The Perseus galaxy cluster was observed by the MAGIC Cherenkov telescope for a total effective time of 24.4 hr during 2008 November and December. The resulting upper limits on the gamma-ray emission ...above 100 GeV are in the range of 4.6-7.5 x 10{sup -12} cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} for spectral indices from -1.5 to -2.5, thereby constraining the emission produced by cosmic rays, dark matter annihilations, and the central radio galaxy NGC 1275. Results are compatible with cosmological cluster simulations for the cosmic-ray-induced gamma-ray emission, constraining the average cosmic ray-to-thermal pressure to <4% for the cluster core region (<8% for the entire cluster). Using simplified assumptions adopted in earlier work (a power-law spectrum with an index of -2.1, constant cosmic ray-to-thermal pressure for the peripheral cluster regions while accounting for the adiabatic contraction during the cooling flow formation), we would limit the ratio of cosmic ray-to-thermal energy to E{sub CR}/E{sub th} < 3%. Improving the sensitivity of this observation by a factor of about 7 will enable us to scrutinize the hadronic model for the Perseus radio mini-halo: a non-detection of gamma-ray emission at this level implies cosmic ray fluxes that are too small to produce enough electrons through hadronic interactions with the ambient gas protons to explain the observed synchrotron emission. The upper limit also translates into a level of gamma-ray emission from possible annihilations of the cluster dark matter (the dominant mass component) that is consistent with boost factors of {approx}10{sup 4} for the typically expected dark matter annihilation-induced emission. Finally, the upper limits obtained for the gamma-ray emission of the central radio galaxy NGC 1275 are consistent with the recent detection by the Fermi-LAT satellite. Due to the extremely large Doppler factors required for the jet, a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton model is implausible in this case. We reproduce the observed spectral energy density by using the structured jet (spine-layer) model which has previously been adopted to explain the high-energy emission of radio galaxies.
The bright gamma-ray quasar 4C +55.17 is a distant source (z = 0.896) with a hard spectrum at GeV energies as observed by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi satellite. This source is ...identified as a good source candidate for very high energy (VHE; >30 GeV) gamma-rays. In general, VHE gamma-rays from distant sources provide a unique opportunity to study the extragalactic background light (EBL) and underlying astrophysics. The flux intensity of this source in the VHE range is investigated. Then, constraints on the EBL are derived from the attenuation of gamma-ray photons coming from the distant blazar. We searched for a gamma-ray signal from this object using the 35 h observations taken by the MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov) telescopes between 2010 November and 2011 January. No significant VHE gamma-ray signal was detected. We computed the upper limits of the integrated gamma-ray flux at the 95 per cent confidence level of 9.4 × 10−12 and 2.5 × 10−12 cm−2 s−1 above 100 and 200 GeV, respectively. The differential upper limits in four energy bins in the range from 80 to 500 GeV are also derived. The upper limits are consistent with the attenuation predicted by low-flux EBL models on the assumption of a simple power-law spectrum extrapolated from LAT data.
Aims.We present an application of the Richardson-Lucy algorithm to the analysis of color–magnitude diagrams by converting the CMD into an image and using a restoring point spread function function ...(psf) derived from the known, often complex, sources of error. Methods.We show numerical experiments that demonstrate good recovery of the original image and establish convergence rates for ideal cases with single Gaussian uncertainties and poisson noise using a $\chi^2$ statistic. About 30–50 iterations suffice. As an application, we show the results for a particular case, the Hipparcos sample of the solar neighborhood where the uncertainties are mainly due to parallax which we model with a composite weighted Gaussian using the observed error distributions. The resulting psf has a slightly narrower core and broader wings than a single Gaussian. The reddening and photometric errors are considerably reduced by restricting the sample to within 80 pc and to $M_V \leq 3.5$. Results.We find that the recovered “image”, which has a narrower, better defined main sequence and a more clearly defined red giant clump, can be used as input to stellar evolution modeling of the star formation rate in the solar vicinity and, with more contributing uncertainties taken into account, for general Galactic and extragalactic structure and population studies.
Aims.We apply the nonlinear chemo-population (CP) models for galactic star formation and abundance evolution to the prediction of emission line diagnostics. Methods.We interfaced the CP code with the ...photoionization code Cloudy. Using the self-consistently generated star forming rates and abundance histories we predict the time dependences of the nebular line emissivities from model H II regions. We also simulated some effects of collisions, stripping, and accretion events on the emission line diagnostics. Results.We find, despite using extremely simplified input fluxes (i.e. blackbodies scaled to a range of effective temperatures but without detailed model atmospheres or population synthesis), the models reproduce many features of the observations. In particular, we suggest that the line ratios for highly ionized species (e.g. O III vs. N II) are more sensitive to the galactic history, while the exclusively ionization diagnostics (e.g. O II vs. O I) are more sensitive to the underlying stellar population and the composite ultraviolet flux distribution. We discuss some reasons for this and conclude that a coupled treatment of the galactic population and chemical evolution is essential for interpretation of the data. We also find that collisional and stripped models cover a wider range in the diagnostic diagrams that provide clues to the environmental effects.
This paper reports simulations allowing for stochastic accretion and mass loss within closed and open systems modeled using a previously developed multi-population, multi-zone (halo, thick disk, thin ...disk) treatment. The star formation rate is computed as a function of time directly from the model equations and all chemical evolution is followed without instantaneous recycling. Several types of simulations are presented here: (1) a closed system with bursty mass loss from the halo to the thick disk, and from the thick to the thin disk, in separate events to the thin disk; (2) open systems with random environmental (extra-galactic) accretion, e.g. by infall of high velocity clouds directly to the thin disk; (3) schematic open system single and multiple collision events and intracluster stripping. For the open models, the mass of the Galaxy has been explicitly tracked with time. We present the evolution of the star formation rate, metallicity histories, and concentrate on the light elements. We find a wide range of possible outcomes, including an explanation for variations in the Galactic D/H ratio, and highlight the problems for uniquely reconstructing star forming histories from contemporary abundance measurements.
