Tracing Low-Mass Star Formation in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petr-Gotzens, Monika; Zivkov, V.; Oliveira, J.

2017-06-01

Star formation in low metallicity environments is evidently occurring under different conditions than in our Milky Way. Lower metallicity implies a lower dust to gas ratio, most likely leading to less cooling efficiency at high density molecular cores where low mass stars are expected to form. We outline a project that aims to identify the low mass pre-main sequence populations within the Large and Small Magellanic Cloud. We developed an automatic detection algorithm that systematically analyses near-infrared colour-magnitude diagrammes constructed from the VMC (VISTA Magellanic Clouds) public survey data. In this poster we present our first results that show that we are able to detect significant numbers of PMS stars with masses down to 1.5 solar mass.

An LTE effective temperature scale for red supergiants in the Magellanic clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tabernero, H. M.; Dorda, R.; Negueruela, I.; González-Fernández, C.

2018-05-01

We present a self-consistent study of cool supergiants (CSGs) belonging to the Magellanic clouds. We calculated stellar atmospheric parameters using LTE KURUCZ and MARCS atmospheric models for more than 400 individual targets by fitting a careful selection of weak metallic lines. We explore the existence of a Teff scale and its implications in two different metallicity environments (each Magellanic cloud). Critical and in-depth tests have been performed to assess the reliability of our stellar parameters (i.e. internal error budget, NLTE systematics). In addition, several Monte Carlo tests have been carried out to infer the significance of the Teff scale found. Our findings point towards a unique Teff scale that seems to be independent of the environment.

The Magellan Final Report on Cloud Computing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

,; Coghlan, Susan; Yelick, Katherine

The goal of Magellan, a project funded through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR), was to investigate the potential role of cloud computing in addressing the computing needs for the DOE Office of Science (SC), particularly related to serving the needs of mid- range computing and future data-intensive computing workloads. A set of research questions was formed to probe various aspects of cloud computing from performance, usability, and cost. To address these questions, a distributed testbed infrastructure was deployed at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) and the National Energy Research Scientific Computingmore » Center (NERSC). The testbed was designed to be flexible and capable enough to explore a variety of computing models and hardware design points in order to understand the impact for various scientific applications. During the project, the testbed also served as a valuable resource to application scientists. Applications from a diverse set of projects such as MG-RAST (a metagenomics analysis server), the Joint Genome Institute, the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, and the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO), were used by the Magellan project for benchmarking within the cloud, but the project teams were also able to accomplish important production science utilizing the Magellan cloud resources.« less

An Ultra-faint Galaxy Candidate Discovered in Early Data from the Magellanic Satellites Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drlica-Wagner, A.; Bechtol, K.; Allam, S.; Tucker, D. L.; Gruendl, R. A.; Johnson, M. D.; Walker, A. R.; James, D. J.; Nidever, D. L.; Olsen, K. A. G.; Wechsler, R. H.; Cioni, M. R. L.; Conn, B. C.; Kuehn, K.; Li, T. S.; Mao, Y.-Y.; Martin, N. F.; Neilsen, E.; Noel, N. E. D.; Pieres, A.; Simon, J. D.; Stringfellow, G. S.; van der Marel, R. P.; Yanny, B.

2016-12-01

We report a new ultra-faint stellar system found in Dark Energy Camera data from the first observing run of the Magellanic Satellites Survey (MagLiteS). MagLiteS J0644-5953 (Pictor II or Pic II) is a low surface brightness (μ ={28.5}-1+1 {mag} {arcsec}{}-2 within its half-light radius) resolved overdensity of old and metal-poor stars located at a heliocentric distance of {45}-4+5 {kpc}. The physical size ({r}1/2={46}-11+15 {pc} ) and low luminosity ({M}V=-{3.2}-0.5+0.4 {mag} ) of this satellite are consistent with the locus of spectroscopically confirmed ultra-faint galaxies. MagLiteS J0644-5953 (Pic II) is located {11.3}-0.9+3.1 {kpc} from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), and comparisons with simulation results in the literature suggest that this satellite was likely accreted with the LMC. The close proximity of MagLiteS J0644-5953 (Pic II) to the LMC also makes it the most likely ultra-faint galaxy candidate to still be gravitationally bound to the LMC.

The Distribution and Ages of Star Clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud: Constraints on the Interaction History of the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bitsakis, Theodoros; González-Lópezlira, R. A.; Bonfini, P.; Bruzual, G.; Maravelias, G.; Zaritsky, D.; Charlot, S.; Ramírez-Siordia, V. H.

2018-02-01

We present a new study of the spatial distribution and ages of the star clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). To detect and estimate the ages of the star clusters we rely on the new fully automated method developed by Bitsakis et al. Our code detects 1319 star clusters in the central 18 deg2 of the SMC we surveyed (1108 of which have never been reported before). The age distribution of those clusters suggests enhanced cluster formation around 240 Myr ago. It also implies significant differences in the cluster distribution of the bar with respect to the rest of the galaxy, with the younger clusters being predominantly located in the bar. Having used the same setup, and data from the same surveys as for our previous study of the LMC, we are able to robustly compare the cluster properties between the two galaxies. Our results suggest that the bulk of the clusters in both galaxies were formed approximately 300 Myr ago, probably during a direct collision between the two galaxies. On the other hand, the locations of the young (≤50 Myr) clusters in both Magellanic Clouds, found where their bars join the H I arms, suggest that cluster formation in those regions is a result of internal dynamical processes. Finally, we discuss the potential causes of the apparent outside-in quenching of cluster formation that we observe in the SMC. Our findings are consistent with an evolutionary scheme where the interactions between the Magellanic Clouds constitute the major mechanism driving their overall evolution.

B, V Photometry for ~19,000 Stars in and around the Magellanic Cloud Globular Clusters NGC 1466, NGC 1841, NGC 2210, NGC 2257, and Reticulum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeon, Young-Beom; Nemec, James M.; Walker, Alistair R.; Kunder, Andrea M.

2014-06-01

Homogeneous B, V photometry is presented for 19,324 stars in and around 5 Magellanic Cloud globular clusters: NGC 1466, NGC 1841, NGC 2210, NGC 2257, and Reticulum. The photometry is derived from eight nights of CCD imaging with the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory 0.9 m SMARTS telescope. Instrumental magnitudes were transformed to the Johnson B, V system using accurate calibration relations based on a large sample of Landolt-Stetson equatorial standard stars, which were observed on the same nights as the cluster stars. Residual analysis of the equatorial standards used for the calibration, and validation of the new photometry using Stetson's sample of secondary standards in the vicinities of the five Large Magellanic Cloud clusters, shows excellent agreement with our values in both magnitudes and colors. Color-magnitude diagrams reaching to the main-sequence turnoffs at V ~ 22 mag, sigma-magnitude diagrams, and various other summaries are presented for each cluster to illustrate the range and quality of the new photometry. The photometry should prove useful for future studies of the Magellanic Cloud globular clusters, particularly studies of their variable stars.

Mass Loss from Dusty AGB and Red Supergiant Stars in the Magellanic Clouds and in the Galaxy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sargent, Benjamin A.; Srinivasan, Sundar; Meixner, Margaret; Kastner, Joel

2016-01-01

Asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and red supergiant (RSG) stars are evolved stars that eject large parts of their mass in outflows of dust and gas. As part of an ongoing effort to measure mass loss from evolved stars in our Galaxy and in the Magellanic Clouds, we are modeling mass loss from AGB and RSG stars in these galaxies. Our approach is twofold. We pursue radiative transfer modeling of the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of AGB and RSG stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), and in the Galactic bulge and in globular clusters of the Milky Way. We are also constructing detailed dust opacity models of AGB and RSG stars in these galaxies for which we have infrared spectra; e.g., from the Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Spectrograph (IRS). Our sample of infrared spectra largely comes from Spitzer-IRS observations. The detailed dust modeling of spectra informs our choice of dust properties to use in radiative transfer modeling of SEDs. We seek to determine how mass loss from these evolved stars depends upon the metallicity of their host environments. BAS acknowledges funding from NASA ADAP grant NNX15AF15G.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: OGLE Magellanic Clouds anomalous Cepheids (Soszynski+, 2015)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soszynski, I.; Udalski, A.; Szymanski, M. K.; Pietrzynski, G.; Wyrzykowski, L.; Ulaczyk, K.; Poleski, R.; Pietrukowicz, P.; Kozlowski, S.; Skowron, J.; Mroz, P.; Pawlak, M.

2016-06-01

Time-series I and V-band photometry of the Magellanic Clouds was obtained in the years 2010-2015 using the 32-chip mosaic CCD camera mounted at the focus of the 1.3-m Warsaw Telescope located at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. The observatory is operated by the Carnegie Institution for Science. The OGLE- IV camera has a total field of view of 1.4 square degrees and pixel scale of 0.26". The OGLE-IV fields cover approximately 650 square degrees in both Clouds and a region between both galaxies, the so-called Magellanic Bridge. For each field we obtained from 90 (in sparse regions far from the centers of the Magellanic Clouds) to over 750 observing points (in the densest fields) in the Cousins I-band and from several to over 260 points in the Johnson V-band. Data reduction of the OGLE images was performed using the Difference Image Analysis technique (Alard and Lupton 1998ApJ...503..325A, Wozniak 2000). Detailed descriptions of the instrumentation, photometric reductions and astrometric calibrations of the OGLE-IV data are provided by Udalski et al. (2015, Cat. J/AcA/50/421). (8 data files).

How Common are the Magellanic Clouds

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Lulu; Gerke, Brian F.; Wechsler, Risa H.

2011-05-20

We introduce a probabilistic approach to the problem of counting dwarf satellites around host galaxies in databases with limited redshift information. This technique is used to investigate the occurrence of satellites with luminosities similar to the Magellanic Clouds around hosts with properties similar to the Milky Way in the object catalog of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Our analysis uses data from SDSS Data Release 7, selecting candidate Milky-Way-like hosts from the spectroscopic catalog and candidate analogs of the Magellanic Clouds from the photometric catalog. Our principal result is the probability for a Milky-Way-like galaxy to host N{sub sat} closemore » satellites with luminosities similar to the Magellanic Clouds. We find that 81 percent of galaxies like the Milky Way have no such satellites within a radius of 150 kpc, 11 percent have one, and only 3.5 percent of hosts have two. The probabilities are robust to changes in host and satellite selection criteria, background-estimation technique, and survey depth. These results demonstrate that the Milky Way has significantly more satellites than a typical galaxy of its luminosity; this fact is useful for understanding the larger cosmological context of our home galaxy.« less

The Chemistry of Extragalactic Carbon Stars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Woods, Paul; Walsh, C.; Cordiner, M. A.; Kemper, F.

2013-01-01

Prompted by the ongoing interest in Spitzer Infrared Spectrometer spectra of carbon stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud, we have investigated the circumstellar chemistry of carbon stars in low-metallicity environments. Consistent with observations, our models show that acetylene is particularly abundant in the inner regions of low metallicity carbon-rich asymptotic giant branch stars - more abundant than carbon monoxide. As a consequence, larger hydrocarbons have higher abundances at the metallicities of the Magellanic Clouds than in stars with solar metallicity. We also find that the oxygen and nitrogen chemistry is suppressed at lower metallicity, as expected. Finally, we calculate molecular line emission from carbon stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Cloud and find that several molecules should be readily detectable with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array at Full Science operations.

Chemical Abundances of Metal-poor RR Lyrae Stars in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haschke, Raoul; Grebel, Eva K.; Frebel, Anna; Duffau, Sonia; Hansen, Camilla J.; Koch, Andreas

2012-09-01

We present for the first time a detailed spectroscopic study of chemical element abundances of metal-poor RR Lyrae stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Cloud (LMC and SMC). Using the MagE echelle spectrograph at the 6.5 m Magellan telescopes, we obtain medium resolution (R ~ 2000-6000) spectra of six RR Lyrae stars in the LMC and three RR Lyrae stars in the SMC. These stars were chosen because their previously determined photometric metallicities were among the lowest metallicities found for stars belonging to the old populations in the Magellanic Clouds. We find the spectroscopic metallicities of these stars to be as low as [Fe/H]spec = -2.7 dex, the lowest metallicity yet measured for any star in the Magellanic Clouds. We confirm that for metal-poor stars, the photometric metallicities from the Fourier decomposition of the light curves are systematically too high compared to their spectroscopic counterparts. However, for even more metal-poor stars below [Fe/H]phot < -2.8 dex this trend is reversed and the spectroscopic metallicities are systematically higher than the photometric estimates. We are able to determine abundance ratios for 10 chemical elements (Fe, Na, Mg, Al, Ca, Sc, Ti, Cr, Sr, and Ba), which extend the abundance measurements of chemical elements for RR Lyrae stars in the Clouds beyond [Fe/H] for the first time. For the overall [α/Fe] ratio, we obtain an overabundance of 0.36 dex, which is in very good agreement with results from metal-poor stars in the Milky Way halo as well as from the metal-poor tail in dwarf spheroidal galaxies. Comparing the abundances with those of the stars in the Milky Way halo we find that the abundance ratios of stars of both populations are consistent with another. Therefore, we conclude that from a chemical point of view early contributions from Magellanic-type galaxies to the formation of the Galactic halo as claimed in cosmological models are plausible. This paper includes data gathered with the 6.5 meter Magellan Telescopes located at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile.

A Runaway Yellow Supergiant Star in the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neugent, Kathryn; Massey, Phil; Morrell, Nidia

2018-01-01

Around 35% of OB stars are thought to be runaways formed through supernova explosions of companions, interactions with black holes, or close encounters with neighboring stars. Once these OB stars begin running away from their birthplace they eventually begin to evolve. However, few runaway evolved massive stars have been found, especially in galaxies other than the Milky Way. We recently stumbled across a Yellow Supergiant (YSG) in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) with a heliocentric radial velocity ~150 km/s larger than expected. This velocity suggests that over the course of 10 million years, the YSG has moved 1.6 degrees across the plane of the SMC. A visual inspection of the locations of YSGs within the SMC shows that this star is on the outer edge of where the YSGs are located and not in an OB association. Runaway stars are also associated with bow shocks and this is primarily how such stars have been detected before. At a distance of the SMC, a bow shock would extend 2.8" away from the star and should be detectable using ground based telescopes. We have plans to search for such a bow shock and should know the results by the time of the meeting.

Astrophysical properties of star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds homogeneously estimated by ASteCA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perren, G. I.; Piatti, A. E.; Vázquez, R. A.

2017-06-01

Aims: We seek to produce a homogeneous catalog of astrophysical parameters of 239 resolved star clusters, located in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, observed in the Washington photometric system. Methods: The cluster sample was processed with the recently introduced Automated Stellar Cluster Analysis (ASteCA) package, which ensures both an automatized and a fully reproducible treatment, together with a statistically based analysis of their fundamental parameters and associated uncertainties. The fundamental parameters determined for each cluster with this tool, via a color-magnitude diagram (CMD) analysis, are metallicity, age, reddening, distance modulus, and total mass. Results: We generated a homogeneous catalog of structural and fundamental parameters for the studied cluster sample and performed a detailed internal error analysis along with a thorough comparison with values taken from 26 published articles. We studied the distribution of cluster fundamental parameters in both Clouds and obtained their age-metallicity relationships. Conclusions: The ASteCA package can be applied to an unsupervised determination of fundamental cluster parameters, which is a task of increasing relevance as more data becomes available through upcoming surveys. A table with the estimated fundamental parameters for the 239 clusters analyzed is only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/602/A89

KINEMATIC STRUCTURE OF MOLECULAR GAS AROUND HIGH-MASS YSO, PAPILLON NEBULA, IN N159 EAST IN THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD: A NEW PERSPECTIVE WITH ALMA

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Saigo, Kazuya; Harada, Ryohei; Kawamura, Akiko

We present the ALMA Band 3 and Band 6 results of {sup 12}CO(2-1), {sup 13}CO(2-1), H30 α recombination line, free–free emission around 98 GHz, and the dust thermal emission around 230 GHz toward the N159 East Giant Molecular Cloud (N159E) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). LMC is the nearest active high-mass star-forming face-on galaxy at a distance of 50 kpc and is the best target for studing high-mass star formation. ALMA observations show that N159E is the complex of filamentary clouds with the width and length of ∼1 pc and several parsecs. The total molecular mass is 0.92 ×more » 10{sup 5} M {sub ⊙} from the {sup 13}CO(2-1) intensity. N159E harbors the well-known Papillon Nebula, a compact high-excitation H ii region. We found that a YSO associated with the Papillon Nebula has the mass of 35 M {sub ⊙} and is located at the intersection of three filamentary clouds. It indicates that the formation of the high-mass YSO was induced by the collision of filamentary clouds. Fukui et al. reported a similar kinematic structure toward two YSOs in the N159 West region, which are the other YSOs that have the mass of ≳35 M {sub ⊙}. This suggests that the collision of filamentary clouds is a primary mechanism of high-mass star formation. We found a small molecular hole around the YSO in Papillon Nebula with a sub-parsec scale. It is filled by free–free and H30 α emission. The temperature of the molecular gas around the hole reaches ∼80 K. It indicates that this YSO has just started the distruction of parental molecular cloud.« less

Kinematic Structure of Molecular Gas around High-mass YSO, Papillon Nebula, in N159 East in the Large Magellanic Cloud: A New Perspective with ALMA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saigo, Kazuya; Onishi, Toshikazu; Nayak, Omnarayani; Meixner, Margaret; Tokuda, Kazuki; Harada, Ryohei; Morioka, Yuuki; Sewiło, Marta; Indebetouw, Remy; Torii, Kazufumi; Kawamura, Akiko; Ohama, Akio; Hattori, Yusuke; Yamamoto, Hiroaki; Tachihara, Kengo; Minamidani, Tetsuhiro; Inoue, Tsuyoshi; Madden, Suzanne; Galametz, Maud; Lebouteiller, Vianney; Chen, C.-H. Rosie; Mizuno, Norikazu; Fukui, Yasuo

2017-01-01

We present the ALMA Band 3 and Band 6 results of 12CO(2-1), 13CO(2-1), H30α recombination line, free-free emission around 98 GHz, and the dust thermal emission around 230 GHz toward the N159 East Giant Molecular Cloud (N159E) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). LMC is the nearest active high-mass star-forming face-on galaxy at a distance of 50 kpc and is the best target for studing high-mass star formation. ALMA observations show that N159E is the complex of filamentary clouds with the width and length of ˜1 pc and several parsecs. The total molecular mass is 0.92 × 105 M⊙ from the 13CO(2-1) intensity. N159E harbors the well-known Papillon Nebula, a compact high-excitation H II region. We found that a YSO associated with the Papillon Nebula has the mass of 35 M⊙ and is located at the intersection of three filamentary clouds. It indicates that the formation of the high-mass YSO was induced by the collision of filamentary clouds. Fukui et al. reported a similar kinematic structure toward two YSOs in the N159 West region, which are the other YSOs that have the mass of ≳35 M⊙. This suggests that the collision of filamentary clouds is a primary mechanism of high-mass star formation. We found a small molecular hole around the YSO in Papillon Nebula with a sub-parsec scale. It is filled by free-free and H30α emission. The temperature of the molecular gas around the hole reaches ˜80 K. It indicates that this YSO has just started the distruction of parental molecular cloud.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lu, Yu; Benson, Andrew; Mao, Yao -Yuan

Many properties of the Milky Way's (MW) dark matter halo, including its mass-assembly history, concentration, and subhalo population, remain poorly constrained. We explore the connection between these properties of the MW and its satellite galaxy population, especially the implication of the presence of the Magellanic Clouds for the properties of the MW halo. Using a suite of high-resolution N-body simulations of MW-mass halos with a fixed finalmore » $${M}_{\\mathrm{vir}}\\sim {10}^{12.1}\\,{M}_{\\odot }$$, we find that the presence of Magellanic Cloud-like satellites strongly correlates with the assembly history, concentration, and subhalo population of the host halo, such that MW-mass systems with Magellanic Clouds have lower concentration, more rapid recent accretion, and more massive subhalos than typical halos of the same mass. Using a flexible semi-analytic galaxy formation model that is tuned to reproduce the stellar mass function of the classical dwarf galaxies of the MW with Markov-Chain Monte-Carlo, we show that adopting host halos with different mass-assembly histories and concentrations can lead to different best-fit models for galaxy-formation physics, especially for the strength of feedback. These biases arise because the presence of the Magellanic Clouds boosts the overall population of high-mass subhalos, thus requiring a different stellar-mass-to-halo-mass ratio to match the data. These biases also lead to significant differences in the mass–metallicity relation, the kinematics of low-mass satellites, the number counts of small satellites associated with the Magellanic Clouds, and the stellar mass of MW itself. Finally, observations of these galaxy properties can thus provide useful constraints on the properties of the MW halo.« less

The connection between the host halo and the satellite galaxies of the Milky Way

DOE PAGES

Lu, Yu; Benson, Andrew; Mao, Yao -Yuan; ...

2016-10-11

Many properties of the Milky Way's (MW) dark matter halo, including its mass-assembly history, concentration, and subhalo population, remain poorly constrained. We explore the connection between these properties of the MW and its satellite galaxy population, especially the implication of the presence of the Magellanic Clouds for the properties of the MW halo. Using a suite of high-resolution N-body simulations of MW-mass halos with a fixed finalmore » $${M}_{\\mathrm{vir}}\\sim {10}^{12.1}\\,{M}_{\\odot }$$, we find that the presence of Magellanic Cloud-like satellites strongly correlates with the assembly history, concentration, and subhalo population of the host halo, such that MW-mass systems with Magellanic Clouds have lower concentration, more rapid recent accretion, and more massive subhalos than typical halos of the same mass. Using a flexible semi-analytic galaxy formation model that is tuned to reproduce the stellar mass function of the classical dwarf galaxies of the MW with Markov-Chain Monte-Carlo, we show that adopting host halos with different mass-assembly histories and concentrations can lead to different best-fit models for galaxy-formation physics, especially for the strength of feedback. These biases arise because the presence of the Magellanic Clouds boosts the overall population of high-mass subhalos, thus requiring a different stellar-mass-to-halo-mass ratio to match the data. These biases also lead to significant differences in the mass–metallicity relation, the kinematics of low-mass satellites, the number counts of small satellites associated with the Magellanic Clouds, and the stellar mass of MW itself. Finally, observations of these galaxy properties can thus provide useful constraints on the properties of the MW halo.« less

Reconstructing the Initial Relaxation Time of Young Star Clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud: The Evolution of Star Clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Portegies Zwart, S. F.; Chen, H.-C.

2008-06-01

We reconstruct the initial two-body relaxation time at the half mass radius for a sample of young ⪉ 300 Myr star clusters in the Large Magellanic cloud. We achieve this by simulating star clusters with 12288 to 131072 stars using direct N-body integration. The equations of motion of all stars are calculated with high precision direct N-body simulations which include the effects of the evolution of single stars and binaries. We find that the initial relaxation times of the sample of observed clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud ranges from about 200 Myr to about 2 Gyr. The reconstructed initial half-mass relaxation times for these clusters have a much narrower distribution than the currently observed distribution, which ranges over more than two orders of magnitude.

Tracing Star Formation in the Outskirts of the Milky Way

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casetti, Dana

Discovery of the presence of young stars in the Leading Arm of the Magellanic Stream and in the periphery of the Large Magellanic Cloud (Casetti-Dinescu et al. 2014, Moni Bidin et al. 2017) poses a fundamental question as to how star formation can occur in intergalactic space within an environment of very low gas density. Recent models indicate that the hydrodynamical interaction with the gaseous component of the Milky Way may be of significant importance in shaping the Leading Arm of the Magellanic Stream; however models are still poorly constrained due to a lack of observational data. The existence of such stars is crucial as it informs on both star-formation and the Clouds' interaction with one another and with the Milky Way. Moreover, stars, as opposed to gas, provide secure distances to constrain the interactions. In the discovery of these young stars, the GALEX UV mission played the key role in selecting potential candidates. Together with infrared photometry from 2MASS and optical V from ground-based data, our team developed a method to select such candidates that were then followed up with spectroscopy (Casetti-Dinescu et al. 2012). This pilot study demonstrated that, with large sky coverage, our team could explore significant portions of the Magellanic Stream, whereas previously only regions adjacent to the Clouds had been studied. Still, the pilot study was limited to the southern sky (Dec. d -20°). Here, we propose to recreate a young-star candidate list using two completed NASA space missions: the recently updated GALEX (DR6plus7) and the infrared WISE missions. Together with optical photometry from Gaia DR1 (and/or PanSTARRS), we will increase the sample of candidate OB-type stars by exploring a volume of space over four times that of our previous, pilot study. The area coverage for the proposed new study will be the entire sky; previous spatial gaps in earlier versions of GALEX are now filled in, and the depth of the study will increase by 0.3 to 0.5 magnitudes due to use of AllWISE. By covering the entire sky, we will be able to explore the presence (or lack thereof) of such stars diametrically opposite to the LA, where it is inferred the Magellanic Stream is crossing the Galactic plane a second time, if the Clouds have had two pericenter passages about the Galaxy. Alternatively, we may find entirely new structure at the edge of the Galactic disk, related to interactions with other yet-unknown Milky-Way satellites, or due to ejection mechanisms from OB associations in the disk. Star-forming regions as informed from OB-type stars have been studied in our Galaxy and in external galaxies, in well-known gas-rich regions. The novelty of our study is that it is designed to find such stars in unexpected regions by exploring the entire sky. It is noted that within the time frame of this proposal, Gaia data release 2 will become available; therefore, with these candidates having already been identified, we will be able to further investigate their distances and kinematics. Our list of candidates will be made publicly available for follow-up spectroscopic studies.

Clouds, Streams and Bridges. Redrawing the blueprint of the Magellanic System with Gaia DR1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belokurov, Vasily; Erkal, Denis; Deason, Alis J.; Koposov, Sergey E.; De Angeli, Francesca; Evans, Dafydd Wyn; Fraternali, Filippo; Mackey, Dougal

2017-04-01

We present the discovery of stellar tidal tails around the Large and the Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC, respectively) in the Gaia DR1 data. In between the Clouds, their tidal arms are stretched towards each other to form an almost continuous stellar bridge. Our analysis relies on the exquisite quality of the Gaia's photometric catalogue to build detailed star-count maps of the Clouds. We demonstrate that the Gaia DR1 data can be used to detect variable stars across the whole sky, and, in particular, RR Lyrae stars in and around the LMC and the SMC. Additionally, we use a combination of Gaia and GALEX to follow the distribution of Young Main Sequence stars in the Magellanic System. Viewed by Gaia, the Clouds show unmistakable signs of interaction. Around the LMC, clumps of RR Lyrae are observable as far as ˜20°, in agreement with the most recent map of Mira-like stars reported in Deason et al. The SMC's outer stellar density contours show a characteristic S-shape, symptomatic of the onset of tidal stripping. Beyond several degrees from the centre of the dwarf, the Gaia RR Lyrae stars trace the Cloud's trailing arm, extending towards the LMC. This stellar tidal tail mapped with RR Lyrae is not aligned with the gaseous Magellanic Bridge, and is shifted by some ˜5° from the Young Main Sequence bridge. We use the offset between the bridges to put constraints on the density of the hot gaseous corona of the Milky Way.

The Late-type Eclipsing Binaries in the Large Magellanic Cloud: Catalog of Fundamental Physical Parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graczyk, Dariusz; Pietrzyński, Grzegorz; Thompson, Ian B.; Gieren, Wolfgang; Pilecki, Bogumił; Konorski, Piotr; Villanova, Sandro; Górski, Marek; Suchomska, Ksenia; Karczmarek, Paulina; Stepień, Kazimierz; Storm, Jesper; Taormina, Mónica; Kołaczkowski, Zbigniew; Wielgórski, Piotr; Narloch, Weronika; Zgirski, Bartłomiej; Gallenne, Alexandre; Ostrowski, Jakub; Smolec, Radosław; Udalski, Andrzej; Soszyński, Igor; Kervella, Pierre; Nardetto, Nicolas; Szymański, Michał K.; Wyrzykowski, Łukasz; Ulaczyk, Krzysztof; Poleski, Radosław; Pietrukowicz, Paweł; Kozłowski, Szymon; Skowron, Jan; Mróz, Przemysław

2018-06-01

We present a determination of the precise fundamental physical parameters of 20 detached, double-lined, eclipsing binary stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) containing G- or early K-type giant stars. Eleven are new systems; the remaining nine are systems already analyzed by our team for which we present updated parameters. The catalog results from our long-term survey of eclipsing binaries in the Magellanic Clouds suitable for high-precision determination of distances (the Araucaria Project). The V-band brightnesses of the systems range from 15.4 to 17.7 mag, and their orbital periods range from 49 to 773 days. Six systems have favorable geometry showing total eclipses. The absolute dimensions of all eclipsing binary components are calculated with a precision of better than 3%, and all systems are suitable for a precise distance determination. The measured stellar masses are in the range 1.4 to 4.6 M ⊙, and comparison with the MESA isochrones gives ages between 0.1 and 2.1 Gyr. The systems show an age–metallicity relation with no evolution of metallicity for systems older than 0.6 Gyr, followed by a rise to a metallicity maximum at age 0.5 Gyr and then a slow metallicity decrease until 0.1 Gyr. Two systems have components with very different masses: OGLE LMC-ECL-05430 and OGLE LMC-ECL-18365. Neither system can be fitted by a single stellar evolution isochrone, explained by a past mass transfer scenario in the case of ECL-18365 and a gravitational capture or hierarchical binary merger scenario in the case of ECL-05430. The longest-period system, OGLE LMC SC9_230659, shows a surprising apsidal motion that shifts the apparent position of the eclipses. This is a clear sign of a physical companion to the system; however, neither investigation of the spectra nor light-curve analysis indicates a third-light contribution larger than 2%–3%. In one spectrum of OGLE LMC-ECL-12669, we noted a peculiar dimming of one of the components by 65% well outside of the eclipses. We interpret this observation as arising from an extremely rare occultation event, as a foreground Galactic object covers only one component of an extragalactic eclipsing binary.

An ultra-faint galaxy candidate discovered in early data from the Magellanic Satellites Survey

DOE PAGES

Drlica-Wagner, A.; Bechtol, Keith; Allam, S.; ...

2016-11-30

Here, we report a new ultra-faint stellar system found in Dark Energy Camera data from the first observing run of the Magellanic Satellites Survey (MagLiteS). MagLiteS J0644–5953 (Pictor II or Pic II) is a low surface brightness (more » $$\\mu ={28.5}_{-1}^{+1}\\,\\mathrm{mag}\\,\\,\\mathrm{arcsec}{}^{-2}$$ within its half-light radius) resolved overdensity of old and metal-poor stars located at a heliocentric distance of $${45}_{-4}^{+5}\\,\\mathrm{kpc}$$. The physical size ($${r}_{1/2}={46}_{-11}^{+15}\\,\\mathrm{pc}\\,$$) and low luminosity ($${M}_{V}=-{3.2}_{-0.5}^{+0.4}\\,\\mathrm{mag}\\,$$) of this satellite are consistent with the locus of spectroscopically confirmed ultra-faint galaxies. MagLiteS J0644–5953 (Pic II) is located $${11.3}_{-0.9}^{+3.1}\\,\\mathrm{kpc}\\,$$ from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), and comparisons with simulation results in the literature suggest that this satellite was likely accreted with the LMC. The close proximity of MagLiteS J0644–5953 (Pic II) to the LMC also makes it the most likely ultra-faint galaxy candidate to still be gravitationally bound to the LMC.« less

An ultra-faint galaxy candidate discovered in early data from the Magellanic Satellites Survey

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Drlica-Wagner, A.; Bechtol, Keith; Allam, S.

Here, we report a new ultra-faint stellar system found in Dark Energy Camera data from the first observing run of the Magellanic Satellites Survey (MagLiteS). MagLiteS J0644–5953 (Pictor II or Pic II) is a low surface brightness (more » $$\\mu ={28.5}_{-1}^{+1}\\,\\mathrm{mag}\\,\\,\\mathrm{arcsec}{}^{-2}$$ within its half-light radius) resolved overdensity of old and metal-poor stars located at a heliocentric distance of $${45}_{-4}^{+5}\\,\\mathrm{kpc}$$. The physical size ($${r}_{1/2}={46}_{-11}^{+15}\\,\\mathrm{pc}\\,$$) and low luminosity ($${M}_{V}=-{3.2}_{-0.5}^{+0.4}\\,\\mathrm{mag}\\,$$) of this satellite are consistent with the locus of spectroscopically confirmed ultra-faint galaxies. MagLiteS J0644–5953 (Pic II) is located $${11.3}_{-0.9}^{+3.1}\\,\\mathrm{kpc}\\,$$ from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), and comparisons with simulation results in the literature suggest that this satellite was likely accreted with the LMC. The close proximity of MagLiteS J0644–5953 (Pic II) to the LMC also makes it the most likely ultra-faint galaxy candidate to still be gravitationally bound to the LMC.« less

Spectrophotometry of emission-line stars in the magellanic clouds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bohannan, Bruce

1990-01-01

The strong emission lines in the most luminous stars in the Magellanic Clouds indicate that these stars have such strong stellar winds that their photospheres are so masked that optical absorption lines do not provide an accurate measure of photospheric conditions. In the research funded by this grant, temperatures and gravities of emission-line stars both in the Large (LMC) and Small Magellanic Clouds (SMC) have been measured by fitting of continuum ultraviolet-optical fluxes observed with IUE with theoretical model atmospheres. Preliminary results from this work formed a major part of an invited review 'The Distribution of Types of Luminous Blue Variables'. Interpretation of the IUE observations obtained in this grant and archive data were also included in a talk at the First Boulder-Munich Hot Stars Workshop. Final results of these studies are now being completed for publication in refereed journals.

Multicolor optical polarimetry of reddened stars in the small Magellanic cloud

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Magalhaes, Antonio M.; Coyne, G. V.; Piirola, Valero; Rodrigues, C. V.

1989-01-01

First results of an on-going program to determine the wavelength dependence of the interstellar optical polarization of reddened stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) are presented. IUE observations of reddened stars in the SMC (Bouchet et al. 1985) generally show marked differences in the extinction law as compared to both the Galaxy and the Large Megallanic Cloud. The aim here is to determine the wavelength dependence of the optical linear polarization in the direction of several such stars in the SMC in order to further constrain the dust composition and size distribution in that galaxy.

The Abundances of the Fe Group Elements in Early B Stars in the Magellanic Clouds and Bridge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peters, Geraldine J.; Adelman, Saul J.

2016-01-01

The abundances of three Fe Group elements (V, Cr, and Fe) in 9 early main-sequence band B stars in the LMC, 7 in the SMC , and two in the Magellanic Bridge have been determined from archival FUSE observations and the Hubeny/Lanz NLTE programs TLUSTY/SYNSPEC. Lines from the Fe group elements, except for a few weak multiplets of Fe III, are not observable in the optical spectral region. The best set of lines in the FUSE spectral region are Fe III (UV1), V III 1150 Å, and Cr III 1137 Å. The abundances of these elements in early B stars are a marker for recent SNe Ia activity, as a single exploding white dwarf can deliver 0.5 solar masses of Ni-56 that decays into Fe to the ISM. The Fe group abundances in an older population of stars primarily reflect SNe II activity, in which a single explosion delivers only 0.07 solar masses of Ni-56 to the ISM (the rest remains trapped in the neutron star). The abundances of the Fe group elements in early B stars not only track SNe Ia activity but are also important for computing evolutionary tracks for massive stars. In general, the Fe abundance relative to the sun's value is comparable to the mean abundances for the lighter elements in the Clouds/Bridge but the values of [V,Cr/Fe]sun are smaller. This presentation will discuss the spatial distribution of the Fe Group elements in the Magellanic Clouds, and compare it with our galaxy in which the abundance of Fe declines with radial distance from the center. Support from NASA grants NAG5-13212, NNX10AD66G, STScI HST-GO-13346.22, and USC's Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) program is greatly appreciated.

The ROSAT All-Sky Survey view of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pietsch, W.; Denner, K.; Kahabka, P.; Pakull, M.; Schaeidt, S.

1996-01-01

During the Rosat all sky survey, centered on the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), 516 X-ray sources were detected. The field was covered from July 1990 to January 1991. The X-ray parameters of the sources, involving position, count rates, hardness ratios, extent, and time variability during the observations, are discussed. Identifications with objects from optical, radio and infrared wavelength allow the LMC candidates to be separated from the foreground stars and the background objects.

OGLE-ing the Magellanic system: stellar populations in the Magellanic Bridge

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Skowron, D. M.; Jacyszyn, A. M.; Udalski, A.

We report the discovery of a young stellar bridge that forms a continuous connection between the Magellanic Clouds. This finding is based on number density maps for stellar populations found in data gathered by OGLE-IV that fully cover over 270 deg{sup 2} of the sky in the Magellanic Bridge area. This is the most extensive optical survey of this region to date. We find that the young population is present mainly in the western half of the MBR, which, together with the newly discovered young population in the eastern Bridge, form a continuous stream of stars connecting both galaxies alongmore » δ ∼ –73.5 deg. The young population distribution is clumped, with one of the major densities close to the SMC and the other fairly isolated and located approximately mid-way between the Clouds, which we call the OGLE island. These overdensities are well matched by H I surface density contours, although the newly found young population in the eastern Bridge is offset by ∼2 deg north from the highest H I density contour. We observe a continuity of red clump stars between the Magellanic Clouds which represent an intermediate-age population. Red clump stars are present mainly in the southern and central parts of the Magellanic Bridge, below its gaseous part, and their presence is reflected by a strong deviation from the radial density profiles of the two galaxies. This may indicate either a tidal stream of stars, or that the stellar halos of the two galaxies overlap. On the other hand, we do not observe such an overlap within an intermediate-age population represented by the top of the red giant branch and the asymptotic giant branch stars. We also see only minor mixing of the old populations of the Clouds in the southern part of the Bridge, represented by the lowest part of the red giant branch.« less

THE MAGELLANIC STREAM SYSTEM. I. RAM-PRESSURE TAILS AND THE RELICS OF THE COLLISION BETWEEN THE MAGELLANIC CLOUDS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hammer, F.; Yang, Y. B.; Flores, H.

We have analyzed the Magellanic Stream (MS) using the deepest and the most resolved H i survey of the Southern Hemisphere (the Galactic All-Sky Survey). The overall Stream is structured into two filaments, suggesting two ram-pressure tails lagging behind the Magellanic Clouds (MCs), and resembling two close, transonic, von Karman vortex streets. The past motions of the Clouds appear imprinted in them, implying almost parallel initial orbits, and then a radical change after their passage near the N(H i) peak of the MS. This is consistent with a recent collision between the MCs, 200–300 Myr ago, which has stripped theirmore » gas further into small clouds, spreading them out along a gigantic bow shock, perpendicular to the MS. The Stream is formed by the interplay between stellar feedback and the ram pressure exerted by hot gas in the Milky Way (MW) halo with n{sub h} = 10{sup −4} cm{sup −3} at 50–70 kpc, a value necessary to explain the MS multiphase high-velocity clouds. The corresponding hydrodynamic modeling provides the currently most accurate reproduction of the whole H i Stream morphology, of its velocity, and column density profiles along L{sub MS}. The “ram pressure plus collision” scenario requires tidal dwarf galaxies, which are assumed to be the Cloud and dSph progenitors, to have left imprints in the MS and the Leading Arm, respectively. The simulated LMC and SMC have baryonic mass, kinematics, and proper motions consistent with observations. This supports a novel paradigm for the MS System, which could have its origin in material expelled toward the MW by the ancient gas-rich merger that formed M31.« less

The Magellanic Stream System. I. Ram-Pressure Tails and the Relics of the Collision Between the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hammer, F.; Yang, Y. B.; Flores, H.; Puech, M.; Fouquet, S.

2015-11-01

We have analyzed the Magellanic Stream (MS) using the deepest and the most resolved H i survey of the Southern Hemisphere (the Galactic All-Sky Survey). The overall Stream is structured into two filaments, suggesting two ram-pressure tails lagging behind the Magellanic Clouds (MCs), and resembling two close, transonic, von Karman vortex streets. The past motions of the Clouds appear imprinted in them, implying almost parallel initial orbits, and then a radical change after their passage near the N(H i) peak of the MS. This is consistent with a recent collision between the MCs, 200-300 Myr ago, which has stripped their gas further into small clouds, spreading them out along a gigantic bow shock, perpendicular to the MS. The Stream is formed by the interplay between stellar feedback and the ram pressure exerted by hot gas in the Milky Way (MW) halo with n h = 10-4 cm-3 at 50-70 kpc, a value necessary to explain the MS multiphase high-velocity clouds. The corresponding hydrodynamic modeling provides the currently most accurate reproduction of the whole H i Stream morphology, of its velocity, and column density profiles along L MS. The “ram pressure plus collision” scenario requires tidal dwarf galaxies, which are assumed to be the Cloud and dSph progenitors, to have left imprints in the MS and the Leading Arm, respectively. The simulated LMC and SMC have baryonic mass, kinematics, and proper motions consistent with observations. This supports a novel paradigm for the MS System, which could have its origin in material expelled toward the MW by the ancient gas-rich merger that formed M31.

What's Old is New in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2006-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Poster Version Large Magellanic Cloud

This vibrant image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy.

The infrared image, a mosaic of 300,000 individual tiles, offers astronomers a unique chance to study the lifecycle of stars and dust in a single galaxy. Nearly one million objects are revealed for the first time in this Spitzer view, which represents about a 1,000-fold improvement in sensitivity over previous space-based missions. Most of the new objects are dusty stars of various ages populating the Large Magellanic Cloud; the rest are thought to be background galaxies.

The blue color in the picture, seen most prominently in the central bar, represents starlight from older stars. The chaotic, bright regions outside this bar are filled with hot, massive stars buried in thick blankets of dust. The red color around these bright regions is from dust heated by stars, while the red dots scattered throughout the picture are either dusty, old stars or more distant galaxies. The greenish clouds contain cooler interstellar gas and molecular-sized dust grains illuminated by ambient starlight.

Astronomers say this image allows them to quantify the process by which space dust -- the same stuff that makes up planets and even people -- is recycled in a galaxy. The picture shows dust at its three main cosmic hangouts: around the young stars, where it is being consumed (red-tinted, bright clouds); scattered about in the space between stars (greenish clouds); and in expelled shells of material from old stars (randomly-spaced red dots).

The Large Magellanic Cloud, located 160,000 light-years from Earth, is one of a handful of dwarf galaxies that orbit our own Milky Way. It is approximately one-third as wide as the Milky Way, and, if it could be seen in its entirety, would cover the same amount of sky as a grid of about 480 full moons. About one-third of the entire galaxy can be seen in the Spitzer image.

This picture is a composite of infrared light captured by Spitzer. Light with wavelengths of 3.6 (blue) and 8 (green) microns was captured by the telescope's infrared array camera; 24-micron light (red) was detected by the multiband imaging photometer.

DETECTION OF AN ULTRA-BRIGHT SUBMILLIMETER GALAXY BEHIND THE SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Takekoshi, Tatsuya; Minamidani, Tetsuhiro; Sorai, Kazuo

2013-09-10

We report the discovery of a new ultra-bright submillimeter galaxy (SMG) behind the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). This SMG is detected as a 43.3 {+-} 8.4 mJy point source (MM J01071-7302, hereafter MMJ0107) in the 1.1 mm continuum survey of the SMC by AzTEC on the ASTE telescope. MMJ0107 is also detected in the radio (843 MHz), Herschel/SPIRE, Spitzer MIPS 24 {mu}m, all IRAC bands, Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, and near-infrared (J, H, K{sub S} ). We find an optical (U, B, V) source, which might be the lensing object, at a distance of 1.''4 from near-infrared and IRAC sources.more » Photometric redshift estimates for the SMG using representative spectral energy distribution templates show the redshifts of 1.4-3.9. We estimate total far-infrared luminosity of (0.3-2.2) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 14} {mu}{sup -1} L{sub Sun} and a star formation rate of 5600-39, 000 {mu}{sup -1} M{sub Sun} yr{sup -1}, where {mu} is the gravitational magnification factor. This apparent extreme star formation activity is likely explained by a highly magnified gravitational lens system.« less

Sizing the star cluster population of the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piatti, Andrés E.

2018-04-01

The number of star clusters that populate the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) at deprojected distances <4 deg has been recently found to be nearly double the known size of the system. Because of the unprecedented consequences of this outcome in our knowledge of the LMC cluster formation and dissolution histories, we closely revisited such a compilation of objects and found that only ˜35 per cent of the previously known catalogued clusters have been included. The remaining entries are likely related to stellar overdensities of the LMC composite star field, because there is a remarkable enhancement of objects with assigned ages older than log(t yr-1) ˜ 9.4, which contrasts with the existence of the LMC cluster age gap; the assumption of a cluster formation rate similar to that of the LMC star field does not help to conciliate so large amount of clusters either; and nearly 50 per cent of them come from cluster search procedures known to produce more than 90 per cent of false detections. The lack of further analyses to confirm the physical reality as genuine star clusters of the identified overdensities also glooms those results. We support that the actual size of the LMC main body cluster population is close to that previously known.

On the Nature of Bright Infrared Sources in the Small Magellanic Cloud: Interpreting MSX through the Lens of Spitzer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kraemer, Kathleen E.; Sloan, G. C.

2015-01-01

We compare infrared observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) by the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) and the Spitzer Space Telescope to better understand what components of a metal-poor galaxy dominate radiative processes in the infrared. The SMC, at a distance of ~60 kpc and with a metallicity of ~0.1-0.2 solar, can serve as a nearby proxy for metal-poor galaxies at high redshift. The MSX Point Source Catalog contains 243 objects in the SMC that were detected at 8.3 microns, the most sensitive MSX band. Multi-epoch, multi-band mapping with Spitzer, supplemented with observations from the Two-Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), provides variability information, and, together with spectra from Spitzer for ~15% of the sample, enables us to determine what these luminous sources are. How many remain simple point sources? What fraction break up into multiple stars? Which are star forming regions, with both bright diffuse emission and point sources? How do evolved stars and stellar remnants contribute at these wavelengths? What role do young stellar objects and HII regions play? Answering these questions sets the stage for understanding what we will see with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Period-luminosity relations for red supergiant variables - II. The distance to M101

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jurcevic, J. S.; Pierce, M. J.; Jacoby, G. H.

2000-04-01

We report the discovery of 42 red supergiant variables (RSVs) in the late-type spiral galaxy M101. Periods for the luminosity variation of these RSVs were determined from 20 epochs of ground-based CCD photometry in the Kron-Cousins R band obtained with the KPNO 2.1-m and WIYN 3.5-m telescopes over a span of three years. The periods found were in the range 200-1300days. Using the relationship between the RSV periods and their luminosity in the Kron-Cousins I band, we estimate a reddening-corrected distance modulus to M101 of 29.40+/-0.16mag (based on a distance modulus of 18.5+/-0.1mag for the Large Magellanic Cloud). This distance is consistent with the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project Cepheid distances of 29.34+/-0.17mag for the outer field of M101 and 29.21+/-0.17mag for the inner field.

Proper motion separation of Be star candidates in the Magellanic Clouds and the Milky Way

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vieira, Katherine; García-Varela, Alejandro; Sabogal, Beatriz

2017-08-01

We present a proper motion investigation of a sample of Be star candidates towards the Magellanic Clouds, which has resulted in the identification of separate populations, in the Galactic foreground and in the Magellanic background. Be stars are broadly speaking B-type stars that have shown emission lines in their spectra. In this work, we studied a sample of 2446 and 1019 Be star candidates towards the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), respectively, taken from the literature and proposed as possible Be stars due to their variability behaviour in the OGLE-II I band. JHKs magnitudes from the InfraRed Survey Facility catalogue and proper motions from the Southern Proper Motion 4 catalogue were obtained for 1188 and 619 LMC and SMC Be stars candidates, respectively. Colour-colour and vector-point diagrams were used to identify different populations amongst the Be star candidates. In the LMC sample, two populations with distinctive infrared colours and kinematics were found, the bluer sample is consistent with being in the LMC and the redder one with belonging to the Milky Way disc. This settles the nature of the redder sample that had been described in previous publications as a possible unknown subclass of stars amongst the Be candidates in the LMC. In the SMC sample, a similar but less evident result was obtained, since this apparent unknown subclass was not seen in this galaxy. We confirm that in the selection of Be stars by their variability, although generally successful, there is a higher risk of contamination by Milky Way objects towards redder B - V and V - I colours.

Giant Intergalactic Gas Stream Longer Than Thought

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2010-01-01

A giant stream of gas flowing from neighbor galaxies around our own Milky Way is much longer and older than previously thought, astronomers have discovered. The new revelations provide a fresh insight on what started the gaseous intergalactic streamer. The astronomers used the National Science Foundation's Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) to fill important gaps in the picture of gas streaming outward from the Magellanic Clouds. The first evidence of such a flow, named the Magellanic Stream, was discovered more than 30 years ago, and subsequent observations added tantalizing suggestions that there was more. However, the earlier picture showed gaps that left unanswered whether this other gas was part of the same system. "We now have answered that question. The stream is continuous," said David Nidever, of the University of Virginia. "We now have a much more complete map of the Magellanic Stream," he added. The astronomers presented their findings to the American Astronomical Society's meeting in Washington, DC. The Magellanic Clouds are the Milky Way's two nearest neighbor galaxies, about 150,000 to 200,000 light-years distant from the Milky Way. Visible in the Southern Hemisphere, they are much smaller than our Galaxy and may have been distorted by its gravity. Nidever and his colleagues observed the Magellanic Stream for more than 100 hours with the GBT. They then combined their GBT data with that from earlier studies with other radio telescopes, including the Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico, the Parkes telescope in Australia, and the Westerbork telescope in the Netherlands. The result shows that the stream is more than 40 percent longer than previously known with certainty. One consequence of the added length of the gas stream is that it must be older, the astronomers say. They now estimate the age of the stream at 2.5 billion years. The revised size and age of the Magellanic Stream also provides a new potential explanation for how the flow got started. "The new age of the stream puts its beginning at about the time when the two Magellanic Clouds may have passed close to each other, triggering massive bursts of star formation," Nidever explained. "The strong stellar winds and supernova explosions from that burst of star formation could have blown out the gas and started it flowing toward the Milky Way," he said. "This fits nicely with some of our earlier work that showed evidence for just such blowouts in the Magellanic Clouds," said Steven Majewski, of the University of Virginia. Earlier explanations for the stream's cause required the Magellanic Clouds to pass much closer to the Milky Way, but recent orbital simulations have cast doubt on such mechanisms. Nidever and Majewski worked with Butler Burton of the Leiden Observatory and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, and Lou Nigra of the University of Wisconsin. In addition to presenting the results to the American Astronomical Society, the scientists have submitted a paper to the Astrophysical Journal.

The Carnegie-Chicago Hubble Program. II. The Distance to IC 1613: The Tip of the Red Giant Branch and RR Lyrae Period-luminosity Relations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hatt, Dylan; Beaton, Rachael L.; Freedman, Wendy L.; Madore, Barry F.; Jang, In-Sung; Hoyt, Taylor J.; Lee, Myung Gyoon; Monson, Andrew J.; Rich, Jeffrey A.; Scowcroft, Victoria; Seibert, Mark

2017-08-01

IC 1613 is an isolated dwarf galaxy within the Local Group. Low foreground and internal extinction, low metallicity, and low crowding make it an invaluable testbed for the calibration of the local distance ladder. We present new, high-fidelity distance estimates to IC 1613 via its Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB) and its RR Lyrae (RRL) variables as part of the Carnegie-Chicago Hubble Program, which seeks an alternate local route to H 0 using Population II stars. We have measured a TRGB magnitude {I}{ACS}{TRGB}=20.35+/- {0.01}{stat}+/- {0.01}{sys} mag using wide-field observations obtained from the IMACS camera on the Magellan-Baade telescope. We have further constructed optical and near-infrared RRL light curves using archival BI- and new H-band observations from the ACS/WFC and WFC3/IR instruments on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). In advance of future Gaia data releases, we set provisional values for the TRGB luminosity via the Large Magellanic Cloud and Galactic RRL zero-points via HST parallaxes. We find corresponding true distance moduli {μ }0{TRGB}=24.30+/- {0.03}{stat}+/- {0.05}{sys} {mag} and < {μ }0{RRL}> =24.28+/- {0.04}{stat+{sys}} mag. We compare our results to a body of recent publications on IC 1613 and find no statistically significant difference between the distances derived from Population I and II stars. Based in part on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations are associated with programs #10505 and #13691. Additional observations are credited to the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington for the use of Magellan-Baade IMACS. Presented as part of a dissertation to the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The University of Chicago, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree.

Eight ultra-faint galaxy candidates discovered in year two of the Dark Energy Survey

DOE PAGES

Drlica-Wagner, A.

2015-11-04

Here, we report the discovery of eight new ultra-faint dwarf galaxy candidates in the second year of optical imaging data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). Six of these candidates are detected at high confidence, while two lower-confidence candidates are identified in regions of non-uniform survey coverage. The new stellar systems are found by three independent automated search techniques and are identified as overdensities of stars, consistent with the isochrone and luminosity function of an old and metal-poor simple stellar population. The new systems are faint (M V > –4.7more » $$\\mathrm{mag}$$) and span a range of physical sizes (17 $$\\mathrm{pc}$$ < r 1/2 < 181 $$\\mathrm{pc}$$) and heliocentric distances (25 kpc < D ⊙ < 214 kpc). All of the new systems have central surface brightnesses consistent with known ultra-faint dwarf galaxies (μ ≳ 27.5 $$\\mathrm{mag}$$ $$\\mathrm{arcsec}$$ –2). Roughly half of the DES candidates are more distant, less luminous, and/or have lower surface brightnesses than previously known Milky Way satellite galaxies. Most of the candidates are found in the southern part of the DES footprint close to the Magellanic Clouds. We find that the DES data alone exclude (p < 10 –3) a spatially isotropic distribution of Milky Way satellites and that the observed distribution can be well, though not uniquely, described by an association between several of the DES satellites and the Magellanic system. Our model predicts that the full sky may hold ~100 ultra-faint galaxies with physical properties comparable to the DES satellites and that 20%–30% of these would be spatially associated with the Magellanic Clouds.« less

Eight ultra-faint galaxy candidates discovered in year two of the Dark Energy Survey

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Drlica-Wagner, A.

Here, we report the discovery of eight new ultra-faint dwarf galaxy candidates in the second year of optical imaging data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). Six of these candidates are detected at high confidence, while two lower-confidence candidates are identified in regions of non-uniform survey coverage. The new stellar systems are found by three independent automated search techniques and are identified as overdensities of stars, consistent with the isochrone and luminosity function of an old and metal-poor simple stellar population. The new systems are faint (M V > –4.7more » $$\\mathrm{mag}$$) and span a range of physical sizes (17 $$\\mathrm{pc}$$ < r 1/2 < 181 $$\\mathrm{pc}$$) and heliocentric distances (25 kpc < D ⊙ < 214 kpc). All of the new systems have central surface brightnesses consistent with known ultra-faint dwarf galaxies (μ ≳ 27.5 $$\\mathrm{mag}$$ $$\\mathrm{arcsec}$$ –2). Roughly half of the DES candidates are more distant, less luminous, and/or have lower surface brightnesses than previously known Milky Way satellite galaxies. Most of the candidates are found in the southern part of the DES footprint close to the Magellanic Clouds. We find that the DES data alone exclude (p < 10 –3) a spatially isotropic distribution of Milky Way satellites and that the observed distribution can be well, though not uniquely, described by an association between several of the DES satellites and the Magellanic system. Our model predicts that the full sky may hold ~100 ultra-faint galaxies with physical properties comparable to the DES satellites and that 20%–30% of these would be spatially associated with the Magellanic Clouds.« less

Variability in the Milky Way: Contact Binaries as Diagnostic Tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Grijs, R.; Chen, X.; Deng, L.

2017-07-01

We used the 50 cm Binocular Network (50BiN) telescope at Delingha Station (Qinghai Province) of Purple Mountain Observatory (Chinese Academy of Sciences) to obtain simultaneous V- and R-band observations of the old open cluster NGC 188. Our aim was a search for populations of variable stars. We derived light-curve solutions for six W Ursae Majoris (W UMa) eclipsing-binary systems and estimated their orbital parameters. The resulting distance to the W UMas is independent of the physical characteristics of the host cluster. We next determined the current best period-luminosity relations for contact binaries (CBs; scatter σ<0.10 mag). We conclude that CBs can be used as distance tracers with better than 5% uncertainty. We apply our new relations to the 102 CBs in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which yields a distance modulus of (m-M)V,0=18.41±0.20 mag.

The Magellanic Inter-Cloud Project (MAGIC) III: first spectroscopic evidence of a dwarf stripping a dwarf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carrera, Ricardo; Conn, Blair C.; Noël, Noelia E. D.; Read, Justin I.; López Sánchez, Ángel R.

2017-11-01

The Magellanic Bridge (MB) is a gaseous stream that links the Large (LMC) and Small (SMC) Magellanic Clouds. Current simulations suggest that the MB forms from a recent interaction between the Clouds. In this scenario, the MB should also have an associated stellar bridge formed by stars tidally stripped from the SMC by the LMC. There are several observational evidences for these stripped stars, from the presence of intermediate age populations in the MB and carbon stars, to the recent observation of an over-density of RR Lyrae stars offset from the MB. However, spectroscopic confirmation of stripped stars in the MB remains lacking. In this paper, we use medium resolution spectra to derive the radial velocities and metallicities of stars in two fields along the MB. We show from both their chemistry and kinematics that the bulk of these stars must have been tidally stripped from the SMC. This is the first spectroscopic evidence for a dwarf galaxy being tidally stripped by a larger dwarf.

Geometry of the Large Magellanic Cloud Using Multi- wavelength Photometry of Classical Cepheids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deb, Sukanta; Ngeow, Chow-Choong; Kanbur, Shashi M.; Singh, Harinder P.; Wysocki, Daniel; Kumar, Subhash

2018-05-01

We determine the geometrical and viewing angle parameters of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) using the Leavitt law based on a sample of more than 3500 common classical Cepheids (FU and FO) in optical (V, I), near-infrared (JHKs) and mid-infrared ([3.6] μm and [4.5] μm) photometric bands. Statistical reddening and distance modulus free from the effect of reddening to each of the individual Cepheids are obtained using the simultaneous multi-band fit to the apparent distance moduli from the analysis of the resulting Leavitt laws in these seven photometric bands. A reddening map of the LMC obtained from the analysis shows good agreement with the other maps available in the literature. Extinction free distance measurements along with the information of the equatorial coordinates (α, δ) for individual stars are used to obtain the corresponding Cartesian coordinates with respect to the plane of the sky. By fitting a plane solution of the form z = f(x, y) to the observed three dimensional distribution, the following viewing angle parameters of the LMC are obtained: inclination angle i = 25°.110 ± 0°.365, position angle of line of nodes θlon = 154°.702 ± 1°.378. On the other hand, modelling the observed three dimensional distribution of the Cepheids as a triaxial ellipsoid, the following values of the geometrical axes ratios of the LMC are obtained: 1.000 ± 0.003: 1.151 ± 0.003: 1.890 ± 0.014 with the viewing angle parameters: inclination angle of i = 11°.920 ± 0°.315 with respect to the longest axis from the line of sight and position angle of line of nodes θlon = 128°.871 ± 0°.569. The position angles are measured eastwards from north.

Proper motion separation of Be stars in the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vieira, K.; García, A.; Sabogal, B.

2018-01-01

We present a proper motion investigation of a sample of Be stars candidates towards the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), which has resulted in the identification of two separate populations, in the Galactic foreground and in the Magellanic background. OGLE BVI and 2MASS JHK photometry were used with the SPM4 proper motions to discriminate the different populations located towards the LMC. Two populations with distinctive infrared colours and noticeable different kinematics were found, the bluer sample is consistent with being in the LMC and the redder one with belonging to the Milky Way (MW) disk. This settles the nature of the redder sample which had been described in previous publications as a possible unknown subclass of stars among the Be candidates in the LMC.

Hubble Captures Bubbles And Baby Stars

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

Image release June 22, 2010 A spectacular new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image — one of the largest ever released of a star-forming region — highlights N11, part of a complex network of gas clouds and star clusters within our neighbouring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. This region of energetic star formation is one of the most active in the nearby Universe. The Large Magellanic Cloud contains many bright bubbles of glowing gas. One of the largest and most spectacular has the name LHA 120-N 11, from its listing in a catalogue compiled by the American astronomer and astronaut Karl Henize in 1956, and is informally known as N11. Close up, the billowing pink clouds of glowing gas make N11 resemble a puffy swirl of fairground candy floss. From further away, its distinctive overall shape led some observers to nickname it the Bean Nebula. The dramatic and colourful features visible in the nebula are the telltale signs of star formation. N11 is a well-studied region that extends over 1000 light-years. It is the second largest star-forming region within the Large Magellanic Cloud and has produced some of the most massive stars known. It is the process of star formation that gives N11 its distinctive look. Three successive generations of stars, each of which formed further away from the centre of the nebula than the last, have created shells of gas and dust. These shells were blown away from the newborn stars in the turmoil of their energetic birth and early life, creating the ring shapes so prominent in this image. Beans are not the only terrestrial shapes to be found in this spectacular high resolution image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. In the upper left is the red bloom of nebula LHA 120-N 11A. Its rose-like petals of gas and dust are illuminated from within, thanks to the radiation from the massive hot stars at its centre. N11A is relatively compact and dense and is the site of the most recent burst of star development in the region. Other star clusters abound in N11, including NGC 1761 at the bottom of the image, which is a group of massive hot young stars busily pouring intense ultraviolet radiation out into space. Although it is much smaller than our own galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud is a very vigorous region of star formation. Studying these stellar nurseries helps astronomers understand a lot more about how stars are born and their ultimate development and lifespan. Both the Large Magellanic Cloud and its small companion, the Small Magellanic Cloud, are easily seen with the unaided eye and have always been familiar to people living in the southern hemisphere. The credit for bringing these galaxies to the attention of Europeans is usually given to Portuguese explorer Fernando de Magellan and his crew, who viewed it on their 1519 sea voyage. However, the Persian astronomer Abd Al-Rahman Al Sufi and the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci recorded the Large Magellanic Cloud in 964 and 1503 respectively. Credit: NASA, ESA and Jesús Maíz Apellániz (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Spain) To learn more about Hubble go to: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe.

Estimating dust distances to Type Ia supernovae from colour excess time evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bulla, M.; Goobar, A.; Amanullah, R.; Feindt, U.; Ferretti, R.

2018-01-01

We present a new technique to infer dust locations towards reddened Type Ia supernovae and to help discriminate between an interstellar and a circumstellar origin for the observed extinction. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we show that the time evolution of the light-curve shape and especially of the colour excess E(B - V) places strong constraints on the distance between dust and the supernova. We apply our approach to two highly reddened Type Ia supernovae for which dust distance estimates are available in the literature: SN 2006X and SN 2014J. For the former, we obtain a time-variable E(B - V) and from this derive a distance of 27.5^{+9.0}_{-4.9} or 22.1^{+6.0}_{-3.8} pc depending on whether dust properties typical of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) or the Milky Way (MW) are used. For the latter, instead, we obtain a constant E(B - V) consistent with dust at distances larger than ∼50 and 38 pc for LMC- and MW-type dust, respectively. Values thus extracted are in excellent agreement with previous estimates for the two supernovae. Our findings suggest that dust responsible for the extinction towards these supernovae is likely to be located within interstellar clouds. We also discuss how other properties of reddened Type Ia supernovae - such as their peculiar extinction and polarization behaviour and the detection of variable, blue-shifted sodium features in some of these events - might be compatible with dust and gas at interstellar-scale distances.

Horizontal branch stars, and galactic and magellanic cloud globular clusters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deboer, K. S.

1981-01-01

Seven blue horizontal branch stars in the field were observed and a few HB stars were isolated in globular clusters. Energy distributions are compared to assess possible differences and also used in comparison with model atmospheres. Observed energy distributions of HB stars in NGC 6397 are used to estimate the total number of HB stars which produced the integrated fluxes as observed by ANS. Preliminary results are given for colors of globular clusters observed in the Magellanic Clouds and for their extent, based on the Washburn IUE extraction.

Proper-motion Study of the Magellanic Clouds Using SPM Material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vieira, Katherine; Girard, Terrence M.; van Altena, William F.; Zacharias, Norbert; Casetti-Dinescu, Dana I.; Korchagin, Vladimir I.; Platais, Imants; Monet, David G.; López, Carlos E.; Herrera, David; Castillo, Danilo J.

2010-12-01

Absolute proper motions are determined for stars and galaxies to V = 17.5 over a 450 deg2 area that encloses both Magellanic Clouds. The proper motions are based on photographic and CCD observations of the Yale/San Juan Southern Proper Motion program, which span a baseline of 40 years. Multiple, local relative proper-motion measures are combined in an overlap solution using photometrically selected Galactic disk stars to define a global relative system that is then transformed to absolute using external galaxies and Hipparcos stars to tie into the ICRS. The resulting catalog of 1.4 million objects is used to derive the mean absolute proper motions of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC); (μαcos δ, μδ)LMC = (1.89, + 0.39) ± (0.27, 0.27) masyr-1 and (μαcos δ, μδ)SMC = (0.98, - 1.01) ± (0.30, 0.29) masyr-1. These mean motions are based on best-measured samples of 3822 LMC stars and 964 SMC stars. A dominant portion (0.25 mas yr-1) of the formal errors is due to the estimated uncertainty in the inertial system of the Hipparcos Catalog stars used to anchor the bright end of our proper motion measures. A more precise determination can be made for the proper motion of the SMC relative to the LMC; (μαcos δ, μδ)SMC-LMC = (-0.91, - 1.49) ± (0.16, 0.15) masyr-1. This differential value is combined with measurements of the proper motion of the LMC taken from the literature to produce new absolute proper-motion determinations for the SMC, as well as an estimate of the total velocity difference of the two clouds to within ±54 km s-1. The absolute proper-motion results are consistent with the Clouds' orbits being marginally bound to the Milky Way, albeit on an elongated orbit. The inferred relative velocity between the Clouds places them near their binding energy limit and, thus, no definitive conclusion can be made as to whether or not the Clouds are bound to one another.

Study of Star Formation Regions with Molecular Hydrogen Emission Lines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pak, Soojong

The goal of my dissertation is to understand the large-scale, near-infrared (near-IR) H2 emission from the central kiloparsec (kpc) regions of galaxies, and to study the structure and physics of photon-dominated regions (or photodissociation regions, hereafter PDRs). In order to explore the near-IR H2 lines, our group built the University of Texas near-IR Fabry-Perot Spectrometer optimized for observations of extended, low surface brightness sources. In this instrument project, I designed and built a programmable high voltage DC amplifier for the Fabry-Perot piezoelectric transducers, a temperature-controlled cooling box for the Fabry-Perot etalon, instrument control software, and data reduction software. With this instrument, we observed H2 emission lines in the inner 400 pc of the Galaxy, the central ~1 kpc of NGC 253 and M82, and the star formation regions in the Magellanic Clouds. We also observed the Magellanic Clouds in the CO J=1/to0 line. We found that the H2 emission is very extended in the central kpc of the galaxies and is mostly UV-excited. The ratios of the H2 (1,0) S(1) luminosities to the far-IR continuum luminosities in the central kpc regions do not change from the Galactic center to starburst galaxies and to ultraluminous IR bright galaxies. Using the data from the Magellanic Clouds, we studied the microscopic structure of star forming clouds. We compiled data sets including our H2 (1,0) S(1) and CO J=1/to0 results and published (C scII) and far-IR data from the Magellanic Clouds, and compared these observations with models we made using a PDR code and a radiative transfer code. Assuming the cloud is spherical, we derived the physical sizes of H2, (C scII), and CO emission regions. The average cloud size appears to increase as the metallicity decreases. Our results agree with the theory of photoionization-regulated star formation in which the interplay between the ambipolar diffusion and ionization by far-UV photons determines the size of stable clouds.

Galaxy distances and deviations from universal expansion; Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop, Kona, HI, Jan. 13-17, 1986

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madore, Barry F.; Tully, R. Brent

A collection of papers on galaxy distances and deviations from universal expansion is presented. Individual topics addressed include: new results on the distance scale and the Hubble constant, Magellanic Clouds and the distance scale, CCD observations of Cepheids in nearby galaxies, distances using A supergiant stars, infrared calibration of the Cepheid distance scale, two stepping stones to the Hubble constant, physical models of supernovae and the distance scale, 21 cm line widths and distances of spiral galaxies, infrared color-luminosity relations for field galaxies, minimizing the scatter in the Tully-Fisher relation, photometry of galaxies and the local peculiar motion, elliptical galaxies and nonuniformities in the Hubble flow, and large-scale anisotropy in the Hubble flow. Also discussed are: improved distance indicator for elliptical galaxies, anisotropy of galaxies detected by IRAS, the local gravitational field, measurements of the CBR, measure of cosmological times, ages from nuclear cosmochronology, extragalactic gas at high redshift, supercluster infall models, Virgo infall and the mass density of the universe, dynamics of superclusters and Omega(0), distribution of galaxies versus dark matter, peculiar velocities and galaxy formation, cosmological shells and blast waves.

