Embedded clusters like W3 Main are complex and dynamically evolving systems that represent an important phase in the star formation process. We aim to characterize of the entire stellar content of W3 Main in a statistical sense, which will then identify possible differences in evolutionary phase of the stellar populations and find clues about the formation mechanism of this massive embedded cluster. Deep JHKs imaging is used to derive the disk fraction, Ks-band luminosity functions, and mass functions for several subregions in W3 Main. A two-dimensional completeness analysis using artificial star experiments is applied as a crucial ingredient for assessing realistic completeness limits for our photometry. We find an overall disk fraction of 7.7+/-2.3%, radially varying from 9.4+/-3.0 in the central 1pc to 5.6+/-2.2% in the outer parts of W3 Main. The mass functions derived for three subregions are consistent with a Kroupa and Chabrier mass function. The mass function of IRSN3 is complete down to 0.14M_{sun}_ and shows a break at M~0.5M_{sun}_. We interpret the higher disk fraction in the center as evidence that the cluster center is younger. We find that the evolutionary sequence observed in the low-mass stellar population is consistent with the observed age spread among the massive stars. An analysis of the mass function variations does not show evidence of mass segregation. W3 Main is currently still actively forming stars, showing that the ionizing feedback of OB stars is confined to small areas (~0.5pc). The FUV feedback might be influencing large regions of the cluster as suggested by the low overall disk fraction.
This paper is the third in a series of NH_3_ multilevel imaging studies in well-known, high-mass star-forming regions. The main goal is to characterize kinematics and physical conditions of (hot and dense) circumstellar molecular gas around O-type young stars. We want to map at subarcsecond resolution highly excited inversion lines of NH_3_ in the high-mass star-forming region W51 Main (distance = 5.4kpc), which is an ideal target to constrain theoretical models of high-mass star formation. Using the Karl Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA), we mapped the hot and dense molecular gas in W51 Main with ~0.2"-0.3" angular resolution in five metastable (J = K) inversion transitions of ammonia (NH_3_): (J,K) = (6, 6), (7, 7), (9, 9), (10, 10), and (13, 13). These lines arise from energy levels between ~400K and ~1700K above the ground state. We also made maps of the (free-free) continuum emission at frequencies between 25 and 36GHz.
We present an extensive search to identify the counterparts of all the microwave foreground sources listed in the WMAP 3-year catalogue using literature and archival data. Our work has led to the identification of 309 WMAP sources, 98% of which are blazars, radio quasars, or radio galaxies. Only 7 WMAP detections were identified with other types of cosmic sources (3 starburst galaxies and 4 planetary/LBN nebulae). At present, 15 objects (<5%) still remain without identification because of the unavailability of optical spectroscopic data or a clear radio counterpart. Our results allow us to define a flux-limited sample of 203 high Galactic latitude microwave sources (f_41GHz_>=1Jy, |b_II_|>15{deg} that is virtually completely identified (99%).
There is currently a debate over the existence of claimed statistical anomalies in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), recently confirmed in Planck data. Recent work has focussed on methods for measuring statistical significance, on masks and on secondary anisotropies as potential causes of the anomalies. We investigate simultaneously the method for accounting for masked regions and the foreground integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) signal. We search for trends in different years of WMAP CMB data with different mask treatments. We reconstruct the ISW field due to the 2 Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) and the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) up to l=5, and we focus on the Axis of Evil (AoE) statistic and even/odd mirror parity, both of which search for preferred axes in the Universe. We find that removing the ISW reduces the significance of these anomalies in WMAP data, though this does not exclude the possibility of exotic physics. In the spirit of reproducible research, all reconstructed maps and codes will be made available for download at http://www.cosmostat.org/anomaliesCMB.html .
