Most known extrasolar planets (exoplanets) have been discovered using the radial velocity or transit methods. Both are biased towards planets that are relatively close to their parent stars, and ...studies find that around 17-30% (refs 4, 5) of solar-like stars host a planet. Gravitational microlensing, on the other hand, probes planets that are further away from their stars. Recently, a population of planets that are unbound or very far from their stars was discovered by microlensing. These planets are at least as numerous as the stars in the Milky Way. Here we report a statistical analysis of microlensing data (gathered in 2002-07) that reveals the fraction of bound planets 0.5-10 AU (Sun-Earth distance) from their stars. We find that 17(+6)(-9)% of stars host Jupiter-mass planets (0.3-10 M(J), where M(J) = 318 M(⊕) and M(⊕) is Earth's mass). Cool Neptunes (10-30 M(⊕)) and super-Earths (5-10 M(⊕)) are even more common: their respective abundances per star are 52(+22)(-29)% and 62(+35)(-37)%. We conclude that stars are orbited by planets as a rule, rather than the exception.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Launched in January 2015, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observatory was designed to provide frequent global mapping of high-resolution ...soil moisture and freeze-thaw state every two to three days using a radar and a radiometer operating at L-band frequencies. Despite a hardware mishap that rendered the radar inoperable shortly after launch, the radiometer continues to operate nominally, returning more than two years of science data that have helped to improve existing hydrological applications and foster new ones.
Beginning in late 2016 the SMAP project launched a suite of new data products with the objective of recovering some high-resolution observation capability loss resulting from the radar malfunction. Among these new data products are the SMAP Enhanced Passive Soil Moisture Product that was released in December 2016, followed by the SMAP/Sentinel-1 Active-Passive Soil Moisture Product in April 2017.
This article covers the development and assessment of the SMAP Level 2 Enhanced Passive Soil Moisture Product (L2_SM_P_E). The product distinguishes itself from the current SMAP Level 2 Passive Soil Moisture Product (L2_SM_P) in that the soil moisture retrieval is posted on a 9km grid instead of a 36km grid. This is made possible by first applying the Backus-Gilbert optimal interpolation technique to the antenna temperature (TA) data in the original SMAP Level 1B Brightness Temperature Product to take advantage of the overlapped radiometer footprints on orbit. The resulting interpolated TA data then go through various correction/calibration procedures to become the SMAP Level 1C Enhanced Brightness Temperature Product (L1C_TB_E). The L1C_TB_E product, posted on a 9km grid, is then used as the primary input to the current operational SMAP baseline soil moisture retrieval algorithm to produce L2_SM_P_E as the final output. Images of the new product reveal enhanced visual features that are not apparent in the standard product. Based on in situ data from core validation sites and sparse networks representing different seasons and biomes all over the world, comparisons between L2_SM_P_E and in situ data were performed for the duration of April 1, 2015–October 30, 2016. It was found that the performance of the enhanced 9km L2_SM_P_E is equivalent to that of the standard 36km L2_SM_P, attaining a retrieval uncertainty below 0.040m3/m3 unbiased root-mean-square error (ubRMSE) and a correlation coefficient above 0.800. This assessment also affirmed that the Single Channel Algorithm using the V-polarized TB channel (SCA-V) delivered the best retrieval performance among the various algorithms implemented for L2_SM_P_E, a result similar to a previous assessment for L2_SM_P.
•SMAP enhanced passive product validation covered diversified spatial scales.•Product retrieval accuracy is found to be below 0.040m3/m3 with good correlation.•Single channel algorithm using v-polarized TB channel showed the best performance.•Descending 6:00am retrieval is more accurate than ascending 6:00pm retrieval.•First project-level publication on this new product
Metasurfaces control light propagation at the nanoscale for applications in both free-space and surface-confined geometries. However, dynamically changing the properties of metasurfaces can be a ...major challenge. Here we demonstrate a reconfigurable hyperbolic metasurface comprised of a heterostructure of isotopically enriched hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) in direct contact with the phase-change material (PCM) single-crystal vanadium dioxide (VO
). Metallic and dielectric domains in VO
provide spatially localized changes in the local dielectric environment, enabling launching, reflection, and transmission of hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPhPs) at the PCM domain boundaries, and tuning the wavelength of HPhPs propagating in hBN over these domains by a factor of 1.6. We show that this system supports in-plane HPhP refraction, thus providing a prototype for a class of planar refractive optics. This approach offers reconfigurable control of in-plane HPhP propagation and exemplifies a generalizable framework based on combining hyperbolic media and PCMs to design optical functionality.