The Near-infrared Tip of the Red Giant Branch. I. A Calibration in the Isolated Dwarf Galaxy IC 1613

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madore, Barry F.; Freedman, Wendy L.; Hatt, Dylan; Hoyt, Taylor J.; Monson, Andrew J.; Beaton, Rachael L.; Rich, Jeffrey A.; Jang, In Sung; Lee, Myung Gyoon; Scowcroft, Victoria; Seibert, Mark

2018-05-01

Based on observations from the FourStar near-infrared camera on the 6.5 m Baade-Magellan telescope at Las Campanas, Chile, we present calibrations of the JHK luminosities of stars defining the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) in the halo of the Local Group dwarf galaxy IC 1613. We employ metallicity-independent (rectified) T-band magnitudes—constructed using J-, H-, and K-band magnitudes and both (J ‑ H) and (J ‑ K) colors to flatten the upward-sloping red giant branch tips as otherwise seen in their apparent color–magnitude diagrams. We describe and quantify the advantages of working at these particular near-infrared wavelengths, which are applicable to both the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). We also note that these same wavelengths can be accessed from the ground for an eventual tie-in to Gaia for absolute astrometry and parallaxes to calibrate the intrinsic luminosity of the TRGB. Adopting the color terms derived from the IC 1613 data, as well as the zero points from a companion study of the Large Magellanic Cloud, whose distance is anchored to the geometric distances of detached eclipsing binaries, we find a true distance modulus of 24.32 ± 0.02 (statistical) ±0.05 mag (systematic) for IC 1613, which compares favorably with the recently published multi-wavelength, multi-method consensus modulus of 24.30 ± 0.05 mag by Hatt et al.

Star Formation in Galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1987-01-01

Topics addressed include: star formation; galactic infrared emission; molecular clouds; OB star luminosity; dust grains; IRAS observations; galactic disks; stellar formation in Magellanic clouds; irregular galaxies; spiral galaxies; starbursts; morphology of galactic centers; and far-infrared observations.

Synchrotron cooling and annihilation of an E(+)-E(-) plasma: The radiation mechanism for the March 5, 1979 transient

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramaty, R.; Lingenfelter, R. E.; Bussard, R. W.

1980-01-01

Positron-electron pair radiation is examined as a mechanism that could be responsible for the impulsive phase emission of the March 5, 1979 transient. Synchrotron cooling and subsequent annihilation of the pairs can account for the energy spectrum, the very high brightness, and the approximately 0.4 MeV feature observed from this transient, whose source is likely to be a neutron star in the supernova remnant N49 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. In this model, the observed radiation is produced in the skin layer of a hot, radiation dominated pair atmosphere, probably confined to the vicinity of the neutron star by a strong magnetic field. The width of this layer is only about 0.1 mm. In this layer, approximately 10 to the 12th power generations of pairs are formed (by photon-photon collisions), cooled and annihilated during the approximately 0.15 sec duration of the impulsive phase. The very large burst energy implied by the distance of the Large Magellanic Cloud, and its very rapid release, are unsolved problems. Nonetheless, the possibility of neutron star vibrations, which could transport the energy coherently to the surface, heat the atmosphere mechanically to a hot, pair-producing temperature, and have a characteristic damping time roughly equal to the duration of the impulsive phase are addressed.

Evidence of differential tidal effects in the old globular cluster population of the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piatti, A. E.; Mackey, A. D.

2018-04-01

We present for the first time extended stellar density and/or surface brightness radial profiles for almost all the known Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) old globular clusters (GCs). These were built from DECam images and reach out to ˜ 4 times the GCs' tidal radii. The background subtracted radial profiles reveal that the GCs located closer than ˜ 5 kpc from the LMC centre contain an excess of stars in their outermost regions with respect to the stellar density expected from a King profile. Such a residual amount of stars - not seen in GCs located farther than ˜ 5 kpc from the LMC centre-, as well as the GCs' dimensions, show a clear dependence with the GCs' positions in the galaxy, in the sense that, the farther the GC from the centre of the LMC, the larger both the excess of stars in its outskirts and size. Although the masses of GCs located inside and outside ˜ 5 kpc are commensurate, the outermost regions of GCs located closer than ˜ 5 kpc from the LMC centre appear to have dynamically evolved more quickly. These outcomes can be fully interpreted in the light of the known GC radial velocity disc-like kinematics, from which GCs have been somehow mostly experiencing the influence of the LMC gravitational field at their respective mean distances from the LMC centre.

Variable Stars in Large Magellanic Cloud Globular Clusters. III. Reticulum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuehn, Charles A.; Dame, Kyra; Smith, Horace A.; Catelan, Márcio; Jeon, Young-Beom; Nemec, James M.; Walker, Alistair R.; Kunder, Andrea; Pritzl, Barton J.; De Lee, Nathan; Borissova, Jura

2013-06-01

This is the third in a series of papers studying the variable stars in old globular clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The primary goal of this series is to look at how the characteristics and behavior of RR Lyrae stars in Oosterhoff-intermediate systems compare to those of their counterparts in Oosterhoff-I/II systems. In this paper we present the results of our new time-series BVI photometric study of the globular cluster Reticulum. We found a total of 32 variables stars (22 RRab, 4 RRc, and 6 RRd stars) in our field of view. We present photometric parameters and light curves for these stars. We also present physical properties, derived from Fourier analysis of light curves, for some of the RR Lyrae stars. We discuss the Oosterhoff classification of Reticulum and use our results to re-derive the distance modulus and age of the cluster. Based on observations taken with the SMARTS 1.3 m telescope operated by the SMARTS Consortium and observations taken at the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope, which is a joint project of the Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, e Inovação (MCTI) da República Federativa do Brasil, the U.S. National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), and Michigan State University (MSU).

A Reconnaissance of the 900-1200 A Spectra of Early O Stars in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walborn, Nolan

1999-01-01

Far-UV spectrograms of ten very hot stars in the Magellanic Clouds were obtained with the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope during the Astro-2 mission in March 1995. Very few normal OB stars were observed during Astro-1, and the only significant prior sample of such objects in this wavelength range was that obtained by Copernicus of stars near the Sun. The Magellanic Cloud sample offers the advantages of low reddening, a range in metallicity, and more extreme temperatures and luminosities than represented in the near solar neighborhood. Several interesting phenomena were found in the HUT MC sample, including very strong O VI wind profiles in O3 spectra; anomalous CNO wind features corresponding to abundances altered by stellar nucleosynthesis; weak wind features due to the metal deficiency of the Small Magellanic Cloud; and interstellar molecular hydrogen features originating in the MCs. The results were presented and discussed as a small atlas, and they were shown at the Pittsburgh AAS meeting in June 1995. A correlative atlas of Copernicus data was also prepared and published under the auspices of this grant. These publications will serve as resources for the characterization of the FUSE observations of related objects to hopefully be obtained soon. I believe that the large differences among the strong wind features in the HUT data, corresponding to CNO and systemic metallicity effects, are amenable to some relative quantitative analysis, and I shall endeavor to promote such in conjunction with HST data at longer wavelengths for the same stars (which has also not yet been completely analyzed) at a future opportunity.

Global hot-star wind models for stars from Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krtička, J.; Kubát, J.

2018-04-01

We provide mass-loss rate predictions for O stars from Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. We calculate global (unified, hydrodynamic) model atmospheres of main sequence, giant, and supergiant stars for chemical composition corresponding to Magellanic Clouds. The models solve radiative transfer equation in comoving frame, kinetic equilibrium equations (also known as NLTE equations), and hydrodynamical equations from (quasi-)hydrostatic atmosphere to expanding stellar wind. The models allow us to predict wind density, velocity, and temperature (consequently also the terminal wind velocity and the mass-loss rate) just from basic global stellar parameters. As a result of their lower metallicity, the line radiative driving is weaker leading to lower wind mass-loss rates with respect to the Galactic stars. We provide a formula that fits the mass-loss rate predicted by our models as a function of stellar luminosity and metallicity. On average, the mass-loss rate scales with metallicity as Ṁ Z0.59. The predicted mass-loss rates are lower than mass-loss rates derived from Hα diagnostics and can be reconciled with observational results assuming clumping factor Cc = 9. On the other hand, the predicted mass-loss rates either agree or are slightly higher than the mass-loss rates derived from ultraviolet wind line profiles. The calculated P V ionization fractions also agree with values derived from observations for LMC stars with Teff ≤ 40 000 K. Taken together, our theoretical predictions provide reasonable models with consistent mass-loss rate determination, which can be used for quantitative study of stars from Magellanic Clouds.

A dearth of OH/IR stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldman, Steven R.; van Loon, Jacco Th.; Gómez, José F.; Green, James A.; Zijlstra, Albert A.; Nanni, Ambra; Imai, Hiroshi; Whitelock, Patricia A.; Groenewegen, Martin A. T.; Oliveira, Joana M.

2018-01-01

We present the results of targeted observations and a survey of 1612-, 1665- and 1667-MHz circumstellar OH maser emission from asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars and red supergiants (RSGs) in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), using the Parkes and Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) radio telescopes. No clear OH maser emission has been detected in any of our observations targeting luminous, long-period, large-amplitude variable stars, which have been confirmed spectroscopically and photometrically to be mid- to late-M spectral type. These observations have probed 3-4 times deeper than any OH maser survey in the SMC. Using a bootstrapping method with Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and Galactic OH/IR star samples and our SMC observation upper limits, we have calculated the likelihood of not detecting maser emission in any of the two sources considered to be the top maser candidates to be less than 0.05 per cent, assuming a similar pumping mechanism as the LMC and Galactic OH/IR sources. We have performed a population comparison of the Magellanic Clouds and used Spitzer IRAC and MIPS photometry to confirm that we have observed all high luminosity SMC sources that are expected to exhibit maser emission. We suspect that, compared to the OH/IR stars in the Galaxy and LMC, the reduction in metallicity may curtail the dusty wind phase at the end of the evolution of the most massive cool stars. We also suspect that the conditions in the circumstellar envelope change beyond a simple scaling of abundances and wind speed with metallicity.

THE COS/UVES ABSORPTION SURVEY OF THE MAGELLANIC STREAM. I. ONE-TENTH SOLAR ABUNDANCES ALONG THE BODY OF THE STREAM

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fox, Andrew J.; Richter, Philipp; Wakker, Bart P.

2013-08-01

The Magellanic Stream (MS) is a massive and extended tail of multi-phase gas stripped out of the Magellanic Clouds and interacting with the Galactic halo. In this first paper of an ongoing program to study the Stream in absorption, we present a chemical abundance analysis based on HST/COS and VLT/UVES spectra of four active galactic nuclei (RBS 144, NGC 7714, PHL 2525, and HE 0056-3622) lying behind the MS. Two of these sightlines yield good MS metallicity measurements: toward RBS 144 we measure a low MS metallicity of [S/H] = [S II/H I] = -1.13 {+-} 0.16 while toward NGCmore » 7714 we measure [O/H] = [O I/H I] = -1.24 {+-} 0.20. Taken together with the published MS metallicity toward NGC 7469, these measurements indicate a uniform abundance of Almost-Equal-To 0.1 solar along the main body of the Stream. This provides strong support to a scenario in which most of the Stream was tidally stripped from the SMC Almost-Equal-To 1.5-2.5 Gyr ago (a time at which the SMC had a metallicity of Almost-Equal-To 0.1 solar), as predicted by several N-body simulations. However, in Paper II of this series, we report a much higher metallicity (S/H = 0.5 solar) in the inner Stream toward Fairall 9, a direction sampling a filament of the MS that Nidever et al. claim can be traced kinematically to the Large Magellanic Cloud, not the Small Magellanic Cloud. This shows that the bifurcation of the Stream is evident in its metal enrichment, as well as its spatial extent and kinematics. Finally we measure a similar low metallicity [O/H] = [O I/H I] = -1.03 {+-} 0.18 in the v{sub LSR} = 150 km s{sup -1} cloud toward HE 0056-3622, which belongs to a population of anomalous velocity clouds near the south Galactic pole. This suggests these clouds are associated with the Stream or more distant structures (possibly the Sculptor Group, which lies in this direction at the same velocity), rather than tracing foreground Galactic material.« less

VizieR Online Data Catalog: OGLE eclipsing binaries in LMC (Wyrzykowski+, 2003)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wyrzykowski, L.; Udalski, A.; Kubiak, M.; Szymanski, M.; Zebrun, K.; Soszynski, I.; Wozniak, P. R.; Pietrzynski, G.; Szewczyk, O.

2003-09-01

We present the catalog of 2580 eclipsing binary stars detected in 4.6 square degree area of the central parts of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The photometric data were collected during the second phase of the OGLE microlensing search from 1997 to 2000. The eclipsing objects were selected with the automatic search algorithm based on an artificial neural network. Basic statistics of eclipsing stars are presented. Also, the list of 36 candidates of detached eclipsing binaries for spectroscopic study and for precise LMC distance determination is provided. The full catalog is accessible from the OGLE Internet archive. (2 data files).

Photometric metallicity map of the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choudhury, S.; Subramaniam, A.; Cole, A. A.; Sohn, Y.-J.

2018-04-01

We have created an estimated metallicity map of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) using the Magellanic Cloud Photometric Survey (MCPS) and Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE III) photometric data. This is a first of its kind map of metallicity up to a radius of ˜2.5°. We identify the Red Giant Branch (RGB) in the V, (V - I) colour-magnitude diagrams of small sub-regions of varying sizes in both data sets. We use the slope of the RGB as an indicator of the average metallicity of a sub-region and calibrate the RGB slope to metallicity using available spectroscopic data for selected sub-regions. The average metallicity of the SMC is found to be [Fe/H] = -0.94 dex (σ[Fe/H] = 0.09) from OGLE III and [Fe/H] = -0.95 dex (σ[Fe/H] = 0.08) from MCPS. We confirm a shallow but significant metallicity gradient within the inner SMC up to a radius of 2.5° (-0.045 ± 0.004 to -0.067 ± 0.006 dex deg-1).

Modeling Dust in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zonca, Alberto; Casu, Silvia; Mulas, Giacomo; Aresu, Giambattista; Cecchi-Pestellini, Cesare

2015-09-01

We model the extinction profiles observed in the Small and Large Magellanic clouds with a synthetic population of dust grains consisting of core-mantle particles and a collection of free-flying polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). All different flavors of the extinction curves observed in the Magellanic Clouds (MCs) can be described by the present model, which has been previously (successfully) applied to a large sample of diffuse and translucent lines of sight in the Milky Way. We find that in the MCs the extinction produced by classical grains is generally larger than absorption by PAHs. Within this model, the nonlinear far-UV rise is accounted for by PAHs, whose presence in turn is always associated with a gap in the size distribution of classical particles. This hints either at a physical connection between (e.g., a common cause for) PAHs and the absence of middle-sized dust particles or the need for an additional component in the model that can account for the nonlinear far-UV rise without contributing to the UV bump at ∼217 nm such as, e.g., nanodiamonds.

IUE observations of the Henize-Carlson sample of peculiar emission line supergiants: The galactic analogs of the Magellanic Zoo

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shore, Steven N.; Brown, Douglas N.; Sanduleak, N.

1986-01-01

Some 15 stars from the Carlson-Henize survey of southern peculiar emission line stars were studied. From both the optical and UV spectra, they appear to be galactic counterparts of the most extreme early-type emission line supergiants of the Magellanic Clouds.

The Systemic Proper Motions of the Magellanic Clouds and their Orbits around the Milky Way

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kallivayalil, N.; van der Marel, R. P.; Alcock, C.; Axelrod, T.; Cook, K. H.; Drake, A. J.; Geha, M.

2005-12-01

The interaction between the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC & SMC) and the Milky Way (MW) is thought to have played an important role in the dynamical evolution of the MW's outer parts. The Clouds probe the potential of the MW dark halo in places where other kinematic tracers are unavailable and thus the MW-MC system has been a major subject of study. In particular, the global dynamics of both Clouds need to be well prescribed before other evolutionary features of the system can be understood. The radial velocities of the clouds are more readily determined than the transverse velocities, which can only be estimated using proper motions. We undertook a project using two epochs of HST/ACS data to determine the systemic proper motions of the Clouds. The Magellanic Cloud fields are centered on background QSOs that were discovered from their optical variability in the MACHO database (Geha et al. 2003). The final sample consists of 21 QSOs behind the LMC and 5 behind the SMC, distributed homogeneously behind the central few degrees of both Clouds. With a ˜2 year baseline and the use of the High Resolution Camera, we have determined the proper motion of the LMC to better than 5 \\ μ N = 0.44 ± 0.05 mas/yr (Kallivayalil et al. 2005). This is the most accurate proper motion measurement for any MW satellite thus far. We will present this measurement, as well as our results for the SMC, and the conclusions we can draw about the Clouds' orbits around the MW. Our study shows that ground-based work on finding QSOs can be combined with high resolution HST data to get good measurements in a relatively short amount of time. When combined with HI data from the Magellanic Stream our measurements should provide new constraints on both the mass distribution of the Galactic Halo and models of the Stream. Support for this work was provided by NASA through grant numbers GO-09462 and GO-10130 from STScI. KHC's work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. DOE, NNSA, by the Univ. of California, LLNL under contract No. W-7405-Eng-48.

Model nebulae and determination of the chemical composition of the Magellanic Clouds

PubMed Central

Aller, L. H.; Keyes, C. D.; Czyzak, S. J.

1979-01-01

An analysis of previously presented photoelectric spectrophotometry of HII regions (emission-line diffuse nebulae) in the two Magellanic Clouds is carried out with the aid of theoretical nebular models, which are used primarily as interpolation devices. Some advantages and limitations of such theoretical models are discussed. A comparison of the finally obtained chemical compositions with those found by other observers shows generally a good agreement, suggesting that it is possible to obtain reliable chemical compositions from low excitation gaseous nebulae in our own galaxy as well as in distant stellar systems. PMID:16592633

Large and Small Magellanic Clouds age-metallicity relationships

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perren, G. I.; Piatti, A. E.; Vázquez, R. A.

2017-10-01

We present a new determination of the age-metallicity relation for both Magellanic Clouds, estimated through the homogeneous analysis of 239 observed star clusters. All clusters in our set were observed with the filters of the Washington photometric system. The Automated Stellar cluster Analysis package (ASteCA) was employed to derive the cluster's fundamental parameters, in particular their ages and metallicities, through an unassisted process. We find that our age-metallicity relations (AMRs) can not be fully matched to any of the estimations found in twelve previous works, and are better explained by a combination of several of them in different age intervals.

An extremely bright gamma-ray pulsar in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fermi LAT Collaboration; Ackermann, M.; Albert, A.; Baldini, L.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Barbieri, C.; Bastieri, D.; Bellazzini, R.; Bissaldi, E.; Bonino, R.; Bottacini, E.; Brandt, T. J.; Bregeon, J.; Bruel, P.; Buehler, R.; Caliandro, G. A.; Cameron, R. A.; Caraveo, P. A.; Cecchi, C.; Charles, E.; Chekhtman, A.; Cheung, C. C.; Chiang, J.; Chiaro, G.; Ciprini, S.; Cohen-Tanugi, J.; Cuoco, A.; Cutini, S.; D'Ammando, F.; Desiante, F. de Palma R.; Digel, S. W.; Di Venere, L.; Drell, P. S.; Favuzzi, C.; Fegan, S. J.; Ferrara, E. C.; Franckowiak, A.; Funk, S.; Fusco, P.; Gargano, F.; Gasparrini, D.; Giglietto, N.; Giordano, F.; Godfrey, G.; Grenier, I. A.; Grondin, M.-H.; Grove, J. E.; Guillemot, L.; Guiriec, S.; Hagiwara, K.; Harding, A. K.; Hays, E.; Hewitt, J. W.; Hill, A. B.; Horan, D.; Johnson, T. J.; Knödlseder, J.; Kuss, M.; Larsson, S.; Latronico, L.; Lemoine-Goumard, M.; Li, J.; Li, L.; Longo, F.; Loparco, F.; Lovellette, M. N.; Lubrano, P.; Maldera, S.; Manfreda, A.; Marshall, F.; Martin, P.; Mayer, M.; Mazziotta, M. N.; Michelson, P. F.; Mirabal, N.; Mizuno, T.; Monzani, M. E.; Morselli, A.; Moskalenko, I. V.; Murgia, S.; Naletto, G.; Nuss, E.; Ohsugi, T.; Orienti, M.; Orlando, E.; Paneque, D.; Pesce-Rollins, M.; Piron, F.; Pivato, G.; Porter, T. A.; Rainò, S.; Rando, R.; Razzano, M.; Reimer, A.; Reimer, O.; Reposeur, T.; Romani, R. W.; Parkinson, P. M. Saz; Schulz, A.; Sgrò, C.; Siskind, E. J.; Smith, D. A.; Spada, F.; Spandre, G.; Spinelli, P.; Suson, D. J.; Takahashi, H.; Thayer, J. B.; Thompson, D. J.; Tibaldo, L.; Torres, D. F.; Uchiyama, Y.; Vianello, G.; Wood, K. S.; Wood, M.; Zampieri, L.

2015-11-01

Pulsars are rapidly spinning, highly magnetized neutron stars, created in the gravitational collapse of massive stars. We report the detection of pulsed giga-electron volt gamma rays from the young pulsar PSR J0540-6919 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. This is the first gamma-ray pulsar detected in another galaxy. It has the most luminous pulsed gamma-ray emission yet observed, exceeding the Crab pulsar’s by a factor of 20. PSR J0540-6919 presents an extreme test case for understanding the structure and evolution of neutron star magnetospheres.

Chemical evolution of the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbuy, B.; de Freitas Pacheco, J. A.; Idiart, T.

We have obtained integrated spectra for 14 clusters in the Magellanic Clouds, on which the spectral indices Hβ, Mg2, Fe5270, Fe5335 were measured. Selecting indices whose behaviour depends essentially on age and metallicity (Hβ and ), together with (B-V) and (V-K) colours, we were able to determine age and metallicities for these clusters, using calibrations based on single stellar population models (Borges et al. 1995). A chemical evolution model which follows a star formation history as indicated by the field population is checked with the age and metallicity data for our sample star clusters.

Revealing the Ionization Properties of the Magellanic Stream Using Optical Emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barger, K. A.; Madsen, G. J.; Fox, A. J.; Wakker, B. P.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Nidever, D.; Haffner, L. M.; Antwi-Danso, Jacqueline; Hernandez, Michael; Lehner, N.; Hill, A. S.; Curzons, A.; Tepper-García, T.

2017-12-01

The Magellanic Stream, a gaseous tail that trails behind the Magellanic Clouds, could replenish the Milky Way (MW) with a tremendous amount of gas if it reaches the Galactic disk before it evaporates into the halo. To determine how the Magellanic Stream’s properties change along its length, we have conducted an observational study of the Hα emission, along with other optical warm ionized gas tracers, toward 39 sight lines. Using the Wisconsin Hα Mapper telescope, we detect Hα emission brighter than 30–50 mR in 26 of our 39 sight lines. This Hα emission extends over 2^\\circ away from the H I emission. By comparing {I}{{H}α } and {I}[{{O}{{I}}]}, we find that regions with {log}{N}{{H}{{I}}}/{{cm}}-2≈ 19.5{--}20.0 are 16%–67% ionized. Most of the {I}{{H}α } along the Magellanic Stream are much higher than expected if the primary ionization source is photoionization from Magellanic Clouds, the MW, and the extragalactic background. We find that the additional contribution from self ionization through a “shock cascade” that results as the Stream plows through the halo might be sufficient to reproduce the underlying level of Hα emission along the Stream. In the sparsely sampled region below the South Galactic Pole, there exists a subset of sight lines with uncharacteristically bright emission, which suggest that gas is being ionized further by an additional source that could be a linked to energetic processes associated with the Galactic center.

Hubble Sees Hidden Treasure in Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

NASA image release January 23, 2013 Nearly 200 000 light-years from Earth, the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, floats in space, in a long and slow dance around our galaxy. As the Milky Way’s gravity gently tugs on its neighbour’s gas clouds, they collapse to form new stars. In turn, these light up the gas clouds in a kaleidoscope of colours, visible in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. To read more go to: 1.usa.gov/10vcJIi NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Global Studies of Molecular Clouds in the Galaxy, The Magellanic Clouds, and M31

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thaddeus, Patrick

1999-01-01

Over the course of this grant we used various spacecraft surveys of the Galaxy and M31 in conjunction with our extensive CO spectral line surveys to address central problems in galactic structure and the astrophysics of molecular clouds. These problems included the nature of the molecular ring and its relation to the spiral arms and central bar, the cosmic ray distribution, the origin of the diffuse X-ray background, the distribution and properties of x-ray sources and supernova remnants, and the Galactic stellar mass distribution. For many of these problems, the nearby spiral M31 provided an important complementary perspective. Our CO surveys of GMCs (Galactic Molecular Clouds) were crucial for interpreting Galactic continuum surveys from satellites such as GRO (Gamma Ray Observatory), ROSAT (Roentgen Satellite), IRAS (Infrared Astronomy Satellite), and COBE (Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite) because they provided the missing dimension of velocity or kinematic distance. GMCs are a well-defined and widespread population of objects whose velocities we could readily measure throughout the Galaxy. Through various emission and absorption mechanisms involving their gas, dust, or associated Population I objects, GMCs modulate the galactic emission in virtually every major wavelength band. Furthermore, the visibility. of GMCs at so many wavelengths provided various methods of resolving the kinematic distance ambiguity for these objects in the inner Galaxy. Summaries of our accomplishments in each of the major wavelength bands discussed in our original proposal are given

Distribution of hot stars and hydrogen in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Page, T.; Carruthers, G. R.

1981-01-01

Imagery of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), in the wavelength ranges 1050 to 1600 A and 1250 to 1600 A, was obtained by the S201 far ultraviolet camera during the Apollo 16 mission. These images were reduced to absolute far-UV intensity distributions over the area of the LMC, with 3 to 5 arc min angular resolution. Comparison of these far-UV measurements in the LMC with H sub alpha and 21 cm surveys reveals that interstellar hydrogen in the LMC is often concentrated in 100 pc clouds within 500 pc clouds. Furthermore, at least 25 associations of O-B stars in the LMC are outside the interstellar hydrogen clouds; four of them appear to be on the far side. Far-UV and mid-UV spectra were obtained of stars in 12 of these associations, using the International Ultraviolet Explorer. Equivalent widths of L alpha and six other lines, and relative intensities of the continuum at seven wavelength from 1300 A to 2900 A, were measured. These spectra are also discussed.

Chemical Composition of Nebulosities in the Magellanic Clouds

PubMed Central

Aller, L. H.; Czyzak, S. J.; Keyes, C. D.; Boeshaar, G.

1974-01-01

From photoelectric spectrophotometric data secured at Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory we have attempted to derive electron densities and temperatures, ionic concentrations, and chemical abundances of He, C, N, O, Ne, S, and Ar in nebulosities in the Magellanic Clouds. Although 10 distinct nebulosities were observed in the Small Cloud and 20 such objects in the Large Cloud, the most detailed observations were secured only for the brighter objects. Results for 30 Doradus are in harmony with those published previously and recent work by Peimbert and Torres-Peimbert. Nitrogen and heavier elements appear to be less abundant in the Small Cloud than in the Large Cloud, in accordance with the conclusions of Dufour. A comparison with the Orion nebula suggests He, N, Ne, O, and S may all be less abundant in the Megellanic Clouds, although adequate evaluations will require construction of detailed models. For example, if we postulate that the [NII], [OII], and [SII] radiations originate primarily in regions with electron temperatures near 8000°K, while the [OIII], [NeIII], [ArIII], and H radiations are produced primarily in regions with Tε = 10,000° K, the derived chemical abundances in the clouds are enhanced. PMID:16592199

The relationship between CO emission and visual extinction traced by dust emission in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Cheoljong; Leroy, Adam K.; Schnee, Scott; Wong, Tony; Bolatto, Alberto D.; Indebetouw, Remy; Rubio, Monica

2015-07-01

To test the theoretical understanding that finding bright CO emission depends primarily on dust shielding, we investigate the relationship between CO emission (ICO) and the amount of dust (estimated from infrared emission and expressed as `AV') across the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the Small Magellanic Cloud, and the Milky Way. We show that at our common resolution of 10 pc scales, ICO given a fixed line of sight AV is similar across all three systems despite the difference in metallicity. We find some evidence for a secondary dependence of ICO on radiation field; in the LMC, ICO at a given AV is smaller in regions of high Tdust, perhaps because of an increased photodissociating radiation field. We suggest a simple but useful picture in which the CO-to-H2 conversion factor (XCO) depends on two separable factors: (1) the distribution of gas column densities, which maps to an extinction distribution via a dust-to-gas ratio; and (2) the dependence of ICO on AV. Assuming that the probability distribution function (PDF) of local Milky Way clouds is universal, this approach predicts a dependence of {X_CO} on Z between Z-1 and Z-2 above about a third solar metallicity. Below this metallicity, CO emerges from only the high column density parts of the cloud and so depends very sensitively on the adopted PDF and the H2/H I prescription. The PDF of low-metallicity clouds is thus of considerable interest and the uncertainty associated with even an ideal prescription for XCO at very low metallicity will be large.

Physical properties and evolution of GMCs in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Onishi, Toshikazu

2015-08-01

Most stars are born as clusters in Giant Molecular Clouds (hereafter GMCs), and therefore the understanding of the evolution of GMCs in a galaxy is one of the key issues to investigate the evolution of the galaxy. The recent state-of-the-art radio telescopes have been enabling us to reveal the distribution of GMCs extensively in the Galaxy as well as in the nearby galaxies, and the physical properties and the evolution of the GMCs leading to cluster formations are actively being investigated. Here we present a review of studies of spatially resolved GMCs in the Galaxy and in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), aiming at providing a template of GMC properties. For the Galactic GMCs, we will focus on the recent extensive survey of GMCs along the Galactic plane; the recent studies suggest cloud-cloud collision as mechanism of massive star formation. For the extra galactic GMCs, we will present recent high-resolution observations of GMCs in the LMC.The LMC is among the nearest star-forming galaxy (distance ~ 50kpc) and is almost face-on. From these aspects, it is becoming the most popular region for studying interstellar medium over an entire galaxy. For molecular gas, the NANTEN covered the entire LMC with a spatial resolution of 40 pc, revealing 272 molecular clouds whose mass ranges from ~104 to ~107 M⊙, which is the first uniform sample of GMCs in a single galaxy. Our Spitzer SAGE and Herschel HERITAGE surveys show that the interstellar medium has much smaller scale structures; full of filamentary and shell-like structures. In order to resolve the filamentary distributions and pre-stellar cores we definitely need to resolve clouds at sub-pc resolutions with ALMA and to cover regions of active cluster formation which are to be selected based on the Spitzer and Hershel data. Our ALMA targets in Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 include N159, which is the most intense and concentrated molecular cloud as shown by the brightest CO J=3-2 source in the LMC, and GMCs with different evolutionary stages. We present the maps of pre-stellar cores and linking filaments at sub-pc resolution and discuss the formation process of massive clusters.

The Most Metal-poor Stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schlaufman, Kevin C.

2018-06-01

The chemical abundances of the most metal-poor stars in a galaxy can be used to investigate the earliest stages of its formation and chemical evolution. Differences between the abundances of the most metal-poor stars in the Milky Way and in its satellite dwarf galaxies have been noted and provide the strongest available constraints on the earliest stages of general galactic chemical evolution models. However, the masses of the Milky Way and its satellite dwarf galaxies differ by four orders of magnitude, leaving a gap in our knowledge of the early chemical evolution of intermediate mass galaxies like the Magellanic Clouds. To close that gap, we have initiated a survey of the metal-poor stellar populations of the Magellanic Clouds using the mid-infrared metal-poor star selection of Schlaufman & Casey (2014). We have discovered the three most metal-poor giant stars known in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and reobserved the previous record holder. The stars have metallicities in the range -2.70 < [Fe/H] < -2.00 and three show r-process enhancement: one has [Eu II/Fe] = +1.65 and two others have [Eu II/Fe] = +0.65. The probability that four randomly selected very metal-poor stars in the halo of the Milky Way are as r-process enhanced is 0.0002. For that reason, the early chemical enrichment of the heaviest elements in the LMC and Milky Way were qualitatively different. It is also suggestive of a possible chemical link between the LMC and the ultra-faint dwarf galaxies nearby with evidence of r-process enhancement (e.g., Reticulum II and Tucana III). Like Reticulum II, the most metal-poor star in our LMC sample is the only one not enhanced in r-process elements.

A modern search for Wolf-Rayet stars in the Magellanic Clouds: First results

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Massey, Philip; Neugent, Kathryn F.; Morrell, Nidia

Over the years, directed surveys and incidental spectroscopy have identified 12 Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and 139 in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), numbers which are often described as 'essentially complete'. Yet, new WRs are discovered in the LMC almost yearly. We have therefore initiated a new survey of both Magellanic Clouds using the same interference-filter imaging technique previously applied to M31 and M33. We report on our first observing season, in which we have successfully surveyed ∼15% of our intended area of the SMC and LMC. Spectroscopy has confirmed nine newly found WRs inmore » the LMC (a 6% increase), including one of WO-type, only the third known in that galaxy and the second to be discovered recently. The other eight are WN3 stars that include an absorption component. In two, the absorption is likely from an O-type companion, but the other six are quite unusual. Five would be classified naively as 'WN3+O3 V', but such a pairing is unlikely given the rarity of O3 stars, the short duration of this phase (which is incommensurate with the evolution of a companion to a WN star), and because these stars are considerably fainter than O3 V stars. The sixth star may also fall into this category. CMFGEN modeling suggests these stars are hot, bolometrically luminous, and N-rich like other WN3 stars, but lack the strong winds that characterize WNs. Finally, we discuss two rare Of?p stars and four Of supergiants we found, and propose that the B[e] star HD 38489 may have a WN companion.« less

Dusty Mass Loss from Galactic Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sargent, Benjamin A.; Srinivasan, Sundar; Meixner, Margaret; Kastner, Joel H.

2016-06-01

We are probing how mass loss from Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars depends upon their metallicity. Asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are evolved stars that eject large parts of their mass in outflows of dust and gas in the final stages of their lives. Our previous studies focused on mass loss from AGB stars in lower metallicity galaxies: the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). In our present study, we analyze AGB star mass loss in the Galaxy, with special attention to the Bulge, to investigate how mass loss differs in an overall higher metallicity environment. We construct radiative transfer models of the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of stars in the Galaxy identified as AGB stars from infrared and optical surveys. Our Magellanic Cloud studies found that the AGB stars with the highest mass loss rates tended to have outflows with carbon-rich dust, and that overall more carbon-rich (C-rich) dust than oxygen-rich (O-rich) was produced by AGB stars in both LMC and SMC. Our radiative transfer models have enabled us to determine reliably the dust chemistry of the AGB star from the best-fit model. For our Galactic sample, we are investigating both the dust chemistries of the AGB stars and their mass-loss rates, to compare the balance of C-rich dust to O-rich dust between the Galactic bulge and the Magellanic Clouds. We are also constructing detailed dust opacity models of AGB stars in the Galaxy for which we have infrared spectra; e.g., from the Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Spectrograph (IRS). This detailed dust modeling of spectra informs our choice of dust properties to use in radiative transfer modeling of SEDs of Galactic AGB stars. BAS acknowledges funding from NASA ADAP grant NNX15AF15G.

Dust and Gas in the Magellanic Clouds from the Heritage Herschel Key Project. I. Dust Properties and Insights into the Origin of the Submm (Submillimeter) Excess Emission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gordon, Karl D.; Roman-Duval, Julia; Bot, Caroline; Meixner, Margaret; Babler, Brian; Bernard, Jean-Philippe; Bolatto, Alberto; Boyer, Martha L.; Clayton, Geoffrey C.; Engelbracht, Charles;

New objects with the B[e] phenomenon in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levato, H.; Miroshnichenko, A. S.; Saffe, C.

2014-08-01

Aims: The study is aimed at discovering new objects with the B[e] phenomenon in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Methods: We report medium-resolution optical spectroscopic observations of two newly found (ARDB 54 and NOMAD 0181-0125572) and two previously known (Hen S-59 and Hen S-137) supergiants with the B[e] phenomenon in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The observations were obtained with the GMOS spectrograph at the southern Gemini telescope. Results: The optical spectra and the fundamental parameters of ARDB 54 and NOMAD 0181-0125572 are presented for the first time. We found that the Balmer line profiles of Hen S-59 and Hen S-137 were different from those observed in their spectra nearly 20 years ago. We suggest a higher effective temperature and luminosity for both objects. With the new fundamental parameters, the lowest luminosity for known supergiants with the B[e] phenomenon in the Magellanic Clouds is higher that previously thought (log L/L⊙ ~ 4.5 instead of 4.0). The object Hen S-59 may be a binary system based on its UV excess, variable B - V color-index and radial velocity of emission lines, and periodically variable I-band brightness. Based on observations obtained at the Gemini Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the NSF on behalf of the Gemini partnership: the National Science Foundation (United States), the National Research Council (Canada), CONICYT (Chile), the Australian Research Council (Australia), Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovacão (Brazil) and Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva (Argentina).

A survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud in the (C II) 158 micron line

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mochizuki, Kenji; Nakagawa, Takao; Doi, Yasuo; Yui, Yukari Y.; Okuda, Haruyuki; Shibai, Hiroshi; Yui, Masao; Nishimura, Tetsuo; Low, Frank J.

1994-01-01

We have mapped the Large Magellanic Cloud (the LMC) in the (C II) 158 microns fine-structure line with the Balloon-borne Infrared Carbon Explorer (BICE) system. The (C II) line emission was detected over most of the LMC. The mean (C II)/CO (J = 1-0) line intensity ratio was 23,000 18 times larger than the typical value observed in the Galactic plane (1300). This result implies that each clump of the molecular clouds in the LMC has a larger C(+) envelope relative to its CO core than those in our Galaxy. Lower dust abundance due to its lower metallicity allows UV photons, which convert CO molecules into C(+) ions, to penetrate deeper into the clumps in the LMC than in our Galaxy.

Why is the Magellanic Stream so Turbulent? - A Simulational Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, Elliott; Shelton, Robin L.

2018-06-01

As the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds travel through the Milky Way (MW) halo, gas is tidally and ram pressure stripped from them, forming the Leading Arm (LA) and Magellanic Stream (MS). The evolution of the LA and MS are an interest to astronomers because there is evidence that the diffuse gas that has been stripped off is able to fall onto the galactic disk and cool enough to fuel star formation in the MW. For et al, 2014 published a catalog of 251 high velocity clouds (HVCs) in the MS, many of which have head-tail morphologies, suggesting interaction with the Milky Way’s halo or other gas in the MS. For et al noticed that the pointing direction of the HVCs are random, which they interpreted as an indication of strong turbulence. They suggested the shock cascade scenario as a contributing process, where ablated cloud material generates turbulence (and H-alpha emission). We take a closer look at this process via simulations. We ran numerical simulations of clouds in the MS using the University of Chicago’s FLASH software. We simulated cases that had two clouds, where one trailed behind the other, and we simulated cases that had one cloud in order to examine the effects of drafting on cloud dynamics and velocity dispersion. Initial cloud temperatures ranged from 100 K to 20,000 K. We have created velocity dispersion maps from the FLASH simulation data to visualize turbulence. We compare these generated maps with 21 cm observations (most recently Westmeier, 2017), in order to search for signatures similar to the small scale turbulence seen in the simulations. We find that if the clouds are initially near to each other, then drafting allows the trailing cloud to catch the leading cloud and mix together. For greater separations, Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities disrupt the clouds enough before impact that drafting has a minimal role. Our velocity dispersion maps of the warmer clouds closely match values published in For et al, 2014; although, thermal broadening accounts for a large fraction of the velocity dispersion found in the generated maps.

An application of Bayesian statistics to the extragalactic Cepheid distance scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barnes, Thomas G., III; Moffett, Thomas J.; Jefferys, W. H.; Forestell, Amy D.

2004-05-01

We have determined quasi-geometric distances to the Magellanic Clouds, M31 and M33. Our analysis uses a Bayesian statistical method to provide mathematically rigorous and objective solutions for individual Cepheids. We combine the individual distances with a hierarchial Bayesian model to determine the galactic distances. We obtain distance moduli 18.87 ± 0.07 mag (LMC, 12 stars), 19.14 ± 0.10 (SMC, 8 stars), 23.83 ± 0.35 mag (M33, 1 star) and 25.2 ± 0.6 mag (M31, 1 star) - all uncorrected for metallicity. The M31 and M33 distances are very preliminary. If the Pl relations of the LMC, SMC, and Galaxy are identical, our results exclude the metallicity effect in the V, (V - R) surface brightness method predicted by Hindsley and Bell (1989) at the 5σ level. Alternately, if Hindsley & Bell's prediction is adopted as true, we find a metallicity effect intrinsic to the Cepheid PL relation requiring a correction Δ(V - Mv) = (0.36 ± 0.07)Δ[A/H] mag. The latter has the opposite sign to other observational estimates of the Cepheid metallicity effect.

Vacuum ultraviolet images of the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Andrew M.; Cornett, Robert H.; Hill, Robert S.

1987-09-01

Images with 50arcsec resolution of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), obtained with sounding-rocket instrumentation in two vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) bandpasses, are presented. The bandpasses are each ≡200 Å wide and are centered, for hot stars, near 1500 Å and 1900 Å. Photometry was done on the digitized images for all associations in the list of Lucke and Hodge. The authors discuss the results and their relationship to the overall characteristics of star formation in the LMC. They present a simple model for propagating star formation in the LMC whose results closely resemble the distribution of associations as revealed by VUV images.

Apollo-16 far-ultraviolet spectra in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carruthers, G. R.; Page, T.

1977-01-01

Spectra in the wavelength ranges from 900 to 1600 A and 1050 to 1600 A of some OB associations in the Large Magellanic Cloud were obtained from the lunar surface by the Apollo-16 far-ultraviolet camera/spectrograph on April 22, 1972. The observed spectral distributions appear consistent with a stellar model having an effective temperature of 30,000 K, reddened by E(B-V) = 0.3, and characterized by the average far-ultraviolet extinction curve of Bless and Savage (1972). However, the absolute intensity of the far-ultraviolet spectrum of the associations NGC 2050 and 2055 seems somewhat too bright in comparison with ground-based photometry.

Discovery of the binary nature of SMC X-1 from Uhuru.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schreier, E.; Giacconi, R.; Gursky, H.; Kellogg, E.; Tananbaum, H.

1972-01-01

The X-ray source in the Small Magellanic Cloud SMC X-1 was observed by Uhuru on numerous occasions from December 1970 through April 1972. As previously reported by Leong et al. (1971), the source was seen to be variable. It was found that SMC X-1 occults with a period of 3.8927 days. The energy spectrum is cut off at low energies and flat. There is no large-amplitude periodic pulsation. The luminosity observed makes the binary source SMC X-1 comparable in strength to both the stronger galactic sources and the discrete sources in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

An extremely bright gamma-ray pulsar in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

PubMed

2015-11-13

Pulsars are rapidly spinning, highly magnetized neutron stars, created in the gravitational collapse of massive stars. We report the detection of pulsed giga-electron volt gamma rays from the young pulsar PSR J0540-6919 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. This is the first gamma-ray pulsar detected in another galaxy. It has the most luminous pulsed gamma-ray emission yet observed, exceeding the Crab pulsar's by a factor of 20. PSR J0540-6919 presents an extreme test case for understanding the structure and evolution of neutron star magnetospheres. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Large Magellanic Cloud Near-infrared Synoptic Survey. V. Period–Luminosity Relations of Miras

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yuan, Wenlong; Macri, Lucas M.; He, Shiyuan

We study the near-infrared properties of 690 Mira candidates in the central region of the Large Magellanic Cloud, based on time-series observations at JHK{sub s}. We use densely sampled I -band observations from the OGLE project to generate template light curves in the near-infrared and derive robust mean magnitudes at those wavelengths. We obtain near-infrared Period–Luminosity relations for oxygen-rich Miras with a scatter as low as 0.12 mag at K{sub s}. We study the Period–Luminosity–Color relations and the color excesses of carbon-rich Miras, which show evidence for a substantially different reddening law.

Skyscrapers in the Desert: Observing Ongoing, Active Star Formation in the Low-Density Wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fulmer, Leah M.; Gallagher, John S.; Hamann, Wolf-Rainer; Oskinova, Lida; Ramachandran, Varsha

2018-01-01

The low-density Wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud exhibits ongoing, active star formation despite a distinctive lack of dense ambient gas and dust, or resources from which to form stars. Our continued work in studying this region reveals that these paradoxical observations may be explained by a process of sequential star formation. We present photometric, clustering, and spatial analyses in support of this scenario, along with a proposed star formation history based on the following evidence: matches to isochrone models, stellar and ionized gas kinematics (VLT, SALT), and regional HI gas kinematics (ATCA, PKS).

Dust in the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rodrigues, C. V.; Coyne, G. V.; Magalhaes, A. M.

1995-01-01

We discuss simultaneous dust model fits to our extinction and polarization data for the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) using existing dust models. Dust model fits to the wavelength dependent polarization are possible for stars with small lambda(sub max). They generally imply size distributions which are narrower and have smaller average sizes compared to those in the Galaxy. The best fits for the extinction curves are obtained with a power law size distribution. The typical, monotonic SMC extinction curve can be well fit with graphite and silicate grains if a small fraction of the SMC carbon is locked up in the grains. Amorphous carbon and silicate grains also fit the data well.

Discovery of a 50 millisecond pulsar in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seward, F. D.; Harnden, F. R., Jr.; Helfand, D. J.

1984-01-01

The present investigation is concerned with the discovery of a new pulsed X-ray source in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) supernova remnant 0540 - 693. The SNR 0540 - 693 is one of three suspected Crab-like remnants in the LMC. The existing X-ray, optical, and radio observations of the remnant itself are discussed, and an analysis is conducted of the implications of the period, period derivative, and X-ray pulse shape of the new source. It is concluded that the pulsed X-ray source is almost certainly a young, isolated pulsar. Many of its properties are very similar to those of the Crab pulsar.

Quantitative UV spectroscopy of early O stars on the Magellanic Clouds: The determination of the stellar metallicities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haser, Stefan M.; Pauldrach, Adalbert W. A.; Lennon, Danny J.; Kudritzki, Rolf-Peter; Lennon, Maguerite; Puls, Joachim; Voels, Stephen A.

1997-01-01

Ultraviolet spectra of four O stars in the Magellanic Clouds obtained with the faint object spectrograph of the Hubble Space Telescope are analyzed with respect to their metallicity. The metal abundances are derived from the stellar parameters and the mass loss rate with a two step procedure: hydrodynamic radiation-driven wind models with metallicity as a free parameter are constructed to fit the observed wind momentum rate and thus yield a dynamical metallicity, and synthetic spectra are computed for different metal abundances and compared to the observed spectra in order to obtain a spectroscopic metallicity.

Search for gamma-ray emission from dark matter annihilation in the Small Magellanic Cloud with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

DOE PAGES

Caputo, Regina; Buckley, Matthew R.; Martin, Pierrick; ...

2016-03-22

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is the second-largest satellite galaxy of the Milky Way and is only 60 kpc away. As a nearby, massive, and dense object with relatively low astrophysical backgrounds, it is a natural target for dark matter indirect detection searches. In this work, we use six years of Pass 8 data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope to search for gamma-ray signals of dark matter annihilation in the SMC. Using data-driven fits to the gamma-ray backgrounds, and a combination of N-body simulations and direct measurements of rotation curves to estimate the SMC DM density profile, we found that themore » SMC was well described by standard astrophysical sources, and no signal from dark matter annihilation was detected. We set conservative upper limits on the dark matter annihilation cross section. Furthermore, these constraints are in agreement with stronger constraints set by searches in the Large Magellanic Cloud and approach the canonical thermal relic cross section at dark matter masses lower than 10 GeV in the bb¯ and τ +τ - channels.« less

Observation of interstellar lithium in the low-metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud.

PubMed

Howk, J Christopher; Lehner, Nicolas; Fields, Brian D; Mathews, Grant J

2012-09-06

The primordial abundances of light elements produced in the standard theory of Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) depend only on the cosmic ratio of baryons to photons, a quantity inferred from observations of the microwave background. The predicted primordial (7)Li abundance is four times that measured in the atmospheres of Galactic halo stars. This discrepancy could be caused by modification of surface lithium abundances during the stars' lifetimes or by physics beyond the Standard Model that affects early nucleosynthesis. The lithium abundance of low-metallicity gas provides an alternative constraint on the primordial abundance and cosmic evolution of lithium that is not susceptible to the in situ modifications that may affect stellar atmospheres. Here we report observations of interstellar (7)Li in the low-metallicity gas of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a nearby galaxy with a quarter the Sun's metallicity. The present-day (7)Li abundance of the Small Magellanic Cloud is nearly equal to the BBN predictions, severely constraining the amount of possible subsequent enrichment of the gas by stellar and cosmic-ray nucleosynthesis. Our measurements can be reconciled with standard BBN with an extremely fine-tuned depletion of stellar Li with metallicity. They are also consistent with non-standard BBN.

Discovery of Extended Main-sequence Turnoffs in Four Young Massive Clusters in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Chengyuan; de Grijs, Richard; Deng, Licai; Milone, Antonino P.

2017-08-01

An increasing number of young massive clusters (YMCs) in the Magellanic Clouds have been found to exhibit bimodal or extended main sequences (MSs) in their color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). These features are usually interpreted in terms of a coeval stellar population with different stellar rotational rates, where the blue and red MS stars are populated by non- (or slowly) and rapidly rotating stellar populations, respectively. However, some studies have shown that an age spread of several million years is required to reproduce the observed wide turnoff regions in some YMCs. Here we present the ultraviolet-visual CMDs of four Large and Small Magellanic Cloud YMCs, NGC 330, NGC 1805, NGC 1818, and NGC 2164, based on high-precision Hubble Space Telescope photometry. We show that they all exhibit extended main-sequence turnoffs (MSTOs). The importance of age spreads and stellar rotation in reproducing the observations is investigated. The observed extended MSTOs cannot be explained by stellar rotation alone. Adopting an age spread of 35-50 Myr can alleviate this difficulty. We conclude that stars in these clusters are characterized by ranges in both their ages and rotation properties, but the origin of the age spread in these clusters remains unknown.

PAH 8μm Emission as a Diagnostic of HII Region Optical Depth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oey, M. S.; Lopez-Hernandez, J.; Kellar, J. A.; Pellegrini, E. W.; Gordon, Karl D.; Jameson, Katherine; Li, Aigen; Madden, Suzanne C.; Meixner, Margaret; Roman-Duval, Julia; Bot, Caroline; Rubio, Monica; Tielens, A. G. G. M.

2017-01-01

PAHs are easily destroyed by Lyman continuum radiation and so in optically thick Stromgren spheres, they tend to be found only on the periphery of HII regions, rather than in the central volume. We therefore expect that in HII regions that are optically thin to ionizing radiation, PAHs would be destroyed beyond the primary nebular structure. Using data from the Spitzer SAGE survey of the Magellanic Clouds, we test whether 8 μm emission can serve as a diagnostic of optical depth in HII regions. We find that 8 μm emission does provide valuable constraints in the Large Magellanic Cloud, where objects identified as optically thick by their atomic ionization structure have 6 times higher median 8 μm surface brightness than optically thin objects. However, in the Small Magellanic Cloud, this differentiation is not observed. This appears to be caused by extremely low PAH production in this low-metallicity environment, such that any differentiation between optically thick and thin objects is washed out by stochastic variations, likely driven by the interplay between dust production and UV destruction. Thus, PAH emission is sensitive to nebular optical depth only at higher metallicities.

Results of the WHAM Hα survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smart, Brianna Marie; Haffner, Lawrence Matthew; Barger, Kat; Madsen, Greg

2018-01-01

We present the results of an Hα survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) using the Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper (WHAM) as the initial component of our WHAM Magellanic System Survey (SMC/LMC/Stream). Previous surveys of the SMC have focused on the bright H II regions (supernovae remnants/ HII bubbles, etc) centered around the stellar component of the galaxy. These surveys were not sensitive to the fainter Diffuse Ionized Gas (DIG) within and surrounding the galaxy. With WHAM, we detect a halo of diffuse Hα emission extending to radii well beyond the bright H II regions and comparable to extents of observed HI. Using WHAM's unprecedented sensitivity to trace diffuse emission (~ tens of mR) with a velocity resolution of 12 km/s, we have compiled the first comprehensive spatial and kinematic map of the extended Hα emission. With these new data in hand, we are able to delineate the considerable warm ionized component associated with the SMC, leading to better calculations of its present-day mass and providing new constraints for dynamical evolution simulations of the Magellanic System. Similar WHAM surveys of the diffuse ionized content of the LMC and Stream are also underway.

OGLE-ing the Magellanic System: Three-Dimensional Structure of the Clouds and the Bridge Using Classical Cepheids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacyszyn-Dobrzeniecka, A. M.; Skowron, D. M.; Mróz, P.; Skowron, J.; Soszyński, I.; Udalski, A.; Pietrukowicz, P.; Kozłowski, S.; Wyrzykowski, Ł.; Poleski, R.; Pawlak, M.; Szymański, M. K.; Ulaczyk, K.

2016-06-01

We analyzed a sample of 9418 fundamental-mode and first-overtone classical Cepheids from the OGLE-IV Collection of Classical Cepheids. The distance to each Cepheid was calculated using the period-luminosity relation for the Wesenheit magnitude, fitted to our data. The classical Cepheids in the LMC are situated mainly in the bar and in the northern arm. The eastern part of the LMC is closer to us and the plane fit to the whole LMC sample yields the inclination i=24.°2 ±0.°7 and position angle P.A.=151.°4±1.°7. We redefined the LMC bar by extending it in the western direction and found no offset from the plane of the LMC contrary to previous studies. On the other hand, we found that the northern arm is offset from a plane by about -0.5 kpc, which was not observed before. The age distribution of the LMC Cepheids shows one maximum at about 100 Myr. We demonstrate that the SMC has a non-planar structure and can be described as an extended ellipsoid. We identified two large ellipsoidal off-axis structures in the SMC. The northern one is located closer to us and is younger, while the south-western is farther and older. The age distribution of the SMC Cepheids is bimodal with one maximum at 110 Myr, and another one at 220 Myr. Younger stars are located in the closer part of this galaxy while older ones are more distant. We classified nine Cepheids from our sample as Magellanic Bridge objects. These Cepheids show a large spread in three-dimensions although five of them form a connection between the Clouds. The closest one is closer than any of the LMC Cepheids, while the farthest one - farther than any SMC Cepheid. All but one Cepheids in the Magellanic Bridge are younger than 300 Myr. The oldest one can be associated with the SMC Wing.

Detailed chemical composition of classical Cepheids in the LMC cluster NGC 1866 and in the field of the SMC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lemasle, B.; Groenewegen, M. A. T.; Grebel, E. K.; Bono, G.; Fiorentino, G.; François, P.; Inno, L.; Kovtyukh, V. V.; Matsunaga, N.; Pedicelli, S.; Primas, F.; Pritchard, J.; Romaniello, M.; da Silva, R.

2017-12-01

Context. Cepheids are excellent tracers of young stellar populations. They play a crucial role in astrophysics as standard candles. The chemistry of classical Cepheids in the Milky Way is now quite well-known, however despite a much larger sample, the chemical composition of Magellanic Cepheids has been only scarcely investigated. Aims: For the first time, we study the chemical composition of several Cepheids located in the same populous cluster: NGC 1866, in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). To also investigate the chemical composition of Cepheids at lower metallicity, we look at four targets located in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Our sample allows us to increase the number of Cepheids with known metallicities in the LMC/SMC by 20%/25% and the number of Cepheids with detailed chemical composition in the LMC/SMC by 46%/50%. Methods: We use canonical spectroscopic analysis to determine the chemical composition of Cepheids and provide abundances for a good number of α, iron-peak, and neutron-capture elements. Results: We find that six Cepheids in the LMC cluster NGC 1866 have a very homogeneous chemical composition, also consistent with red giant branch (RGB) stars in the cluster. Period-age relations that include no or average rotation indicate that all the Cepheids in NGC 1866 have a similar age and therefore belong to the same stellar population. Our results are in good agreement with theoretical models accounting for luminosity and radial velocity variations. Using distances based on period-luminosity relations in the near- or mid-infrared, we investigate for the first time the metallicity distribution of the young population in the SMC in the depth direction. Preliminary results show no metallicity gradient along the SMC main body, but our sample is small and does not contain Cepheids in the inner few degrees of the SMC. Based on observations collected at the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere under ESO programme 082.D-0792(B).

Magellan/M2FS Spectroscopy of Tucana 2 and Grus 1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walker, Matthew G.; Mateo, Mario; Olszewski, Edward W.; Koposov, Sergey; Belokurov, Vasily; Jethwa, Prashin; Nidever, David L.; Bonnivard, Vincent; Bailey, John I., III; Bell, Eric F.; Loebman, Sarah R.

2016-03-01

We present results from spectroscopic observations with the Michigan/Magellan Fiber System (M2FS) of 147 stellar targets along the line of sight to the newly discovered “ultrafaint” stellar systems Tucana 2 (Tuc 2) and Grus 1 (Gru 1). Based on simultaneous estimates of line of sight velocity and stellar-atmospheric parameters, we identify 8 and 7 stars as probable members of Tuc 2 and and Gru 1, respectively. Our sample for Tuc 2 is sufficient to resolve an internal velocity dispersion of {8.6}-2.7+4.4 km s-1 about a mean of -{129.1}-3.5+3.5 km s-1 (solar rest frame), and to estimate a mean metallicity of [Fe/H] = -{2.23}-0.12+0.18. These results place Tuc 2 on chemodynamical scaling relations followed by dwarf galaxies, suggesting a dominant dark matter component with dynamical mass {2.7}-1.3+3.1× {10}6 {M}⊙ enclosed within the central ˜160 pc, and dynamical mass-to-light ratio {1913}-950+2234 {M}⊙ /{L}V,⊙ . For Gru 1 we estimate a mean velocity of -{140.5}-1.6+2.4 km s-1 and a mean metallicity of [Fe/H] = -{1.42}-0.42+0.55 but our sample does not resolve Gru 1's velocity dispersion. The radial coordinates of Tuc 2 and Gru 1 in Galactic phase space suggest that their orbits are among the most energetic within a distance of ≲ 300 {{kpc}}. Moreover, their proximity to each other in this space arises naturally if both objects are trailing the Large Magellanic Cloud. This paper presents data gathered with the Magellan Telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile.

Structure of the Large Magellanic Cloud from near infrared magnitudes of red clump stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subramanian, S.; Subramaniam, A.

2013-04-01

Context. The structural parameters of the disk of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) are estimated. Aims: We used the JH photometric data of red clump (RC) stars from the Magellanic Cloud Point Source Catalog (MCPSC) obtained from the InfraRed Survey Facility (IRSF) to estimate the structural parameters of the LMC disk, such as the inclination, i, and the position angle of the line of nodes (PAlon), φ. Methods: The observed LMC region is divided into several sub-regions, and stars in each region are cross-identified with the optically identified RC stars to obtain the near infrared magnitudes. The peak values of H magnitude and (J - H) colour of the observed RC distribution are obtained by fitting a profile to the distributions and by taking the average value of magnitude and colour of the RC stars in the bin with largest number. Then the dereddened peak H0 magnitude of the RC stars in each sub-region is obtained from the peak values of H magnitude and (J - H) colour of the observed RC distribution. The right ascension (RA), declination (Dec), and relative distance from the centre of each sub-region are converted into x,y, and z Cartesian coordinates. A weighted least square plane fitting method is applied to this x,y,z data to estimate the structural parameters of the LMC disk. Results: An intrinsic (J - H)0 colour of 0.40 ± 0.03 mag in the Simultaneous three-colour InfraRed Imager for Unbiased Survey (SIRIUS) IRSF filter system is estimated for the RC stars in the LMC and a reddening map based on (J - H) colour of the RC stars is presented. When the peaks of the RC distribution were identified by averaging, an inclination of 25°.7 ± 1°.6 and a PAlon = 141°.5 ± 4°.5 were obtained. We estimate a distance modulus, μ = 18.47 ± 0.1 mag to the LMC. Extra-planar features which are both in front and behind the fitted plane are identified. They match with the optically identified extra-planar features. The bar of the LMC is found to be part of the disk within 500 pc. Conclusions: The estimates of the structural parameters are found to be independent of the photometric bands used for the analysis. The radial variation of the structural parameters are also studied. We find that the inner disk, within ~3°.0, is less inclined and has a larger value of PAlon when compared to the outer disk. Our estimates are compared with the literature values, and the possible reasons for the small discrepancies found are discussed.

What Old is New in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Image and Video Library

2006-09-01

This vibrant image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy. The infrared image, a mosaic of 300,000 individual tiles, offers astronomers a unique chance to study the lifecycle of stars and dust in a single galaxy. Nearly one million objects are revealed for the first time in this Spitzer view, which represents about a 1,000-fold improvement in sensitivity over previous space-based missions. Most of the new objects are dusty stars of various ages populating the Large Magellanic Cloud; the rest are thought to be background galaxies. The blue color in the picture, seen most prominently in the central bar, represents starlight from older stars. The chaotic, bright regions outside this bar are filled with hot, massive stars buried in thick blankets of dust. The red color around these bright regions is from dust heated by stars, while the red dots scattered throughout the picture are either dusty, old stars or more distant galaxies. The greenish clouds contain cooler interstellar gas and molecular-sized dust grains illuminated by ambient starlight. Astronomers say this image allows them to quantify the process by which space dust -- the same stuff that makes up planets and even people -- is recycled in a galaxy. The picture shows dust at its three main cosmic hangouts: around the young stars, where it is being consumed (red-tinted, bright clouds); scattered about in the space between stars (greenish clouds); and in expelled shells of material from old stars (randomly-spaced red dots). The Large Magellanic Cloud, located 160,000 light-years from Earth, is one of a handful of dwarf galaxies that orbit our own Milky Way. It is approximately one-third as wide as the Milky Way, and, if it could be seen in its entirety, would cover the same amount of sky as a grid of about 480 full moons. About one-third of the entire galaxy can be seen in the Spitzer image. This picture is a composite of infrared light captured by Spitzer. Light with wavelengths of 3.6 (blue) and 8 (green) microns was captured by the telescope's infrared array camera; 24-micron light (red) was detected by the multiband imaging photometer. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07137

Clustering of local group distances: Publication bias or correlated measurements? II. M31 and beyond

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

De Grijs, Richard; Bono, Giuseppe

2014-07-01

The accuracy of extragalactic distance measurements ultimately depends on robust, high-precision determinations of the distances to the galaxies in the local volume. Following our detailed study addressing possible publication bias in the published distance determinations to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), here we extend our distance range of interest to include published distance moduli to M31 and M33, as well as to a number of their well-known dwarf galaxy companions. We aim at reaching consensus on the best, most homogeneous, and internally most consistent set of Local Group distance moduli to adopt for future, more general use based on themore » largest set of distance determinations to individual Local Group galaxies available to date. Based on a careful, statistically weighted combination of the main stellar population tracers (Cepheids, RR Lyrae variables, and the magnitude of the tip of the red-giant branch), we derive a recommended distance modulus to M31 of (m−M){sub 0}{sup M31}=24.46±0.10 mag—adopting as our calibration an LMC distance modulus of (m−M){sub 0}{sup LMC}=18.50 mag—and a fully internally consistent set of benchmark distances to key galaxies in the local volume, enabling us to establish a robust and unbiased, near-field extragalactic distance ladder.« less

The peculiar, luminous early-type emission line stars of the Magellanic clouds: A preliminary taxonomy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shore, S. N.; Sanduleak, N.

1982-01-01

A sample of some 20 early type emission supergiants in the Magellanic clouds was observed with both the SWP and LWR low resolution mode of IUE. All stars have strong H-emission, some showing P-Cygni structure as well with HeI, HeII, FeII and other ions also showing strong emission. It is found that the stars fall into three distinct groups on the basis of the HeII/HeI and HeI/HI strengths: (1) HeII strong, HeI, HI; (2) HeII absent, HeI, HI strong; (3) HeI absent, HI, FeII, FeII, strong in addition to low excitation ions. The two most extreme emission line stars found in the Clouds S 134/LMC and S 18/SMC are discussed. Results for the 2200A feature in these supergiants, and evidence for shells around the most luminous stars in the clouds are also described.

AND YET IT MOVES: THE DANGERS OF ARTIFICIALLY FIXING THE MILKY WAY CENTER OF MASS IN THE PRESENCE OF A MASSIVE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gómez, Facundo A.; O’Shea, Brian W.; Besla, Gurtina

2015-04-01

Motivated by recent studies suggesting that the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) could be significantly more massive than previously thought, we explore whether the approximation of an inertial Galactocentric reference frame is still valid in the presence of such a massive LMC. We find that previous estimates of the LMC’s orbital period and apocentric distance derived assuming a fixed Milky Way (MW) are significantly shortened for models where the MW is allowed to move freely in response to the gravitational pull of the LMC. Holding other parameters fixed, the fraction of models favoring first infall is reduced. Due to this interaction,more » the MW center of mass within the inner 50 kpc can be significantly displaced in phase-space in a very short period of time that ranges from 0.3 to 0.5 Gyr by as much as 30 kpc and 75 km s{sup −1}. Furthermore, we show that the gravitational pull of the LMC and response of the MW are likely to significantly affect the orbit and phase space distribution of tidal debris from the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy (Sgr). Such effects are larger than previous estimates based on the torque of the LMC alone. As a result, Sgr deposits debris in regions of the sky that are not aligned with the present-day Sgr orbital plane. In addition, we find that properly accounting for the movement of the MW around its common center of mass with the LMC significantly modifies the angular distance between apocenters and tilts its orbital pole, alleviating tensions between previous models and observations. While these models are preliminary in nature, they highlight the central importance of accounting for the mutual gravitational interaction between the MW and LMC when modeling the kinematics of objects in the MW and Local Group.« less

Optical Multi-Channel Intensity Interferometry - Or: How to Resolve O-Stars in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trippe, Sascha; Kim, Jae-Young; Lee, Bangwon; Choi, Changsu; Oh, Junghwan; Lee, Taeseok; Yoon, Sung-Chul; Im, Myungshin; Park, Yong-Sun

2014-12-01

Intensity interferometry, based on the Hanbury Brown--Twiss effect, is a simple and inexpensive method for optical interferometry at microarcsecond angular resolutions; its use in astronomy was abandoned in the 1970s because of low sensitivity. Motivated by recent technical developments, we argue that the sensitivity of large modern intensity interferometers can be improved by factors up to approximately 25,000, corresponding to 11 photometric magnitudes, compared to the pioneering Narrabri Stellar Interferometer. This is made possible by (i) using avalanche photodiodes (APD) as light detectors, (ii) distributing the light received from the source over multiple independent spectral channels, and (iii) use of arrays composed of multiple large light collectors. Our approach permits the construction of large (with baselines ranging from few kilometers to intercontinental distances) optical interferometers at the cost of (very) long-baseline radio interferometers. Realistic intensity interferometer designs are able to achieve limiting R-band magnitudes as good as m_R≈14, sufficient for spatially resolved observations of main-sequence O-type stars in the Magellanic Clouds. Multi-channel intensity interferometers can address a wide variety of science cases: (i) linear radii, effective temperatures, and luminosities of stars, via direct measurements of stellar angular sizes; (ii) mass--radius relationships of compact stellar remnants, via direct measurements of the angular sizes of white dwarfs; (iii) stellar rotation, via observations of rotation flattening and surface gravity darkening; (iv) stellar convection and the interaction of stellar photospheres and magnetic fields, via observations of dark and bright starspots; (v) the structure and evolution of multiple stars, via mapping of the companion stars and of accretion flows in interacting binaries; (vi) direct measurements of interstellar distances, derived from angular diameters of stars or via the interferometric Baade--Wesselink method; (vii) the physics of gas accretion onto supermassive black holes, via resolved observations of the central engines of luminous active galactic nuclei; and (viii) calibration of amplitude interferometers by providing a sample of calibrator stars.

Apollo 16 far-ultraviolet imagery and spectra of the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Page, T.; Carruthers, G. R.