Context. The nova outburst of V407 Cyg in 2010 Mar. 10 was the first observed for this star but its close resemblance to the well known symbiotic-like recurrent nova RS Oph suggests that it is also a ...member of this rare type of Galactic novae. The nova was the first detected at γ-ray energies and is the first known nova explosion for this system. The extensive multiwavelength coverage of this outburst makes it an ideal comparison with the few other outbursts known for similar systems. Aims. We extend our previous analysis of the Mira and the expanding shock from the explosion to detail the time development of the photoionized Mira wind, circumstellar medium, and shocked circumstellar environment to derive their physical parameters and how they relate to large scale structure of the environment, extending the previous coverage to more than 500 days after outburst. Methods. We use optical spectra obtained at high resolution with the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) (R ≈ 45 000 to 65 000) and medium resolution Ondřejov Observatory (R ≈ 12 000) data and compare the line variations with publicly available archival measurements at 30 GHz OVNR and at X-rays with Swift during the first four months of the outburst, through the end of the epoch of strong XR emission. We use nebular diagnostics and high resolution profile variations to derive the densities and locations of the extended emission. Results. We find that the higher the ionization and/or the higher the excitation energy, the more closely the profiles resemble the He II/Ca V-type high velocity shock profile discussed in Paper I. This also accounts for the comparative development of the N II and O III isoelectronic transitions: the O III 4363 Å profile does not show the low velocity peaks while the excited N II 5754 Å does. If nitrogen is mainly N+3 or higher in the shock, the upper state of the N II nebular lines will contribute but if the oxygen is O+2 then this line is formed by recombination, masking the nebular contributor, and the lower states are collisionally quenched but emit from the low density surroundings. Absorption lines of Fe-peak ions formed in the Mira wind were visible as P Cyg profiles at low velocity before Day 69, around the time of the X-ray peak and we identified many absorption transitions without accompanying emission for metal lines. The H Balmer lines showed strong P Cyg absorption troughs that weakened during the 2010 observing period, through Day 128. The Fe-peak line profiles and flux variations were different for permitted and forbidden transitions: the E1 transitions were not visible after Day 128 but had shown a narrow peak superimposed on an extended (200 km s-1) blue wing, while the M1 and E2 transitions persisted to Day 529, the last observation, and showed extended redshifted wings up of the same velocity. We distinguish the components from the shock, the photoionized environment, and the chromosphere and inner Mira wind using spectra taken more than one year after outburst. The multiple shells and radiative excitation phenomenology are similar to those recently cited for GRBs and SNIa.
LMC 91 was a very fast, classical nova and the brightest nova ever observed in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It was extensively observed during both its early optically thick and its nebular evolution ...in the optical and UV wavelength regions. We successfully fit all the optically thick spectra using a grid of spherically symmetric, non-LTE, line-blanketed, expanding synthetic spectra created with the model atmosphere code PHOENIX. The emission lines of the nebular spectra have been fitted using an optimization technique for the emission-line luminosities predicted by the photoionization code CLOUDY. Our analyses show the following: the bolometric luminosity was super-Eddington before visual maximum and reached the ejected mass was ∼ 3 × 10−4M⊙ and nuclear burning on the white dwarf ceased after ∼100 days. The elemental abundances (by number) with respect to solar of the ejecta are and all other elements ∼0.1. These abundances were determined from both the optically thick and nebular analyses. The extreme luminosity, high ejected mass, rapid turn-off time, and low metallicity (except for enhanced CNO) represent the extreme values of observational nova parameters and thus present interesting challenges for understanding the nature of the outburst of LMC 91.
This note presents theoretical color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) and metallicity evolution for Galactic multipopulation models coupled to stellar evolution models for systems undergoing stripping and ...re-accretion of ambient material, called "open" systems in our recent studies (Valle et al. 2005, A&A, 435, 551). We show that the observables for such systems, in particular those related to the recovered star formation as a function of time, are ambiguous - systems with non-monotonic star formation rates can appear as either bursting systems or galaxies with a hiatus in the star formation.
We report the discovery of variable $\ion{C}{iv}$ line profiles in the magnetic helium-weak stars HD 142301, HD 142990, and HD 144334, all of which are members of the Sco-Cen association, and the hot ...helium-weak star HD 175362. These stars display behavior that is similar to HD 5737 and HD 79158, two helium-weak stars for which magnetically confined plasma has previously been reported. The present study thus extends the $\ion{C}{iv}$ survey to all of the stars for which strong radio emission has been detected. No $\ion{C}{iv}$ absorption has been detected for two other Sco-Cen chemically peculiar stars, HD 144844 and 146001, nor has it been detected from archival spectra of HD 28843, HD 49333, or HD 124224. The reported detections are the first helium-weak stars that do not belong to the sn subclass that have been found to display such UV line profile variations. It appears that the restriction of this phenomenon to the extreme helium-weak subgroup was a selection effect and that the occurrence of magnetically trapped corotating plasma is more widespread among the upper main sequence magnetic spectrum variables. We show model calculations for the $\ion{C}{iv}$ variability that clarify the plasmaspheric structure. Supporting Hα observations show no evidence of line profile variability for HD 142301 and HD 144334, while HD 142990 appears to have extremely weak emission at certain phases, and the profile of HD 124224 shows some changing asymmetry.
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