In this study, we investigate the X-ray properties of the intracluster gas and the radio morphology of the extraordinary cluster A2163. We analyze two Suzaku observations of A2163, one in the north-east (NE) and one in the south-west (SW) direction, and use archival XMM-Newton data to remove point sources in the field of view. To compare our findings in the X-ray regime with the radio emission, we obtain radio images of the cluster from an archival VLA observation at 20cm. We identify three shock fronts in A2163 in our spectral X-ray study. A clear shock front lies in the NE direction at a distance of 1.4Mpc from the center, with a Mach number of M=1.7^+0.3^_-0.2_, estimated from the temperature discontinuity. This shock coincides with the position of a known radio relic. We identify two additional shocks in the SW direction, one with M=1.5^+0.5^_-0.3_ at a distance of 0.7Mpc, which is likely related to a cool core remnant, and a strong shock with M=3.2^+0.6^_-0.7_ at a distance of 1.3Mpc, which also closely matches the radio contours. The complex structure of A2163 as well as the different Mach numbers and shock velocities suggest a merging scenario with two unequal merging constituents, where two shock fronts emerged in an early stage of the merger and traveled outwards while an additional shock front developed in front of the merging cluster cores.
A VLA Search for Young Galactic Supernova Remnants
Short Name:
J/AJ/104/704
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
In the attempt to identify very young galactic supernova remnants (SNRs), 290 known compact (<2') galactic plane radio sources were observed at 20cm using the VLA in its 36 km configuration. The VLA observations described could detect supernovae with diameters between 5 and 20"; these would have an age of between 25 and 100 yr. Compact structure was detected in 168 (58%) of the 290 different sources observed; 73 sources (25%) were unresolved or slightly resolved point sources, 21 (7%) were single-well resolved, 56 (19%) were double, 18 (6%) were triple or complex. The large scale structure was completely resolved out for 122 (42%) of sources. Additional observations at 6cm with the VLA in the 11 km configuration were made of 14 sources with apparent shell structures that might have been characteristic of young SNRs. Low resolution observations were made at 20cm of 62 fields where the source was completely resolved out in the high resolution images. Only one source, G25.5+0.2, is a possible very young SNR. New H66_alpha recombination line observations place severe constrains on any thermal interpretation for this object.
We present the first results from a recently concluded study of GRBs at z>~5 with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). Spanning 1 to 85.5GHz and 7 epochs from 1.5 to 82.3d, our observations of GRB140311A are the most detailed joint radio and millimeter observations of a GRB afterglow at z>~5 to date. In conjunction with optical/near-IR and X-ray data, the observations can be understood in the framework of radiation from a single blast wave shock with energy E_K,iso_~8.5x10^53^erg expanding into a constant density environment with density, n_0_~8cm^-3^. The X-ray and radio observations require a jet break at t_jet_~0.6d, yielding an opening angle of {theta}_jet_~4{deg} and a beaming-corrected blast wave kinetic energy of E_K_~2.2x10^50^erg. The results from our radio follow-up and multiwavelength modeling lend credence to the hypothesis that detected high-redshift GRBs may be more tightly beamed than events at lower redshift. We do not find compelling evidence for reverse shock emission, which may be related to fast cooling driven by the moderately high circumburst density.
The Jansky Very Large Array was used to observe 121 magnetic cataclysmic variables (MCVs). We report radio detections of 18 stars. Thirteen are new radio sources, increasing the number of MCVs that are radio sources by more than twofold, from 8 to 21. Most detections are at 8.7 GHz (X-band) with a lesser number at 5.4 and 21.1 GHz (C- and K-bands). With the exception of AE Aqr, whose flux density is typically >5 mJy, the flux densities are in the range of 24-780 {mu}Jy. Thirteen of the detections show highly circularly polarized emission, which is characteristic of electron-cyclotron maser emission. The data suggest that MCVs could possibly be divided into two classes of radio emitters: those dominated by weakly polarized gyrosynchrotron emission and those by highly polarized electron-cyclotron maser emission.
Variability is a key property of stars on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). Their pulsation period is related to the luminosity and mass-loss rate (MLR) of the star. Long-period variables (LPVs) and Mira variables are the most prominent of all types of variability of evolved stars. However, the reddest, most obscured AGB stars are too faint in the optical and have eluded large variability surveys. Our goal is to obtain a sample of LPVs with large MLRs by analysing WISE W1 and W2 light curves (LCs) for about 2000 sources, photometrically selected to include known C-stars with the 11.3 micron silicon carbide dust feature in absorption, and Galactic O-stars with periods longer than 1000 days. Epoch photometry was retrieved from the AllWISE and NEOWISE database and fitted with a sinus curve. Photometry from other variability surveys was also downloaded and fitted. For a subset of 316 of the reddest stars, spectral energy distributions (SEDs) were constructed, and, together with mid-infrared (MIR) spectra when available, fitted with a dust radiative transfer programme in order to derive MLRs. WISE based LCs and fits to the data are presented for all stars. Periods from the literature and periods from refitting other literature data are presented. The results of the spatial correlation with several (IR) databases is presented. About one-third of the sources are found to be not real, but it appears that these cannot be easily filtered out by using WISE flags. Some are clones of extremely bright sources, and in some cases the LCs show the known pulsation period. Inspired by a recent paper, a number of non-variable OH/IRs are identified. Based on a selection on amplitude, a sample of about 750 (candidate) LPVs is selected of which 145 have periods beyond 1000 days, many of them being new. For the subset of the stars with the colours of C-rich extremely red objects (EROs) the fitting of the SEDs (and available MIR spectra) separates them into C- and O-rich objects. Interestingly, the fitting of MIR spectra of mass-losing C-stars is shown to be a powerful tracer of interstellar reddening when AV larger than 2 mag. The number of Galactic EROs appears to be complete up to about 5 kpc and a total dust return rate in the solar neighbourhood for this class is determined. In the LMC 12 additional EROs are identified. Although this represents only about 0.15% of the total known LMC C-star population adding their MLRs increases the previously estimated dust return by 8%. Based on the EROs in the Magellanic Clouds, a bolometric period luminosity is derived. It is pointed out that due to their faintness, EROs and similar O-rich objects are ideal targets for a NIR version of Gaia to obtain distances, observing in the K-band or, even more efficiently, in the L-band.