1976-01-01

The Large Magellanic Cloud was observed by the far ultraviolet camera spectrograph from the lunar surface during the Apollo 16 mission 22 April 1972. Images were obtained with about 3 arc min resolution, in the 1,050 to 1,600 and 1,250 to 1,600 A wavelength ranges, of nearly the entire LMC. Spectra were also obtained in the 1,050 to 1,600 and 900 to 1,600 A ranges along a strip 1/4 deg wide (determined by the instrument's grid collimator) passing across the LMC. The images and spectra have been scanned with a PDS microdensitometer, and isodensity contour plots have been prepared using the Univac 1108 computer.

Discovery of Extended Main-sequence Turnoffs in Four Young Massive Clusters in the Magellanic Clouds

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Chengyuan; De Grijs, Richard; Deng, Licai

An increasing number of young massive clusters (YMCs) in the Magellanic Clouds have been found to exhibit bimodal or extended main sequences (MSs) in their color–magnitude diagrams (CMDs). These features are usually interpreted in terms of a coeval stellar population with different stellar rotational rates, where the blue and red MS stars are populated by non- (or slowly) and rapidly rotating stellar populations, respectively. However, some studies have shown that an age spread of several million years is required to reproduce the observed wide turnoff regions in some YMCs. Here we present the ultraviolet–visual CMDs of four Large and Smallmore » Magellanic Cloud YMCs, NGC 330, NGC 1805, NGC 1818, and NGC 2164, based on high-precision Hubble Space Telescope photometry. We show that they all exhibit extended main-sequence turnoffs (MSTOs). The importance of age spreads and stellar rotation in reproducing the observations is investigated. The observed extended MSTOs cannot be explained by stellar rotation alone. Adopting an age spread of 35–50 Myr can alleviate this difficulty. We conclude that stars in these clusters are characterized by ranges in both their ages and rotation properties, but the origin of the age spread in these clusters remains unknown.« less

Modeling Protoplanetary Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holman, Megan; Tubbs, Drake; Keller, L. D.

2018-01-01

Using spectra models with known parameters and comparing them to spectra gathered from real systems is often the only ways to find out what is going on in those real systems. This project uses the modeling programs of RADMC-3D to generate model spectra for systems containing protoplanetary disks. The parameters can be changed to simulate protoplanetary disks in different stages of planet formation, with different sized gaps in different areas of the disks, as well as protoplanetary disks that contain different types of dust. We are working on producing a grid of models that all have different variations in the parameters in order to generate a miniature database to use for comparisons to gathered spectra. The spectra produced from these simulations will be compared to spectra that have been gathered from systems in the Small Magellanic cloud in order to find out the contents and stage of development of that system. This allows us to see if and how planets are forming in the Small Magellanic cloud, a region which has much less metallicity than our own galaxy. The data we gather from comparisons between the model spectra and the spectra of systems in the Small Magellanic Cloud can then be applied to how planets may have formed in the early universe.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Star clusters automatically detected in the LMC (Bitsakis+, 2017)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bitsakis, T.; Bonfini, P.; Gonzalez-Lopezlira, R. A.; Ramirez-Siordia, V. H.; Bruzual, G.; Charlot, S.; Maravelias, G.; Zaritsky, D.

2018-03-01

The archival data used in this work were acquired from several diverse large surveys, which mapped the Magellanic Clouds at various bands. Simons+ (2014AdSpR..53..939S) composed a mosaic using archival data from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) at the near-ultraviolet (NUV) band (λeff=2275Å). The mosaic covers an area of 15deg2 on the LMC. the central ~3x1deg2 of the LMC (the bar-region) was later observed by the Swift Ultraviolet-Optical Telescope (UVOT) Magellanic Clouds Survey (SUMAC; Siegel+ 2014AJ....148..131S). The optical data used here are from the Magellanic Cloud Photometric Survey (MCPS; Zaritsky+ 2004, J/AJ/128/1606). These authors observed the central 64deg2 of the LMC with 3.8-5.2 minute exposures at the Johnson U, B, V, and Gunn i filters of the Las Campanas Swope Telescope. Meixner+ (2006, J/AJ/132/2268) performed a uniform and unbiased imaging survey of the LMC (called Surveying the Agents of a Galaxy's Evolution, or SAGE), covering the central 7deg2 with both the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) and the Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS) on-board the Spitzer Space Telescope. (1 data file).

Towards a comprehensive knowledge of the star cluster population in the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piatti, A. E.

2018-07-01

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) has recently been found to harbour an increase of more than 200 per cent in its known cluster population. Here, we provide solid evidence that this unprecedented number of clusters could be greatly overestimated. On the one hand, the fully automatic procedure used to identify such an enormous cluster candidate sample did not recover ˜50 per cent, on average, of the known relatively bright clusters located in the SMC main body. On the other hand, the number of new cluster candidates per time unit as a function of time is noticeably different from the intrinsic SMC cluster frequency (CF), which should not be the case if these new detections were genuine physical systems. We found additionally that the SMC CF varies spatially, in such a way that it resembles an outside-in process coupled with the effects of a relatively recent interaction with the Large Magellanic Cloud. By assuming that clusters and field stars share the same formation history, we showed for the first time that the cluster dissolution rate also depends on position in the galaxy. The cluster dissolution becomes higher as the concentration of galaxy mass increases or if external tidal forces are present.

Distance to Dark Bodies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2007-01-01

Using the unique orbit of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and a depth-perceiving trick called parallax, astronomers have determined the distance to an invisible Milky Way object called OGLE-2005-SMC-001. This artist's concept illustrates how this trick works: different views from both Spitzer and telescopes on Earth are combined to give depth perception.

Our Milky Way galaxy is heavier than it looks, and scientists use the term 'dark matter' to describe all the 'heavy stuff' in the universe that seems to be present but invisible to our telescopes. While much of this dark matter is likely made up of exotic materials, different from the ordinary particles that make up the world around us, some may consist of dark celestial bodies -- like planets, black holes, or failed stars -- that do not produce light or are too faint to detect from Earth. OGLE-2005-SMC-001 is one of these dark celestial bodies.

Although astronomers cannot see a dark body, they can sense its presence from the way light acts around it. When a dark body like OGLE-2005-SMC-001 passes in front of a bright star, its gravity causes the background starlight to bend and brighten, a process called gravitational microlensing. When the observing telescope, dark body, and star system are closely aligned, the microlensing event reaches maximum, or peak, brightness.

A team of astronomers first sensed OGLE-2005-SMC-001's presence when it passed in front of a star in a neighboring satellite galaxy called the Small Magellanic Cloud. In this artist's rendering, the satellite galaxy is depicted as the fuzzy structure sitting to the left of Earth. Once they detected this microlensing event, the scientists used Spitzer and the principle of parallax to figure out its distance. Humans naturally use parallax to determine distance. Each eye sees the distance of an object differently. The brain takes each eye's perspective and instantaneously calculates how far away the object is.

To determine OGLE-2005-SMC-001's distance, astronomers measured the microlensing event over several months with both Spitzer in space and the Earth-based telescopes. Careful analysis of the data revealed the time of the peak brightness differed slightly between the two locations.

Because astronomers knew the exact distance between Earth and Spitzer and the time lag between the peak-observed brightness, they could determine OGLE-2005-SMC-001's speed. Using trigonometric equations and graphs to do the 'brain's' job, scientists then inferred the dark body's location to be in the outer portion, or halo, of our galaxy.

The picture of the Small Magellanic Cloud in this concept is a two-color image from two Digitized Sky Survey 2 observations The Digitized Sky Survey is based at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md.

Substructures and Tidal Distortions in the Magellanic Stellar Periphery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mackey, Dougal; Koposov, Sergey; Da Costa, Gary; Belokurov, Vasily; Erkal, Denis; Kuzma, Pete

2018-05-01

We use a new panoramic imaging survey conducted with the Dark Energy Camera to map the stellar fringes of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC/SMC) to extremely low surface brightness V ≈ 32 mag arcsec‑2. Our results starkly illustrate the closely interacting nature of the LMC–SMC pair. We show that the outer LMC disk is strongly distorted, exhibiting an irregular shape, evidence for warping, and significant truncation on the side facing the SMC. Large diffuse stellar substructures are present both to the north and south of the LMC, and in the inter-Cloud region. At least one of these features appears as co-spatial with the bridge of RR Lyrae stars that connects the Clouds. The SMC is highly disturbed; we confirm the presence of tidal tails, as well as a large line-of-sight depth on the side closest to the LMC. Young, intermediate-age, and ancient stellar populations in the SMC exhibit strikingly different spatial distributions. In particular, those with ages ∼1.5–4 Gyr exhibit a spheroidal distribution with a centroid offset from that of the oldest stars by several degrees toward the LMC. We speculate that the gravitational influence of the LMC may already have been perturbing the gaseous component of the SMC several Gyr ago. With careful modeling, the variety of substructures and tidal distortions evident in the Magellanic periphery should tightly constrain the interaction history of the Clouds.

Analysis of Extreme Star Formation Environments in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nayak, Omnarayani

2018-01-01

My thesis is on three extreme star forming environments in the Large Magellanic Cloud: 30 Doradus, N159, and N79. These three regions are at different evolutionary stage of forming stars. N79 is at a very young stage, just starting its star formation activity. N159 is currently actively forming several massive YSOs. And 30 Doradus has already passed it peak star formation, and several protostars are no longer shrouded by gas and dust, and are starting to be more visible in the optical wavelengths. I analyze the CO molecular gas clouds with ALMA in 30 Doradus, N159, and N79. I identify all massive YSOs within the ALMA footprint of all three regions. My thesis is on relating the star formation activity in 30 Doradus, N159, and N79 to the high density gas in which these protostars form. I find that not all massive young stellar objects are associated with CO gas, higher mass clumps tend to form higher mass stars, and lower mass clumps tend to not be gravitationally bound however the larger clouds are bound. I use ancillary SOFIA data and Magellan FIRE data to place constraints on the outflow rate from the massive protostars, constrain the temperature of the gas, determine the spectral type of the young stellar objects, and estimate the extinction. Looking at the interplay between dense molecular gas and the newly forming stars in a stellar nursery will shed light on how these stars formed: filamentary collision, monolithic collapse, or competitive accretion. The Large Magellanic Cloud has been the subject of star formation studies for decades due to its proximity to the Milky Way (50 kpc), a nearly face-on orientation, and a low metallicity (0.5 solar) similar to that of galaxies at the peak of star formation in the universe (z~2). Thus, my thesis probes the chemical and physical conditions necessary for massive star formation in an environment more typical of the peak of star formation in the universe.

THE MAGELLANIC STREAM: BREAK-UP AND ACCRETION ONTO THE HOT GALACTIC CORONA

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tepper-García, Thor; Bland-Hawthorn, Joss; Sutherland, Ralph S.

The Magellanic H i Stream (≈2 × 10{sup 9} M{sub ⊙} [d/55 kpc]{sup 2}) encircling the Galaxy at a distance d is arguably the most important tracer of what happens to gas accreting onto a disk galaxy. Recent observations reveal that the Stream’s mass is in fact dominated (3:1) by its ionized component. Here we revisit the origin of the mysterious Hα recombination emission observed along much of its length that is overly bright (∼150–200 mR) for the known Galactic ultraviolet (UV) background (≈20–40 mR [d/55 kpc]{sup −2}). In an earlier model, we proposed that a slow shock cascade wasmore » operating along the Stream due to its interaction with the extended Galactic hot corona. We find that for a smooth coronal density profile, this model can explain the bright Hα emission if the coronal density satisfies 2 × 10{sup −4} < (n/cm{sup −3}) < 4 × 10{sup −4} at d = 55 kpc. But in view of updated parameters for the Galactic halo and mounting evidence that most of the Stream must lie far beyond the Magellanic Clouds (d > 55 kpc), we revisit the shock cascade model in detail. At lower densities, the H i gas is broken down by the shock cascade but mostly mixes with the hot corona without significant recombination. At higher densities, the hot coronal mass (including the other baryonic components) exceeds the baryon budget of the Galaxy. If the Hα emission arises from the shock cascade, the upper limit on the smooth coronal density constrains the Stream’s mean distance to ≲75 kpc. If, as some models indicate, the Stream is even further out, either the shock cascade is operating in a regime where the corona is substantially mass-loaded with recent gas debris, or an entirely different ionization mechanism is responsible.« less

Metals and dust in the neutral ISM: the Galaxy, Magellanic Clouds, and damped Lyman-α absorbers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Cia, Annalisa

2018-05-01

Context. The presence of dust in the neutral interstellar medium (ISM) dramatically changes the metal abundances that we measure. Understanding the metal content in the neutral ISM, and a direct comparison between different environments, has been hampered to date because of the degeneracy to the observed ISM abundances caused by the effects of metallicity, the presence of dust, and nucleosynthesis. Aims: We study the metal and dust content in the neutral ISM consistently in different environments, and assess the universality of recently discovered sequences of relative abundances. We also intend to assess the validity of [Zn/Fe] as a tracer of dust in the ISM. This has recently been cast into doubt based on observations of stellar abundances, and needs to be addressed before we can safely use it to study the ISM. Methods: In this letter we present a simple comparison of relative abundances observed in the neutral ISM in the Galaxy, the Magellanic Clouds, and damped Lyman-α absorbers (DLAs). The main novelty in this comparison is the inclusion of the Magellanic Clouds. Results: The same sequences of relative abundances are valid for the Galaxy, Magellanic Clouds, and DLAs. These sequences are driven by the presence of dust in the ISM and seem "universal". Conclusions: The metal and dust properties in the neutral ISM appear to follow a similar behaviour in different environments. This suggests that a dominant fraction of the dust budget is built up from grain growth in the ISM depending of the physical conditions and regardless of the star formation history of the system. In addition, the DLA gas behaves like the neutral ISM, at least from a chemical point of view. Finally, despite the deviations in [Zn/Fe] observed in stellar abundances, [Zn/Fe] is a robust dust tracer in the ISM of different environments, from the Galaxy to DLAs.

Analog of the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohler, Susanna

2017-11-01

A hunt for merging dwarf galaxies has yielded an intriguing result: 180 million light-years away, a galaxy very similar to the Milky Way with two dwarf-galaxy satellites just like our own Magellanic clouds.Unusual SatellitesThe Large and Small Magellanic clouds, as observed from Earth. [ESO/S. Brunier]The Large and Small Magellanic clouds (LMC and SMC), the only bright and star-forming satellite galaxies around the Milky Way, have proven unusual in the universe: satellite pairs of LMCSMC mass are neither common in observation nor typically produced in numerical simulations of galaxy formation and evolution.Since the probability of having such an interacting pair of satellites in a massive halo is so low, this raises questions about how our system came about. Did the Magellanic clouds form independently around the Milky Way and then interact? Were they more recently captured as an already-merging pair of dwarf galaxies? Or is there some other explanation?If we could find other systems that look like the LMCSMCMilky-Way system, we might be able to learn more about pairs of dwarf galaxies and how they interact near the halos of large galaxies like the Milky Way. Conveniently, two researchers from Yonsei University in South Korea, Sanjaya Paudel and Chandreyee Sengupta, have now identified exactly such a system.The UGC 4703 pair of dwarf galaxies show a stellar bridge connecting them a sign of their past interaction, when tidal forces stripped material from them as they passed each other. [Adapted from Paudel Sengupta 2017]An Interacting PairHunting for merging dwarf galaxies in various environments, Paudel and Sengupta found UGC 4703, an interacting pair of dwarf galaxies that are located near the isolated spiral galaxy NGC 2718. This pair of satellites around the massive spiral bear a striking resemblance to the LMCSMC system around the Milky-Way.The authors performed a multi-wavelength study of the system using archival images from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, The Galaxy Evolutionary Explorer spacecraft, and the Spitzer Space Telescope. They also gather new observations of the H I gas distribution in the system using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope in India.Paudel and Sengupta find that NGC 2718 and the Milky Way have similar stellar masses, and the stellar mass ratio of the UGC 4703 interacting pair is around 5:1, similar to the mass ratio of the LMC to the SMC. The separation of the UGC 4703 pair is also roughly the same as that of the LMC and SMC: 70,000 light-years.Similarities and DifferencesThe H I gas distribution in UGC 4703 reveals both similarities and differences between this system and the LMCSMC system. [Paudel Sengupta 2017]The stellar bridge connecting the components of the UGC 4703 system are a sign of their past interaction, but a comparison of the optical and H I morphology between the UGC 4703 pair and the LMCSMC pair suggests that the UGC 4703 galaxies are either interacting more slowly than the Magellanic clouds or that the interaction is at a more advanced stage than we see with the LMCSMC.Understanding these similarities and differences between the LMCSMCMilky-Way system and this analog are an important first step to studying dwarf galaxy pairs as they interact near the massive halos of their large spiral hosts. In the future, further observations of UGC 4703 and detailed modeling of the system may help continue to puzzle out how our own Magellanic clouds came about.CitationSanjaya Paudel and C. Sengupta 2017 ApJL 849 L28. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/aa95bf

Eight new Milky Way companions discovered in first-year Dark Energy Survey data

DOE PAGES

Bechtol, K.

2015-06-30

We report the discovery of eight new Milky Way companions inmore » $$\\sim 1800\\;{\\mathrm{deg}}^{2}$$ of optical imaging data collected during the first year of the Dark Energy Survey (DES). Each system is identified as a statistically significant over-density of individual stars consistent with the expected isochrone and luminosity function of an old and metal-poor stellar population. The objects span a wide range of absolute magnitudes (MV from $-2.2$ to $$-7.4\\;\\mathrm{mag}$$), physical sizes ($$10-170\\;\\mathrm{pc}$$), and heliocentric distances ($$30-330\\;\\mathrm{kpc}$$). Based on the low surface brightnesses, large physical sizes, and/or large Galactocentric distances of these objects, several are likely to be new ultra-faint satellite galaxies of the Milky Way and/or Magellanic Clouds. We introduce a likelihood-based algorithm to search for and characterize stellar over-densities, as well as identify stars with high satellite membership probabilities. As a result, we also present completeness estimates for detecting ultra-faint galaxies of varying luminosities, sizes, and heliocentric distances in the first-year DES data.« less

A Rare Early-type Star Revealed in the Wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, C. J.; Hainich, R.; Oskinova, L. M.; Gallagher, J. S., III; Chu, Y.-H.; Gruendl, R. A.; Hamann, W.-R.; Hénault-Brunet, V.; Todt, H.

2012-07-01

Sk 183 is the visually brightest star in the N90 nebula, a young star-forming region in the Wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We present new optical spectroscopy from the Very Large Telescope which reveals Sk 183 to be one of the most massive O-type stars in the SMC. Classified as an O3-type dwarf on the basis of its nitrogen spectrum, the star also displays broadened He I absorption, which suggests a later type. We propose that Sk 183 has a composite spectrum and that it is similar to another star in the SMC, MPG 324. This brings the number of rare O2- and O3-type stars known in the whole of the SMC to a mere four. We estimate physical parameters for Sk 183 from analysis of its spectrum. For a single-star model, we estimate an effective temperature of 46 ± 2 kK, a low mass-loss rate of ~10-7 M ⊙ yr-1, and a spectroscopic mass of 46+9 -8 M ⊙ (for an adopted distance modulus of 18.7 mag to the young population in the SMC Wing). An illustrative binary model requires a slightly hotter temperature (~47.5 kK) for the primary component. In either scenario, Sk 183 is the earliest-type star known in N90 and will therefore be the dominant source of hydrogen-ionizing photons. This suggests Sk 183 is the primary influence on the star formation along the inner edge of the nebula.

Star cluster formation history along the minor axis of the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piatti, Andrés E.; Cole, Andrew A.; Emptage, Bryn

2018-01-01

We analysed Washington CMT1 photometry of star clusters located along the minor axis of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), from the LMC optical centre up to ∼39° outwards to the North-West. The data base was exploited in order to search for new star cluster candidates, to produce cluster CMDs cleaned from field star contamination and to derive age estimates for a statistically complete cluster sample. We confirmed that 146 star cluster candidates are genuine physical systems, and concluded that an overall ∼30 per cent of catalogued clusters in the surveyed regions are unlikely to be true physical systems. We did not find any new cluster candidates in the outskirts of the LMC (deprojected distance ≳ 8°). The derived ages of the studied clusters are in the range 7.2 < log(t yr-1) ≤ 9.4, with the sole exception of the globular cluster NGC 1786 (log(t yr-1) = 10.10). We also calculated the cluster frequency for each region, from which we confirmed previously proposed outside-in formation scenarios. In addition, we found that the outer LMC fields show a sudden episode of cluster formation (log(t yr-1) ∼7.8-7.9) which continued until log(t yr-1) ∼7.3 only in the outermost LMC region. We link these features to the first pericentre passage of the LMC to the Milky Way (MW), which could have triggered cluster formation due to ram pressure interaction between the LMC and MW halo.

Period distribution of pulsars in the Magellanic Clouds: Propeller line versus Equilibrium period

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tanashkin, A. S.; Ikhsanov, N. R.

2017-12-01

A majority of accretion-powered X-ray pulsars in wind-fed High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs) located in the Magellanic Clouds are observed to be transient X-ray sources. They are characterized by short luminous outbursts, while spending most of the time in quiescence. The quiescent states of the pulsars in the diagram “Pulsar Period vs. X-ray Luminosity” fall on a line with the slope -0.43. The same slope is expected for the propeller line which separates stars in the accretor state from stars in the propeller state. We show, however, that a line with the same slope would also be expected if rotation of the pulsars is close to equilibrium.

Status of a Parkes Survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud for Millisecond Pulsars and Transients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crawford, Fronefield; Lorimer, Duncan; Ridley, Josh; Bonidie, Victoria; Faisal Alam, Md

2018-01-01

To date, no millisecond radio pulsars have been discovered outside of our Galaxy. We are undertaking the first survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud that is sensitive to millisecond pulsars. For this search we are using the 1.4 GHz multibeam receiver on the Parkes 64-m telescope. We also hope to discover new source populations and probe the high-end of the pulsar luminosity function. We are searching our data over a wide range of dispersion measures for both single-pulse events and for accelerated pulsars. With about 40% of the survey completed, we have discovered three new long-period pulsars (all of which have been published) but have not yet confirmed any new millisecond pulsars.

Discovery of a New Wolf-Rayet Star Using SAGE-LMC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gvaramadze, V. V.; Chené, A.-N.; Kniazev, A. Y.; Schnurr, O.

2012-12-01

We report the first-ever discovery of an extragalactic Wolf-Rayet (WR) star with Spitzer. A new WR star in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) was revealed via detection of its circumstellar shell using 24 μm images obtained in the framework of the Spitzer Survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud (SAGE-LMC). Subsequent spectroscopic observations with the Gemini South resolved the central star in two components, one of which is a WN3b+abs star, while the second one is a B0 V star. We consider the lopsided brightness distribution over the circumstellar shell as an indication that the WR star is a runaway and use this interpretation to identify a possible parent cluster of the star.

REVIEWS OF TOPICAL PROBLEMS: Gravitational microlensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zakharov, Aleksandr F.; Sazhin, Mikhail V.

1998-10-01

The foundations of standard microlensing theory are discussed as applied to stars in the Galactic bulge, Magellanic Clouds or other nearby galaxies and gravitational microlenses assumed to lie in-between these stars and the terrestrial observer. In contrast to the review article by Gurevich et al. [48], microlensing by compact objects is mainly considered. Criteria for the identification of microlensing events are discussed as also are microlensing events not satisfying these criteria, such as non-symmetrical light curves and chromatic and polarization effects. The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and Galactic bulge microlensing data of the MACHO group are discussed in detail and also the LMC data of EROS and the Galactic bulge data of OGLE are presented. A detailed comparison of theoretical predictions and observations is given.

Discovery of Molecular and Atomic Clouds Associated with the Magellanic Superbubble 30 Doradus C

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sano, H.; Yamane, Y.; Voisin, F.; Fujii, K.; Yoshiike, S.; Inaba, T.; Tsuge, K.; Babazaki, Y.; Mitsuishi, I.; Yang, R.; Aharonian, F.; Rowell, G.; Filipović, M. D.; Mizuno, N.; Tachihara, K.; Kawamura, A.; Onishi, T.; Fukui, Y.

2017-07-01

We analyzed the 2.6 mm CO and 21 cm H I lines toward the Magellanic superbubble 30 Doradus C, in order to reveal the associated molecular and atomic gas. We uncovered five molecular clouds in a velocity range from 251 to 276 km s-1 toward the western shell. The non-thermal X-rays are clearly enhanced around the molecular clouds on a parsec scale, suggesting possible evidence for magnetic field amplification via shock-cloud interaction. The thermal X-rays are brighter in the eastern shell, where there are no dense molecular or atomic clouds, opposite to the western shell. The TeV γ-ray distribution may spatially match the total interstellar proton column density as well as the non-thermal X-rays. If the hadronic γ-ray is dominant, the total energy of the cosmic-ray protons is at least ˜ 1.2× {10}50 erg with the estimated mean interstellar proton density ˜60 cm-3. In addition, the γ-ray flux associated with the molecular cloud (e.g., MC3) could be detected and resolved by the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). This should permit CTA to probe the diffusion of cosmic-rays into the associated dense ISM.

High Temperature Planetary Nebulae in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maran, Stephen P.

Following up on our recent discovery that a very hot planetary in the Small Magellanic Cloud has an extraordinary underabundance of carbon, we propose to observe two similar hot planetaries in the Clouds with IUE as part of an optical/UV investigation. The objectives are (1) to test the suggestion that high nebular electron temperatures can result from a strong deficiency of carbon that deprives the nebula of an important cooling channel; and (2) to determine accurate chemical abundances to constrain limits on the efficiency of "hot bottom burning" in massive progenitors of planetary nebulae. The targets are SMC 25 (Te = 34,000 K) and LMC 88 (= 25,500 K). These UV observations of targets not previously observed with IUE will be combined, for analysis, with visible wavelength spectra of both targets from the Anglo-Australian Telescope and the 2-3-m Siding Spring reflector. The objects will also be compared in the analysis stage with previous IUE observations (and consequent modeling) of type I planetaries in the Clouds. Model nebulae will be calculated, and physical parameters of the central stars will be inferred.

The VMC Survey. XXIX. Turbulence-controlled Hierarchical Star Formation in the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Ning-Chen; de Grijs, Richard; Cioni, Maria-Rosa L.; Rubele, Stefano; Subramanian, Smitha; van Loon, Jacco Th.; Bekki, Kenji; Bell, Cameron P. M.; Ivanov, Valentin D.; Marconi, Marcella; Muraveva, Tatiana; Oliveira, Joana M.; Ripepi, Vincenzo

2018-05-01

In this paper we report a clustering analysis of upper main-sequence stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud, using data from the VMC survey (the VISTA near-infrared YJK s survey of the Magellanic system). Young stellar structures are identified as surface overdensities on a range of significance levels. They are found to be organized in a hierarchical pattern, such that larger structures at lower significance levels contain smaller ones at higher significance levels. They have very irregular morphologies, with a perimeter–area dimension of 1.44 ± 0.02 for their projected boundaries. They have a power-law mass–size relation, power-law size/mass distributions, and a log-normal surface density distribution. We derive a projected fractal dimension of 1.48 ± 0.03 from the mass–size relation, or of 1.4 ± 0.1 from the size distribution, reflecting significant lumpiness of the young stellar structures. These properties are remarkably similar to those of a turbulent interstellar medium, supporting a scenario of hierarchical star formation regulated by supersonic turbulence.

Observational calibration of the projection factor of Cepheids. IV. Period-projection factor relation of Galactic and Magellanic Cloud Cepheids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallenne, A.; Kervella, P.; Mérand, A.; Pietrzyński, G.; Gieren, W.; Nardetto, N.; Trahin, B.

2017-11-01

Context. The Baade-Wesselink (BW) method, which combines linear and angular diameter variations, is the most common method to determine the distances to pulsating stars. However, the projection factor, p-factor, used to convert radial velocities into pulsation velocities, is still poorly calibrated. This parameter is critical on the use of this technique, and often leads to 5-10% uncertainties on the derived distances. Aims: We focus on empirically measuring the p-factor of a homogeneous sample of 29 LMC and 10 SMC Cepheids for which an accurate average distances were estimated from eclipsing binary systems. Methods: We used the SPIPS algorithm, which is an implementation of the BW technique. Unlike other conventional methods, SPIPS combines all observables, i.e. radial velocities, multi-band photometry and interferometry into a consistent physical modelling to estimate the parameters of the stars. The large number and their redundancy insure its robustness and improves the statistical precision. Results: We successfully estimated the p-factor of several Magellanic Cloud Cepheids. Combined with our previous Galactic results, we find the following P-p relation: -0.08± 0.04(log P-1.18) + 1.24± 0.02. We find no evidence of a metallicity dependent p-factor. We also derive a new calibration of the period-radius relation, log R = 0.684± 0.007(log P-0.517) + 1.489± 0.002, with an intrinsic dispersion of 0.020. We detect an infrared excess for all stars at 3.6 μm and 4.5 μm, which might be the signature of circumstellar dust. We measure a mean offset of Δm3.6 = 0.057 ± 0.006 mag and Δm4.5 = 0.065 ± 0.008 mag. Conclusions: We provide a new P-p relation based on a multi-wavelength fit that can be used for the distance scale calibration from the BW method. The dispersion is due to the LMC and SMC width we took into account because individual Cepheids distances are unknown. The new P-R relation has a small intrinsic dispersion: 4.5% in radius. This precision will allow us to accurately apply the BW method to nearby galaxies. Finally, the infrared excesses we detect again raise the issue of using mid-IR wavelengths to derive period-luminosity relation and to calibrate the Hubble constant. These IR excesses might be the signature of circumstellar dust, and are never taken into account when applying the BW method at those wavelengths. Our measured offsets may give an average bias of 2.8% on the distances derived through mid-IR P-L relations.

X-ray Binaries in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cowley, Anne P.

1993-05-01

For more than two decades astronomers have been aware that the most X-ray luminous stellar sources (L_x > 10(35) erg s(-1) ) are interacting binaries where one component is a neutron star or black hole. While other types of single and multiple stars are known X-ray sources, none compare in X-ray luminosity with the ``classical" X-ray binaries. In these systems X-ray emission results from accretion of material from a non-degenerate companion onto the compact star through several alternate mechanisms including Roche lobe overflow, stellar winds, or periastron effects in non-circular orbits. It has been recognized for many years that X-ray binaries divide into two broad groups, characterized primarily by the mass of the non-degenerate star: 1) massive X-ray binaries (MXRB), in which the optical primary is a bright, early-type star, and 2) low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXB), where a lower main-sequence or subgiant star is the mass donor. A broad variety of observational characteristics further subdivide these classes. In the Galaxy these two groups appear to be spatially and kinematically associated with the disk and the halo populations, respectively. A few dozen MXRB are known in the Galaxy. A great deal of information about their physical properties has been learned from observational study. Their optical primaries can be investigated by conventional techniques. Furthermore, most MXRB contain X-ray pulsars, allowing accurate determination of their orbital parameters. From these data masses have been determined for the neutron stars, all of which are ~ 1.4 Msun, within measurement errors. By contrast, the LMXB have been much more difficult to study. Although there are ~ 150 LMXB in the Galaxy, most are distant and faint, requiring use of large telescopes for their study. Their optical light is almost always dominated by an accretion disk, rather than the mass-losing star, making interpretation of their spectral and photometric properties difficult. Their often uncertain distances further complicate our understanding. Thus, although the galactic LMXB greatly outnumber the MXRB, they are much less well understood. The X-ray binaries in the Magellanic Clouds in many ways make an ideal laboratory because they are all at the same, known distance. However, at the present time only a handful of X-ray binaries are known with certainty in these galaxies -- 7 in the LMC and 1 in the SMC. Only 3 of the LMC sources are low-mass X-ray binaries, and their properties are quite different from ``typical" galactic LMXB. In this review we will outline the general properties of X-ray binaries and summarize what types of information we have learned from their study over a wide range of wavelengths. An overall comparison of the global properties of X-ray binaries in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds will be given.

ISO observations of obscured Asymptotic Giant Branch stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trams, N. R.; van Loon, J. Th.; Waters, L. B. F. M.; Zijlstra, A. A.; Loup, C.; Whitelock, P. A.; Groenewegen, M. A. T.; Blommaert, J. A. D. L.; Siebenmorgen, R.; Heske, A.; Feast, M. W.

1999-06-01

We present ISO photometric and spectroscopic observations of a sample of 57 bright Asymptotic Giant Branch stars and red supergiants in the Large Magellanic Cloud, selected on the basis of IRAS colours indicative of high mass-loss rates. PHOT-P and PHOT-C photometry at 12, 25 and 60 mu m and CAM photometry at 12 mu m are used in combination with quasi-simultaneous ground-based near-IR photometry to construct colour-colour diagrams for all stars in our sample. PHOT-S and CAM-CVF spectra in the 3 to 14 mu m region are presented for 23 stars. From the colour-colour diagrams and the spectra, we establish the chemical types of the dust around 49 stars in this sample. Many stars have carbon-rich dust. The most luminous carbon star in the Magellanic Clouds has also a (minor) oxygen-rich component. OH/IR stars have silicate absorption with emission wings. The unique dataset presented here allows a detailed study of a representative sample of thermal-pulsing AGB stars with well-determined luminosities. This paper is based on observations with the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). ISO is an ESA project with instruments funded by ESA member states (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom) and with the participation of ISAS and NASA.

The star-forming complex LMC-N79 as a future rival to 30 Doradus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ochsendorf, Bram B.; Zinnecker, Hans; Nayak, Omnarayani; Bally, John; Meixner, Margaret; Jones, Olivia C.; Indebetouw, Remy; Rahman, Mubdi

2017-11-01

Within the early Universe, `extreme' star formation may have been the norm rather than the exception1,2. Super star clusters (with masses greater than 105 solar masses) are thought to be the modern-day analogues of globular clusters, relics of a cosmic time (redshift z ≳ 2) when the Universe was filled with vigorously star-forming systems3. The giant H ii region 30 Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud is often regarded as a benchmark for studies of extreme star formation4. Here, we report the discovery of a massive embedded star-forming complex spanning about 500 pc in the unexplored southwest region of the Large Magellanic Cloud, which manifests itself as a younger, embedded twin of 30 Doradus. Previously known as N79, this region has a star-formation efficiency greater than that of 30 Doradus, by a factor of about 2, as measured over the past 0.5 Myr. Moreover, at the heart of N79 lies the most luminous infrared compact source discovered with large-scale infrared surveys of the Large Magellanic Cloud and Milky Way, possibly a precursor to the central super star cluster of 30 Doradus, R136. The discovery of a nearby candidate super star cluster may provide invaluable information to understand how extreme star formation proceeds in the current and high-redshift Universe.

Revealing the nebular properties and Wolf-Rayet population of IC10 with Gemini/GMOS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tehrani, Katie; Crowther, Paul A.; Archer, I.

2017-12-01

We present a deep imaging and spectroscopic survey of the Local Group irregular galaxy IC10 using Gemini North and GMOS to unveil its global Wolf-Rayet (WR) population. We obtain a star formation rate (SFR) of 0.045 ± 0.023 M⊙ yr-1, for IC10 from the nebular H α luminosity, which is comparable to the Small Magellanic Cloud. We also present a revised nebular oxygen abundance of log(O/H) + 12 = 8.40 ± 0.04, comparable to the LMC. It has previously been suggested that for IC10 to follow the WR subtype-metallicity dependance seen in other Local Group galaxies, a large WN population awaits discovery. Our search revealed three new WN stars, and six candidates awaiting confirmation, providing little evidence to support this claim. The new global WR star total of 29 stars is consistent with the Large Magellanic Cloud population when scaled to the reduced SFR of IC10. For spectroscopically confirmed WR stars, the WC/WN ratio is lowered to 1.0; however, including all potential candidates, and assuming those unconfirmed to be WN stars, would reduce the ratio to ∼0.7. We attribute the high WC/WN ratio to the high star formation surface density of IC10 relative to the Magellanic Clouds, which enhances the frequency of high-mass stars capable of producing WC stars.

Stars caught in the braking stage in young Magellanic Cloud clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Antona, Francesca; Milone, Antonino P.; Tailo, Marco; Ventura, Paolo; Vesperini, Enrico; di Criscienzo, Marcella

2017-08-01

The colour-magnitude diagrams of many Magellanic Cloud clusters (with ages up to 2 billion years) display extended turnoff regions where the stars leave the main sequence, suggesting the presence of multiple stellar populations with ages that may differ even by hundreds of millions of years 1,2,3 . A strongly debated question is whether such an extended turnoff is instead due to populations with different stellar rotations3,4,5,6 . The recent discovery of a 'split' main sequence in some younger clusters (~80-400 Myr) added another piece to this puzzle. The blue side of the main sequence is consistent with slowly rotating stellar models, and the red side consistent with rapidly rotating models7,8,9,10. However, a complete theoretical characterization of the observed colour-magnitude diagram also seemed to require an age spread9. We show here that, in the three clusters so far analysed, if the blue main-sequence stars are interpreted with models in which the stars have always been slowly rotating, they must be ~30% younger than the rest of the cluster. If they are instead interpreted as stars that were initially rapidly rotating but have later slowed down, the age difference disappears, and this 'braking' also helps to explain the apparent age differences of the extended turnoff. The age spreads in Magellanic Cloud clusters are thus a manifestation of rotational stellar evolution. Observational tests are suggested.

The GALEX Catalog of UV Sources in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thilker, David A.; Bianchi, L.; Simons, R.

2014-01-01

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) has performed unprecedented imaging surveys of the Magellanic Clouds (MC) and their surrounding areas including the Magellanic Bridge (MB) in near-UV (NUV, 1771-2831 Å) and far-UV (FUV, 1344-1786 Å) bands at 5″ resolution. Substantially more area was covered in the NUV than FUV, particularly in the bright central regions, because of the GALEX FUV detector failure. The 5σ depth of the NUV imaging varies between 20.8 and 22.7 (ABmag). Such imaging provides the first sensitive view of the entire content of hot stars in the Magellanic System, revealing the presence of young populations even in sites with extremely low star-formation rate surface density like the MB, owing to high sensitivity of the UV data to hot stars and the dark sky at these wavelengths. Crowding limits the quality of source detection and photometry from the standard mission pipeline processing. Therefore, we performed custom PSF-fitting photometry of the GALEX data in the MC survey region (<15° from the LMC, <10° from the SMC). After merging multiple detections of sources in overlapping images, the resulting catalog we have produced contains many million unique NUV point sources. This poster provides a first look at the GALEX MC survey and highlights some of the science investigations that the catalog and imaging dataset will make possible.

DD 13 - A very young and heavily reddened early O star in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Conti, Peter S.; Fitzpatrick, Edward L.

1991-01-01

This paper investigates the Large Magellanic Cloud star DD 13, which is likely the major ionizing source of the nebula N159A. New optical spectroscopy and new estimates of the broadband photometric properties of DD 13 are obtained. A spectral type of O3-O6 V, E(B-V) = 0.64, and M(V) = -6.93 is found. The spectral type cannot be more precisely defined due to contamination of the spectral data by nebular emission, obliterating the important He I classification lines. These results, plus a published estimate of the Lyman continuum photon injection rate into N159A, suggest that DD 13 actually consists of about 2-4 young, early O stars still enshrouded by their natal dust cloud. The star DD 13 may be a younger example of the type of tight cluster represented by the LMC 'star' Sk-66 deg 41, recently revealed to be composed of six or more components.

A 12CO J = 4-->3 High-Velocity Cloud in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Sungeun; Walsh, Wilfred; Xiao, Kecheng; Lane, Adair P.

2005-10-01

We present Antarctic Submillimeter Telescope and Remote Observatory observations of 12CO J=4-->3 and 12[C I] emission in the 30 Doradus complex in the Large Magellanic Cloud. We detected strong 12CO J=4-->3 emission toward R140, a multiple system of Wolf-Rayet stars located on the rim of the expanding H II shell surrounding the R136 cluster. We also detected a high-velocity gas component as a separate feature in the 12CO J=4-->3 spectrum. This component probably originates from molecular material accelerated as a result of the combined motion induced by the stellar winds and explosions of supernovae, including several fast-expanding H II shells in the complex. The lower limit on the total kinetic energy of the atomic and molecular gas component is ~2×1051 ergs, suggesting that this comprises only 20% of the total kinetic energy contained in the H II complex structure.

Molecule Formation at High Extinction and Low Metallicity in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shull, J. Michael

2005-01-01

During 2005, our FUSE research group prepared two major FUSE surveys of interstellar molecular hydrogen: 1. Galactic Disk Sightlines. We measured N(H2) in rotational states J = 0 and 1 and in higher states, J = 2,3,4,5, sometimes up to J = l, for 139 sightlines to Galactic OB stars. 2. High-Latitude QSO sightlines. We surveyed 50 sightlines to high-latitude QSOs, finding H2 in most of them (44 of 50). 3 . Molecular Hydrogen in Infrared Cirrus. Related to the high-latitude H2 survey (#2), we examined the high-latitude infrared cirrus and its correlation with H2. In addition, we are accumulating H2 measurements for additional 0 stars in the Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC) to add to the previously published survey.

The Of?p stars of the Magellanic Clouds: Are they strongly magnetic?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munoz, M.; Wade, G. A.; Nazé, Y.; Bagnulo, S.; Puls, J.

2018-01-01

All known Galactic Of?p stars have been shown to host strong, organized, magnetic fields. Recently, five Of?p stars have been discovered in the Magellanic Clouds. They posses photometric (Nazé et al., 2015) and spectroscopic (Walborn et al., 2015) variability compatible with the Oblique Rotator Model (ORM). However, their magnetic fields have yet to be directly detected. We have developed an algorithm allowing for the synthesis of photometric observables based on the Analytic Dynamical Magnetosphere (ADM) model by Owocki et al. (2016). We apply our model to OGLE photometry in order to constrain their magnetic geometries and surface dipole strengths. We predict that the field strengths for some of theses candidate extra-Galactic magnetic stars may be within the detection limits of the FORS2 instrument

The early-type strong emission-line supergiants of the Magellanic Clouds - A spectroscopic zoology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shore, S. N.; Sanduleak, N.

1984-01-01

The results of a spectroscopic survey of 21 early-type extreme emission line supergiants of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds using IUE and optical spectra are presented. The combined observations are discussed and the literature on each star in the sample is summarized. The classification procedures and the methods by which effective temperatures, bolometric magnitudes, and reddenings were assigned are discussed. The derived reddening values are given along with some results concerning anomalous reddening among the sample stars. The derived mass, luminosity, and radius for each star are presented, and the ultraviolet emission lines are described. Mass-loss rates are derived and discussed, and the implications of these observations for the evolution of the most massive stars in the Local Group are addressed.

A 2dF survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, Christopher J.; Howarth, Ian D.; Irwin, Michael J.; Burnley, Adam W.; Harries, Timothy J.

2004-09-01

We present a catalogue of new spectral types for hot, luminous stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The catalogue contains 4161 objects, giving an order-of-magnitude increase in the number of SMC stars with published spectroscopic classifications. The targets are primarily B- and A-type stars (2862 and 853 objects respectively), with one Wolf-Rayet, 139 O-type and 306 FG stars, sampling the main sequence to ~mid-B. The selection and classification criteria are described, and objects of particular interest are discussed, including UV-selected targets from the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) experiment, Be and B[e] stars, `anomalous A supergiants' and composite-spectrum systems. We examine the incidence of Balmer-line emission, and the relationship between Hγ equivalent width and absolute magnitude for BA stars.

The unveiling of Venus - Magellan's synthesis radar penetrates the cloud cover

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fischer, Daniel

1991-04-01

The revelation of the surface of Venus by the Magellan synthetic radar is discussed. The highlights of the discoveries are shown and described, including the long strips called 'noodles', the complex geological formation called the Phoebe region, the mountainous Lakshmi region which contains evidence of plate tectonics, and the Themis Regio highland region, which may have formed by processes analogous to those which made the Hawaiian islands. Mysterious phenomena, like the apparent youth of many of the craters, are addressed.

Pulsating stars in the VMC survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cioni, Maria-Rosa L.; Ripepi, Vincenzo; Clementini, Gisella; Groenewegen, Martin A. T.; Moretti, Maria I.; Muraveva, Tatiana; Subramanian, Smitha

2017-09-01

The VISTA survey of the Magellanic Clouds system (VMC) began observations in 2009 and since then, it has collected multi-epoch data at Ks and in addition multi-band data in Y and J for a wide range of stellar populations across the Magellanic system. Among them are pulsating variable stars: Cepheids, RR Lyrae, and asymptotic giant branch stars that represent useful tracers of the host system geometry. Based on observations made with VISTA at ESO under programme ID 179.B-2003.

New CO and H alpha observations of Magellanic-type irregular galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dettmar, Ralf-Jurgen; Becker, Renate; Shaw, Martin

In order to study the star-forming regions in Magellanic-type irregular galaxies and their relation to molecular cloud complexes, we obtained hydrogen alpha images of several southern objects. In addition, we detected and mapped some of these objects in the J = 1-0 CO line. The weak CO emission of most irregulars made it necessary to integrate for 2-8 hours per position. We describe some preliminary results for IC 4662, DDO 70 (Sex B), and IC 5052.

Light, Wind and Fire - Beautiful Image of a Cosmic Sculpture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2010-02-01

Today ESO has released a dramatic new image of NGC 346, the brightest star-forming region in our neighbouring galaxy, the Small Magellanic Cloud, 210 000 light-years away towards the constellation of Tucana (the Toucan). The light, wind and heat given off by massive stars have dispersed the glowing gas within and around this star cluster, forming a surrounding wispy nebular structure that looks like a cobweb. NGC 346, like other beautiful astronomical scenes, is a work in progress, and changes as the aeons pass. As yet more stars form from loose matter in the area, they will ignite, scattering leftover dust and gas, carving out great ripples and altering the face of this lustrous object. NGC 346 spans approximately 200 light-years, a region of space about fifty times the distance between the Sun and its nearest stellar neighbours. Astronomers classify NGC 346 as an open cluster of stars, indicating that this stellar brood all originated from the same collapsed cloud of matter. The associated nebula containing this clutch of bright stars is known as an emission nebula, meaning that gas within it has been heated up by stars until the gas emits its own light, just like the neon gas used in electric store signs. Many stars in NGC 346 are relatively young in cosmic terms with their births dating back only a few million years or so (eso0834). Powerful winds thrown off by a massive star set off this recent round of star birth by compressing large amounts of matter, the first critical step towards igniting new stars. This cloud of material then collapses under its own gravity, until some regions become dense and hot enough to roar forth as a brilliantly shining, nuclear fusion-powered furnace - a star, illuminating the residual debris of gas and dust. In sufficiently congested regions like NGC 346, with high levels of recent star birth, the result is a glorious, glowing vista for our telescopes to capture. NGC 346 is in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy some 210 000 light-years away from Earth and in close proximity to our home, the much larger Milky Way Galaxy. Like its sister the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Small Magellanic Cloud is visible with the unaided eye from the southern hemisphere and has served as an extragalactic laboratory for astronomers studying the dynamics of star formation. This particular image was obtained using the Wide Field Imager (WFI) instrument at the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. Images like this help astronomers chronicle star birth and evolution, while offering glimpses of how stellar development influences the appearance of the cosmic environment over time. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory, and VISTA the largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

The HERschel Inventory of the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the Magellanic Clouds, a HERschel Open Time Key Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meixner, Margaret; Panuzzo, P.; Roman-Duval, J.; Engelbracht, C.; Babler, B.; Seale, J.; Hony, S.; Montiel, E.; Sauvage, M.; Gordon, K.;

Discovery and Characterization of a Caustic Crossing Microlensing Event in the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alcock, C.; Allsman, R. A.; Alves, D.; Axelrod, T. S.; Becker, A. C.; Bennett, D. P.; Cook, K. H.; Drake, A. J.; Freeman, K. C.; Griest, K.; King, L. J.; Lehner, M. J.; Marshall, S. L.; Minniti, D.; Peterson, B. A.; Pratt, M. R.; Quinn, P. J.; Rhie, S. H.; Rodgers, A. W.; Stetson, P. B.; Stubbs, C. W.; Sutherland, W.; Tomaney, A.; Vandehei, T.

1999-06-01

We present photometric observations and analysis of the second microlensing event detected toward the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), MACHO Alert 98-SMC-1. This event was detected early enough to allow intensive observation of the light curve. These observations revealed 98-SMC-1 to be the first caustic crossing binary microlensing event toward the Magellanic Clouds to be discovered in progress. Frequent coverage of the evolving light curve allowed an accurate prediction for the date of the source crossing out of the lens caustic structure. The caustic crossing temporal width, along with the angular size of the source star, measures the proper motion of the lens with respect to the source and thus allows an estimate of the location of the lens. Lenses located in the Galactic halo would have a velocity projected to the SMC of v̂~1500 kms-1, while an SMC lens would typically have v̂~60 kms-1. The event light curve allows us to obtain a unique fit to the parameters of the binary lens and to estimate the proper motion of the lensing system. We have performed a joint fit to the MACHO/GMAN data presented here, including recent EROS data of this event from Afonso and collaborators. These joint data are sufficient to constrain the time t* for the lens to move an angle equal to the source angular radius: t*=0.116+/-0.010 days. We estimate a radius for the lensed source of R*=1.1+/-0.1 Rsolar from its unblended color and magnitude. This yields a projected velocity of v̂=76+/-10 kms-1. Only 0.12% of halo lenses would be expected to have a v̂ value at least as small as this, while 38% of SMC lenses would be expected to have v̂ as large as this. This implies that the lensing system is more likely to reside in the SMC than in the Galactic halo. Similar observations of future Magellanic Cloud microlensing events will help to determine the contribution of MACHOS to the Galaxy's dark halo.

Distant Supernova Remnant Imaged by Chandra's High Resolution Camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1999-09-01

The High Resolution Camera (HRC), one of the two X-ray cameras on NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, was placed into the focus for the first time on Monday, August 30. The first target was LMC X-1, a point-like source of X rays in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Large Magellanic Cloud, a companion galaxy to the Milky Way, is 160,000 light years from Earth. After checking the focus with LMC X-1, Chandra observed N132D, a remnant of an exploded star in the Large Magellanic Cloud. "These were preliminary test observations," emphasized Dr. Stephen Murray, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, principal investigator for the High Resolution Camera. "But we are very pleased with the results. All indications are that the HRC will produce X-ray images of unprecedented clarity." The N132D image shows a highly structured remnant, or shell, of 10-million-degree gas that is 80 light years across. Such a shell in the vicinity of the Sun would encompass more than fifty nearby stars. The amount of material in the N132D hot gas remnant is equal to that of 600 suns. The N132D supernova remnant appears to be colliding with a giant molecular cloud, which produces the brightening on the southern rim of the remnant. The molecular cloud, visible with a radio telescope, has the mass of 300,000 suns. The relatively weak x-radiation on the upper left shows that the shock wave is expanding into a less dense region on the edge of the molecular cloud. A number of small circular structures are visible in the central regions and a hint of a large circular loop can be seen in the upper part of the remnant. Whether the peculiar shape of the supernova remnant can be fully explained in terms of these effects, or whether they point to a peculiar cylindrically shaped explosion remains to be seen. -more- "The image is so rich in structure that it will take a while to sort out what is really going on," Murray said. "It could be multiple supernovas, or absorbing clouds in the vicinity of the supernova." The unique capabilities of the HRC stem from the close match of its imaging capability to the focusing power of the mirrors. When used with the Chandra mirrors, the HRC will make images that reveal detail as small as one-half an arc second. This is equivalent to the ability to read a stop sign at a distance of twelve miles. The checkout period for the HRC will continue for the next few weeks, during which time the team expects to acquire images of other supernova remnants, star clusters, and starburst galaxies. To follow Chandra's progress, visit the Chandra News Web site at: http://chandra.harvard.edu AND http://chandra.nasa.gov NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra X-ray Observatory for NASA's Office of Space Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center in Cambridge, Mass., manages the Chandra science program and controls the observatory for NASA. TRW Space and Electronics Group of Redondo Beach, Calif., leads the contractor team that built Chandra. High resolution digital versions of the X-ray image (300 dpi JPG, TIFF) and other information associated with this release are available on the Internet at: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/0050/ or via links in: http://chandra.harvard.edu

On two new X-ray sources in the SMC and the high luminosities of the Magellanic X-ray sources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clark, G.; Doxsey, R.; Li, F.; Jernigan, J. G.; Van Paradijs, J.

1978-01-01

The discovery of two new X-ray sources, SMC X-2 and SMC X-3, in the Small Magellanic Cloud is reported. They have hard spectra, and their luminosities in the energy range 2-11 keV are 1.0 and 0.7 by 10 to the 38th power erg/sq cm per sec, respectively. It is shown that the luminosity distribution of the known Magellanic X-ray sources, which are now nine in number, is shifted toward higher luminosities with respect to that of similar sources in the Galaxy, and that the cause of the shift is probably an underabundance of heavy elements in the material accreted by the X-ray sources.

MONSTER IN THE DARK: THE ULTRALUMINOUS GRB 080607 AND ITS DUSTY ENVIRONMENT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Perley, D. A.; Morgan, A. N.; Miller, A. A.

2011-02-15

We present early-time optical through infrared photometry of the bright Swift gamma-ray burst (GRB) 080607, starting only 6 s following the initial trigger in the rest frame. Complemented by our previously published spectroscopy, this high-quality photometric data set allows us to solve for the extinction properties of the redshift 3.036 sightline, giving perhaps the most detailed information to date on the ultraviolet continuum absorption properties of any sightline outside our Local Group. The extinction properties are not adequately modeled by any ordinary extinction template (including the average Milky Way, Large Magellanic Cloud, and Small Magellanic Cloud curves), partially because themore » 2175 A feature (while present) is weaker by about a factor of two than when seen under similar circumstances locally. However, the spectral energy distribution is exquisitely fitted by the more general Fitzpatrick and Massa parameterization of Local-Group extinction, putting it in the same family as some peculiar Milky Way extinction curves. After correcting for this (considerable, A{sub V} = 3.3 {+-} 0.4 mag) extinction, GRB 080607 is revealed to have been among the most optically luminous events ever observed, comparable to the naked-eye burst GRB 080319B. Its early peak time (t{sub rest} < 6 s) indicates a high initial Lorentz factor ({Gamma}>600), while the extreme luminosity may be explained in part by a large circumburst density. Only because of its early high luminosity could the afterglow of GRB 080607 be studied in such detail in spite of the large attenuation and great distance, making this burst an excellent prototype for the understanding of other highly obscured extragalactic objects, and of the class of 'dark' GRBs in particular.« less

Multiwavelength observations of nova SMCN 2016-10a - one of the brightest novae ever observed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aydi, E.; Page, K. L.; Kuin, N. P. M.; Darnley, M. J.; Walter, F. M.; Mróz, P.; Buckley, D. A. H.; Mohamed, S.; Whitelock, P.; Woudt, P.; Williams, S. C.; Orio, M.; Williams, R. E.; Beardmore, A. P.; Osborne, J. P.; Kniazev, A.; Ribeiro, V. A. R. M.; Udalski, A.; Strader, J.; Chomiuk, L.

2018-02-01

We report on multiwavelength observations of nova Small Magellanic Cloud Nova 2016-10a. The present observational set is one of the most comprehensive for any nova in the Small Magellanic Cloud, including low-, medium-, and high-resolution optical spectroscopy and spectropolarimetry from Southern African Large Telescope, Folded Low-Order Yte-Pupil Double-Dispersed Spectrograph, and Southern Astrophysical Research; long-term Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment V- and I-bands photometry dating back to 6 yr before eruption; Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System optical and near-IR photometry from ˜11 d until over 280 d post-eruption; Swift satellite X-ray and ultraviolet observations from ˜6 d until 319 d post-eruption. The progenitor system contains a bright disc and a main sequence or a sub-giant secondary. The nova is very fast with t2 ≃ 4.0 ± 1.0 d and t3 ≃ 7.8 ± 2.0 d in the V band. If the nova is in the SMC, at a distance of ˜61 ± 10 kpc, we derive MV, max ≃ -10.5 ± 0.5, making it the brightest nova ever discovered in the SMC and one of the brightest on record. At day 5 post-eruption the spectral lines show a He/N spectroscopic class and an Full Width at Half Maximum of ˜3500 km s-1, indicating moderately high ejection velocities. The nova entered the nebular phase ˜20 d post-eruption, predicting the imminent super-soft source turn-on in the X-rays, which started ˜28 d post-eruption. The super-soft source properties indicate a white dwarf mass between 1.2 and 1.3 M⊙ in good agreement with the optical conclusions.

Using Star Clusters as Tracers of Star Formation and Chemical Evolution: The Chemical Enrichment History of the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chilingarian, Igor V.; Asa’d, Randa

2018-05-01

The star formation (SFH) and chemical enrichment (CEH) histories of Local Group galaxies are traditionally studied by analyzing their resolved stellar populations in a form of color–magnitude diagrams obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. Star clusters can be studied in integrated light using ground-based telescopes to much larger distances. They represent snapshots of the chemical evolution of their host galaxy at different ages. Here we present a simple theoretical framework for the chemical evolution based on the instantaneous recycling approximation (IRA) model. We infer a CEH from an SFH and vice versa using observational data. We also present a more advanced model for the evolution of individual chemical elements that takes into account the contribution of supernovae type Ia. We demonstrate that ages, iron, and α-element abundances of 15 star clusters derived from the fitting of their integrated optical spectra reliably trace the CEH of the Large Magellanic Cloud obtained from resolved stellar populations in the age range 40 Myr < t < 3.5 Gyr. The CEH predicted by our model from the global SFH of the LMC agrees remarkably well with the observed cluster age–metallicity relation. Moreover, the present-day total gas mass of the LMC estimated by the IRA model (6.2× {10}8 {M}ȯ ) matches within uncertainties the observed H I mass corrected for the presence of molecular gas (5.8+/- 0.5× {10}8 {M}ȯ ). We briefly discuss how our approach can be used to study SFHs of galaxies as distant as 10 Mpc at the level of detail that is currently available only in a handful of nearby Milky Way satellites. .

Celestial Fireworks

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-07-03

Resembling sparks from a fireworks display, this image taken by a JPL camera onboard NASA Hubble Space Telescope shows delicate filaments that are sheets of debris from a stellar explosion in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy.

Our Chaotic Neighbor

NASA Image and Video Library

2006-09-01

This vibrant image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy. The infrared image, a mosaic of more than 100,000 individual tiles, offers astronomers a unique chance to study the lifecycle of stars and dust in a single galaxy. Nearly one million objects are revealed for the first time in this Spitzer view, which represents about a 1,000-fold improvement in sensitivity over previous space-based missions. Most of the new objects are dusty stars of various ages populating the Large Magellanic Cloud; the rest are thought to be background galaxies. The blue color in the picture, seen most prominently in the central bar, represents starlight from older stars. The chaotic, bright regions outside this bar are filled with hot, massive stars buried in thick blankets of dust. The red clouds contain cooler interstellar gas and molecular-sized dust grains illuminated by ambient starlight. The Large Magellanic Cloud, located 160,000 light-years from Earth, is one of a handful of dwarf galaxies that orbit our own Milky Way. It is approximately one-third as wide as the Milky Way, and, if it could be seen in its entirety, would cover the same amount of sky as a grid of about 480 full moons. About one-third of the whole galaxy can be seen in the Spitzer image. This picture is a composite of infrared light captured by Spitzer's infrared array camera. Light with wavelengths of 8 and 5.8 microns is red and orange: 4.5-micron light is green; and 3.6-micron light is blue. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07136

A Panchromatic View of Star-Forming Regions in the Magellanic Clouds: Characterizing Physical and Evolutionary Parameters of 1,000 Young Stellar Objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carlson, Lynn R.

2010-01-01

I discuss newly discovered Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) in several star-forming regions in the Magellanic Clouds. I exploit the synergy between infrared photometry from the Spitzer SAGE (Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution) legacy programs, near-infrared and optical photometry from ground-based surveys, and HST imaging to characterize young stellar populations. This reveals a variety of Main Sequence Stars and Proto-Stars over a wide range of evolutionary stages. Through SED fitting, I characterize the youngest, embedded, infrared-bright YSOs. Complementary color-Magnitude analysis and isochrone fitting of optical data allows a statistical description of more evolved, unembedded stellar and protostellar populations within these same regions. I examine the early evolution of Magellanic star clusters, including propagating and triggered star formation, and take a step toward characterizing evolutionary timescales for YSOs. In this talk, I present an overview of the project and exemplify the analysis by focusing on NGC 602 in the SMC and Henize 206 in the LMC as examples. The SAGE Project is supported by NASA/Spitzer grant 1275598 and NASA NAG5-12595.

Celestial Fireworks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2003-01-01

Resembling sparks from a fireworks display, this image taken by a JPL camera onboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows delicate filaments that are sheets of debris from a stellar explosion in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy.

THE 1.1 mm CONTINUUM SURVEY OF THE SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD: PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND EVOLUTION OF THE DUST-SELECTED CLOUDS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Takekoshi, Tatsuya; Minamidani, Tetsuhiro; Sorai, Kazuo

The first 1.1 mm continuum survey toward the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) was performed using the AzTEC instrument installed on the ASTE 10 m telescope. This survey covered 4.5 deg{sup 2} of the SMC with 1 σ noise levels of 5–12 mJy beam{sup −1}, and 44 extended objects were identified. The 1.1 mm extended emission has good spatial correlation with Herschel 160 μ m, indicating that the origin of the 1.1 mm extended emission is thermal emission from a cold dust component. We estimated physical properties using the 1.1 mm and filtered Herschel data (100, 160, 250, 350, and 500more » μ m). The 1.1 mm objects show dust temperatures of 17–45 K and gas masses of 4 × 10{sup 3}–3 × 10{sup 5} M {sub ⊙}, assuming single-temperature thermal emission from the cold dust with an emissivity index, β , of 1.2 and a gas-to-dust ratio of 1000. These physical properties are very similar to those of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in our galaxy and the Large Magellanic Cloud. The 1.1 mm objects also displayed good spatial correlation with the Spitzer 24 μ m and CO emission, suggesting that the 1.1 mm objects trace the dense gas regions as sites of massive star formation. The dust temperature of the 1.1 mm objects also demonstrated good correlation with the 24 μ m flux connected to massive star formation. This supports the hypothesis that the heating source of the cold dust is mainly local star-formation activity in the 1.1 mm objects. The classification of the 1.1 mm objects based on the existence of star-formation activity reveals the differences in the dust temperature, gas mass, and radius, which reflects the evolution sequence of GMCs.« less

The 1.1 mm Continuum Survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud: Physical Properties and Evolution of the Dust-selected Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takekoshi, Tatsuya; Minamidani, Tetsuhiro; Komugi, Shinya; Kohno, Kotaro; Tosaki, Tomoka; Sorai, Kazuo; Muller, Erik; Mizuno, Norikazu; Kawamura, Akiko; Onishi, Toshikazu; Fukui, Yasuo; Ezawa, Hajime; Oshima, Tai; Scott, Kimberly S.; Austermann, Jason E.; Matsuo, Hiroshi; Aretxaga, Itziar; Hughes, David H.; Kawabe, Ryohei; Wilson, Grant W.; Yun, Min S.

2017-01-01

The first 1.1 mm continuum survey toward the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) was performed using the AzTEC instrument installed on the ASTE 10 m telescope. This survey covered 4.5 deg2 of the SMC with 1σ noise levels of 5-12 mJy beam-1, and 44 extended objects were identified. The 1.1 mm extended emission has good spatial correlation with Herschel 160 μm, indicating that the origin of the 1.1 mm extended emission is thermal emission from a cold dust component. We estimated physical properties using the 1.1 mm and filtered Herschel data (100, 160, 250, 350, and 500 μm). The 1.1 mm objects show dust temperatures of 17-45 K and gas masses of 4 × 103-3 × 105 M⊙, assuming single-temperature thermal emission from the cold dust with an emissivity index, β, of 1.2 and a gas-to-dust ratio of 1000. These physical properties are very similar to those of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in our galaxy and the Large Magellanic Cloud. The 1.1 mm objects also displayed good spatial correlation with the Spitzer 24 μm and CO emission, suggesting that the 1.1 mm objects trace the dense gas regions as sites of massive star formation. The dust temperature of the 1.1 mm objects also demonstrated good correlation with the 24 μm flux connected to massive star formation. This supports the hypothesis that the heating source of the cold dust is mainly local star-formation activity in the 1.1 mm objects. The classification of the 1.1 mm objects based on the existence of star-formation activity reveals the differences in the dust temperature, gas mass, and radius, which reflects the evolution sequence of GMCs. Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.

On the origin of the March 5, 1979 gamma ray transient: A vibrating neutron star in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramaty, R.; Bonazzola, S.; Cline, T. L.; Kazanas, D.; Meszaros, P.; Lingenfelter, R. E.

1980-01-01

It is proposed that a vibrating neutron star in the Large Magellanic Cloud is the source of the March 5 transient. Neutron star vibrations transport energy rapidly to the surface, heat the atmosphere by wave dissipation, and decay by gravitational radiation reaction. The electromagnetic emission arises from e(+)-e(-) pairs which cool and annihilate in the strong magnetic field of the neutron star. The field also confines the pairs, and this allows the production of the redshifted annihilation feature observed in the data. The redshift implies a gravitational radiation damping time which agrees with the 0.15 second duration of the impulsive phase of the event. Thus, the March 5 transient may be both the first detection of a vibrating neutron star and indirect evidence for gravitational radiation.

Documentation for the machine-readable version of a deep objective-prism survey for large Magellanic cloud members

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Warren, W. H., Jr.

1982-01-01

This catalog contains 1273 proven or probable Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) members, as found on deep objective-prism plates taken with the Curtis Schmidt telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. The stars are generally brighter than about photographic magnitude 14. Approximate spectral types were determined by examination of the 580 A/mm objective-prism spectra; approximate 1975 positions were obtained by measuring relative to the 1975 coordinate grids on the Uppsala-Mount Stromlo Atlas of the LMC (Gascoigne and Westerlund 1961), and approximate photographic magnitudes were determined by averaging image density measures from the plates and image-diameter measures on the 'B' charts. The machine-readable version of the LMC survey catalog is described to enable users to read and process the tape file without problems or guesswork.

Estimating dust production rate of carbon-rich stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nanni, A.; Marigo, P.; Groenewegen, M. A. T.; Aringer, B.; Pastorelli, G.; Rubele, S.; Girardi, L.; Bressan, A.; Bladh, S.

We compute a grid of spectra describing dusty Circumstellar Envelopes of Thermally Pulsing Asymptotic Giant Branch carbon-rich stars by employing a physically grounded description for dust growth. The optical constants for carbon dust have been selected in order to reproduce simultaneously the most important color-color diagrams in the Near and Mid Infrared bands. We fit the Spectral Energy Distribution of ≈2000 carbon-rich in the Small Magellanic Cloud and we compute their total dust production rate. We compare our results with the ones in the literature. Different choices of the dust-to-gas ratio and outflow expansion velocity adopted in different works, yield, in some cases, a total dust budget about three times lower than the one derived from our scheme, with the same optical data set for carbon dust.

Exploring the nature and synchronicity of early cluster formation in the Large Magellanic Cloud - III. Horizontal branch morphology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner-Kaiser, R.; Mackey, Dougal; Sarajedini, Ata; Cohen, Roger E.; Geisler, Doug; Yang, Soung-Chul; Grocholski, Aaron J.; Cummings, Jeffrey D.

2018-03-01

We leverage new high-quality data from Hubble Space Telescope program GO-14164 to explore the variation in horizontal branch morphology among globular clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Our new observations lead to photometry with a precision commensurate with that available for the Galactic globular cluster population. Our analysis indicates that, once metallicity is accounted for, clusters in the LMC largely share similar horizontal branch morphologies regardless of their location within the system. Furthermore, the LMC clusters possess, on average, slightly redder morphologies than most of the inner halo Galactic population; we find, instead, that their characteristics tend to be more similar to those exhibited by clusters in the outer Galactic halo. Our results are consistent with previous studies, showing a correlation between horizontal branch morphology and age.

Topology of Neutral Hydrogen within the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chepurnov, A.; Gordon, J.; Lazarian, A.; Stanimirovic, S.

2008-12-01

In this paper, genus statistics have been applied to an H I column density map of the Small Magellanic Cloud in order to study its topology. To learn how topology changes with the scale of the system, we provide topology studies for column density maps at varying resolutions. To evaluate the statistical error of the genus, we randomly reassign the phases of the Fourier modes while keeping the amplitudes. We find that at the smallest scales studied (40 pc <= λ <= 80 pc), the genus shift is negative in all regions, implying a clump topology. At the larger scales (110 pc <= λ <= 250 pc), the topology shift is detected to be negative (a "meatball" topology) in four cases and positive (a "swiss cheese" topology) in two cases. In four regions, there is no statistically significant topology shift at large scales.

