In this paper we describe STECMAP (STEllar Content via Maximum A Posteriori), a flexible, non-parametric inversion method for the interpretation of the integrated light spectra of galaxies, based on ...synthetic spectra of single stellar populations (SSPs). We focus on the recovery of a galaxy's star formation history and stellar age-metallicity relation. We use the high-resolution SSPs produced by pégase-hr to quantify the informational content of the wavelength range λλ= 4000–6800. Regularization of the inversion is achieved by requiring that the solutions are relatively smooth functions of age. The smoothness parameter is set automatically via generalized cross validation. A detailed investigation of the properties of the corresponding simplified linear problem is performed using singular value decomposition. It turns out to be a powerful tool for explaining and predicting the behaviour of the inversion, and may help designing SSP models in the future. We provide means of quantifying the fundamental limitations of the problem considering the intrinsic properties of the SSPs in the spectral range of interest, as well as the noise in these models and in the data. We demonstrate that the information relative to the stellar content is relatively evenly distributed within the optical spectrum. We show that one should not attempt to recover more than about eight characteristic episodes in the star formation history from the wavelength domain we consider. STECMAP preserves optimal (in the cross validation sense) freedom in the characterization of these episodes for each spectrum. We performed a systematic simulation campaign and found that, when the time elapsed between two bursts of star formation is larger than 0.8 dex, the properties of each episode can be constrained with a precision of 0.02 dex in age and 0.04 dex in metallicity from high-quality data R= 10 000, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) = 100 per pixel, not taking model errors into account. We also found that the spectral resolution has little effect on population separation provided low- and high-resolution experiments are performed with the same SNR per Å. However, higher spectral resolution does improve the accuracy of metallicity and age estimates in double-burst separation experiments. When the fluxes of the data are properly calibrated, extinction can be estimated; otherwise the continuum can be discarded or used to estimate flux correction factors. The described methods and error estimates will be useful in the design and in the analysis of extragalactic spectroscopic surveys.
Context. With the advent of visible and infrared long-baseline interferometers with more than two telescopes, both the size and the completeness of interferometric data sets have significantly ...increased, allowing images based on models with no a priori assumptions to be reconstructed with an aperture synthesis technique. Aims. Our main objective is to analyze the multiple parameters of the image reconstruction process with particular attention to the regularization term and the study of their behavior in different situations (types of astrophysical objects, telescope array configurations, level of noise, etc.). The secondary goal is to derive practical rules for the users. Methods. Using the Multi-aperture image Reconstruction Algorithm (MiRA), we performed multiple systematic tests, analyzing 11 regularization terms commonly used. The tests are made on different astrophysical objects, different (u,v) plane coverages and several signal-to-noise ratios to determine the minimal configuration needed to reconstruct an image. We establish a methodology and we introduce the mean-square errors (MSE) to discuss the results. Results. From the ~24 000 simulations performed for the benchmarking of image reconstruction with MiRA, we are able to classify the different regularizations in the context of the observations. We find typical values of the regularization weight. A minimal (u,v) coverage is required to reconstruct an acceptable image, whereas no limits are found for the studied values of the signal-to-noise ratio. We also show that super-resolution can be achieved with increasing performance with the (u,v) coverage filling. Conclusions. Using image reconstruction with a sufficient (u,v) coverage is shown to be reliable. The choice of the main parameters of the reconstruction is tightly constrained. We recommend that efforts to develop interferometric infrastructures should first concentrate on the number of telescopes to combine, and secondly on improving the accuracy and sensitivity of the arrays.
The
James Webb
Space Telescope is performing beyond our expectations. Its Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) provides versatile spectroscopic capabilities in the 0.6–5.3 µm wavelength range, where ...a new window is opening for studying Trans-Neptunian objects in particular. We propose a spectral extraction method for NIRSpec fixed slit observations, with the aim of meeting the superior performance on the instrument with the most advanced data processing. We applied this method on the fixed slit dataset of the guaranteed-time observation program 1231, which targets Plutino 2003 AZ
84
. We compared the spectra we extracted with those from the calibration pipeline.
