Hydrodynamic simulations of the shock-cloud interaction in the Vela supernova remnant

Accretion Shocks in Young Stars: the Role of Local Absorption on the X-ray Emission

We investigate the X-ray emission from accretion shocks in classical T Tauri stars, due to the infalling material impacting the stellar surface. Several aspects in both observations and models of the accretion process are still unclear: the observed X-ray luminosity of the post-shock plasma is below the predicted value, the density vs temperature structure of the shocked plasma, with increasing densities at higher temperature, is opposite of what expected from simple accretion shock models. To address these issues we performed numerical magnetohydrodynamic simulations describing the impact of an accretion stream onto the stellar surface and considered the local absorption due to the surroun…

Observational constraints on the modelling of SN 1006

Detailed characterization of laboratory magnetized super-critical collisionless shock and of the associated proton energization

Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous in the Universe and are held responsible for the production of nonthermal particles and high-energy radiation. In the absence of particle collisions in the system, theory shows that the interaction of an expanding plasma with a pre-existing electromagnetic structure (as in our case) is able to induce energy dissipation and allow shock formation. Shock formation can alternatively take place when two plasmas interact, through microscopic instabilities inducing electromagnetic fields that are able in turn to mediate energy dissipation and shock formation. Using our platform in which we couple a rapidly expanding plasma induced by high-power lasers (JLF/Titan…

Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array to spectral signatures of hadronic PeVatrons with application to Galactic Supernova Remnants

The local Cosmic Ray (CR) energy spectrum exhibits a spectral softening at energies around 3~PeV. Sources which are capable of accelerating hadrons to such energies are called hadronic PeVatrons. However, hadronic PeVatrons have not yet been firmly identified within the Galaxy. Several source classes, including Galactic Supernova Remnants (SNRs), have been proposed as PeVatron candidates. The potential to search for hadronic PeVatrons with the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is assessed. The focus is on the usage of very high energy $\gamma$-ray spectral signatures for the identification of PeVatrons. Assuming that SNRs can accelerate CRs up to knee energies, the number of Galactic SNRs whi…

MHD Modeling of Accretion Processes in Young Stars with the PLUTO Code

As shown by observations, many young stars (age<5-10 Myr) harbor a circumstellar disk and accrete material from it through the star-disk magnetosphere. Despite the large amount of observational data in the infrared, optical and X-ray bands, different issues regarding star-disk interactions are still yet open. Many of these issues need detailed physical models of the star-disk system for a better insight. To this end, we are developing a model describing the interaction between the accreting material and the star atmosphere, using the 3D Magneto-HydroDynamical (MHD) code PLUTO developed at the University of Torino. We plan to perform a set of demanding simulations on the PI2S2 Grid infrastru…

The Sun as a benchmark of flaring activity in stellar coronae

The solar corona is a template to study and understand stellar activity. However the solar corona differs from that of active stars: the Sun has lower X‐ray luminosity, and on average cooler plasma temperatures. Active stellar coronae have a hot peak in their emission measure distribution, EM (T), at 8–20 MK, while the non‐flaring solar corona has a peak at 1–2 MK. In the solar corona significant amounts of plasma at temperature ∼10 MK are observed only during flares.To investigate what is the time‐averaged effect of solar flares we measure the disk‐integrated time‐averaged emission measure, EMF (T), of an unbiased sample of solar flares. To this aim we analyze uninterrupted GOES/XRS light …

Unveiling the spatial structure of the overionized plasma in the supernova remnant W49B

W49B is a mixed-morphology supernova remnant with thermal X-ray emission dominated by the ejecta. In this remnant, the presence of overionized plasma has been directly established, with information about its spatial structure. However, the physical origin of the overionized plasma in W49B has not yet been understood. We investigate this intriguing issue through a 2D hydrodynamic model that takes into account, for the first time, the mixing of ejecta with the inhomogeneous circumstellar and interstellar medium, the thermal conduction, the radiative losses from optically thin plasma, and the deviations from equilibrium of ionization induced by plasma dynamics. The model was set up on the basi…

