- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/859/60
- Title:
- Sgr A* 1.3mm VLBI observations with the EHT in 2013
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/859/60
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We report results from very long baseline interferometric (VLBI) observations of the supermassive black hole in the Galactic center, Sgr A*, at 1.3mm (230GHz). The observations were performed in 2013 March using six VLBI stations in Hawaii, California, Arizona, and Chile. Compared to earlier observations, the addition of the APEX telescope in Chile almost doubles the longest baseline length in the array, provides additional uv coverage in the N-S direction, and leads to a spatial resolution of ~30 {mu}as (~3 Schwarzschild radii) for Sgr A*. The source is detected even at the longest baselines with visibility amplitudes of ~4%-13% of the total flux density. We argue that such flux densities cannot result from interstellar refractive scattering alone, but indicate the presence of compact intrinsic source structure on scales of ~3 Schwarzschild radii. The measured nonzero closure phases rule out point-symmetric emission. We discuss our results in the context of simple geometric models that capture the basic characteristics and brightness distributions of disk- and jet-dominated models and show that both can reproduce the observed data. Common to these models are the brightness asymmetry, the orientation, and characteristic sizes, which are comparable to the expected size of the black hole shadow. Future 1.3mm VLBI observations with an expanded array and better sensitivity will allow more detailed imaging of the horizon-scale structure and bear the potential for a deep insight into the physical processes at the black hole boundary.
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- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/467/L71
- Title:
- Significance of VLBI/Gaia position offsets
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/467/L71
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We have cross matched the Gaia Data Release 1 secondary data set that contains positions of 1.14 billion objects against the most complete to date catalogue of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) positions of 11.4 thousand sources, almost exclusively active galactic nuclei. We found 6064 matches, i.e. 53 per cent radio objects. The median uncertainty of VLBI positions is a factor of 4 smaller than the median uncertainties of their optical counterparts. Our analysis shows that the distribution of normalized arc lengths significantly deviates from Rayleigh shape with an excess of objects with small normalized arc lengths and with a number of outliers. We found that 6 per cent matches have radio-optical offsets significant at 99 per cent confidence level. Therefore, we conclude there exists a population of objects with genuine offsets between centroids of radio and optical emission.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/565/A127
- Title:
- SiO masers v=1,2,3 for 4 AGB
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/565/A127
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The v=1 and 2 J=1-0 (43GHz), and v=1 J=2-1 (86GHz) SiO masers are intense in AGB stars and have been mapped using VLBI showing ring-like distributions. Those of the v=1, 2 J=1-0 masers are similar, but the spots are rarely coincident, while the v=1 J=2-1 maser arises from a well separated region farther out. These relative locations can be explained by models including the overlap of two IR lines of SiO and H_2_O. The v=3 J=1-0 line is not directly affected by any line overlap and its spot structure and position, relative to the other lines, will be a good test to the standard pumping models The aims is to gain insight into the properties of the different SiO masers and the general theoretical considerations that can help to understand them. We present single-dish and VLBI simultaneous observations of the v=1, 2, 3 J=1-0 maser transitions of ^28^SiO in several AGB stars. The results are compared with the predictions of radiative models of SiO masers both including and not including the effect of IR line overlap. The spatial distribution of the SiO maser emission in the v=3 J=1-0 transition from AGB stars is systematically composed of a series of spots occupying a ring-like structure (as often found in SiO masers). The overall ring structure is extremely similar to that found in the other 43 GHz transitions, and very different from the structure of the v=1 J=2-1 maser. The positions of the individual spots of the different 43 GHz lines are however very rarely coincident, being in general separated by about 0.3AU (between 1 and 5mas). These results are very difficult to reconcile with standard pumping models, which predict the masers of rotational transitions within a given vibrational state to require very similar excitation conditions (since the levels are placed practically at the same energy from the ground), while the transitions of different vibrational states (which are separated by an energy of 1800K) should appear in different positions. However, models including line overlap tend to predict v=1, 2, 3 J=1-0 population inversion to occur under very similar conditions, while the requirements for v=1 J=2-1 appears clearly different, and are compatible with the observational results.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/215/15
