsorbed hydrogen may diffuse due to adsorbate-surface interactions. Formations of CH4, NH3, H2O, CH3NH2, and CH3OH were studied by Eley-Rideal (ER) and Langmuir-Hishelwood (LH) mechanisms. Potential energetic surfaces were performed for both mechanisms and the ER presents lower reaction energy barriers than the LH one, in all cases. Parametric quantum program (CATIVIC) was employed and comparisons with DFT results were performed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem 110:2560,2572, 2010 [source] Interaction of atoms with graphenic-type surfaces for the chemistry of the interstellar medium: New properties of H dimers on the surfaceINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF QUANTUM CHEMISTRY, Issue 12 2010D. Teillet-Billy Abstract Following the works of Rougeau et al. (Chem Phys Lett 2006, 431,135) and Ferro et al. (Phys Rev B 2008, 78, 085417) on the one-sided double chemisorption of H atoms on graphenic platelets, we investigate the two-sided double chemisorption using DFT-GGA PW91 calculations. Equilibrium characteristics and potential energy curves for chemisorption are reported for the ortho, meta, para, and bottom positions. Contrary to the one-sided case, the two-sided ortho chemisorption, as well as the bottom position, is barrier-less, whereas the two-sided para chemisorption exhibits an activation barrier. The highest occupied Kohn-Sham orbital (HOKSO) of the H-graphene radical is shown to signal the privileged barrier-less double chemisorption sites. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2010 [source] Theoretical study of hydrogen-bonded complexes of benzene with hydrides of astrochemical interestINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF QUANTUM CHEMISTRY, Issue 3 2008M. Nait Achour Abstract Post Hartree,Fock and DFT calculations have been performed for studying the possibility for a benzene support to be linked to various hydrides through a quasi Bz···HA bond. Interaction energy of compounds, including CH bonds (CH4, CH3F, CH2O, CHN, CHNO), NH bonds (NH3, NH2F, NHC, NHCO, NH3O), and OH bonds (OH2, OHF, NCOH), were evaluated, taking basis set superposition error (BSSE) and zero point vibrational energy (ZPVE) corrections into account. Numerical convergence of results with respect to the ingredients included at different steps of theory (basis set, DFT functionals, correlation treatments, geometry optimization) was tested mainly on the example of the water adduct and, for comparison, the Bz···H3O+ system containing a cation instead of a neutral molecule. A rather large range of adsorption energies is obtained, from about 1 kcal/mol for methane to more than 6 kcal/mol for cyanic acid, according to the acidic character of the adsorbed species in each family of Bz···HA bonds. Some consequences for astrophysical problems involving PAHs in the interstellar medium are pointed out. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2008 [source] Formation of simple organic molecules in the interstellar mediumINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF QUANTUM CHEMISTRY, Issue 3 2008Abraham F. Jalbout Abstract In this work we present a methodology for the synthesis of simple molecules from basic formaldehyde (H2CO) precursors. We have approached this challenging problem by considering a basic dimerization scheme that eventually leads to diose and methyl formate, using an HCO+ proton source. This species was chosen due to its ample abundance in the atmosphere. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2008 [source] Modelling CO formation in the turbulent interstellar mediumMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 1 2010S. C. O. Glover ABSTRACT We present results from high-resolution three-dimensional simulations of turbulent interstellar gas that self-consistently follow its coupled thermal, chemical and dynamical evolution, with a particular focus on the formation and destruction of H2 and CO. We quantify the formation time-scales for H2 and CO in physical conditions corresponding to those found in nearby giant molecular clouds, and show that both species form rapidly, with chemical time-scales that are comparable to the dynamical time-scale of the gas. We also investigate the spatial distributions of H2 and CO, and how they relate to the underlying gas distribution. We show that H2 is a good tracer of the gas distribution, but that the relationship between CO abundance and gas density is more complex. The CO abundance is not well-correlated with either the gas number density n or the visual extinction AV: both have a large influence on the CO abundance, but the inhomogeneous nature of the density field produced by the turbulence means that n and AV are only poorly correlated. There is a large scatter in AV, and hence CO abundance, for gas with any particular density, and similarly a large scatter in density and CO abundance for gas with any particular visual extinction. This will have important consequences for the interpretation of the CO emission observed from real molecular clouds. Finally, we also examine the temperature structure of the simulated gas. We show that the molecular gas is not isothermal. Most of it has a temperature in the range of 10,20 K, but there is also a significant fraction of warmer gas, located in low-extinction regions where photoelectric heating remains effective. [source] Gas dynamics of the central few parsec region of NGC 1068 fuelled by the evolving nuclear star clusterMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 4 2010M. Schartmann ABSTRACT Recently, high-resolution observations with the