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A&A 454, 527–536 (2006) Astronomy DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20053468 & c ESO 2006 Astrophysics A search for photometric variability of hydrogen-deficient planetary-nebula nuclei, J. M. González Pérez1,2, J.-E. Solheim2,3, and R. Kamben2 1 Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, 38200 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain e-mail: [email protected] 2 Institut of Physics, University of Tromsø, 9037 Tromsø, Norway 3 Institut of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, PO box 1029 Blindern, 0315 Oslo, Norway Received 18 May 2005 / Accepted 9 March 2006 ABSTRACT Aims. We searched for photometric variability in a sample of hot, hydrogen-deficient planetary nebula nuclei (PNNi) with “PG 1159” or “O VI” spectral type, most of them embedded in a bipolar or elliptical planetary nebula envelope (PNe). These characteristics may indicate the presence of a hidden close companion and an evolution affected by episodes of interaction between them. Methods. We obtained time-series photometry from a sample of 11 candidates using the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) with the Andalucía Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera (ALFOSC), modified with our own control software to be able to observe in a high- speed multi-windowing mode. The data were reduced on-line with the real time photometry (RTP) code, which allowed us to detect periodic variable stars with small amplitudes from CCD data in real time. We studied the properties of the observed modulation fre- quencies to investigate their nature. Results. We report the first detection of low-amplitude pulsations in the PNNi VV 47, NGC 6852, and Jn 1. In addition, we investi- gated the photometric variability of NGC 246. -
Filter Performance Comparisons for Some Common Nebulae
Filter Performance Comparisons For Some Common Nebulae By Dave Knisely Light Pollution and various “nebula” filters have been around since the late 1970’s, and amateurs have been using them ever since to bring out detail (and even some objects) which were difficult to impossible to see before in modest apertures. When I started using them in the early 1980’s, specific information about which filter might work on a given object (or even whether certain filters were useful at all) was often hard to come by. Even those accounts that were available often had incomplete or inaccurate information. Getting some observational experience with the Lumicon line of filters helped, but there were still some unanswered questions. I wondered how the various filters would rank on- average against each other for a large number of objects, and whether there was a “best overall” filter. In particular, I also wondered if the much-maligned H-Beta filter was useful on more objects than the two or three targets most often mentioned in publications. In the summer of 1999, I decided to begin some more comprehensive observations to try and answer these questions and determine how to best use these filters overall. I formulated a basic survey covering a moderate number of emission and planetary nebulae to obtain some statistics on filter performance to try to address the following questions: 1. How do the various filter types compare as to what (on average) they show on a given nebula? 2. Is there one overall “best” nebula filter which will work on the largest number of objects? 3. -
198 7Apj. . .312L. .11J the Astrophysical Journal, 312:L11-L15
.11J The Astrophysical Journal, 312:L11-L15,1987 January 1 .312L. © 1987. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A. 7ApJ. 198 INTERSTELLAR DUST IN SHAPLEY-AMES ELLIPTICAL GALAXIES M. Jura and D. W. Kim Department of Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles AND G. R. Knapp and P. Guhathakurta Princeton University Observatory Received 1986 August 11; accepted 1986 September 30 ABSTRACT We have co-added the IRAS survey data at the positions of the brightest elliptical galaxies in the Revised Shapley-Ames Catalog to increase the sensitivity over that of the IRAS Point Source Catalog. More than half of 7 8 the galaxies (with Bj< \\ mag) are detected at 100 /xm with flux levels indicating, typically, 10 or 10 M0 of cold interstellar matter. The presence of cold gas in ellipticals thus appears to be the rule rather than the exception. Subject headings: galaxies: general — infrared: sources I. INTRODUCTION infrared emission from the elliptical galaxy in the line of sight. The traditional view of early-type galaxies is that they are Our criteria for a real detection are as follows: essentially free of interstellar matter. However, with advances 1. The optical position of the galaxy and the position of the in instrumental sensitivity, it has become possible to observe IRAS source agree to better than V. (The agreement is usually 21 cm emission (Knapp, Turner, and Cunniffe 1985; Wardle much better than T.) and Knapp 1986), optical dust patches (Sadler and Gerhard 2. The flux is at least 3 times the r.m.s. noise. -