Tools for quality assurance and assessment of Agricultural Engineering programmes, TUNING subject-area lines and disappearing/rare knowledge in Italy

The quality assurance process applied by Italian State University institutions, in order to achieve some level of internal quality control or assessment for the offered study programmes, is established in the funding criteria of the Ordinary Financing Fund (FFO), decided by the National Committee for the Evaluation of the University System (CNVSU). In most Italian Universities the quality assurance and assessment procedure of the study programmes starts with a report, written by a specific committee, that carries out an internal assessment, by which the strong and weak points of the study programme and the related causes are focused. The quality assurance and assessment procedure appoints t…

Multivariate geostatistics for assessing and predicting soil compaction

The aim of this research is to investigate the potential of geostatistical techniques for understanding and evaluating the spatial variability of soil compaction, caused by the traffic of agricultural machines and/or the action of tillage implements. Soil cone penetrometer resistance was measured in a field of inland Sicily, along a transect of 3 m length, from the soil surface until 70 cm depth. The 3D mean maps showed a random variation on the surface and a high spatial correlation among penetrometer resistance data measured at different depths. The map corresponding to five tractor passes showed the largest extension of the areas characterised by the highest values of penetrometer resist…

The loss-limited electron energy in SN 1006: effects of the shock velocity and of the diffusion process

The spectral shape of the synchrotron X-ray emission from SN 1006 reveals the fundamental role played by radiative losses in shaping the high-energy tail of the electron spectrum. We analyze data from the XMM-Newton SN 1006 Large Program and confirm that in both nonthermal limbs the loss-limited model correctly describes the observed spectra. We study the physical origin of the observed variations of the synchrotron cutoff energy across the shell. We investigate the role played by the shock velocity and by the electron gyrofactor. We found that the cutoff energy of the syncrotron X-ray emission reaches its maximum value in regions where the shock has experienced its highest average speed. T…

Current state and future of biogas and digestate production

Over the past few years, the worldwide cost of energy has increased significantly, due to a growing global demand for energy and the decreasing availability of fossil fuel sources. Many countries are adopting environmental policies promoting the production and consumption of alternative, sustainable and renewable energy sources. Among these sources is green energy production through the anaerobic digestion of agricultural feedstock, like animal manure and food industry by-products, mainly aimed at producing biogas. Nevertheless, only a very small part of the biogas potential is currently used, while many European countries are facing huge problems caused by the overproduction of organic was…

X-ray Emission in protostellar jets

Prompted by the recent detection of X-ray emission from Herbig-Haro objects, we studied the interaction between a supersonic jet originating from a young stellar object and the ambient medium; our aim is to investigate the mechanisms causing the X-ray emission. Our model takes into account the radiative losses from optically in plasmas and Spitzer's thermal conduction including saturation effects. We explored the parameter space defined by the density contrast between the ambient medium and the jet and by the Mach number, to infer the configurations which can give rise to X-ray emission. From the models, we derived the X-ray emission as it would be observed with Chandra/ACIS-I and XMM-Newto…

X-ray Emission from Protostellar Jets

Effect of the Magnetic Field on the Propagation of Coronal Mass Ejections

Have tractor manufacturers bore in mind soil compaction over the last 40 years?

Soil compaction is the compression of soil particles in a lower volume as a consequence of the reduction of the spaces existing among the particles themselves. This phenomenon is caused by natural forces and, above all, human ones. In order to estimate the field damages that can be caused by the traffic of agricultural machines, the load and the mean pressure applied by the tyres onto the soil can be measured. The research aim is to determine the pressure applied by each considered tractor onto the soil, in order to evaluate the effect of the traffic of tractors onto the soil itself. A total of 783 wheeled tractors manufactured and marketed in the last 35 years (1979-2014) was investigated.…

