The results of a survey of SiO emission using the 15-m SEST and the 20-m Onsala telescope are presented in two tables. The sample contains altogether 369 objects including 270 H2O masers, 19 OH masers and 62 IRAS sources with colours typical for ultracompact HII regions. The remaining target sources consist of dust continuum peaks a CS emission peak near H2O masers (12) and Herbig-Haro objects (6). The entries are arranged according to increasing right ascension.
The population of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) shows a large variety of objects in terms of physical and dynamical properties. They are subject to planetary encounters and to strong solar wind and radiation effects. Their study is also motivated by practical reasons regarding space exploration and long-term probability of impact with the Earth. We aim to spectrally characterize a significant sample of NEAs with sizes in the range of ~0.25-5.5km (categorized as large), and search for connections between their spectral types and the orbital parameters. Optical spectra of NEAs were obtained using the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) equipped with the IDS spectrograph. These observations are analyzed using taxonomic classification and by comparison with laboratory spectra of meteorites. A total number of 76 NEAs were observed. We spectrally classified 44 of them as Q/S-complex, 16 as B/C-complex, eight as V-types, and another eight belong to the remaining taxonomic classes. Our sample contains 27 asteroids categorized as potentially hazardous and 31 possible targets for space missions including (459872) 2014 EK24, (436724) 2011 UW158, and (67367) 2000 LY27. The spectral data corresponding to (276049) 2002 CE26 and (385186) 1994 AW1 shows the 0.7um feature which indicates the presence of hydrated minerals on their surface. We report that Q-types have the lowest perihelia (a median value and absolute deviation of 0.797+/-0.244AU) and are systematically larger than the S-type asteroids observed in our sample. We explain these observational evidences by thermal fatigue fragmentation as the main process for the rejuvenation of NEA surfaces. In general terms, the taxonomic distribution of our sample is similar to the previous studies and matches the broad groups of the inner main belt asteroids. Nevertheless, we found a wide diversity of spectra compared to the standard taxonomic types.
File tablea1.dat contains the list of the Lyman-{alpha} absorption lines identified in the spectrum of HE 1122-1648 obtained during Science Verification of UVES at the VLT. We used the standard method of Voigt Profile fitting with VPFIT and with the inversion method described in the related paper. (Note that the printed version of the paper indicates HE 1122-1628, instead of the quasar HE 1122-1648).
We investigate the stellar mass and baryonic mass Tully-Fisher relations (TFRs) of massive star-forming disk galaxies at redshift z~2.3 and z~0.9 as part of the KMOS^3D^ integral field spectroscopy survey. Our spatially resolved data allow reliable modeling of individual galaxies, including the effect of pressure support on the inferred gravitational potential. At fixed circular velocity, we find higher baryonic masses and similar stellar masses at z~2.3 as compared to z~0.9. Together with the decreasing gas-to-stellar mass ratios with decreasing redshift, this implies that the contribution of dark matter to the dynamical mass on the galaxy scale increases toward lower redshift. A comparison to local relations reveals a negative evolution of the stellar and baryonic TFR zero points from z=0 to z~0.9, no evolution of the stellar TFR zero point from z~0.9 to z~2.3, and a positive evolution of the baryonic TFR zero point from z~0.9 to z~2.3. We discuss a toy model of disk galaxy evolution to explain the observed nonmonotonic TFR evolution, taking into account the empirically motivated redshift dependencies of galactic gas fractions and the relative amount of baryons to dark matter on galaxy and halo scales.
Space weathering is a process that changes the surface of airless planetary bodies. Prime space weathering agents are solar wind irradiation and micrometeoroid bombardment. These processes alter planetary reflectance spectra and often modify their compositional diagnostic features. In this work we focused on simulating and comparing the spectral changes caused by solar wind irradiation and by micrometeoroid bombardment to gain a better understanding of these individual space weathering processes. We used olivine and pyroxene pellets as proxies for planetary materials. To simulate solar wind irradiation we used hydrogen, helium, and argon ions with energies from 5 to 40keV and fluences of up to 10^18^particles/cm^2^. To simulate micrometeoroid bombardment we used individual femtosecond laser pulses. We analysed the corresponding evolution of different spectral parameters, which we determined by applying the Modified Gaussian Model, and we also conducted principal component analysis. The original mineralogy of the surface influences the spectral evolution more than the weathering agent, as seen from the diverse evolution of the spectral slope of olivine and pyroxene upon irradiation. The spectral slope changes seen in olivine are consistent with observations of A-type asteroids, while the moderate to no slope changes observed in pyroxene are consistent with asteroid (4) Vesta. We also observed some differences in the spectral effects induced by the two weathering agents. Ions simulating solar wind have a smaller influence on longer wavelengths of the spectra than laser irradiation simulating micrometeoroid impacts. This is most likely due to the different penetration depths of ions and laser pulses. Our results suggest that in some instances it might be possible to distinguish between the contributions of the two agents on a weathered surface.