help of the near-infrared adaptive optics integral field spectrograph Spectrograph for INtegral Field Observations in the Near Infrared (SINFONI) at the Very Large Telescope proved the existence of massive and young nuclear star clusters in the centres of a sample of Seyfert galaxies. With the help of three-dimensional high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations with the Pluto code, we follow the evolution of such clusters, especially focusing on stellar mass loss feeding gas into the ambient interstellar medium and driving turbulence. This leads to a vertically wide distributed clumpy or filamentary inflow of gas on large scales (tens of parsec), whereas a turbulent and very dense disc builds up on the parsec scale. In order to capture the relevant physics in the inner region, we treat this disc separately by viscously evolving the radial surface density distribution. This enables us to link the tens of parsec-scale region (accessible via SINFONI observations) to the (sub-)parsec-scale region (observable with the mid-infrared interferometer instrument and via water maser emission). Thereby, this procedure provides us with an ideal testbed for data comparison. In this work, we concentrate on the effects of a parametrized turbulent viscosity to generate angular momentum and mass transfer in the disc and additionally take star formation into account. Most of the input parameters are constrained by available observations of the nearby Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068, and we discuss parameter studies for the free parameters. At the current age of its nuclear starburst of 250 Myr, our simulations yield disc sizes of the order of 0.8,0.9 pc, gas masses of 106 M, and mass transfer rates of 0.025 M, yr,1 through the inner rim of the disc. This shows that our large-scale torus model is able to approximately account for the disc size as inferred from interferometric observations in the mid-infrared and compares well to the extent and mass of a rotating disc structure as inferred from water maser observations. Several other observational constraints are discussed as well. [source] A method for reconstructing the variance of a 3D physical field from 2D observations: application to turbulence in the interstellar mediumMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 3 2010C. M. Brunt ABSTRACT We introduce and test an expression for calculating the variance of a physical field in three dimensions using only information contained in the two-dimensional projection of the field. The method is general but assumes statistical isotropy. To test the method we apply it to numerical simulations of hydrodynamic and magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in molecular clouds, and demonstrate that it can recover the three-dimensional (3D) normalized density variance with ,10 per cent accuracy if the assumption of isotropy is valid. We show that the assumption of isotropy breaks down at low sonic Mach number if the turbulence is sub-Alfvénic. Theoretical predictions suggest that the 3D density variance should increase proportionally to the square of the Mach number of the turbulence. Application of our method will allow this prediction to be tested observationally and therefore constrain a large body of analytic models of star formation that rely on it. [source] The haloes of planetary nebulae in the mid-infrared: evidence for interaction with the interstellar mediumMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 2 2009G. Ramos-Larios ABSTRACT The motion of planetary nebulae through the interstellar medium (ISM) is thought to lead to a variety of observational consequences, including the formation of bright rims, deformation and fragmentation of the shells, and a shift of the central stars away from the geometric centres of the envelopes. These and other characteristics have been noted through imaging in the visual wavelength regime. We report further observations of such shells taken in the mid-infrared (MIR), acquired through programmes of Infrared Array Camera imaging undertaken using the SpitzerSpace Telescope. NGC 2440 and NGC 6629 are shown to possess likely interacting haloes, together with ram-pressure-stripped material to one side of their shells. Similarly, the outer haloes of NGC 3242 and NGC 6772 appear to have been fragmented through Rayleigh,Taylor (RT) instabilities, leading to a possible flow of ISM material towards the inner portions of their envelopes. If this interpretation is correct, then it would suggest that NGC 3242 is moving towards the NE, a suggestion which is also supported through the presence of a 60 ,m tail extending in the opposite direction, and curved bands of H, emission in the direction of motion , components which may arise through RT instabilities in the magnetized ISM. NGC 2438 possesses strong scalloping at the outer limits of its asymptotic giant branch (AGB) halo, probably reflecting RT instabilities at the nebular/ISM interface We also note that the interior structure of the source has been interpreted in terms of a recombining shell, a hypothesis which may not be consistent with the central star luminosities. Finally, we point out that two of the rims (and likely shock interfaces) appear to have a distinct signature in the MIR, whereby relative levels of 8.0 ,m emission are reduced. This may imply that the grain emission agents are depleted in the post-shock AGB regimes. [source] The ionization of the emission-line gas in young radio galaxiesMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 2 2009J. Holt ABSTRACT This paper is the second