Effects of radiation in accretion regions of classical T Tauri stars

Context. Models and observations indicate that the impact of matter accreting onto the surface of young stars produces regions at the base of accretion columns where optically thin and thick plasma components coexist. Thus, an accurate description of these impacts is necessary to account for the effects of absorption and emission of radiation. Aims. We study the effects of radiation emerging from shock-heated plasma in impact regions on the structure of the pre-shock down-falling material. We investigate whether a significant absorption of radiation occurs and if it leads to a pre-shock heating of the accreting gas. Methods. We developed a radiation hydrodynamics model describing an accreti…

Particle energization in colliding subcritical collisionless shocks investigated in the laboratory

Context. Colliding collisionless shocks appear across a broad variety of astrophysical phenomena and are thought to be possible sources of particle acceleration in the Universe. Aims. The main goal of our experimental and computational work is to understand the effect of the interpenetration between two subcritical collisionless shocks on particle energization. Methods. To investigate the detailed dynamics of this phenomenon, we performed a dedicated laboratory experiment. We generated two counter-streaming subcritical collisionless magnetized shocks by irradiating two Teflon (C2F4) targets with 100 J, 1 ns laser beams on the LULI2000 laser facility. The interaction region between the plasm…

SHOCK-CLOUD INTERACTION AND PARTICLE ACCELERATION IN THE SOUTHWESTERN LIMB OF SN 1006

The supernova remnant SN 1006 is a powerful source of high-energy particles and evolves in a relatively tenuous and uniform environment despite interacting with an atomic cloud in its northwestern limb. The X-ray image of SN 1006 reveals an indentation in the southwestern part of the shock front and the H I maps show an isolated (southwestern) cloud, having the same velocity as the northwestern cloud, whose morphology fits perfectly in the indentation. We performed spatially resolved spectral analysis of a set of small regions in the southwestern nonthermal limb and studied the deep X-ray spectra obtained within the XMM-Newton SN 1006 Large Program. We also analyzed archive H I data, obtain…

Analysis of the XMM-Newton observations of IC443

We analyze for the first time the full set of archive XMM-Newton EPIC observations of the Galactic Supernova Remnant IC 443. We aim at identifying the contribution of the shocked ejecta and interstellar medium and at the describing the physical and chemical properties of the shocked plasma. We also aim at addressing the presence of overionized plasma and its physical origin. We trace the morphology of Si- and S-rich ejecta with unprecedented spatial resolution, by adopting a novel method to produce maps of equivalent width. We describe in detail the method adopted and the results obtained and present preliminary results of a spatially resolved spectral analysis performed on selected regions…

LCA applied to an anaerobic digestion plant for biomethane and digestate production

Nowadays it is paramount to promote bioenergy for climate protection, energy security and creation of income/jobs. In this perspective, Anaerobic Digestion (AD) for biogas and digestate production seems to be a viable way to simultaneously improve waste management while producing Renewable Energy Sources (RES). The main objective of this work is to assess the environmental impact associated with biomethane and digestate production from an AD plant as Global Warming Potential, expressed in CO2 equivalents. Therefore, a LCA was carried out for the production of biomethane ready for the injection into the Italian distribution natural gas grid. A mix from different waste sources (cattle manure …

Evaluation of graft success of grapevine after incubation room by means of thermographic, electrical and mechanical techniques

Grafting is an important technique for getting good yields in plant multiplication. Understanding the success of the graft after the incubation stage is important to the evaluation of the suitable grafting for the open field (nursery). Successful grafting in vines requires the development of a functional vascular system between the scion and the rootstock. The graft compatibility and its augmentation depend upon various natural factors like environment, soil conditions and protective measures. The present study examines the capability of thermographic, mechanical and electrical techniques to assess the graft quality and success after the incubation stage. The trial was carried out at Vivai …

Sustainable, circular and innovative value chains using growing substrata alternative to peat for the cultivation of nutraceutical species

The modern agricultural system is wasteful, with Europe generating some 700 million tonnes of agricultural and food waste each year. In the context of the agri-food chain, the ‘circular economy’ aims to reduce waste while also making best use of the ‘wastes’ produced by using economically viable processes and procedures to increase their value. In this paper we will try to frame the key issues associated with food waste into the emerging bioeconomy and circular-economic mode, suggesting that these three concepts are intertwined, and considering them unitarily might provide win-win solutions that minimize wastage, promote income growth and job creation, and prompt sustainable local developme…