- Title:
- SMaSH+: observations and companion detection
- Short Name:
- J/ApJS/215/15
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Multiplicity is one of the most fundamental observable properties of massive O-type stars and offers a promising way to discriminate between massive star formation theories. Nevertheless, companions at separations between 1 and 100 milliarcsec (mas) remain mostly unknown due to intrinsic observational limitations. At a typical distance of 2kpc, this corresponds to projected physical separations of 2-200AU. The Southern MAssive Stars at High angular resolution survey (SMaSH+) was designed to fill this gap by providing the first systematic interferometric survey of Galactic massive stars. We observed 117 O-type stars with VLTI/PIONIER and 162 O-type stars with NACO/Sparse Aperture Masking (SAM), probing the separation ranges 1-45 and 30-250mas and brightness contrasts of {Delta}H<4 and {Delta}H<5, respectively. Taking advantage of NACO's field of view, we further uniformly searched for visual companions in an 8" radius down to {Delta}H=8. This paper describes observations and data analysis, reports the discovery of almost 200 new companions in the separation range from 1mas to 8" and presents a catalog of detections, including the first resolved measurements of over a dozen known long-period spectroscopic binaries. Excluding known runaway stars for which no companions are detected, 96 objects in our main sample ({delta}<0{deg}; H<7.5) were observed both with PIONIER and NACO/SAM. The fraction of these stars with at least one resolved companion within 200mas is 0.53. Accounting for known but unresolved spectroscopic or eclipsing companions, the multiplicity fraction at separation {rho}<8" increases to f_m_=0.91+/-0.03. The nine non-thermal radio emitters observed by SMaSH+ are all resolved, including the newly discovered pairs HD 168112 and CPD-47{deg}2963.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/160/7
- Title:
- 2019 SOAR speckle interferometry of binary stars
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/160/7
- Date:
- 09 Dec 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The results of speckle-interferometric observations at the 4.1m Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope in 2019 are given, totaling 2555 measurements of 1972 resolved pairs with separations from 15mas (median 0.21") and magnitude difference up to 6mag, and non-resolutions of 684 targets. We resolved for the first time 90 new pairs or subsystems in known binaries. This work continues our long-term speckle program. Its main goal is to monitor orbital motion of close binaries, including members of high-order hierarchies and Hipparcos pairs in the solar neighborhood. We give a list of 127 orbits computed using our latest measurements. Their quality varies from excellent (25 orbits of grades 1 and 2) to provisional (47 orbits of grades 4 and 5).
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/162/192
- Title:
- SOAR TESS survey. II. Impact of stellar companions
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/162/192
- Date:
- 14 Mar 2022 06:53:02
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present the results of the second year of exoplanet candidate host speckle observations from the SOAR TESS survey. We find 89 of the 589 newly observed TESS planet candidate hosts have companions within 3", resulting in light-curve dilution, that, if not accounted for, leads to underestimated planetary radii. We combined these observations with those from PaperI to search for evidence of the impact binary stars have on planetary systems. Removing the one-quarter of the targets observed identified as false-positive planet detections, we find that transiting planets are suppressed by nearly a factor of seven in close solar-type binaries, nearly twice the suppression previously reported. The result on planet occurrence rates that are based on magnitude-limited surveys is an overestimation by a factor of two if binary suppression is not taken into account. We also find tentative evidence for similar close binary suppression of planets in M-dwarf systems. Last, we find that the high rates of widely separated companions to hot Jupiter hosts previously reported was likely a result of false-positive contamination in our sample.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/605/L3
- Title:
- SOLIS. II. L1157-B1 NH_2_CHO image
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/605/L3
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Modern versions of the Miller-Urey experiment claim that formamide (NH_2_CHO) could be the starting point for the formation of metabolic and genetic macromolecules. Intriguingly, formamide is indeed observed in regions forming Solar-type stars as well as in external galaxies. How NH_2_CHO is formed has been a puzzle for decades: our goal is to contribute to the hotly debated question of whether formamide is mostly formed via gas-phase or grain surface chemistry. We used the NOEMA interferometer to image NH_2_CHO towards the L1157-B1 blue-shifted shock, a well known interstellar laboratory, to study how the components of dust mantles and cores released into the gas phase triggers the formation of formamide. Results. We report the first spatially resolved image (size ~9", ~2300AU) of formamide emission in a shocked region around a Sun-like protostar: the line profiles are blueshifted and have a FWHM~=5km/s. A column density of N(NH_2_CHO)=8x10^12^cm^-1^, and an abundance (with respect to H-nuclei) of 4x10^-9^ are derived. We show a spatial segregation of formamide with respect to other organic species. Our observations, coupled with a chemical modelling analysis, indicate that the formamide observed in L1157-B1 is formed by gas-phase chemical process, and not on grain surfaces as previously suggested. The SOLIS interferometric observations of formamide provide direct evidence that this potentially crucial brick of life is efficiently formed in the gas-phase around Sun-like protostars.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/640/A75