in a series in which we present intermediate-resolution, wide-wavelength coverage spectra for a complete sample of 14 compact radio sources, taken with the aim of investigating the impact of the nuclear activity on the circumnuclear interstellar medium (ISM) in the early stages of radio source evolution. In the first paper (Holt, Tadhunter & Morganti), we presented the kinematic results from the nuclear emission-line modelling and reported fast outflows in the circumnuclear gas. In this paper, we use the line fluxes to investigate the physical conditions and dominant ionization mechanisms of the emission-line gas. We find evidence for large electron densities and high reddening in the nuclear regions, particularly in the broader, blueshifted components. These results are consistent with the idea that the young, recently triggered radio sources still reside in dense and dusty cocoons deposited by the recent activity triggering event (merger/interaction). In addition, we find that the quiescent nuclear and extended narrow components are consistent with active galactic nucleus (AGN) photoionization, split between simple-slab AGN photoionization and mixed-medium photoionization models. For the nuclear broader and shifted components, the results are less clear. Whilst there are suggestions that the broader components may be closer to shock plus precursor models on the diagnostic diagrams, and that the electron temperatures and densities are high, we are unable to unambiguously distinguish the dominant ionization mechanism using the optical emission-line ratios. This is surprising given the strong evidence for jet,cloud interactions (broad emission lines, large outflow velocities and strong radio-optical alignments), which favours the idea that the warm gas has been accelerated in shocks driven by the radio lobes expanding through a dense cocoon of gas deposited during the triggering event. [source] On the interstellar medium and star formation demographics of galaxies in the local universeMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 1 2009Matthew S. Bothwell ABSTRACT We present a demographic analysis of integrated star formation and gas properties for a sample of galaxies representative of the overall population at z, 0. This research was undertaken in order to characterize the nature of star formation and interstellar medium (ISM) behaviour in the local Universe, and test the extent to which global star formation rates (SFRs) can be seen as dependent on the interstellar gas content. Archival 21-cm derived H i data are compiled from the literature, and are combined with CO (J =1 , 0) derived H2 masses to calculate and characterize the total gas content for a large sample of local galaxies. The distribution in stellar mass-normalized H i content is found to exhibit the noted characteristic transition at stellar masses of ,3 × 1010 M,, turning off towards low values, but no such transition is observed in the equivalent distribution of molecular gas. H, based SFRs and specific star formation rates (SSFRs) are also compiled for a large (1110) sample of local galaxies. We confirm two transitions as found in previous work: a turnover towards low SFRs at high luminosities, indicative of the quenching of SF characteristic of the red sequence; and a broadening of the SF distribution in low-luminosity dwarf galaxies, again to extremely low SFRs of <10,3 M, yr,1. However, a new finding is that while the upper luminosity transition is mirrored by the turnover in H i content, suggesting that the low SFRs of the red sequence result from a lack of available gas supply, the transition towards a large spread of SFRs in the least luminous dwarf galaxies is not matched by a prominent increase in scatter in gas content. Possible mass-dependent quenching mechanisms are discussed, along with speculations that in low-mass galaxies, the H, luminosity may not faithfully trace the SFR. [source] Shock heating in the group atmosphere of the radio galaxy B2 0838+32AMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 3 2008Nazirah N. Jetha ABSTRACT We present Chandra and radio observations, and analysis of Sloan Digital Sky Survey data, of the radio galaxy B2 0838+32A (4C 32.26) and its environment. The radio galaxy is at the centre of a nearby group that has often been identified with the cluster Abell 695, but we argue that the original Abell cluster is likely to be an unrelated and considerably more distant system. The radio source is a restarting radio galaxy and, using our Chandra data, we argue that the currently active lobes are expanding supersonically, driving a shock with Mach number 2.4+1.0,0.5 into the interstellar medium. This would be only the third strong shock round a young radio source to be discovered, after Centaurus A and NGC 3801. However, in contrast to both these systems, the host galaxy of B2 0838+32A shows no evidence for a recent merger, while the active galactic nuclei (AGN) spectrum shows no evidence for the dusty torus that would imply a large reservoir of cold gas close to the central black hole. On the contrary, the AGN spectrum is of a type that has been associated with the presence of a radiatively inefficient accretion flow that could be controlled by an AGN heating and subsequent cooling of the hot, X-ray emitting gas. If correct, this means that B2 0838+32A is the first source in which we can directly see entropy-increasing processes (shocks) driven by accretion from the hot phase of the interstellar medium. [source] Three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of the large-scale structure of