The historic processes which have led to the present‐day patterns of genetic structure in the marine coastal fauna of the Northeast Atlantic are still poorly understood. While tectonic uplifts and ...changes in sea level may have caused large‐scale vicariance, warmer conditions during glacial maxima may have allowed pockets of diversity to persist to a much wider extent than in the Northwestern Atlantic. The large‐scale geographic distribution of deeply divergent lineages of the coastal polychaete tubeworms Pectinaria koreni (two clades) and Owenia fusiformis (three clades) were compared using a fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene (mtCOI). All lineages were present along the biogeographic transition zone on the north coast of Brittany (France) and we found evidence pointing towards congruence in the timing of cladogenic events between Pectinaria sp. (P. auricoma/P. belgica and P. koreni) and Owenia sp., suggesting a shared history of vicariant events. More conserved 16SrRNA sequences obtained from four species of Pectinariidae together with mtCOI sequences of P. koreni seem consistent with an initial establishment of pectinariids in the north, and a southward colonization of the Northeast Atlantic. Phylogeographic patterns in O. fusiformis were also consistent with a north/south pattern of lineage splitting and congruent levels of divergence were detected between lineages of both species. We observed signatures of both persistence in small northern glacial refugia, and of northwards range expansion from regions situated closer to the Mediterranean. However, whether the recolonization of the Northeast Atlantic by both species actually reflects separate interglacial periods is unclear with regards to the lack of molecular clock calibration in coastal polychaete species.
Context. The emergence of optical interferometers with three and more telescopes allows image reconstruction of astronomical objects at the milliarcsecond scale. However, some objects contain ...components with very different spectral energy distributions (SED; i.e. different temperatures), which produces strong chromatic effects on the interferograms that have to be managed with care by image reconstruction algorithms. For example, the gray approximation for the image reconstruction process results in a degraded image if the total (u,v)-coverage given by the spectral supersynthesis is used. Aims. The relative flux contribution of the central object and an extended structure changes with wavelength for different temperatures. For young stellar objects, the known characteristics of the central object (i.e., stellar SED), or even the fit of the spectral index and the relative flux ratio, can be used to model the central star while reconstructing the image of the extended structure separately. Methods. We present a new method, called SPARCO (semi-parametric algorithm for the image reconstruction of chromatic objects), which describes the spectral characteristics of both the central object and the extended structure to consider them properly when reconstructing the image of the surrounding environment. We adapted two image-reconstruction codes ( Macim , Squeeze , and MiRA ) to implement this new prescription. Results. SPARCO is applied using Macim , Squeeze , and MiRA on a young stellar object model and also on literature data on HR 5999 in the near-infrared with the VLTI. We obtain smoother images of the modeled circumstellar emission and improve the chi super(2) by a factor 9. Conclusions. This method paves the way to improved aperture-synthesis imaging of several young stellar objects with existing datasets. More generally, the approach can be used on astrophysical sources with similar features, such as active galactic nuclei, planetary nebulae, and asymptotic giant branch stars.
Context. MWC158 is a star with the Be phenomenon that shows strong spectrophotometric variability (in lines and in UV and visible continuum) attributed to phases of shell ejection. The evolutionary ...stage of this star was never clearly determined. Previous interferometric, spectropolarimetric and spectro-interferometric studies suggest a disk morphology for its environment. Aims. We investigate the origin of the variability within the inner astronomical unit of the central star using near-infrared interferometric observations with PIONIER at the VLTI over a two-year period. Methods. We performed an image reconstruction of the circumstellar environment using the SPARCO method. We discovered that the morphology of the circumstellar environment could vary on timescales of weeks or days. We carried out a parametric fit of the data with a model consisting of a star, a disk and a bright spot that represents a brighter emission in the disk. Results. We detect strong morphological changes in the first astronomical unit around the star, that happen on a timescale of few months. We cannot account for such variability well with a binary model. Our parametric model fits the data well and allows us to extract the location of the asymmetry for different epochs. Conclusions. For the first time, we detect a morphological variability in the environment of MWC158. This variability is reproduced by a model of a disk and a bright spot. The locations of the bright spot suggest that it is located in the disk, but its precise motion is not determined. The origin of the asymmetry in the disk is complex and may be related to asymmetric shell ejections.