Evidence for past interaction with an asymmetric circumstellar shell in the young SNR Cassiopeia A

Observations of the SNR Cassiopeia A (Cas A) show asymmetries in the reverse shock that cannot be explained by models describing a remnant expanding through a spherically symmetric wind of the progenitor star. We investigate whether a past interaction of Cas A with an asymmetric circumstellar shell can account for the observed asymmetries. We performed 3D MHD simulations that describe the remnant evolution from the SN to its interaction with a circumstellar shell. The initial conditions are provided by a 3D neutrino-driven SN model whose morphology resembles Cas A. We explored the parameter space of the shell, searching for a set of parameters able to produce reverse shock asymmetries at th…

Accretion shock on CTTSs and its X-ray emission

High spectral resolution X-ray observations of classical T Tauri stars (CTTSs) demonstrate the presence of plasma at T~2-3×10^6 K and ne~10^11-10^13 cm-3. Stationary models suggest that this emission is due to shock-heated accreting material. We address this issue by a 1-D hydrodynamic model of the impact of the accretion flow onto a chromosphere of a CTTS with the aim of investigating the stability of accretion shock and the role of the chromosphere. Our simulations include the effects of gravity, radiative losses from optically thin plasma, the thermal conduction and a detailed modeling of the stellar chromosphere. Here we present the results of a simulation based on the parameters of the…

STRATEGIE PENALI ED ANALISI ECONOMICA DELLA CRIMINALITÀ D'IMPRESA

High Performance Computing on the COMETA Grid Infrastructure

We present the High Performance Computing (HPC) projects jointly developed at the INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo and at the DSFA - Universita` di Palermo which benefits of the Grid infrastructure of COMETA. We have contributed to setup the infrastructure in order to run HPC applications on the Grid. We report on our experience regarding to porting HPC applications to the Grid and to the first HPC simulations performed. The most demanding simulations describe the interaction of a magnetized supernova shock wave with an interstellar gas cloud. We discuss the resources required for the simulations, the performance and the scalability of our code on the Grid, and present first resul…

Mass accretion to young stars triggered by flaring activity in circumstellar discs

Young low-mass stars are characterized by ejection of collimated outflows and by circumstellar discs which they interact with through accretion of mass. The accretion builds up the star to its final mass and is also believed to power the mass outflows, which may in turn remove the excess angular momentum from the star-disc system. However, although the process of mass accretion is a critical aspect of star formation, some of its mechanisms are still to be fully understood. A point not considered to date and relevant for the accretion process is the evidence of very energetic and frequent flaring events in these stars. Flares may easily perturb the stability of the discs, thus influencing th…

The OAPA/DPSFA: solar physics, instrumental expertise, and the XACT facility

The potential contribution to Solar Orbiter hardware, calibration and testing from the Palermo group (Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo G.S. Vaiana + Sezione di Astronomia del Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche ed Astronomiche (DpSFA), Università di Palermo) will be mostly based on the XACT facility and the related expertise. The X-ray Astronomy Calibration and Testing (XACT) facility of Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo "G.S. Vaiana" (OAPA) includes vacuum systems, sources, monochromators, detectors, mechanical manipulators, clean room, etc. that permits us to perform measurements in the spectrum ranging from visible light to soft X-rays (0.001 - 10 keV). The facility is currently used in…

Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array to a dark matter signal from the Galactic centre