W50,SS433MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 2 2008Jesús Zavala ABSTRACT We present 3D hydrodynamical simulations of a precessing jet propagating inside a supernova remnant (SNR) shell, particularly applied to the W50,SS433 system in a search for the origin of its peculiar elongated morphology. Several runs were carried out with different values for the mass-loss rate of the jet, the initial radius of the SNR, and the opening angle of the precession cone. We found that our models successfully reproduce the scale and morphology of W50 when the opening angle of the jets is set to 10° or if this angle linearly varies with time. For these models, more realistic runs were made considering that the remnant is expanding into an interstellar medium with an exponential density profile (as H i observations suggest). Taking into account all these ingredients, the large-scale morphology of the W50,SS433 system, including the asymmetry between the lobes (formed by the jet,SNR interaction), is well reproduced. [source] Non-local thermodynamic equilibrium dust nucleation in subsaturated vapoursMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 1 2008Davide Lazzati ABSTRACT We use the kinetic theory of nucleation to explore the properties of dust nucleation in subsaturated vapours. Due to radiation losses, the subcritical clusters have a smaller temperature compared to their vapour. This alters the dynamical balance between the attachment and detachment of monomers, allowing for stable nucleation of grains in vapours that are subsaturated for their temperature. We find this effect particularly important at low densities and in the absence of a strong background radiation field. We find new conditions for stable nucleation in the n,T phase diagram. The nucleation in the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) regions is likely to be at much slower rate than in the supersaturated vapours. We evaluate the nucleation rate, warning the reader that it does depend on poorly substantiated properties of the macro-molecules assumed in the computation. On the other hand, the conditions for nucleation depend only on the properties of the large stable grains and are more robust. We finally point out that this mechanism may be relevant in the early Universe as an initial dust pollution mechanism, since once the interstellar medium is polluted with dust, mantle growth is likely to be dominant over non-LTE nucleation in the diffuse medium. [source] On the morphologies, gas fractions, and star formation rates of small galaxiesMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 3 2007Tobias Kaufmann ABSTRACT We use a series of N -body/smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations and analytic arguments to show that the presence of an effective temperature floor in the interstellar medium at TF, 104 K naturally explains the tendency for low-mass galaxies to be more spheroidal, more gas rich, and less efficient in converting baryons into stars than larger galaxies. The trend arises because gas pressure support becomes important compared to angular momentum support in small dark matter haloes. We suggest that dwarf galaxies with rotational velocities , 40 km s,1 do not originate as thin discs, but rather are born as thick, puffy systems. If accreted on to larger haloes, tenuous dwarfs of this kind will be more susceptible to gas loss or tidal transformation than scaled-down versions of larger spirals. For a constant temperature floor, pressure support becomes less important in large haloes, and this produces a tendency for massive isolated galaxies to have thinner discs and more efficient star formation than their less-massive counterparts, as observed. [source] The star formation law in a multifractal ISMMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 3 2007Konstantinos Tassis ABSTRACT The surface density of the star formation rate in different galaxies, as well as in different parts of a single galaxy, scales non-linearly with the surface density of the total gas. This observationally established relation is known as the Kennicutt,Schmidt star formation law. The slope of the star formation law has been shown to change with the density of the gas against which the star formation rate is plotted. This dependence implies a non-linear scaling between the dense gas and the total gas surface densities within galaxies. Here, we explore a possible interpretation of this scaling as a property of the geometry of the interstellar medium (ISM), and we find that it arises naturally if the topology of the ISM is multifractal. Under the additional assumption that, at very high densities, the star formation time-scale is roughly constant, the star formation law itself can also be recovered as a consequence of the multifractal geometry of the ISM. The slope of the scaling depends on the width of the global probability density function (PDF), and is between 1.5 and 1.6 for wide PDFs relevant to high-mass systems, while it is higher for narrower PDFs appropriate for lower mass dwarf galaxies, in agreement with observations. [source] A large-scale extinction map of the Galactic Anticentre from 2MASSMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 4 2007D. Froebrich ABSTRACT We present a 127 × 63 -deg2 extinction map of the Anticentre of the Galaxy, based on ,J,H, and ,H,K, colour excess maps from the Two-Micron All-Sky Survey. This 8001-deg2 map with a resolution of 4 arcmin is provided as online material. The colour excess ratio ,J,H,/,H,K, is used to determine the power-law index of the reddening law (,) for individual