Search results for "UNESCO::ASTRONOMÍA Y ASTROFÍSICA::Otras especialidades astronómicas"
showing 10 items of 11 documents
VLBI detection of the HST-1 feature in the M87 jet at 2 cm
2010
A bright feature 80 pc away from the core in the powerful jet of M87 shows highly unusual properties. Earlier radio, optical and X-ray observations have shown that this feature, labeled HST-1, is superluminal, and is possibly connected with the TeV flare detected by HESS in 2005. It has been claimed that this feature might have a blazar nature, due to these properties. To examine the possible blazar-like nature of HST-1, we analyzed lambda 2 cm VLBA archival data from dedicated full-track observations and the 2 cm survey/MOJAVE VLBI monitoring programs obtained between 2000 and 2009. Applying VLBI wide-field imaging techniques, the HST-1 region was imaged at milliarcsecond resolution. Here …
A photometric redshift of z = 1.8$^{\sf{+0.4}}_{\sf{-0.3}}$ for the AGILE GRB 080514B
2008
Aims: The AGILE gamma-ray burst GRB 080514B is the first burst with detected emission above 30 MeV and an optical afterglow. However, no spectroscopic redshift for this burst is known. Methods: We compiled ground-based photometric optical/NIR and millimeter data from several observatories, including the multi-channel imager GROND, as well as ultraviolet \swift UVOT and X-ray XRT observations. The spectral energy distribution of the optical/NIR afterglow shows a sharp drop in the \swift UVOT UV filters that can be utilized for the estimation of a redshift. Results: Fitting the SED from the \swift UVOT $uvw2$ band to the $H$ band, we estimate a photometric redshift of $z=1.8^{+0.4}_{-0.3}$, c…
Deceleration of arbitrarily magnetized GRB ejecta: the complete evolution
2008
(Abridged) We aim to quantitatively understand the dynamical effect and observational signatures of magnetization of the GRB ejecta on the onset of the afterglow. We perform ultrahigh-resolution one-dimensional relativistic MHD simulations of the interaction of a radially expanding, magnetized ejecta with the interstellar medium. The need of ultrahigh numerical resolution derives from the extreme jump conditions in the region of interaction between the ejecta and the circumburst medium. We study the evolution of an ultrarelativistic shell all the way to a the self-similar asymptotic phase. Our simulations show that the complete evolution can be characterized in terms of two parameters, name…
Coherence loss in phase-referenced VLBI observations
2010
Context. Phase-referencing is a standard calibration technique in radio interferometry, particularly suited for the detection of weak sources close to the sensitivity limits of the interferometers. However, effects from a changing atmosphere and inaccuracies in the correlator model may affect the phase-referenced images, and lead to wrong estimates of source flux densities and positions. A systematic observational study of signal decoherence in phase-referencing and its effects in the image plane has not been performed yet. Aims. We systematically studied how the signal coherence in Very-Long-Baseline-Interferometry (VLBI) observations is affected by a phase-reference calibration at differe…
On the existence of a reverse shock in magnetized gamma-ray burst ejecta
2007
The role of magnetic fields in gamma-ray burst (GRB) flows remains controversial. The study of the early afterglow phases and, in particular, of the reverse shock dynamics and associated emission offers a promising probe of the magnetization of the ejecta. In this paper, we derive the conditions for the existence of a reverse shock in arbitrarily magnetized ejecta that decelerate and interact with the circumburst medium. Both constant and wind-like density profiles are considered. We show, in contrast to previous estimates, that ejecta with magnetization σ0 >∼ 1 are not crossed by a reverse shock for a large fraction of the parameter space relevant to GRB flows. Allowing for shell spreading…
Relativistic Hydrodynamics and Spectral Evolution of GRB Jets
2017
En la presente tesis hemos estudiado los sistemas progenitores de las erupciones de rayos gamma (ERG, o GRBs por sus siglas en inglés --Gamma-Ray Bursts--) de larga duración mediante modelos numéricos de su evolución dinámica y emisión electromagnética. De todas las posibles clases de eventos, en particular nos centramos en aquellas que muestran una componente prominente de emisión térmica, la cual podría generarse por medio de la interacción de un chorro constituido por plasma relativista con el medio en el que se propaga. La parte central de esta tesis se ha dedicado al modelado de ERG a partir de dos clases diferentes de progenitores: ERG ultra largas dominadas en su espectro de emisión …
INTEGRAL long-term monitoring of the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient XTE J1739-302
2008
In the past few years, a new class of High Mass X-Ray Binaries (HMXRB) has been claimed to exist, the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXT). These are X-ray binary systems with a compact companion orbiting a supergiant star which show very short and bright outbursts in a series of activity periods overimposed on longer quiescent periods. Only very recently the first attempts to model the behaviour of these sources have been published, some of them within the framework of accretion from clumpy stellar winds.Our goal is to analyze the properties of XTE J1739-302/IGR J17391-3021 within the context of the clumpy structure of the supergiant wind. We have used INTEGRAL and RXTE/PCA observations…
Enseñanza de la astronomía en el Bachillerato
2011
La observación de los astros y la búsqueda de regularidades en los cielos, puede considerarse una de las primeras manifestaciones científicas del ser humano. Desde entonces, astronomía y humanidad han ido de la mano hasta llegar a nuestros tiempos. El estudio de esta evolución compartida ofrece al estudiante una oportunidad de acercarse a la forma de proceder en ciencia. Estudiar las dificultades en la enseñanza aprendizaje de la astronomía en el bachillerato, debe conducir a una mejora en la correcta comprensión de los conceptos astronómicos, básicos y avanzados, por parte de los estudiantes y profesorado. Con este fin hemos comenzado un estudio en el que nos planteamos • ¿Qué dificultades…
Absolute kinematics of radio source components in the complete S5 polar cap sample
2008
We report on the first wide-field, high-precision astrometric analysis of the 13 extragalactic radio sources of the complete S5 polar cap sample at 15.4 GHz. We describe new algorithms developed to enable the use of differenced phase delays in wide-field astrometric observations and discuss the impact of using differenced phase delays on the precision of the wide-field astrometric analysis. From this global fit, we obtained estimates of the relative source positions with precisions ranging from 14 to 200 μas at 15.4 GHz, depending on the angular separation of the sources (from ∼1.6 to ∼20.8 degrees). These precisions are ∼10 times higher than the achievable precisions using the phase-refere…
Spurious source generation in mapping from noisy phase-self-calibrated data
2008
Phase self-calibration (or selfcal) is an algorithm often used in the calibration of interferometric observations in astronomy. Although a powerful tool, this algorithm presents strong limitations when applied to data with a low signal-to-noise ratio. We analyze the artifacts that the phase selfcal algorithm produces when applied to extremely noisy data. We show how the phase selfcal may generate a spurious source in the sky from a distribution of completely random visibilities. This spurious source is indistinguishable from a real one. We numerically and analytically compute the relationship between the maximum spurious flux density generated by selfcal from noise and the particulars of th…