Full list of authors: Acharyya, A.; Adam, R.; Adams, C.; Agudo, I.; Aguirre-Santaella, A.; Alfaro, R.; Alfaro, J.; Alispach, C.; Aloisio, R.; Alves Batista, R.; Amati, L.; Ambrosi, G.; Angüner, E. O.; Antonelli, L. A.; Aramo, C.; Araudo, A.; Armstrong, T.; Arqueros, F.; Asano, K.; Ascasíbar, Y. Ashley, M.; Balazs, C.; Ballester, O.; Baquero Larriva, A.; Barbosa Martins, V.; Barkov, M.; Barres de Almeida, U.; Barrio, J. A.; Bastieri, D.; Becerra, J.; Beck, G.; Becker Tjus, J.; Benbow, W.; Benito, M.; Berge, D.; Bernardini, E.; Bernlöhr, K.; Berti, A.; Bertucci, B.; Beshley, V.; Biasuzzi, B.; Biland, A.; Bissaldi, E.; Biteau, J.; Blanch, O.; Blazek, J.; Bocchino, F.; Boisson, C.; Bonneau Arbe…

Flaring activity on the disk of Classical T Tauri Stars: effects on disk stability

Classical T Tauri Stars (CTTSs) are young stellar objects surrounded by a circumstellar disk with which they exchange mass and angular momentum through accretion. Despite this process is a crucial aspect of star formation, some issues are still not clear; in particular how the material loses angular momentum and falls into the star. CTTSs are also characterized by strong X-ray emission. Part of this X-ray emission comes from the heated plasma in the external regions of the stellar corona with temperature between 1 and 100 MK. The plasma heating is presumably due to the strong magnetic field (Feigelson and Montmerle, 1999) in the form of high energetic flares in proximity of the stellar surf…

TURF-BOX: an active lighting multispectral imaging system with led VIS-NIR sources for monitoring of vegetated surfaces

A microcontroller driven system suitable to monitor soil and low vegetation is described. A radiometrically pre-calibrated imaging camera driven by a microcontroller is contained in a light-tight box aiming at an actively illuminated target surface area of 50×38 cm, using LED sources with different emission wavelengths (blue, green, red and infrared). The adopted arrangement allows measurements independent from local lighting conditions and from the in situ, per-session calibrations necessary with the conventional instrumentation adopted for field measurements. Sequential lighting of the target surface with the monochromatic LED sources allows capturing multispectral images at a relatively …

Mass accretion to young stars triggered by flaring activity in circumstellar disks

Young low-mass stars are characterized by ejection of collimated outflows and by circumstellar disks which they interact with through accretion of mass. The accretion builds up the star to its final mass and is also believed to power the mass outflows, which may in turn remove the excess angular momentum from the star-disk system. However, although the process of mass accretion is a critical aspect of star formation, some of its mechanisms are still to be fully understood. A point not considered to date and relevant for the accretion process is the evidence of very energetic and frequent flaring events in these stars. Flares may easily perturb the stability of the disks, thus influencing th…

Investigating particle acceleration dynamics in interpenetrating magnetized collisionless super-critical shocks

Colliding collisionless shocks appear in a great variety of astrophysical phenomena and are thought to be possible sources of particle acceleration in the Universe. We have previously investigated particle acceleration induced by single super-critical shocks (whose magnetosonic Mach number is higher than the critical value of 2.7) (Yao et al., Nat. Phys., vol. 17, issue 10, 2021, pp. 1177–1182; Yao et al., Matter Radiat. Extrem., vol. 7, issue 1, 2022, 014402), as well as the collision of two sub-critical shocks (Fazzini et al., Astron. Astrophys., vol. 665, 2022, A87). Here, we propose to make measurements of accelerated particles from interpenetrating super-critical shocks to observe the …

Large Scale Properties of Coronal Heating along the Solar Cycle

We discuss various studies of the global properties of coronal heating. Some of them find power laws tying the X-ray luminosity with the magnetic flux of individual structures, of the whole Sun, and of active solar-type stars. Others are based on methods to model the Sun as an X-ray star. We also briefly discuss solar-like active stars and how the Sun fits in the whole scenario. We use a new model, including all flares, of the Sun as an X-ray star to describe the evolution of the corona along the solar cycle and the implications on the heating of closed coronal structures. We point out that, as activity increases, more heating is released into the confined coronal plasma and such a heating …