We present the list of point sources found in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) five-year maps. The technique used in the first-year and three-year analyses now finds 390 point sources, and the five-year source catalog is complete for regions of the sky away from the Galactic plane to a 2Jy limit, with SNR>4.7 in all bands in the least covered parts of the sky. The noise at high frequencies is still mainly radiometer noise, but at low frequencies the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy is the largest uncertainty. A separate search of CMB-free V-W maps finds 99 sources of which all but one can be identified with known radio sources. The sources seen by WMAP are not strongly polarized. Many of the WMAP sources show significant variability from year to year, with more than a 2:1 range between the minimum and maximum fluxes.
We examine the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect in the seven year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data by cross-correlating it with the Planck Early-release Sunyaev-Zeldovich catalog (Cat. VIII/88/esz). Our analysis proceeds in two parts. We first perform a stacking analysis in which the filtered WMAP data are averaged at the locations of the 175 Planck clusters. We then perform a regression analysis to compare the mean amplitude of the SZ signal, Y_500_, in the WMAP data to the corresponding amplitude in the Planck data. The aggregate Planck clusters are detected in the seven year WMAP data with a signal-to-noise ratio of 16.3. In the regression analysis, we find that the SZ amplitude measurements agree to better than 25%: a=1.23+/-0.18 for the fit Y_500_^wmap^=aY_500_^planck^.
The detection of point sources in cosmic microwave background maps is usually based on a single-frequency approach, whereby maps at each frequency are filtered separately and the spectral information on the sources is derived combining the results at the different frequencies. In contrast, in the case of multifrequency detection methods, source detection and spectral information are tightly interconnected in order to increase the source detection efficiency. In this work we apply the matched multifiltermethod to the detection of point sources in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 7-year data at 61 and 94GHz. This linear filtering technique takes into account the spatial and the cross-power spectrum information at the same time using the spectral behaviour of the sources without making any a priori assumption about it.
We present new full-sky temperature maps in five frequency bands from 23 to 94GHz, based on data from the first 3 years of the WMAP sky survey. The new maps are consistent with the first-year maps and are more sensitive. We employ two forms of multifrequency analysis to separate astrophysical foreground signals from the CMB, each of which improves on our first-year analyses. First, we form an improved "Internal Linear Combination" (ILC) map, based solely on WMAP data, by adding a bias-correction step and by quantifying residual uncertainties in the resulting map. Second, we fit and subtract new spatial templates that trace Galactic emission; in particular, we now use low-frequency WMAP data to trace synchrotron emission instead of the 408MHz sky survey. The WMAP point source catalog is updated to include 115 new sources whose detection is made possible by the improved sky map sensitivity. We derive the angular power spectrum of the temperature anisotropy using a hybrid approach that combines a maximum likelihood estimate at low l (large angular scales) with a quadratic cross-power estimate for l>30. The resulting multifrequency spectra are analyzed for residual point source contamination. At 94GHz the unmasked sources contribute 128+/-27^{micron}^K^2^ to l(l+1)C_l_/2{pi} at l=1000. After subtracting this contribution, our best estimate of the CMB power spectrum is derived by averaging cross-power spectra from 153 statistically independent channel pairs. A simple six-parameter {LAMBDA}CDM model continues to fit CMB data and other measures of large-scale structure remarkably well. The new polarization data produce a better measurement of the optical depth to reionization, {tau}=0.089+/-0.03. This new and tighter constraint on {tau} help break a degeneracy with the scalar spectral index, which is now found to be ns=0.960+/-0.016.
We present follow-up observations of 97 point sources from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 3-yr data, contained within the New Extragalactic WMAP Point Source catalogue between -4{deg}<=DE<=60{deg}; the sources form a flux-density-limited sample complete to 1.1Jy (~5{sigma}) at 33GHz. Our observations were made at 16GHz using the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager and at 33GHz with the Very Small Array (VSA).
Using the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager (AMI) at 16GHz and the Very Small Array (VSA) at 33GHz to make follow-up observations of sources in the New Extragalactic WMAP Point Source catalogue, we have investigated the flux density variability in a complete sample of 97 sources over time-scales of a few months to ~1.5yr.