The cystic fibrosis (CF) airway bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa secretes multiple virulence factors. Among these, the redox active exotoxin pyocyanin (PCN) is produced in concentrations up ...to 100 μmol/L during infection of CF and other bronchiectatic airways. However, the contributions of PCN during infection of bronchiectatic airways are not appreciated. In this study, we demonstrate that PCN is critical for chronic infection in mouse airways and orchestrates adaptive immune responses that mediate lung damage. Wild-type FVBN mice chronically exposed to PCN developed goblet cell hyperplasia and metaplasia, airway fibrosis, and alveolar airspace destruction. Furthermore, after 12 weeks of exposure to PCN, mouse lungs down-regulated the expression of T helper (Th) type 1 cytokines and polarized toward a Th2 response. Cellular analyses indicated that chronic exposure to PCN profoundly increased the lung population of recruited macrophages, CD4+ T cells, and neutrophils responsible for the secretion of these cytokines. PCN-mediated goblet cell hyperplasia and metaplasia required Th2 cytokine signaling through the Stat6 pathway. In summary, this study establishes that PCN is an important P. aeruginosa virulence factor capable of directly inducing pulmonary pathophysiology in mice, consistent with changes observed in CF and other bronchiectasis lungs.
We have previously reported that intracerebroventricular (ICV) administration of oxytocin (OXY) produces a significant increase in maternal behavior in ovariectomized (OVXed) rats given a single ...priming dose of estrogen. Arginine vasopressin (AVP) has a weaker and more delayed but significant facilitating effect on the onset of maternal behavior. Other investigators have demonstrated that prolonged treatment of OVXed nulliparous rats with estrogen and progesterone followed by withdrawal of progesterone shortens the latency of onset of maternal behavior. We hypothesized that ovarian steroids increase the onset of maternal behavior by a central mechanism involving OXY and possibly AVP. To test this nulliparous Sprague Dawley rats were given SC one Silastic capsule containing 4.4 mg of 17 beta-estradiol eight days after OVX and three capsules each containing 40 mg of progesterone ten days after OVX. Progesterone capsules were removed on the 20th day after OVX, 24 hrs before the introduction of three rat pups (1-5 days old). One hr prior to introduction of pups animals received ICV 10 microliters of anti-oxytocin antiserum (AOA), anti-arginine vasopressin antiserum (AVA), anti-neurotensin antiserum (ANA), normal rabbit serum (NRS), AOA + 250 ng OXY or no ICV infusion. Animals receiving AOA displayed significantly less maternal behavior compared to animals receiving NRS, ANA or no ICV infusion over the first two, six and 25 hrs of pup contact. OXY significantly reversed the inhibitory effect of AOA in the first two hrs of pup contact. AVA significantly decreased the onset of maternal behavior compared to ANA or no ICV infusion over the first six hrs of pup contact.
