Search results for "Solar mass"
showing 10 items of 22 documents
Broad-band spectral analysis of the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar SAX J1748.9-2021
2016
We analyzed a 115 ks XMM-Newton observation and the stacking of 8 days of INTEGRAL observations, taken during the raise of the 2015 outburst of the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar SAX J1748.9-2021. The source showed numerous type-I burst episodes during the XMM-Newton observation, and for this reason we studied separately the persistent and burst epochs. We described the persistent emission with a combination of two soft thermal components, a cold thermal Comptonization component (~2 keV) and an additional hard X-ray emission described by a power-law (photon index ~2.3). The continuum components can be associated with an accretion disc, the neutron star (NS) surface and a thermal Compton…
Femtolensing by dark matter revisited
2018
Femtolensing of gamma ray bursts (GRBs) has been put forward as an exciting possibility to probe exotic astrophysical objects with masses below $10^{-13}$ solar masses such as small primordial black holes or ultra-compact dark matter minihalos, made up for instance of QCD axions. In this paper we critically review this idea, properly taking into account the extended nature of the source as well as wave optics effects. We demonstrate that most GRBs are inappropriate for femtolensing searches due to their large sizes. This removes the previous femtolensing bounds on primordial black holes, implying that vast regions of parameter space for primordial black hole dark matter are not robustly con…
Carbon Monoxide in the Cold Debris of Supernova 1987A
2013
We report spectroscopic and imaging observations of rotational transitions of cold CO and SiO in the ejecta of SN1987A, the first such emission detected in a supernova remnant. In addition to line luminosities for the CO J=1-0, 2-1, 6-5, and 7-6 transitions, we present upper limits for all other transitions up to J=13-12, collectively measured from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX), and the Herschel Spectral and Photometric Imaging REceiver (SPIRE). Simple models show the lines are emitted from at least 0.01 solar masses of CO at a temperature > 14 K, confined within at most 35% of a spherical volume expanding at ~ 2000 km/s. Moreover, we…
Main Sequence Stars with Asymmetric Dark Matter
2012
We study the effects of feebly or non-annihilating weakly interacting Dark Matter (DM) particles on stars that live in DM environments denser than that of our Sun. We find that the energy transport mechanism induced by DM particles can produce unusual conditions in the core of Main Sequence stars, with effects which can potentially be used to probe DM properties. We find that solar mass stars placed in DM densities of rhochi>= e2 GeV/cm3 are sensitive to Spin-Dependent scattering cross-section sigmsd >= e-37 cm2 and a DM particle mass as low as mchi=5 GeV, accessing a parameter range weakly constrained by current direct detection experiments.
Magnetorotational core collapse of possible GRB progenitors – I. Explosion mechanisms
2019
We investigate the explosion of stars with zero-age main-sequence masses between 20 and 35 solar masses and varying degrees of rotation and magnetic fields including ones commonly considered progenitors of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The simulations, combining special relativistic magnetohydrodynamics, a general relativistic approximate gravitational potential, and two-moment neutrino transport, demonstrate the viability of different scenarios for the post-bounce evolution. Having formed a highly massive proto-neutron star (PNS), several models launch successful explosions, either by the standard supernova mechanism based on neutrino heating and hydrodynamic instabilities or by magnetorotation…
SOLAR MODELS WITH ACCRETION. I. APPLICATION TO THE SOLAR ABUNDANCE PROBLEM
2011
We generate new standard solar models using newly analyzed nuclear fusion cross sections and present results for helioseismic quantities and solar neutrino fluxes. We discuss the status of the solar abundance problem and investigate whether nonstandard solar models with accretion from the protoplanetary disk might alleviate the problem. We examine a broad range of possibilities, analyzing both metal-enriched and metal-depleted accretion models and exploring three scenarios for the timing of the accretion. Only partial solutions are found: one can bring either the depth of the convective zone or the surface helium abundance into agreement with helioseismic results, but not both simultaneousl…
Evidence of a substellar companion to AB Dor C
2019
Studies of fundamental parameters of very low-mass objects are indispensable to provide tests of stellar evolution models that are used to derive theoretical masses of brown dwarfs and planets. However, only objects with dynamically determined masses and precise photometry can effectively evaluate the predictions of stellar models. AB Dor C (0.090 solar masses) has become a prime benchmark for calibration of theoretical evolutionary models of low-mass young stars. One of the ambiguities remaining in AB Dor C is the possible binary nature of this star. We observed AB Dor C with the VLTI/AMBER instrument in low-resolution mode at the J, H and K bands. The interferometric observables at the K-…
Bilinear R-parity violation and small neutrino masses: A self-consistent framework
2000
We study extensions of supersymmetric models without R-parity which include an anomalous U(1)_H horizontal symmetry. Bilinear R-parity violating terms induce a neutrino mass at tree level of approximately $(\theta^2)^\delta$ eV where $\theta\approx 0.22$ is the U(1)_H breaking parameter and $\delta$ is an integer number that depends on the horizontal charges of the leptons. For $\delta=1$ a unique self-consistent model arises in which i) all the superpotential trilinear R-parity violating couplings are forbidden by holomorphy; ii) the tree level neutrino mass falls in the range suggested by the atmospheric neutrino problem; iii) radiative contributions to neutrino masses are strongly suppre…
The X-ray luminosity of solar-mass stars in the intermediate age open cluster NGC 752
2008
AIMS. While observational evidence shows that most of the decline in a star's X-ray activity occurs between the age of the Hyades (~8 x 10^8 yrs) and that of the Sun, very little is known about the evolution of stellar activity between these ages. To gain information on the typical level of coronal activity at a star's intermediate age, we studied the X-ray emission from stars in the 1.9 Gyr old open cluster NGC 752. METHODS. We analysed a ~140 ks Chandra observation of NGC 752 and a ~50 ks XMM-Newton observation of the same cluster. We detected 262 X-ray sources in the Chandra data and 145 sources in the XMM-Newton observation. Around 90% of the catalogued cluster members within Chandra's …
X-ray Flares in Orion Low Mass Stars
2007
Context. X-ray flares are common phenomena in pre-main sequence stars. Their analysis gives insights into the physics at work in young stellar coronae. The Orion Nebula Cluster offers a unique opportunity to study large samples of young low mass stars. This work is part of the Chandra Orion Ultradeep project (COUP), an ~10 day long X-ray observation of the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC). Aims. Our main goal is to statistically characterize the flare-like variability of 165 low mass (0.1-0.3 M_sun) ONC members in order to test and constrain the physical scenario in which flares explain all the observed emission. Methods. We adopt a maximum likelihood piece-wise representation of the observed X-r…