X-rays from superbubbles in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chu, You-Hua; Mac Low, Mordecai-Marc

1990-01-01

Diffuse X-ray emission not associated with known supernova remnants (SNRs) are found in seven Large Magellanic Cloud H II complexes encompassing 10 OB associations: N44, N51D, N57A, N70, N154, N157 (30 Dor), and N158. Their X-ray luminosities range from 7 x 10 to the 34th ergs/s in N57A to 7 x 10 to the 36th ergs/s in 30 Dor. All, except 30 Dor, have simple ring morphologies, indicating shell structures. Modeling these as superbubbles, it is found that the X-ray luminosities expected from their hot interiors fall an order of magnitude below the observed values. SNRs close to the center of a superbubble add very little emission, but it is calculated that off-center SNRs hitting the ionized shell could explain the observed emission.

Discovery of a Possible Symbiotic Binary in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mathew, Blesson; Reid, Warren A.; Mennickent, R. E.; Banerjee, D. P. K.

2017-12-01

We report the discovery of a possible symbiotic star, in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The object under consideration here, designated as RP 870, was detected during the course of a comprehensive H$\\alpha$ survey of the LMC by Reid & Parker (2012). The spectrum of RP 870 showed high ionization emission lines of He I, He II and [O III] and molecular absorption bands of TiO $\\lambda$$\\lambda$6180, 7100. The collective signatures of a hot component (high excitation/ionization lines) and of a cool component (TiO molecular bands) are seen in RP 870, from which we propose it as a symbiotic star. Since known symbiotic systems are rare in the LMC, possibly less than a dozen are known, we thought the present detection to be interesting enough to be reported.

Infrared Studies of the Variability and Mass Loss of Dusty Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sargent, Benjamin; Groenewegen, M. A. T.

2018-01-01

The asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase is one of the last phases of a star's life. AGB stars lose mass in an outflow in which dust condenses and is pushed away from the star. Extreme AGB stars are so named because their very red colors suggest very large amounts of dust, which in turn suggests extremely high mass loss rates. AGB stars also vary in brightness, and studies show that extreme AGB stars tend to have longer periods than other AGB stars and are more likely to be fundamental mode pulsators than other AGB stars. Extreme AGB stars are difficult to study, as their colors are so red due to their copious amounts of circumstellar dust that they are often not detected at optical wavelengths. Therefore, they must be observed at infrared wavelengths to explore their variability. Using the Spitzer Space Telescope, my team and I have observed a sample of extreme AGB stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) over Cycles 9 through 12 during the Warm Spitzer mission. For each cycle, we typically observed a set of extreme AGB stars at both 3.6 and 4.5 microns wavelength approximately monthly for most of a year. These observations reveal a wide range of variability properties. I present results from our analysis of the data obtained from these Spitzer variability programs, including light curve analyses and comparison to period-luminosity diagrams. Funding is acknowledged from JPL RSA # 1561703.

Dust Emission at 8 and 24 μm as Diagnostics of H II Region Radiative Transfer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oey, M. S.; López-Hernández, J.; Kellar, J. A.; Pellegrini, E. W.; Gordon, K. D.; Jameson, K. E.; Li, A.; Madden, S. C.; Meixner, M.; Roman-Duval, J.; Bot, C.; Rubio, M.; Tielens, A. G. G. M.

2017-07-01

We use the Spitzer Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution (SAGE) survey of the Magellanic Clouds to evaluate the relationship between the 8 μm polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission, 24 μm hot dust emission, and H II region radiative transfer. We confirm that in the higher-metallicity Large Magellanic Cloud, PAH destruction is sensitive to optically thin conditions in the nebular Lyman continuum: objects identified as optically thin candidates based on nebular ionization structure show six times lower median 8 μm surface brightness (0.18 mJy arcsec-2) than their optically thick counterparts (1.2 mJy arcsec-2). The 24 μm surface brightness also shows a factor of three offset between the two classes of objects (0.13 versus 0.44 mJy arcsec-2, respectively), which is driven by the association between the very small dust grains and higher density gas found at higher nebular optical depths. In contrast, PAH and dust formation in the low-metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud is strongly inhibited such that we find no variation in either 8 μm or 24 μm emission between our optically thick and thin samples. This is attributable to extremely low PAH and dust production together with high, corrosive UV photon fluxes in this low-metallicity environment. The dust mass surface densities and gas-to-dust ratios determined from dust maps using Herschel HERITAGE survey data support this interpretation.

Hot Cores in Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Acharyya, Kinsuk; Herbst, Eric

2018-05-01

We have studied the chemistry of molecules through complex organic molecules (COMs) in complexity in conditions resembling galactic hot molecular cores in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds using a gas-grain network. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no previous such quantitative studies of hot core chemistry in these low metallicity, dust-poor galaxies. We utilized a physical model that consists of an initial isothermal collapse, followed by a warm-up phase to hot core conditions. Four different temperatures—10, 15, 20, and 25 K—were used for the isothermal collapse phase, considering the fact that these galaxies might have higher dust temperatures in cold regions than observed in the Milky Way. We found that for some abundant species, such as CO and water, hot core abundances are consistent with the reduced elemental abundances of the LMC and SMC. For other less abundant species, such as CH4 and HCN, the calculated abundances are larger when compared with elemental abundances, whereas for species like ammonia they are lower. Our calculations show that some COMs can also be formed in reasonable quantity for hot cores in the Magellanic Clouds when the grain temperature is lower than 25 K. Our results can be compared with recent observations of the hot cores in the high-mass young stellar object (YSO) ST11 and regions A1 and B3 of the star-forming source N113 in the LMC. Model results are in reasonable agreement with the observed abundances and upper limits.

The Sagittarius dwarf galaxy: Where did all the gas go?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tepper-García, Thor; Bland-Hawthorn, Joss

2018-05-01

The remarkable 1994 discovery of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy (Sgr) revealed that, together with the Magellanic Clouds, there are at least three major dwarf galaxies, each with a total mass of order 1010 - 1011M⊙, falling onto the Galaxy in the present epoch. Beyond a Galactic radius of 300 kpc, dwarfs tend to retain their gas. At roughly 50 kpc, the Magellanic Clouds have experienced substantial gas stripping as evidenced by the Magellanic Stream which extends from them. Since Sgr experienced star formation long after it fell into the Galaxy, it is interesting to explore just how and when this dwarf lost its gas. To date, there has been no definitive detection of an associated gas component. We revisit recent simulations of the stellar and dark matter components of Sgr but, for the first time, include gas that is initially bound to the infalling galaxy. We find that the gas stripping was 30 - 50% complete at its first disc crossing ˜2.7 Gyr ago, then entirely stripped at its last disc crossing ˜1 Gyr ago. Our timeline is consistent with the last substantial burst of star formation in Sgr which occurred about the time of the last disc crossing. We discuss the consequences of gas stripping and conclude that the vast majority of the stripped gas was fully settled onto the Galaxy by ˜300 Myr ago. It is highly unlikely that any of the high- or intermediate-velocity clouds have a direct association with the Sgr dwarf.

The VMC survey. XXX. Stellar proper motions in the central parts of the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niederhofer, F.; Cioni, M.-R. L.; Rubele, S.; Schmidt, T.; Bekki, K.; Grijs, R. de; Emerson, J.; Ivanov, V. D.; Marconi, M.; Oliveira, J. M.; Petr-Gotzens, M. G.; Ripepi, V.; van Loon, J. Th.; Zaggia, S.

2018-05-01

We present the first spatially resolved map of stellar proper motions within the central ( 3.1 × 2.4 kpc) regions of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The data used for this study encompasses four tiles from the ongoing near-infrared VISTA survey of the Magellanic Clouds system and covers a total contiguous area on the sky of 6.81 deg2. Proper motions have been calculated independently in two dimensions from the spatial offsets in the Ks filter over time baselines between 22 and 27 months. The reflex motions of approximately 33 000 background galaxies are used to calibrate the stellar motions to an absolute scale. The resulting catalog is composed of more than 690 000 stars which have been selected based on their position in the (J - Ks, Ks) color-magnitude diagram. For the median absolute proper motion of the SMC, we find (μαcos(δ), μδ) = (1.087 ± 0.192 (sys.) ± 0.003 (stat.), -1.187 ± 0.008 (sys.) ± 0.003 (stat.)) mas yr-1, consistent with previous studies. Mapping the proper motions as a function of position within the SMC reveals a nonuniform velocity pattern indicative of a tidal feature behind the main body of the SMC and a flow of stars in the south-east moving predominantly along the line-of-sight. Based on observations made with VISTA at the Paranal Observatory under program ID 179.B-2003.

The Tip of the Red Giant Branch Distances to Type Ia Supernova Host Galaxies. IV. Color Dependence and Zero-point Calibration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jang, In Sung; Lee, Myung Gyoon

2017-01-01

We present a revised Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB) calibration, accurate to 2.7% of distance. A modified TRGB magnitude corrected for its color dependence, the QT magnitude, is introduced for better measurement of the TRGB. We determine the color-magnitude relation of the TRGB from photometry of deep images of HST/ACS fields around eight nearby galaxies. The zero-point of the TRGB at the fiducial metallicity ([Fe/H] = -1.6 ({(V-I)}0,{TRGB}=1.5)) is obtained from photometry of two distance anchors, NGC 4258 (M106) and the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), to which precise geometric distances are known: MQT,TRGB = -4.023 ± 0.073 mag from NGC 4258 and MQT,TRGB = -4.004 ± 0.096 mag from the LMC. A weighted mean of the two zero-points is MQT,TRGB = -4.016 ± 0.058 mag. Quoted uncertainty is ˜2× smaller than those of previous calibrations. We compare the empirical TRGB calibration derived in this study with theoretical stellar models, finding that there are significant discrepancies, especially for red color ({({{F}}606{{W}}-{{F}}814{{W}})}0≳ 2.5). We provide the revised TRGB calibration in several magnitude systems for future studies.

Proper-Motion Study of the Magellanic Clouds Using SPM Material

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-01

F. VAN ALTENA I, NORBERT ZACHARIAS2, DANA I. CASETTI-DINESCU I, VLADIMIR I. KORCHAGIN I, iMANTSPLATAIS3, DAVID G. MONE -r4, CARLOS E. LOPEZ5, DAVID...difference of the two clouds to within ±54 km S-I. The absolute proper-motion results are consistent with the Clouds’ orbits being marginally bound...consistent with the Clouds’ orbits being marginally bound to the Milky Way, albeit on an elongated orbit. The inferred relative velocity between the

Chemical Abundances in the Leading Arm of the Magellanic Stream

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fox, Andrew J.; Barger, Kathleen A.; Wakker, Bart P.; Richter, Philipp; Antwi-Danso, Jacqueline; Casetti-Dinescu, Dana I.; Howk, J. Christopher; Lehner, Nicolas; D’Onghia, Elena; Crowther, Paul A.; Lockman, Felix J.

2018-02-01

The Leading Arm (LA) of the Magellanic Stream is a vast debris field of H I clouds connecting the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds. It represents an example of active gas accretion onto the Galaxy. Previously, only one chemical abundance measurement had been made in the LA. Here we present chemical abundance measurements using Hubble Space Telescope/Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and Green Bank Telescope spectra of four AGN sightlines passing through the LA and three nearby sightlines that may trace outer fragments of the LA. We find low oxygen abundances, ranging from {4.0}-2.0+2.0 % solar to {12.6}-4.1+6.0 % solar, in the confirmed LA directions, with the lowest values found in the region known as LA III, farthest from the LMC. These abundances are substantially lower than the single previous measurement, S/H = 35 ± 7% solar, but are in agreement with those reported in the SMC filament of the trailing Stream, supporting a common origin in the SMC (not the LMC) for the majority of the LA and trailing Stream. This provides important constraints for models of the formation of the Magellanic System. Finally, two of the three nearby sightlines show high-velocity clouds with H I columns, kinematics, and oxygen abundances consistent with LA membership. This suggests that the LA is larger than traditionally thought, extending at least 20° further to the Galactic northwest. Based on observations taken under programs 12172, 12212, 12248, 12275, 13115, and 14687 of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555, and under programs GBT12A_206, GBT17B_424 of the Green Bank Observatory, which is a facility of the National Science Foundation and is operated by Associated Universities, Inc.

ALMA Observations of a Quiescent Molecular Cloud in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, Tony; Hughes, Annie; Tokuda, Kazuki; Indebetouw, Rémy; Bernard, Jean-Philippe; Onishi, Toshikazu; Wojciechowski, Evan; Bandurski, Jeffrey B.; Kawamura, Akiko; Roman-Duval, Julia; Cao, Yixian; Chen, C.-H. Rosie; Chu, You-hua; Cui, Chaoyue; Fukui, Yasuo; Montier, Ludovic; Muller, Erik; Ott, Juergen; Paradis, Deborah; Pineda, Jorge L.; Rosolowsky, Erik; Sewiło, Marta

2017-12-01

We present high-resolution (subparsec) observations of a giant molecular cloud in the nearest star-forming galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. ALMA Band 6 observations trace the bulk of the molecular gas in 12CO(2-1) and the high column density regions in 13CO(2-1). Our target is a quiescent cloud (PGCC G282.98-32.40, which we refer to as the “Planck cold cloud” or PCC) in the southern outskirts of the galaxy where star formation activity is very low and largely confined to one location. We decompose the cloud into structures using a dendrogram and apply an identical analysis to matched-resolution cubes of the 30 Doradus molecular cloud (located near intense star formation) for comparison. Structures in the PCC exhibit roughly 10 times lower surface density and five times lower velocity dispersion than comparably sized structures in 30 Dor, underscoring the non-universality of molecular cloud properties. In both clouds, structures with relatively higher surface density lie closer to simple virial equilibrium, whereas lower surface-density structures tend to exhibit supervirial line widths. In the PCC, relatively high line widths are found in the vicinity of an infrared source whose properties are consistent with a luminous young stellar object. More generally, we find that the smallest resolved structures (“leaves”) of the dendrogram span close to the full range of line widths observed across all scales. As a result, while the bulk of the kinetic energy is found on the largest scales, the small-scale energetics tend to be dominated by only a few structures, leading to substantial scatter in observed size-line-width relationships.

On the impact of helium abundance on the Cepheid period-luminosity and Wesenheit relations and the distance ladder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carini, R.; Brocato, E.; Raimondo, G.; Marconi, M.

2017-08-01

This work analyses the effect of the helium content on synthetic period-luminosity relations (PLRs) and period-Wesenheit relations (PWRs) of Cepheids and the systematic uncertainties on the derived distances that a hidden population of He-enhanced Cepheids may generate. We use new stellar and pulsation models to build a homogeneous and consistent framework to derive the Cepheid features. The Cepheid populations expected in synthetic colour-magnitude diagrams of young stellar systems (from 20 to 250 Myr) are computed in several photometric bands for Y = 0.25 and 0.35, at a fixed metallicity (Z = 0.008). The PLRs appear to be very similar in the two cases, with negligible effects (few per cent) on distances, while PWRs differ somewhat, with systematic uncertainties in deriving distances as high as ˜ 7 per cent at log P < 1.5. Statistical effects due to the number of variables used to determine the relations contribute to a distance systematic error of the order of few percent, with values decreasing from optical to near-infrared bands. The empirical PWRs derived from multiwavelength data sets for the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is in a very good agreement with our theoretical PWRs obtained with a standard He content, supporting the evidence that LMC Cepheids do not show any He effect.

Ages of Extragalactic Intermediate-Age Star Clusters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flower, P. J.

1983-01-01

A dating technique for faint, distant star clusters observable in the local group of galaxies with the space telescope is discussed. Color-magnitude diagrams of Magellanic Cloud clusters are mentioned along with the metallicity of star clusters.

Dusty Death of a Massive Star

NASA Image and Video Library

2006-06-06

NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows the supernova remnant 1E0102.2-7219 sits next to the nebula N76 in a bright, star-forming region of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy.

Photometric Periodicities of Be/X-Ray Pulsars in the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmidtke, P. C.; Cowley, A. P.

2005-11-01

Analysis of the long-term photometric variability of seven Be/X-ray pulsar systems in the Small Magellanic Cloud has been carried out. We find that a variety of types of variability are present, including long-term irregular changes, periodic orbital outbursts due to interaction between the stars (weeks to months), low-amplitude quasi-periodic variations of the equatorial disk (days), and nonradial pulsations of the Be primary star (hours). This paper utilizes public domain data obtained by the MACHO Project, jointly funded by the US Department of Energy through the University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, under contract W-7405-Eng-48, by the National Science Foundation through the Center for Particle Astrophysics of the University of California under cooperative agreement AST 88-09616, and by the Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatory, part of the Australian National University.

Astrophysics. The exceptionally powerful TeV γ-ray emitters in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

PubMed

2015-01-23

The Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, has been observed with the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) above an energy of 100 billion electron volts for a deep exposure of 210 hours. Three sources of different types were detected: the pulsar wind nebula of the most energetic pulsar known, N 157B; the radio-loud supernova remnant N 132D; and the largest nonthermal x-ray shell, the superbubble 30 Dor C. The unique object SN 1987A is, unexpectedly, not detected, which constrains the theoretical framework of particle acceleration in very young supernova remnants. These detections reveal the most energetic tip of a γ-ray source population in an external galaxy and provide via 30 Dor C the unambiguous detection of γ-ray emission from a superbubble. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Energetics and Birth Rates of Supernova Remnants in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leahy, D. A.

2017-03-01

Published X-ray emission properties for a sample of 50 supernova remnants (SNRs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) are used as input for SNR evolution modeling calculations. The forward shock emission is modeled to obtain the initial explosion energy, age, and circumstellar medium density for each SNR in the sample. The resulting age distribution yields a SNR birthrate of 1/(500 yr) for the LMC. The explosion energy distribution is well fit by a log-normal distribution, with a most-probable explosion energy of 0.5× {10}51 erg, with a 1σ dispersion by a factor of 3 in energy. The circumstellar medium density distribution is broader than the explosion energy distribution, with a most-probable density of ˜0.1 cm-3. The shape of the density distribution can be fit with a log-normal distribution, with incompleteness at high density caused by the shorter evolution times of SNRs.

Local normal galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fichtel, Carl E.

1990-01-01

In the near future, high energy (E greater than 20 MeV) gamma ray astronomy offers the promise of a new means of examining the closest galaxies. Two and possibly three local galaxies, the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds and M31, should be visible to the high energy gamma ray telescope on the Gamma Ray Observatory, and the first should be seen by GAMMA-1. With the assumptions of adequate cosmic ray production and reasonable magnetic field strengths, both of which should likely be satisfied, specific predictions of the gamma ray emission can be made separating the concepts of the galactic and universal nature of cosmic rays. A study of the synchrotron radiation from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) suggests that the cosmic ray density is similar to that in the local region of our galaxy, but not uniform. It is hoped the measurements will be able to verify this independent of assumptions about the magnetic fields in the LMC.

A DIPOLE ON THE SKY: PREDICTIONS FOR HYPERVELOCITY STARS FROM THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boubert, Douglas; Evans, N. Wyn, E-mail: d.boubert@ast.cam.ac.uk, E-mail: nwe@ast.cam.ac.uk

2016-07-01

We predict the distribution of hypervelocity stars (HVSs) ejected from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), under the assumption that the dwarf galaxy hosts a central massive black hole (MBH). For the majority of stars ejected from the LMC, the orbital velocity of the LMC has contributed a significant fraction of their galactic rest-frame velocity, leading to a dipole density distribution on the sky. We quantify the dipole using spherical harmonic analysis and contrast with the monopole expected for HVSs ejected from the Galactic center (GC). There is a tendril in the density distribution that leads the LMC, which is coincidentmore » with the well-known and unexplained clustering of HVSs in the constellations of Leo and Sextans. Our model is falsifiable since it predicts that Gaia will reveal a large density of HVSs in the southern hemisphere.« less

GRAMS: A Grid of RSG and AGB Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srinivasan, S.; Sargent, B. A.; Meixner, M.

2011-09-01

We present a grid of oxygen- and carbon-rich circumstellar dust radiative transfer models for asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and red supergiant (RSG) stars. The grid samples a large region of the relevant parameter space, and it allows for a quick calculation of bolometric fluxes and dust mass-loss rates from multi-wavelength photometry. This method of fitting observed spectral energy distributions (SEDs) is preferred over detailed radiative transfer calculations, especially for large data sets such as the SAGE (Surveying the Agents of a Galaxy's Evolution) survey of the Magellanic Clouds. The mass-loss rates calculated for SAGE data will allow us to quantify the dust returned to the interstellar medium (ISM) by the entire AGB population. The total injection rate provides an important constraint for models of galactic chemical evolution. Here, we discuss our carbon star models and compare the results to SAGE observations in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC).

Massive stars near Eta Carinae - The stellar content of TR 14 and TR 16

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Massey, Philip; Johnson, Jennifer

1993-03-01

The stellar content of the region around the star Eta Carinae, including the two Galactic OB clusters Tr 14 and Tr 16, are investigated using CCD photometry and spectroscopy. A physical H-R diagram is constructed which shows that several stars are located above the 85-solar mass track, as well as that the location of Eta Carinae is consistent with the interpretation that it is a very massive star undergoing a normal evolutionary stage. The W-R star which is present in this region is lower in luminosity than expected. The initial mass function derived, which is similar to two other young Galactic clusters studied, has a slope flatter than some regions in the Magellanic Clouds that are also rich in massive stars. The most luminous and massive stars near Eta Carinae are not significantly more than the most luminous and massive stars found in the Magellanic Clouds.

Probing the neutron star spin evolution in the young Small Magellanic Cloud Be/X-ray binary SXP 1062

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popov, S. B.; Turolla, R.

2012-03-01

The newly discovered Be/X-ray binary in the Small Magellanic Cloud, SXP 1062, provides the first example of a robust association with a supernova remnant (SNR). The short age estimated for the SNR qualifies SXP 1062 as the youngest known source in its class, ?. As such, it allows us to test current models of magnetorotational evolution of neutron stars in a still unexplored regime. Here we discuss possible evolutionary scenarios for SXP 1062 in an attempt to reconcile its long spin period, ?, and short age. Although several options can be considered, like an anomalously long initial period or the presence of a fossil disc, our results indicate that SXP 1062 may host a neutron star born with a large initial magnetic field, typically in excess of ˜ 1014 G, which then decayed to ˜ 1013 G.

Microlensing towards the Magellanic Clouds and M31: is the quest for MACHOs still open?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calchi Novati, Sebastiano

2012-03-01

Microlensing is the tool of choice for the search and the analysis of compact halo objects ("MACHOs"), a still viable class of dark matter candidates at the galactic scale. Different analyses point towards an agreement in excluding dark matter MACHOs of less than about 10-1 Modot; it remains however an ongoing debate for values in the mass range (0.1 - 1) Modot. The more robust constraints, though not all in agreement, come from the observational campaigns towards the Magellanic Clouds (the LMC and the SMC). The analyses towards the nearby galaxy of M31, in the so called "pixel lensing" regime, have expanded the perspectives in this field of research. In this contribution first we draw a critical view on recent results and then we focus on the pixel lensing analysis towards M31 of the PLAN collaboration.

Observations of two peculiar emission objects in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kafatos, M.; Michalitsianos, A. G.; Allen, D. A.; Stencel, R. E.

1983-01-01

Ultraviolet and visual wavelength spectra were obtained of two peculiar emission objects, Henize S63 and Sanduleak's star in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Previously not observed in the near- or far-ultraviolet, both objects exhibit strong permitted and semiforbidden line emissions. Estimates based on the absolute continuum flux of the hot companion star in Hen S63 indicate that it rivals the luminosity of the carbon star primary. The emission-line profile structure in both objects does not suggest Wolf-Rayet type emission. Carbon in Sanduleak's star (LMC anonymous) is conspicuously absent, while N V, semiforbidden N IV, and semiforbidden N III dominate the UV emission-line spectrum. Nitrogen is overabundant with respect to carbon and oxygen in both objects. The large overabundance of nitrogen in Sanduleak's star suggests evidence for CNO processes material similar to that seen in Nu Car.

The ultraviolet view of the Magellanic Clouds from GALEX: A first look at the LMC source catalog

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simons, Raymond; Thilker, David; Bianchi, Luciana; Wyder, Ted

2014-03-01

The Galaxy Evolution Exporer (GALEX) has performed unprecedented imaging surveys of the Magellanic Clouds (MC) and their surrounding areas including the Magellanic Bridge (MB) in near-UV (NUV, 1771-2831 Å) and far-UV (FUV, 1344-1786 Å) bands at 5″ resolution. Substantially more area was covered in the NUV than FUV, particularly in the bright central regions, because of the GALEX FUV detector failure. The 5σ depth of the NUV imaging varies between 20.8 and 22.7 (ABmag). Such imaging provides the first sensitive view of the entire content of hot stars in the Magellanic System, revealing the presence of young populations even in sites with extremely low star-formation rate surface density like the MB, owing to high sensitivity of the UV data to hot stars and the dark sky at these wavelengths. The density of UV sources is quite high in many areas of the LMC and SMC. Crowding limits the quality of source detection and photometry from the standard mission pipeline processing. We performed custom-photometry of the GALEX data in the MC survey region (<15° from the LMC, <10° from the SMC). After merging multiple detections of sources in overlapping images, the resulting catalog we have produced for the LMC contains nearly six million unique NUV point sources within 15° and is briefly presented herein. This paper provides a first look at the GALEX MC survey and highlights some of the science investigations that the entire catalog and imaging dataset will make possible.

A Near-infrared Period–Luminosity Relation for Miras in NGC 4258, an Anchor for a New Distance Ladder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Caroline D.; Riess, Adam G.; Hoffmann, Samantha L.; Klein, Christopher; Bloom, Joshua; Yuan, Wenlong; Macri, Lucas M.; Jones, David O.; Whitelock, Patricia A.; Casertano, Stefano; Anderson, Richard I.

2018-04-01

We present year-long, near-infrared (NIR) Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFC3 observations of Mira variables in the water megamaser host galaxy NGC 4258. Miras are asymptotic giant branch variables that can be divided into oxygen- (O-) and carbon- (C-) rich subclasses. Oxygen-rich Miras follow a tight (scatter ∼0.14 mag) period–luminosity relation (PLR) in the NIR and can be used to measure extragalactic distances. The water megamaser in NGC 4258 gives a geometric distance to the galaxy accurate to 2.6% that can serve to calibrate the Mira PLR. We develop criteria for detecting and classifying O-rich Miras with optical and NIR data as well as NIR data alone. In total, we discover 438 Mira candidates that we classify with high confidence as O-rich. Our most stringent criteria produce a sample of 139 Mira candidates that we use to measure a PLR. We use the OGLE-III sample of O-rich Miras in the Large Magellanic Cloud to obtain a relative distance modulus, μ 4258 ‑ μ LMC = 10.95 ± 0.01 (statistical) ±0.06 (systematic) mag, that is statistically consistent with the relative distance determined using Cepheids. These results demonstrate the feasibility of discovering and characterizing Miras using the NIR with the HST and the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope and using those Miras to measure extragalactic distances and determine the Hubble constant.

Estimating the dust production rate of carbon stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nanni, Ambra; Marigo, Paola; Girardi, Léo; Rubele, Stefano; Bressan, Alessandro; Groenewegen, Martin A. T.; Pastorelli, Giada; Aringer, Bernhard

2018-02-01

We employ newly computed grids of spectra reprocessed by dust for estimating the total dust production rate (DPR) of carbon stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). For the first time, the grids of spectra are computed as a function of the main stellar parameters, i.e. mass-loss rate, luminosity, effective temperature, current stellar mass and element abundances at the photosphere, following a consistent, physically grounded scheme of dust growth coupled with stationary wind outflow. The model accounts for the dust growth of various dust species formed in the circumstellar envelopes of carbon stars, such as carbon dust, silicon carbide and metallic iron. In particular, we employ some selected combinations of optical constants and grain sizes for carbon dust that have been shown to reproduce simultaneously the most relevant colour-colour diagrams in the SMC. By employing our grids of models, we fit the spectral energy distributions of ≈3100 carbon stars in the SMC, consistently deriving some important dust and stellar properties, i.e. luminosities, mass-loss rates, gas-to-dust ratios, expansion velocities and dust chemistry. We discuss these properties and we compare some of them with observations in the Galaxy and Large Magellanic Cloud. We compute the DPR of carbon stars in the SMC, finding that the estimates provided by our method can be significantly different, between a factor of ≈2-5, than the ones available in the literature. Our grids of models, including the spectra and other relevant dust and stellar quantities, are publicly available at http://starkey.astro.unipd.it/web/guest/dustymodels.

Dust Emission at 8 and 24 μ m as Diagnostics of H ii Region Radiative Transfer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oey, M. S.; López-Hernández, J.; Kellar, J. A.

We use the Spitzer Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution (SAGE) survey of the Magellanic Clouds to evaluate the relationship between the 8 μ m polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission, 24 μ m hot dust emission, and H ii region radiative transfer. We confirm that in the higher-metallicity Large Magellanic Cloud, PAH destruction is sensitive to optically thin conditions in the nebular Lyman continuum: objects identified as optically thin candidates based on nebular ionization structure show six times lower median 8 μ m surface brightness (0.18 mJy arcsec{sup −2}) than their optically thick counterparts (1.2 mJy arcsec{sup −2}). The 24more » μ m surface brightness also shows a factor of three offset between the two classes of objects (0.13 versus 0.44 mJy arcsec{sup −2}, respectively), which is driven by the association between the very small dust grains and higher density gas found at higher nebular optical depths. In contrast, PAH and dust formation in the low-metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud is strongly inhibited such that we find no variation in either 8 μ m or 24 μ m emission between our optically thick and thin samples. This is attributable to extremely low PAH and dust production together with high, corrosive UV photon fluxes in this low-metallicity environment. The dust mass surface densities and gas-to-dust ratios determined from dust maps using Herschel HERITAGE survey data support this interpretation.« less

The Abundances of the Iron Group Elements in Early B Stars in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peters, C.

FUSE observations of four sharp-lined early B main-sequence band stars in the Magellanic Clouds will be carried through to determine the abundances of the heavy elements, especially those of the Fe group. The FUSE spectral region contains numerous Fe III lines, including the resonance multiplet (UV1) near 1130 A that is excellent for abundance determinations and two strong multiplets of V III, an ion that does not produce measurable lines longward of 1200 A in metal-deficient stars. In addition there are several measurable lines from Cr III and Mn III. Although abundances of the Fe-peak elements are of interest because they are important for assessing opacities for stellar evolution calculations and the validity of theoretical calculations of explosive nucleosynthesis, ground-based studies do not yield this information because measurable lines from these species, except for a few Fe III lines, are found only in the UV spectral region. The abundances of heavy elements provide information on the production of such elements in previous generations of stars. From FUSE data obtained in Cycle 3 we are determining the abundances of the Fe group elements in two sharp-lined early B stars in the SMC (AV 304, a field star, and NGC346-637, a star in a mini-starburst cluster). This project will allow one to compare the abundances in AV 304 and NGC346-637 with those in the LMC and other regions in the SMC and look for asymmetry in heavy element production in the Magellanic Clouds.

A New View of the Tarantula Nebula

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-04-17

This composite of 30 Doradus, the Tarantula Nebula, contains data from Chandra blue, Hubble green, and Spitzer red. Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Tarantula Nebula is one of the largest star-forming regions close to the Milky Way.

Two evolved supernova remnants with newly identified Fe-rich cores in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kavanagh, P. J.; Sasaki, M.; Bozzetto, L. M.; Points, S. D.; Crawford, E. J.; Dickel, J.; Filipović, M. D.; Haberl, F.; Maggi, P.; Whelan, E. T.

2016-02-01

Aims: We present a multi-wavelength analysis of the evolved supernova remnants MCSNR J0506-7025 and MCSNR J0527-7104 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Methods: We used observational data from XMM-Newton, the Australian Telescope Compact Array, and the Magellanic Cloud Emission Line Survey to study their broad-band emission and used Spitzer and H I data to gain a picture of the environment into which the remnants are expanding. We performed a multi-wavelength morphological study and detailed radio and X-ray spectral analyses to determine their physical characteristics. Results: Both remnants were found to have bright X-ray cores, dominated by Fe L-shell emission, which is consistent with reverse shock-heated ejecta with determined Fe masses in agreement with Type Ia explosion yields. A soft X-ray shell, which is consistent with swept-up interstellar medium, was observed in MCSNR J0506-7025, suggestive of a remnant in the Sedov phase. Using the spectral fit results and the Sedov self-similar solution, we estimated the age of MCSNR J0506-7025 to be ~16-28 kyr, with an initial explosion energy of (0.07-0.84) × 1051 erg. A soft shell was absent in MCSNR J0527-7104, with only ejecta emission visible in an extremely elongated morphology that extends beyond the optical shell. We suggest that the blast wave has broken out into a low density cavity, allowing the shock heated ejecta to escape. We find that the radio spectral index of MCSNR J0506-7025 is consistent with the standard -0.5 for supernova remnants. Radio polarisation at 6 cm indicates a higher degree of polarisation along the western front and at the eastern knot with a mean fractional polarisation across the remnant of P ≅ (20 ± 6)%. Conclusions: The detection of Fe-rich ejecta in the remnants suggests that both resulted from Type Ia explosions. The newly identified Fe-rich cores in MCSNR J0506-7025 and MCSNR J0527-7104 make them members of the expanding class of evolved Fe-rich remnants in the Magellanic Clouds. Based on observations obtained with XMM-Newton, an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and NASA.

Planck 2015 results. XXVIII. The Planck Catalogue of Galactic cold clumps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Planck Collaboration; Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.; Arnaud, M.; Ashdown, M.; Aumont, J.; Baccigalupi, C.; Banday, A. J.; Barreiro, R. B.; Bartolo, N.; Battaner, E.; Benabed, K.; Benoît, A.; Benoit-Lévy, A.; Bernard, J.-P.; Bersanelli, M.; Bielewicz, P.; Bonaldi, A.; Bonavera, L.; Bond, J. R.; Borrill, J.; Bouchet, F. R.; Boulanger, F.; Bucher, M.; Burigana, C.; Butler, R. C.; Calabrese, E.; Catalano, A.; Chamballu, A.; Chiang, H. C.; Christensen, P. R.; Clements, D. L.; Colombi, S.; Colombo, L. P. L.; Combet, C.; Couchot, F.; Coulais, A.; Crill, B. P.; Curto, A.; Cuttaia, F.; Danese, L.; Davies, R. D.; Davis, R. J.; de Bernardis, P.; de Rosa, A.; de Zotti, G.; Delabrouille, J.; Désert, F.-X.; Dickinson, C.; Diego, J. M.; Dole, H.; Donzelli, S.; Doré, O.; Douspis, M.; Ducout, A.; Dupac, X.; Efstathiou, G.; Elsner, F.; Enßlin, T. A.; Eriksen, H. K.; Falgarone, E.; Fergusson, J.; Finelli, F.; Forni, O.; Frailis, M.; Fraisse, A. A.; Franceschi, E.; Frejsel, A.; Galeotta, S.; Galli, S.; Ganga, K.; Giard, M.; Giraud-Héraud, Y.; Gjerløw, E.; González-Nuevo, J.; Górski, K. M.; Gratton, S.; Gregorio, A.; Gruppuso, A.; Gudmundsson, J. E.; Hansen, F. K.; Hanson, D.; Harrison, D. L.; Helou, G.; Henrot-Versillé, S.; Hernández-Monteagudo, C.; Herranz, D.; Hildebrandt, S. R.; Hivon, E.; Hobson, M.; Holmes, W. A.; Hornstrup, A.; Hovest, W.; Huffenberger, K. M.; Hurier, G.; Jaffe, A. H.; Jaffe, T. R.; Jones, W. C.; Juvela, M.; Keihänen, E.; Keskitalo, R.; Kisner, T. S.; Knoche, J.; Kunz, M.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Lagache, G.; Lamarre, J.-M.; Lasenby, A.; Lattanzi, M.; Lawrence, C. R.; Leonardi, R.; Lesgourgues, J.; Levrier, F.; Liguori, M.; Lilje, P. B.; Linden-Vørnle, M.; López-Caniego, M.; Lubin, P. M.; Macías-Pérez, J. F.; Maggio, G.; Maino, D.; Mandolesi, N.; Mangilli, A.; Marshall, D. J.; Martin, P. G.; Martínez-González, E.; Masi, S.; Matarrese, S.; Mazzotta, P.; McGehee, P.; Melchiorri, A.; Mendes, L.; Mennella, A.; Migliaccio, M.; Mitra, S.; Miville-Deschênes, M.-A.; Moneti, A.; Montier, L.; Morgante, G.; Mortlock, D.; Moss, A.; Munshi, D.; Murphy, J. A.; Naselsky, P.; Nati, F.; Natoli, P.; Netterfield, C. B.; Nørgaard-Nielsen, H. U.; Noviello, F.; Novikov, D.; Novikov, I.; Oxborrow, C. A.; Paci, F.; Pagano, L.; Pajot, F.; Paladini, R.; Paoletti, D.; Pasian, F.; Patanchon, G.; Pearson, T. J.; Pelkonen, V.-M.; Perdereau, O.; Perotto, L.; Perrotta, F.; Pettorino, V.; Piacentini, F.; Piat, M.; Pierpaoli, E.; Pietrobon, D.; Plaszczynski, S.; Pointecouteau, E.; Polenta, G.; Pratt, G. W.; Prézeau, G.; Prunet, S.; Puget, J.-L.; Rachen, J. P.; Reach, W. T.; Rebolo, R.; Reinecke, M.; Remazeilles, M.; Renault, C.; Renzi, A.; Ristorcelli, I.; Rocha, G.; Rosset, C.; Rossetti, M.; Roudier, G.; Rubiño-Martín, J. A.; Rusholme, B.; Sandri, M.; Santos, D.; Savelainen, M.; Savini, G.; Scott, D.; Seiffert, M. D.; Shellard, E. P. S.; Spencer, L. D.; Stolyarov, V.; Sudiwala, R.; Sunyaev, R.; Sutton, D.; Suur-Uski, A.-S.; Sygnet, J.-F.; Tauber, J. A.; Terenzi, L.; Toffolatti, L.; Tomasi, M.; Tristram, M.; Tucci, M.; Tuovinen, J.; Umana, G.; Valenziano, L.; Valiviita, J.; Van Tent, B.; Vielva, P.; Villa, F.; Wade, L. A.; Wandelt, B. D.; Wehus, I. K.; Yvon, D.; Zacchei, A.; Zonca, A.

2016-09-01

We present the Planck Catalogue of Galactic Cold Clumps (PGCC), an all-sky catalogue of Galactic cold clump candidates detected by Planck. This catalogue is the full version of the Early Cold Core (ECC) catalogue, which was made available in 2011 with the Early Release Compact Source Catalogue (ERCSC) and which contained 915 high signal-to-noise sources. It is based on the Planck 48-month mission data that are currently being released to the astronomical community. The PGCC catalogue is an observational catalogue consisting exclusively of Galactic cold sources. The three highest Planck bands (857, 454, and 353 GHz) have been combined with IRAS data at 3 THz to perform a multi-frequency detection of sources colder than their local environment. After rejection of possible extragalactic contaminants, the PGCC catalogue contains 13188 Galactic sources spread across the whole sky, I.e., from the Galactic plane to high latitudes, following the spatial distribution of the main molecular cloud complexes. The median temperature of PGCC sources lies between 13 and 14.5 K, depending on the quality of the flux density measurements, with a temperature ranging from 5.8 to 20 K after removing the sources with the top 1% highest temperature estimates. Using seven independent methods, reliable distance estimates have been obtained for 5574 sources, which allows us to derive their physical properties such as their mass, physical size, mean density, and luminosity.The PGCC sources are located mainly in the solar neighbourhood, but also up to a distance of 10.5 kpc in the direction of the Galactic centre, and range from low-mass cores to large molecular clouds. Because of this diversity and because the PGCC catalogue contains sources in very different environments, the catalogue is useful for investigating the evolution from molecular clouds to cores. Finally, it also includes 54 additional sources located in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds.

Planck 2015 results: XXVIII. The Planck Catalogue of Galactic cold clumps

DOE PAGES

Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.; Arnaud, M.; ...

2016-09-20

Here, we present the Planck Catalogue of Galactic Cold Clumps (PGCC), an all-sky catalogue of Galactic cold clump candidates detected by Planck. This catalogue is the full version of the Early Cold Core (ECC) catalogue, which was made available in 2011 with the Early Release Compact Source Catalogue (ERCSC) and which contained 915 high signal-to-noise sources. It is based on the Planck 48-month mission data that are currently being released to the astronomical community. The PGCC catalogue is an observational catalogue consisting exclusively of Galactic cold sources. The three highest Planck bands (857, 454, and 353 GHz) have been combinedmore » with IRAS data at 3 THz to perform a multi-frequency detection of sources colder than their local environment. After rejection of possible extragalactic contaminants, the PGCC catalogue contains 13188 Galactic sources spread across the whole sky, i.e., from the Galactic plane to high latitudes, following the spatial distribution of the main molecular cloud complexes. The median temperature of PGCC sources lies between 13 and 14.5 K, depending on the quality of the flux density measurements, with a temperature ranging from 5.8 to 20 K after removing the sources with the top 1% highest temperature estimates. Using seven independent methods, reliable distance estimates have been obtained for 5574 sources, which allows us to derive their physical properties such as their mass, physical size, mean density, and luminosity.The PGCC sources are located mainly in the solar neighbourhood, but also up to a distance of 10.5 kpc in the direction of the Galactic centre, and range from low-mass cores to large molecular clouds. Because of this diversity and because the PGCC catalogue contains sources in very different environments, the catalogue is useful for investigating the evolution from molecular clouds to cores. Finally, it also includes 54 additional sources located in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds.« less

Powerful Radio Burst Indicates New Astronomical Phenomenon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2007-09-01

Astronomers studying archival data from an Australian radio telescope have discovered a powerful, short-lived burst of radio waves that they say indicates an entirely new type of astronomical phenomenon. Region of Strong Radio Burst Visible-light (negative greyscale) and radio (contours) image of Small Magellanic Cloud and area where burst originated. CREDIT: Lorimer et al., NRAO/AUI/NSF Click on image for high-resolution file ( 114 KB) "This burst appears to have originated from the distant Universe and may have been produced by an exotic event such as the collision of two neutron stars or the death throes of an evaporating black hole," said Duncan Lorimer, Assistant Professor of Physics at West Virginia University (WVU) and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The research team led by Lorimer consists of Matthew Bailes of Swinburne University in Australia, Maura McLaughlin of WVU and NRAO, David Narkevic of WVU, and Fronefield Crawford of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The astronomers announced their findings in the September 27 issue of the online journal Science Express. The startling discovery came as WVU undergraduate student David Narkevic re-analyzed data from observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud made by the 210-foot Parkes radio telescope in Australia. The data came from a survey of the Magellanic Clouds that included 480 hours of observations. "This survey had sought to discover new pulsars, and the data already had been searched for the type of pulsating signals they produce," Lorimer said. "We re-examined the data, looking for bursts that, unlike the usual ones from pulsars, are not periodic," he added. The survey had covered the Magellanic Clouds, a pair of small galaxies in orbit around our own Milky Way Galaxy. Some 200,000 light-years from Earth, the Magellanic Clouds are prominent features in the Southern sky. Ironically, the new discovery is not part of these galaxies, but rather is much more distant. "It was a bit of luck that the survey included some observations of the sky surrounding the clouds," Narkevic said. It was from those "flanking" observations that the mysterious radio burst appeared in the data. The burst of radio waves was strong by astronomical standards, but lasted less than five milliseconds. The signal was spread out, with higher frequencies arriving at the telescope before the lower frequencies. This effect, called dispersion, is caused by the signal passing through ionized gas in interstellar and intergalactic space. The amount of this dispersion, the astronomers said, indicates that the signal likely originated about three billion light-years from Earth. No previously-detected cosmic radio burst has the same set of characteristics. "This burst represents an entirely new astronomical phenomenon," Bailes said. The astronomers estimate on the basis of their results that hundreds of similar events should occur over the sky each day. "Few radio surveys have the necessary sensitivity to such short-duration bursts, which makes them notoriously difficult to detect with current instruments," added Crawford. The next generation of radio telescopes currently under development should be able to detect many of these bursts across the sky. Although the nature of the mysterious new object is unclear, the astronomers have some ideas of what may cause such a burst. One idea is that it may be part of the energy released when a pair of superdense neutron stars collide and merge. Such an event is thought by some scientists to be the cause of one type of gamma-ray burst, but the only radio emission seen so far from these has been from the long-lived "afterglow" that follows the original burst. Another, more exotic, candidate is a burst of energy from an evaporating black hole. Black holes, concentrations of mass so dense that not even light can escape their powerful gravity, can lose mass and energy through a process proposed by famed British physicist Stephen Hawking. The newly-discovered radio burst, the researchers said, might be the "last gasp" of a black hole as it finally evaporates completely. "We're actively looking for more of these powerful, short bursts, in other archival pulsar surveys, and hope to resolve the mystery of their origin," said McLaughlin. "In addition, if we can associate these events with galaxies of known distance, the radio dispersion we measure can be used as a powerful new way to determine the amount of material in intergalactic space," she added. The Parkes radio telescope is part of the Australia Telescope, which is funded by the Commonwealth of Australia for operation as a National Facility. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

Dissecting Dust from Detonation of Dead Star

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-06-04

This infrared image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows N103B -- all that remains from a supernova that exploded a millennium ago in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy 160,000 light-years away from our own Milky Way.

Corequake and shock heating model of the 5 March 1979 gamma ray burst

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ellison, D. C.; Kazanas, D.

1983-01-01

Ramatry, et al. proposed a model to account for the 5 March 1979 gamma ray burst in terms of a neutron star corequake and subsequent shock heating of the neutron star atmosphere. This model is extended by examining the overall energetics and characteristics of these shocks, taking into account the e(+)-e(-) pair production behind the shock. The effects of a dipole magnetic field in the shock jump conditions are also examined and it is concluded that the uneven heating produced by such a field can account for the temperature difference between pole and equator implied by the pulsating phase of the burst. The overall energetics and distribution of energy between e(+)-(-) pairs and photons appears to be in agreement with observations if this event is at a distance of 55 kpc as implied by its association with the Large Magellanic Cloud.

A new luminous blue variable - R143 in 30 Doradus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parker, Joel WM.; Clayton, Geoffrey C.; Winge, Claudia; Conti, Peter S.

1993-01-01

We have discovered that R143 in the Large Magellanic Cloud is a luminous blue variable (LBV), the first and perhaps the lone LBV in the central cluster of 30 Doradus, and only the sixth known LMC LBV. Photometric and spectroscopic observations over the past 40 yr indicate that during that time R143 moved redward (changing from an F5 to F8 supergiant), then blueward (possibly becoming as early as O9.5), and is now moving back to the red (currently appearing as a late B supergiant). Similarly, the V magnitude of the star has changed by at least 1.4 mag. Images of R143 show very unusual filaments of nebulosity extending from the star to a shell at a distance of 3.5 pc, perhaps due to a similar ejection mechanism that created the spiral jets and shell associated with AG Car, another LBV.

The Origin of the X-Ray Emission from the High-velocity Cloud MS30.7-81.4-118

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henley, David B.; Shelton, Robin L.; Kwak, Kyujin

2014-08-01

A soft X-ray enhancement has recently been reported toward the high-velocity cloud MS30.7-81.4-118 (MS30.7), a constituent of the Magellanic Stream. In order to investigate the origin of this enhancement, we have analyzed two overlapping XMM-Newton observations of this cloud. We find that the X-ray enhancement is ~6' or ~100 pc across, and is concentrated to the north and west of the densest part of the cloud. We modeled the X-ray enhancement with a variety of spectral models. A single-temperature equilibrium plasma model yields a temperature of (3.69^{+0.47}_{-0.44}) \\times 10^6 \\,K and a 0.4-2.0 keV luminosity of 7.9 × 1033 erg s-1. However, this model underpredicts the on-enhancement emission around 1 keV, which may indicate the additional presence of hotter plasma (T >~ 107 K), or that recombination emission is important. We examined several different physical models for the origin of the X-ray enhancement. We find that turbulent mixing of cold cloud material with hot ambient material, compression or shock heating of a hot ambient medium, and charge exchange reactions between cloud atoms and ions in a hot ambient medium all lead to emission that is too faint. In addition, shock heating in a cool or warm medium leads to emission that is too soft (for reasonable cloud speeds). We find that magnetic reconnection could plausibly power the observed X-ray emission, but resistive magnetohydrodynamical simulations are needed to test this hypothesis. If magnetic reconnection is responsible for the X-ray enhancement, the observed spectral properties could potentially constrain the magnetic field in the vicinity of the Magellanic Stream.

Horologium II: A Second Ultra-faint Milky Way Satellite in the Horologium Constellation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Dongwon; Jerjen, Helmut

2015-08-01

We report the discovery of a new ultra-faint Milky Way satellite candidate, Horologium II (Hor II), detected in the Dark Energy Survey Y1A1 public data. Hor II features a half-light radius of {r}{{h}}=47+/- 10 pc and a total luminosity of {M}V=-{2.6}-0.3+0.2 that place it in the realm of ultra-faint dwarf galaxies on the size-luminosity plane. The stellar population of the new satellite is consistent with an old (˜13.5 Gyr) and metal-poor ([Fe/H] ˜ -2.1) isochrone at a distance modulus of (m-M)=19.46+/- 0.20, or a heliocentric distance of 78 ± 8 kpc, in the color-magnitude diagram. Hor II has a distance similar to the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy (˜82 kpc) and the recently reported ultra-faint satellites Eridanus III (87 ± 8 kpc) and Horologium I (79 ± 8 kpc). All four satellites are well aligned on the sky, which suggests a possible common origin. As Sculptor is moving on a retrograde orbit within the Vast Polar Structure when compared to the other classical MW satellite galaxies including the Magellanic Clouds, this hypothesis can be tested once proper motion measurements become available.

Measuring the Outflows from Massive Young Stellar Objects in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meixner, Margaret

2015-10-01

The formation of massive stars has been difficult to study because they evolve quickly and evolutionary phases are short-lived. Using the GREAT instrument, we propose to measure the molecular gas outflows in 4 massive young stellar objects (YSOs) that we discovered in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) with our Herschel and Spitzer surveys. We have in hand ALMA observations of the CO J=2-1 for all 4 targets. Three of these YSOs mark active young star formation sites in N159W that is the most intense and concentrated molecular cloud in the LMC. The fourth YSO, located in N79, is the most massive/luminous YSO in the LMC. One of the N159W YSOs has been detected with an outflow in the CO J=2-1 line. We will observe the CO J=11-10 line in these 4 YSOs because the shock excited outflows are very bright in this line and it can be used to quantify the mass loss rate. We will also map the most massive YSO in the [CII] 158 micron line to probe the physical conditions of the region.

Astronomical Resources: Supernovae.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fraknoi, Andrew

1987-01-01

Contains a partially annotated, nontechnical bibliography of recent materials about supernovae, including some about the discovery of a supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Includes citations of general books and articles about supernovae, articles about Supernova 1987A, and a few science fiction stories using supernovae. (TW)

A Dwarf Galaxy Star Bar and Dusty Wing

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-01-10

In combined data from ESA Herschel and NASA Spitzer telescopes, irregular distribution of dust in the Small Magellanic Cloud becomes clear. A stream of dust extends to left, known as the galaxy wing, and a bar of star formation appears to right.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Stellar populations in the Magellanic bridge (Skowron+, 2014)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skowron, D. M.; Jacyszyn, A. M.; Udalski, A.; Szymanski, M. K.; Skowron, J.; Poleski, R.; Kozlowski, S.; Kubiak, M.; Pietrzynski, G.; Soszynski, I.; Mroz, P.; Pietrukowicz, P.; Ulaczyk, K.; Wyrzykowski, L.

2017-05-01

The current, fourth phase of the OGLE survey (OGLE-IV) started in 2010 March with the commissioning of a large new-generation 256 Megapixel 32 chip mosaic camera. The Galactic bulge and disk, the Magellanic Clouds, and the Magellanic Bridge, including vast areas around them, are the primary observing targets for the OGLE-IV survey. Regular monitoring of the selected sky regions by the OGLE survey is carried out with the 1.3 m Warsaw telescope located at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile (operated by the Carnegie Institution for Science). The field of view of the camera is 1.4 deg2 with a pixel size of ~0.26''. The magnitude range of the standard OGLE survey is approximately 12-21 mag in the I band and 12.5-21.5 mag in the V band. (1 data file).

NGC 1866: First Spectroscopic Detection of Fast-rotating Stars in a Young LMC Cluster

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dupree, A. K.; Dotter, A.; Johnson, C. I.

High-resolution spectroscopic observations were taken of 29 extended main-sequence turnoff (eMSTO) stars in the young (∼200 Myr) Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) cluster, NGC 1866, using the Michigan/ Magellan Fiber System and MSpec spectrograph on the Magellan -Clay 6.5 m telescope. These spectra reveal the first direct detection of rapidly rotating stars whose presence has only been inferred from photometric studies. The eMSTO stars exhibit H α emission (indicative of Be-star decretion disks), others have shallow broad H α absorption (consistent with rotation ≳150 km s{sup −1}), or deep H α core absorption signaling lower rotation velocities (≲150 km s{sup −1}).more » The spectra appear consistent with two populations of stars—one rapidly rotating, and the other, younger and slowly rotating.« less

SMASH: Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nidever, David L.; Olsen, Knut; Blum, Robert D.

The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are unique local laboratories for studying the formation and evolution of small galaxies in exquisite detail. The Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History (SMASH) is an NOAO community Dark Energy Camera (DECam) survey of the Clouds mapping 480 deg{sup 2} (distributed over ∼2400 square degrees at ∼20% filling factor) to ∼24th mag in ugriz . The primary goals of SMASH are to identify low surface brightness stellar populations associated with the stellar halos and tidal debris of the Clouds, and to derive spatially resolved star formation histories. Here, we present a summary of the survey,more » its data reduction, and a description of the first public Data Release (DR1). The SMASH DECam data have been reduced with a combination of the NOAO Community Pipeline, the PHOTRED automated point-spread-function photometry pipeline, and custom calibration software. The astrometric precision is ∼15 mas and the accuracy is ∼2 mas with respect to the Gaia reference frame. The photometric precision is ∼0.5%–0.7% in griz and ∼1% in u with a calibration accuracy of ∼1.3% in all bands. The median 5 σ point source depths in ugriz are 23.9, 24.8, 24.5, 24.2, and 23.5 mag. The SMASH data have already been used to discover the Hydra II Milky Way satellite, the SMASH 1 old globular cluster likely associated with the LMC, and extended stellar populations around the LMC out to R  ∼ 18.4 kpc. SMASH DR1 contains measurements of ∼100 million objects distributed in 61 fields. A prototype version of the NOAO Data Lab provides data access and exploration tools.« less

SMASH: Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nidever, David L.; Olsen, Knut; Walker, Alistair R.; Vivas, A. Katherina; Blum, Robert D.; Kaleida, Catherine; Choi, Yumi; Conn, Blair C.; Gruendl, Robert A.; Bell, Eric F.; Besla, Gurtina; Muñoz, Ricardo R.; Gallart, Carme; Martin, Nicolas F.; Olszewski, Edward W.; Saha, Abhijit; Monachesi, Antonela; Monelli, Matteo; de Boer, Thomas J. L.; Johnson, L. Clifton; Zaritsky, Dennis; Stringfellow, Guy S.; van der Marel, Roeland P.; Cioni, Maria-Rosa L.; Jin, Shoko; Majewski, Steven R.; Martinez-Delgado, David; Monteagudo, Lara; Noël, Noelia E. D.; Bernard, Edouard J.; Kunder, Andrea; Chu, You-Hua; Bell, Cameron P. M.; Santana, Felipe; Frechem, Joshua; Medina, Gustavo E.; Parkash, Vaishali; Serón Navarrete, J. C.; Hayes, Christian

2017-11-01

The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are unique local laboratories for studying the formation and evolution of small galaxies in exquisite detail. The Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History (SMASH) is an NOAO community Dark Energy Camera (DECam) survey of the Clouds mapping 480 deg2 (distributed over ˜2400 square degrees at ˜20% filling factor) to ˜24th mag in ugriz. The primary goals of SMASH are to identify low surface brightness stellar populations associated with the stellar halos and tidal debris of the Clouds, and to derive spatially resolved star formation histories. Here, we present a summary of the survey, its data reduction, and a description of the first public Data Release (DR1). The SMASH DECam data have been reduced with a combination of the NOAO Community Pipeline, the PHOTRED automated point-spread-function photometry pipeline, and custom calibration software. The astrometric precision is ˜15 mas and the accuracy is ˜2 mas with respect to the Gaia reference frame. The photometric precision is ˜0.5%-0.7% in griz and ˜1% in u with a calibration accuracy of ˜1.3% in all bands. The median 5σ point source depths in ugriz are 23.9, 24.8, 24.5, 24.2, and 23.5 mag. The SMASH data have already been used to discover the Hydra II Milky Way satellite, the SMASH 1 old globular cluster likely associated with the LMC, and extended stellar populations around the LMC out to R ˜ 18.4 kpc. SMASH DR1 contains measurements of ˜100 million objects distributed in 61 fields. A prototype version of the NOAO Data Lab provides data access and exploration tools.

A MODERN SEARCH FOR WOLF–RAYET STARS IN THE MAGELLANIC CLOUDS. II. A SECOND YEAR OF DISCOVERIES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Massey, Philip; Neugent, Kathryn F.; Morrell, Nidia, E-mail: phil.massey@lowell.edu, E-mail: kneugent@lowell.edu, E-mail: nmorrell@lco.cl

The numbers and types of evolved massive stars found in nearby galaxies provide an exacting test of stellar evolution models. Because of their proximity and rich massive star populations, the Magellanic Clouds have long served as the linchpins for such studies. Yet the continued accidental discoveries of Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars in these systems demonstrate that our knowledge is not as complete as usually assumed. Therefore, we undertook a multi-year survey for WRs in the Magellanic Clouds. Our results from our first year (reported previously) confirmed nine new LMC WRs. Of these, six were of a type never before recognized, withmore » WN3-type emission combined with O3-type absorption features. Yet these stars are 2–3 mag too faint to be WN3+O3 V binaries. Here we report on the second year of our survey, including the discovery of four more WRs, two of which are also WN3/O3s, plus two “slash” WRs. This brings the total of known LMC WRs to 152, 13 (8.2%) of which were found by our survey, which is now ∼60% complete. We find that the spatial distribution of the WN3/O3s is similar to that of other WRs in the LMC, suggesting that they are descended from the same progenitors. We call attention to the fact that 5 of the 12 known SMC WRs may in fact be similar WN3/O3s rather than the binaries they have often assumed to be. We also discuss our other discoveries: a newly discovered Onfp-type star, and a peculiar emission-line object. Finally, we consider the completeness limits of our survey.« less

Response of the Milky Way's disc to the Large Magellanic Cloud in a first infall scenario

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laporte, Chervin F. P.; Gómez, Facundo A.; Besla, Gurtina; Johnston, Kathryn V.; Garavito-Camargo, Nicolas

2018-01-01

We present N-body and hydrodynamical simulations of the response of the Milky Way's baryonic disc to the presence of the Large Magellanic Cloud during a first infall scenario. For a fiducial Galactic model reproducing the gross properties of the Galaxy, we explore a set of six initial conditions for the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) of varying mass which all evolve to fit the measured constraints on its current position and velocity with respect to the Galactic Centre. We find that the LMC can produce strong disturbances - warping of the stellar and gaseous discs - in the Galaxy, without violating constraints from the phase-space distribution of stars in the Solar Neighbourhood. All models correctly reproduce the phases of the warp and its antisymmetrical shape about the disc's mid-plane. If the warp is due to the LMC alone, then the largest mass model is favoured (2.5 × 1011 M⊙). Still, some quantitative discrepancies remain, including deficits in height of ΔZ = 0.7 kpc at R = 22 kpc and ΔZ = 0.7 kpc at R = 16 kpc. This suggests that even higher infall masses for the LMC's halo are allowed by the data. A comparison with the vertical perturbations induced by a heavy Sagittarius dSph model (1011 M⊙) suggest that positive interference with the LMC warp is expected at R = 16 kpc. We conclude that the vertical structure of the Galactic disc beyond the Solar Neighbourhood may jointly be shaped by its most massive satellites. As such, the current structure of the Milky Way suggests we are seeing the process of disc heating by satellite interactions in action.

The VMC Survey. XXVII. Young Stellar Structures in the LMC’s Bar Star-forming Complex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Ning-Chen; de Grijs, Richard; Subramanian, Smitha; Bekki, Kenji; Bell, Cameron P. M.; Cioni, Maria-Rosa L.; Ivanov, Valentin D.; Marconi, Marcella; Oliveira, Joana M.; Piatti, Andrés E.; Ripepi, Vincenzo; Rubele, Stefano; Tatton, Ben L.; van Loon, Jacco Th.

2017-11-01

Star formation is a hierarchical process, forming young stellar structures of star clusters, associations, and complexes over a wide range of scales. The star-forming complex in the bar region of the Large Magellanic Cloud is investigated with upper main-sequence stars observed by the VISTA Survey of the Magellanic Clouds. The upper main-sequence stars exhibit highly nonuniform distributions. Young stellar structures inside the complex are identified from the stellar density map as density enhancements of different significance levels. We find that these structures are hierarchically organized such that larger, lower-density structures contain one or several smaller, higher-density ones. They follow power-law size and mass distributions, as well as a lognormal surface density distribution. All these results support a scenario of hierarchical star formation regulated by turbulence. The temporal evolution of young stellar structures is explored by using subsamples of upper main-sequence stars with different magnitude and age ranges. While the youngest subsample, with a median age of log(τ/yr) = 7.2, contains the most substructure, progressively older ones are less and less substructured. The oldest subsample, with a median age of log(τ/yr) = 8.0, is almost indistinguishable from a uniform distribution on spatial scales of 30-300 pc, suggesting that the young stellar structures are completely dispersed on a timescale of ˜100 Myr. These results are consistent with the characteristics of the 30 Doradus complex and the entire Large Magellanic Cloud, suggesting no significant environmental effects. We further point out that the fractal dimension may be method dependent for stellar samples with significant age spreads.

Multiple stellar populations in Magellanic Cloud clusters - III. The first evidence of an extended main sequence turn-off in a young cluster: NGC 1856

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milone, A. P.; Bedin, L. R.; Piotto, G.; Marino, A. F.; Cassisi, S.; Bellini, A.; Jerjen, H.; Pietrinferni, A.; Aparicio, A.; Rich, R. M.

2015-07-01

Recent studies have shown that the extended main-sequence turn-off (eMSTO) is a common feature of intermediate-age star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds (MCs). The most simple explanation is that these stellar systems harbour multiple generations of stars with an age difference of a few hundred million years. However, while an eMSTO has been detected in a large number of clusters with ages between ˜1-2 Gyr, several studies of young clusters in both MCs and in nearby galaxies do not find any evidence for a prolonged star formation history, i. e. for multiple stellar generations. These results have suggested alternative interpretation of the eMSTOs observed in intermediate-age star clusters. The eMSTO could be due to stellar rotation mimicking an age spread or to interacting binaries. In these scenarios, intermediate-age MC clusters would be simple stellar populations, in close analogy with younger clusters. Here, we provide the first evidence for an eMSTO in a young stellar cluster. We exploit multiband Hubble Space Telescope photometry to study the ˜300-Myr old star cluster NGC 1856 in the Large Magellanic Cloud and detected a broadened MSTO that is consistent with a prolonged star formation which had a duration of about 150 Myr. Below the turn-off, the main sequence (MS) of NGC 1856 is split into a red and blue component, hosting 33 ± 5 and 67 ± 5 per cent of the total number of MS stars, respectively. We discuss these findings in the context of multiple-stellar-generation, stellar-rotation, and interacting-binary hypotheses.

Metal Evolution and TrAnsport in the Large Magellanic Cloud (METAL): Probing Dust Evolution in Star Forming Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roman-Duval

2016-10-01

METAL is a large spectroscopic and imaging program with HST dedicated to the study of dust evolution in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The program will obtain FUV and NUV medium-resolution spectra of 33 massive stars in the LMC with STIS and COS complementing existing archival data to measure gas-phase and dust-phase (depletion) elemental abundances. With these spectra, we will subsequently directly measure the dust composition and abundance as a function of environment (surface density, radiation field, dynamical conditions, such as the proximity of supernova remnants or expanding HI shells). The depletion information will be complemented with dust UV extinction curves (i.e., the UV opacity of dust grains as a function of wavelength) derived from either archival IUE, or new COS and low-resolution STIS spectra acquired as part of this program. Together, the depletions and extinction curves will constrain how the dust abundance and properties (composition, size distribution) vary with environment at Z=0.5Zo. In parallel to the spectroscopic observations, we will obtain WFC3 NUV-NIR imaging to map dust extinction parameters (AV, RV) in the vicinity of our targets and calibrate the far-infrared (FIR) emissivity of dust. Our observations we will improve the accuracy of dust mass and extinction estimates in the local and high-redshift universe by up to an order of magnitude.METAL will complement a Cycle 23 HST/STIS program (GO-13778) focused on dust evolution in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) at Z=0.2Zo, and previously published depletion studies in the Milky Way (Jenkins et al. 2009) to provide a comprehensive view of dust evolution as a function of metallicity.

Multiple stellar populations in Magellanic Cloud clusters - VI. A survey of multiple sequences and Be stars in young clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milone, A. P.; Marino, A. F.; Di Criscienzo, M.; D'Antona, F.; Bedin, L. R.; Da Costa, G.; Piotto, G.; Tailo, M.; Dotter, A.; Angeloni, R.; Anderson, J.; Jerjen, H.; Li, C.; Dupree, A.; Granata, V.; Lagioia, E. P.; Mackey, A. D.; Nardiello, D.; Vesperini, E.

2018-06-01

The split main sequences (MSs) and extended MS turnoffs (eMSTOs) detected in a few young clusters have demonstrated that these stellar systems host multiple populations differing in a number of properties such as rotation and, possibly, age. We analyse Hubble Space Telescope photometry for 13 clusters with ages between ˜40 and ˜1000 Myr and of different masses. Our goal is to investigate for the first time the occurrence of multiple populations in a large sample of young clusters. We find that all the clusters exhibit the eMSTO phenomenon and that MS stars more massive than ˜1.6 M_{⊙} define a blue and a red MS, with the latter hosting the majority of MS stars. The comparison between the observations and isochrones suggests that the blue MSs are made of slow-rotating stars, while the red MSs host stars with rotational velocities close to the breakup value. About half of the bright MS stars in the youngest clusters are H α emitters. These Be stars populate the red MS and the reddest part of the eMSTO, thus supporting the idea that the red MS is made of fast rotators. We conclude that the split MS and the eMSTO are a common feature of young clusters in both Magellanic Clouds. The phenomena of a split MS and an eMSTO occur for stars that are more massive than a specific threshold, which is independent of the host-cluster mass. As a by-product, we report the serendipitous discovery of a young Small Magellanic Cloud cluster, GALFOR 1.

SN1987A IN THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

Glittering stars and wisps of gas create a breathtaking backdrop for the self-destruction of a massive star, called supernova 1987A, in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby galaxy. Astronomers in the Southern hemisphere witnessed the brilliant explosion of this star on Feb. 23, 1987. Shown in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image, the supernova remnant, surrounded by inner and outer rings of material, is set in a forest of ethereal, diffuse clouds of gas. This three-color image is composed of several pictures of the supernova and its neighboring region taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 in Sept. 1994, Feb. 1996 and July 1997. The many bright blue stars nearby the supernova are massive stars, each more than six times heftier than our Sun. With ages of about 12 million years old, they are members of the same generation of stars as the star that went supernova. The presence of bright gas clouds is another sign of the youth of this region, which still appears to be a fertile breeding ground for new stars. In a few years the supernova's fast moving material will sweep the inner ring with full force, heating and exciting its gas, and will produce a new series of cosmic fireworks that will offer a striking view for more than a decade. Credit: Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI/NASA)

A Spitzer Space Telescope Far-infrared Spectral Atlas of Compact Sources in the Magellanic Clouds. II. The Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Loon, Jacco Th.; Oliveira, Joana M.; Gordon, Karl D.; Sloan, G. C.; Engelbracht, C. W.

