Search results for "Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics"
showing 10 items of 1668 documents
Inferring statistics of planet populations by means of automated microlensing searches
2008
(abridged) The study of other worlds is key to understanding our own, and not only provides clues to the origin of our civilization, but also looks into its future. Rather than in identifying nearby systems and learning about their individual properties, the main value of the technique of gravitational microlensing is in obtaining the statistics of planetary populations within the Milky Way and beyond. Only the complementarity of different techniques currently employed promises to yield a complete picture of planet formation that has sufficient predictive power to let us understand how habitable worlds like ours evolve, and how abundant such systems are in the Universe. A cooperative three-…
Spectral classification of stars using synthetic model atmospheres
2001
We devised a straightforward procedure to derive the atmosphere fundamental parameters of stars across the different MK spectral types by comparing mid-resolution spectroscopic observations with theoretical grids of synthetic spectra.The results of a preliminary experiment, by matching the Gunn and Stryker and Jacoby et al. spectrophotometric atlases with the Kurucz models, are briefly discussed. For stars in the A-K spectral range, effective temperature is obtained within a 1-2% relative uncertainty (at 2 sigma confidence level). This value raises to 4-5% for the hottest stars in the samples (O-B spectral types). A poorer fit is obtained throughout for stars cooler than 4000 K mainly due t…
Core-Collapse Supernovae: Reflections and Directions
2012
Core-collapse supernovae are among the most fascinating phenomena in astrophysics and provide a formidable challenge for theoretical investigation. They mark the spectacular end of the lives of massive stars and, in an explosive eruption, release as much energy as the sun produces during its whole life. A better understanding of the astrophysical role of supernovae as birth sites of neutron stars, black holes, and heavy chemical elements, and more reliable predictions of the observable signals from stellar death events are tightly linked to the solution of the long-standing puzzle how collapsing stars achieve to explode. In this article our current knowledge of the processes that contribute…
Accretion-ejection connection in the young brown dwarf candidate ISO-Cha1 217
2014
As the number of observed brown dwarf outflows is growing it is important to investigate how these outflows compare to the well studied jets from young stellar objects. A key point of comparison is the relationship between outflow and accretion activity and in particular the ratio between the mass outflow and accretion rates ($\dot{M}_{out}$/$\dot{M}_{acc}$). The brown dwarf candidate ISO-ChaI 217 was discovered by our group, as part of a spectro-astrometric study of brown dwarfs, to be driving an asymmetric outflow with the blue-shifted lobe having a position angle of $\sim$ 20$^{\circ}$. The aim here is to further investigate the properties of ISO-ChaI 217, the morphology and kinematics o…
XMM observations of NGC 2516 stars
2007
We present the characteristics of the X-ray variability of stars in the cluster NGC 2516 as derived from XMM-Newton/EPIC/pn data. The X-ray variations on short (hours), medium (months), and long (years) time scales have been explored. We detected 303 distinct X-ray sources by analysing six EPIC/pn observations; 194 of them are members of the cluster. Stars of all spectral types, from the early-types to the late-M dwarfs, were detected. Cone search capability for table J/A+A/456/977/table2 (X-ray and optical properties of NGC 2516 members in the XMM-Newton/EPIC/pn observations having more than 25 counts.)
XMM spectroscopy of TWA 5
2006
We present results of X-ray spectroscopy for TWA 5, a member of the young TW Hydrae association, observed with XMM-Newton. TWA 5 is a multiple system which shows H{alpha} emission, a signature typical of classical T Tauri stars, but no infrared excess. From this analysis of the RGS and EPIC spectra, we have derived the emission measure distribution vs. temperature of the X-ray emitting plasma, its abundances, and the electron density.
XMM-Newton survey of two Upper Scorpius regions
2007
We studied X-ray emission from young stars by analyzing the deep XMM-Newton observations of two regions of the Upper Scorpius association with an age of 5Myr. Based on near infrared and optical photometry we identified 22 Upper Scorpius photometric members among the 224 detected X-ray sources. We derived coronal properties of Upper Scorpius stars by performing X-ray spectral and timing analyses. The study of four strong and isolated stellar flares allowed us to derive the length of the flaring loops. Cone search capability for table J/A+A/459/199/tableb1 (Sources detected in the CTIO observations) Cone search capability for table J/A+A/459/199/tablec1 (Sources detected in the Danish 1.54m o…
Stars associated to Eagle Nebula (M16=NGC6611)
2011
Massive star-forming regions are characterized by intense ionizing fluxes, strong stellar winds and, occasionally, supernovae explosions, all of which have important effects on the surrounding media, on the star-formation process and on the evolution of young stars and their circumstellar disks. We present a multiband study of the massive young cluster NGC 6611 and its parental cloud (the Eagle Nebula) with the aim of studying how OB stars affect the early stellar evolution and the formation of other stars. We search for evidence of triggering of star formation by the massive stars inside NGC 6611 on a large spatial scale (~10 parsec) and ongoing disk photoevaporation in NGC 6611 and how it…
Blue stars with disk photometry in NGC 6611
2010
NGC 6611 and its parental cloud, the Eagle Nebula (M 16), are well-studied star-forming regions, thanks to their large content of both OB stars and stars with disks and the observed ongoing star formation. In our previous studies of the Eagle Nebula, we identified 834 disk-bearing stars associated with the cloud, after detecting their excesses in NIR bands from J band to 8.0um. In this paper, we study in detail the nature of a subsample of disk-bearing stars that show peculiar characteristics. They appear older than the other members in the V vs. V-I diagram, and/or they have one or more IRAC colors at pure photospheric values, despite showing NIR excesses, when optical and infrared colors …
Ricci Reheating
2019
We present a model for viable gravitational reheating involving a scalar field directly coupled to the Ricci curvature scalar. Crucial to the model is a period of kination after inflation, which causes the Ricci scalar to change sign thus inducing a tachyonic effective mass $m^{2} \propto -H^2$ for the scalar field. The resulting tachyonic growth of the scalar field provides the energy for reheating, allowing for temperatures high enough for thermal leptogenesis. Additionally, the required period of kination necessarily leads to a blue-tilted primordial gravitational wave spectrum with the potential to be detected by future experiments. We find that for reheating temperatures $T_{\rm RH} \l…