regions contained in the area (e.g. Orion, Perseus, Taurus, Auriga, Monoceros, Camelopardalis, Cassiopeia). On average we find a dominant value of ,= 1.8 ± 0.2 for the individual clouds, in agreement with the canonical value for the interstellar medium. We also show that there is an internal scatter of , values in these regions, and that in some areas more than one dominant , values are present. This indicates large-scale variations in the dust properties. The analysis of the AV values within individual regions shows a change in the slope of the column density distribution with distance. This can be attributed either to a change in the governing physical processes in molecular clouds on spatial scales of about 1 pc or to an AV dilution with distance in our map. [source] Radiative torques: analytical model and basic propertiesMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 3 2007A. Lazarian ABSTRACT We attempt to get a physical insight into grain alignment processes by studying basic properties of radiative torques (RATs). For this purpose we consider a simple toy model of a helical grain that reproduces well the basic features of RATs. The model grain consists of a spheroidal body with a mirror attached at an angle to it. Being very simple, the model allows analytical description of RATs that act upon it. We show a good correspondence of RATs obtained for this model and those of irregular grains calculated by ddscat. Our analysis of the role of different torque components for grain alignment reveals that one of the three RAT components does not affect the alignment, but induces only for grain precession. The other two components provide a generic alignment with grain long axes perpendicular to the radiation direction, if the radiation dominates the grain precession, and perpendicular to magnetic field, otherwise. The latter coincides with the famous predictions of the Davis,Greenstein process, but our model does not invoke paramagnetic relaxation. In fact, we identify a narrow range of angles between the radiation beam and the magnetic field, for which the alignment is opposite to the Davis,Greenstein predictions. This range is likely to vanish, however, in the presence of thermal wobbling of grains. In addition, we find that a substantial part of grains subjected to RATs gets aligned with low angular momentum, which testifies that most of the grains in diffuse interstellar medium do not rotate fast, that is, rotate with thermal or even subthermal velocities. This tendency of RATs to decrease grain angular velocity as a result of the RAT alignment decreases the degree of polarization, by decreasing the degree of internal alignment, that is, the alignment of angular momentum with the grain axes. For the radiation-dominated environments, we find that the alignment can take place on the time-scale much shorter than the time of gaseous damping of grain rotation. This effect makes grains a more reliable tracer of magnetic fields. In addition, we study a self-similar scaling of RATs as a function of ,/aeff. We show that the self-similarity is useful for studying grain alignment by a broad spectrum of radiation, that is, interstellar radiation field. [source] Revisiting two local constraints of the Galactic chemical evolutionMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 4 2006M. Haywood ABSTRACT I review the uncertainties in two observational local constraints of the Galactic disc chemical evolution: the metallicity distribution of long-lived dwarfs and the age,metallicity relation. Analysing most recent data, it is shown first that the observed metallicity distribution at solar galactocentric radius, designed with standard methods, is more fit to a closed-box model than to the infall metallicity distribution. We argue that this is due to the specific contribution of the thick-disc population, which has been overlooked both in the derivation of the observed metallicity distribution and in the standard chemical evolution models. Although this agreement disqualifies the metallicity distribution as the best supportive (indirect) evidence for infall, we argue that the evolution must be more complex than described by either the closed-box or the standard infall models. It is then shown that recent determinations of the age,metallicity distribution (AMD) from large Strömgren photometric surveys are dominated by noise resulting from systematic biases in metallicities and effective temperatures. These biases are evaluated and a new AMD is obtained, where particularities of the previous determinations are phased out. The new age,metallicity relation shows a mean increase limited to about a factor of 2 in Z over the disc age. It is shown that below 3 Gyr, the dispersion in metallicity is about 0.1 dex, which, given the observational uncertainties in the derived metallicities, is compatible with the small cosmic dispersion measured on the interstellar medium and meteoritic pre-solar dust grains. A population that is progressively older and more metal rich arises at a metallicity greater than that of the Hyades, to reach [Fe/H],+0.5 dex at ages greater than 5 Gyr. We suggest that this is best explained by radial migration. A symmetrical widening of the metallicity interval towards lower values is seen at about the same age, which is attributed to a similar cause. Finally, the new derived ages are sufficiently consistent that an age,metallicity relation within the thick disc is confirmed. These new features altogether draw a picture of the chemical evolution in the solar neighbourhood where dynamical effects and complexity in the