We report the results of multicolour observations of 30 E/S0 galaxies with dust lanes. For each galaxy we obtained broad-band images and narrow-band images using interference filters isolating the H{alpha}+[NII] emission lines to derive the amount and morphology of dust and ionized gas. To improve the wavelength coverage we retrieved data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Two Micron All Sky Survey and combined these with our data. Ionized gas is detected in 25 galaxies and shows in most cases a smooth morphology, although knots and filamentary structure are also observed in some objects.
We report observations of the velocity field of the ionized gas in the nearby ellipticals NGC 1453, NGC 2974, NGC 3962, NGC 4636, NGC 6868 and NGC 7097. This is part of an ESO Key Programme intended to derive the mass distribution of elliptical galaxies and to investigate the possible presence of dark matter. All galaxy spectra are characterized by LINER-type emission. The derived gas kinematics confirm the picture of a regular gaseous disk structure with ordered rotation. The gas velocity dispersion profiles decline rapidly from a high central value in the range of =~150 to =~250km/s.
Medium-resolution spectra from 3650 to 10000 {AA} are presented for 96 giant H II regions distributed in 20 spiral galaxies. In order to interpret the data, we have calculated two separate grids of photoionization models, adopting single-star atmospheres (Kurucz) and star clusters synthesized with different initial mass functions (IMFs) as ionizing sources. Additional models were computed with more recent non-LTE stellar atmospheres, in order to check the effects of different stellar ionizing fluxes. We use the radiation softness parameter {eta}'=([O II]/[O III])/([S II]/[S III]) of Vilchez & Pagel (1988MNRAS.231..257V) to test for a metallicity dependence of the effective temperatures of the ionizing stars. Our results are consistent with a significant decrease in mean stellar temperatures of the ionizing stars with increasing metallicity. The magnitude of the effect, combined with the behavior of the He I {lambda}5876/H{beta} ratio, suggest a smaller upper mass limit for star formation at abundances higher than solar, even when considering the effects of metallicity on stellar evolution and atmospheric line blanketing. However, the exact magnitudes of the stellar temperature and IMF variations are dependent on the choice of stellar atmosphere and evolution models used, as well as on uncertainties in the nebular abundance scale at high metallicities. Our results also constrain the systematic behavior of the ionization parameter and the N/O ratio in extragalactic H II regions. The observed spectral sequences are inconsistent with current stellar evolution models, which predict a luminous, hot W-R stellar population in evolved H II regions older than 2-3 Myr. This suggests either that the hardness of the emitted Lyman continuum spectrum has been overestimated in the models or that some mechanism disrupts the H II regions before the W-R phases become important.
We explore how environment affects the metallicity of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) using 13 low-mass galaxy groups (two to five galaxies) at <z_abs_>=0.25 identified near background quasars. Using quasar spectra from the Hubble Space Telescope/Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (HST/COS) and from Keck/High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (Keck/HIRES) or the Very Large Telescope/Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (VLT/UVES), we measure column densities of or determine limits on CGM absorption lines. We use a Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach with Cloudy to estimate metallicities of cool (T~104K) CGM gas within groups and compare them to CGM metallicities of 47 isolated galaxies. Both group and isolated CGM metallicities span a wide range (-2<[Si/H]<0), where the mean group (-0.54{pm}0.22) and isolated (-0.77{pm}0.14) CGM metallicities are similar. Group and isolated environments have similar distributions of HI column densities as a function of impact parameter. However, contrary to isolated galaxies, we do not find an anticorrelation between HI column density and the nearest group galaxy impact parameter. We additionally divided the groups by member luminosity ratios (i.e., galaxy-galaxy and galaxy-dwarf groups). While there was no significant difference in their mean metallicities, a modest increase in sample size should allow one to statistically identify a higher CGM metallicity in galaxy-dwarf groups compared to galaxy-galaxy groups. We conclude that either environmental effects have not played an important role in the metallicity of the CGM at this stage and expect that this may only occur when galaxies are strongly interacting or merging or that some isolated galaxies have higher CGM metallicities due to past interactions. Thus, environment does not seem to be the cause of the CGM metallicity bimodality.
The only known phosphorus-containing organic compounds of extraterrestrial origin, alkylphosphonic acids, were discovered in the Murchison meteorite and have accelerated the hypothesis that reduced oxidation states of phosphorus were delivered to early Earth and served as a prebiotic source of phosphorus. While previous studies looking into the formation of these alkylphosphonic acids have focused on the iron-nickel phosphide mineral schreibersite and phosphorous acid as a source of phosphorus, this work utilizes phosphine (PH3), which has been discovered in the circumstellar envelope of IRC +10216, in the atmosphere of Jupiter and Saturn, and believed to be the phosphorus carrier in comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Phosphine ices prepared with interstellar molecules such as carbon dioxide, water, and methane were subjected to electron irradiation, which simulates the secondary electrons produced from galactic cosmic rays penetrating the ice, and probed using infrared spectroscopy to understand the possible formation of alkylphosphonic acids and their precursors on interstellar icy grains that could become incorporated into meteorites such as Murchison. We present the first study and results on the possible synthesis of alkylphosphonic acids produced from phosphine-mixed ices under interstellar conditions. All functional groups of alkylphosphonic acids were detected through infrared spectroscopically, suggesting that this class of molecules can be formed in interstellar ices.