1. Introduction
THE ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT SERIES, 122:109È150, 1999 May ( 1999. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A. GALAXY STRUCTURAL PARAMETERS: STAR FORMATION RATE AND EVOLUTION WITH REDSHIFT M. TAKAMIYA1,2 Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637; and Gemini 8 m Telescopes Project, 670 North Aohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720 Received 1998 August 4; accepted 1998 December 21 ABSTRACT The evolution of the structure of galaxies as a function of redshift is investigated using two param- eters: the metric radius of the galaxy(Rg) and the power at high spatial frequencies in the disk of the galaxy (s). A direct comparison is made between nearby (z D 0) and distant(0.2 [ z [ 1) galaxies by following a Ðxed range in rest frame wavelengths. The data of the nearby galaxies comprise 136 broad- band images at D4500A observed with the 0.9 m telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory (23 galaxies) and selected from the catalog of digital images of Frei et al. (113 galaxies). The high-redshift sample comprises 94 galaxies selected from the Hubble Deep Field (HDF) observations with the Hubble Space Telescope using the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 in four broad bands that range between D3000 and D9000A (Williams et al.). The radius is measured from the intensity proÐle of the galaxy using the formulation of Petrosian, and it is argued to be a metric radius that should not depend very strongly on the angular resolution and limiting surface brightness level of the imaging data. It is found that the metric radii of nearby and distant galaxies are comparable to each other. -
Planetary Nebulae
Planetary Nebulae A planetary nebula is a kind of emission nebula consisting of an expanding, glowing shell of ionized gas ejected from old red giant stars late in their lives. The term "planetary nebula" is a misnomer that originated in the 1780s with astronomer William Herschel because when viewed through his telescope, these objects appeared to him to resemble the rounded shapes of planets. Herschel's name for these objects was popularly adopted and has not been changed. They are a relatively short-lived phenomenon, lasting a few tens of thousands of years, compared to a typical stellar lifetime of several billion years. The mechanism for formation of most planetary nebulae is thought to be the following: at the end of the star's life, during the red giant phase, the outer layers of the star are expelled by strong stellar winds. Eventually, after most of the red giant's atmosphere is dissipated, the exposed hot, luminous core emits ultraviolet radiation to ionize the ejected outer layers of the star. Absorbed ultraviolet light energizes the shell of nebulous gas around the central star, appearing as a bright colored planetary nebula at several discrete visible wavelengths. Planetary nebulae may play a crucial role in the chemical evolution of the Milky Way, returning material to the interstellar medium from stars where elements, the products of nucleosynthesis (such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and neon), have been created. Planetary nebulae are also observed in more distant galaxies, yielding useful information about their chemical abundances. In recent years, Hubble Space Telescope images have revealed many planetary nebulae to have extremely complex and varied morphologies. -
SEPTEMBER 2014 OT H E D Ebn V E R S E R V ESEPTEMBERR 2014
THE DENVER OBSERVER SEPTEMBER 2014 OT h e D eBn v e r S E R V ESEPTEMBERR 2014 FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT Calendar Taken on July 25th in San Luis State Park near the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado, Jeff made this image of the Milky Way during an overnight camping stop on the way to Santa Fe, NM. It was taken with a Canon 2............................. First quarter moon 60D camera, an EFS 15-85 lens, using an iOptron SkyTracker. It is a single frame, with no stacking or dark/ 8.......................................... Full moon bias frames, at ISO 1600 for two minutes. Visible in this south-facing photograph is Sagittarius, and the 14............ Aldebaran 1.4˚ south of moon Dark Horse Nebula inside of the Milky Way. He processed the image in Adobe Lightroom. Image © Jeff Tropeano 15............................ Last quarter moon 22........................... Autumnal Equinox 24........................................ New moon Inside the Observer SEPTEMBER SKIES by Dennis Cochran ygnus the Swan dives onto center stage this other famous deep-sky object is the Veil Nebula, President’s Message....................... 2 C month, almost overhead. Leading the descent also known as the Cygnus Loop, a supernova rem- is the nose of the swan, the star known as nant so large that its separate arcs were known Society Directory.......................... 2 Albireo, a beautiful multi-colored double. One and named before it was found to be one wide Schedule of Events......................... 2 wonders if Albireo has any planets from which to wisp that came out of a single star. The Veil is see the pair up-close. -