AMD dominate, rather than a generalized high dispersion at all ages. [source] Deep spectroscopy of 9C J1503+4528: a very young compact steep spectrum radio source at z= 0.521MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 4 2006K. J. Inskip ABSTRACT 9C J1503+4528 is a very young compact steep spectrum radio galaxy, with an age of the order of 104 yr. This source is therefore an ideal laboratory for the study of the intrinsic host galaxy/intergalactic medium properties, interactions between the radio source and surrounding interstellar medium, links between star formation and active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity and the radio source triggering mechanism. Here we present the results of a spectroscopic analysis of this source, considering each of these aspects of radio source physics. We find that shock ionization by the young radio source is important in the central regions of the galaxy on scales similar to that of the radio source itself, whilst evidence for an AGN ionization cone is observed at greater distances. Line and continuum features require the presence of a young stellar population (YSP), the best-fitting model for which implies an age of 5 × 106 yr, significantly older than the radio source. Most interestingly, the relative sizes of radio source and extended emission-line region suggest that both AGN and radio source are triggered at approximately the same time. If both the triggering of the radio source activity and the formation of the YSP had the same underlying cause, this source provides a sequence for the events surrounding the triggering process. We propose that the AGN activity in 9C J1503+4528 was caused by a relatively minor interaction, and that a supermassive black hole powering the radio jets must have been in place before the AGN was triggered. [source] Anomalous extinction behaviour towards the Type Ia SN 2003cgMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 4 2006N. Elias-Rosa ABSTRACT We present optical and near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy of the Type Ia SN 2003cg, which exploded in the nearby galaxy NGC 3169. The observations cover a period between ,8.5 and +414 d post-maximum. SN 2003cg is a normal but highly reddened Type Ia event. Its B magnitude at maximum Bmax= 15.94 ± 0.04 and ,m15(B)obs= 1.12 ± 0.04 [,m15(B)intrinsic= 1.25 ± 0.05]. Allowing RV to become a free parameter within the Cardelli et al. extinction law, simultaneous matches to a range of colour curves of normal SNe Ia yielded E(B,V) = 1.33 ± 0.11, and RV= 1.80 ± 0.19. While the value obtained for RV is small, such values have been invoked in the past, and may imply a grain size which is small compared with the average value for the local interstellar medium. [source] Long-term monitoring of the intra-day variable quasar PKS 0405,385MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 1 2006L. Kedziora-Chudczer ABSTRACT The quasar PKS 0405,385 is one of three radio sources (the other two are PKS 1257,326 and J1819+385) which exhibit unusually strong and rapid interstellar scintillations at GHz frequencies. Such a behaviour suggests a nearby (<30 pc away) scattering screen along the line of sight to these radio sources. While quasars PKS 1257,326 and J1819+385 scintillate continuously over several years of monitoring, PKS 0405,385 shows episodes of strong scintillations which last only a few months. Here, I present the results of flux-density monitoring of PKS 0405,385 over 6 yr at four Stokes parameters and four frequencies. Two explanations of the episodic behaviour of interstellar scintillation in this source are discussed; morphological evolution of the source and changes in the properties of the interstellar medium along the line of sight. [source] Cosmic evolution of metal densities: the enrichment of the intergalactic mediumMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 1 2006F. Calura ABSTRACT By means of chemo-photometric models for galaxies of different morphological types, we have carried out a detailed study of the history of element production by spheroidal and dwarf irregular galaxies. Spheroidal galaxies suffer a strong and intense star formation episode at early times. In dwarf irregulars, the star formation rate (SFR) proceeds at a low regime but continuously. Both galactic types enrich the intergalactic medium (IGM) with metals by means of galactic winds. We have assumed that the galaxy number density is fixed and normalized to the value of the optical luminosity function observed in the local Universe. Our models allow us to investigate in detail how the metal fractions locked up in stars in spheroids and dwarf irregulars, those present in the interstellar medium (ISM) and those ejected into the IGM have changed with cosmic time. By relaxing the instantaneous recycling approximation and taking into account stellar lifetimes, for the first time we have studied the evolution of the chemical abundance ratios in the IGM and compared our predictions with a set of observations by various authors. Our results indicate that the bulk of the IGM enrichment is due to spheroids, with dwarf irregular galaxies playing a negligible role. Our predictions grossly account for the [O/H] observed in the IGM at high redshift, but overestimate the [C/H]. Furthermore, it appears hard to reproduce the abundance ratios observed in the high-redshift IGM. Some possible explanations are discussed in the text. This is the first attempt to study the abundance ratios in the IGM by means of detailed chemical evolution models which take into account the stellar lifetimes. Numerical