- Title:
- SOLIS. X. NGC 1333 IRAS 4A images
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/640/A75
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The interstellar complex organic molecules (iCOMs) are C-bearing molecules containing at least six atoms; two main proposals for their formation are suggested: a direct formation in the icy mantle of the dust grains and formation through the reaction in gas phase of released grain mantle species. The shocked gas along outflows driven by low-mass protostars is a unique environment to study how the iCOMs can be formed as the composition of the dust mantles is sputtered into the gas phase. The chemical richness in shocked material associated with low-mass protostellar outflows has been so far studied in the prototypical L1157 blue-shifted outflow to investigate the iCOM formation routes. To understand whether the case of L1157-B1 is unique, we imaged and studied the IRAS 4A outflows in the NGC 1333 star forming region. We used the NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) interferometer as part of the IRAM Seeds Of Life in Space (SOLIS) Large Program to image the large-scale bipolar outflows driven by the IRAS 4A system in the 3 mm band, and we compared the observation with the GRAINOBLE+ astrochemical model. We report the first detection, in the IRAS 4A outflows, of several iCOMs: six lines of methanol (CH_3_OH), eight of acetaldehyde (CH_3_CHO), one of formamide (NH_2_CHO), and four of dimethyl ether (CH_3_OCH_3_), all sampling upper excitation energy up to 30K. We found a significant chemical differentiation between the southeast outflow driven by the IRAS 4A1 protostar, showing a richer molecular content, and the north-southwest one driven by the IRAS 4A2 hot corino. The CH_3_OH/CH_3_CHO abundance ratio is lower by a factor of 4 in the former; furthermore, the ratio in the IRAS 4A outflows is lower by a factor of 10 with respect to the values found in different hot corinos. After L1157-B1, the IRAS 4A outflow is now the second outflow to show an evident chemical complexity. Given that CH_3_OH is a grain surface species, the astrochemical gas-phase model run with GRAINOBLE+ reproduced our observation assuming that acetaldehyde is formed mainly through the gas-phase reaction of the ethyl radical (CH_3_CH_2_) and atomic oxygen. Furthermore, the chemical differentiation between the two outflows suggests that the IRAS 4A1 outflow is likely younger than that of the IRAS 4A2. Further investigation is needed to constrain the age of the outflow. In addition, observation of even younger shocks are necessary. In order to provide strong constraints on the CH_3_CHO formation mechanisms it would be interesting to observe CH_3_CH_2_, but given that its frequencies are not known, future spectroscopic studies on this species are needed.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/160/9
- Title:
- Speckle holography of binary systems with OAN-SPM
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/160/9
- Date:
- 08 Dec 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present our first results of multiband Speckle Holography of components of visual double stars. The observations were performed during 2019-April at the 2.1m telescope at the Observatorio Astronomico Nacional at Sierra de San Pedro Martir (Mexico). We have observed 190 double stars with separation between 3" and 5". The position angle, separation and magnitude difference in three broadband optical filters (VRI) for these systems are provided. For 15 systems we found different interesting features, we have identified a close component for 9 of those systems; 5 of them are newly discovered. In the remaining 6 systems, although unresolved, we found elongations that we have been able to derive astrometric parameters if proven to be a (newly discovered) close component. This corresponds to about 8% of the sample presenting a certain feature in one of the components and about 5% of the sample having a confirmed close component.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/138/813
- Title:
- Speckle interferometry at Mount Wilson Obs.
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/138/813
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Results are presented for 607 speckle interferometric observations of double stars, as well as 222 measures of single stars or unresolved pairs. All data were obtained in 2006 and 2007 at the Mount Wilson Observatory, using the 2.5 m Hooker telescope. Separations range from 0.06" to 6.31", with a median of 0.34". These three observing runs concentrated on binaries in need of confirmation (mainly Hipparcos and Tycho pairs), as well as systems in need of improved orbital elements. New orbital solutions have been determined for 35 systems as a result.