Context.
Polarimetric imaging is one of the most effective techniques for the high-contrast imaging and characterization of circumstellar environments. These environments can be characterized through ...direct-imaging polarimetry at near-infrared wavelengths. The Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE)/IRDIS instrument, installed on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in its dual-beam polarimetric imaging mode, offers the capability to acquire polarimetric images at high contrast and high angular resolution. However, dedicated image processing is needed to eliminate the contamination from the stellar light, instrumental polarization effects, and blurring from the instrumental point spread function.
Aims.
We aim to reconstruct and deconvolve the near-infrared polarization signal from circumstellar environments.
Methods.
We used observations of these environments obtained with the high-contrast imaging infrared polarimeter SPHERE-IRDIS at the VLT. We developed a new way to extract the polarimetric signal using an inverse approach method that benefits from the additional knowledge of the detected signal formation process. The method includes a weighted data fidelity term and smooth penalization, and it takes the instrumental polarization into account.
Results.
This method enables us to accurately measure the polarized intensity and angle of linear polarization of circumstellar disks by taking into account the noise statistics and the convolution by the instrumental point spread function. It has the capacity to use incomplete polarimetry cycles, which enhance the sensitivity of the observations. The method improves the overall performances in particular for instances of both low signal-to-noise (S/N) and small polarized flux compared to standard methods.
Conclusions.
By increasing the sensitivity and including deconvolution, our method will allow for more accurate studies of these disks morphology, especially in the innermost regions. It also will enable more accurate measurements of the angle of linear polarization at low S/N, which would lead to in-depth studies of dust properties. Finally, the method will enable more accurate measurements of the polarized intensity, which is critical for the construction of scattering phase functions.
In this paper is assessed the vulnerability of the benthic habitats potential to deliver ES caused by physical, chemical and biological pressures identified by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive ...(MSFD) in the Normand-Breton (Saint Malo) Gulf (GNB), in France. The InVEST Habitat Risk Assessment (HRA) model provides useful information for identifying the regions on the seascape where the impacts of human activities are the highest. Additionally, and because the HRA does not address any ES in particular but the whole set of services offered by marine and coastal ecosystems, we analyze the habitats potential to deliver different types of ES (provisioning, regulating and maintenance, and cultural) using habitats vulnerability as a proxy. Concept-driven scenarios are presented to enable the understanding of existing trade-offs as a consequence of different management options. Results provide relevant ES-based information for managers to communicate with stakeholders and prioritize actions for risk mitigation.
We present infrared interferometric imaging of the S-type Mira star chi Cygni. The object was observed at four different epochs in 2005-2006 with the Infrared-Optical Telescope Array optical ...interferometer (H band). Images show up to 40% variation in the stellar diameter, as well as significant changes in the limb darkening and stellar inhomogeneities. Model fitting gave precise time-dependent values of the stellar diameter, and reveals presence and displacement of a warm molecular layer. The star radius, corrected for limb darkening, has a mean value of 12.1 mas and shows a 5.1 mas amplitude pulsation. Minimum diameter was observed at phase 0.94 +/- 0.01. Maximum temperature was observed several days later at phase 1.02 +/- 0.02. We also show that combining the angular acceleration of the molecular layer with CO (Deltav = 3) radial velocity measurements yields a 5.9 +/- 1.5 mas parallax. The constant acceleration of the CO molecules-during 80% of the pulsation cycle-lead us to argument for a free-falling layer. The acceleration is compatible with a gravitational field produced by a 2.1+1.5 -0.7 solar mass star. This last value is in agreement with fundamental mode pulsator models. We foresee increased development of techniques consisting in combining radial velocity with interferometric angular measurements, ultimately allowing total mapping of the speed, density, and position of the diverse species in pulsation-driven atmospheres.
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