Astronomy Magazine Special Issue
γ ι ζ γ δ α κ β κ ε γ β ρ ε ζ υ α φ ψ ω χ α π χ φ γ ω ο ι δ κ α ξ υ λ τ μ β α σ θ ε β σ δ γ ψ λ ω σ η ν θ Aι must-have for all stargazers η δ μ NEW EDITION! ζ λ β ε η κ NGC 6664 NGC 6539 ε τ μ NGC 6712 α υ δ ζ M26 ν NGC 6649 ψ Struve 2325 ζ ξ ATLAS χ α NGC 6604 ξ ο ν ν SCUTUM M16 of the γ SERP β NGC 6605 γ V450 ξ η υ η NGC 6645 M17 φ θ M18 ζ ρ ρ1 π Barnard 92 ο χ σ M25 M24 STARS M23 ν β κ All-in-one introduction ALL NEW MAPS WITH: to the night sky 42,000 more stars (87,000 plotted down to magnitude 8.5) AND 150+ more deep-sky objects (more than 1,200 total) The Eagle Nebula (M16) combines a dark nebula and a star cluster. In 100+ this intense region of star formation, “pillars” form at the boundaries spectacular between hot and cold gas. You’ll find this object on Map 14, a celestial portion of which lies above. photos PLUS: How to observe star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies AS2-CV0610.indd 1 6/10/10 4:17 PM NEW EDITION! AtlAs Tour the night sky of the The staff of Astronomy magazine decided to This atlas presents produce its first star atlas in 2006. -
A Basic Requirement for Studying the Heavens Is Determining Where In
Abasic requirement for studying the heavens is determining where in the sky things are. To specify sky positions, astronomers have developed several coordinate systems. Each uses a coordinate grid projected on to the celestial sphere, in analogy to the geographic coordinate system used on the surface of the Earth. The coordinate systems differ only in their choice of the fundamental plane, which divides the sky into two equal hemispheres along a great circle (the fundamental plane of the geographic system is the Earth's equator) . Each coordinate system is named for its choice of fundamental plane. The equatorial coordinate system is probably the most widely used celestial coordinate system. It is also the one most closely related to the geographic coordinate system, because they use the same fun damental plane and the same poles. The projection of the Earth's equator onto the celestial sphere is called the celestial equator. Similarly, projecting the geographic poles on to the celest ial sphere defines the north and south celestial poles. However, there is an important difference between the equatorial and geographic coordinate systems: the geographic system is fixed to the Earth; it rotates as the Earth does . The equatorial system is fixed to the stars, so it appears to rotate across the sky with the stars, but of course it's really the Earth rotating under the fixed sky. The latitudinal (latitude-like) angle of the equatorial system is called declination (Dec for short) . It measures the angle of an object above or below the celestial equator. The longitud inal angle is called the right ascension (RA for short). -
Spectral Properties of Xrbs in Dusty Early-Type Galaxies
Spectral properties of XRBs in dusty early-type galaxies N. D. Vagshette, M. B. Pandge, M.K. Patil∗ School of Physical Sciences, S.R.T.M. University, Nanded-431 606 (MS), India Tel.+91-2462-229242; +91-9405938449/Fax:+91-2462-229245 Abstract We present spectral properties of a total of 996 discrete X-ray sources resolved in a sample of 23 dusty early-type galaxies selected from different environments. The combined X-ray luminosity function of all the 996 sources within the optical D25 of the sample galaxies is well described by a broken power law with a break at 2.71 1038erg s−1 and is close to × the Eddington limit for a 1.4M⊙ neutron star. Out of the 996, about 63% of the sources have their X-ray luminosities in the range between few 1037to 2.0 1039erg s−1and are like × × normal LMXBs; about 15-20% with luminosities < few 1037 erg s−1 are either super- × soft or very-soft sources; while the remainder represents ULXs, HMXBs or unrelated heavily absorbed harder sources. More XRBs have been detected in the galaxies from isolated regions while those from rich groups and clusters host very few sources. The X-ray color-color plot for these sources has enabled us to classify them as SNRs, LMXBs, HMXBs and heavily absorbed AGNs. The composite X-ray spectra of the resolved sources within D25 region of each of the galaxies are best represented by a power law with the average photon spectral index close to 1.65. The contribution of the resolved sources to the total X-ray luminosity of their host is found to vary greatly, in the sense that, in galaxies like NGC 3379 the XRB contribution is about 81% while for NGC 5846 it is only 2%. -
THE CONSTELLATION MUSCA, the FLY Musca Australis (Latin: Southern Fly) Is a Small Constellation in the Deep Southern Sky