2010-04-01

We present far-infrared spectra, λ = 52-93 μm, obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope in the spectral energy distribution mode of its Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer instrument, of a selection of luminous compact far-infrared sources in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). These comprise nine young stellar objects (YSOs), the compact H II region N 81 and a similar object within N 84, and two red supergiants (RSGs). We use the spectra to constrain the presence and temperature of cool dust and the excitation conditions within the neutral and ionized gas, in the circumstellar environments and interfaces with the surrounding interstellar medium. We compare these results with those obtained in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The spectra of the sources in N 81 (of which we also show the Infrared Space Observatory-Long-wavelength Spectrograph spectrum between 50 and 170 μm) and N 84 both display strong [O I] λ63 μm and [O III] λ88 μm fine-structure line emission. We attribute these lines to strong shocks and photo-ionized gas, respectively, in a "champagne flow" scenario. The nitrogen content of these two H II regions is very low, definitely N(N)/N(O) < 0.04 but possibly as low as N(N)/N(O) < 0.01. Overall, the oxygen lines and dust continuum are weaker in star-forming objects in the SMC than in the LMC. We attribute this to the lower metallicity of the SMC compared to that of the LMC. While the dust mass differs in proportion to metallicity, the oxygen mass differs less; both observations can be reconciled with higher densities inside star-forming cloud cores in the SMC than in the LMC. The dust in the YSOs in the SMC is warmer (37-51 K) than in comparable objects in the LMC (32-44 K). We attribute this to the reduced shielding and reduced cooling at the low metallicity of the SMC. On the other hand, the efficiency of the photo-electric effect to heat the gas is found to be indistinguishable to that measured in the same manner in the LMC, ≈0.1%-0.3%. This may result from higher cloud-core densities, or smaller grains, in the SMC. The dust associated with the two RSGs in our SMC sample is cool, and we argue that it is swept-up interstellar dust, or formed (or grew) within the bow-shock, rather than dust produced in these metal-poor RSGs themselves. Strong emission from crystalline water-ice is detected in at least one YSO. The spectra constitute a valuable resource for the planning and interpretation of observations with the Herschel Space Observatory and the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy.

Properties of RR Lyrae stars in the inner regions of the Large Magellanic Cloud. III. Near-infrared study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borissova, J.; Rejkuba, M.; Minniti, D.; Catelan, M.; Ivanov, V. D.

2009-08-01

Context: RR Lyrae variable stars are the primary Population II distance indicator. Likewise, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) constitutes a key step in the extragalactic distance scale. Aims: By combining near-IR photometry and spectroscopically measured metallicities for a homogeneous sample of 50 RR Lyr stars in the LMC, we investigate the metallicity dependence of the period-luminosity relation in the near-infrared (IR), use the newly derived relations to re-derive the distance to the LMC, and compare the distance moduli obtained from RR Lyr and red clump stars. Methods: This paper presents new (single-epoch) J-band and (multi-epoch) K_s-band photometry of RR Lyr stars in 7 different LMC fields, observed with the near-IR camera SOFI at ESO's New Technology Telescope. Additional K_s-band data for another two LMC fields were taken with the ISPI infrared array at CTIO's Blanco 4m telescope. The near-IR photometry was cross-correlated with the MACHO and OGLE databases, resulting in a catalog of 62 RR Lyr stars with BVRIJKs photometry. A subsample of 50 stars also has spectroscopically measured metallicities. Results: In the deep JK color-magnitude diagrams of 7 fields, red giant branch, red clump and RR Lyr stars are detected. The majority of RR Lyr stars are located within the instability strip with near-IR colors between 0.14 ≤ (J-K_s)_0<0.32. The period-luminosity relation only has a very mild dependence on metallicity in the K band, consistent with no dependence: MKs =2.11(± 0.17) log{P} + 0.05(± 0.07) [Fe/H] - 1.05. In the J band the currently available data do not allow firm conclusions regarding the metallicity dependence of the period-luminosity relation. Conclusions: The distance modulus of the LMC, derived using our near-IR period-luminosity-metallicity relation for RR Lyr stars, is (m-M)_0=18.53 ± 0.13, in very good agreement with the distance modulus from the red clump stars, 18.46 ± 0.07. However, LMC modulus derived from the RR Lyrae stars depends on the parallax of the star RR Lyrae. Based on observations collected with European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope and New Technology Telescope, under programs 64.N-0176(B), 70.B-0547(A), and 072.D-0106(B) with the Blanco telescope at CTIO, under ISPI Prop. No. 0101; and at Gemini Observatory (observing program GS-2004A-Q-27), which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the NSF on behalf of the Gemini partnership: the National Science Foundation (United States), the Science and Technology Facilities Council (United Kingdom), the National Research Council (Canada), CONICYT (Chile), the Australian Research Council (Australia), Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia (Brazil), and SECYT (Argentina). Table of the individual KS measurements with dates is only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/502/505

ON THE EVOLUTIONARY AND PULSATION MASS OF CLASSICAL CEPHEIDS. III. THE CASE OF THE ECLIPSING BINARY CEPHEID CEP0227 IN THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Prada Moroni, P. G.; Gennaro, M.; Bono, G.

2012-04-20

We present a new Bayesian approach to constrain the intrinsic parameters (stellar mass and age) of the eclipsing binary system-CEP0227-in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We computed several sets of evolutionary models covering a broad range in chemical compositions and in stellar mass. Independent sets of models were also constructed either by neglecting or by including a moderate convective core overshooting ({beta}{sub ov} = 0.2) during central hydrogen-burning phases. Sets of models were also constructed either by neglecting or by assuming a canonical ({eta} = 0.4, 0.8) or an enhanced ({eta} = 4) mass-loss rate. The most probable solutions weremore » computed in three different planes: luminosity-temperature, mass-radius, and gravity-temperature. By using the Bayes factor, we found that the most probable solutions were obtained in the gravity-temperature plane with a Gaussian mass prior distribution. The evolutionary models constructed by assuming a moderate convective core overshooting ({beta}{sub ov} = 0.2) and a canonical mass-loss rate ({eta} = 0.4) give stellar masses for the primary (Cepheid)-M = 4.14{sup +0.04}{sub -0.05} M{sub Sun }-and for the secondary-M = 4.15{sup +0.04}{sub -0.05} M{sub Sun }-that agree at the 1% level with dynamical measurements. Moreover, we found ages for the two components and for the combined system-t = 151{sup +4}{sub -3} Myr-that agree at the 5% level. The solutions based on evolutionary models that neglect the mass loss attain similar parameters, while those ones based on models that either account for an enhanced mass loss or neglect convective core overshooting have lower Bayes factors and larger confidence intervals. The dependence on the mass-loss rate might be the consequence of the crude approximation we use to mimic this phenomenon. By using the isochrone of the most probable solution and a Gaussian prior on the LMC distance, we found a true distance modulus-18.53{sup +0.02}{sub -0.02} mag-and a reddening value-E(B - V) = 0.142{sup +0.005}{sub -0.010} mag-that agree quite well with similar estimates in the literature.« less

VizieR Online Data Catalog: OGLE-III. Magellanic Clouds stellar proper motions (Poleski+, 2012)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poleski, R.; Soszynski, I.; Udalski, A.; Szymanski, M. K.; Kubiak, M.; Pietrzynski, G.; Wyrzykowski, L.; Ulaczyk, K.

2012-06-01

The OGLE-III project observed the MCs between 2001 and 2009 with 1.3-m Warsaw telescope, which is situated at the Las Campanas Observatory, Chile. The observatory is operated by the Carnegie Institution for Science. (4 data files).

SMC west halo: a slice of the galaxy that is being tidally stripped?. Star clusters trace age and metallicity gradients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dias, B.; Kerber, L.; Barbuy, B.; Bica, E.; Ortolani, S.

2016-06-01

Context. The evolution and structure of the Magellanic Clouds is currently under debate. The classical scenario in which both the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC, SMC) are orbiting the Milky Way has been challenged by an alternative in which the LMC and SMC are in their first close passage to our Galaxy. The clouds are close enough to us to allow spatially resolved observation of their stars, and detailed studies of stellar populations in the galaxies are expected to be able to constrain the proposed scenarios. In particular, the west halo (WH) of the SMC was recently characterized with radial trends in age and metallicity that indicate tidal disruption. Aims: We intend to increase the sample of star clusters in the west halo of the SMC with homogeneous age, metallicity, and distance derivations to allow a better determination of age and metallicity gradients in this region. Positions are compared with the orbital plane of the SMC from models. Methods: Comparisons of observed and synthetic V(B-V) colour-magnitude diagrams were used to derive age, metallicity, distance, and reddening for star clusters in the SMC west halo. Observations were carried out using the 4.1 m SOAR telescope. Photometric completeness was determined through artificial star tests, and the members were selected by statistical comparison with a control field. Results: We derived an age of 1.23 ± 0.07 Gyr and [Fe/H] = -0.87 ± 0.07 for the reference cluster NGC 152, compatible with literature parameters. Age and metallicity gradients are confirmed in the WH: 2.6 ± 0.6 Gyr/° and -0.19 ± 0.09 dex/°, respectively. The age-metallicity relation for the WH has a low dispersion in metallicity and is compatible with a burst model of chemical enrichment. All WH clusters seem to follow the same stellar distribution predicted by dynamical models, with the exception of AM-3, which should belong to the counter-bridge. Brück 6 is the youngest cluster in our sample. It is only 130 ± 40 Myr old and may have been formed during the tidal interaction of SMC-LMC that created the WH and the Magellanic bridge. Conclusions: We suggest that it is crucial to split the SMC cluster population into groups: main body, wing and bridge, counter-bridge, and WH. This is the way to analyse the complex star formation and dynamical history of our neighbour. In particular, we show that the WH has clear age and metallicity gradients and an age-metallicity relation that is also compatible with the dynamical model that claims a tidal influence of the LMC on the SMC. Based on observations obtained at the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope, which is a joint project of the Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, e Inovação (MCTI) da República Federativa do Brasil, the US National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), and Michigan State University (MSU).Tables of photometry are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/591/A11

Mass to Luminosity Ratios of Some Clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sohn, Young-Jong; Chun, Mun-Suk

1990-12-01

Luminosity profiles and dynamical parameters of 12 globular clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud(SB(s)m) are obtained from the concentric aperture photoelectric photometry of 3 different aged clusters and the collected photometric data of 9 clusters. The total masses of the globular clusters are the calculated using the equation M = Mrt3(4¥Ø2-k2), which is derived from the theoretical rotation curve for the exponential disk(Chun 1987). These masses lie between 0.3 x 104 and 15.8 x 104 M . From the determined total mass and luminosity ratios are also derived. The M/L ratio of a cluster increases with the cluster age; about 0.03 for the youngest clusters(SWB ¥°) and about 0.24 for the oldest clusters(SUB ¥¶). There is a difference in M/L by a factor of 10 between the galactic globular clusters and the old globular clusters in the LCM.

THE DISCOVERY OF A RARE WO-TYPE WOLF-RAYET STAR IN THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Neugent, Kathryn F.; Massey, Philip; Morrell, Nidia, E-mail: kneugent@lowell.edu, E-mail: phil.massey@lowell.edu, E-mail: nmorrell@lco.cl

While observing OB stars within the most crowded regions of the Large Magellanic Cloud, we happened upon a new Wolf-Rayet (WR) star in Lucke-Hodge 41, the rich OB association that contains S Doradus and numerous other massive stars. At first glance the spectrum resembled that of a WC4 star, but closer examination showed strong O VI {lambda}{lambda}3811, 34 lines, leading us to classify it as a WO4. This is only the second known WO in the LMC, and the first known WO4 (the other being a WO3). This rarity is to be expected due to these stars' short lifespans asmore » they represent the most advanced evolutionary stage in a massive star's lifetime before exploding as supernovae. This discovery shows that while the majority of WRs within the LMC have been discovered, there may be a few WRs left to be found.« less

Photoionization modeling of Magellanic Cloud planetary nebulae. I

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dopita, M. A.; Meatheringham, S. J.

1991-01-01

The results of self-consistent photoionization modeling of 38 Magellanic Cloud PNe are presented and used to construct an H-R diagram for the central stars and to obtain both the nebular chemical abundances and the physical parameters of the nebulae. T(eff)s derived from nebular excitation analysis are in agreement with temperatures derived by the classical Zanstra method. There is a linear correlation between log T(eff) and the excitation class. The majority of the central stars in the sample with optically thick nebulae have masses between 0.55 and 0.7 solar mass and are observed during their hydrogen-burning excursion toward high temperatures. Optically thin objects are found scattered throughout the H-R diagram, but tend to have a somewhat smaller mean mass. Type I PN are found to have high core masses and to lie on the descending branch of the evolutionary tracks. The nebular mass of the optically thick objects is closely related to the nebular radius, and PN with nebular masses over one solar are observed.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: OGLE II SMC eclipsing binaries (Wyrzykowski+, 2004)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wyrzykowski, L.; Udalski, A.; Kubiak, M.; Szymanski, M. K.; Zebrun, K.; Soszinski, I.; Wozniak, P. R.; Pietrzynski, G.; Szewczyk, O.

2009-03-01

We present new version of the OGLE-II catalog of eclipsing binary stars detected in the Small Magellanic Cloud, based on Difference Image Analysis catalog of variable stars in the Magellanic Clouds containing data collected from 1997 to 2000. We found 1351 eclipsing binary stars in the central 2.4 square degree area of the SMC. 455 stars are newly discovered objects, not found in the previous release of the catalog. The eclipsing objects were selected with the automatic search algorithm based on the artificial neural network. The full catalog with individual photometry is accessible from the OGLE INTERNET archive, at ftp://sirius.astrouw.edu.pl/ogle/ogle2/var_stars/smc/ecl . Regular observations of the SMC fields started on June 26, 1997 and covered about 2.4 square degrees of central parts of the SMC. Reductions of the photometric data collected up to the end of May 2000 were performed with the Difference Image Analysis (DIA) package. (1 data file).

Photometry of resolved galaxies. V - NGC 6822

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoessel, J. G.; Anderson, N.

1986-01-01

Three-color CCD frames of the local group irregular galaxy NGC 6822 have been reduced to GRI photometry for 3475 stars using RICHFLD point-spread function fitting techniques. The data are compared with earlier work on this galaxy, particularly with Kayser (1966) on a star-by-star basis. Color-magnitude diagrams are constructed from the data and compared with both theoretical stellar model tracks and the expected foreground star contamination. A luminosity function for the blue stars is derived; comparison of this luminosity function with those of 10 other irregular galaxies indicates that NGC 6822 has a typical young star population. The stellar birthrate and initial mass function are estimated for this galaxy. The slope at the bright end of the mass function looks similar to recent results for the Galaxy, the Magellanic Clouds, and the irregular galaxy Sextans A. NGC 6822 appears to be presently forming stars at a slower rate for its mass than Sextans A or the Magellanic Clouds.

The Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment. The Catalog of Stellar Proper Motions toward the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poleski, R.; Soszyński, I.; Udalski, A.; Szymański, M. K.; Kubiak, M.; Pietrzyński, G.; Wyrzykowski, Ł.; Ulaczyk, K.

2012-03-01

We present a catalog of over 6.2 million stars with measured proper motions. All these stars are observed in the direction of the Magellanic Clouds within the brightness range 12

Results from the energetic gamma-ray experiment telescope (EGRET) on the Compton Observatory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fichtel, C. E.; Bertsch, D. L.; Dingus, B.; Hartman, R. C.; Hunter, S. D.; Kanbach, G.; Kniffen, D. A.; Kwok, P. W.; Lin, Y. C.; Mattox, J. R.

1993-01-01

The Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) covers the high energy gamma ray energy range, approximately 30 MeV to 30 GeV, with a sensitivity considerably greater than earlier high energy gamma-ray satellites. Thus far, 4 pulsars have been detected and their properties measured, including in 3 cases the energy spectrum as a function of phase. The details of the galactic plane are being mapped and a spectra of the center region has been obtained in good agreement with that expected from cosmic ray interactions. The Magellanic clouds have been examined with the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) having been detected at a level consistent with it having a cosmic ray density compatible with quasi-stable equilibrium. Sixteen Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN's) have been seen thus far with a high degree of certainty including 12 quasars and 4 BL Lac objects, but no Seyferts. Time variation has been detected in some of these AGN's

THE ARAUCARIA PROJECT: THE DISTANCE TO THE SCULPTOR GALAXY NGC 247 FROM NEAR-INFRARED PHOTOMETRY OF CEPHEID VARIABLES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gieren, Wolfgang; Pietrzynski, Grzegorz; Szewczyk, Olaf

2009-08-01

We have obtained deep near-infrared images in J and K filters of four fields in the Sculptor Group spiral galaxy NGC 247 with the ESO VLT and Infrared Spectrometer and Array Camera. For a sample of 10 Cepheids in these fields, previously discovered by GarcIa-Varela et al. from optical wide-field images, we have determined mean J and K magnitudes and have constructed the period-luminosity (PL) relations in these bands. Using the near-infrared PL relations together with those in the optical V and I bands, we have determined a true distance modulus for NGC 247 of 27.64 mag, with a randommore » uncertainty of {+-}2% and a systematic uncertainty of {approx}4% which is dominated by the effect of unresolved stars on the Cepheid photometry. The mean reddening affecting the NGC 247 Cepheids of E(B - V) = 0.18 {+-} 0.02 mag is mostly produced in the host galaxy itself and is significantly higher than what was found in the previous optical Cepheid studies in NGC 247 of our own group, and Madore et al., leading to a 7% decrease in the previous optical Cepheid distance. As in other studies of our project, the distance modulus of NGC 247 we report is tied to an assumed Large Magellanic Cloud distance modulus of 18.50. Comparison with other distance measurements to NGC 247 shows that the present IR-based Cepheid distance is the most accurate among these determinations. With a distance of 3.4 Mpc, NGC 247 is about 1.5 Mpc more distant than NGC 55 and NGC 300, two other Sculptor Group spirals analyzed before with the same technique by our group.« less

On the Nature of Ultra-faint Dwarf Galaxy Candidates. I. DES1, Eridanus III, and Tucana V

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conn, Blair C.; Jerjen, Helmut; Kim, Dongwon; Schirmer, Mischa

2018-01-01

We use deep Gemini/GMOS-S g, r photometry to study the three ultra-faint dwarf galaxy candidates DES1, Eridanus III (Eri III), and Tucana V (Tuc V). Their total luminosities, M V (DES1) = ‑1.42 ± 0.50 and M V (Eri III) = ‑2.07 ± 0.50, and mean metallicities, [{Fe}/{{H}}]=-{2.38}-0.19+0.21 and [{Fe}/{{H}}]=-{2.40}-0.12+0.19, are consistent with them being ultra-faint dwarf galaxies, as they fall just outside the 1σ confidence band of the luminosity–metallicity relation for Milky Way satellite galaxies. However, their positions in the size–luminosity relation suggest that they are star clusters. Interestingly, DES1 and Eri III are at relatively large Galactocentric distances, with DES1 located at {D}{GC}=74+/- 4 {kpc} and Eri III at {D}{GC}=91+/- 4 {kpc}. In projection, both objects are in the tail of gaseous filaments trailing the Magellanic Clouds and have similar 3D separations from the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC): {{Δ }}{D}{SMC,{DES}1}=31.7 kpc and {{Δ }}{D}{SMC,{Eri}{III}}=41.0 kpc, respectively. It is plausible that these stellar systems are metal-poor SMC satellites. Tuc V represents an interesting phenomenon in its own right. Our deep photometry at the nominal position of Tuc V reveals a low-level excess of stars at various locations across the GMOS field without a well-defined center. An SMC Northern Overdensity–like isochrone would be an adequate match to the Tuc V color–magnitude diagram, and the proximity to the SMC (12.°1 {{Δ }}{D}{SMC,{Tuc}{{V}}}=13 kpc) suggests that Tuc V is either a chance grouping of stars related to the SMC halo or a star cluster in an advanced stage of dissolution.

Characterizing cosmic-ray propagation in massive star-forming regions: The case of 30 Doradus and the large Magellanic cloud

DOE PAGES

Murphy, E. J.; Porter, T. A.; Moskalenko, I. V.; ...

2012-04-24

We investigate the propagation characteristics of cosmic-ray (CR) electrons and nuclei in the 30 Doradus (30 Dor) star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) using infrared, radio, and γ-ray data and a phenomenological model based on the radio-far-infrared correlation within galaxies. By employing a correlation analysis, we derive an average propagation length of ~100-140 pc for ~3 GeV CR electrons resident in 30 Dor from consideration of the radio and infrared data. Assuming that the observed γ-ray emission toward 30 Dor is associated with the star-forming region, and applying the same methodology to the infrared and γ-ray data, wemore » estimate a ~20 GeV propagation length of 200-320 pc for the CR nuclei. This is approximately twice as large as for ~3 GeV CR electrons, corresponding to a spatial diffusion coefficient that is ~4 times higher, scaling as (R/GV) δ with δ ≈ 0.7-0.8 depending on the smearing kernel used in the correlation analysis. This value is in agreement with the results found by extending the correlation analysis to include ~70 GeV CR nuclei traced by the 3-10 GeV γ-ray data (δ ≈ 0.66 ± 0.23). Using the mean age of the stellar populations in 30 Dor and the results from our correlation analysis, we estimate a diffusion coefficient D R ≈ (0.9-1.0) × 10 27(R/GV) 0.7 cm 2 s –1. We also compare the values of the CR electron propagation length and surface brightness for 30 Dor and the LMC as a whole with those of entire disk galaxies. We find that the trend of decreasing average CR propagation distance with increasing disk-averaged star formation activity holds for the LMC, and extends down to single star-forming regions, at least for the case of 30 Dor.« less

ALMA RESOLVES 30 DORADUS: SUB-PARSEC MOLECULAR CLOUD STRUCTURE NEAR THE CLOSEST SUPER STAR CLUSTER

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Indebetouw, Remy; Brogan, Crystal; Leroy, Adam

2013-09-01

We present Atacama Large (sub)Millimeter Array observations of 30 Doradus-the highest resolution view of molecular gas in an extragalactic star formation region to date ({approx}0.4 pc Multiplication-Sign 0.6 pc). The 30Dor-10 cloud north of R136 was mapped in {sup 12}CO 2-1, {sup 13}CO 2-1, C{sup 18}O 2-1, 1.3 mm continuum, the H30{alpha} recombination line, and two H{sub 2}CO 3-2 transitions. Most {sup 12}CO emission is associated with small filaments and clumps ({approx}<1 pc, {approx}10{sup 3} M{sub Sun} at the current resolution). Some clumps are associated with protostars, including ''pillars of creation'' photoablated by intense radiation from R136. Emission from molecularmore » clouds is often analyzed by decomposition into approximately beam-sized clumps. Such clumps in 30 Doradus follow similar trends in size, linewidth, and surface density to Milky Way clumps. The 30 Doradus clumps have somewhat larger linewidths for a given size than predicted by Larson's scaling relation, consistent with pressure confinement. They extend to a higher surface density at a given size and linewidth compared to clouds studied at 10 pc resolution. These trends are also true of clumps in Galactic infrared-dark clouds; higher resolution observations of both environments are required. Consistency of clump masses calculated from dust continuum, CO, and the virial theorem reveals that the CO abundance in 30 Doradus clumps is not significantly different from the Large Magellanic Cloud mean, but the dust abundance may be reduced by {approx}2. There are no strong trends in clump properties with distance from R136; dense clumps are not strongly affected by the external radiation field, but there is a modest trend toward lower dense clump filling fraction deeper in the cloud.« less

Swift/XRT detection of an outburst from SXP 15.3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ducci, L.; Romano, P.; Kennea, J. A.; Malacaria, C.; Covino, S.; Santangelo, A.; Evans, P. A.; Coe, M. J.; Townsend, L. J.

2017-12-01

During an observation of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) carried out from December 2nd 2017, 11:12:03 UT to 19:30:52 UT (total exposure time of 7 ks), Swift/XRT detected renewed activity from the Be X-ray binary SXP 15.3.

ALMA Reveals Molecular Cloud N55 in the Large Magellanic Cloud as a Site of Massive Star Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naslim, N.; Tokuda, K.; Onishi, T.; Kemper, F.; Wong, T.; Morata, O.; Takada, S.; Harada, R.; Kawamura, A.; Saigo, K.; Indebetouw, R.; Madden, S. C.; Hony, S.; Meixner, M.

2018-02-01

We present the molecular cloud properties of N55 in the Large Magellanic Cloud using 12CO(1–0) and 13CO(1–0) observations obtained with Atacama Large Millimeter Array. We have done a detailed study of molecular gas properties, to understand how the cloud properties of N55 differ from Galactic clouds. Most CO emission appears clumpy in N55, and molecular cores that have young stellar objects (YSOs) show larger linewidths and masses. The massive clumps are associated with high and intermediate mass YSOs. The clump masses are determined by local thermodynamic equilibrium and virial analysis of the 12CO and 13CO emissions. These mass estimates lead to the conclusion that (a) the clumps are in self-gravitational virial equilibrium, and (b) the 12CO(1–0)-to-H2 conversion factor, {X}{CO}, is 6.5 × 1020 cm‑2 (K km s‑1)‑1. This CO-to-H2 conversion factor for N55 clumps is measured at a spatial scale of ∼0.67 pc, which is about two times higher than the {X}{CO} value of the Orion cloud at a similar spatial scale. The core mass function of N55 clearly show a turnover below 200 {M}ȯ , separating the low-mass end from the high-mass end. The low-mass end of the 12CO mass spectrum is fitted with a power law of index 0.5 ± 0.1, while for 13CO it is fitted with a power law index 0.6 ± 0.2. In the high-mass end, the core mass spectrum is fitted with a power index of 2.0 ± 0.3 for 12CO, and with 2.5 ± 0.4 for 13CO. This power law behavior of the core mass function in N55 is consistent with many Galactic clouds.

The Hubble Space Telescope Extragalactic Distance Scale Key Project. 1: The discovery of Cepheids and a new distance to M81

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Freedman, Wendy L.; Hughes, Shaun M.; Madore, Barry F.; Mould, Jeremy R.; Lee, Myung Gyoon; Stetson, Peter; Kennicutt, Robert C.; Turner, Anne; Ferrarese, Laura; Ford, Holland

1994-01-01

We report on the discovery of 30 new Cepheids in the nearby galaxy M81 based on observations using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The periods of these Cepheids lie in the range of 10-55 days, based on 18 independent epochs using the HST wide-band F555W filter. The HST F555W and F785LP data have been transformed to the Cousins standard V and I magnitude system using a ground-based calibration. Apparent period-luminosity relations at V and I were constructed, from which apparent distance moduli were measured with respect to assumed values of mu(sub 0) = 18.50 mag and E(B - V) = 0.10 mag for the Large Magellanic Cloud. The difference in the apparent V and I moduli yields a measure of the difference in the total mean extinction between the M81 and the LMC Cepheid samples. A low total mean extinction to the M81 sample of E(B - V) = 0.03 +/- 0.05 mag is obtained. The true distance modulus to M81 is determined to be 27.80 +/- 0.20 mag, corresponding to a distance of 3.63 +/- 0.34 Mpc. These data illustrate that with an optimal (power-law) sampling strategy, the HST provides a powerful tool for the discovery of extragalactic Cepheids and their application to the distance scale. M81 is the first calibrating galaxy in the target sample of the HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale, the ultimate aim of which is to provide a value of the Hubble constant to 10% accuracy.

Global Studies of Molecular Clouds in the Galaxy, the Magellanic Cloud and M31

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thaddeus, Patrick

1998-01-01

Over the past five years we have used our extensive CO surveys of the Galaxy and M31 in conjunction with spacecraft observations to address central problems in galactic structure and the astrophysics of molecular clouds. These problems included the nature of the molecular ring and its relation to the spiral arms and central bar, the cosmic ray distribution, the origin of the diffuse X-ray background, the distribution and properties of x-ray sources and supernova remnants, and the Galactic stellar mass distribution. For many of these problems, the nearby spiral M31 provided an important complementary perspective.

NEAR-INFRARED POLARIZATION SOURCE CATALOG OF THE NORTHEASTERN REGIONS OF THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, Jaeyeong; Pak, Soojong; Jeong, Woong-Seob

2016-01-15

We present a near-infrared band-merged photometric and polarimetric catalog for the 39′ × 69′ fields in the northeastern part of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), which were observed using SIRPOL, an imaging polarimeter of the InfraRed Survey Facility. This catalog lists 1858 sources brighter than 14 mag in the H band with a polarization signal-to-noise ratio greater than three in the J, H, or K{sub s} bands. Based on the relationship between the extinction and the polarization degree, we argue that the polarization mostly arises from dichroic extinctions caused by local interstellar dust in the LMC. This catalog allows usmore » to map polarization structures to examine the global geometry of the local magnetic field, and to show a statistical analysis of the polarization of each field to understand its polarization properties. In the selected fields with coherent polarization position angles, we estimate magnetic field strengths in the range of 3−25 μG using the Chandrasekhar–Fermi method. This implies the presence of large-scale magnetic fields on a scale of around 100 parsecs. When comparing mid- and far-infrared dust emission maps, we confirmed that the polarization patterns are well aligned with molecular clouds around the star-forming regions.« less

Pillars of Creation among Destruction: Star Formation in Molecular Clouds near R136 in 30 Doradus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalari, Venu M.; Rubio, Mónica; Elmegreen, Bruce G.; Guzmán, Viviana V.; Zinnecker, Hans; Herrera, Cinthya N.

2018-01-01

We present new sensitive CO(2–1) observations of the 30 Doradus region in the Large Magellanic Cloud. We identify a chain of three newly discovered molecular clouds that we name KN1, KN2, and KN3 lying within 2–14 pc in projection from the young massive cluster R136 in 30 Doradus. Excited H2 2.12 μm emission is spatially coincident with the molecular clouds, but ionized Brγ emission is not. We interpret these observations as the tails of pillar-like structures whose ionized heads are pointing toward R136. Based on infrared photometry, we identify a new generation of stars forming within this structure.

Galactic bulge population II Cepheids in the VVV survey: period-luminosity relations and a distance to the Galactic centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhardwaj, A.; Rejkuba, M.; Minniti, D.; Surot, F.; Valenti, E.; Zoccali, M.; Gonzalez, O. A.; Romaniello, M.; Kanbur, S. M.; Singh, H. P.

2017-09-01

Context. Multiple stellar populations of different ages and metallicities reside in the Galactic bulge that trace its structure and provide clues to its formation and evolution. Aims: We present the near-infrared observations of population II Cepheids in the Galactic bulge from VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) survey. The JHKs photometry together with optical data from Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) survey provide an independent estimate of the distance to the Galactic centre. The old, metal-poor and low-mass population II Cepheids are also investigated as useful tracers for the structure of the Galactic bulge. Methods: We identify 340 population II Cepheids in the VVV survey Galactic bulge catalogue based on their match with the OGLE-III Catalogue. The single-epoch JH and multi-epoch Ks observations complement the accurate periods and optical (VI) mean-magnitudes from OGLE. The sample consisting of BL Herculis and W Virginis subtypes is used to derive period-luminosity relations after correcting mean-magnitudes for the extinction. Our Ks-band period-luminosity relation, Ks = -2.189(0.056) [log (P)-1] + 11.187(0.032), is consistent with published work for BL Herculis and W Virginis variables in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Results: We present a combined OGLE-III and VVV catalogue with periods, classification, mean magnitudes, and extinction for 264 Galactic bulge population II Cepheids that have good-quality Ks-band light curves. The absolute magnitudes for population II Cepheids and RR Lyraes calibrated using Gaia and Hubble Space Telescope parallaxes, together with calibrated magnitudes for Large Magellanic Cloud population II Cepheids, are used to obtain a distance to the Galactic centre, R0 = 8.34 ± 0.03(stat.) ± 0.41(syst.), which changes by with different extinction laws. While noting the limitation of small number statistics, we find that the present sample of population II Cepheids in the Galactic bulge shows a nearly spheroidal spatial distribution, similar to metal-poor RR Lyrae variables. We do not find evidence of the inclined bar as traced by the metal-rich red-clump stars. Conclusions: Population II Cepheid and RR Lyrae variables follow similar period-luminosity relations and trace the same metal-poor old population in the Galactic bulge. The number density for population II Cepheids is more limited as compared to abundant RR Lyraes but they are bright and exhibit a wide range in period that provides a robust period-luminosity relation for an accurate estimate of the distance to the Galactic centre. The full Table 1 is only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/605/A100

Ambitious Survey Spots Stellar Nurseries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2010-08-01

Astronomers scanning the skies as part of ESO's VISTA Magellanic Cloud survey have now obtained a spectacular picture of the Tarantula Nebula in our neighbouring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. This panoramic near-infrared view captures the nebula itself in great detail as well as the rich surrounding area of sky. The image was obtained at the start of a very ambitious survey of our neighbouring galaxies, the Magellanic Clouds, and their environment. The leader of the survey team, Maria-Rosa Cioni (University of Hertfordshire, UK) explains: "This view is of one of the most important regions of star formation in the local Universe - the spectacular 30 Doradus star-forming region, also called the Tarantula Nebula. At its core is a large cluster of stars called RMC 136, in which some of the most massive stars known are located." ESO's VISTA telescope [1] is a new survey telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile (eso0949). VISTA is equipped with a huge camera that detects light in the near-infrared part of the spectrum, revealing a wealth of detail about astronomical objects that gives us insight into the inner workings of astronomical phenomena. Near-infrared light has a longer wavelength than visible light and so we cannot see it directly for ourselves, but it can pass through much of the dust that would normally obscure our view. This makes it particularly useful for studying objects such as young stars that are still enshrouded in the gas and dust clouds from which they formed. Another powerful aspect of VISTA is the large area of the sky that its camera can capture in each shot. This image is the latest view from the VISTA Magellanic Cloud Survey (VMC). The project will scan a vast area - 184 square degrees of the sky (corresponding to almost one thousand times the apparent area of the full Moon) including our neighbouring galaxies the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. The end result will be a detailed study of the star formation history and three-dimensional geometry of the Magellanic system. Chris Evans from the VMC team adds: "The VISTA images will allow us to extend our studies beyond the inner regions of the Tarantula into the multitude of smaller stellar nurseries nearby, which also harbour a rich population of young and massive stars. Armed with the new, exquisite infrared images, we will be able to probe the cocoons in which massive stars are still forming today, while also looking at their interaction with older stars in the wider region." The wide-field image shows a host of different objects. The bright area above the centre is the Tarantula Nebula itself, with the RMC 136 cluster of massive stars in its core. To the left is the NGC 2100 star cluster. To the right is the tiny remnant of the supernova SN1987A (eso1032). Below the centre are a series of star-forming regions including NGC 2080 - nicknamed the "Ghost Head Nebula" - and the NGC 2083 star cluster. The VISTA Magellanic Cloud Survey is one of six huge near-infrared surveys of the southern sky that will take up most of the first five years of operations of VISTA. Notes [1] VISTA ― the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy ― is the newest telescope at ESO's Paranal Observatory in northern Chile. VISTA is a survey telescope working at near-infrared wavelengths and is the world's largest survey telescope. Its large mirror, wide field of view and very sensitive detectors will reveal a completely new view of the southern sky. The telescope is housed on the peak adjacent to the one hosting ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) and shares the same exceptional observing conditions. VISTA has a main mirror that is 4.1 m across. In photographic terms it can be thought of as a 67-megapixel digital camera with a 13 000 mm f/3.25 mirror lens. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and VISTA, the world's largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

Models of Tidally Induced Gas Filaments in the Magellanic Stream

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pardy, Stephen A.; D’Onghia, Elena; Fox, Andrew J.

2018-04-01

The Magellanic Stream and Leading Arm of H I that stretches from the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC) and over 200° of the Southern sky is thought to be formed from multiple encounters between the LMC and SMC. In this scenario, most of the gas in the Stream and Leading Arm is stripped from the SMC, yet recent observations have shown a bifurcation of the Trailing Arm that reveals LMC origins for some of the gas. Absorption measurements in the Stream also reveal an order of magnitude more gas than in current tidal models. We present hydrodynamical simulations of the multiple encounters between the LMC and SMC at their first pass around the Milky Way, assuming that the Clouds were more extended and gas-rich in the past. Our models create filamentary structures of gas in the Trailing Stream from both the LMC and SMC. While the SMC trailing filament matches the observed Stream location, the LMC filament is offset. In addition, the total observed mass of the Stream in these models is underestimated by a factor of four when the ionized component is accounted for. Our results suggest that there should also be gas stripped from both the LMC and SMC in the Leading Arm, mirroring the bifurcation in the Trailing Stream. This prediction is consistent with recent measurements of spatial variation in chemical abundances in the Leading Arm, which show that gas from multiple sources is present, although its nature is still uncertain.

THE INFRARED SPECTRAL PROPERTIES OF MAGELLANIC CARBON STARS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sloan, G. C.; Kraemer, K. E.; McDonald, I.

2016-07-20

The Infrared Spectrograph on the Spitzer Space Telescope observed 184 carbon stars in the Magellanic Clouds. This sample reveals that the dust-production rate (DPR) from carbon stars generally increases with the pulsation period of the star. The composition of the dust grains follows two condensation sequences, with more SiC condensing before amorphous carbon in metal-rich stars, and the order reversed in metal-poor stars. MgS dust condenses in optically thicker dust shells, and its condensation is delayed in more metal-poor stars. Metal-poor carbon stars also tend to have stronger absorption from C{sub 2}H{sub 2} at 7.5 μ m. The relation betweenmore » DPR and pulsation period shows significant apparent scatter, which results from the initial mass of the star, with more massive stars occupying a sequence parallel to lower-mass stars, but shifted to longer periods. Accounting for differences in the mass distribution between the carbon stars observed in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds reveals a hint of a subtle decrease in the DPR at lower metallicities, but it is not statistically significant. The most deeply embedded carbon stars have lower variability amplitudes and show SiC in absorption. In some cases they have bluer colors at shorter wavelengths, suggesting that the central star is becoming visible. These deeply embedded stars may be evolving off of the asymptotic giant branch and/or they may have non-spherical dust geometries.« less

Resolving the substructure of molecular clouds in the LMC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, Tony; Hughes, Annie; Tokuda, Kazuki; Indebetouw, Remy; Wojciechowski, Evan; Bandurski, Jeffrey; MC3 Collaboration

2018-01-01

We present recent wide-field CO and 13CO mapping of giant molecular clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud with ALMA. Our sample exhibits diverse star-formation properties, and reveals comparably diverse molecular cloud properties including surface density and velocity dispersion at a given scale. We first present the results of a recent study comparing two GMCs at the extreme ends of the star formation activity spectrum. Our quiescent cloud exhibits 10 times lower surface density and 5 times lower velocity dispersion than the active 30 Doradus cloud, yet in both clouds we find a wide range of line widths at the smallest resolved scales, spanning nearly the full range of line widths seen at all scales. This suggests an important role for feedback on sub-parsec scales, while the energetics on larger scales are dominated by clump-to-clump relative velocities. We then extend our analysis to four additional clouds that exhibit intermediate levels of star formation activity.

Relating Line Width and Optical Depth for CO Emission in the Large Mgellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wojciechowski, Evan; Wong, Tony; Bandurski, Jeffrey; MC3 (Mapping CO in Molecular Clouds in the Magellanic Clouds) Team

2018-01-01

We investigate data produced from ALMA observations of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), using 12CO(2–1) and 13CO(2–1) emission. The spectral line width is generally interpreted as tracing turbulent rather than thermal motions in the cloud, but could also be affected by optical depth, especially for the 12CO line (Hacar et al. 2016). We compare the spectral line widths of both lines with their optical depths, estimated from an LTE analysis, to evaluate the importance of optical depth effects. Our cloud sample includes two regions recently published by Wong et al. (2017, submitted): the Tarantula Nebula or 30 Dor, an HII region rife with turbulence, and the Planck cold cloud (PCC), located in a much calmer environment near the fringes of the LMC. We also include four additional LMC clouds, which span intermediate levels of star formation relative to these two clouds, and for which we have recently obtained ALMA data in Cycle 4.

H0 revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Efstathiou, George

2014-05-01

I reanalyse the Riess et al. (hereafter R11) Cepheid data using the revised geometric maser distance to NGC 4258 of Humphreys et al. (hereafter H13). I explore different outlier rejection criteria designed to give a reduced χ2 of unity and compare the results with the R11 rejection algorithm, which produces a reduced χ2 that is substantially less than unity and, in some cases, leads to underestimates of the errors on parameters. I show that there are sub-luminous low-metallicity Cepheids in the R11 sample that skew the global fits of the period-luminosity relation. This has a small but non-negligible impact on the global fits using NGC 4258 as a distance scale anchor, but adds a poorly constrained source of systematic error when using the Large Magellanic Cloud as an anchor. I also show that the small Milky Way Cepheid sample with accurate parallax measurements leads to a distance to NGC 4258 that is in tension with the maser distance. I conclude that H0 based on the NGC 4258 maser distance is H0 = 70.6 ± 3.3 km s-1 Mpc-1, compatible within 1σ with the recent determination from Planck for the base six-parameter Λ cold dark matter cosmology. If the H-band period-luminosity relation is assumed to be independent of metallicity and the three distance anchors are combined, I find H0 = 72.5 ± 2.5 km s-1 Mpc-1, which differs by 1.9σ from the Planck value. The differences between the Planck results and these estimates of H0 are not large enough to provide compelling evidence for new physics at this stage.

ATel 7498: The Orbital Period of the Be/X-ray Binary SXP6.85 (XMMU J010253.1-724433)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmidtke, P. C.; Cowley, A. P.; Udalski, A.

2015-05-01

SXP6.85 was identified with a Be star in the Small Magellanic Cloud by Haberl, Pietsch, & Kahabka (2007, ATel #1095). The source shows long-term optical variability of ~0.5 mag with a recurrence time of ~658 d (see Fig. ...

A Brief Glossary of Commonly Used Astronomical Terms.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrington, Sherwood

A glossary of 50 astronimical terms is presented. Among terms included are: Asteroid; Big Bang; Binary Star; Black Hole; Comet; Constellation; Eclipse; Equinox; Galaxy; Globular Cluster; Local Group; Magellanic Clouds; Nebula; Neutron Star; Nova; Parsec; Quasar; Radio Astronomy; Red Giant; Red Shift; S.E.T.I.; Solstice; Supernova; and White Dwarf.…

Nanolensed Fast Radio Bursts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eichler, David

2017-12-01

It is suggested that fast radio bursts can probe gravitational lensing by clumpy dark matter objects that range in mass from 10-3 M ⊙-102 M ⊙. They may provide a more sensitive probe than observations of lensings of objects in the Magellanic Clouds, and could find or rule out clumpy dark matter with an extended mass spectrum.

Short apsidal period of three eccentric eclipsing binaries discovered in the Large Magellanic Cloud

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hong, Kyeongsoo; Lee, Chung-Uk; Kim, Seung-Lee

2014-06-01

We present new elements of apsidal motion in three eccentric eclipsing binaries located in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The apsidal motions of the systems were analyzed using both light curves and eclipse timings. The OGLE-III data obtained during the long period of 8 yr (2002-2009) allowed us to determine the apsidal motion period from their analyses. The existence of third light in all selected systems was investigated by light curve analysis. The O – C diagrams of EROS 1018, EROS 1041, and EROS 1054 were analyzed using the 30, 44, and 26 new times of minimum light, respectively, determined frommore » full light curves constructed from EROS, MACHO, OGLE-II, OGLE-III, and our own observations. This enabled a detailed study of the apsidal motion in these systems for the first time. All of the systems have a significant apsidal motion below 100 yr. In particular, EROS 1018 shows a very fast apsidal period of 19.9 ± 2.2 yr in a detached system.« less

The 155-day X-ray cycle of the very massive Wolf-Rayet star Melnick 34 in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pollock, A. M. T.; Crowther, P. A.; Tehrani, K.; Broos, Patrick S.; Townsley, Leisa K.

2018-03-01

The Wolf-Rayet star Mk 34 was observed more than 50 times as part of the deep T-ReX Chandra ACIS-I X-ray imaging survey of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud conducted between 2014 May and 2016 January. Its brightness showed one bright maximum and repeated faint minima which help define an X-ray recurrence time of 155.1 ± 0.1 d that is probably the orbital period of an eccentric binary system. The maximum immediately precedes the minimum in the folded X-ray light curve as confirmed by new Swift XRT observations. Notwithstanding its extreme median luminosity of 1.2 × 1035 erg s-1, which makes it over an order of magnitude brighter than comparable stars in the Milky Way, Mk 34 is almost certainly a colliding-wind binary system. Its spectrum shows phase-related changes of luminosity and absorption that are probably related to the orbital dynamics of two of the most massive stars known.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: JHK lightcurves of red giants in the SMC (Takayama+, 2015)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takayama, M.; Wood, P. R.; Ita, Y.

2017-11-01

This is JHK light curves of 7 oxygen rich stars and 14 carbon stars which show the variability of prominent long secondary periods (LSPs). Those stars are cross-identified with OGLE LSP variables in the Small Magellanic Cloud (Soszynski et al. 2011, J/AcA/61/217). A long-term multiband near-IR photometric survey for variable stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds has been carried out at the South African Astronomical Observatory at Sutherland (Ita et al., in preparation). The SIRIUS camera attached to the IRSF 1.4 m telescope was used for this survey and more than 10 yr of observations in the near-IR bands J(1.25 μm), H(1.63 μm) and KS(2.14 μm) band were obtained. In this work, we select the SMC stars from the SIRIUS data base. We obtained the V- and I-band time series of SMC red giants from the OGLE project (Soszynski et al. 2011, J/AcA/61/217). (2 data files).

Soft X-ray maps of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Singh, K. P.; Nousek, J. A.; Burrows, D. N.; Garmire, G. P.

1985-01-01

Soft X-ray maps of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) were obtained from scanning-observations with the HEAO-1 low energy detectors. Comparison of the 1/4 keV X-ray observations with the neutral hydrogen column densities in the LMC obtained from a 21 cm line survey, shows no evidence for absorption effects in the 1/4 keV X-ray flux from the LMC due to the neutral matter in the LMC. Instead, faint X-ray emission is detected from the LMC. The extent of this emission is smaller than the size of the halo or the disk of the LMC. Assuming this 1/4 keV emission to be diffuse, it is identified with a supergiant shell of optical nebulosity known as Shapley III, and the bar of the LMC. The X-ray luminosities of the regions are estimated to be 9 times 10 to the 38th power ergs/sec and 1.8 times 10 to the 39th power ergs/sec for the Shapley III region and the bar of the LMC respectively. Shapley III could be an X-ray superbubble.

X-raying supernova remnants in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maggi, P.; Hirschi, R.; Haberl, F.; Vasilopoulos, G.; Pietsch, W.; Greiner, J.; Kavanagh, J. P.; Sasaki, M.; Bozzetto, M. L.; Filipovic, M. D.; Points, S. D.; Chu, Y.-H.; Dickel, J.; Ehle, M.; Williams, R.

2016-06-01

The Magellanic Clouds (MCs) offer an ideal laboratory for the study of the SNR population in star-forming galaxies, since they are relatively nearby and free of large absorption. Both the LMC and SMC have been targeted by large XMM-Newton surveys, which, combined with archival observations, provide the best dataset to systematically study the X-ray emission of their numerous SNRs (˜ 60 in the LMC, ˜ 20 in the SMC). In this talk, I will highlight the results from this homogeneous analysis, which allows for the first time meaningful comparisons of temperature, chemical composition, and luminosity of SNRs in the MCs. The SNRs can be used as probes of their host galaxies: We measured chemical abundances in the hot phase of the LMC, and constrained the ratio of core-collapse to type Ia SN rates. The X-ray luminosity function of SNRs in the MCs are compared to those in other Local Group galaxies with different metallicities and star formation properties. Finally, we present a new population of evolved type Ia SNRs that was discovered recently in the MCs via their iron-rich X-ray emission.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Neugent, Kathryn F.; Massey, Philip; Skiff, Brian

Due to their transitionary nature, yellow supergiants (YSGs) provide a critical challenge for evolutionary modeling. Previous studies within M31 and the Small Magellanic Cloud show that the Geneva evolutionary models do a poor job at predicting the lifetimes of these short-lived stars. Here, we extend this study to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) while also investigating the galaxy's red supergiant (RSG) content. This task is complicated by contamination by Galactic foreground stars that color and magnitude criteria alone cannot weed out. Therefore, we use proper-motions and the LMC's large systemic radial velocity ({approx}278 km s{sup -1}) to separate out thesemore » foreground dwarfs. After observing nearly 2000 stars, we identified 317 probable YSGs, 6 possible YSGs, and 505 probable RSGs. Foreground contamination of our YSG sample was {approx}80%, while that of the RSG sample was only 3%. By placing the YSGs on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram and comparing them against the evolutionary tracks, we find that new Geneva evolutionary models do an exemplary job at predicting both the locations and the lifetimes of these transitory objects.« less

Mass-loss rates and luminosities of evolved stars in the Magellanic Clouds .

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groenewegen, M. A. T.; Sloan, G. C.

Stars on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars play an important role in the chemical evolution of their host galaxies and the life cycle of dust in the interstellar medium. A detailed and quantitative understanding of they lose mass and eject their envelopes remains elusive, particularly how that process depends on metallicity. Groenewegen & Sloan (2017, hereafter GS17) recently presented dust radiative transfer models for 225 carbon stars and 171 oxygen-rich evolved stars in the Magellanic Clouds and four nearby dSphs which were observed with the Infrared spectrograph on the Spitzer Space Telescope. They applied a minimisation procedure to fit models to spectral energy distributions constructed from the infrared spectra and the available optical and infrared photometry for each star to determine its luminosity and dust mass-loss rate (MLR). In this contribution two items from that paper are highlighted: an update on MSX SMC 055, which Groenewegen et al. (2009) suggested could be a super-AGB star, and a discussion of synthetic colour-colour and colour-magnitude diagrams expected from the James Webb Space Telescope.

The evolution of hydrocarbons past the asymptotic giant branch: the case of MSX SMC 029

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pauly, Tyler; Sloan, Gregory C.; Kraemer, Kathleen E.; Bernard-Salas, Jeronimo; Lebouteiller, Vianney; Goes, Christopher; Barry, Donald

2015-01-01

We present an optimally extracted high-resolution spectrum of MSX SMC 029 obtained by the Infrared Spectrograph on the Spitzer Space Telescope. MSX SMC 029 is a carbon-rich object in the Small Magellanic Cloud that has evolved past the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). The spectrum reveals a cool carbon-rich dust continuum with emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and absorption from simpler hydrocarbons, both aliphatic and aromatic, including acetylene and benzene. The spectrum shows many similarities to the carbon-rich post-AGB objects SMP LMC 011 in the Large Magellanic Cloud and AFGL 618 in the Galaxy. Both of these objects also show infrared absorption features from simple hydrocarbons. All three spectra lack strong atomic emission lines in the infrared, indicating that we are observing the evolution of carbon-rich dust and free hydrocarbons in objects between the AGB and planetary nebulae. These three objects give us a unique view of the elusive phase when hydrocarbons exist both as relatively simple molecules and the much more complex and ubiquitous PAHs. We may be witnessing the assembly of amorphous carbon into PAHs.

Magnitude Bias of Microlensed Sources toward the Large Magellanic Cloud.

PubMed

Zhao; Graff; Guhathakurta

2000-03-20

There are lines of evidence suggesting that some of the observed microlensing events in the direction of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) are caused by ordinary star lenses as opposed to dark MACHOs in the Galactic halo. Efficient lensing by ordinary stars generally requires the presence of one or more additional concentrations of stars along the line of sight to the LMC disk. If such a population behind the LMC disk exists, then the source stars (for lensing by LMC disk objects) will be drawn preferentially from the background population and will show systematic differences from LMC field stars. One such difference is that the (lensed) source stars will be farther away than the average LMC field stars, and this should be reflected in their apparent baseline magnitudes. We focus on red clump stars; these should appear in the color-magnitude diagram at a few tenths of a magnitude fainter than the field red clump. Suggestively, one of the two near-clump confirmed events, MACHO-LMC-1, is a few tenths of magnitude fainter than the clump.

Blue straggler stars beyond the Milky Way: a non-segregated population in the Large Magellanic Cloud cluster NGC 2213

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Chengyuan; Hong, Jongsuk

2018-06-01

Using the high-resolution observations obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope, we analysed the blue straggler stars (BSSs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud cluster NGC 2213. We found that the radial distribution of BSSs is consistent with that of the normal giant stars in NGC 2213, showing no evidence of mass segregation. However, an analytic calculation carried out for these BSSs shows that they are already dynamically old, because the estimated half-mass relaxation time for these BSSs is significantly shorter than the isochronal age of the cluster. We also performed direct N-body simulations for an NGC 2213-like cluster to understand the dynamical processes that lead to this non-segregated radial distribution of BSSs. Our numerical simulation shows that the presence of black hole subsystems inside the cluster centre can significantly affect the dynamical evolution of BSSs. The combined effects of the delayed segregation, binary disruption, and exchange interactions of BSS progenitor binaries may result in this non-segregated radial distribution of BSSs in NGC 2213.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: OGLE high proper motion stars towards MC (Soszynski+, 2002)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soszynski, I.; Zebrun, K.; Udalski, A.; Wozniak, P. R.; Szymanski, M.; Kubiak, M.; Pietrzynski, G.; Szewczyk, O.; Wyrzykowski, L.

2002-11-01

We present a catalog of high proper motion (HPM) stars detected in the foreground of central parts of the Magellanic Clouds. The Catalog contains 2161 objects in the 4.5 square degree area towards the LMC, and 892 HPM stars in the 2.4 square degree area towards the SMC. The Catalog is based on observations collected during four years of the OGLE-II microlensing survey. The Difference Image Analysis (DIA) of the images provided candidate HPM stars with proper motion as small as 4mas/yr. These appeared as pseudo-variables, and were all measured astrometrically on all CCD images, providing typically about 400 data points per star. The reference frame was defined by the majority of background stars, most of them members of the Magellanic Clouds. The reflex motion due to solar velocity with respect to the local standards of rest is clearly seen. The largest proper motion in our sample is 363mas/yr. Parallaxes were measured with errors smaller than 20% for several stars. (2 data files).

THERMAL PRESSURES IN THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM OF THE MAGELLANIC CLOUDS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Welty, Daniel E.; York, Donald G.; Lauroesch, James T.

2016-04-20

We discuss the thermal pressures ( n {sub H} T ) in predominantly cold, neutral interstellar gas in the Magellanic Clouds, derived from analyses of the fine-structure excitation of neutral carbon, as seen in high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope /Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph spectra of seven diverse sight lines in the LMC and SMC. Detailed fits to the line profiles of the absorption from C i, C i*, and C i** yield consistent column densities for the three to six C i multiplets detected in each sight line. In the LMC and SMC, N (C i{sub tot}) is consistent with Galacticmore » trends versus N (Na i) and N (CH), but is slightly lower versus N (K i) and N (H{sub 2}). As for N (Na i) and N (K i), N (C i{sub tot}) is generally significantly lower, for a given N (H{sub tot}), in the LMC and (especially) in the SMC, compared to the local Galactic relationship. For the LMC and SMC components with well-determined column densities for C i, C i*, and C i**, the derived thermal pressures are typically factors of a few higher than the values found for most cold, neutral clouds in the Galactic ISM. Such differences are consistent with the predictions of models for clouds in systems (like the LMC and SMC) that are characterized by lower metallicities, lower dust-to-gas ratios, and enhanced radiation fields—where higher pressures are required for stable cold, neutral clouds. The pressures may be further enhanced by energetic activity (e.g., due to stellar winds, star formation, and/or supernova remnants) in several of the regions probed by these sight lines. Comparisons are made with the C i observed in some quasar absorption-line systems.« less

Magellan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1985-01-01

Of all the planets in the solar system, Venus is the most like our own Earth in size, mass, and distance from the Sun. The motions of our planetary "twin" were known to the ancients, and its apparent changes in shape, similar to the phases of the Moon, were first studied by Galileo more than four centuries ago. In the modern era, it is by far the most visited world in the solar system - more than 20 spacecraft from the Soviet Union and the United States have been sent there since the early 1960's. The clouds of Venus have been probed, the structure and composition of its atmosphere measured, its landscape photographed, and its rocks chemically analyzed by automated landers. Yet, for all our fascination with Venus, we have only a sketchy, general knowledge of the planet's surface. While the other three "terrestrial" worlds - Earth, Mercury, and Mars have long since been mapped, details of the face of Venus are still largely unknown, due to the planet's dense, constant cloud cover. The clouds prevent us from ever photographing the solid surface, even from space, with conventional cameras. Beginning in the early 1960s, scientists on Earth began to counter this problem by using radar waves, which, unlike visible light, are able to penetrate the Venusian clouds and reflect off the solid planet back to Earth. With the help of computer processing, these radar reflections can be turned into pictures of the Venus surface. Earth-based radar imaging is thus extremely valuable. but it also is limited-Venus always shows the same hemisphere to us when it is near enough in its orbit for high-resolution study, so only a fraction of the planet can be explored from Earth.

Relation of Cloud Occurrence Frequency, Overlap, and Effective Thickness Derived from CALIPSO and CloudSat Merged Cloud Vertical Profiles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kato, Seiji; Sun-Mack, Sunny; Miller, Walter F.; Rose, Fred G.; Chen, Yan; Minnis, Patrick; Wielicki, Bruce A.

2009-01-01

A cloud frequency of occurrence matrix is generated using merged cloud vertical profile derived from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) and Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR). The matrix contains vertical profiles of cloud occurrence frequency as a function of the uppermost cloud top. It is shown that the cloud fraction and uppermost cloud top vertical pro les can be related by a set of equations when the correlation distance of cloud occurrence, which is interpreted as an effective cloud thickness, is introduced. The underlying assumption in establishing the above relation is that cloud overlap approaches the random overlap with increasing distance separating cloud layers and that the probability of deviating from the random overlap decreases exponentially with distance. One month of CALIPSO and CloudSat data support these assumptions. However, the correlation distance sometimes becomes large, which might be an indication of precipitation. The cloud correlation distance is equivalent to the de-correlation distance introduced by Hogan and Illingworth [2000] when cloud fractions of both layers in a two-cloud layer system are the same.

The WHAM Hα Magellanic Stream Survey: Progress and Early Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smart, Brianna; Haffner, L. Matthew; Barger, Kat; Krishnarao, Dhanesh

2017-01-01

We present early analysis of the Hα survey of the Magellanic Stream using the Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper (WHAM). The neutral component of the Stream extends some 200° across the sky (Nidever et al. 2010). However, the full extent of the ionized gas has not been mapped in detail. Previous studies (e.g., Putman et al. 2003; Weiner & Williams 1996) suggest that ionized gas is likely to be found all along the length of the Stream, and may extend beyond the current neutral boundaries as traced by 21 cm. Barger et al. (2013) used WHAM to map ionized gas throughout the Magellanic Bridge between the Magellanic Clouds. Although ionized emission tracks the neutral emission for the most part, it often spans a few degrees away from the H I at slightly offset velocities. Additionally, Fox et al. (2014) find evidence in an absorption line study that the tidal debris in the Magellanic System contains twice as much ionized gas as neutral material and may extend 30° away from 21-cm sensitivity boundaries. We are now compiling the first comprehensive picture of the ionized component of the Magellanic Stream using WHAM's unprecedented sensitivity to trace diffuse emission (~tens of mR), its velocity resolution (12 km/s) to separate the Stream from the Milky Way, and its multiwavelength capabilities (e.g., [S II] and [N II]) to examine the physical conditions of the gas. Much of the data along the primary axis of the Stream has been collected for the first phase of this extensive study, a complete kinematic Hα survey of the Stream. We present survey progress, challenges in extracting Stream emission, and first-look kinematic maps at select positions along the Stream.

The Massive Star-Forming Regions Omnibus X-Ray Catalog

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Townsley, Leisa K.; Broos, Patrick S.; Garmire, Gordon P.; Bouwman, Jeroen; Povich, Matthew S.; Feigelson, Eric D.; Getman, Konstantin V.; Kuhn, Michael A.

2014-07-01

We present the Massive Star-forming Regions (MSFRs) Omnibus X-ray Catalog (MOXC), a compendium of X-ray point sources from Chandra/ACIS observations of a selection of MSFRs across the Galaxy, plus 30 Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud. MOXC consists of 20,623 X-ray point sources from 12 MSFRs with distances ranging from 1.7 kpc to 50 kpc. Additionally, we show the morphology of the unresolved X-ray emission that remains after the cataloged X-ray point sources are excised from the ACIS data, in the context of Spitzer and WISE observations that trace the bubbles, ionization fronts, and photon-dominated regions that characterize MSFRs. In previous work, we have found that this unresolved X-ray emission is dominated by hot plasma from massive star wind shocks. This diffuse X-ray emission is found in every MOXC MSFR, clearly demonstrating that massive star feedback (and the several-million-degree plasmas that it generates) is an integral component of MSFR physics.

Dynamical Mass Segregation Versus Disruption of Binary Stars in Dense Stellar Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Grijs, Richard; Li, C.; Deng, L.

2013-01-01

Upon their formation, dynamically cool (collapsing) star clusters will, within only a few million years, achieve stellar mass segregation for stars down to a few solar masses due to gravitational two-body encounters. Since binary systems are, on average, more massive than single stars, one would expect them to also rapidly mass segregate dynamically. Contrary to these expectations and based on high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope observations, we show that the compact, 15-30 Myr-old Large Magellanic Cloud cluster NGC 1818 is characterized by an increasing fraction of F-star binary systems (with combined masses of 1.3-1.6 solar masses) with increasing distance from the cluster center. This offers unprecedented support of the theoretically predicted but thus far unobserved dynamical disruption processes of the significant population of "soft" binary systems (with relatively low binding energies compared to the kinetic energy of their stellar members) in star clusters, which we could unravel by virtue of the cluster's unique combination of youth and high stellar density.

The Modified Dynamics is Conducive to Galactic Warp Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brada, Rafael; Milgrom, Mordehai

2000-03-01

There is an effect in the modified dynamics that is conducive to the formation of warps. Because of the nonlinearity of the theory, the internal dynamics of a galaxy is affected by a perturber over and above possible tidal effects. For example, a relatively distant and light companion or the mean influence of a parent cluster, with negligible tidal effects, could still produce a significant warp in the outer part of a galactic disk. We present results of numerical calculations for simplified models that show, for instance, that a satellite with the (baryonic) mass and distance of the Magellanic Clouds can distort the axisymmetric field of the Milky Way enough to produce a warp of the magnitude (and position) observed. Details of the warp geometry remain to be explained; we use a static configuration that can produce only warps with a straight line of nodes. In more realistic simulations, one must reckon with the motion of the perturbing body, which sometimes occurs on timescales not much longer than the response time of the disk.

Not-so-simple stellar populations in nearby, resolved massive star clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Grijs, Richard; Li, Chengyuan

2018-02-01

Around the turn of the last century, star clusters of all kinds were considered ‘simple’ stellar populations. Over the past decade, this situation has changed dramatically. At the same time, star clusters are among the brightest stellar population components and, as such, they are visible out to much greater distances than individual stars, even the brightest, so that understanding the intricacies of star cluster composition and their evolution is imperative for understanding stellar populations and the evolution of galaxies as a whole. In this review of where the field has moved to in recent years, we place particular emphasis on the properties and importance of binary systems, the effects of rapid stellar rotation, and the presence of multiple populations in Magellanic Cloud star clusters across the full age range. Our most recent results imply a reverse paradigm shift, back to the old simple stellar population picture for at least some intermediate-age (˜1-3 Gyr old) star clusters, opening up exciting avenues for future research efforts.

Mass-loss From Evolved Stellar Populations In The Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riebel, David

2012-01-01

I have conducted a study of a sample of 30,000 evolved stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and 6,000 in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), covering their variability, mass-loss properties, and chemistry. The initial stages of of my thesis work focused on the infrared variability of Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars in the LMC. I determined the period-luminosity (P-L) relations for 6 separate sequences of 30,000 evolved star candidates at 8 wavelengths, as a function of photometrically assigned chemistry, and showed that the P-L relations are different for different chemical populations (O-rich or C-rich). I also present results from the Grid of Red supergiant and Asymptotic giant branch star ModelS (GRAMS) radiative transfer (RT) model grid applied to the evolved stellar population of the LMC. GRAMS is a pre-computed grid of RT models of RSG and AGB stars and surrounding circumstellar dust. Best-fit models are determined based on 12 bands of photometry from the optical to the mid-infrared. Using a pre-computed grid, I can present the first reasonably detailed radiative transfer modeling for tens of thousands of stars, allowing me to make statistically accurate estimations of the carbon-star luminosity function and the global dust mass return to the interstellar medium from AGB stars, both key parameters for stellar population synthesis models to reproduce. In the SAGE-Var program, I used the warm Spitzer mission to take 4 additional epochs of observations of 7500 AGB stars in the LMC and SMC. These epochs, combined with existing data, enable me to derive mean fluxes at 3.6 and 4.5 microns, that will be used for tighter constraints for GRAMS, which is currently limited by the variability induced error on the photometry. This work is support by NASA NAG5-12595 and Spitzer contract 1415784.

Maps of the Magellanic clouds from combined South Pole Telescope and Planck data

DOE PAGES

Crawford, T. M.; Chown, R.; Holder, G. P.; ...

2016-12-09

Here, we present maps of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds from combined South Pole Telescope (SPT) and Planck data. Both instruments are designed to make measurements of the cosmic microwave background but are sensitive to any source of millimeter-wave (mm-wave) emission. The Planck satellite observes in nine mm-wave bands, while the SPT data used in this work were taken with the three-band SPT-SZ camera. The SPT-SZ bands correspond closely to three of the nine Planck bands, namely those centered at 1.4, 2.1, and 3.0 mm. The angular resolution of the Planck data in these bands ranges from 5 tomore » 10 arcmin, while the SPT resolution in these bands ranges from 1.0 to 1.7 arcmin. The combined maps take advantage of the high resolution of the SPT data and the long-timescale stability of the space-based Planck observations to deliver high signal-to-noise and robust brightness measurements on scales from the size of the maps down to ~1 arcmin. In each of the three bands, we first calibrate and color-correct the SPT data to match the Planck data, then we use noise estimates from each instrument and knowledge of each instrument's beam, or point-spread function, to make the inverse-variance-weighted combination of the two instruments' data as a function of angular scale. Furthermore, we create maps assuming a range of underlying emission spectra (for the color correction) and at a range of final resolutions. We perform several consistency tests on the combined maps and estimate the expected noise in measurements of features in the maps. Finally, we compare the maps of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) from this work to maps from the Herschel HERITAGE survey, finding general consistency between the datasets. Furthermore, the broad wavelength coverage provides evidence of different emission mechanisms at work in different environments in the LMC.« less

Observing Strategies for Focused Orbital Debris Surveys Using the Magellan Telescope

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frith, James; Cowardin, Heather; Buckalew, Brent; Anz-Meador, Phillip; Lederer, Susan; Matney, Mark

2017-01-01

A breakup of the Titan 3C-17 Transtage rocket body was reported to have occurred on June 4th, 2014 at 02:38 UT by the Space Surveillance Network (SSN). Five objects were associated with this breakup and this is the fourth breakup known for this class of object. There are likely many more objects associated with this event that are not within the Space Surveillance Network's ability to detect and have not been catalogued. Several months after the breakup, observing time was obtained on the Magellan Baade 6.5 meter telescope to be used for observations of geosynchronous (GEO) space debris targets. Using the NASA Standard Satellite Breakup Model (SSBM), a simulated debris cloud of the recent Transtage breakup was produced and propagated forward in time. This provided right ascension, declination, and tracking rate predictions for where debris associated with this breakup may be more likely to be found in the sky over Magellan for our observing run. Magellan observations were then optimized using the angles and tracking rates from the model predictions to focus the search for Transtage debris. Data were collected and analysed and preliminary comparisons made between the number of objects detected and the number expected from the model. We present our results here.

ASCA observations of the Large Magellanic Cloud supernova remnant sample: Typing supernovae from their remnants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hughes, John P.; Hayashi, Ichizo; Helfand, David; Hwang, Una; Itoh, Masayuki; Kirshner, Robert; Koyama, Katsuji; Markert, Thomas; Tsunemi, Hiroshi; Woo, Jonathan

1995-01-01

We present our first results from a study of the supernova remnants (SNRs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) using data from ASCA. The three remnants we have analyzed to date, 0509-67.5, 0519-69.0, and N103B, are among the smallest, and presumably also the youngest, in the Cloud. The X-ray spectra of these SNRs show strong K alpha emission lines of silicon, sulfur, argon, and calcium with no evidence for corresponding lines of oxygen, neon, or magnesium. The dominant feature in the spectra is a broad blend of emission lines around 1 keV which we attribute to L-shell emission lines of iron. Model calculations (Nomoto, Thielemann, & Yokoi 1984) show that the major products of nucleosynthesis in Type Ia supernovae (SNs) are the elements from silicon to iron, as observed here. The calculated nucleosynthetic yields from Type Ib and II SNs are shown to be qualitatively inconsistent with the data. We conclude that the SNs which produced these remnants were of Type Ia. This finding also confirms earlier suggestions that the class of Balmer-dominated remnants arise from Type Ia SN explosions. Based on these early results from the LMC SNR sample, we find that roughly one-half of the SNRs produced in the LMC within the last approximately 1500 yr came from Type Ia SNs.