The KATRIN experiment is designed for a direct and model-independent determination of the effective electron anti-neutrino mass via a high-precision measurement of the tritium
β
-decay endpoint ...region with a sensitivity on
m
ν
of 0.2
eV
/
c
2
(90% CL). For this purpose, the
β
-electrons from a high-luminosity windowless gaseous tritium source traversing an electrostatic retarding spectrometer are counted to obtain an integral spectrum around the endpoint energy of 18.6 keV. A dominant systematic effect of the response of the experimental setup is the energy loss of
β
-electrons from elastic and inelastic scattering off tritium molecules within the source. We determined the energy-loss function in-situ with a pulsed angular-selective and monoenergetic photoelectron source at various tritium-source densities. The data was recorded in integral and differential modes; the latter was achieved by using a novel time-of-flight technique. We developed a semi-empirical parametrization for the energy-loss function for the scattering of 18.6-keV electrons from hydrogen isotopologs. This model was fit to measurement data with a 95%
T
2
gas mixture at 30 K, as used in the first KATRIN neutrino-mass analyses, as well as a
D
2
gas mixture of 96% purity used in KATRIN commissioning runs. The achieved precision on the energy-loss function has abated the corresponding uncertainty of
σ
(
m
ν
2
)
<
10
-
2
eV
2
1
in the KATRIN neutrino-mass measurement to a subdominant level.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
We explore the connection between different classes of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and the evolution of their host galaxies, by deriving host galaxy properties, clustering, and Eddington ratios of ...AGNs selected in the radio, X-ray, and infrared (IR) wavebands. We study a sample of 585 AGNs at 0.25 < z < 0.8 using redshifts from the AGN and Galaxy Evolution Survey (AGES). We select AGNs with observations in the radio at 1.4 GHz from the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope, X-rays from the Chandra XBootes Survey, and mid-IR from the Spitzer IRAC Shallow Survey. The radio, X-ray, and IR AGN samples show only modest overlap, indicating that to the flux limits of the survey, they represent largely distinct classes of AGNs. We derive host galaxy colors and luminosities, as well as Eddington ratios, for obscured or optically faint AGNs. We also measure the two-point cross-correlation between AGNs and galaxies on scales of 0.3-10 h -1 Mpc, and derive typical dark matter halo masses. We find that: (1) radio AGNs are mainly found in luminous red sequence galaxies, are strongly clustered (with M halo ~ 3 X 1013 h -1 M ), and have very low Eddington ratios l 10-3; (2) X-ray-selected AGNs are preferentially found in galaxies that lie in the 'green valley' of color-magnitude space and are clustered similar to the typical AGES galaxies (M halo ~ 1013 h -1 M ), with 10-3 l 1; (3) IR AGNs reside in slightly bluer, slightly less luminous galaxies than X-ray AGNs, are weakly clustered (M halo 1012 h -1 M ), and have l>10-2. We interpret these results in terms of a simple model of AGN and galaxy evolution, whereby a 'quasar' phase and the growth of the stellar bulge occurs when a galaxy's dark matter halo reaches a critical mass between ~1012 and 1013 M . After this event, star formation ceases and AGN accretion shifts from radiatively efficient (optical- and IR-bright) to radiatively inefficient (optically faint, radio-bright) modes.
The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino experiment (KATRIN) aims to determine the effective electron (anti)-neutrino mass with a sensitivity of 0.2eV/c
2
by precisely measuring the endpoint region of the ...tritium
β
-decay spectrum. It uses a tandem of electrostatic spectrometers working as magnetic adiabatic collimation combined with an electrostatic (MAC-E) filters. In the space between the pre-spectrometer and the main spectrometer, creating a Penning trap is unavoidable when the superconducting magnet between the two spectrometers, biased at their respective nominal potentials, is energized. The electrons accumulated in this trap can lead to discharges, which create additional background electrons and endanger the spectrometer and detector section downstream. To counteract this problem, “electron catchers” were installed in the beamline inside the magnet bore between the two spectrometers. These catchers can be moved across the magnetic-flux tube and intercept on a sub-ms time scale the stored electrons along their magnetron motion paths. In this paper, we report on the design and the successful commissioning of the electron catchers and present results on their efficiency in reducing the experimental background.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The Majorana Demonstrator neutrinoless double-beta decay experiment comprises a 44 kg (30 kg enriched in ^{76}Ge) array of p-type, point-contact germanium detectors. With its unprecedented energy ...resolution and ultralow backgrounds, Majorana also searches for rare event signatures from beyond standard model physics in the low energy region below 100 keV. In this Letter, we test the continuous spontaneous localization (CSL) model, one of the mathematically well-motivated wave function collapse models aimed at solving the long-standing unresolved quantum mechanical measurement problem. While the CSL predicts the existence of a detectable radiation signature in the x-ray domain, we find no evidence of such radiation in the 19-100 keV range in a 37.5 kg-y enriched germanium exposure collected between December 31, 2015, and November 27, 2019, with the Demonstrator. We explored both the non-mass-proportional (n-m-p) and the mass-proportional (m-p) versions of the CSL with two different assumptions: that only the quasifree electrons can emit the x-ray radiation and that the nucleus can coherently emit an amplified radiation. In all cases, we set the most stringent upper limit to date for the white CSL model on the collapse rate, λ, providing a factor of 40-100 improvement in sensitivity over comparable searches. Our limit is the most stringent for large parts of the allowed parameter space. If the result is interpreted in terms of the Diòsi-Penrose gravitational wave function collapse model, the lower bound with a 95% confidence level is almost an order of magnitude improvement over the previous best limit.
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