THE CONSTELLATION MUSCA, THE FLY Musca Australis (Latin: Southern Fly) is a small constellation in the deep southern sky. It was one of twelve constellations created by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman and it first appeared on a 35-cm diameter celestial globe published in 1597 in Amsterdam by Plancius and Jodocus Hondius. The first depiction of this constellation in a celestial atlas was in Johann Bayer's Uranometria of 1603. It was also known as Apis (Latin: bee) for two hundred years. Musca remains below the horizon for most Northern Hemisphere observers. Also known as the Southern or Indian Fly, the French Mouche Australe ou Indienne, the German Südliche Fliege, and the Italian Mosca Australe, it lies partly in the Milky Way, south of Crux and east of the Chamaeleon. De Houtman included it in his southern star catalogue in 1598 under the Dutch name De Vlieghe, ‘The Fly’ This title generally is supposed to have been substituted by La Caille, about 1752, for Bayer's Apis, the Bee; but Halley, in 1679, had called it Musca Apis; and even previous to him, Riccioli catalogued it as Apis seu Musca. Even in our day the idea of a Bee prevails, for Stieler's Planisphere of 1872 has Biene, and an alternative title in France is Abeille. When the Northern Fly was merged with Aries by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1929, Musca Australis was given its modern shortened name Musca. It is the only official constellation depicting an insect. Julius Schiller, who redrew and named all the 88 constellations united Musca with the Bird of Paradise and the Chamaeleon as mother Eve. -
Centaurus Kentaur
Lateinischer Name: Deutscher Name: Cen Centaurus Kentaur Atlas Karte (2000.0) Kulmination um Cambridge 17 Mitternacht: Star Atlas 20, 21, Sky Atlas Cen_chart.gif Cen_chart.gif 25 6. April Deklinationsbereich: -64° ... -30° Fläche am Himmel: 1060° 2 Benachbarte Sternbilder: Ant Car Cir Cru Hya Lib Lup Mus Vel Mythologie und Geschichte: Die Zentauren waren in der griechischen Mythologie meist wilde Mischwesen mit dem Oberkörper eines Menschen bis zur Hüfte, darunter dem Leib eines Pferdes. Der Zentaur Chiron aber war dagegen sehr weise und besonders in der Medizin, Musik und Botanik bewandert. Er war der Lehrer des Achill und des Asklepios. Chiron war auch der Beschützer vieler Helden und hat angeblich die Sternbilder "erfunden". Selbst an den Himmel versetzt wurde er, nachdem ihn Herkules aus Versehen mit einem vergifteten Pfeil getroffen hatte (diese Erklärung wird manchmal auch für Sagittarius überliefert, einen anderen "himmlischen" Zentauren). Am Himmel soll er den in einen Wolf verwandelten König Lykaon (Lupus ) in Schach halten. Das Sternbild war den Griechen bekannt, da es infolge der Präzession der Erdachse vor 2000-3000 Jahren vom Mittelmeerraum, Unterägypten und Vorderasien aus voll gesehen werden konnte. [bk7 ] Sternbild: Centaurus ist ein ausgedehntes Sternbild mit ungewöhnlich vielen hellen Sternen und einer Fläche von 1060 Quadratgrad, südlich von Hydra . Das Zentrum kulminiert jeweils etwa am 6. April um Mitternacht. Zwischen den Hufen des Zentauren befindet sich das Kreuz des Südens . [bk9 , bk15 ] Interessante Objekte: -
DGSAT: Dwarf Galaxy Survey with Amateur Telescopes
Astronomy & Astrophysics manuscript no. arxiv30539 c ESO 2017 March 21, 2017 DGSAT: Dwarf Galaxy Survey with Amateur Telescopes II. A catalogue of isolated nearby edge-on disk galaxies and the discovery of new low surface brightness systems C. Henkel1;2, B. Javanmardi3, D. Mart´ınez-Delgado4, P. Kroupa5;6, and K. Teuwen7 1 Max-Planck-Institut f¨urRadioastronomie, Auf dem H¨ugel69, 53121 Bonn, Germany 2 Astronomy Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80203, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia 3 Argelander Institut f¨urAstronomie, Universit¨atBonn, Auf dem H¨ugel71, 53121 Bonn, Germany 4 Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum f¨urAstronomie, Universit¨atHeidelberg, M¨onchhofstr. 12{14, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany 5 Helmholtz Institut f¨ur Strahlen- und Kernphysik (HISKP), Universit¨at Bonn, Nussallee 14{16, D-53121 Bonn, Germany 6 Charles University, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Astronomical Institute, V Holeˇsoviˇck´ach 2, CZ-18000 Praha 8, Czech Republic 7 Remote Observatories Southern Alps, Verclause, France Received date ; accepted date ABSTRACT The connection between the bulge mass or bulge luminosity in disk galaxies and the number, spatial and phase space distribution of associated dwarf galaxies is a dis- criminator between cosmological simulations related to galaxy formation in cold dark matter and generalised gravity models. Here, a nearby sample of isolated Milky Way- class edge-on galaxies is introduced, to facilitate observational campaigns to detect the associated families of dwarf galaxies at low surface brightness. Three galaxy pairs with at least one of the targets being edge-on are also introduced. Approximately 60% of the arXiv:1703.05356v2 [astro-ph.GA] 19 Mar 2017 catalogued isolated galaxies contain bulges of different size, while the remaining objects appear to be bulgeless.