A Legacy Imaging Survey of M33.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dalcanton, Julianne

2016-10-01

We propose a panoramic imaging survey of M33 to extend the M31 PHAT survey to regions with 10x higher star formation intensity and markedly lower metallicity. Deep six-filter UV/optical/IR stellar photometry will provide (1) precision measurement of the high-mass IMF slope; (2) spatially-resolved maps of the recent star formation history (SFH) with 5-10 Myr resolution; (3) maps of the cool, dusty ISM with 25 pc resolution; (4) temperatures and luminosities for 15 million stars; (5) maps of extinction law variations; and (6) 1000 star clusters with well-measured ages and masses. We will combine these products with archival multi-wavelength data to elucidate the astrophysics of the interstellar medium (ISM). We will constrain the energetics of the ISM by linking the history of stellar energy input to the observed properties of the ISM; reconcile widely-used, but discrepant, dust emission models; disentangle the drivers that control dust composition; and measure lifetimes of molecular clouds. We will survey nearly all the molecular clouds and high extinction (A_V>1) regions in M33, as well as regimes of star formation rate intensity, spiral arm strength, metallicity, and ISM pressure that are distinct from those in comparable surveys of M31 and the Magellanic Clouds. This survey adds M33 to the Milky Way, M31, and Magellanic Clouds as the fundamental calibrators of ISM physics, star-formation processes, and stellar evolution. The resulting data set will be comprehensive, highly versatile, and have tremendous legacy value. This program can only be accomplished with HST.

PROBING THE STRUCTURE AND KINEMATICS OF THE TRANSITION LAYER BETWEEN THE MAGELLANIC STREAM AND THE HALO IN H I

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nigra, Lou; Stanimirovic, Snezana; Gallagher, John S. III

2012-11-20

The Magellanic Stream (MS) is a nearby laboratory for studying the fate of cool gas streams injected into a gaseous galactic halo. We investigate properties of the boundary layer between the cool MS gas and the hot Milky Way halo with 21 cm H I observations of a relatively isolated cloud having circular projection in the northern MS. Through averaging and modeling techniques, our observations, obtained with the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, reach unprecedented 3{sigma} sensitivity of {approx}1 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 17} cm{sup -2}, while retaining the telescope's 9.'1 resolution in the essential radial dimension. We find an envelopemore » of diffuse neutral gas with FWHM of 60 km s{sup -1}, associated in velocity with the cloud core having FWHM of 20 km s{sup -1}, extending to 3.5 times the core radius with a neutral mass seven times that of the core. We show that the envelope is too extended to represent a conduction-dominated layer between the core and the halo. Its observed properties are better explained by a turbulent mixing layer driven by hydrodynamic instabilities. The fortuitous alignment of the NGC 7469 background source near the cloud center allows us to combine UV absorption and H I emission data to determine a core temperature of 8350 {+-} 350 K. We show that the H I column density and size of the core can be reproduced when a slightly larger cloud is exposed to Galactic and extragalactic background ionizing radiation. Cooling in the large diffuse turbulent mixing layer envelope extends the cloud lifetime by at least a factor of two relative to a simple hydrodynamic ablation case, suggesting that the cloud is likely to reach the Milky Way disk.« less

Frequency Analysis of the RRc Variables of the MACHO Database for the LMC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kovács, G.; Alcock, C.; Allsman, R.; Alves, D.; Axelrod, T.; Becker, A.; Bennett, D.; Clement, C.; Cook, K. H.; Drake, A.; Freeman, K.; Geha, M.; Griest, K.; Kurtz, D. W.; Lehner, M.; Marshall, S.; Minniti, D.; Nelson, C.; Peterson, B.; Popowski, P.; Pratt, M.; Quinn, P.; Rodgers, A.; Rowe, J.; Stubbs, C.; Sutherland, W.; Tomaney, A.; Vandehei, T.; Welch, D. L.; MACHO Collaboration

We present the first massive frequency analysis of the 1200 first overtone RR Lyrae stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud observed in the first 4.3 yr of the MACHO project. Besides the many new double-mode variables, we also discovered stars with closely spaced frequencies. These variables are most probably nonradial pulsators.

Stellar Populations and Nearby Galaxies with the LSST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saha, Abhijit; Olsen, K.; Monet, D. G.; LSST Stellar Populations Collaboration

2009-01-01

The LSST will produce a multi-color map and photometric object catalog of half the sky to r=27.6 (AB mag; 5-sigma). Time-space sampling of each field spanning ten years will allow variability, proper motion and parallax measurements for objects brighter than r=24.7. As part of providing an unprecedented map of the Galaxy, the accurate multi-band photometry will permit photometric parallaxes, chemical abundances and a handle on ages via colors at turn-off for main-sequence (MS) stars at all distances within the Galaxy as well as in the Magellanic Clouds, and dwarf satellites of the Milky Way. This will support comprehensive studies of star formation histories and chemical evolution for field stars. The structures of the Clouds and dwarf spheroidals will be traced with the MS stars, to equivalent surface densities fainter than 35 mag/square arc-second. With geometric parallax accuracy of 1 milli-arc-sec, comparable to HIPPARCOS but reaching more than 10 magnitudes fainter, a robust complete sample of solar neighborhood stars will be obtained. The LSST time sampling will identify and characterize variable stars of all types, from time scales of 1 hr to several years, a feast for variable star astrophysics. The combination of wide coverage, multi-band photometry, time sampling and parallax taken together will address several key problems: e.g. fine tuning the extragalactic distance scale by examining properties of RR Lyraes and Cepheids as a function of parent populations, extending the faint end of the galaxy luminosity function by discovering them using star count density enhancements on degree scales tracing, and indentifying inter-galactic stars through novae and Long Period Variables.

Low Surface Brightness Imaging of the Magellanic System: Imprints of Tidal Interactions between the Clouds in the Stellar Periphery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Besla, Gurtina; Martínez-Delgado, David; van der Marel, Roeland P.; Beletsky, Yuri; Seibert, Mark; Schlafly, Edward F.; Grebel, Eva K.; Neyer, Fabian

2016-07-01

We present deep optical images of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC) using a low cost telephoto lens with a wide field of view to explore stellar substructure in the outskirts of the stellar disk of the LMC (<10° from the LMC center). These data have higher resolution than existing star count maps, and highlight the existence of stellar arcs and multiple spiral arms in the northern periphery, with no comparable counterparts in the south. We compare these data to detailed simulations of the LMC disk outskirts, following interactions with its low mass companion, the SMC. We consider interaction in isolation and with the inclusion of the Milky Way tidal field. The simulations are used to assess the origin of the northern structures, including also the low density stellar arc recently identified in the Dark Energy Survey data by Mackey et al. at ˜15°. We conclude that repeated close interactions with the SMC are primarily responsible for the asymmetric stellar structures seen in the periphery of the LMC. The orientation and density of these arcs can be used to constrain the LMC’s interaction history with and impact parameter of the SMC. More generally, we find that such asymmetric structures should be ubiquitous about pairs of dwarfs and can persist for 1-2 Gyr even after the secondary merges entirely with the primary. As such, the lack of a companion around a Magellanic Irregular does not disprove the hypothesis that their asymmetric structures are driven by dwarf-dwarf interactions.

A Catalog of Distances to Molecular Clouds from Pan-STARRS1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schlafly, Eddie; Green, G.; Finkbeiner, D. P.; Rix, H.

2014-01-01

We present a catalog of distances to molecular clouds, derived from PanSTARRS-1 photometry. We simultaneously infer the full probability distribution function of reddening and distance of the stars towards these clouds using the technique of Green et al. (2013) (see neighboring poster). We fit the resulting measurements using a simple dust screen model to infer the distance to each cloud. The result is a large, homogeneous catalog of distances to molecular clouds. For clouds with heliocentric distances greater than about 200 pc, typical statistical uncertainties in the distances are 5%, with systematic uncertainty stemming from the quality of our stellar models of about 10%. We have applied this analysis to many of the most well-studied clouds in the δ > -30° sky, including Orion, California, Taurus, Perseus, and Cepheus. We have also studied the entire catalog of Magnani, Blitz, and Mundy (1985; MBM), though for about half of those clouds we can provide only upper limits on the distances. We compare our distances with distances from the literature, when available, and find good agreement.

The Carnegie–Chicago Hubble Program. III. The Distance to NGC 1365 via the Tip of the Red Giant Branch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jang, In Sung; Hatt, Dylan; Beaton, Rachael L.; Lee, Myung Gyoon; Freedman, Wendy L.; Madore, Barry F.; Hoyt, Taylor J.; Monson, Andrew J.; Rich, Jeffrey A.; Scowcroft, Victoria; Seibert, Mark

2018-01-01

The Carnegie–Chicago Hubble Program (CCHP) seeks to anchor the distance scale of Type Ia supernovae via the Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB) method. Based on deep Hubble Space Telescope ACS/WFC imaging, we present an analysis of the TRGB for the metal-poor halo of NGC 1365, a giant spiral galaxy in the Fornax cluster that was host to the Type Ia supernova SN 2012fr. We have measured the extinction-corrected TRGB magnitude of NGC 1365 to be F814W = 27.34 ± 0.03stat ± 0.04sys mag. In advance of future direct calibration by Gaia, we adopt a provisional I-band TRGB luminosity set at the Large Magellanic Cloud and find a true distance modulus μ 0 = 31.29 ± 0.04stat ± 0.06sys mag or D = 18.1 ± 0.3stat ± 0.5sys Mpc. This measurement is in excellent agreement with recent Cepheid-based distances to NGC 1365 and reveals no significant difference in the distances derived from stars of Populations I and II for this galaxy. We revisit the error budget for the CCHP path to the Hubble constant based on the analysis presented here, i.e., that for one of the most distant Type Ia supernova hosts within our Program, and find that a 2.5% measurement is feasible with the current sample of galaxies and TRGB absolute calibration. Based in part on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations are associated with program #13691.

The Carnegie-Chicago Hubble Program. I. An Independent Approach to the Extragalactic Distance Scale Using Only Population II Distance Indicators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beaton, Rachael L.; Freedman, Wendy L.; Madore, Barry F.; Bono, Giuseppe; Carlson, Erika K.; Clementini, Gisella; Durbin, Meredith J.; Garofalo, Alessia; Hatt, Dylan; Jang, In Sung; Kollmeier, Juna A.; Lee, Myung Gyoon; Monson, Andrew J.; Rich, Jeffrey A.; Scowcroft, Victoria; Seibert, Mark; Sturch, Laura; Yang, Soung-Chul

2016-12-01

We present an overview of the Carnegie-Chicago Hubble Program, an ongoing program to obtain a 3% measurement of the Hubble constant (H 0) using alternative methods to the traditional Cepheid distance scale. We aim to establish a completely independent route to H 0 using RR Lyrae variables, the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB), and Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). This alternative distance ladder can be applied to galaxies of any Hubble type, of any inclination, and, using old stars in low-density environments, is robust to the degenerate effects of metallicity and interstellar extinction. Given the relatively small number of SNe Ia host galaxies with independently measured distances, these properties provide a great systematic advantage in the measurement of H 0 via the distance ladder. Initially, the accuracy of our value of H 0 will be set by the five Galactic RR Lyrae calibrators with Hubble Space Telescope Fine-Guidance Sensor parallaxes. With Gaia, both the RR Lyrae zero-point and TRGB method will be independently calibrated, the former with at least an order of magnitude more calibrators and the latter directly through parallax measurement of tip red giants. As the first end-to-end “distance ladder” completely independent of both Cepheid variables and the Large Magellanic Cloud, this path to H 0 will allow for the high-precision comparison at each rung of the traditional distance ladder that is necessary to understand tensions between this and other routes to H 0. Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations are associated with programs #13472 and #13691.

Massive runaway stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gvaramadze, V. V.; Kroupa, P.; Pflamm-Altenburg, J.

2010-09-01

The origin of massive field stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) has long been an enigma. The recent measurements of large offsets (˜ 100 km s-1) between the heliocentric radial velocities of some very massive (O2-type) field stars and the systemic LMC velocity provides a possible explanation of this enigma and suggests that the field stars are runaway stars ejected from their birthplaces at the very beginning of their parent cluster's dynamical evolution. A straightforward way to prove this explanation is to measure the proper motions of the field stars and to show that they are moving away from one of the nearby star clusters or OB associations. This approach is, however, complicated by the long distance to the LMC, which makes accurate proper motion measurements difficult. We used an alternative approach for solving the problem (first applied for Galactic field stars), based on the search for bow shocks produced by runaway stars. The geometry of detected bow shocks would allow us to infer the direction of stellar motion, thereby determining their possible parent clusters. In this paper we present the results of a search for bow shocks around six massive field stars that have been proposed as candidate runaway stars. Using archival Spitzer Space Telescope data, we found a bow shock associated with one of our programme stars, the O2 V((f*)) star BI 237, which is the first-ever detection of bow shocks in the LMC. Orientation of the bow shock suggests that BI 237 was ejected from the OB association LH 82 (located at ≃ 120 pc in projection from the star). A by-product of our search is the detection of bow shocks generated by four OB stars in the field of the LMC and an arc-like structure attached to the candidate luminous blue variable R81 (HD 269128). The geometry of two of these bow shocks is consistent with the possibility that their associated stars were ejected from the 30 Doradus star-forming complex. We discuss implications of our findings for the problem of the origin of runaway stars and the early dynamical evolution of star clusters.

A revised estimate of the distance to the clouds in the Chamaeleon complex using the Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voirin, Jordan; Manara, Carlo F.; Prusti, Timo

2018-03-01

Context. The determination of the distance to dark star-forming clouds is a key parameter to derive the properties of the cloud itself and of its stellar content. This parameter is still loosely constrained even in nearby star-forming regions. Aim. We want to determine the distances to the clouds in the Chamaeleon-Musca complex and explore the connection between these clouds and the large-scale cloud structures in the Galaxy. Methods: We used the newly estimated distances obtained from the parallaxes measured by the Gaia satellite and included in the Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution catalog. When known members of a region are included in this catalog we used their distances to infer the distance to the cloud. Otherwise, we analyzed the dependence of the color excess on the distance of the stars and looked for a turn-on of this excess, which is a proxy of the position of the front-edge of the star-forming cloud. Results: We are able to measure the distance to the three Chamaeleon clouds. The distance to Chamaeleon I is 179-10-10+11+11 pc, where the quoted uncertainties are statistical and systematic uncertainties, respectively, 20 pc further away than previously assumed. The Chamaeleon II cloud is located at the distance of 181-5-10+6+11 pc, which agrees with previous estimates. We are able to measure for the first time a distance to the Chamaeleon III cloud of 199-7-11+8+12 pc. Finally, the distance of the Musca cloud is smaller than 603-70-92+91+133 pc. These estimates do not allow us to distinguish between the possibility that the Chamaeleon clouds are part of a sheet of clouds parallel to the Galactic plane, or perpendicular to it. Conclusions: We measured a larger distance to the Chamaeleon I cloud than assumed in the past, confirmed the distance to the Chamaeleon II region, and measured for the first time the distance to the Chamaleon III cloud. These values are consistent with the scenario in which the three clouds are part of a single large-scale structure. Gaia Data Release 2 will allow us to put more stringent constraints on the distances to these clouds by giving us access to parallax measurements for a larger number of members of these regions. Tables 3-6 are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/610/A64

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dickel, John R.; Gruendl, Robert A.; McIntyre, Vincent J.

Detailed 4.8 and 8.6 GHz radio images of the entire Small Magellanic Cloud with half-power beamwidths of 35'' at 4.8 GHz and 22'' at 8.6 GHz have been obtained using the Australia Telescope Compact Array. A total of 3564 mosaic positions were used to cover an area of 4.{sup 0}5 on a side. Full polarimetric observations were made. These images have sufficient spatial resolution ({approx}9 and 6 pc, respectively) and sensitivity (3{sigma} of 1.5 mJy beam{sup -1}) to identify most of the individual supernova remnants and H II regions and also, in combination with available data from the Parkes 64more » m telescope, the structure of the smooth emission in that galaxy. In addition, limited data using the sixth antenna at 4.5-6 km baselines are available to distinguish bright point sources (< 3 and 2 arcsec, respectively) and to help estimate sizes of individual sources smaller than the resolution of the full survey. The resultant database will be valuable for statistical studies and comparisons with X-ray, optical and infrared surveys of the Small Magellanic Cloud with similar resolution. The images and calibrated uv data are publicly available in FITS format.« less

Characterizing the X-ray Emission in Small Magellanic Cloud Supernova Remnants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Man, Nicole; Auchettl, Katie; Lopez, Laura

2018-01-01

The Small Magellanic Cloud is a close, metal-poor galaxy with active star formation, and it has a diverse population of 24 supernova remnants (SNRs) that have been identified at several wavelengths. Past work has characterized the X-ray emission in these sources separately and aimed to constrain their explosive origins from observations with Chandra and XMM-Newton. Three SNRs have possible evidence for Type Ia explosions based on strong Fe-L emission in their X-ray spectra, although the environments and intermediate-mass element abundances are more consistent with those of core-collapse SNe. In this poster, we analyze the archival Chandra and XMM-Newton observations of the SMC SNR sample, and we model the sources' X-ray spectra in a systematic way to derive the plasma properties and to constrain the nature of the explosions. In one SNR, we note the presence of an X-ray binary near the source's geometric center, suggesting the compact object was produced in the SN explosion. As one of only three SNRs known in the Local Group to host a binary system, this source is worthy of follow-up investigations to probe explosions of massive stars in binary systems.

Anti-correlation between X-ray luminosity and pulsed fraction in the Small Magellanic Cloud pulsar SXP 1323

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Jun; Zezas, Andreas; Coe, Malcolm J.; Drake, Jeremy J.; Hong, JaeSub; Laycock, Silas G. T.; Wik, Daniel R.

2018-05-01

We report the evidence for the anti-correlation between pulsed fraction (PF) and luminosity of the X-ray pulsar SXP 1323, found for the first time in a luminosity range 1035-1037 erg s-1 from observations spanning 15 years. The phenomenon of a decrease in X-ray PF when the source flux increases has been observed in our pipeline analysis of other X-ray pulsars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). It is expected that the luminosity under a certain value decreases as the PF decreases due to the propeller effect. Above the propeller region, an anti-correlation between the PF and flux might occur either as a result of an increase in the un-pulsed component of the total emission or a decrease of the pulsed component. Additional modes of accretion may also be possible, such as spherical accretion and a change in emission geometry. At higher mass accretion rates, the accretion disk could also extend closer to the neutron star (NS) surface, where a reduced inner radius leads to hotter inner disk emission. These modes of plasma accretion may affect the change in the beam configuration to fan-beam dominant emission.

Imaging of four planetary nebulae in the Magellanic Clouds using the Hubble Space Telescope Faint Object Camera

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blades, J. C.; Barlow, M. J.; Albrecht, R.; Barbieri, C.; Boksenberg, A.; Crane, P.; Deharveng, J. M.; Disney, M. J.; Jakobsen, P.; Kamperman, T. M.

1992-01-01

Using the Faint Object Camera on-board the Hubble Space Telescope, we have obtained images of four planetary nebulae (PNe) in the Magellanic Clouds, namely N2 and N5 in the SMC and N66 and N201 in the LMC. Each nebula was imaged through two narrow-band filters isolating forbidden O III 5007 and H-beta, for a nominal exposure time of 1000 s in each filter. In forbidden O III, SMC N5 shows a circular ring structure, with a peak-to-peak diameter of 0.26 arcsec and a FWHM of 0.35 arcsec while SMC N2 shows an elliptical ring structure with a peak-to-peak diameter of 0.26 x 0.21. The expansion ages corresponding to the observed structures in SMC N2 and N5 are of the order of 3000 yr. LMC N201 is very compact, with a FWHM of 0.2 arcsec in H-beta. The Type I PN LMC N66 is a multipolar nebula, with the brightest part having an extent of about 2 arcsec and with fainter structures extending over 4 arcsec.

Superluminous object in the Large Cloud of Magellan

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mathis, J.S.; Savage, B.D.; Cassinelli, J.P.

1984-08-01

A superluminous and possibly supermassive object has been observed in the Large Cloud of Magellan. The object is designated R136 and is in the Tarantula Nebula. In 1980, it was discovered that R136 actually has 3 distinct components. The brightest was designated R136a. The ultraviolet spectra of R136a implies that it is a very hot star, similar to 03 stars, and that it has a steller wind of speeds up 3500 km/sec., also similar to 03 stars. The broad emission lines of the II are similar to those found in the spectrum of Wolf-Rayet stars. In 1983, Y.H. Chu ofmore » the University of Wisconsin after analyzing many images of R136 concluded that within the R136a component one can identify four steller objects. The dominate object was labeled R136a1 and it is this object that is now the candidate for a superluminous star. If R136a1 is a single star, it must have a mass of between 400 and 1000 solar masses. The ultraviolet spectroscopic data are consistent with a single-star hypothesis. However, the data do not rule out other possibilities.« less

BLUE STRAGGLER EVOLUTION CAUGHT IN THE ACT IN THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD GLOBULAR CLUSTER HODGE 11

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li Chengyuan; De Grijs, Richard; Liu Xiangkun

High-resolution Hubble Space Telescope imaging observations show that the radial distribution of the field-decontaminated sample of 162 'blue straggler' stars (BSs) in the 11.7{sup +0.2}{sub -0.1} Gyr old Large Magellanic Cloud cluster Hodge 11 exhibits a clear bimodality. In combination with their distinct loci in color-magnitude space, this offers new evidence in support of theoretical expectations that suggest different BS formation channels as a function of stellar density. In the cluster's color-magnitude diagram, the BSs in the inner 15'' (roughly corresponding to the cluster's core radius) are located more closely to the theoretical sequence resulting from stellar collisions, while thosemore » in the periphery (at radii between 85'' and 100'') are preferentially found in the region expected to contain objects formed through binary mass transfer or coalescence. In addition, the objects' distribution in color-magnitude space provides us with the rare opportunity in an extragalactic environment to quantify the evolution of the cluster's collisionally induced BS population and the likely period that has elapsed since their formation epoch, which we estimate to have occurred {approx}4-5 Gyr ago.« less

EXTENDED STAR FORMATION IN THE INTERMEDIATE-AGE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD STAR CLUSTER NGC 2209

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Keller, Stefan C.; Mackey, A. Dougal; Da Costa, Gary S.

2012-12-10

We present observations of the 1 Gyr old star cluster NGC 2209 in the Large Magellanic Cloud made with the GMOS imager on the Gemini South Telescope. These observations show that the cluster exhibits a main-sequence turnoff that spans a broader range in luminosity than can be explained by a single-aged stellar population. This places NGC 2209 amongst a growing list of intermediate-age (1-3 Gyr) clusters that show evidence for extended or multiple epochs of star formation of between 50 and 460 Myr in extent. The extended main-sequence turnoff observed in NGC 2209 is a confirmation of the prediction inmore » Keller et al. made on the basis of the cluster's large core radius. We propose that secondary star formation is a defining feature of the evolution of massive star clusters. Dissolution of lower mass clusters through evaporation results in only clusters that have experienced secondary star formation surviving for a Hubble time, thus providing a natural connection between the extended main-sequence turnoff phenomenon and the ubiquitous light-element abundance ranges seen in the ancient Galactic globular clusters.« less

Dating star clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud by means of integrated spectra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahumada, A. V.; Clariá, J. J.; Bica, E.; Dutra, C. M.

2002-10-01

In this study flux-calibrated integrated spectra in the range (3600-6800) Å are presented for 16 concentrated star clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), approximately half of which constitute unstudied objects. We have estimated ages and foreground interstellar reddening values from the comparison of the line strengths and continuum distribution of the cluster spectra with those of template cluster spectra with known parameters. Most of the sample clusters are young blue clusters (6-50 Myr), while L 28, NGC 643 and L 114 are found to be intermediate-age clusters (1-6 Gyr). One well known SMC cluster (NGC 416) was observed for comparison purposes. The sample includes clusters in the surroundings and main body of the SMC, and the derived foreground reddening values are in the range 0.00 <= E(B-V) <= 0.15. The present data also make up a cluster spectral library at SMC metallicity. Based on observations made at Complejo Astronómico El Leoncito, which is operated under agreement between the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de la República Argentina and the National Universities of La Plata, Córdoba and San Juan, Argentina.

The WR/LBV system HD 5980 in the Small Magellanic Cloud: What is its evolutionary status?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koenigsberger, Gloria; Morrell, Nidia; Hillier, D. John; Barba, Rodolfo; Gamen, Roberto

2013-06-01

HD 5980 is located in the Small Magellanic Cloud and consists of two binary systems which, if physically associated, are very widely separated. Their orbital periods are 19.3d and 97d and each of these systems contains very luminous massive stars. The P=19.3d binary is peculiar in that it consists of two WR stars, one of which underwent an LBV eruption in 1994. Because this binary is eclipsing and because it has been monitored since the 1950s, we now have a good grasp on the fundamental parameters of the LBV component. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that its bolometric luminosity increased during the 1994 eruption. In this poster we will summarize our current knowledge of HD 5980, including recent results derived from observations at Las Campanas Observatory which yield an improved orbital solution for the two binary systems and strong limits on the mass of the LBV. With these data, it should now be possible to constrain the evolutionary path that has been followed by the LBV and speculate on its properties as it approaches the supernova stage.

Unraveling the Chemical Evolution of the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nidever, David L.; Hasselquist, Sten; Rochford Hayes, Christian; Majewski, Steven R.; Anguiano, Borja; Stringfellow, Guy S.; APOGEE Team

2018-06-01

How galaxies form and evolve remains one of the cornerstone questions in our understanding of the universe on grand scales. While much progress has been made in understanding the formation and chemical evolution of larger galaxies by studying the Milky Way and other nearby galaxies, our knowledge of the evolution of dwarf galaxies, especially the chemical component, is far more limited because these small galaxies and their constituent stars are quite faint. The SDSS-IV/APOGEE survey will dramatically improve the situation by conducting a large spectroscopic survey of 5,000 giant stars, sampling a large range of radius and position angle, in the nearby Magellanic Clouds (MCs). The main scientific goals of the project are to map out the chemical abundance patterns across the MCs, search for chemical and kinematical substructures, and unravel the chemical evolution of the MCs by comparing the APOGEE abundances to chemical evolution models and sophisticated chemo-hydrodynamical simulations. The observational campaign has just begun but we have already obtained high-quality data for several thousand stars. I will present some initial results of the APOGEE MC campaign including chemical abundance gradients, the metal-poor knee, and the origion of the retrograde metal-poor "Olsen" stellar stream in the LMC disk.

The Detection of Hot Cores and Complex Organic Molecules in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sewilo, Marta; Indebetouw, Remy; Charnley, Steven; Zahorecz, Sarolta; Oliveira, Joana M.; van Loon, Jacco Th.; Ward, Jacob L.; Chen, C.-H. Rosie; Wiseman, Jennifer; Fukui, Yasuo; Kawamura, Akiko; Meixner, Margaret; Onishi, Toshikazu; Schilke, Peter

2018-01-01

We report the detection of the complex organic molecules (COMs) dimethyl ether (CH3OCH3) and methyl formate (CH3OCHO), and their parent species methanol (CH3OH), toward the N113 star-formation region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). This constitutes the first detection of CH3OCH3 and CH3OCHO outside the Milky Way. We calculated the rotational temperatures (Trot ~ 130 K) and total column densities (Nrot ~ 1016 cm-2) for two sources in N113 with the COMs detection based on multiple transitions of CH3OH, and measured abundances for all detected species. The physical and chemical properties of these sources, and the association with H2O and OH maser emission indicate that they are hot molecular cores. The fractional abundances of COMs scaled by a factor of 2.5 to account for the lower metallicity in the LMC are comparable to those found at the lower end of the range in Galactic hot cores. Our results have important implications for studies of organic chemistry at higher redshift.

The Detection of Hot Cores and Complex Organic Molecules in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sewiło, Marta; Indebetouw, Remy; Charnley, Steven B.; Zahorecz, Sarolta; Oliveira, Joana M.; van Loon, Jacco Th.; Ward, Jacob L.; Chen, C.-H. Rosie; Wiseman, Jennifer; Fukui, Yasuo; Kawamura, Akiko; Meixner, Margaret; Onishi, Toshikazu; Schilke, Peter

2018-02-01

We report the first extragalactic detection of the complex organic molecules (COMs) dimethyl ether (CH3OCH3) and methyl formate (CH3OCHO) with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). These COMs, together with their parent species methanol (CH3OH), were detected toward two 1.3 mm continuum sources in the N 113 star-forming region in the low-metallicity Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Rotational temperatures ({T}{rot}∼ 130 K) and total column densities ({N}{rot}∼ {10}16 cm‑2) have been calculated for each source based on multiple transitions of CH3OH. We present the ALMA molecular emission maps for COMs and measured abundances for all detected species. The physical and chemical properties of two sources with COMs detection, and the association with H2O and OH maser emission, indicate that they are hot cores. The fractional abundances of COMs scaled by a factor of 2.5 to account for the lower metallicity in the LMC are comparable to those found at the lower end of the range in Galactic hot cores. Our results have important implications for studies of organic chemistry at higher redshift.

The Influential Effect of Blending, Bump, Changing Period, and Eclipsing Cepheids on the Leavitt Law

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

García-Varela, A.; Muñoz, J. R.; Sabogal, B. E.; Vargas Domínguez, S.; Martínez, J.

2016-06-01

The investigation of the nonlinearity of the Leavitt law (LL) is a topic that began more than seven decades ago, when some of the studies in this field found that the LL has a break at about 10 days. The goal of this work is to investigate a possible statistical cause of this nonlinearity. By applying linear regressions to OGLE-II and OGLE-IV data, we find that to obtain the LL by using linear regression, robust techniques to deal with influential points and/or outliers are needed instead of the ordinary least-squares regression traditionally used. In particular, by using M- and MM-regressions we establish firmly and without doubt the linearity of the LL in the Large Magellanic Cloud, without rejecting or excluding Cepheid data from the analysis. This implies that light curves of Cepheids suggesting blending, bumps, eclipses, or period changes do not affect the LL for this galaxy. For the Small Magellanic Cloud, when including Cepheids of this kind, it is not possible to find an adequate model, probably because of the geometry of the galaxy. In that case, a possible influence of these stars could exist.

Studies of Evolved Star Mass Loss: GRAMS Modeling of Red Supergiant and Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sargent, Benjamin A.; Srinivasan, S.; Riebel, D.; Boyer, M.; Meixner, M.

2012-01-01

As proposed in our NASA Astrophysics Data Analysis Program (ADAP) proposal, my colleagues and I are studying mass loss from evolved stars. Such stars lose their own mass in their dying stages, and in their expelled winds they form stardust. To model mass loss from these evolved stars, my colleagues and I have constructed GRAMS: the Grid of Red supergiant and Asymptotic giant branch star ModelS. These GRAMS radiative transfer models are fit to optical through mid-infrared photometry of red supergiant (RSG) stars and asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. I will discuss our current studies of mass loss from AGB and RSG stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), fitting GRAMS models to the photometry of SMC evolved star candidates identified from the SAGE-SMC (PI: K. Gordon) Spitzer Space Telescope Legacy survey. This work will be briefly compared to similar work we have done for the LMC. I will also discuss Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) studies of the dust produced by AGB and RSG stars in the LMC. BAS is grateful for support from the NASA-ADAP grant NNX11AB06G.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shi, Chang-Sheng; Zhang, Shuang-Nan; Li, Xiang-Dong, E-mail: zhangsn@ihep.ac.cn

We re-estimate the surface magnetic fields of neutron stars (NSs) in Be X-ray binaries (BeXBs) with different models of torque, improved beyond Klus et al. In particular, a new torque model is applied to three models of magnetosphere radius. Unlike the previous models, the new torque model does not lead to divergent results for any fastness parameter. The inferred surface magnetic fields of these NSs for the two compressed magnetosphere models are much higher than that for the uncompressed magnetosphere model. The new torque model using the compressed magnetosphere radius leads to unique solutions near spin equilibrium in all cases, unlike other modelsmore » that usually give two branches of solutions. Although our conclusions are still affected by the simplistic assumptions about the magnetosphere radius calculations, we show several groups of possible surface magnetic field values with our new models when the interaction between the magnetosphere and the infalling accretion plasma is considered. The estimated surface magnetic fields for NSs BeXBs in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Small Magellanic Cloud and the Milk Way are between the quantum critical field and the maximum “virial” value by the spin equilibrium condition.« less

Spitzer SAGE-Spec: Near infrared spectroscopy, dust shells, and cool envelopes in extreme Large Magellanic Cloud asymptotic giant branch stars

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Blum, R. D.; Srinivasan, S.; Kemper, F.

2014-11-01

K-band spectra are presented for a sample of 39 Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) SAGE-Spec sources in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The spectra exhibit characteristics in very good agreement with their positions in the near-infrared—Spitzer color-magnitude diagrams and their properties as deduced from the Spitzer IRS spectra. Specifically, the near-infrared spectra show strong atomic and molecular features representative of oxygen-rich and carbon-rich asymptotic giant branch stars, respectively. A small subset of stars was chosen from the luminous and red extreme ''tip'' of the color-magnitude diagram. These objects have properties consistent with dusty envelopes but also cool, carbon-rich ''stellar'' cores. Modest amountsmore » of dust mass loss combine with the stellar spectral energy distribution to make these objects appear extreme in their near-infrared and mid-infrared colors. One object in our sample, HV 915, a known post-asymptotic giant branch star of the RV Tau type, exhibits CO 2.3 μm band head emission consistent with previous work that demonstrates that the object has a circumstellar disk.« less

Massive runaway stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gvaramadze, V. V.; Pflamm-Altenburg, J.; Kroupa, P.

2011-01-01

Using archival Spitzer Space Telescope data, we identified for the first time a dozen runaway OB stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) through the detection of their bow shocks. The geometry of detected bow shocks allows us to infer the direction of motion of the associated stars and to determine their possible parent clusters and associations. One of the identified runaway stars, AzV 471, was already known as a high-velocity star on the basis of its high peculiar radial velocity, which is offset by ≃ 40 km s-1 from the local systemic velocity. We discuss implications of our findings for the problem of the origin of field OB stars. Several of the bow shock-producing stars are found in the confines of associations, suggesting that these may be “alien” stars contributing to the age spread observed for some young stellar systems. We also report the discovery of a kidney-shaped nebula attached to the early WN-type star SMC-WR3 (AzV 60a). We interpreted this nebula as an interstellar structure created owing to the interaction between the stellar wind and the ambient interstellar medium.

Tracers of Stellar Mass-loss. II. Mid-IR Colors and Surface Brightness Fluctuations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

González-Lópezlira, Rosa A.

2018-04-01

I present integrated colors and surface brightness fluctuation magnitudes in the mid-infrared (IR), derived from stellar population synthesis models that include the effects of the dusty envelopes around thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) stars. The models are based on the Bruzual & Charlot CB* isochrones; they are single-burst, range in age from a few Myr to 14 Gyr, and comprise metallicities between Z = 0.0001 and Z = 0.04. I compare these models to mid-IR data of AGB stars and star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds, and study the effects of varying self-consistently the mass-loss rate, the stellar parameters, and the output spectra of the stars plus their dusty envelopes. I find that models with a higher than fiducial mass-loss rate are needed to fit the mid-IR colors of “extreme” single AGB stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Surface brightness fluctuation magnitudes are quite sensitive to metallicity for 4.5 μm and longer wavelengths at all stellar population ages, and powerful diagnostics of mass-loss rate in the TP-AGB for intermediate-age populations, between 100 Myr and 2–3 Gyr.

Identifying High-redshift Gamma-Ray Bursts with RATIR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Littlejohns, O. M.; Butler, N. R.; Cucchiara, A.; Watson, A. M.; Kutyrev, A. S.; Lee, W. H.; Richer, M. G.; Klein, C. R.; Fox, O. D.; Prochaska, J. X.; Bloom, J. S.; Troja, E.; Ramirez-Ruiz, E.; de Diego, J. A.; Georgiev, L.; González, J.; Román-Zúñiga, C. G.; Gehrels, N.; Moseley, H.

2014-07-01

We present a template-fitting algorithm for determining photometric redshifts, z phot, of candidate high-redshift gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Using afterglow photometry, obtained by the Reionization and Transients InfraRed (RATIR) camera, this algorithm accounts for the intrinsic GRB afterglow spectral energy distribution, host dust extinction, and the effect of neutral hydrogen (local and cosmological) along the line of sight. We present the results obtained by this algorithm and the RATIR photometry of GRB 130606A, finding a range of best-fit solutions, 5.6 < z phot < 6.0, for models of several host dust extinction laws (none, the Milky Way, Large Magellanic Clouds, and Small Magellanic Clouds), consistent with spectroscopic measurements of the redshift of this GRB. Using simulated RATIR photometry, we find that our algorithm provides precise measures of z phot in the ranges of 4 < z phot <~ 8 and 9 < z phot < 10 and can robustly determine when z phot > 4. Further testing highlights the required caution in cases of highly dust-extincted host galaxies. These tests also show that our algorithm does not erroneously find z phot < 4 when z sim > 4, thereby minimizing false negatives and allowing us to rapidly identify all potential high-redshift events.

New Self-lensing Models of the Small Magellanic Cloud: Can Gravitational Microlensing Detect Extragalactic Exoplanets?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mróz, Przemek; Poleski, Radosław

2018-04-01

We use three-dimensional distributions of classical Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) to model the stellar density distribution of a young and old stellar population in that galaxy. We use these models to estimate the microlensing self-lensing optical depth to the SMC, which is in excellent agreement with the observations. Our models are consistent with the total stellar mass of the SMC of about 1.0× {10}9 {M}ȯ under the assumption that all microlensing events toward this galaxy are caused by self-lensing. We also calculate the expected event rates and estimate that future large-scale surveys, like the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), will be able to detect up to a few dozen microlensing events in the SMC annually. If the planet frequency in the SMC is similar to that in the Milky Way, a few extragalactic planets can be detected over the course of the LSST survey, provided significant changes in the SMC observing strategy are devised. A relatively small investment of LSST resources can give us a unique probe of the population of extragalactic exoplanets.

Chemical Composition of RM_1-390 - Large Magellanic Cloud Red Supergiant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yushchenko, Alexander V.; Jeong, Yeuncheol; Gopka, Vira F.; Vasil`eva, Svetlana V.; Andrievsky, Sergey M.; Yushchenko, Volodymyr O.

2017-09-01

A high resolution spectroscopic observation of the red supergiant star RM_1-390 in the Large Magellanic Cloud was made from a 3.6 m telescope at the European Southern Observatory. Spectral resolving power was R=20,000, with a signal-to-noise ratio S/N > 100. We found the atmospheric parameters of RM_1-390 to be as follows: the effective temperature Teff = 4,250 ± 50 K, the surface gravity log g = 0.16 ± 0.1, the microturbulent velocity vmicro = 2.5 km/s, the macroturbulence velocity vmacro = 9 km/s and the iron abundance [Fe/H] = -0.73 ± 0.11. The abundances of 18 chemical elements from silicon to thorium in the atmosphere of RM_1-390 were found using the spectrum synthesis method. The relative deficiencies of all elements are close to that of iron. The fit of abundance pattern by the solar system distribution of r- and s-element isotopes shows the importance of the s-process. The plot of relative abundances as a function of second ionization potentials of corresponding chemical elements allows us to find a possibility of convective energy transport in the photosphere of RM_1-390.

Supernova Origin of Cosmic Rays from a γ-Ray Signal in the Constellation III Region of the Large Magellanic Cloud.

PubMed

Neronov, Andrii

2017-11-10

Cosmic rays could be produced via shock acceleration powered by supernovae. The supernova hypothesis implies that each supernova injects, on average, some 10^{50}  erg in cosmic rays, while the shock acceleration model predicts a power law cosmic ray spectrum with the slope close to 2. Verification of these predictions requires measurement of the spectrum and power of cosmic ray injection from supernova population(s). Here, we obtain such measurements based on γ-ray observation of the Constellation III region of the Large Magellanic Cloud. We show that γ-ray emission from this young star formation region originates from cosmic rays injected by approximately two thousand supernovae, rather than by a massive star wind powered by a superbubble predating supernova activity. Cosmic ray injection power is found to be (1.1_{-0.2}^{+0.5})×10^{50}  erg/supernova (for the estimated interstellar medium density 0.3  cm^{-3}). The spectrum is a power law with slope 2.09_{-0.07}^{+0.06}. This agrees with the model of particle acceleration at supernova shocks and provides a direct proof of the supernova origin of cosmic rays.

Galaxy Evolution Explorer Spies Band of Stars

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-06-20

Globular star cluster NGC 362, in a false-color image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Virginia The Galaxy Evolution Explorer's ultraviolet eyes have captured a globular star cluster, called NGC 362, in our own Milky Way galaxy. In this new image, the cluster appears next to stars from a more distant neighboring galaxy, known as the Small Magellanic Cloud. "This image is so interesting because it allows a study of the final stages of evolution of low-mass stars in NGC 362, as well as the history of star formation in the Small Magellanic Cloud," said Ricardo Schiavon of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va. Globular clusters are densely packed bunches of old stars scattered in galaxies throughout the universe. NGC 362, located 30,000 light-years away, can be spotted as the dense collection of mostly yellow-tinted stars surrounding a large white-yellow spot toward the top-right of this image. The white spot is actually the core of the cluster, which is made up of stars so closely packed together that the Galaxy Evolution Explorer cannot see them individually. The light blue dots surrounding the cluster core are called extreme horizontal branch stars. These stars used to be very similar to our sun and are nearing the end of their lives. They are very hot, with temperatures reaching up to about four times that of the surface of our sun (25,000 Kelvin or 45,500 degrees Fahrenheit). A star like our sun spends most of its life fusing hydrogen atoms in its core into helium. When the star runs out of hydrogen in its core, its outer envelope will expand. The star then becomes a red giant, which burns hydrogen in a shell surrounding its inner core. Throughout its life as a red giant, the star loses a lot of mass, then begins to burn helium at its core. Some stars will have lost so much mass at the end of this process, up to 85 percent of their envelopes, that most of the envelope is gone. What is left is a very hot ultraviolet-bright core, or extreme horizontal branch star. Blue dots scattered throughout the image are hot, young stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way located approximately 200,000 light-years away. The stars in this galaxy are much brighter intrinsically than extreme horizontal branch stars, but they appear just as bright because they are farther away. The blue stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud are only about a few tens of millions of years old, much younger than the approximately 10-million-year-old stars in NGC 362. Because NGC 362 sits on the northern edge of the Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy, the blue stars are denser toward the south, or bottom, of the image. Some of the yellow spots in this image are stars in the Milky Way galaxy that are along this line of sight. Astronomers believe that some of the other spots, particularly those closer to NGC 362, might actually be a relatively ultraviolet-dim family of stars called "blue stragglers." These stars are formed from collisions or close encounters between two closely orbiting stars in a globular cluster. "This observation could only be done with the Galaxy Evolution Explorer because it is the only ultraviolet imager available to the astronomical community with such a large field of view," said Schiavon. This image is a false-color composite, where light detected by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer's far-ultraviolet detector is colored blue, and light from the telescope's near-ultraviolet detector is red. Written by Linda Vu, Spitzer Science Center Media contact: Whitney Clavin/JPL (818) 354-4673

From gas to stars in energetic environments: dense gas clumps in the 30 Doradus region within the Large Magellanic Cloud

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anderson, Crystal N.; Meier, David S.; Ott, Jürgen

2014-09-20

We present parsec-scale interferometric maps of HCN(1-0) and HCO{sup +}(1-0) emission from dense gas in the star-forming region 30 Doradus, obtained using the Australia Telescope Compact Array. This extreme star-forming region, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), is characterized by a very intense ultraviolet ionizing radiation field and sub-solar metallicity, both of which are expected to impact molecular cloud structure. We detect 13 bright, dense clumps within the 30 Doradus-10 giant molecular cloud. Some of the clumps are aligned along a filamentary structure with a characteristic spacing that is consistent with formation via varicose fluid instability. Our analysis showsmore » that the filament is gravitationally unstable and collapsing to form stars. There is a good correlation between HCO{sup +} emission in the filament and signatures of recent star formation activity including H{sub 2}O masers and young stellar objects (YSOs). YSOs seem to continue along the same direction of the filament toward the massive compact star cluster R136 in the southwest. We present detailed comparisons of clump properties (masses, linewidths, and sizes) in 30Dor-10 to those in other star forming regions of the LMC (N159, N113, N105, and N44). Our analysis shows that the 30Dor-10 clumps have similar masses but wider linewidths and similar HCN/HCO{sup +} (1-0) line ratios as clumps detected in other LMC star-forming regions. Our results suggest that the dense molecular gas clumps in the interior of 30Dor-10 are well shielded against the intense ionizing field that is present in the 30 Doradus region.« less

Application of Stochastic and Deterministic Approaches to Modeling Interstellar Chemistry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pei, Yezhe

This work is about simulations of interstellar chemistry using the deterministic rate equation (RE) method and the stochastic moment equation (ME) method. Primordial metal-poor interstellar medium (ISM) is of our interest and the socalled “Population-II” stars could have been formed in this environment during the “Epoch of Reionization” in the baby universe. We build a gas phase model using the RE scheme to describe the ionization-powered interstellar chemistry. We demonstrate that OH replaces CO as the most abundant metal-bearing molecule in such interstellar clouds of the early universe. Grain surface reactions play an important role in the studies of astrochemistry. But the lack of an accurate yet effective simulation method still presents a challenge, especially for large, practical gas-grain system. We develop a hybrid scheme of moment equations and rate equations (HMR) for large gas-grain network to model astrochemical reactions in the interstellar clouds. Specifically, we have used a large chemical gas-grain model, with stochastic moment equations to treat the surface chemistry and deterministic rate equations to treat the gas phase chemistry, to simulate astrochemical systems as of the ISM in the Milky Way, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We compare the results to those of pure rate equations and modified rate equations and present a discussion about how moment equations improve our theoretical modeling and how the abundances of the assorted species are changed by varied metallicity. We also model the observed composition of H2O, CO and CO2 ices toward Young Stellar Objects in the LMC and show that the HMR method gives a better match to the observation than the pure RE method.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Spitzer/IRS obs. of Magellanic carbon stars (Sloan+, 2016)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sloan, G. C.; Kraemer, K. E.; McDonald, I.; Groenewegen, M. A. T.; Wood, P. R.; Zijlstra, A. A.; Lagadec, E.; Boyer, M. L.; Kemper, F.; Matsuura, M.; Sahai, R.; Sargent, B. A.; Srinivasan, S.; van Loon, J. T.; Volk, K.

2016-09-01

Table 1 lists the 144 objects in the LMC and 40 in the SMC observed with the IRS (spectral coverage at 5-14um and 14-37um, respectively, with a resolution R~80-120) and identified as carbon stars. A variety of Spitzer observing programs contributed to the present sample of carbon stars (see Note 2 in table 1). We adopt distance moduli for the LMC and SMC of 18.5 and 18.9, respectively. For all of our targets, we have constructed SEDs based on multi-epoch photometry in the optical, near-IR, and mid-IR from several surveys. The mid-IR data come from the SAGE survey of the LMC (Meixner et al. 2006, J/AJ/132/2268) and the SAGE-SMC survey for the SMC (Gordon et al. 2011AJ....142..102G)). The SAGE-VAR survey adds four epochs from the Warm Spitzer Mission at 3.6 and 4.5um for portions of the LMC and SMC (Riebel et al. 2015ApJ...807....1R). We also used additional epochs at 3.4 and 4.6um from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Experiment (WISE; Wright et al. 2010AJ....140.1868W) and the NEOWISE reactivation mission (Mainzer et al. 2014ApJ...792...30M). Near-IR photometry comes from the 2MASS survey, and the deeper 2MASS-6X survey provides a second epoch at J, H, and Ks (Cutri et al. 2012, II/281; Skrutskie et al. 2006, VII/233). Additional epochs come from the Deep Near-IR Survey of the Southern Sky (DENIS) at J and Ks (Cioni et al. 2000, II/228) and the IR Survey Facility (IRSF) at J, H, and Ks (Kato et al. 2007, II/288). In the optical, we relied on the Magellanic Clouds Photometric Survey (MCPS) at U, B, V, and I (Zaritsky et al. 2002, J/AJ/123/855; 2004, J/AJ/128/1606). DENIS adds data at I. Additional mean magnitudes at V and I in the LMC come from the OGLE-III Shallow Survey (Ulaczyk et al. 2013, J/AcA/63/1). Where possible, we replaced the V and I data with mean magnitudes from the OGLE-III surveys of the Magellanic Clouds, which also give pulsation periods and amplitudes (Soszynski et al. 2009, J/AcA/59/335; 2011, J/AcA/61/217). We also consider a Galactic control sample using spectra from the Short-Wavelength Spectrometer (SWS) on the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO); see section 2.5. (7 data files).

OXYGEN-RICH SUPERNOVA REMNANT IN THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

This is a NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of the tattered debris of a star that exploded 3,000 years ago as a supernova. This supernova remnant, called N132D, lies 169,000 light-years away in the satellite galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. A Hubble Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 image of the inner regions of the supernova remnant shows the complex collisions that take place as fast moving ejecta slam into cool, dense interstellar clouds. This level of detail in the expanding filaments could only be seen previously in much closer supernova remnants. Now, Hubble's capabilities extend the detailed study of supernovae out to the distance of a neighboring galaxy. Material thrown out from the interior of the exploded star at velocities of more than four million miles per hour (2,000 kilometers per second) plows into neighboring clouds to create luminescent shock fronts. The blue-green filaments in the image correspond to oxygen-rich gas ejected from the core of the star. The oxygen-rich filaments glow as they pass through a network of shock fronts reflected off dense interstellar clouds that surrounded the exploded star. These dense clouds, which appear as reddish filaments, also glow as the shock wave from the supernova crushes and heats the clouds. Supernova remnants provide a rare opportunity to observe directly the interiors of stars far more massive than our Sun. The precursor star to this remnant, which was located slightly below and left of center in the image, is estimated to have been 25 times the mass of our Sun. These stars 'cook' heavier elements through nuclear fusion, including oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, iron etc., and the titanic supernova explosions scatter this material back into space where it is used to create new generations of stars. This is the mechanism by which the gas and dust that formed our solar system became enriched with the elements that sustain life on this planet. Hubble spectroscopic observations will be used to determine the exact chemical composition of this nuclear- processed material, and thereby test theories of stellar evolution. The image shows a region of the remnant 50 light-years across. The supernova explosion should have been visible from Earth's southern hemisphere around 1,000 B.C., but there are no known historical records that chronicle what would have appeared as a 'new star' in the heavens. This 'true color' picture was made by superposing images taken on 9-10 August 1994 in three of the strongest optical emission lines: singly ionized sulfur (red), doubly ionized oxygen (green), and singly ionized oxygen (blue). Photo credit: Jon A. Morse (STScI) and NASA Investigating team: William P. Blair (PI; JHU), Michael A. Dopita (MSSSO), Robert P. Kirshner (Harvard), Knox S. Long (STScI), Jon A. Morse (STScI), John C. Raymond (SAO), Ralph S. Sutherland (UC-Boulder), and P. Frank Winkler (Middlebury). Image files in GIF and JPEG format may be accessed via anonymous ftp from oposite.stsci.edu in /pubinfo: GIF: /pubinfo/GIF/N132D.GIF JPEG: /pubinfo/JPEG/N132D.jpg The same images are available via World Wide Web from links in URL http://www.stsci.edu/public.html.

Determining accurate distances to nearby galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonanos, Alceste Zoe

2005-11-01

Determining accurate distances to nearby or distant galaxies is a very simple conceptually, yet complicated in practice, task. Presently, distances to nearby galaxies are only known to an accuracy of 10-15%. The current anchor galaxy of the extragalactic distance scale is the Large Magellanic Cloud, which has large (10-15%) systematic uncertainties associated with it, because of its morphology, its non-uniform reddening and the unknown metallicity dependence of the Cepheid period-luminosity relation. This work aims to determine accurate distances to some nearby galaxies, and subsequently help reduce the error in the extragalactic distance scale and the Hubble constant H 0 . In particular, this work presents the first distance determination of the DIRECT Project to M33 with detached eclipsing binaries. DIRECT aims to obtain a new anchor galaxy for the extragalactic distance scale by measuring direct, accurate (to 5%) distances to two Local Group galaxies, M31 and M33, with detached eclipsing binaries. It involves a massive variability survey of these galaxies and subsequent photometric and spectroscopic follow-up of the detached binaries discovered. In this work, I also present a catalog of variable stars discovered in one of the DIRECT fields, M31Y, which includes 41 eclipsing binaries. Additionally, we derive the distance to the Draco Dwarf Spheroidal galaxy, with ~100 RR Lyrae found in our first CCD variability study of this galaxy. A "hybrid" method of discovering Cepheids with ground-based telescopes is described next. It involves applying the image subtraction technique on the images obtained from ground-based telescopes and then following them up with the Hubble Space Telescope to derive Cepheid period-luminosity distances. By re-analyzing ESO Very Large Telescope data on M83 (NGC 5236), we demonstrate that this method is much more powerful for detecting variability, especially in crowded fields. I finally present photometry for the Wolf-Rayet binary WR 20a, which confirmed that the system consists of two extremely massive stars and refined the values of the masses. It is the most massive binary known with an accurate mass determination.

A Modern Search for Wolf-Rayet Stars in the Magellanic Clouds. III. A Third Year of Discoveries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Massey, Philip; Neugent, Kathryn F.; Morrell, Nidia

2017-03-01

For the past three years we have been conducting a survey for Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC, SMC). Our previous work resulted in the discovery of a new type of WR star in the LMC, which we are calling WN3/O3. These stars have the emission-line properties of a WN3 star (strong N v, but no N IV), plus the absorption-line properties of an O3 star (Balmer hydrogen plus Pickering He II, but no He I). Yet, these stars are 15 times fainter than an O3 V star, ruling out the possibility that WN3/O3s are WN3+O3 binaries. Here we report the discovery of two more members of this class, bringing the total number of these objects to 10, 6.5% of the LMC’s total WR population. The optical spectra of nine of these WN3/O3s are virtually indistinguishable from each other, but one of the newly found stars is significantly different, showing a lower excitation emission and absorption spectrum (WN4/O4-ish). In addition, we have newly classified three unusual Of-type stars, including one with a strong C III λ 4650 line, and two rapidly rotating “Oef” stars. We also “rediscovered” a low mass X-ray binary, RX J0513.9-6951, and demonstrate its spectral variability. Finally, we discuss the spectra of 10 low priority WR candidates that turned out to not have He II emission. These include both a Be star and a B[e] star. This paper includes data gathered with the 1 m Swope and 6.5 m Magellan Telescopes located at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile.

GLOBULAR CLUSTER ABUNDANCES FROM HIGH-RESOLUTION, INTEGRATED-LIGHT SPECTROSCOPY. III. THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD: Fe AND AGES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Colucci, Janet E.; Bernstein, Rebecca A.; Cameron, Scott A.

2011-07-01

In this paper, we refine our method for the abundance analysis of high-resolution spectroscopy of the integrated light of unresolved globular clusters (GCs). This method was previously demonstrated for the analysis of old (>10 Gyr) Milky Way (MW) GCs. Here, we extend the technique to young clusters using a training set of nine GCs in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Depending on the signal-to-noise ratio of the data, we use 20-100 Fe lines per cluster to successfully constrain the ages of old clusters to within a {approx}5 Gyr range, the ages of {approx}2 Gyr clusters to a 1-2 Gyr range, andmore » the ages of the youngest clusters (0.05-1 Gyr) to a {approx}200 Myr range. We also demonstrate that we can measure [Fe/H] in clusters with any age less than 12 Gyr with similar or only slightly larger uncertainties (0.1-0.25 dex) than those obtained for old MW GCs (0.1 dex); the slightly larger uncertainties are due to the rapid evolution in stellar populations at these ages. In this paper, we present only Fe abundances and ages. In the next paper in this series, we present our complete analysis of {approx}20 elements for which we are able to measure abundances. For several of the clusters in this sample, there are no high-resolution abundances in the literature from individual member stars; our results are the first detailed chemical abundances available. The spectra used in this paper were obtained at Las Campanas with the echelle on the du Pont Telescope and with the MIKE spectrograph on the Magellan Clay Telescope.« less

A Runaway Yellow Supergiant Star in the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neugent, Kathryn F.; Massey, Philip; Morrell, Nidia I.; Skiff, Brian; Georgy, Cyril

2018-05-01

We recently discovered a yellow supergiant (YSG) in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) with a heliocentric radial velocity of ∼300 km s‑1, which is much larger than expected for a star at its location in the SMC. This is the first runaway YSG ever discovered and only the second evolved runaway star discovered in a galaxy other than the Milky Way. We classify the star as G5-8 I and use de-reddened broad-band colors with model atmospheres to determine an effective temperature of 4700 ± 250 K, consistent with what is expected from its spectral type. The star’s luminosity is then log L/L ⊙ ∼ 4.2 ± 0.1, consistent with it being a ∼30 Myr 9 M ⊙ star according to the Geneva evolution models. The star is currently located in the outer portion of the SMC’s body, but if the star’s transverse peculiar velocity is similar to its peculiar radial velocity, in 10 Myr the star would have moved 1.°6 across the disk of the SMC and could easily have been born in one of the SMC’s star-forming regions. Based on its large radial velocity, we suggest it originated in a binary system where the primary exploded as a supernovae, thus flinging the runaway star out into space. Such stars may provide an important mechanism for the dispersal of heavier elements in galaxies given the large percentage of massive stars that are runaways. In the future, we hope to look into additional evolved runaway stars that were discovered as part of our other past surveys. This paper includes data gathered with the 6.5 m Magellan Telescopes located at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile.

Examining the infrared variable star population discovered in the Small Magellanic Cloud using the SAGE-SMC survey

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Polsdofer, Elizabeth; Marengo, M.; Seale, J.

2015-02-01

We present our study on the infrared variability of point sources in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We use the data from the Spitzer Space Telescope Legacy Program “Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the Tidally Stripped, Low Metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud” (SAGE-SMC) and the “Spitzer Survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud” (S{sup 3}MC) survey, over three different epochs, separated by several months to 3 years. Variability in the thermal infrared is identified using a combination of Spitzer’s InfraRed Array Camera 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 μm bands, and the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer 24 μm band. Anmore » error-weighted flux difference between each pair of three epochs (“variability index”) is used to assess the variability of each source. A visual source inspection is used to validate the photometry and image quality. Out of ∼2 million sources in the SAGE-SMC catalog, 814 meet our variability criteria. We matched the list of variable star candidates to the catalogs of SMC sources classified with other methods, available in the literature. Carbon-rich Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars make up the majority (61%) of our variable sources, with about a third of all of our sources being classified as extreme AGB stars. We find a small, but significant population of oxygen-rich (O-rich) AGB (8.6%), Red Supergiant (2.8%), and Red Giant Branch (<1%) stars. Other matches to the literature include Cepheid variable stars (8.6%), early type stars (2.8%), Young-stellar objects (5.8%), and background galaxies (1.2%). We found a candidate OH maser star, SSTISAGE1C J005212.88-730852.8, which is a variable O-rich AGB star, and would be the first OH/IR star in the SMC, if confirmed. We measured the infrared variability of a rare RV Tau variable (a post-AGB star) that has recently left the AGB phase. 59 variable stars from our list remain unclassified.« less

Traces of influence of the surface topography in the Venus atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zasova, Ludmila; Khatuntsev, Igor; Patsaeva, Marina; Ignatiev, Nikolay; Gorinov, Dmitry

2017-04-01

We study the traces of influence of the Venus' topography like Ishtar , Beta Regio, Atalanta Planitia in the Venus atmosphere. From the Fourier Spectrometry on Venera-15 (FS-V15) the 3-D temperature and clouds fields in mesosphere were retrieved [Zasova et al, PSS,2007]. It was found that distribution of temperature is described by the Fourier decomposition with 1, 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4days and upper boundary of clouds (1, 1/2 days) harmonics in Solar-fixed coordinates. The amplitudes of the thermal tide harmonics with wavenumbers 1 and 2 reach 10 K. We found that in the Sun- fixed frame of reference, both maxima and minima are shifted from noon and from midnight to westwards, in direction of the superrotation. Comparison the fields of temperature at isobaric levels (from 60 to 95 km), altitude of upper boundary of the upper and middle clouds, the thermal zonal wind with the Magellan topography maps shows that for all cases the high correlation with the images of the structures in Ishtar, Beta Regio, Atalanta Planitia are observed. For example, it was found that temperature field near upper boundary of clouds (at 65 km) in latitude-longitude coordinates shows a good correspondence between topography (Ishtar, Beta Regio and Atalanta Planitia) and temperature perturbations with coefficient of correlation CC>0.9. The temperature and clouds maps in comparison to the map of Magellan topography show that the perturbations are shifted by 30° also in the direction of superrotation. Venera-15 had geometry observations very convenient for thermal tides observation (polar orbit with pericenter near N-pole), the important results was obtained even with spatial coverage not enough. Interpretation of observed phenomena still not clear. Detailed study continues, also in comparison with VMS and VIRTIS observations for the Southern hemisphere.

ALMA Observations of N83C in the Early Stage of Star Formation in the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muraoka, Kazuyuki; Homma, Aya; Onishi, Toshikazu; Tokuda, Kazuki; Harada, Ryohei; Morioka, Yuuki; Zahorecz, Sarolta; Saigo, Kazuya; Kawamura, Akiko; Mizuno, Norikazu; Minamidani, Tetsuhiro; Muller, Erik; Fukui, Yasuo; Meixner, Margaret; Indebetouw, Remy; Sewiło, Marta; Bolatto, Alberto

2017-08-01

We have performed Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations in the 12CO(J=2-1), 13CO(J=2-1), C18O(J=2-1), 12CO(J=3-2), 13CO(J=3-2), and CS(J=7-6) lines toward the active star-forming region N83C in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), whose metallicity is about one-fifth of the Milky Way (MW). The ALMA observations first reveal subparsec-scale molecular structures in 12CO(J=2-1) and 13CO(J=2-1) emissions. We found strong CO peaks associated with young stellar objects (YSOs) identified by the Spitzer Space Telescope, and we also found that overall molecular gas is distributed along the edge of the neighboring {{H}} II region. We derived a gas density of ˜ {10}4 cm-3 in molecular clouds associated with YSOs based on the virial mass estimated from the 12CO(J=2-1) emission. This high gas density is presumably due to the effect of the {{H}} II region under the low-metallicity (and accordingly small-dust content) environment in the SMC; far-UV radiation from the {{H}} II region can easily penetrate and photodissociate the outer layer of 12CO molecules in the molecular clouds, and thus only the innermost parts of the molecular clouds are observed even in 12CO emission. We obtained the CO-to-H2 conversion factor {X}{CO} of 7.5× {10}20 cm-2 (K km s-1)-1 in N83C based on virial masses and CO luminosities, and it is four times larger than that in the MW, 2 × {10}20 cm-2 (K km s-1)-1. We also discuss the difference in the nature between two high-mass YSOs, each of which is associated with a molecular clump with a mass of about a few × {10}3 {M}⊙ .

A study of the cool gas in the Large Magellanic Cloud. I. Properties of the cool atomic phase - a third H i absorption survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marx-Zimmer, M.; Herbstmeier, U.; Dickey, J. M.; Zimmer, F.; Staveley-Smith, L.; Mebold, U.

2000-02-01

The cool atomic interstellar medium of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) seems to be quite different from that in the Milky Way. In a series of three papers we study the properties of the cool atomic hydrogen in the LMC (Paper I), its relation to molecular clouds using SEST-CO-observations (Paper II) and the cooling mechanism of the atomic gas based on ISO-[\\CII]-investigations (Paper III). In this paper we present the results of a third 21 cm absorption line survey toward the LMC carried out with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). 20 compact continuum sources, which are mainly in the direction of the supergiant shell LMC 4, toward the surroundings of 30 Doradus and toward the eastern steep \\HI\\ boundary, have been chosen from the 1.4 GHz snapshot continuum survey of Marx et al. We have identified 20 absorption features toward nine of the 20 sources. The properties of the cool \\HI\\ clouds are investigated and are compared for the different regions of the LMC taking the results of Dickey et al. (survey 2) into account. We find that the cool \\HI\\ gas in the LMC is either unusually abundant compared to the cool atomic phase of the Milky Way or the gas is clearly colder (\\Tc\\ ~ 30 K) than that in our Galaxy (\\Tc\\ ~ 60 K). The properties of atomic clouds toward 30 Doradus and LMC 4 suggest a higher cooling rate in these regions compared to other parts of the LMC, probably due to an enhanced pressure near the shock fronts of LMC 4 and 30 Doradus. The detected cool atomic gas toward the eastern steep \\HI\\ boundary might be the result of a high compression of gas at the leading edge. The Australia Telescope is funded by the Commonwealth of Australia for operation as a National Facility managed by CSIRO.

Chemical Composition of Young Stars in the Leading Arm of the Magellanic System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Lan; Zhao, Gang; Moni Bidin, Christian

2017-02-01

Chemical abundances of eight O- and B-type stars are determined from high-resolution spectra obtained with the MIKE instrument on the Magellan 6.5 m Clay telescope. The sample is selected from 42 candidates for membership in the Leading Arm (LA) of the Magellanic System. Stellar parameters are measured by two independent grids of model atmospheres and analysis procedures, confirming the consistency of the stellar parameter results. Abundances of seven elements (He, C, N, O, Mg, Si, and S) are determined for the stars, as are their radial velocities and estimates of distances and ages. Among the seven B-type stars analyzed, themore » five that have radial velocities compatible with membership of the LA have an average [Mg/H] of −0.42 ± 0.16, significantly lower than the average of the remaining two, [Mg/H] = −0.07±0.06, which are kinematical members of the Galactic disk. Among the five LA members, four have individual [Mg/H] abundance compatible with that in the LMC. Within errors, we cannot exclude the possibility that one of these stars has an [Mg/H] consistent with the more metal-poor, SMC-like material. The remaining fifth star has an [Mg/H] close to Milky Way values. Distances to the LA members indicate that they are at the edge of the Galactic disk, while ages are of the order of ∼50–70 Myr, lower than the dynamical age of the LA, suggesting a single star-forming episode in the LA. V {sub LSR} of the LA members decreases with decreasing Magellanic longitude, confirming the results of previous LA gas studies.« less

Earth observation taken by the Expedition 43 crew

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-04-18

ISS043E125469 (04/18/2015) --- A dying sun turns the Earth gold with cities sparkling to match the stars that spread out from the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Terry Verts tweeted this wondrous image with the attached comment about the stars: " See those light clusters? (center sky left and right)They are Magellanic clouds, a duo of dwarf galaxies seen from the southern hemisphere".

The Multiplicity of Massive Stars: A High Angular Resolution Survey With The HST Fine Guidance Sensor

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-01

al. (2014), and of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) Tarantula Nebula region by Sana et al. (2013b), demonstrate that the binary frequency may be »70...Monte-Carlo method to fit spectroscopic results for a large sample of O-type stars in the Tarantula Nebula region of the LMC, and they find a best fit

Neutral gas and diffuse interstellar bands in the LMC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Danks, Anthony C.; Penprase, Brian

1994-01-01

Tracing the dynamics of the neutral gas and observing diffuse interstellar bands in the LMC (Large Magellanic Cloud) was the focus of this study. The S/N values, a Quartz lamp exposure, a T horium Argon Comparision lamp exposure, and spectral plots for each star observed were taken. The stars observed were selected to sample the 30 Dor vicinty. NaI absorption profiles are included.

Festive Nebulas Light Up Milky Way Galaxy Satellite

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured two festive-looking nebulas, situated so as to appear as one. They reside in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that is a satellite of our Milky Way galaxy. Intense radiation from the brilliant central stars is heating hydrogen in each of the nebulas, causing them to glow red. The nebulas, together, are called NGC 248. They were discovered in 1834 by the astronomer Sir John Herschel. NGC 248 is about 60 light-years long and 20 light-years wide. It is among a number of glowing hydrogen nebulas in the dwarf satellite galaxy, which is located approximately 200,000 light-years away in the southern constellation Tucana. The image is part of a study called Small Magellanic Cloud Investigation of Dust and Gas Evolution (SMIDGE). Astronomers are using Hubble to probe the Milky Way satellite to understand how dust is different in galaxies that have a far lower supply of heavy elements needed to create dust. The Small Magellanic Cloud has between a fifth and a tenth of the amount of heavy elements that the Milky Way does. Because it is so close, astronomers can study its dust in great detail, and learn about what dust was like earlier in the history of the universe. “It is important for understanding the history of our own galaxy, too,” explained the study’s principal investigator, Dr. Karin Sandstrom of the University of California, San Diego. Most of the star formation happened earlier in the universe, at a time where there was a much lower percentage of heavy elements than there is now. “Dust is a really critical part of how a galaxy works, how it forms stars,” said Sandstrom. Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, K. Sandstrom (University of California, San Diego), and the SMIDGE team NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

A new transient pulsar in the Small Magellanic Cloud with an unusual x-ray spectrum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hughes, John P.