We have measured redshifts and Kron-Cousins R-band magnitudes for a sample of galaxies in the poor cluster AWM 7. We have measured redshifts for 172 galaxies; 106 of these are cluster members. We determine the luminosity function (LF) from a photometric survey of the central 1.2x1.2h^-1^Mpc. The LF has a bump at the bright end and a faint-end slope of {alpha}=-1.37+/-0.16, populated almost exclusively by absorption-line galaxies. The cluster velocity dispersion is lower in the core (~530km/s) than at the outskirts (~680km/s), consistent with the cooling flow seen in the X-ray. The cold core extends ~150h^-1^kpc from the cluster center. The Kron-Cousins R-band mass-to-light ratio of the system is 650+/-170hM_{sun}_/L_{sun}_, substantially lower than previous optical determinations, but consistent with most previous X-ray determinations. We adopt H_0_=100hkm/s/Mpc throughout this paper; at the mean cluster redshift (5247+/-76km/s), 1h^-1^Mpc subtends 65.5'.
We present measurements of the soft X-ray background (SXRB) OVII and OVIII intensity between l=120{deg} and l=240{deg}, the first results of a survey of the SXRB using archival XMM-Newton observations. We do not restrict ourselves to blank-sky observations, but instead use as many observations as possible, removing bright or extended sources by hand if necessary. In an attempt to minimize contamination from near-Earth solar wind charge exchange (SWCX) emission, we remove times of high solar wind proton flux from the data. Without this filtering we are able to extract measurements from 586 XMM-Newton observations. With this filtering, ~1/2 of the observations are rendered unusable, and we are able to extract measurements from 303 observations. The oxygen intensities are typically ~0.5-10 photons/cm^2^/s/sr (line units, L.U.) for OVII and ~0-5L.U. for OVIII. The proton flux filtering does not systematically reduce the oxygen intensities measured from a given observation. However, the filtering does preferentially remove the observations with higher oxygen intensities. Our data set includes 69 directions with multiple observations, whose oxygen intensity variations can be used to constrain SWCX models. After removing observations likely to be contaminated by heliospheric SWCX emission, we use our results to examine the Galactic halo.
AX Monocerotis is a 232d, noneclipsing, interacting binary star that consists of a K giant, a Be-like giant, and a large amounts of circumstellar material. The K star is almost certainly a synchronous rotator and is probably in contact with its critical lobe. The Be star was believed to be a rapid rotator based on extremely wide absorption lines, but new spectra show that these lines arise from the circumstellar environment. Hydrogen emission, also circumstellar, is many times stronger than the continuum. Near-ultraviolet light curves exhibit a 0.5 mag dip near phase 0.75, but there is no such variability at longer wavelengths. Gas flow trajectories from the cusp of the K star toward the Be star provide a simple explanation for the photometric and spectroscopic behavior. We may have found a decreasing orbital period, but more data are necessary to confirm this result. We present several models for AX Mon based on (1) new and archival visible photometry, (2) archival ultraviolet spectroscopy, (3) new and archival visible spectroscopy, (4) new visible polarimetry, and (5) new radio photometry. Further observations, including optical interferometry, are proposed.
AX Per is an eclipsing symbiotic binary. During active phases, deep narrow minima are observed in its light curve, and the ionization structure in the binary changes significantly. From ~2007.5, AX Per entered a new active phase. We aim to derive the ionization structure in the binary and its changes during the recent active phase. We used optical high- and low-resolution spectroscopy and UBVRcIc photometry. We modeled the SED in the optical and broad wings of the H alpha line profile during the 2007-10 higher level of the AX Per activity. After 10 orbital cycles (~18.6 years), we again measured the eclipse of the hot component by its giant companion in the light curve. We derived a radius of 27+/-2R_{sun}_ for the eclipsed object and 115+/-2R_{sun}_ for the eclipsing cool giant. The new active phase was connected with a significant enhancement of the hot star wind. From quiescence to activity, the mass-loss rate increased from ~9E-8 to ~3E-6M_{sun}_/yr, respectively. The wind causes the emission of the He++ zone, located in the vicinity of the hot star, and also is the reason for the fraction of the [OIII] zone at farther distances. Simultaneously, we identified a variable optically thick warm (T_eff_~6000K) source that contributes markedly to the composite spectrum. The source was located at the hot star's equator and has the form of a flared disk, whose outer rim simulates the warm photosphere. The formation of the neutral disk-like zone around the accretor during the active phase was connected with its enhanced wind. It is probable that this connection represents a common origin of the warm pseudophotospheres that are indicated during the active phases of symbiotic stars.