simulations adopting our chemical evolution prescriptions could be useful to improve our understanding of the IGM chemical enrichment. [source] Early-type stars observed in the ESO UVES Paranal Observatory Project , I. Interstellar Na i UV, Ti ii and Ca ii K observations,MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 4 2006I. Hunter ABSTRACT We present an analysis of interstellar Na i (,air= 3302.37 and 3302.98 Å), Ti ii(,air= 3383.76 Å) and Ca ii K (,air= 3933.66 Å) absorption features for 74 sightlines towards O- and B-type stars in the Galactic disc. The data were obtained from the Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph Paranal Observatory Project, at a spectral resolution of 3.75 km s,1 and with mean signal-to-noise ratios per pixel of 260, 300 and 430 for the Na i, Ti ii and Ca ii observations, respectively. Interstellar features were detected in all but one of the Ti ii sightlines and all of the Ca ii sightlines. The dependence of the column density of these three species with distance, height relative to the Galactic plane, H i column density, reddening and depletion relative to the solar abundance has been investigated. We also examine the accuracy of using the Na i column density as an indicator of that for H i. In general, we find similar strong correlations for both Ti and Ca, and weaker correlations for Na. Our results confirm the general belief that Ti and Ca occur in the same regions of the interstellar medium (ISM) and also that the Ti ii/Ca ii ratio is constant over all parameters. We hence conclude that the absorption properties of Ti and Ca are essentially constant under the general ISM conditions of the Galactic disc. [source] ISO observations of 3,200 ,m emission by three dust populations in an isolated local translucent cloudMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 3 2005M. G. Rawlings ABSTRACT We present isophot spectrophotometry of three positions within the isolated high-latitude cirrus cloud G 300.2,16.8, spanning from the near- to far-infrared (NIR to FIR). The positions exhibit contrasting emission spectrum contributions from the unidentified infrared bands (UIBs), very small grains (VSGs) and large classical grains, and both semi-empirical and numerical models are presented. At all three positions, the UIB spectrum shapes are found to be similar and the large grain emission may be fitted by an equilibrium temperature of ,17.5 K. The energy requirements of both the observed emission spectrum and optical scattered light are shown to be satisfied by the incident local interstellar radiation field (ISRF). The FIR emissivity of dust in G 300.2,16.8 is found to be lower than in globules or dense clouds and is even lower than model predictions for dust in the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM). The results suggest physical differences in the ISM mixtures between positions within the cloud, possibly arising from grain coagulation processes. [source] Isochrone ages for field dwarfs: method and application to the age,metallicity relationMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 2 2004Frédéric Pont ABSTRACT A new method is presented to compute age estimates from theoretical isochrones using temperature, luminosity and metallicity data for individual stars. Based on Bayesian probability theory, this method avoids the systematic biases affecting simpler strategies and provides reliable estimates of the age probability distribution function for late-type dwarfs. Basic assumptions concerning the a priori parameter distribution suitable for the solar neighbourhood are combined with the likelihood assigned to the observed data to yield the complete posterior age probability. This method is especially relevant for G dwarfs in the 3,15 Gyr range of ages, crucial to the study of the chemical and dynamical history of the Galaxy. In many cases, it yields markedly different results from the traditional approach of reading the derived age from the isochrone nearest to the data point. We show that the strongest process affecting the traditional approach is that of strongly favouring computed ages near the end-of-main-sequence lifetime. The Bayesian method compensates for this potential bias and generally assigns much higher probabilities to lower main-sequence ages, compared with short-lived evolved stages. This has a strong influence on any application to galactic studies, especially given the present uncertainties on the absolute temperature scale of the stellar evolution models. In particular, the known mismatch between the model predictions and the observations for moderately metal-poor dwarfs (,1 < [Fe/H] < ,0.3) has a dramatic effect on the traditional age determination. We apply our method to the classic sample of Edvardsson et al., who derived the age,metallicity relation (AMR) of 189 field dwarfs with precisely determined abundances. We show how much of the observed scatter in the AMR is caused by the interplay between the systematic biases affecting the traditional age determination, the colour mismatch with the evolution models and the presence of undetected binaries. Using new parallax, temperature and metallicity data, our age determination for the same sample indicates that the intrinsic dispersion in the AMR is at most 0.15 dex and probably lower. In particular, we show that old, metal-rich objects ([Fe/H], 0.0 dex, age > 5 Gyr) and young, metal-poor objects ([Fe/H] < ,0.5 dex, age < 6 Gyr) in many observed AMR plots are artefacts caused by too simple a treatment of the age determination. The incompatibility of those AMR plots with a