1994-01-01

This article reports the discovery of a luminous (3.5 x 10(exp 37) ergs/sec over the 0.2 to 2 keV band) transient X-ray pulsar in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) with an extremely soft component to its X-ray spectrum. This is the first time that a spectrum of this type has been seen in this class of X-ray source. The pulse period is 2.7632 s, and the pulse modulation appears to vary with energy from nearly unpulsed in the low-energy band of the ROSAT Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC) (0.07 to 0.4 keV) to about 50% in the high-energy band (1.0 to 2.4 keV). The object, RX J0059.2-7138, also shows flickering variability in its X-ray emission on timescales of 50 to 100s. The pulse-phase-averaged PSPC X-ray spectrum can be well described by a two-component source model seen through an absorbing column density of approximately 10(exp 21) atoms cm(exp -2). One spectral component is a power law with photon index 2.4. The other component is significantly softer and can be described by either a steeply falling power law or a blackbody with a temperature KT(sub BB) approximately 35 eV. Ths component is transient, but evidently upulsed, and, for the blackbody model fits, requires a large bolometric luminosity: near, or even several times greater than, the Eddington luminosity for a 1.4 solar mass object. When these characteristics of its soft emission are considered, RX J0059.2-7138 appears quite similar to other X-ray sources in the magellanic Clouds, such as CAL 83, CAL 87, and RX J0527.8-6954, which show only extreme ultrasoft (EUS) X-ray spectra. The discovery of RX J0059.2-7138, a probably high-mass X-ray binary, clearly indicates that EUS spectra may arise from accretion-powered neutron-star X-ray sources. This result lends support to the idea that some of the 'pure' EUS sources may be shrouded low-mass X-ray binaries rather than accreting white dwarfs.

Wolf-Rayet spin at low metallicity and its implication for black hole formation channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vink, Jorick S.; Harries, Tim J.

2017-07-01

Context. The spin of Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars at low metallicity (Z) is most relevant for our understanding of gravitational wave sources, such as GW 150914, and of the incidence of long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Two scenarios have been suggested for both phenomena: one of them involves rapid rotation and quasi-chemical homogeneous evolution (CHE) and the other invokes classical evolution through mass loss in single and binary systems. Aims: The stellar spin of WR stars might enable us to test these two scenarios. In order to obtain empirical constraints on black hole progenitor spin we infer wind asymmetries in all 12 known WR stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) at Z = 1 / 5 Z⊙ and within a significantly enlarged sample of single and binary WR stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC at Z = 1 / 2 Z⊙), thereby tripling the sample of Vink from 2007. This brings the total LMC sample to 39, making it appropriate for comparison to the Galactic sample. Methods: We measured WR wind asymmetries with VLT-FORS linear spectropolarimetry, a tool that is uniquely poised to perform such tasks in extragalactic environments. Results: We report the detection of new line effects in the LMC WN star BAT99-43 and the WC star BAT99-70, along with the well-known WR LBV HD 5980 in the SMC, which might be undergoing a chemically homogeneous evolution. With the previous reported line effects in the late-type WNL (Ofpe/WN9) objects BAT99-22 and BAT99-33, this brings the total LMC WR sample to four, I.e. a frequency of 10%. Perhaps surprisingly, the incidence of line effects amongst low Z WR stars is not found to be any higher than amongst the Galactic WR sample, challenging the rotationally induced CHE model. Conclusions: As WR mass loss is likely Z-dependent, our Magellanic Cloud line-effect WR stars may maintain their surface rotation and fulfill the basic conditions for producing long GRBs, both via the classical post-red supergiant or luminous blue variable channel, or resulting from CHE due to physics specific to very massive stars.

Featured Image: A Molecular Cloud Outside Our Galaxy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohler, Susanna

2018-06-01

What do molecular clouds look like outside of our own galaxy? See for yourself in the images above and below of N55, a molecular cloud located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). In a recent study led by Naslim Neelamkodan (Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Taiwan), a team of scientists explore N55 to determine how its cloud properties differ from clouds within the Milky Way. The image above reveals the distribution of infrared-emitting gas and dust observed in three bands by the Spitzer Space Telescope. Overplotted in cyan are observations from the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment tracing the clumpy, warm molecular gas. Below, new observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) reveal the sub-parsec-scale molecular clumps in greater detail, showing the correlation of massive clumps with Spitzer-identified young stellar objects (crosses). The study presented here indicates that this cloud in the LMC is the site of massive star formation, with properties similar to equivalent clouds in the Milky Way. To learn more about the authors findings, check out the article linked below.CitationNaslim N. et al 2018 ApJ 853 175. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aaa5b0

Color excesses, intrinsic colors, and absolute magnitudes of Galactic and Large Magellanic Cloud Wolf-Rayet stars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vacca, William D.; Torres-Dodgen, Ana V.

1990-01-01

A new method of determining the color excesses of WR stars in the Galaxy and the LMC has been developed and is used to determine the excesses for 44 Galactic and 32 LMC WR stars. The excesses are combined with line-free, narrow-band spectrophotometry to derive intrinsic colors of the WR stars of nearly all spectral subtypes. No correlation of UV spectral index or intrinsic colors with spectral subtype is found for the samples of single WN or WC stars. There is evidence that early WN stars in the LMC have flatter UV continua and redder intrinsic colors than early WN stars in the Galaxy. No separation is found between the values derived for Galactic WC stars and those obtained for LMC WC stars. The intrinsic colors are compared with those calculated from model atmospheres of WR stars and generally good agreement is found. Absolute magnitudes are derived for WR stars in the LMC and for those Galactic WR stars located in clusters and associations for which there are reliable distance estimates.

A Deep Near-Infrared Survey of the N 49 Region around the Soft Gamma-Ray Repeater 0526-66

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klose, S.; Henden, A. A.; Geppert, U.; Greiner, J.; Guetter, H. H.; Hartmann, D. H.; Kouveliotou, C.; Luginbuhl, C. B.; Stecklurn, B.; Vrba, F. J.

2004-01-01

We report the results of a deep near-infrared survey of the vicinity of supernova remnant N49 in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), which contains the soft gamma-ray repeater (SGR) 0526-66. Two of the four confirmed SGRs are potentially associated with compact stellar clusters. We thus searched for a similar association of SGR0526-66, and find the unexplored young stellar cluster SL 463 at a projected distance of approx. 30 pc from the SGR. This constitutes the third cluster-SGR link, and lends support to scenarios in which SGR progenitors originate in young, embedded clusters. If real, the cluster-SGR association constrains the age and thus the initial mass of these stars. In addition, our high-resolution images of the super- nova remnant N49 reveal an area of excess K-band flux in the southeastern part of the SNR. This feature coincides with the maximum flux area at 8.28 microns as detected by the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX satellite), which we identify with IRAS 052594607.

Dust and molecules in extra-galactic planetary nebulae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia-Hernandez, Domingo Aníbal

2015-08-01

Extra-galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) permit the study of dust and molecules in metallicity environments other than the Galaxy. Their known distances lower the number of free parameters in the observations vs. models comparison, providing strong constraints on the gas-phase and solid-state astrochemistry models. Observations of PNe in the Galaxy and other Local Group galaxies such as the Magellanic Clouds (MC) provide evidence that metallicity affects the production of dust as well as the formation of complex organic molecules and inorganic solid-state compounds in their circumstellar envelopes. In particular, the lower metallicity MC environments seem to be less favorable to dust production and the frequency of carbonaceous dust features and complex fullerene molecules is generally higher with decreasing metallicity. Here, I present an observational review of the dust and molecular content in extra-galactic PNe as compared to their higher metallicity Galactic counterparts. A special attention is given to the level of dust processing and the formation of complex organic molecules (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, fullerenes, and graphene precursors) depending on metallicity.

THE APPLICATION OF MULTIVIEW METHODS FOR HIGH-PRECISION ASTROMETRIC SPACE VLBI AT LOW FREQUENCIES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dodson, R.; Rioja, M.; Imai, H.

2013-06-15

High-precision astrometric space very long baseline interferometry (S-VLBI) at the low end of the conventional frequency range, i.e., 20 cm, is a requirement for a number of high-priority science goals. These are headlined by obtaining trigonometric parallax distances to pulsars in pulsar-black hole pairs and OH masers anywhere in the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds. We propose a solution for the most difficult technical problems in S-VLBI by the MultiView approach where multiple sources, separated by several degrees on the sky, are observed simultaneously. We simulated a number of challenging S-VLBI configurations, with orbit errors up to 8 mmore » in size and with ionospheric atmospheres consistent with poor conditions. In these simulations we performed MultiView analysis to achieve the required science goals. This approach removes the need for beam switching requiring a Control Moment Gyro, and the space and ground infrastructure required for high-quality orbit reconstruction of a space-based radio telescope. This will dramatically reduce the complexity of S-VLBI missions which implement the phase-referencing technique.« less

SPECTRAL VARIATIONS OF Of?p OBLIQUE MAGNETIC ROTATOR CANDIDATES IN THE MAGELLANIC CLOUDS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Walborn, Nolan R.; Morrell, Nidia I.; Nazé, Yaël

2015-10-15

Optical spectroscopic monitoring has been conducted of two O stars in the SMC and one in the LMC, the spectral characteristics of which place them in the Of?p category, which has been established in the Galaxy to consist of oblique magnetic rotators. All of these Magellanic stars show systematic spectral variations typical of the Of?p class, further strengthening their magnetic candidacy to the point of virtual certainty. The spectral variations are related to photometric variations derived from Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment data by Nazé et al. in a parallel study, which yields rotational periods for two of them. Now circularmore » spectropolarimetry is required to measure their fields, and ultraviolet spectroscopy to further characterize their low-metallicity, magnetically confined winds, in support of hydrodynamical analyses.« less

High-velocity gas toward the LMC resides in the Milky Way halo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richter, P.; de Boer, K. S.; Werner, K.; Rauch, T.

2015-12-01

Aims: To explore the origin of high-velocity gas in the direction of the Large Magellanic Cloud, (LMC) we analyze absorption lines in the ultraviolet spectrum of a Galactic halo star that is located in front of the LMC at d = 9.2+4.1-7.2 kpc distance. Methods: We study the velocity-component structure of low and intermediate metal ions (C ii, Si ii, Si iii) in the spectrum of RX J0439.8-6809, as obtained with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) onboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and measure equivalent widths and column densities for these ions. We supplement our COS data with a Far-Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) spectrum of the nearby LMC star Sk -69 59 and with H i 21 cm data from the Leiden-Argentina-Bonn (LAB) survey. Results: Metal absorption toward RX J0439.8-6809 is unambiguously detected in three different velocity components near vLSR = 0, + 60, and + 150 km s-1. The presence of absorption proves that all three gas components are situated in front of the star, thus located in the disk and inner halo of the Milky Way. For the high-velocity cloud (HVC) at vLSR = + 150 km s-1, we derive an oxygen abundance of [O/H] =-0.63 (~0.2 solar) from the neighboring Sk -69 59 sight line, in accordance with previous abundance measurements for this HVC. From the observed kinematics we infer that the HVC hardly participates in the Galactic rotation. Conclusions: Our study shows that the HVC toward the LMC represents a Milky Way halo cloud that traces low column density gas with relatively low metallicity. We rule out scenarios in which the HVC represents material close to the LMC that stems from a LMC outflow.

DUSTY OB STARS IN THE SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD. II. EXTRAGALACTIC DISKS OR EXAMPLES OF THE PLEIADES PHENOMENON?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Adams, Joshua J.; Simon, Joshua D.; Bolatto, Alberto D.

2013-07-10

We use mid-infrared Spitzer spectroscopy and far-infrared Herschel photometry for a sample of 20 main sequence O9-B2 stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) with strong 24 {mu}m excesses to investigate the origin of the mid-IR emission. Either debris disks around the stars or illuminated patches of dense interstellar medium (ISM) can cause such mid-IR emission. In a companion paper, Paper I, we use optical spectroscopy to show that it is unlikely for any of these sources to be classical Be stars or Herbig Ae/Be stars. We focus our analysis on debris disks and cirrus hot spots. The local, prototypemore » objects for these models are the debris disk around Vega and the heated dust cloud surrounding the stars in the Pleiades, also known as a cirrus hot spot. These two cases predict different dust masses, radii, origins, and structures, but the cleanest classification tools are lost by the poor physical resolution at the distance of the SMC. We also consider transition disks, which would have observable properties similar to debris disks. We begin classification by measuring angular extent in the highest resolution mid-IR images available. We find 3 out of 20 stars to be significantly extended, establishing them as cirrus hot spots. We then fit the IR spectral energy distributions to determine dust temperatures and masses. Analysis yields minimum grain sizes, thermal equilibrium distances, and the resultant dust mass estimates. We find the dust masses in the SMC stars to be larger than for any known debris disks. The difference in inferred properties is driven by the SMC stars being hotter and more luminous than known debris disk hosts and not in any directly observed dust properties, so this evidence against the debris disk hypothesis is circumstantial. Finally, we created a local comparison sample of bright mid-IR OB stars in the Milky Way (MW) by cross-matching the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and Hipparcos catalogs. We find that of the thousands of nearby ({<=}1 kpc) hot stars in the MW that show a mid-IR excess, only a small fraction (few percent) match the high mid-IR luminosities of the SMC stars. All such local stars in the appropriate luminosity range that can be unambiguously classified are young stars with optical emission lines or are spatially resolved by WISE with sizes too large to be plausible debris disk candidates. We conclude that the very strong mid-IR flux excesses are most likely explained as cirrus hot spots, although we cannot rigorously rule out that a small fraction of the sample is made up of debris disks or transition disks. We present suggestive evidence that bow-shock heating around runaway stars may be a contributing mechanism to the interstellar emission. These sources, interpreted as cirrus hot spots, offer a new localized probe of diffuse interstellar dust in a low metallicity environment.« less

Observation of X-ray eclipses from LMC X-4

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Li, F.; Rappaport, S.; Epstein, A.

1978-01-01

Observations made with the Rotation Modulation Collimator system (RMC) have revealed that X-ray source X-4 in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC X-4) is most likely part of a binary system. An analysis of the star's coordinates is presented, with attention given to orbital period and flux intensity variations. Stellar mass and orbital inclination angle are estimated for both X-4 and its companion star.

An X-ray Expansion and Proper Motion Study of the Magellanic Cloud Supernova Remnant J0509-6731 with the Chandra X-ray Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roper, Quentin; Filipovi, Miroslav; Allen, Glenn E.; Sano, Hidetoshi; Park, Laurence; Pannuti, Thomas G.; Sasaki, Manami; Haberl, Frank; Kavanagh, Patrick J.; Yamane, Yumiko; Yoshiike, Satoshi; Fujii, Kosuke; Fukui, Yasuo; Seitenzahl, Ivo R.

2018-05-01

Using archival Chandra data consisting of a total of 78.46 ksec over two epochs seven years apart, we have measured the expansion of the young (˜400 years old) type Ia Large Magellanic Cloud supernova remnant (SNR) J0509-6731. In addition, we use radial brightness profile matching to detect proper-motion expansion of this SNR, and estimate an speed of 7 500±1 700 km s-1. This is one of the only proper motion studies of extragalactic SNRs expansion that is able to derive an expansion velocity, and one of only two such studies of an extragalactic SNR to yield positive results in the X-rays. We find that this expansion velocity is consistent with an optical expansion study on this object. In addition, we examine the medium into which the SNR is expanding by examining the CO and neutral H I gas using radio data obtained from Mopra, the Australia Telescope Compact Array and Parkes radio telescopes. We also briefly compare this result with a recent radio survey, and find that our results predict a radio spectral index α of -0.67±0.07. This value is consistent with high frequency radio observations of MCSNR J0509-6731.

Large Magellanic Cloud Planetary Nebula Morphology: Probing Stellar Populations and Evolution.

PubMed

Stanghellini; Shaw; Balick; Blades

2000-05-10

Planetary nebulae (PNe) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) offer the unique opportunity to study both the population and evolution of low- and intermediate-mass stars, by means of the morphological type of the nebula. Using observations from our LMC PN morphological survey, and including images available in the Hubble Space Telescope Data Archive and published chemical abundances, we find that asymmetry in PNe is strongly correlated with a younger stellar population, as indicated by the abundance of elements that are unaltered by stellar evolution (Ne, Ar, and S). While similar results have been obtained for Galactic PNe, this is the first demonstration of the relationship for extragalactic PNe. We also examine the relation between morphology and abundance of the products of stellar evolution. We found that asymmetric PNe have higher nitrogen and lower carbon abundances than symmetric PNe. Our two main results are broadly consistent with the predictions of stellar evolution if the progenitors of asymmetric PNe have on average larger masses than the progenitors of symmetric PNe. The results bear on the question of formation mechanisms for asymmetric PNe-specifically, that the genesis of PNe structure should relate strongly to the population type, and by inference the mass, of the progenitor star and less strongly on whether the central star is a member of a close binary system.

Case Study of Data Mining in Observational Astronomy: The Search for New OB Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larkin, Cormac; Vink, Jorick; Kalari, Venu; Groh, Jose

2018-01-01

OB stars are the most luminous and massive stars, living short lives and exerting a disproportionate influence on their environments. They are key to understanding progenitors of gravitational wave sources and reionization of the early Universe. To detect new OB stars, we combine photometric catalog data with TLUSTY and ATLAS9 stellar atmospheres. This method is also believed to be sensitive to elusive “stripped” stars, thought to lose their hydrogen envelope through binary interaction.OB stars are intrinsically luminous, so complete populations are assumed for local group galaxies such as the Small Magellanic Cloud. Our findings challenge this, as we find 26 new OB candidates. Spectroscopy of 7 candidates shows a 100% detection rate. Most interestingly, 5 of our candidates are consistent with “stripped” stars.To date only 5 “stripped” candidates have been found serendipitously (e.g. HD 45166) as current methods are not sensitive to them. Our work doubles the sample of detected candidates, highlighting that our approach is the first to identify them in a targeted, systematic way. The finding of “stripped” stars could rewrite our understanding of the early Universe, offering an alternative hypothesis to Wolf-Rayet driven cosmic reionization.

A parsec-scale optical jet from a massive young star in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McLeod, Anna F.; Reiter, Megan; Kuiper, Rolf; Klaassen, Pamela D.; Evans, Christopher J.

2018-02-01

Highly collimated parsec-scale jets, which are generally linked to the presence of an accretion disk, are commonly observed in low-mass young stellar objects. In the past two decades, a few of these jets have been directly (or indirectly) observed from higher-mass (larger than eight solar masses) young stellar objects, adding to the growing evidence that disk-mediated accretion also occurs in high-mass stars, the formation mechanism of which is still poorly understood. Of the observed jets from massive young stars, none is in the optical regime (massive young stars are typically highly obscured by their natal material), and none is found outside of the Milky Way. Here we report observations of HH 1177, an optical ionized jet that originates from a massive young stellar object located in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The jet is highly collimated over its entire measured length of at least ten parsecs and has a bipolar geometry. The presence of a jet indicates ongoing, disk-mediated accretion and, together with the high degree of collimation, implies that this system is probably formed through a scaled-up version of the formation mechanism of low-mass stars. We conclude that the physics that govern jet launching and collimation is independent of stellar mass.

An Upper Limit on the Mass of a Central Black Hole in the Large Magellanic Cloud from the Stellar Rotation Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boyce, H.; Lützgendorf, N.; van der Marel, R. P.; Baumgardt, H.; Kissler-Patig, M.; Neumayer, N.; de Zeeuw, P. T.

2017-09-01

We constrain the possible presence of a central black hole (BH) in the center of the Large Magellanic Cloud. This requires spectroscopic measurements over an area of the order of a square degree, due to the poorly known position of the kinematic center. Such measurements are now possible with the impressive field of view of the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the ESO Very Large Telescope. We used the Calcium Triplet (˜850 nm) spectral lines in many short-exposure MUSE pointings to create a two-dimensional integrated-light line-of-sight velocity map from the ˜ {10}8 individual spectra, taking care to identify and remove Galactic foreground populations. The data reveal a clear velocity gradient at an unprecedented spatial resolution of 1 arcmin2. We fit kinematic models to arrive at a 3σ upper-mass limit of {10}7.1 {M}⊙ for any central BH—consistent with the known scaling relations for supermassive black holes and their host systems. This adds to the growing body of knowledge on the presence of BHs in low-mass and dwarf galaxies, and their scaling relations with host-galaxy properties, which can shed light on theories of BH growth and host system interaction.

FIRST OBSERVATIONAL SIGNATURE OF ROTATIONAL DECELERATION IN A MASSIVE, INTERMEDIATE-AGE STAR CLUSTER IN THE MAGELLANIC CLOUDS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu, Xiaohan; Li, Chengyuan; De Grijs, Richard

While the extended main-sequence turnoffs (eMSTOs) found in almost all 1–2 Gyr old star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds are often explained by postulating extended star formation histories (SFHs), the tight subgiant branches (SGBs) seen in some clusters challenge this popular scenario. Puzzlingly, the SGB of the eMSTO cluster NGC 419 is significantly broader at bluer than at redder colors. We carefully assess and confirm the reality of this observational trend. If we would assume that the widths of the features in color–magnitude space were entirely owing to a range in stellar ages, the SFHs of the eMSTO stars andmore » the blue SGB region would be significantly more prolonged than that of the red part of the SGB. This cannot be explained by assuming an internal age spread. We show that rotational deceleration of a population of rapidly rotating stars, a currently hotly debated alternative scenario, naturally explains the observed trend along the SGB. Our analysis shows that a “converging” SGB could be produced if the cluster is mostly composed of rapidly rotating stars that slow down over time owing to the conservation of angular momentum during their evolutionary expansion from main-sequence turnoff stars to red giants.« less

Spatial Variations of Turbulent Properties of Neutral Hydrogen Gas in the Small Magellanic Cloud Using Structure-function Analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nestingen-Palm, David; Stanimirović, Snežana; González-Casanova, Diego F.

2017-08-10

We investigate spatial variations of turbulent properties in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) by using neutral hydrogen (H i) observations. With the goal of testing the importance of stellar feedback on H i turbulence, we define central and outer SMC regions based on the star formation rate (SFR) surface density, as well as the H i integrated intensity. We use the structure function and the velocity channel analysis to calculate the power-law index ( γ ) for both underlying density and velocity fields in these regions. In all cases, our results show essentially no difference in γ between the centralmore » and outer regions. This suggests that H i turbulent properties are surprisingly homogeneous across the SMC when probed at a resolution of 30 pc. Contrary to recent suggestions from numerical simulations, we do not find a significant change in γ due to stellar feedback as traced by the SFR surface density. This could be due to the stellar feedback being widespread over the whole of the SMC, but more likely due to a large-scale gravitational driving of turbulence. We show that the lack of difference between central and outer SMC regions cannot be explained by the high optical depth H I.« less

Mid-infrared Integrated-light Photometry Of LMC Star Clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pessev, Peter; Goudfrooij, P.; Puzia, T.; Chandar, R.

2008-03-01

Massive star clusters (Galactic Globular Clusters and Populous Clusters in the Magellanic Clouds) are the best available approximation of Simple Stellar Populations (SSPs). Since the stellar populations in these nearby objects are studied in details, they provide fundamental age/metallicity templates for interpretation of the galaxy properties, testing and calibration of the SSP Models. Magellanic Cloud clusters are particularly important since they populate a region of the age/metallicity parameter space that is not easily accessible in our Galaxy. We present the first Mid-IR integrated-light measurements for six LMC clusters based on our Spitzer IRAC imaging program. Since we are targeting a specific group of intermediate-age clusters, our imaging goes deeper compared to SAGE-LMC survey data. We present a literature compilation of clusters' properties along with multi-wavelength integrated light photometry database spanning from the optical (Johnson U band) to the Mid-IR (IRAC Channel 4). This data provides an important empirical baseline for the interpretation of galaxy colors in the Mid-IR (especially high-z objects whose integrated-light is dominated by TP-AGB stars emission). It is also a valuable tool to check the SSP model predictions in the intermediate-age regime and provides calibration data for the next generation of SSP models.

Sage Studies Of The Mass Return From AGB And RSG Stars In The Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sargent, Benjamin A.; Srinivasan, S.; Meixner, M.

2011-01-01

The Surveying the Agents of a Galaxy's Evolution (SAGE; PI: M. Meixner) Spitzer Space Telescope Legacy project aims to further our understanding of the life cycle of matter in galaxies by studying this life cycle in our neighboring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Combining SAGE mid-infrared photometry with that at shorter wavelengths from other catalogs, the spectral energy distribution (SED) for each of >25000 Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) and Red Supergiant (RSG) stars in the LMC has been assembled. To model mass loss from these stars, my colleagues and I have constructed the grid of RSG and AGB models (GRAMS) using the radiative transfer code 2Dust. I will discuss how GRAMS was constructed, and how we use it to determine the mass-loss rate for each evolved star studied, which gives the total mass-loss return to the LMC from AGB and RSG stars. In my talk, I show how this total mass-loss return is divided into oxygen-rich (O-rich) and carbon-rich (C-rich) dust using SED-fitting to identify O-rich versus C-rich AGB stars. Applications of this work to determining the mass return from evolved stars in other galaxies, including the Milky Way, will also be discussed.

Comparative Studies of the Dust around Red Supergiant and Oxygen-Rich Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars in the Local Universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sargent, B. A.; Srinivasan, S.; Speck, A.; Volk, K.; Kemper, F.; Reach, W.; Lagadec, E.; Bernard, J.-P.; McDonald, I.; Meixner, M.; Sloan, G. C.; Jones, O.

We analyze the dust emission features seen in Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) spectra of red supergiant (RSG) and oxygen-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud and Small Magellanic Cloud galaxies and in various Milky Way globular clusters. The spectra come from the Spitzer Legacy program SAGE-Spectroscopy (PI: F. Kemper), the Spitzer program SMC-Spec (PI: G. Sloan), and other archival Spitzer-IRS programs. The broad 10 and 20 micron emission features attributed to amorphous dust of silicate composition seen in the spectra show evidence for systematic differences in the centroid of both emission features between O-rich AGB and RSG populations. Radiative transfer modeling using the GRAMS grid of models of AGB and RSG stars suggests that the centroid differences are due to differences in dust properties. We investigate differences in dust composition, size, shape, etc that might be responsible for these spectral differences. We explore how these differences may arise from the different circumstellar environments around RSG and O-rich AGB stars and assess effects of varying metallicity (LMC versus SMC versus Milky Way globular cluster) and other properties (mass-loss rate, luminosity, etc.) on the dust originating from these stars. BAS acknowledges funding from NASA ADAP grant NNX13AD54G.

A parsec-scale optical jet from a massive young star in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

PubMed

McLeod, Anna F; Reiter, Megan; Kuiper, Rolf; Klaassen, Pamela D; Evans, Christopher J

2018-02-15

Highly collimated parsec-scale jets, which are generally linked to the presence of an accretion disk, are commonly observed in low-mass young stellar objects. In the past two decades, a few of these jets have been directly (or indirectly) observed from higher-mass (larger than eight solar masses) young stellar objects, adding to the growing evidence that disk-mediated accretion also occurs in high-mass stars, the formation mechanism of which is still poorly understood. Of the observed jets from massive young stars, none is in the optical regime (massive young stars are typically highly obscured by their natal material), and none is found outside of the Milky Way. Here we report observations of HH 1177, an optical ionized jet that originates from a massive young stellar object located in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The jet is highly collimated over its entire measured length of at least ten parsecs and has a bipolar geometry. The presence of a jet indicates ongoing, disk-mediated accretion and, together with the high degree of collimation, implies that this system is probably formed through a scaled-up version of the formation mechanism of low-mass stars. We conclude that the physics that govern jet launching and collimation is independent of stellar mass.

Hα imaging for BeXRBs in the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maravelias, G.; Zezas, A.; Antoniou, V.; Hatzidimitriou, D.; Haberl, F.

2017-11-01

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) hosts a large number of high-mass X-ray binaries, and in particular of Be/X-ray Binaries (BeXRBs; neutron stars orbiting OBe-type stars), offering a unique laboratory to address the effect of metalicity. One key property of their optical companion is Hα in emission, which makes them bright sources when observed through a narrow-band Hα filter. We performed a survey of the SMC Bar and Wing regions using wide-field cameras (WFI@MPG/ESO and MOSAIC@CTIO/Blanco) in order to identify the counterparts of the sources detected in our XMM-Newton survey of the same area. We obtained broad-band R and narrow-band Hα photometry, and identified ~10000 Hα emission sources down to a sensitivity limit of 18.7 mag (equivalent to ~B8 type Main Sequence stars). We find the fraction of OBe/OB stars to be 13% down to this limit, and by investigating this fraction as a function of the brightness of the stars we deduce that Hα excess peaks at the O9-B2 spectral range. Using the most up-to-date numbers of SMC BeXRBs we find their fraction over their parent population to be ~0.002 - 0.025 BeXRBs/OBe, a direct measurement of their formation rate.

Mg II Absorbers: Metallicity Evolution and Cloud Morphology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lan, Ting-Wen; Fukugita, Masataka

2017-12-01

Metal abundance and its evolution are studied for Mg II quasar absorption line systems from their weak, unsaturated spectral lines using stacked spectra from the archived data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. They show an abundance pattern that resembles that of the Galactic halo or Small Magellanic Cloud, with metallicity [Z/H] showing an evolution from redshift z = 2 to 0.5: metallicity becomes approximately solar or even larger at z≈ 0. We show that the evolution of the metal abundance traces the cumulative amount of the hydrogen fuel consumed in star formation in galaxies. With the aid of a spectroscopic simulation code, we infer the median gas density of the cloud to be roughly 0.3 {{cm}}-3, with which the elemental abundance in various ionization stages, in particular C I, is consistently explained. This gas density implies that the size of the Mg II clouds is of the order of 0.03 kpc, which suggests that individual Mg II clouds around a galaxy are of a baryonic mass typically {10}3 {M}⊙ . This means that Mg II clouds are numerous and “foamy,” rather than a large entity that covers a sizable fraction of galaxies with a single cloud.

The influence of Sagittarius and the Large Magellanic Cloud on the stellar disc of the Milky Way Galaxy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laporte, Chervin F. P.; Johnston, Kathryn V.; Gómez, Facundo A.; Garavito-Camargo, Nicolas; Besla, Gurtina

2018-06-01

We present N-body simulations of a Sagittarius-like dwarf spheroidal galaxy (Sgr) that follow its orbit about the Milky Way (MW) since its first crossing of the Galaxy's virial radius to the present day. As Sgr orbits around the MW, it excites vertical oscillations, corrugating and flaring the Galactic stellar disc. These responses can be understood by a two-phase picture in which the interaction is first dominated by torques from the wake excited by Sgr in the MW dark halo before transitioning to tides from Sgr's direct impact on the disc at late times. We show for the first time that a massive Sgr model simultaneously reproduces the locations and motions of arc-like over densities, such as the Monoceros Ring and the Triangulum Andromeda stellar clouds, that have been observed at the extremities of the disc, while also satisfying the solar neighbourhood constraints on the vertical structure and streaming motions of the disc. In additional simulations, we include the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) self consistently with Sgr. The LMC introduces coupling through constructive and destructive interference, but no new corrugations. In our models, the excitation of the current structure of the outer disk can be traced to interactions as far back as 6-7 Gyr ago (corresponding to z ≤ 1). Given the apparently quiescent accretion history of the MW over this timescale, this places Sgr as the main culprit behind the vertical oscillations of the disc and the last major accretion event for the Galaxy with the capacity to modulate its chemodynamical structure.

Relationships among cloud occurrence frequency, overlap, and effective thickness derived from CALIPSO and CloudSat merged cloud vertical profiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kato, Seiji; Sun-Mack, Sunny; Miller, Walter F.; Rose, Fred G.; Chen, Yan; Minnis, Patrick; Wielicki, Bruce A.

2010-01-01

A cloud frequency of occurrence matrix is generated using merged cloud vertical profiles derived from the satellite-borne Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) and cloud profiling radar. The matrix contains vertical profiles of cloud occurrence frequency as a function of the uppermost cloud top. It is shown that the cloud fraction and uppermost cloud top vertical profiles can be related by a cloud overlap matrix when the correlation length of cloud occurrence, which is interpreted as an effective cloud thickness, is introduced. The underlying assumption in establishing the above relation is that cloud overlap approaches random overlap with increasing distance separating cloud layers and that the probability of deviating from random overlap decreases exponentially with distance. One month of Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) and CloudSat data (July 2006) support these assumptions, although the correlation length sometimes increases with separation distance when the cloud top height is large. The data also show that the correlation length depends on cloud top hight and the maximum occurs when the cloud top height is 8 to 10 km. The cloud correlation length is equivalent to the decorrelation distance introduced by Hogan and Illingworth (2000) when cloud fractions of both layers in a two-cloud layer system are the same. The simple relationships derived in this study can be used to estimate the top-of-atmosphere irradiance difference caused by cloud fraction, uppermost cloud top, and cloud thickness vertical profile differences.

The planetary nebulae populations in five galaxies: abundance patterns and evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stasińska, G.; Richer, M. G.; McCall, M. L.

1998-08-01

We have collected photometric and spectroscopic data on planetary nebulae (PNe) in 5 galaxies: the Milky Way (bulge), M 31 (bulge), M 32, the LMC and the SMC. We have computed the abundances of O, Ne and N and compared them from one galaxy to another. In each Galaxy, the distribution of oxygen abundances has a large dispersion. The average O/H ratio is larger in the M 31 and the Galactic bulge PNe than in those in the Magellanic Clouds. In a given galaxy, it is also larger for PNe with [O III] luminosities greater than 100 L_⊙, which are likely to probe more recent epochs in the galaxy history. We find that the M 31 and the Galactic bulge PNe extend the very tight Ne/H-O/H correlation observed in the Galactic disk and Magellanic Clouds PNe towards higher metallicities. We note that the anticorrelation between N/O and O/H that was known to occur in the Magellanic Clouds and in the disk PNe is also marginally found in the PNe of the Galactic bulge. Furthermore, we find that high N/O ratios are higher for less luminous PNe. In M 32, all PNe have a large N/O ratio, indicating that the stellar nitrogen abundance is enhanced in this galaxy. We have also compared the PN evolution in the different galactic systems by constructing diagrams that are independent of abundances, and have found strikingly different behaviours of the various samples. In order to help in the interpretation of these data, we have constructed a grid of expanding, PN photoionization models in which the central stars evolve according to the evolutionary tracks of Bl{öcker (1995). These models show that the apparent spectroscopic properties of PNe are extremely dependent, not only on the central stars, but also on the masses and expansion velocities of the nebular envelopes. The main conclusion of the confrontation of the observed samples with the model grids is that the PN populations are indeed not the same in the various parent galaxies. Both stars and nebulae are different. In particular, the central stars of the Magellanic Clouds PNe are shown to evolve differently from the hydrogen burning stellar evolutionary models of Bl{öcker (1995). In the Galactic bulge, on the other hand, the behaviour of the observed PNe is roughly compatible with the theoretical stellar evolutionary tracks. The case of M 31 is not quite clear, and additional observations are necessary. It seems that the central star mass distribution is narrower for the M 31 PNe than for the Galactic bulge PNe. We show that spectroscopy of complete samples of PNe down to a factor 100 below the maximum luminosity would help to better characterize the PN central star mass distribution. Tables 1 and 2 are only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http: //cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html

Hubble Snaps Sharp Image Of Cosmic Concoction

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

NASA image release July 13, 2010 To view a video of this image go to: www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/4790394066/ and here: www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/4789786191/ A colourful star-forming region is featured in this stunning new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 2467. Looking like a roiling cauldron of some exotic cosmic brew, huge clouds of gas and dust are sprinkled with bright blue hot young stars. Strangely shaped dust clouds, resembling spilled liquids, are silhouetted against a colourful background of glowing gas in this newly released Hubble image. The star-forming region NGC 2467 is a vast cloud of gas – mostly hydrogen – that serves as an incubator for new stars. Some of these youthful stars have emerged from the dense clouds where they were born and now shine brightly, hot and blue in this picture, but many others remain hidden. The full beauty of this object and hints of the astrophysical processes at work within it are revealed in this super-sharp image from Hubble. Hot young stars that recently formed from the cloud are emitting fierce ultraviolet radiation that is causing the whole scene to glow while also sculpting the environment and gradually eroding the gas clouds. Studies have shown that most of the radiation comes from the single hot and brilliant massive star just above the centre of the image. Its fierce radiation has cleared the surrounding region and some of the next generation of stars are forming in the denser regions around the edge. One of the most familiar star-forming regions is the Orion Nebula, which can be seen with the naked eye. NGC 2467 is a similar but more distant example. Such stellar nurseries can be seen out to considerable distances in the Universe, and their study is important in determining the distance and chemical composition of other galaxies. Some galaxies contain huge star-forming regions, which may contain tens of thousands of stars. Another dramatic example is the 30 Doradus region in the Large Magellanic Cloud. NGC 2467 was discovered in the nineteenth century and lies in the southern constellation of Puppis, which represents the poop deck of Jason's fabled ship Argo from Greek mythology. NGC 2467 is thought to lie about 13 000 light-years from Earth. The picture was created from images taken with the Wide Field Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys through three different filters (F550M, F660N and F658N, shown in blue, green and red respectively). These data were taken in 2004. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA. Credit: NASA, ESA and Orsola De Marco (Macquarie University) NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe.

Expansion patterns and parallaxes for planetary nebulae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schönberner, D.; Balick, B.; Jacob, R.

2018-02-01

Aims: We aim to determine individual distances to a small number of rather round, quite regularly shaped planetary nebulae by combining their angular expansion in the plane of the sky with a spectroscopically measured expansion along the line of sight. Methods: We combined up to three epochs of Hubble Space Telescope imaging data and determined the angular proper motions of rim and shell edges and of other features. These results are combined with measured expansion speeds to determine individual distances by assuming that line of sight and sky-plane expansions are equal. We employed 1D radiation-hydrodynamics simulations of nebular evolution to correct for the difference between the spectroscopically measured expansion velocities of rim and shell and of their respective shock fronts. Results: Rim and shell are two independently expanding entities, driven by different physical mechanisms, although their model-based expansion timescales are quite similar. We derive good individual distances for 15 objects, and the main results are as follows: (i) distances derived from rim and shell agree well; (ii) comparison with the statistical distances in the literature gives reasonable agreement; (iii) our distances disagree with those derived by spectroscopic methods; (iv) central-star "plateau" luminosities range from about 2000 L⊙ to well below 10 000 L⊙, with a mean value at about 5000 L⊙, in excellent agreement with other samples of known distance (Galactic bulge, Magellanic Clouds, and K648 in the globular cluster M 15); (v) the central-star mass range is rather restricted: from about 0.53 to about 0.56 M⊙, with a mean value of 0.55 M⊙. Conclusions: The expansion measurements of nebular rim and shell edges confirm the predictions of radiation-hydrodynamics simulations and offer a reliable method for the evaluation of distances to suited objects. Results of this paper are based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in Cycle 16 (GO11122) and older data obtained from the Data Archive at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.

MAJOR MERGERS WITH SMALL GALAXIES: THE DISCOVERY OF A MAGELLANIC-TYPE GALAXY AT z = 0.12

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Koch, Andreas; Frank, Matthias J.; Pasquali, Anna

We report on the serendipitous discovery of a star-forming galaxy at redshift z = 0.116 with morphological features that indicate an ongoing merger. This object exhibits two clearly separated components with significantly different colors, plus a possible tidal stream. Follow-up spectroscopy of the bluer component revealed a low star-forming activity of 0.09 M{sub ⊙} yr{sup −1} and a high metallicity of 12 + log(O/H) = 8.6. Based on comparison with mass–star formation-rate and mass–metallicity relations, and on fitting of spectral energy distributions, we obtain a stellar mass of 3 × 10{sup 9} M{sub ⊙}, which renders this object comparable to the Largemore » Magellanic Cloud. Thus our finding provides a further piece of evidence of a major merger already acting on small, dwarf-galaxy-like scales.« less

Generating a Magellanic star cluster catalog with ASteCA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perren, G. I.; Piatti, A. E.; Vázquez, R. A.

2016-08-01

An increasing number of software tools have been employed in the recent years for the automated or semi-automated processing of astronomical data. The main advantages of using these tools over a standard by-eye analysis include: speed (particularly for large databases), homogeneity, reproducibility, and precision. At the same time, they enable a statistically correct study of the uncertainties associated with the analysis, in contrast with manually set errors, or the still widespread practice of simply not assigning errors. We present a catalog comprising 210 star clusters located in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, observed with Washington photometry. Their fundamental parameters were estimated through an homogeneous, automatized and completely unassisted process, via the Automated Stellar Cluster Analysis package ( ASteCA). Our results are compared with two types of studies on these clusters: one where the photometry is the same, and another where the photometric system is different than that employed by ASteCA.

Population and Star Formation Histories from the Outer Limits Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brondel, Brian Joseph; Saha, Abhijit; Olszewski, Edward

2015-08-01

The Outer Limits Survey (OLS) is a deep survey of selected fields in the outlying areas of the Magellanic Clouds based on the MOSAIC-II instrument on the Blanco 4-meter Telescope at CTIO. OLS is designed to probe the outer disk and halo structures of Magellanic System. The survey comprises ~50 fields obtained in Landolt R, I and Washington C, M and DDO51 filters, extending to a depth of about 24th magnitude in I. While qualitative examination of the resulting data has yielded interesting published results, we report here on quantitative analysis through matching of Hess diagrams to theoretical isochrones. We present analysis based on techniques developed by Dolphin (e.g., 2002, MNRAS, 332, 91) for fields observed by OLS. Our results broadly match those found by qualitative examination of the CMDs, but interesting details emerge from isochrone fitting.

Retrograde Accretion Discs in High-Mass Be/X-Ray Binaries

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Christodoulou, D. M.; Laycock, S. G. T.; Kazanas, D.

2017-01-01

We have compiled a comprehensive library of all X-ray observations of Magellanic pulsars carried out by XMM-Newton, Chandra and RXTE in the period 1997-2014. In this work, we use the data from 53 high-mass Be/X-ray binaries in the Small Magellanic Cloud to demonstrate that the distribution of spin-period derivatives versus spin periods of spinning-down pulsars is not at all different from that of the accreting spinning-up pulsars. The inescapable conclusion is that the up and down samples were drawn from the same continuous parent population; therefore, Be/X-ray pulsars that are spinning down over periods spanning 18 yr are, in fact, accreting from retrograde discs. The presence of prograde and retrograde discs in roughly equal numbers supports a new evolutionary scenario for Be/X-ray pulsars in their spin period-period derivative diagram.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Planck Catalogue of Galactic cold clumps (PGCC) (Planck+, 2016)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Planck Collaboration; Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.; Arnaud, M.; Ashdown, M.; Aumont, J.; Baccigalupi, C.; Banday, A. J.; Barreiro, R. B.; Bartolo, N.; Battaner, E.; Benabed, K.; Benoit, A.; Benoit-Levy, A.; Bernard, J.-P.; Bersanelli, M.; Bielewicz, P.; Bonaldi, A.; Bonavera, L.; Bond, J. R.; Borrill, J.; Bouchet, F. R.; Boulanger, F.; Bucher, M.; Burigana, C.; Butler, R. C.; Calabrese, E.; Catalano, A.; Chamballu, A.; Chiang, H. C.; Christensen, P. R.; Clements, D. L.; Colombi, S.; Colombo, L. P. L.; Combet, C.; Couchot, F.; Coulais, A.; Crill, B. P.; Curto, A.; Cuttaia, F.; Danese, L.; Davies, R. D.; Davis, R. J.; de Bernardis, P.; De Rosa, A.; de Zotti, G.; Delabrouille, J.; Desert, F.-X.; Dickinson, C.; Diego, J. M.; Dole, H.; Donzelli, S.; Dore, O.; Douspis, M.; Ducout, A.; Dupac, X.; Efstathiou, G.; Elsner, F.; Ensslin, T. A.; Eriksen, H. K.; Falgarone, E.; Fergusson, J.; Fergusson, J.; Finelli, F.; Forni, O.; Frailis, M.; Fraisse, A. A.; Franceschi, E.; Frejsel, A.; Galeotta, S.; Galli, S.; Ganga, K.; Giard, M.; Giraud-Heraud, Y.; Gjerlow, E.; Gonzalez-Nuevo, J.; Gorsk, I. K. M.; Gratton, S.; Gregorio, A.; Gruppuso, A.; Gudmundsson, J. E.; Hansen, F. K.; Hanson, D.; Harrison, D. L.; Helou, G.; Henrot-Versille, S.; Hernandez-Monteagudo, C.; Herranz, D.; Hildebrandt, S. R.; Hivon, E.; Hobson, M.; Holmes, W. A.; Hornstrup, A.; Hovest, W.; Huffenberger, K. M.; Hurier, G.; Jaffe, A. H.; Jaffe, T. R.; Jones, W. C.; Juvela, M.; Keihanen, E.; Keskitalo, R.; Kisner, T. S.; Knoche, J.; Kunz, M.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Lagache, G.; Lamarre, J.-M.; Lasenby, A.; Lattanzi, M.; Lawrence, C. R.; Leonardi, R.; Lesgourgues, J.; Levrier, F.; Liguori, M.; Lilje, P. B.; Linden-Vornle, M.; Lopez-Caniego, M.; Lubin, P. M.; Macias-Perez, J. F.; Maggio, G.; Maino, D.; Mandolesi, N.; Mangilli, A.; Marshall, D. J.; Martin, P. G.; Martinez-Gonzalez, E.; Masi, S.; Matarrese, S.; Mazzotta, P.; McGehee, P.; Melchiorri, A.; Mendes, L.; Mennella, A.; Migliaccio, M.; Mitra, S.; Miville-Deschenes, M.-A.; Moneti, A.; Montier, L.; Morgante, G.; Mortlock, D.; Moss, A.; Munshi, D.; Murphy, J. A.; Naselsky, P.; Nati, F.; Natoli, P.; Netterfield, C. B.; Norgaard-Nielsen, H. U.; Noviello, F.; Novikov, D.; Novikov, I.; Oxborrow, C. A.; Paci, F.; Pagano, L.; Pajot, F.; Paladini, R.; Paoletti, D.; Pasian, F.; Patanchon, G.; Pearson, T. J.; Pelkonen, V.-M.; Perdereau, O.; Perotto, L.; Perrotta, F.; Pettorino, V.; Piacentini, F.; Piat, M.; Pierpaoli, E.; Pietrobon, D.; Plaszczynski, S.; Pointecouteau, E.; Polenta, G.; Pratt, G. W.; Prezeau, G.; Prunet, S.; Puget, J.-L.; Rachen, J. P.; Reach, W. T.; Rebolo, R.; Reinecke, M.; Remazeilles, M.; Renault, C.; Renzi, A.; Ristorcelli, I.; Rocha, G.; Rosset, C.; Rossetti, M.; Roudier, G.; Rubino-Martin, J. A.; Rusholme, B.; Sandri, M.; Santos, D.; Savelainen, M.; Savini, G.; Scott, D.; Seiffert, M. D.; Shellard, E. P. S.; Spencer, L. D.; Stolyarov, V.; Sudiwala, R.; Sunyaev, R.; Sutton, D.; Suur-Uski, A.-S.; Sygnet, J.-F.; Tauber, J. A.; Terenzi, L.; Toffolatti, L.; Tomasi, M.; Tristram, M.; Tucci, M.; Tuovinen, J.; Umana, G.; Valenziano, L.; Valiviita, J.; van Tent, B.; Vielva, P.; Villa, F.; Wade, L. A.; Wandelt, B. D.; Wehus, I. K.; Yvon, D.; Zacchei, A.; Zonca, A.

2017-01-01

The Planck Catalogue of Galactic Cold Clumps (PGCC) is a list of 13188 Galactic sources and 54 sources located in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds. The sources have been identified in Planck data as sources colder than their environment. It has been built using the 48 months Planck data at 857, 545, and 353GHz combined with the 3THz IRAS data. (1 data file).

The Three-dimensional Structure of the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subramanian, Smitha; Subramaniam, Annapurni

2012-01-01

The three-dimensional structure of the inner Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is investigated using the red clump (RC) stars and the RR Lyrae stars (RRLS), which represent the intermediate-age and the old stellar populations of a galaxy. The V- and I-band photometric data from the OGLE III catalog are used for our study. The mean dereddened I 0 magnitude of the RC stars and the RRLS are used to study the relative positions of the different regions in the SMC with respect to the mean SMC distance. This shows that the northeastern part of the SMC is closer to us. The line-of-sight depth (front to back distance) across the SMC is estimated using the dispersion in the I 0 magnitudes of both the RC stars and the RRLS and found to be large (~14 kpc) for both populations. The similarity in their depth distribution suggests that both of these populations occupy a similar volume of the SMC. The surface density distribution and the radial density profile of the RC stars suggest that they are more likely to be distributed in a nearly spheroidal system. The tidal radius estimated for the SMC system is ~7-12 kpc. An elongation along the NE-SW direction is seen in the surface density map of the RC stars. The surface density distribution of the RRLS in the SMC is nearly circular. Based on all of the above results the observed structure of the SMC, in which both the RC stars and RRLS are distributed, is approximated as a triaxial ellipsoid. The parameters of the ellipsoid are obtained using the inertia tensor analysis. We estimated the axes ratio, inclination of the longest axis with the line of sight (i), and the position angle (phi) of the longest axis of the ellipsoid on the sky from the analysis of the RRLS. The analysis of the RC stars with the assumption that they are extended up to a depth of 3.5 times the sigma (width of dereddened I 0 magnitude distribution, corrected for intrinsic spread and observational errors) was also found to give similar axes ratio and orientation angles. The above estimated parameters depend on the data coverage of the SMC. Using the RRLS with equal coverage in all three axes (data within 3° in X-, Y-, and Z-axes), we estimated an axes ratio of 1:1.33:1.61 with i = 2fdg6 and phi = 70fdg2. Our tidal radius estimates and the recent observational studies suggest that the full extent of the SMC in the XY plane is of the order of the front to back distance estimated along the line of sight. These results suggest that the structure of the SMC is spheroidal or slightly ellipsoidal. We propose that the SMC experienced a merger with another dwarf galaxy at ~4-5 Gyr ago, and the merger process was completed in another 2-3 Gyr. This resulted in a spheroidal distribution comprising stars older than 2 Gyr.

Planetary Nebulae and their parent stellar populations. Tracing the mass assembly of M87 and Intracluster light in the Virgo cluster core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arnaboldi, Magda; Longobardi, Alessia; Gerhard, Ortwin

2016-08-01

The diffuse extended outer regions of galaxies are hard to study because they are faint, with typical surface brightness of 1% of the dark night sky. We can tackle this problem by using resolved star tracers which remain visible at large distances from the galaxy centers. This article describes the use of Planetary Nebulae as tracers and the calibration of their properties as indicators of the star formation history, mean age and metallicity of the parent stars in the Milky Way and Local Group galaxies. We then report on the results from a deep, extended, planetary nebulae survey in a 0.5 deg2 region centered on the brightest cluster galaxy NGC 4486 (M87) in the Virgo cluster core, carried out with SuprimeCam@Subaru and FLAMES-GIRAFFE@VLT. Two planetary nebulae populations are identified out to 150 kpc distance from the center of M87. One population is associated with the M87 halo and the second one with the intracluster light in the Virgo cluster core. They have different line-of-sight velocity and spatial distributions, as well as different planetary nebulae specific frequencies and luminosity functions. The intracluster planetary nebulae in the surveyed region correspond to a luminosity of four times the luminosity of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The M87 halo planetary nebulae trace an older, more metal-rich, parent stellar population. A substructure detected in the projected phase-space of the line-of-sight velocity vs. major axis distance for the M87 halo planetary nebulae provides evidence for the recent accretion event of a satellite galaxy with luminosity twice that of M33. The satellite stars were tidally stripped about 1 Gyr ago, and reached apocenter at a major axis distance of 60-90 kpc from the center of M87. The M87 halo is still growing significantly at the distances where the substructure is detected.

Stellar Populations with the LSST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saha, Abhijit; Olsen, K.; LSST Stellar Populations Collaboration

2006-12-01

The LSST will produce a multi-color map and photometric object catalog of half the sky to g 27.5(5σ). Strategically cadenced time-space sampling of each field spanning ten years will allow variability, proper motion and parallax measurements for objects brighter than g 25. As part of providing an unprecedented map of the Galaxy, the accurate multi-band photometry will permit photometric parallaxes, chemical abundances and a handle on ages via colors at turn-off for main-sequence stars at all distances within the Galaxy, permitting a comprehensive study of star formation histories (SFH) and chemical evolution for field stars. With a geometric parallax accuracy of 1mas, LSST will produce a robust complete sample of the solar neighborhood stars. While delivering parallax accuracy comparable to HIPPARCOS, LSST will extend the catalog to more than a 10 magnitudes fainter limit, and will be complete to MV 15. In the Magellanic Clouds too, the photometry will reach MV +8, allowing the SFH and chemical signatures in the expansive outer extremities to be gleaned from their main sequence stars. This in turn will trace the detailed interaction of the Clouds with the Galaxy halo. The LSST time sampling will identify and characterize variable stars of all types, from time scales of 1hr to several years, a feast for variable star astrophysics. Cepheids and LPVs in all galaxies in the Sculptor, M83 and Cen-A groups are obvious data products: comparative studies will reveal systematic differences with galaxy properties, and help to fine tune the rungs of the distance ladder. Dwarf galaxies within 10Mpc that are too faint to find from surface brightness enhancements will be revealed via over-densities of their red giants: this systematic census will extend the luminosity function of galaxies to the faint limit. Novae discovered by LSST time sampling will trace intergalactic stars out to the Virgo and Fornax clusters.

14 CFR 91.129 - Operations in Class D airspace.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

...) Unless required by the applicable distance-from-cloud criteria, each pilot operating a large or turbine... applicable distance-from-cloud criteria requires glide path interception closer in, operate that airplane at... required by the prescribed departure procedure for that airport or the applicable distance from clouds...

14 CFR 91.129 - Operations in Class D airspace.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

...) Unless required by the applicable distance-from-cloud criteria, each pilot operating a large or turbine... applicable distance-from-cloud criteria requires glide path interception closer in, operate that airplane at... required by the prescribed departure procedure for that airport or the applicable distance from clouds...

14 CFR 91.129 - Operations in Class D airspace.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

...) Unless required by the applicable distance-from-cloud criteria, each pilot operating a large or turbine... applicable distance-from-cloud criteria requires glide path interception closer in, operate that airplane at... required by the prescribed departure procedure for that airport or the applicable distance from clouds...

14 CFR 91.129 - Operations in Class D airspace.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

...) Unless required by the applicable distance-from-cloud criteria, each pilot operating a large or turbine... applicable distance-from-cloud criteria requires glide path interception closer in, operate that airplane at... required by the prescribed departure procedure for that airport or the applicable distance from clouds...

Variations in Near-Infrared Emissivity of Venus Surface Observed by the Galileo Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hashimoto, G. L.; Roos-Serote, M.; Sugita, S.

2004-11-01

We evaluate the spatial variation of venusian surface emissivity at a near-infrared wavelength using multispectral images obtained by the Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) on board the Galileo spacecraft. The Galileo made a close flyby to Venus in February 1990. During this flyby, NIMS observed the nightside of Venus with 17 spectral channels, which includes the well-known spectral windows at 1.18, 1.74, and 2.3 μ m. The surface emissivity is evaluated at 1.18 μ m, at which thermal radiation emitted from the planetary surface could be detected. To analyze the NIMS observations, synthetic spectra have been generated by means of a line-by-line radiative transfer program which includes both scattering and absorption. We used the discrete ordinate method to calculate the spectra of vertically inhomogeneous plane-parallel atmosphere. Gas opacity is calculated based on the method of Pollack et al. (1993), though binary absorption coefficients for continuum opacity are adjusted to achieve an acceptable fit to the NIMS data. We used Mie scattering theory and a cloud model developed by Pollack et al. (1993) to determine the single scattering albedo and scattering phase function of the cloud particles. The vertical temperature profile of Venus International Reference Atmosphere (VIRA) is used in all our calculations. The procedure of the analysis is the followings. We first made a correction for emission angle. Then, a modulation of emission by the cloud opacities is removed using simultaneously measured 1.74 and 2.3 μ m radiances. The resulting images are correlated with the topographic map of Magellan. To search for variations in surface emissivity, this cloud corrected images are divided by synthetic radiance maps that were created from the Magellan data. This work has been supported by The 21st Century COE Program of Origin and Evolution of Planetary Systems of Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).

Variation of z-height of the molecular clouds on the Galactic Plane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Y.; Stark, A. A.

2002-12-01

Using the Bell Laboratories Galactic plane in the J=1-0 transition of 13CO, (l, b) = (-5o to 117o, -1o to +1o), and cloud identification code, 13CO clouds have been identified and cataloged as a function of threshold temperature. Distance estimates to the identified clouds have been made with several criteria. Minimum and maximum distances to each identified cloud are determined from a set of all the possible distances of a cloud. Several physical parameters can be determined with distances, such as z-height [D sin (b)], CO luminosity, virial mass and so forth. We select the clouds with a ratio of maximum and minimum of CO luminosities less than 3. The number of selected clouds is 281 out of 1400 identified clouds with 1 K threshold temperature. These clouds are mostly located on the tangential positions in the inner Galaxy, and some are in the Outer Galaxy. It is found that the z-height of lower luminosity clouds (less massive clouds) is systimatically larger than that of high-luminosity clouds (more massive clouds). We claim that this is the first observational evidence of the z-height variation depending on the luminosities (or masses) of molecular clouds on the Galactic plane. Our results could be a basis explaining the formation mechanism of massive clouds, such as giant molecular clouds.

a Fast Method for Measuring the Similarity Between 3d Model and 3d Point Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zongliang; Li, Jonathan; Li, Xin; Lin, Yangbin; Zhang, Shanxin; Wang, Cheng

2016-06-01

This paper proposes a fast method for measuring the partial Similarity between 3D Model and 3D point Cloud (SimMC). It is crucial to measure SimMC for many point cloud-related applications such as 3D object retrieval and inverse procedural modelling. In our proposed method, the surface area of model and the Distance from Model to point Cloud (DistMC) are exploited as measurements to calculate SimMC. Here, DistMC is defined as the weighted distance of the distances between points sampled from model and point cloud. Similarly, Distance from point Cloud to Model (DistCM) is defined as the average distance of the distances between points in point cloud and model. In order to reduce huge computational burdens brought by calculation of DistCM in some traditional methods, we define SimMC as the ratio of weighted surface area of model to DistMC. Compared to those traditional SimMC measuring methods that are only able to measure global similarity, our method is capable of measuring partial similarity by employing distance-weighted strategy. Moreover, our method is able to be faster than other partial similarity assessment methods. We demonstrate the superiority of our method both on synthetic data and laser scanning data.

A PROFILE ANALYSIS OF RAMAN-SCATTERED O VI BANDS AT 6825 Å AND 7082 Å IN SANDULEAK’S STAR

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Heo, Jeong-Eun; Lee, Hee-Won; Angeloni, Rodolfo

2016-12-20

We present a detailed modeling of the two broad bands observed at 6825 and 7082 Å in Sanduleak’s star, a controversial object in the Large Magellanic Cloud. These bands are known to originate from Raman scattering of O vi  λ λ 1032 and 1038 photons with atomic hydrogen and are only observed in bona fide symbiotic stars. Our high-resolution spectrum obtained with the Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle spectrograph at the Magellan-Clay Telescope reveals, quite surprisingly, that the profiles of the two bands look very different: while the Raman 6825 Å band shows a single broad profile with a redward extendedmore » bump, the Raman 7082 Å band exhibits a distinct triple-peak profile. Our model suggests that the O vi emission nebula can be decomposed into a red, blue, and central emission region from an accretion disk, a bipolar outflow, and a further compact, optically thick region. We also perform Monte Carlo simulations with the aim of fitting the observed flux ratio F (6825)/ F (7082) ∼ 4.5, which indicates that the neutral region in Sanduleak’s star is characterized by the column density N{sub Hi} ∼ 1 × 10{sup 23} cm{sup −2}.« less

Chemical Compositions of Young Stars in the Leading Arm of the Magellanic System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, L.; Moni Bidin, C.; Casetti-Dinescu, D. I.; Mendez, R. A.; Girard, T. M.; Korchagin, V. I.; Vieira, K.; van Altena, W. F.; Zhao, G.

2017-07-01

Seven element abundances (He, C, N, O, Mg, Si, and S) and kinematics were determined for eight O-/B- type stars, based on high resolution spectra taken with the MIKE instrument on the Magellan 6.5m Clay telescope (program ID: CN2014A-057). The sample is selected from 42 candidates Casetti-Dinescu et al.(2014, ApJL, 784, L37) of membership in the Leading Arm (LA) of the Magellanic System. After investigating the relationship between abundances and kinematics parameters, we found that five stars have kinematics compatible with LA membership, i.e. RV>100kms-1. For the five possible LA member stars, Mg abundance is significantly lower than that of the remaining two that are kinematical members of the Galactic disk, and is more close to the LMC values. Distances to the LA members indicate that they are at the edge of the Galactic disk, while ages are of the order of ˜ 50-70 Myr, lower than the dynamical age of the LA, suggesting a single star-forming episode in the LA. VLSR of the LA members decreases with decreasing Magellanic longitude, confirming the results of previous LA gas studies (McClure-Griffiths et al.2008, ApJ, 673, L143). Our abundance and kinematic results for the LA member stars demonstrate that parts of the LA are hydrodynamically interacting with the gaseous Galactic disk, forming young stars that are chemically distinct from those in the Galactic disk. These results can provide constraints to future models for the Magellanic leading material.

New inclination changing eclipsing binaries in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Juryšek, J.; Zasche, P.; Wolf, M.; Vraštil, J.; Vokrouhlický, D.; Skarka, M.; Liška, J.; Janík, J.; Zejda, M.; Kurfürst, P.; Paunzen, E.

2018-01-01

Context. Multiple stellar systems are unique laboratories for astrophysics. Analysis of their orbital dynamics, if well characterized from their observations, may reveal invaluable information about the physical properties of the participating stars. Unfortunately, there are only a few known and well described multiple systems, this is even more so for systems located outside the Milky Way galaxy. A particularly interesting situation occurs when the inner binary in a compact triple system is eclipsing. This is because the stellar interaction, typically resulting in precession of orbital planes, may be observable as a variation of depth of the eclipses on a long timescale. Aims: We aim to present a novel method to determine compact triples using publicly available photometric data from large surveys. Here we apply it to eclipsing binaries (EBs) in Magellanic Clouds from OGLE III database. Our tool consists of identifying the cases where the orbital plane of EB evolves in accord with expectations from the interaction with a third star. Methods: We analyzed light curves (LCs) of 26121 LMC and 6138 SMC EBs with the goal to identify those for which the orbital inclination varies in time. Archival LCs of the selected systems, when complemented by our own observations with Danish 1.54-m telescope, were thoroughly analyzed using the PHOEBE program. This provided physical parameters of components of each system. Time dependence of the EB's inclination was described using the theory of orbital-plane precession. By observing the parameter-dependence of the precession rate, we were able to constrain the third companion mass and its orbital period around EB. Results: We identified 58 candidates of new compact triples in Magellanic Clouds. This is the largest published sample of such systems so far. Eight of them were analyzed thoroughly and physical parameters of inner binary were determined together with an estimation of basic characteristics of the third star. Prior to our work, only one such system was well characterized outside the Milky Way galaxy. Therefore, we increased this sample in a significant way. These data may provide important clues about stellar formation mechanisms for objects with different metalicity than found in our galactic neighborhood. Full Table 4 and the light curves are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/609/A46

Gaia TGAS search for Large Magellanic Cloud runaway supergiant stars. Candidate hypervelocity star discovery and the nature of R 71

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lennon, Daniel J.; van der Marel, Roeland P.; Ramos Lerate, Mercedes; O'Mullane, William; Sahlmann, Johannes

2017-07-01

Aims: Our research aims to search for runaway stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) among the bright Hipparcos supergiant stars included in the Gaia DR1 Tycho-Gaia astrometric solution (TGAS) catalogue. Methods: We compute the space velocities of the visually brightest stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud that are included in the TGAS proper motion catalogue. This sample of 31 stars contains a luminous blue variable (LBV), emission line stars, blue and yellow supergiants, and an SgB[e] star. We combine these results with published radial velocities to derive their space velocities, and by comparing with predictions from stellar dynamical models we obtain each star's (peculiar) velocity relative to its local stellar environment. Results: Two of the 31 stars have unusually high proper motions. Of the remaining 29 stars we find that most objects in this sample have velocities that are inconsistent with a runaway nature, being in very good agreement with model predictions of a circularly rotating disk model. Indeed the excellent fit to the model implies that the TGAS uncertainty estimates are likely overestimated. The fastest outliers in this subsample contain the LBV R 71 and a few other well known emission line objects though in no case do we derive velocities consistent with fast ( 100 km s-1) runaways. On the contrary our results imply that R 71 in particular has a moderate deviation from the local stellar velocity field (40 km s-1) lending support to the proposition that this object cannot have evolved as a normal single star since it lies too far from massive star forming complexes to have arrived at its current position during its lifetime. Our findings therefore strengthen the case for this LBV being the result of binary evolution. Of the two stars with unusually high proper motions we find that one, the isolated B1.5 Ia+ supergiant Sk-67 2 (HIP 22237), is a candidate hypervelocity star, the TGAS proper motion implying a very large peculiar transverse velocity ( 360 km s-1) directed radially away from the LMC centre. If confirmed, for example by Gaia Data Release 2, it would imply that this massive supergiant, on the periphery of the LMC, is leaving the galaxy where it will explode as a supernova.

NGC 346: Looking in the Cradle of a Massive Star Cluster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gouliermis, Dimitrios A.; Hony, Sacha

2017-03-01

How does a star cluster of more than few 10,000 solar masses form? We present the case of the cluster NGC 346 in the Small Magellanic Cloud, still embedded in its natal star-forming region N66, and we propose a scenario for its formation, based on observations of the rich stellar populations in the region. Young massive clusters host a high fraction of early-type stars, indicating an extremely high star formation efficiency. The Milky Way galaxy hosts several young massive clusters that fill the gap between young low-mass open clusters and old massive globular clusters. Only a handful, though, are young enough to study their formation. Moreover, the investigation of their gaseous natal environments suffers from contamination by the Galactic disk. Young massive clusters are very abundant in distant starburst and interacting galaxies, but the distance of their hosting galaxies do not also allow a detailed analysis of their formation. The Magellanic Clouds, on the other hand, host young massive clusters in a wide range of ages with the youngest being still embedded in their giant HII regions. Hubble Space Telescope imaging of such star-forming complexes provide a stellar sampling with a high dynamic range in stellar masses, allowing the detailed study of star formation at scales typical for molecular clouds. Our cluster analysis on the distribution of newly-born stars in N66 shows that star formation in the region proceeds in a clumpy hierarchical fashion, leading to the formation of both a dominant young massive cluster, hosting about half of the observed pre-main-sequence population, and a self-similar dispersed distribution of the remaining stars. We investigate the correlation between stellar surface density (and star formation rate derived from star-counts) and molecular gas surface density (derived from dust column density) in order to unravel the physical conditions that gave birth to NGC 346. A power law fit to the data yields a steep correlation between these two parameters with a considerable scatter. The fraction of stellar over the total (gas plus young stars) mass is found to be systematically higher within the central 15 pc (where the young massive cluster is located) than outside, which suggests variations in the star formation efficiency within the same star-forming complex. This trend possibly reflects a change of star formation efficiency in N66 between clustered and non-clustered star formation. Our findings suggest that the formation of NGC 346 is the combined result of star formation regulated by turbulence and of early dynamical evolution induced by the gravitational potential of the dense interstellar medium.

The Evolution and Physical Parameters of WN3/O3s: A New Type of Wolf-Rayet Star

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neugent, Kathryn F.; Massey, Philip; Hillier, D. John; Morrell, Nidia

2017-05-01

As part of a search for Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars in the Magellanic Clouds, we have discovered a new type of WR star in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). These stars have both strong emission lines, as well as He II and Balmer absorption lines and spectroscopically resemble a WN3 and O3V binary pair. However, they are visually too faint to be WN3+O3V binary systems. We have found nine of these WN3/O3s, making up ˜6% of the population of LMC WRs. Using cmfgen, we have successfully modeled their spectra as single stars and have compared the physical parameters with those of more typical LMC WNs. Their temperatures are around 100,000 K, a bit hotter than the majority of WN stars (by around 10,000 K), though a few hotter WNs are known. The abundances are what you would expect for CNO equilibrium. However, most anomalous are their mass-loss rates, which are more like that of an O-type star than a WN star. While their evolutionary status is uncertain, their low mass-loss rates and wind velocities suggest that they are not products of homogeneous evolution. It is possible instead that these stars represent an intermediate stage between O stars and WNs. Since WN3/O3 stars are unknown in the Milky Way, we suspect that their formation depends upon metallicity, and we are investigating this further by a deep survey in M33, which possesses a metallicity gradient. This paper includes data gathered with the 6.5 m Magellan Telescopes located at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile. It is additionally based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations were associated with program GO-13780.

