Engineering topics

Rodney, Steven A

Publications and source records attributed to Rodney, Steven A.

6 records

DOE OSTI2012

THE DWARF STARBURST HOST GALAXY OF A TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA AT z = 1.55 FROM CANDELS

We present VLT/X-shooter observations of a high-redshift, Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) host galaxy, discovered with HST/WFC3 as part of the CANDELS Supernova project. The galaxy exhibits strong emission lines of Ly{alpha}, [O II], H{beta}, [O III], and H{alpha} at z = 1.54992{sup +0.00008} {sub -0.00004}. From the emission-line fluxes and spectral energy distribution fitting of broadband photometry we rule out activity from an active galactic nucleus and characterize the host galaxy as a young, low-mass, metal-poor, starburst galaxy with low intrinsic extinction and high Ly{alpha} escape fraction. The host galaxy stands out in terms of the star formation, stellar mass, and metallicity compared to its lower redshift counterparts, mainly because of its high specific star formation rate. If valid for a larger sample of high-redshift SN Ia host galaxies, such changes in the host galaxy properties with redshift are of interest because of the potential impact on the use of SN Ia as standard candles in cosmology.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2012

A TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA AT REDSHIFT 1.55 IN HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE INFRARED OBSERVATIONS FROM CANDELS

We report the discovery of a Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) at redshift z = 1.55 with the infrared detector of the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3-IR) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This object was discovered in CANDELS imaging data of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field and followed as part of the CANDELS+CLASH Supernova project, comprising the SN search components from those two HST multi-cycle treasury programs. This is the highest redshift SN Ia with direct spectroscopic evidence for classification. It is also the first SN Ia at z > 1 found and followed in the infrared, providing a full light curve in rest-frame optical bands. The classification and redshift are securely defined from a combination of multi-band and multi-epoch photometry of the SN, ground-based spectroscopy of the host galaxy, and WFC3-IR grism spectroscopy of both the SN and host. This object is the first of a projected sample at z > 1.5 that will be discovered by the CANDELS and CLASH programs. The full CANDELS+CLASH SN Ia sample will enable unique tests for evolutionary effects that could arise due to differences in SN Ia progenitor systems as a function of redshift. This high-z sample will also allow measurement of the SN Ia rate out to z Almost-Equal-To 2, providing a complementary constraint on SN Ia progenitor models.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2010

A CHANDRA OBSERVATION OF THE OBSCURED STAR-FORMING COMPLEX W40

The young stellar cluster illuminating the W40 H II region, one of the nearest massive star-forming regions, has been observed with the ACIS detector on board the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Due to its high obscuration, this is a poorly studied stellar cluster with only a handful of bright stars visible in the optical band, including three OB stars identified as primary excitation sources. We detect 225 X-ray sources, of which 85% are confidently identified as young stellar members of the region. Two potential distances of the cluster, 260 pc and 600 pc, are used in the paper. Supposing the X-ray luminosity function to be universal, it supports a 600 pc distance as a lower limit for W40 and a total population of at least 600 stars down to 0.1 M{sub sun} under the assumption of a coeval population with a uniform obscuration. In fact, there is strong spatial variation in K{sub s} -band-excess disk fraction and non-uniform obscuration due to a dust lane that is identified in absorption in optical, infrared, and X-ray. The dust lane is likely part of a ring of material which includes the molecular core within W40. In contrast to the likely ongoing star formation in the dust lane, the molecular core is inactive. The star cluster has a spherical morphology, an isothermal sphere density profile, and mass segregation down to 1.5 M{sub sun}. However, other cluster properties, including a {approx}<1 Myr age estimate and ongoing star formation, indicate that the cluster is not dynamically relaxed. X-ray diffuse emission and a powerful flare from a young stellar object are also reported.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2010

REVISED SUPERNOVA RATES FROM THE IfA DEEP SURVEY

The IfA Deep Survey uncovered {approx} 130 thermonuclear supernova (TN SN, i.e., Type Ia) candidates at redshifts from z = 0.1 out to beyond z = 1. The TN SN explosion rates derived from these data have been controversial, conflicting with evidence emerging from other surveys. This work revisits the IfA Deep Survey to re-evaluate the photometric evidence. Applying the SOFT program to the light curves of all SN candidates, we derive new classification grades and redshift estimates. We find a volumetric rate for z {approx} 0.5 that is substantially smaller than the originally published values, bringing the revised IfA Deep rate into good agreement with other surveys. With our improved photometric analysis techniques, we are able to confidently extend the rate measurements to higher redshifts and we find a steadily increasing TN SN rate, with no indication of a peak out to z = 1.05.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2010

A CLUSTER OF COMPACT RADIO SOURCES IN W40

We present deep 3.6 cm radio continuum observations of the H II region W40 obtained using the Very Large Array (VLA) in its A and B configurations. We detect a total of 20 compact radio sources in a region of 4' x 4', with 11 of them concentrated in a band with 30'' of extent. We also present JHK photometry of the W40 cluster taken with the QUIRC instrument on the University of Hawaii 2.2 m telescope. These data reveal that 15 of the 20 VLA sources have infrared counterparts, and 10 show radio variability with periods less than 20 days. Based on these combined radio and IR data, we propose that eight of the radio sources are candidate ultracompact H II regions, seven are likely to be young stellar objects, and two may be shocked interstellar gas.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2010

FUZZY SUPERNOVA TEMPLATES. II. PARAMETER ESTIMATION

Wide-field surveys will soon be discovering Type Ia supernovae (SNe) at rates of several thousand per year. Spectroscopic follow-up can only scratch the surface for such enormous samples, so these extensive data sets will only be useful to the extent that they can be characterized by the survey photometry alone. In a companion paper we introduced the Supernova Ontology with Fuzzy Templates (SOFT) method for analyzing SNe using direct comparison to template light curves, and demonstrated its application for photometric SN classification. In this work we extend the SOFT method to derive estimates of redshift and luminosity distance for Type Ia SNe, using light curves from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) as a validation set. Redshifts determined by SOFT using light curves alone are consistent with spectroscopic redshifts, showing an rms scatter in the residuals of rms{sub z} = 0.051. SOFT can also derive simultaneous redshift and distance estimates, yielding results that are consistent with the currently favored {Lambda}CDM cosmological model. When SOFT is given spectroscopic information for SN classification and redshift priors, the rms scatter in Hubble diagram residuals is 0.18 mag for the SDSS data and 0.28 mag for the SNLS objects. Without access to any spectroscopic information, and even without any redshift priors from host galaxy photometry, SOFT can still measure reliable redshifts and distances, with an increase in the Hubble residuals to 0.37 mag for the combined SDSS and SNLS data set. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we predict that SOFT will be able to improve constraints on time-variable dark energy models by a factor of 2-3 with each new generation of large-scale SN surveys.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