well-mixed interstellar medium may therefore only be apparent. Incidentally, our results tend to restore confidence in the method of age determination from the chromospheric activity for field dwarfs. [source] High-resolution observations of interstellar Na i and Ca ii towards the southern opening of the ,Local Interstellar Chimney': probing the disc,halo connectionMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 2 2002I. A. Crawford ABSTRACT We present high-resolution (R= 400 000) observations of interstellar Ca ii and Na i absorption lines towards seven stars in the direction of the southern opening of the recently identified Local Interstellar Chimney. These lines of sight probe the lower Galactic halo (0.3 ,|z|, 2.5 kpc), without the complication of sampling dense foreground interstellar material. In addition to components with velocities expected from Galactic rotation, these stars also exhibit components with negative local standard of rest velocities, which are contrary to the sense of Galactic rotation for the sightlines observed. After a discussion of possible origins for these peculiar velocities, we conclude that at least some of them result from gas falling towards the Galactic plane from distances of |z|, 300 pc. The narrow linewidths are generally inconsistent with temperatures as high as the ,6000 K generally assumed for the so-called Lockman layer. Rather, the picture that emerges is one of a scattered, generally infalling, population of high- |z| diffuse clouds, seemingly not very different from those encountered in the local interstellar medium. Overall, we argue that our results are most consistent with a ,Galactic fountain' model. [source] Narrow-band CCD photometry of giant H ii regionsMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 3 2002Guillermo Bosch We have obtained accurate CCD narrow-band H, and H, photometry of giant H ii regions (GEHRs) in M33, NGC 6822 and M101. Comparison with previous determinations of emission-line fluxes shows large discrepancies; their probable origins are discussed. Combining our new photometric data with global velocity dispersion (,) derived from emission linewidths, we review the relation. A re-analysis of the properties of the GEHRs included in our sample shows that age spread and the superposition of components in multiple regions introduce a considerable spread in the regression. Combining the information available in the literature regarding ages of the associated clusters, evolutionary footprints on the interstellar medium, and kinematical properties of the knots that build up the multiple GEHRs, we find that a subsample , which we refer to as young and single GEHRs , do follow a tight relation in the plane. [source] An elementary model for the dust cycle in galaxiesMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 1 2001M.G. Edmunds We give an elementary model for the evolution of dust in galaxies, based on abundance arguments. The model takes account of grain core production in both supernovae and giant stars, and includes mantle growth in the interstellar medium. Destruction of grain cores does not appear to be a dominant effect. We show that a self-consistent picture can be made in which the interstellar dust mass is an approximately constant fraction of the heavy element mass in the interstellar medium. This result is demonstrated to be essentially independent of outflow or inflow of interstellar material. [source] A smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulation of the collapse of the interstellar mediumMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 1 2001Y. Golanski A smoothed particle hydrodynamic (SPH) code is used to model a collapsing region of the interstellar medium (ISM). A region of the ISM is seeded with coolant material ejected from a supernova. The resulting pressure imbalance between the cooling region and the surrounding ISM induces collapse. The collapse first forms dense low-temperature regions (protoclouds) each containing several tens of solar masses of material and in quasi-equilibrium with the surrounding ISM. Turbulence is generated within the collapsing regions as they form. Collisions between protoclouds leads to regions of further increased mass and density, the final outcome being a dense cold cloud with mean density 10,18 kg m,3, mean temperature about 20 K and total mass a few hundred solar masses. The final cloud is sufficiently turbulent for star formation to occur within it. A new form of boundary condition was used in the SPH simulation to solve the problem inherent in modelling a continuum. [source] , Velorum: another variable interstellar sightline?MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 2 2000I. A. Crawford We present ultra-high-resolution (R = 900 000) observations of interstellar Na i and K i absorption lines towards , Vel (HD 81188) which show clear evidence for temporal variation between 1994 and 2000. Specifically, the column densities of K0 and Na0 in the main velocity component have increased by 40 and 16 per cent, respectively, over this period. Earlier work had suggested that this component actually consists of two unresolved sub-components; this result is confirmed here, and the overall line profile is found to be consistent with only one of these sub-components having increased in strength since 1994. We argue that this variation is consistent with the line of sight gradually probing a cold, dense interstellar filament of the kind recently proposed by Heiles to explain other observations of small-scale structure in the interstellar medium. [source] | ||||||||||