The Abundances of the Fe Group Elements in Early B Stars in the Magellanic Clouds and Our Galaxy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peters, Geraldine Joan; Adelman, Saul Joseph

2015-08-01

The abundances of the Fe-peak elements (Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni) are of interest as they are important for assessing opacities for stellar evolution calculations, confirming theoretical calculations of explosive nucleosynthesis, and inferring the past history of supernova activity in a galaxy. FUSE FUV spectra of early B stars in the LMC and SMC and HST/STIS FUV/NUV spectra of nearby B stars in our galaxy are analyzed with the Hubeny/Lanz programs TLUSTY/SYNSPEC to determine abundance for the Fe group elements and produce a map of these abundances in the Magellanic Clouds (MC) and Magellanic Bridge (MB). Except for four weak multiplets of Fe III there are no measurable lines from the Fe group in the optical region. The Fe group species found in the FUV spectra of early B stars are primarily in the second stage of ionization. The best set of lines in the FUSE spectral region are Fe III (UV1), V III 1150 Å, and Cr III 1137 Å. Analysis of the galactic B stars provides a good assessment of the reliability of the atomic parameters that are used for the MC calculations. Twenty-two early B stars in the MC and MB and five in our galaxy were analyzed. In general the Fe group abundances range from solar to slightly below solar in our region of the galaxy. But in the MCs the abundances of V, Cr, and Fe tend to be significantly lower than the mean metal abundances for the galaxy. Maps of the Fe group abundances and their variations in the LMC and SMC, tracers of recent enrichment of the ISM from supernova activity, are shown. Support from NASA grants NAG5-13212, NNX10AD66G, STScI HST-GO-13346.22, and USC’s Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) program is greatly appreciated.

Anomalous double-mode RR Lyrae stars in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soszyński, I.; Smolec, R.; Dziembowski, W. A.; Udalski, A.; Szymański, M. K.; Wyrzykowski, Ł.; Ulaczyk, K.; Poleski, R.; Pietrukowicz, P.; Kozłowski, S.; Skowron, D.; Skowron, J.; Mróz, P.; Pawlak, M.

2016-12-01

We report the discovery of a new subclass of double-mode RR Lyrae stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. The sample of 22 pulsating stars has been extracted from the latest edition of the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment collection of RR Lyrae variables in the Magellanic System. The stars pulsating simultaneously in the fundamental (F) and first-overtone (1O) modes have distinctly different properties than regular double-mode RR Lyrae variables (RRd stars). The P1O/PF period ratios of our anomalous RRd stars are within a range of 0.725-0.738, while `classical' double-mode RR Lyrae variables have period ratios in the range of 0.742-0.748. In contrast to the typical RRd stars, in the majority of the anomalous pulsators, the F-mode amplitudes are higher than the 1O-mode amplitudes. The light curves associated with the F-mode in the anomalous RRd stars show different morphology than the light curves of, both, regular RRd stars and single-mode RRab stars. Most of the anomalous double-mode stars show long-term modulations of the amplitudes (Blazhko-like effect). Translating the period ratios into the abundance parameter, Z, we find for our stars Z ∈ (0.002, 0.005) - an order of magnitude higher values than typical for RR Lyrae stars. The mass range of the RRd stars inferred from the WI versus PF diagram is (0.55-0.75) M⊙. These parameters cannot be accounted for with single star evolution assuming a Reimers-like mass-loss. Much greater mass-loss caused by interaction with other stars is postulated. We blame the peculiar pulsation properties of our stars to the parametric resonance instability of the 1O-mode to excitation of the F- and 2O-modes as with the inferred parameters of the stars 2ω1O ≈ ωF + ω2O.

Dust Destruction Rates and Lifetimes in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Temim, Tea; Dwek, Eli; Tchernyshyov, Kirill; Boyer, Martha L.; Meixner, Margaret; Gall, Christa; Roman-Duval, Julia

2015-01-01

The nature, composition, abundance, and size distribution of dust in galaxies is determined by the rate at which it is created in the different stellar sources and destroyed by interstellar shocks. Because of their extensive wavelength coverage, proximity, and nearly face-on geometry, the Magellanic Clouds (MCs) provide a unique opportunity to study these processes in great detail. In this paper we use the complete sample of supernova remnants (SNRs) in the MCs to calculate the lifetime and destruction efficiencies of silicate and carbon dust in these galaxies. We find dust lifetimes of 22+/-13 Myr (30+/-17 Myr) for silicate (carbon) grains in the LMC, and 54 +/- 32 Myr (72 +/- 43 Myr) for silicate (carbon) grains in the SMC. The significantly shorter lifetimes in the MCs, as compared to the Milky Way, are explained as the combined effect of their lower total dust mass, and the fact that the dust-destroying isolated SNe in the MCs seem to be preferentially occurring in regions with higher than average dust-to-gas (D2G) mass ratios. We also calculate the supernova rate and the current star formation rate in the MCs, and use them to derive maximum dust injection rates by asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars and core collapse supernovae (CCSNe). We find that the injection rates are an order of magnitude lower than the dust destruction rates by the SNRs. This supports the conclusion that, unless the dust destruction rates have been considerably overestimated, most of the dust must be reconstituted from surviving grains in dense molecular clouds. More generally, we also discuss the dependence of the dust destruction rate on the local D2G mass ratio and the ambient gas density and metallicity, as well as the application of our results to other galaxies and dust evolution models.

Proper Motion Of Teh Magellanic Clouds Using SPM

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

determinado los movimientos propios absolutos para estrellas y galaxias hasta V = 17.5 sobre un área de 450 grados cuadrados que incluye a las Nubes...tos propios fueron combinadas en una solución de traslapo usando estrellas fotométricamente seleccionadas del disco galáctico como sistema de...referencia relativo, que luego fue transformado a uno absoluto usando galaxias externas y al ICRS usando estrellas Hipparcos. El catálogo resultante se usa

Hubble Captures Celestial Fireworks Within the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

This is a color Hubble Space Telescope (HST) heritage image of supernova remnant N49, a neighboring galaxy, that was taken with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. Color filters were used to sample light emitted by sulfur, oxygen, and hydrogen. The color image was superimposed on a black and white image of stars in the same field also taken with Hubble. Resembling a fireworks display, these delicate filaments are actually sheets of debris from a stellar explosion.

Discovery of a Thorne-Żytkow object candidate in the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levesque, Emily M.; Massey, Philip; Żytkow, Anna N.; Morrell, Nidia

2015-01-01

Thorne-Żytkow objects (TŻOs) are a theoretical class of star in which a compact neutron star is surrounded by a large, diffuse envelope. Supergiant TŻOs are predicted to be almost identical in appearance to red supergiants (RSGs), with their very red colors and cool temperatures placing them at the Hayashi limit on the H-R diagram. The only features that can be used at present to distinguish TŻOs from the general RSG population are the unusually strong heavy-element and lithium lines present in their spectra. These elements are the unique products of the stars fully convective envelope linking the photosphere with the extraordinarily hot burning region in the vicinity of the neutron star core. We have recently discovered a TŻO candidate in the Small Magellanic Cloud. It is the first star to display the distinctive chemical profile of anomalous element enhancements thought to be characteristic of TŻOs however, up-to-date models and additional observable predictions (including potential asteroseismological signatures) are required to solidify this discovery. The definitive detection of a TŻO would provide the first direct evidence for a completely new model of stellar interiors, a theoretically predicted fate for massive binary systems, and never-before-seen nucleosynthesis processes that would offer a new channel for heavy-element and lithium production in our universe.

Edades y metalicidades de cinco cúmulos estelares proyectados en dirección a la Nube Menor de Magallanes: implicaciones sobre los procesos de formación y evolución de estos sistemas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piatti, A. E.; Santos, J. F. C.; Clariá, J. J.; Bica, E.; Sarajedini, A.; Geisler, D.

Washington photometry of the 5 star clusters Lindsay 32, Lindsay 38, Kron 28, Kron 44 and Lindsay 116 and their surrounding fields located towards the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is presented for the first time. From the color-magnitude diagrams, cleaned from field stars contamination, the cluster and SMC field reddenings, ages and metallicities are determined. The ages - derived from the difference in the T1 magnitude betweem the giant clump and the Main Sequence turnoff point - vary between 2 and 6 Gyr, and the metallicities ([Fe/H]) between -1.65 and -1.10. Lindsay 116 is located closer to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) than to the SMC and its fundamental parameters suggests a higher probability of belonging to the LMC. The results obtained in this work, combined with previous estimates of age and metallicity for other seven clusters, allow us to draw the following conclusions: (1) There does not exist an age-position relation in the SMC, but a age-metallicity one. (2) The chemical enrichment in the SMC has been very efficient during the last 5 Gyr. (3) The SMC clusters formation and evolution can be better represented by a bursting star formation process than by a continuum star formation mechanism.

Swift J045106.8-694803: A Highly Magnetised Neutron Star in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klus, H.; Bartlett, E. S.; Bird, A. J.; Coe, M.; Corbet, R. H. D.; Udalski, A.

2013-01-01

We report the analysis of a highly magnetised neutron star in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The high mass X-ray binary pulsar Swift J045106.8-694803 has been observed with Swift X-ray telescope (XRT) in 2008, The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) in 2011 and the X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission - Newton (XMM-Newton) in 2012. The change in spin period over these four years indicates a spin-up rate of 5.010.06 s/yr, amongst the highest observed for an accreting pulsar. This spin-up rate can be accounted for using Ghosh and Lambs (1979) accretion theory assuming it has a magnetic field of (1.2 +/= 0.20/0.7) x 10(exp 14) Gauss. This is over the quantum critical field value. There are very few accreting pulsars with such high surface magnetic fields and this is the first of which to be discovered in the LMC. The large spin-up rate is consistent with Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) observations which show that Swift J045106.8-694803 has had a consistently high X-ray luminosity for at least five years. Optical spectra have been used to classify the optical counterpart of Swift J045106.8-694803 as a B0-1 III-V star and a possible orbital period of 21.631 +/- 0.005 days has been found from MACHO optical photometry.

On the Social Traits of Luminous Blue Variables

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Humphreys, Roberta M.; Weis, Kerstin; Davidson, Kris; Gordon, Michael S.

2016-07-01

In a recent paper, Smith & Tombleson state that the luminous blue variables (LBVs) in the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds are isolated; they are not spatially associated with young O-type stars. They propose a novel explanation that would overturn the standard view of LBVs. In this paper we test their hypothesis for the LBVs in M31 and M33, as well as the LMC and SMC. We show that in M31 and M33 the LBVs are associated with luminous young stars and supergiants that are appropriate to their luminosities and positions on the H-R diagram. Moreover, in the Smith and Tombleson scenario most of the LBVs should be runaway stars, but the stars’ velocities are consistent with their positions in the respective galaxies. In the Magellanic Clouds, those authors’ sample was a mixed population. We reassess their analysis, removing seven stars that have no clear relation to LBVs. When we separate the more massive classical and the less luminous LBVs, the classical LBVs have a distribution similar to the late O-type stars, while the less luminous LBVs have a distribution like the red supergiants. None of the confirmed LBVs have high velocities or are candidate runaway stars. These results support the accepted description of LBVs as evolved massive stars that have shed a lot of mass and are now close to their Eddington limit.

KMTNet Time-series Photometry of the Doubly Eclipsing Binary Stars Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, Kyeongsoo; Koo, Jae-Rim; Lee, Jae Woo; Kim, Seung-Lee; Lee, Chung-Uk; Park, Jang-Ho; Kim, Hyoun-Woo; Lee, Dong-Joo; Kim, Dong-Jin; Han, Cheongho

2018-05-01

We report the results of photometric observations for doubly eclipsing binaries OGLE-LMC-ECL-15674 and OGLE-LMC-ECL-22159, both of which are composed of two pairs (designated A&B) of a detached eclipsing binary located in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The light curves were obtained by high-cadence time-series photometry using the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network 1.6 m telescopes located at three southern sites (CTIO, SAAO, and SSO) between 2016 September and 2017 January. The orbital periods were determined to be 1.433 and 1.387 days for components A and B of OGLE-LMC-ECL-15674, respectively, and 2.988 and 3.408 days for OGLE-LMC-ECL-22159A and B, respectively. Our light curve solutions indicate that the significant changes in the eclipse depths of OGLE-LMC-ECL-15674A and B were caused by variations in their inclination angles. The eclipse timing diagrams of the A and B components of OGLE-LMC-ECL-15674 and OGLE-LMC-ECL-22159 were analyzed using 28, 44, 28, and 26 new times of minimum light, respectively. The apsidal motion period of OGLE-LMC-ECL-15674B was estimated by detailed analysis of eclipse timings for the first time. The detached eclipsing binary OGLE-LMC-ECL-15674B shows a fast apsidal period of 21.5 ± 0.1 years.

The Onfp Class in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walborn, Nolan R.; Howarth, Ian D.; Evans, Christopher J.; Crowther, Paul A.; Moffat, Anthony F. J.; St-Louis, Nicole; Fariña, Cecilia; Bosch, Guillermo L.; Morrell, Nidia I.; Barbá, Rodolfo H.; van Loon, Jacco Th.

2010-03-01

The Onfp class of rotationally broadened, hot spectra was defined some time ago in the Galaxy, where its membership to date numbers only eight. The principal defining characteristic is a broad, centrally reversed He II λ 4686 emission profile; other emission and absorption lines are also rotationally broadened. Recent surveys in the Magellanic Clouds (MCs) have brought the class membership there, including some related spectra, to 28. We present a survey of the spectral morphology and rotational velocities, as a first step toward elucidating the nature of this class. Evolved, rapidly rotating hot stars are not expected theoretically, because the stellar winds should brake the rotation. Luminosity classification of these spectra is not possible, because the principal criterion (He II λ4686) is peculiar; however, the MCs provide reliable absolute magnitudes, which show that they span the entire range from dwarfs to supergiants. The Onfp line-broadening distribution is distinct and shifted toward larger values from those of normal O dwarfs and supergiants with >99.99% confidence. All cases with multiple observations show line-profile variations, which even remove some objects from the class temporarily. Some of them are spectroscopic binaries; it is possible that the peculiar profiles may have multiple causes among different objects. The origin and future of these stars are intriguing; for instance, they could be stellar mergers and/or gamma-ray-burst progenitors.

Comparative Studies of the Dust around Red Supergiant and Oxygen-Rich Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars in the Local Universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sargent, Benjamin; Srinivasan, Sundar; Speck, Angela K.; Volk, Kevin; Kemper, Ciska; Reach, William; Lagadec, Eric; Bernard, Jean-Philippe; McDonald, Iain; Meixner, Margaret; Sloan, Greg; Jones, Olivia

2015-08-01

We analyze the dust emission features seen in Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) spectra of red supergiant (RSG) and oxygen-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud and Small Magellanic Cloud galaxies and in various Milky Way globular clusters. The spectra come from the Spitzer Legacy program SAGE-Spectroscopy (PI: F. Kemper), the Spitzer program SMC-Spec (PI: G. Sloan), and other archival Spitzer-IRS programs. The broad 10 and 20 μm emission features attributed to amorphous dust of silicate composition seen in the spectra show evidence for systematic differences in the centroid of both emission features between O-rich AGB and RSG populations. Radiative transfer modeling using the GRAMS grid of models of AGB and RSG stars suggests that the centroid differences are due to differences in dust properties. We investigate differences in dust composition, size, shape, etc that might be responsible for these spectral differences. We explore how these differences may arise from the different circumstellar environments around RSG and O-rich AGB stars and assess effects of varying metallicity (LMC versus SMC versus Milky Way globular cluster) and other properties (mass-loss rate, luminosity, etc.) on the dust originating from these stars. BAS acknowledges funding from NASA ADAP grant NNX13AD54G.

Interstellar Gas-phase Element Depletions in the Small Magellanic Cloud: A Guide to Correcting for Dust in QSO Absorption Line Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jenkins, Edward B.; Wallerstein, George, E-mail: ebj@astro.princeton.edu, E-mail: walleg@u.washington.edu

We present data on the gas-phase abundances for 9 different elements in the interstellar medium of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), based on the strengths of ultraviolet absorption features over relevant velocities in the spectra of 18 stars within the SMC. From this information and the total abundances defined by the element fractions in young stars in the SMC, we construct a general interpretation on how these elements condense into solid form onto dust grains. As a group, the elements Si, S, Cr, Fe, Ni, and Zn exhibit depletion sequences similar to those in the local part of our Galaxymore » defined by Jenkins. The elements Mg and Ti deplete less rapidly in the SMC than in the Milky Way, and Mn depletes more rapidly. We speculate that these differences might be explained by the different chemical affinities to different existing grain substrates. For instance, there is evidence that the mass fractions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the SMC are significantly lower than those in the Milky Way. We propose that the depletion sequences that we observed for the SMC may provide a better model for interpreting the element abundances in low-metallicity Damped Lyman Alpha (DLA) and sub-DLA absorption systems that are recorded in the spectra of distant quasars and gamma-ray burst afterglows.« less

Chemical Abundances of Two Stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud Globular Cluster NGC 1718

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sakari, Charli M.; McWilliam, Andrew; Wallerstein, George

2017-05-01

Detailed chemical abundances of two stars in the intermediate-age Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) globular cluster NGC 1718 are presented, based on high-resolution spectroscopic observations with the MIKE spectrograph. The detailed abundances confirm NGC 1718 to be a fairly metal-rich cluster, with an average [Fe/H] ˜ -0.55 ± 0.01. The two red giants appear to have primordial O, Na, Mg and Al abundances, with no convincing signs of a composition difference between the two stars - hence, based on these two stars, NGC 1718 shows no evidence for hosting multiple populations. The Mg abundance is lower than Milky Way field stars, but is similar to LMC field stars at the same metallicity. The previous claims of very low [Mg/Fe] in NGC 1718 are therefore not supported in this study. Other abundances (Si, Ca, Ti, V, Mn, Ni, Cu, Rb, Y, Zr, La and Eu) all follow the LMC field star trend, demonstrating yet again that (for most elements) globular clusters trace the abundances of their host galaxy's field stars. Similar to the field stars, NGC 1718 is found to be mildly deficient in explosive α-elements, but moderately to strongly deficient in O, Na, Mg, Al and Cu, elements that form during hydrostatic burning in massive stars. NGC 1718 is also enhanced in La, suggesting that it was enriched in ejecta from metal-poor asymptotic giant branch stars.

The Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment. Catalog of RRLyr Stars from the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soszynski, I.; Udalski, A.; Szymanski, M.; Kubiak, M.; Pietrzynski, G.; Wozniak, P.; Zebrun, K.; Szewczyk, O.; Wyrzykowski, L.

2002-12-01

We present the catalog of RRLyrae stars from 2.4 square degrees of central parts of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The photometric data were collected during four years of the OGLE-II microlensing survey. Photometry of each star was obtained using the Difference Image Analysis (DIA) method. The catalog contains 571 objects, including 458RRab, 56RRc variables, and 57 double mode RRLyr stars (RRd). Additionally we attach a list of variables with periods between 0.18-0.26 days, which are probably delta Sct stars. Period, BVI photometry, astrometry, amplitude, and parameters of the Fourier decomposition of the I-band light curve are provided for each object. We also present the Petersen diagram for double mode pulsators. We found that the SMC RRLyr stars are fairly uniformly distributed over the studied area, with no clear correlation to any location. The most preferred periods for RRab and RRc stars are 0.589 and 0.357 days, respectively. We noticed significant excess of stars with periods of about 0.29 days, which might be second-overtone RRLyr stars (RRe). The mean extinction free magnitudes derived for RRab stars are 18.97, 19.45 and 19.73 mag for the I, V and B-band, respectively. All presented data, including individual BVI observations, are available from the OGLE Internet archive.

Point Source All Sky

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-03-27

This panoramic view encompasses the entire sky as seen by Two Micron All-Sky Survey. The measured brightnesses of half a billion stars (points) have been combined into colors representing three distinct wavelengths of infrared light: blue at 1.2 microns, green at 1.6 microns, and red at 2.2 microns. This image is centered on the core of our own Milky Way galaxy, toward the constellation of Sagittarius. The reddish stars seemingly hovering in the middle of the Milky Way's disc -- many of them never observed before -- trace the densest dust clouds in our galaxy. The two faint smudges seen in the lower right quadrant are our neighboring galaxies, the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04250

DISTANCES TO DARK CLOUDS: COMPARING EXTINCTION DISTANCES TO MASER PARALLAX DISTANCES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Foster, Jonathan B.; Jackson, James M.; Stead, Joseph J.

We test two different methods of using near-infrared extinction to estimate distances to dark clouds in the first quadrant of the Galaxy using large near-infrared (Two Micron All Sky Survey and UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey) surveys. Very long baseline interferometry parallax measurements of masers around massive young stars provide the most direct and bias-free measurement of the distance to these dark clouds. We compare the extinction distance estimates to these maser parallax distances. We also compare these distances to kinematic distances, including recent re-calibrations of the Galactic rotation curve. The extinction distance methods agree with the maser parallax distancesmore » (within the errors) between 66% and 100% of the time (depending on method and input survey) and between 85% and 100% of the time outside of the crowded Galactic center. Although the sample size is small, extinction distance methods reproduce maser parallax distances better than kinematic distances; furthermore, extinction distance methods do not suffer from the kinematic distance ambiguity. This validation gives us confidence that these extinction methods may be extended to additional dark clouds where maser parallaxes are not available.« less

A Spectral Analysis of a Rare "Dwarf Eat Dwarf" Cannibalism Event

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Theakanath, Kuriakose; Toloba, E.; Guhathakurta, P.; Romanowsky, A. J.; Ramachandran, N.; Arnold, J.

2014-01-01

We have used Keck/DEIMOS to conduct the first detailed spectroscopic study of the recently discovered stellar stream in the Large Magellanic Cloud analog NGC 4449. Martinez-Delgado et al. (2012), using the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB), found that both objects, the stream and NGC 4449, are at the same distance, which suggests that this stream is the remnant of the first ongoing dwarf-dwarf cannibalism event known so far. Learning about the orbital properties of this event is a powerful tool to constrain the physical conditions involved in dwarf-dwarf merger events. The low surface-brightness of this structure makes impossible to obtain integrated light spectroscopic measurements, and its distance (3.8 Mpc) is too large as to observe stars individually. In the color-magnitude diagram of the stellar stream there is an excess of objects brighter than the TRGB which are potential star blends. We designed our DEIMOS mask to contain as many of these objects as possible and, while some of them turned out to be background galaxies, a handful happened to be star blends in the stream. Our velocity measurements along the stream prove that it is gravitationally bound to NGC 4449 and put strong constraints on the orbital properties of the infall. This research was carried out under the auspices of UCSC's Science Internship Program. We thank the National Science Foundation for funding support. ET was supported by a Fulbright fellowship.

NEW ULTRAVIOLET EXTINCTION CURVES FOR INTERSTELLAR DUST IN M31

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Clayton, Geoffrey C.; Gordon, Karl D.; Bohlin, R. C.

New low-resolution UV spectra of a sample of reddened OB stars in M31 were obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope/STIS to study the wavelength dependence of interstellar extinction and the nature of the underlying dust grain populations. Extinction curves were constructed for four reddened sightlines in M31 paired with closely matching stellar atmosphere models. The new curves have a much higher signal-to-noise ratio than previous studies. Direct measurements of N(H i) were made using the Lyα absorption lines enabling gas-to-dust ratios to be calculated. The sightlines have a range in galactocentric distance of 5–14 kpc and represent dust from regionsmore » of different metallicities and gas-to-dust ratios. The metallicities sampled range from solar to 1.5 solar. The measured curves show similarity to those seen in the Milky Way and the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Maximum Entropy Method was used to investigate the dust composition and size distribution for the sightlines observed in this program, finding that the extinction curves can be produced with the available carbon and silicon abundances if the metallicity is super-solar.« less

A clustered origin for isolated massive stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lucas, William E.; Rybak, Matus; Bonnell, Ian A.; Gieles, Mark

2018-03-01

High-mass stars are commonly found in stellar clusters promoting the idea that their formation occurs due to the physical processes linked with a young stellar cluster. It has recently been reported that isolated high-mass stars are present in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Due to their low velocities, it has been argued that these are high-mass stars which formed without a surrounding stellar cluster. In this paper, we present an alternative explanation for the origin of these stars in which they formed in a cluster environment but are subsequently dispersed into the field as their natal cluster is tidally disrupted in a merger with a higher mass cluster. They escape the merged cluster with relatively low velocities typical of the cluster interaction and thus of the larger scale velocity dispersion, similarly to the observed stars. N-body simulations of cluster mergers predict a sizeable population of low-velocity (≤20 km s-1), high-mass stars at distances of >20 pc from the cluster. High-mass clusters in which gas poor mergers are frequent would be expected to commonly have haloes of young stars, including high-mass stars, which were actually formed in a cluster environment.

NASA's Hubble Spots Embryonic Galaxy SPT0615-JD

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-01-11

This Hubble Space Telescope image shows the farthest galaxy yet seen in an image that has been stretched and amplified by a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. The embryonic galaxy, named SPT0615-JD, existed when the universe was just 500 million years old. Though a few other primitive galaxies have been seen at this early epoch, they have essentially all looked like red dots, given their small size and tremendous distances. However, in this case, the gravitational field of a massive foreground galaxy cluster, called SPT-CL J0615-5746, not only amplified the light from the background galaxy but also smeared the image of it into an arc (about 2 arcseconds long). Image analysis shows that the galaxy weighs in at no more than 3 billion solar masses (roughly 1/100th the mass of our fully grown Milky Way galaxy). It is less than 2,500 light-years across, half the size of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way. The object is considered prototypical of young galaxies that emerged during the epoch shortly after the big bang. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22079

Do We Really Have an Age/H_0 Conflict?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baum, W. A.

1997-12-01

Two independent methods for estimating the age of the universe can both be linked to the absolute magnitudes of the RR Lyrae stars, one based on stellar evolution in globular clusters and the other based on the Hubble Constant derived from globular clusters as distance indicators. The latter has recently been extracted from HST-WFPC2 data for globular clusters in the Coma Cluster galaxy IC 4051 (Baum et al. 1997, AJ, 113, 1483). If RR Lyrae stars are brighter than we have previously thought, the stellar-evolution age estimate is shortened whereas the Hubble age is increased, so we can ask a very simple question: For what RR Lyrae magnitude zero point would the stellar-evolution age coincide with the Hubble age, and is it a reasonable value? Allowing 1 Gyr for globular clusters to have formed, and assuming a classical Einstein-deSitter universe with Lambda = 0, I find the two ages to coincide if M_V(RR) ~ 0.16[Fe/H] + 0.46, which (among other things) puts the Large Magellanic Cloud at (m-M) = 18.78 +/- 0.17 mag. The implied age of the universe is 11.0 +/- 1.4 Gyr, and the corresponding H_0 = 59 +/- 8 km/s per Mpc.

Triggered O Star Formation in M20 via Cloud-Cloud Collision: Comparisons between High-resolution CO Observations and Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torii, K.; Hattori, Y.; Hasegawa, K.; Ohama, A.; Haworth, T. J.; Shima, K.; Habe, A.; Tachihara, K.; Mizuno, N.; Onishi, T.; Mizuno, A.; Fukui, Y.

2017-02-01

Understanding high-mass star formation is one of the top-priority issues in astrophysics. Recent observational studies have revealed that cloud-cloud collisions may play a role in high-mass star formation in several places in the Milky Way and the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Trifid Nebula M20 is a well-known Galactic H II region ionized by a single O7.5 star. In 2011, based on the CO observations with NANTEN2, we reported that the O star was formed by the collision between two molecular clouds ˜0.3 Myr ago. Those observations identified two molecular clouds toward M20, traveling at a relative velocity of 7.5 {km} {{{s}}}-1. This velocity separation implies that the clouds cannot be gravitationally bound to M20, but since the clouds show signs of heating by the stars there they must be spatially coincident with it. A collision is therefore highly possible. In this paper we present the new CO J = 1-0 and J = 3-2 observations of the colliding clouds in M20 performed with the Mopra and ASTE telescopes. The high-resolution observations revealed that the two molecular clouds have peculiar spatial and velocity structures, I.e., a spatially complementary distribution between the two clouds and a bridge feature that connects the two clouds in velocity space. Based on a new comparison with numerical models, we find that this complementary distribution is an expected outcome of cloud-cloud collisions, and that the bridge feature can be interpreted as the turbulent gas excited at the interface of the collision. Our results reinforce the cloud-cloud collision scenario in M20.

CALIPSO Observations of Near-Cloud Aerosol Properties as a Function of Cloud Fraction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yang, Weidong; Marshak, Alexander; Varnai, Tamas; Wood, Robert

2015-01-01

This paper uses spaceborne lidar data to study how near-cloud aerosol statistics of attenuated backscatter depend on cloud fraction. The results for a large region around the Azores show that: (1) far-from-cloud aerosol statistics are dominated by samples from scenes with lower cloud fractions, while near-cloud aerosol statistics are dominated by samples from scenes with higher cloud fractions; (2) near-cloud enhancements of attenuated backscatter occur for any cloud fraction but are most pronounced for higher cloud fractions; (3) the difference in the enhancements for different cloud fractions is most significant within 5km from clouds; (4) near-cloud enhancements can be well approximated by logarithmic functions of cloud fraction and distance to clouds. These findings demonstrate that if variability in cloud fraction across the scenes used to composite aerosol statistics are not considered, a sampling artifact will affect these statistics calculated as a function of distance to clouds. For the Azores-region dataset examined here, this artifact occurs mostly within 5 km from clouds, and exaggerates the near-cloud enhancements of lidar backscatter and color ratio by about 30. This shows that for accurate characterization of the changes in aerosol properties with distance to clouds, it is important to account for the impact of changes in cloud fraction.

Planck early results. XVII. Origin of the submillimetre excess dust emission in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Planck Collaboration; Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.; Arnaud, M.; Ashdown, M.; Aumont, J.; Baccigalupi, C.; Balbi, A.; Banday, A. J.; Barreiro, R. B.; Bartlett, J. G.; Battaner, E.; Benabed, K.; Benoît, A.; Bernard, J.-P.; Bersanelli, M.; Bhatia, R.; Bock, J. J.; Bonaldi, A.; Bond, J. R.; Borrill, J.; Bot, C.; Bouchet, F. R.; Boulanger, F.; Bucher, M.; Burigana, C.; Cabella, P.; Cardoso, J.-F.; Catalano, A.; Cayón, L.; Challinor, A.; Chamballu, A.; Chiang, L.-Y.; Chiang, C.; Christensen, P. R.; Clements, D. L.; Colombi, S.; Couchot, F.; Coulais, A.; Crill, B. P.; Cuttaia, F.; Danese, L.; Davies, R. D.; Davis, R. J.; de Bernardis, P.; de Gasperis, G.; de Rosa, A.; de Zotti, G.; Delabrouille, J.; Delouis, J.-M.; Désert, F.-X.; Dickinson, C.; Dobashi, K.; Donzelli, S.; Doré, O.; Dörl, U.; Douspis, M.; Dupac, X.; Efstathiou, G.; Enßlin, T. A.; Finelli, F.; Forni, O.; Frailis, M.; Franceschi, E.; Fukui, Y.; Galeotta, S.; Ganga, K.; Giard, M.; Giardino, G.; Giraud-Héraud, Y.; González-Nuevo, J.; Górski, K. M.; Gratton, S.; Gregorio, A.; Gruppuso, A.; Harrison, D.; Helou, G.; Henrot-Versillé, S.; Herranz, D.; Hildebrandt, S. R.; Hivon, E.; Hobson, M.; Holmes, W. A.; Hovest, W.; Hoyland, R. J.; Huffenberger, K. M.; Jaffe, A. H.; Jones, W. C.; Juvela, M.; Kawamura, A.; Keihänen, E.; Keskitalo, R.; Kisner, T. S.; Kneissl, R.; Knox, L.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Lagache, G.; Lähteenmäki, A.; Lamarre, J.-M.; Lasenby, A.; Laureijs, R. J.; Lawrence, C. R.; Leach, S.; Leonardi, R.; Leroy, C.; Linden-Vørnle, M.; López-Caniego, M.; Lubin, P. M.; Macías-Pérez, J. F.; MacTavish, C. J.; Madden, S.; Maffei, B.; Mandolesi, N.; Mann, R.; Maris, M.; Martínez-González, E.; Masi, S.; Matarrese, S.; Matthai, F.; Mazzotta, P.; Meinhold, P. R.; Melchiorri, A.; Mendes, L.; Mennella, A.; Miville-Deschênes, M.-A.; Moneti, A.; Montier, L.; Morgante, G.; Mortlock, D.; Munshi, D.; Murphy, A.; Naselsky, P.; Nati, F.; Natoli, P.; Netterfield, C. B.; Nørgaard-Nielsen, H. U.; Noviello, F.; Novikov, D.; Novikov, I.; Onishi, T.; Osborne, S.; Pajot, F.; Paladini, R.; Paradis, D.; Pasian, F.; Patanchon, G.; Perdereau, O.; Perotto, L.; Perrotta, F.; Piacentini, F.; Piat, M.; Plaszczynski, S.; Pointecouteau, E.; Polenta, G.; Ponthieu, N.; Poutanen, T.; Prézeau, G.; Prunet, S.; Puget, J.-L.; Reach, W. T.; Rebolo, R.; Reinecke, M.; Renault, C.; Ricciardi, S.; Riller, T.; Ristorcelli, I.; Rocha, G.; Rosset, C.; Rowan-Robinson, M.; Rubiño-Martín, J. A.; Rusholme, B.; Sandri, M.; Savini, G.; Scott, D.; Seiffert, M. D.; Smoot, G. F.; Starck, J.-L.; Stivoli, F.; Stolyarov, V.; Sudiwala, R.; Sygnet, J.-F.; Tauber, J. A.; Terenzi, L.; Toffolatti, L.; Tomasi, M.; Torre, J.-P.; Tristram, M.; Tuovinen, J.; Umana, G.; Valenziano, L.; Varis, J.; Vielva, P.; Villa, F.; Vittorio, N.; Wade, L. A.; Wandelt, B. D.; Wilkinson, A.; Ysard, N.; Yvon, D.; Zacchei, A.; Zonca, A.

2011-12-01

The integrated spectral energy distributions (SED) of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) appear significantly flatter than expected from dust models based on their far-infrared and radio emission. The still unexplained origin of this millimetre excess is investigated here using the Planck data. The integrated SED of the two galaxies before subtraction of the foreground (Milky Way) and background (CMB fluctuations) emission are in good agreement with previous determinations, confirming the presence of the millimetre excess. In the context of this preliminary analysis we do not propose a full multi-component fitting of the data, but instead subtract contributions unrelated to the galaxies and to dust emission. The background CMB contribution is subtracted using an internal linear combination (ILC) method performed locally around the galaxies. The foreground emission from the Milky Way is subtracted as a Galactic Hi template, and the dust emissivity is derived in a region surrounding the two galaxies and dominated by Milky Way emission. After subtraction, the remaining emission of both galaxies correlates closely with the atomic and molecular gas emission of the LMC and SMC. The millimetre excess in the LMC can be explained by CMB fluctuations, but a significant excess is still present in the SMC SED. The Planck and IRAS-IRIS data at 100 μm are combined to produce thermal dust temperature and optical depth maps of the two galaxies. The LMC temperature map shows the presence of a warm inner arm already found with the Spitzer data, but which also shows the existence of a previously unidentified cold outer arm. Several cold regions are found along this arm, some of which are associated with known molecular clouds. The dust optical depth maps are used to constrain the thermal dust emissivity power-law index (β). The average spectral index is found to be consistent with β = 1.5 and β = 1.2 below 500μm for the LMC and SMC respectively, significantly flatter than the values observed in the Milky Way. Also, there is evidence in the SMC of a further flattening of the SED in the sub-mm, unlike for the LMC where the SED remains consistent with β = 1.5. The spatial distribution of the millimetre dustexcess in the SMC follows the gas and thermal dust distribution. Different models are explored in order to fit the dust emission in the SMC. It is concluded that the millimetre excess is unlikely to be caused by very cold dust emission and that it could be due to a combination of spinning dust emission and thermal dust emission by more amorphous dust grains than those present in our Galaxy. Corresponding author: J.-P. Bernard, e-mail: jean-philippe.bernard@cesr.fr

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Evolution of rotating very massive LC stars (Kohler, 2015)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohler, K.; Langer, N.; de Koter, A.; de Mink, S. E.; Crowther, P. A.; Evans, C. J.; Grafener, G.; Sana, H.; Sanyal, D.; Schneider, F. R. N.; Vink, J. S.

2014-11-01

A dense model grid with chemical composition appropriate for the Large Magellanic Cloud is presented. A one-dimensional hydrodynamic stellar evolution code was used to compute our models on the main sequence, taking into account rotation, transport of angular momentum by magnetic fields and stellar wind mass loss. We present stellar evolution models with initial masses of 70-500M⊙ and with initial surface rotational velocities of 0-550km/s. (2 data files).

The circumstellar envelopes of F- and G-type supergiants in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hagen, W.; Humphreys, R. M.; Stencel, R. E.

1981-01-01

The outer atmospheres of four F- and G-type supergiants in the LMC are compared with those of their Milky Way counterparts by means of 2.5 and 5.1 A/mm high dispersion Echelle spectra. Na I D line doubling indicates extensive circumstellar envelopes, mass loss rates greater than 0.00001 solar masses/year, and outflow velocities of 10-60 km/sec. The Ca II H and K lines yield new data on extragalactic star chromospheres.

Working Group on Circumstellar/Interstellar Relationships

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Glassgold, A. E.

1986-01-01

Stars of various types are believed to be the main source of interstellar (IS) dust grans. The most important confirmed source is evolved giant and supergiant stars. Supernovae also contribute to the mass loss. The differences between circumstellar (CS) and IS dust were reviewed using the following topics: alteration of CS dust grains, size distribution, space observation of CS and IS dust, comparison of infrared spectra, isotopic signatures, Magellanic clouds and nearby galaxies, life cycles of dust grains, and physical and chemical data.

The slow X-ray pulsar SXP 1062 and associated supernova remnant in the Wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oskinova, L. M.; Guerrero, M. A.; Hénault-Brunet, V.; Sun, W.; Chu, Y.-H.; Evans, C.; Gallagher, J. S.; Gruendl, R. A.; Reyes-Iturbide, J.

2013-03-01

SXP 1062 is an exceptional case of a young neutron star in a wind-fed high-mass X-ray binary associated with a supernova remnant. A unique combination of measured spin period, its derivative, luminosity and young age makes this source a key probe for the physics of accretion and neutron star evolution. Theoretical models proposed to explain the properties of SXP 1062 shall be tested with new data.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: REFLEX II. Properties of the survey (Boehringer+ 2013)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boehringer, H.; Chon, G.; Collins, C. A.; Guzzo, L.; Nowak, N.; Bobrovskyi, S.

2013-06-01

Like REFLEX I, the extended survey covers the southern sky outside the band of the Milky Way (|bII|>=20°) with regions around the Magellanic clouds excised (3 in LMC, 3 in SMC). The total survey area after this excision amounts to 4.24 steradian (or 13924°2) which corresponds to 33.75% of the sky. Different from REFLEX I, we use the refined RASS product RASS III (Voges et al. 1999, Cat. IX/10). (2 data files).

Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy of Carbon Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-07-10

nod. Before extracting spectra from fit a variety of spectral feature shapes using MgS considerably the images, we used the imclean software package...mined from neighboring pixels. In addition to the dust features , the IRS wavelength range also To extract spectra from the cleaned and differenced...Example of the extraction of the molecular bands and the SiC dust 24 jIm, and they avoid any potential problems at the joint be- feature from the spectrum

HUBBLE PEEKS INTO A STELLAR NURSERY IN A NEARBY GALAXY

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

HUBBLE PEEKS INTO A STELLAR NURSERY IN A NEARBY GALAXY NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has peered deep into a neighboring galaxy to reveal details of the formation of new stars. Hubble's target was a newborn star cluster within the Small Magellanic Cloud, a small galaxy that is a satellite of our own Milky Way. The new images show young, brilliant stars cradled within a nebula, or glowing cloud of gas, cataloged as N 81. These massive, recently formed stars inside N 81 are losing material at a high rate, sending out strong stellar winds and shock waves and hollowing out a cocoon within the surrounding nebula. The two most luminous stars, seen in the Hubble image as a very close pair near the center of N 81, emit copious ultraviolet radiation, causing the nebula to glow through fluorescence. Outside the hot, glowing gas is cooler material consisting of hydrogen molecules and dust. Normally this material is invisible, but some of it can be seen in silhouette against the nebular background, as long dust lanes and a small, dark, elliptical-shaped knot. It is believed that the young stars have formed from this cold matter through gravitational contraction. Few features can be seen in N 81 from ground-based telescopes, earning it the informal nick-name 'The Blob.' Astronomers were not sure if just one or a few hot stars were embedded in the cloud, or if it was a stellar nursery containing a large number of less massive stars. Hubble's high-resolution imaging shows the latter to be the case, revealing that numerous young, white-hot stars---easily visible in the color picture---are contained within N 81. This crucial information bears strongly on theories of star formation, and N 81 offers a singular opportunity for a close-up look at the turbulent conditions accompanying the birth of massive stars. The brightest stars in the cluster have a luminosity equal to 300,000 stars like our own Sun. Astronomers are especially keen to study star formation in the Small Magellanic Cloud, because its chemical composition is different from that of the Milky Way. All of the chemical elements, other than hydrogen and helium, have only about one-tenth the abundances seen in our own galaxy. The study of N81 thus provides an excellent template for studying the star formation that occurred long ago in very distant galaxies, before nuclear reactions inside stars had synthesized the elements heavier than helium. The Small Magellanic Cloud, named after the explorer Ferdinand Magellan, lies 200,000 light-years away, and is visible only from the Earth's southern hemisphere. N 81 is the 81st nebula cataloged in a survey of the SMC carried out in the 1950's by astronomer Karl Henize, who later became an astronomer-astronaut who flew into space aboard NASA's space shuttle. The Hubble Heritage image of N 81 is a color representation of data taken in September, 1997, with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. Color filters were used to sample light emitted by oxygen ([O III]) and hydrogen (H-alpha, H-beta). N 81 is the target of investigations by European astronomers Mohammad Heydari-Malayeri from the Paris Observatory in France; Michael Rosa from the Space Telescope-European Coordinating Facility in Munich, Germany; Hans Zinnecker of the Astrophysical Institute in Potsdam, Germany; Lise Deharveng of Marseille Observatory, France; and Vassilis Charmadaris of Cornell University, USA (formerly at Paris Observatory). Members of this team are interested in understanding the formation of hot, massive stars, especially under conditions different from those in the Milky Way. Image Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Acknowledgement: Mohammad Heydari-Malayeri (Paris Observatory, France) EDITOR'S

VizieR Online Data Catalog: YSO candidates in the Magellanic Bridge (Chen+, 2014)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, C.-H. R.; Indebetouw, R.; Muller, E.; Kawamura, A.; Gordon, K. D.; Sewilo, M.; Whitney, B. A.; Fukui, Y.; Madden, S. C.; Meade, M. R.; Meixner, M.; Oliveira, J. M.; Robitaille, T. P.; Seale, J. P.; Shiao, B.; van Loon, J. Th.

2017-06-01

The Spitzer observations of the Bridge were obtained as part of the Legacy Program "Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the Tidally-Stripped, Low-Metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud" (SAGE-SMC; Gordon et al. 2011AJ....142..102G). These observations included images taken at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 um bands with the InfraRed Array Camera (IRAC) and at 24, 70, and 160 um bands with the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS). The details of data processing are given in Gordon et al. (2011AJ....142..102G). To construct multi-wavelength SEDs for sources in the Spitzer catalog, we have expanded it by adding photometry from optical and NIR surveys covering the Bridge, i.e., BRI photometry from the Super COSMOS Sky Surveys (SSS; Hambly et al. 2001MNRAS.326.1279H) and JHKs photometry from the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS; Skrutskie et al. 2006AJ....131.1163S, Cat. VII/233). (5 data files).

Integrated light chemical tagging analyses of seven M31 outer halo globular clusters from the Pan-Andromeda Archaeological Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sakari, Charli M.; Venn, Kim A.; Mackey, Dougal; Shetrone, Matthew D.; Dotter, Aaron; Ferguson, Annette M. N.; Huxor, Avon

2015-04-01

Detailed chemical abundances are presented for seven M31 outer halo globular clusters (with projected distances from M31 greater than 30 kpc), as derived from high-resolution integrated light spectra taken with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope. Five of these clusters were recently discovered in the Pan-Andromeda Archaeological Survey (PAndAS) - this paper presents the first determinations of integrated Fe, Na, Mg, Ca, Ti, Ni, Ba, and Eu abundances for these clusters. Four of the target clusters (PA06, PA53, PA54, and PA56) are metal poor ([Fe/H] < -1.5), α-enhanced (though they are possibly less α-enhanced than Milky Way stars at the 1σ level), and show signs of star-to-star Na and Mg variations. The other three globular clusters (H10, H23, and PA17) are more metal rich, with metallicities ranging from [Fe/H] = -1.4 to -0.9. While H23 is chemically similar to Milky Way field stars, Milky Way globular clusters, and other M31 clusters, H10 and PA17, have moderately low [Ca/Fe], compared to Milky Way field stars and clusters. Additionally, PA17's high [Mg/Ca] and [Ba/Eu] ratios are distinct from Milky Way stars, and are in better agreement with the stars and clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud. None of the clusters studied here can be conclusively linked to any of the identified streams from PAndAS; however, based on their locations, kinematics, metallicities, and detailed abundances, the most metal-rich PAndAS clusters H23 and PA17 may be associated with the progenitor of the Giant Stellar Stream, H10 may be associated with the SW cloud, and PA53 and PA56 may be associated with the eastern cloud.

NEARBY MASSIVE STAR CLUSTER YIELDS INSIGHTS INTO EARLY UNIVERSE

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

A NASA Hubble Space Telescope 'family portrait' of young, ultra-bright stars nested in their embryonic cloud of glowing gases. The celestial maternity ward, called N81, is located 200,000 light-years away in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), a small irregular satellite galaxy of our Milky Way. Hubble's exquisite resolution allows astronomers to pinpoint 50 separate stars tightly packed in the nebula's core within a 10 light-year diameter - slightly more than twice the distance between earth and the nearest star to our sun. The closest pair of stars is only 1/3 of a light-year apart (0.3 arcseconds in the sky). This furious rate of mass loss from these super-hot stars is evident in the Hubble picture that reveals dramatic shapes sculpted in the nebula's wall of glowing gases by violent stellar winds and shock waves. A pair of bright stars in the center of the nebula is pouring out most of the ultraviolet radiation to make the nebula glow. Just above them, a small dark knot is all that's left of the cold cloud of molecular hydrogen and dust the stars were born from. Dark absorption lanes of residual dust trisect the nebula. The nebula offers a unique opportunity for a close-up glimpse at the 'firestorm' accompanying the birth of extremely massive stars, each blazing with the brilliance of 300,000 of our suns. Such galactic fireworks were much more common billions of years ago in the early universe, when most star formation took place. The 'natural-color' view was assembled from separate images taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, in ultraviolet light and two narrow emission lines of ionized Hydrogen (H-alpha, H-beta). The picture was taken on September 4, 1997. Credit: Mohammad Heydari-Malayeri (Paris Observatory, France), NASA/ESA

A Cosmic Zoo in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2010-06-01

Astronomers often turn their telescopes to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), one of the closest galaxies to our own Milky Way, in their quest to understand the Universe. In this spectacular new image from the Wide Field Imager (WFI) at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile, a celestial menagerie of different objects and phenomena in part of the LMC is on display, ranging from vast globular clusters to the remains left by brilliant supernovae explosions. This fascinating observation provides data for a wide variety of research projects unravelling the life and death of stars and the evolution of galaxies. The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is only about 160 000 light-years from our own Milky Way - very close on a cosmic scale. This proximity makes it a very important target as it can be studied in far more detail than more distant systems. The LMC lies in the constellation of Dorado (the Swordfish), deep in the southern sky and well placed for observations from ESO's observatories in Chile. It is one of the galaxies forming the Local Group surrounding the Milky Way [1]. Though enormous on a human scale, the LMC is less than one tenth the mass of our home galaxy and spans just 14 000 light-years compared to about 100 000 light-years for the Milky Way. Astronomers refer to it as an irregular dwarf galaxy [2]. Its irregularity, combined with its prominent central bar of stars suggests to astronomers that tidal interactions with the Milky Way and fellow Local Group galaxy, the Small Magellanic Cloud, could have distorted its shape from a classic barred spiral into its modern, more chaotic form. This image is a mosaic of four pictures from the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. The image covers a region of sky more than four times as large as the full Moon. The huge field of view of this camera makes it possible to see a very wide range of objects in the LMC in a single picture, although only a small part of the entire galaxy can be included. Dozens of clusters of young stars can be seen as well as traces of glowing gas clouds. Huge numbers of faint stars fill the image from edge to edge and in the background, more galaxies, far beyond the LMC, are visible. Globular clusters are collections of hundreds of thousands to millions of stars bound by gravity into a roughly spherical shape just a few light-years across. Many clusters orbit the Milky Way and most are ancient, over ten billion years old, and composed mainly of old red stars. The LMC also has globular clusters and one is visible as the fuzzy white oval cluster of stars in the upper right part of the image. This is NGC 1978, an unusually massive globular cluster. Unlike most other globular clusters, NGC 1978 is believed to be just 3.5 billion years old. The presence of this kind of object in the LMC leads astronomers to think that the LMC has a more recent history of active star formation than our own Milky Way. As well as being a vigorous region of star birth, the LMC has also seen many spectacular stellar deaths in the form of brilliant supernova explosions. At the top right of the image, the remnant of one such supernova, a strangely shaped wispy cloud called DEM L 190, often also referred to as N 49, can be seen. This giant cloud of glowing gas is the brightest supernova remnant in the LMC, and is about 30 light-years across. At the centre, where the star once burned, now lies a magnetar, a neutron star with an extremely powerful magnetic field. It was only in 1979 that satellites orbiting Earth detected a powerful gamma-ray burst from this object, drawing attention to the extreme properties of this new class of stellar exotica created by supernova explosions. This part of the Large Magellanic Cloud is so packed with star clusters and other objects that astronomers can spend entire careers exploring it. With so much activity, it is easy to see why astronomers are so keen to study the strange creatures in this heavenly zoo. Notes [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Group [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_morphological_classification More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and VISTA, the world's largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

Using the Bootstrap Method for a Statistical Significance Test of Differences between Summary Histograms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Xu, Kuan-Man

2006-01-01

A new method is proposed to compare statistical differences between summary histograms, which are the histograms summed over a large ensemble of individual histograms. It consists of choosing a distance statistic for measuring the difference between summary histograms and using a bootstrap procedure to calculate the statistical significance level. Bootstrapping is an approach to statistical inference that makes few assumptions about the underlying probability distribution that describes the data. Three distance statistics are compared in this study. They are the Euclidean distance, the Jeffries-Matusita distance and the Kuiper distance. The data used in testing the bootstrap method are satellite measurements of cloud systems called cloud objects. Each cloud object is defined as a contiguous region/patch composed of individual footprints or fields of view. A histogram of measured values over footprints is generated for each parameter of each cloud object and then summary histograms are accumulated over all individual histograms in a given cloud-object size category. The results of statistical hypothesis tests using all three distances as test statistics are generally similar, indicating the validity of the proposed method. The Euclidean distance is determined to be most suitable after comparing the statistical tests of several parameters with distinct probability distributions among three cloud-object size categories. Impacts on the statistical significance levels resulting from differences in the total lengths of satellite footprint data between two size categories are also discussed.

More on the lambda 2800 A 'interstellar extinction' feature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McLachlan, A.; Nandy, K.

1985-02-01

In a response made to a recent letter by Karim et al. (1984), it is shown that the examples of interstellar absorption at 2800 A that they attribute to proteinaceous material can all be attributed to overexposure of IUE detectors. It is pointed out that stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud show pronounced absorption at 2800 A which cannot be due to interstellar protein since there is no associated absorption at 2200 A; this lack of absorption cannot be due to presence of graphite, whose absorption is weak in the Cloud. The claim by Karim et al. that the spectra of eight stars show 2800 A absorption and that these spectra are saturation-free is considered, and it is shown that data processing problems at IUE ground stations make these spectra unreliable.

Opacity, metallicity, and Cepheid period ratios in the galaxy and Magellanic Clouds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simon, Norman R.; Kanbur, Shashi M.

1994-01-01

Linear pulsation calculations are employed to reproduce the bump Cepheid resonance (P(sub 2)/P(sub 0) = 0.5 at P(sub 0) approximately equal to 10 days) and to model, individually, the P(sub 1)/P(sub 0) period ratios for the dozen known Galactic beat Cepheids. Convection is ignored. The results point to a range of metallicity among the Cepheids, perhaps as large as 0.01 approximately less than Z approximately less than 0.02, with no evidence for any star exceeding Z = 0.02. We find masses and luminosities which range from M approximately less than 4 solar mass, log(base 10) approximately less than 3.0 at P(sub 0) approximately equal to 3 days to M approximately less than 6 solar mass, log(base 10) L approximately greater than 3.5 at P(sub 0) approximately equal to 10 days. Similar parameters are indicated for the P(sub 0) approximately equal to 10 days Cepheids in the LMC and SMC, provided that the resonance for these stars occurs at a slightly longer period, P(sub 0) days, as has been suggested in the literature. Our calculations were performed mainly using OPAL opacities, but also with new opacities from the Opacity project (OP). Only small differences were found between the OPAL results and those from OP. Finally, some suggestions are made for possible future work, including evolution and pulsation calculations, and more precise observations of Cepheids in the Magellanic Clouds.

Star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds - I. Parametrization and classification of 1072 clusters in the LMC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nayak, P. K.; Subramaniam, A.; Choudhury, S.; Indu, G.; Sagar, Ram

2016-12-01

We have introduced a semi-automated quantitative method to estimate the age and reddening of 1072 star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) using the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment III survey data. This study brings out 308 newly parametrized clusters. In a first of its kind, the LMC clusters are classified into groups based on richness/mass as very poor, poor, moderate and rich clusters, similar to the classification scheme of open clusters in the Galaxy. A major cluster formation episode is found to happen at 125 ± 25 Myr in the inner LMC. The bar region of the LMC appears prominently in the age range 60-250 Myr and is found to have a relatively higher concentration of poor and moderate clusters. The eastern and the western ends of the bar are found to form clusters initially, which later propagates to the central part. We demonstrate that there is a significant difference in the distribution of clusters as a function of mass, using a movie based on the propagation (in space and time) of cluster formation in various groups. The importance of including the low-mass clusters in the cluster formation history is demonstrated. The catalogue with parameters, classification, and cleaned and isochrone fitted colour-magnitude diagrams of 1072 clusters, which are available as online material, can be further used to understand the hierarchical formation of clusters in selected regions of the LMC.

No breakdown of the radiatively driven wind theory in low-metallicity environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouret, J.-C.; Lanz, T.; Hillier, D. J.; Martins, F.; Marcolino, W. L. F.; Depagne, E.

2015-05-01

We present a spectroscopic analysis of Hubble Space Telescope/Cosmic Origins Spectrograph observations of three massive stars in the low metallicity dwarf galaxies IC 1613 and WLM. These stars, were previously observed with Very Large Telescope (VLT)/X-shooter by Tramper et al., who claimed that their mass-loss rates are higher than expected from theoretical predictions for the underlying metallicity. A comparison of the far ultraviolet (FUV) spectra with those of stars of similar spectral types/luminosity classes in the Galaxy, and the Magellanic Clouds provides a direct, model-independent check of the mass-loss-metallicity relation. Then, a quantitative spectroscopic analysis is carried out using the non-LTE (NLTE) stellar atmosphere code CMFGEN. We derive the photospheric and wind characteristics, benefiting from a much better sensitivity of the FUV lines to wind properties than Hα. Iron and CNO abundances are measured, providing an independent check of the stellar metallicity. The spectroscopic analysis indicates that Z/Z⊙ = 1/5, similar to a Small Magellanic Cloud-type environment, and higher than usually quoted for IC 1613 and WLM. The mass-loss rates are smaller than the empirical ones by Tramper et al., and those predicted by the widely used theoretical recipe by Vink et al. On the other hand, we show that the empirical, FUV-based, mass-loss rates are in good agreement with those derived from mass fluxes computed by Lucy. We do not concur with Tramper et al. that there is a breakdown in the mass-loss-metallicity relation.

Investigating the low-mass slope and possible turnover in the LMC IMF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gennaro, Mario

2014-10-01

We propose to derive the Initial Mass Function (IMF) of the field population of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) down to 0.2 solar masses, probing the mass regime where the characteristic IMF turnover is observed in our Galaxy. The power of the HST, using the WFC3 IR channel, is necessary to obtain photometric mass estimates for the faint, cool, dwarf stars with masses below the expected IMF turnover point. Only by probing the IMF down to such masses, it will be possible to clearly distinguish between a bottom-heavy or bottom-light IMF in the LMC. Recent studies, using the deepest available observations for the Small Magellanic Cloud, cannot find clear evidence of a turnover in the IMF for this galaxy, suggesting a bottom-heavy IMF in contrast to the Milky Way. A similar study of the LMC is needed to confirm a possible dependence of the low-mass IMF with galactic environment. Studies of giant ellipticals have recently challenged the picture of a universal IMF, and suggest an enviromental dependence of the IMF, with the most massive galaxies having a larger fraction of low mass stars and no IMF turnover. A study of possible IMF variations from resolved stellar populations in nearby galaxies is of great importance in sheding light on this issue. Our simple approach, using direct evidence from basic star counts, is much less prone to systematic errors with respect to studies of more distant objects which have to rely on the observations of integrated properties.

The dynamical origin of multiple populations in intermediate-age clusters in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, Jongsuk; de Grijs, Richard; Askar, Abbas; Berczik, Peter; Li, Chengyuan; Wang, Long; Deng, Licai; Kouwenhoven, M. B. N.; Giersz, Mirek; Spurzem, Rainer

2017-11-01

Numerical simulations were carried out to study the origin of multiple stellar populations in the intermediate-age clusters NGC 411 and NGC 1806 in the Magellanic Clouds. We performed NBODY6++ simulations based on two different formation scenarios, an ad hoc formation model where second-generation (SG) stars are formed inside a cluster of first-generation (FG) stars using the gas accumulated from the external intergalactic medium and a minor merger model of unequal mass (MSG/MFG ∼ 5-10 per cent) clusters with an age difference of a few hundred million years. We compared our results such as the radial profile of the SG-to-FG number ratio with observations on the assumption that the SG stars in the observations are composed of cluster members, and confirmed that both the ad hoc formation and merger scenarios reproduce the observed radial trend of the SG-to-FG number ratio, which shows less centrally concentrated SG than FG stars. It is difficult to constrain the formation scenario for the multiple populations by only using the spatial distribution of the SG stars. SG stars originating from the merger scenario show a significant velocity anisotropy and rotational features compared to those from the ad hoc formation scenario. Thus, observations aimed at kinematic properties like velocity anisotropy or rotational velocities for SG stars should be obtained to better understand the formation of the multiple populations in these clusters. This is, however, beyond current instrumentation capabilities.

The physics of massive OB stars in different parent galaxies. 1: Ultraviolet and optical spectral morphology in the Magellanic Clouds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walborn, Nolan R.; Lennon, Daniel J.; Haser, Stephan M.; Kudritzki, Rolf-Peter; Voels, Stephen A.

1995-01-01

Hubble Space Telescope/Faint Object Spectrograph (HST/FOS) and European Space Observatory (ESO) 3.6-m/CASPEC observations have been made of 18 stars ranging in spectral type from O3 through B0.5 Ia, half of them in each of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, in order to investigate massive stellar winds and evolution as a function of metallicity. The spectroscopic data are initially presented and described here in an atlas format. The relative weakness of the stellar-wind features in the SMC early O V spectra, due to their metal deficiency, is remarkable. Because of their unsaturated profiles, discrete absorption components can be detected in many of them, which is generally not possible in LMC and Galactic counterparts at such early types, or even in SMC giants and supergiants. On the other hand, an O3 III spectrum in the SMC has a weak C IV but strong N V wind profile, possibly indicating the presence of processed material. Wind terminal velocities are also given and intercompared between similar spectral types in the two galaxies. In general, the terminal velocities of the SMC stars are smaller, in qualitative agreement with the predictions of radiation-driven wind theory. Further analyses in progress will provide atmospheric and wind parameters for these stars, which will be relevant to evolutionary models and the interpretation of composite starburst spectra.

Active Luminous Blue Variables in the Large Magellanic Cloud

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Walborn, Nolan R.; Gamen, Roberto C.; Lajús, Eduardo Fernández

We present extensive spectroscopic and photometric monitoring of two famous and currently highly active luminous blue variables (LBVs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), together with more limited coverage of three further, lesser known members of the class. R127 was discovered as an Ofpe/WN9 star in the 1970s but entered a classical LBV outburst in or about 1980 that is still in progress, thus enlightening us about the minimum state of such objects. R71 is currently the most luminous star in the LMC and continues to provide surprises, such as the appearance of [Ca ii] emission lines, as its spectralmore » type becomes unprecedentedly late. Most recently, R71 has developed inverse P Cyg profiles in many metal lines. The other objects are as follows: HDE 269582, now a “second R127” that has been followed from Ofpe/WN9 to A type in its current outburst; HDE 269216, which changed from late B in 2014 to AF in 2016, its first observed outburst; and R143 in the 30 Doradus outskirts. The light curves and spectroscopic transformations are correlated in remarkable detail and their extreme reproducibility is emphasized, both for a given object and among all of them. It is now believed that some LBVs proceed directly to core collapse. One of these unstable LMC objects may thus oblige in the near future, teaching us even more about the final stages of massive stellar evolution.« less

Remarkable long-term changes in the small Magellanic Cloud Wolf-Rayet system HD 5980

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koenigsberger, G.; Moffat, A. F. J.; St-Louis, N.; Auer, L. H.; Drissen, L.; Seggewiss, W.

1994-01-01

In this paper we report the remarkable changes which occured in the Small Magellanic Cloud W-R system HD5980 = AB5 between 1978 and 1991. Within this timescale, there has been a systematic enhancement (by factors of 2-10 depending on the line) in the equivalent widths of all emission lines, and a change in the relative strengths of N III, N IV, and N V lines. Currently, the W-R spectrum is more typical of a WN6 star than a WN3 or WN4, as it was originally classified. The terminal speed of the wind has diminished by approximately 600 km/s, while the system has brightened in the visual by 0.45 mag. The UV (1850 A) continuum changed by less than 0.13 mag. The change from WN3 or WN4 to WN6 is unprecedented. The system appears to be composed at least three stars: two WNs in mutual 19.266 day orbit and an O-type supergiant. We propose that the changes observed in HD 5980 are related to an increase in wind density of one (or both?) of the W-R components, where the brighter WN6 component will dominate the W-R spectrum after the change, and we speculate that this modification of the wind structure is driven by tidal interaction induced by a possible current periastron passage of the third component in the system.

The 13Carbon footprint of B[e] supergiants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liermann, A.; Kraus, M.; Schnurr, O.; Fernandes, M. Borges

2010-10-01

We report on the first detection of 13C enhancement in two B[e] supergiants (B[e]SGs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Stellar evolution models predict the surface abundance in 13C to strongly increase during main-sequence and post-main-sequence evolution of massive stars. However, direct identification of chemically processed material on the surface of B[e]SGs is hampered by their dense, disc-forming winds, hiding the stars. Recent theoretical computations predict the detectability of enhanced 13C via the molecular emission in 13CO arising in the circumstellar discs of B[e]SGs. To test this potential method and to unambiguously identify a post-main-sequence B[e] SG by its 13CO emission, we have obtained high-quality K-band spectra of two known B[e] SGs in the Large Magellanic Cloud, using the Very Large Telescope's Spectrograph for INtegral Field Observation in the Near-Infrared (VLT/SINFONI). Both stars clearly show the 13CO band emission, whose strength implies a strong enhancement of 13C, in agreement with theoretical predictions. This first ever direct confirmation of the evolved nature of B[e]SGs thus paves the way to the first identification of a Galactic B[e]SG. Based on observations collected with the ESO VLT Paranal Observatory under programme 384.D-1078(A). E-mail: liermann@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de (AL); kraus@sunstel.asu.cas.cz (MK); oschnurr@aip.de (OS); borges@on.br (MBF)

Age and Mass for 920 Large Magellanic Cloud Clusters Derived from 100 Million Monte Carlo Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popescu, Bogdan; Hanson, M. M.; Elmegreen, Bruce G.

2012-06-01

We present new age and mass estimates for 920 stellar clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) based on previously published broadband photometry and the stellar cluster analysis package, MASSCLEANage. Expressed in the generic fitting formula, d 2 N/dMdtvpropM α t β, the distribution of observed clusters is described by α = -1.5 to -1.6 and β = -2.1 to -2.2. For 288 of these clusters, ages have recently been determined based on stellar photometric color-magnitude diagrams, allowing us to gauge the confidence of our ages. The results look very promising, opening up the possibility that this sample of 920 clusters, with reliable and consistent age, mass, and photometric measures, might be used to constrain important characteristics about the stellar cluster population in the LMC. We also investigate a traditional age determination method that uses a χ2 minimization routine to fit observed cluster colors to standard infinite-mass limit simple stellar population models. This reveals serious defects in the derived cluster age distribution using this method. The traditional χ2 minimization method, due to the variation of U, B, V, R colors, will always produce an overdensity of younger and older clusters, with an underdensity of clusters in the log (age/yr) = [7.0, 7.5] range. Finally, we present a unique simulation aimed at illustrating and constraining the fading limit in observed cluster distributions that includes the complex effects of stochastic variations in the observed properties of stellar clusters.

Probing the nature of AX J0043-737: Not an 87 ms pulsar in the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maitra, C.; Ballet, J.; Esposito, P.; Haberl, F.; Tiengo, A.; Filipović, M. D.; Acero, F.

2018-05-01

Aims: AX J0043-737 is a source in the ASCA catalogue whose nature is uncertain. It is most commonly classified as a Crab-like pulsar in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) following apparent detection of pulsations at 87 ms from a single ASCA observation. A follow-up ASCA observation was not able to confirm this, and the X-ray detection of the source has not been reported since. Methods: We studied the nature of the source with a dedicated XMM-Newton observation. We ascertained the source position, searched for the most probable counterpart, and studied the X-ray spectrum. We also analysed other archival observations with the source in the field of view to study its long-term variability. Results: With the good position localisation capability of XMM-Newton, we identify the counterpart of the source as MQS J004241.66-734041.3, an active galactic nucleus (AGN) behind the SMC at a redshift of 0.95. The X-ray spectrum can be fitted with an absorbed power law with a photon-index of Γ = 1.7, which is consistent with that expected from AGNs. By comparing the current XMM-Newton observation with an archival XMM-Newton and two other ASCA observations of the source, we find signatures of long-term variability, another common phenomenon in AGNs. All of the above are consistent with AX J0043-737 being an AGN behind the SMC.

Active Luminous Blue Variables in the Large Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walborn, Nolan R.; Gamen, Roberto C.; Morrell, Nidia I.; Barbá, Rodolfo H.; Fernández Lajús, Eduardo; Angeloni, Rodolfo

2017-07-01

We present extensive spectroscopic and photometric monitoring of two famous and currently highly active luminous blue variables (LBVs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), together with more limited coverage of three further, lesser known members of the class. R127 was discovered as an Ofpe/WN9 star in the 1970s but entered a classical LBV outburst in or about 1980 that is still in progress, thus enlightening us about the minimum state of such objects. R71 is currently the most luminous star in the LMC and continues to provide surprises, such as the appearance of [Ca II] emission lines, as its spectral type becomes unprecedentedly late. Most recently, R71 has developed inverse P Cyg profiles in many metal lines. The other objects are as follows: HDE 269582, now a “second R127” that has been followed from Ofpe/WN9 to A type in its current outburst; HDE 269216, which changed from late B in 2014 to AF in 2016, its first observed outburst; and R143 in the 30 Doradus outskirts. The light curves and spectroscopic transformations are correlated in remarkable detail and their extreme reproducibility is emphasized, both for a given object and among all of them. It is now believed that some LBVs proceed directly to core collapse. One of these unstable LMC objects may thus oblige in the near future, teaching us even more about the final stages of massive stellar evolution.