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Electrographic and spectroscopic observations have been obtained of the peculiar galaxy NGC 523. The observations suggest that the pecularities of the system result from a close encounter by two dwarf galaxies, with tidal interaction responsible for the formation of the galactic bridge and tails.
Recent observational evidence suggests that the metallicity in quasars within a wide range of redshifts, in particular in gas flowing out of the nuclear regions, may be approximately redshift-independent and comparable with or larger than solar. It is plausible that the nuclear metallicity can be internally generated and maintained at approximately time-stationary values in quasars. We identify and estimate efficiency of a mechanism for rapid metallicity enrichment of quasar nuclear gas (in general, in active galactic nuclei) based on star-gas interactions and equivalent to an unusual mode of massive star formation. The mechanism involves capture of low-mass stars from the host galaxy's nucleus by the assemblages of clouds or by accretion disks orbiting the central massive objects (e.g., black holes). Trapping of stars within gaseous disks/clouds occurs through resonant density and bending wave excitation, as well as by hydrodynamical drag. The time scale for trapping stars with total mass equal to that of disk fragment/cloud is of order Hubble time and is remarkably model-independent. Our results show that the described mechanism can produce features suggested by observations, for example, the (super) solar gas metallicity in the nucleus. Thus the observed metallicities in high-redshift quasars do not necessarily imply that global star formation and efficient chemical changes have occurred in their host galaxies at very early cosmological epochs.
Activation of the surfaces of lunar regolith particles can occur through interactions with solar electromagnetic radiation, solar and galactic particle radiation and micrometeoroid bombardment. An attempt has been made to quantify the relative importance of each of those effects. The effects of these activated surfaces may be to enhance the adhesion and toxicity of the particles. Also key to the importance of activation is the lifetimes of activated states in various environments which is controlled by their passivation rate as well as their activation rate. Although techniques exist to characterize the extent of activation of particles in biological system, it is important to be able to quantify the activation state on the lunar surface, in ground-test vacuum systems, and in habitat atmospheres as well.
Activation of the surfaces of lunar regolith particles can occur through interactions with solar electromagnetic radiation, solar and galactic particle radiation and micrometeoroid bombardment. An attempt has been made to quantify the relative importance of each of those effects. The effects of these activated surfaces may be to enhance the adhesion and toxicity of the particles. Also key to the importance of activation is the lifetimes of activated states in various environments which is controlled by their passivation rate as well as their activation rate. Although techniques exist to characterize the extent of activation of particles in biological system, it is important to be able to quantify the activation state on the lunar surface, in ground-test vacuum systems, and in habitat atmospheres as well.
ABSTRACT Powerful outflows are thought to play a critical role in galaxy evolution and black hole growth. We present the first large-scale systematic study of ionized outflows in paired galaxies and post-mergers compared to a robust control sample of isolated galaxies. We isolate the impact of the merger environment to determine if outflow properties depend on merger stage. Our sample contains ∼4000 paired galaxies and ∼250 post-mergers in the local universe (0.02 ≤ z ≤ 0.2) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 (SDSS DR 7) matched in stellar mass, redshift, local density of galaxies, and [O iii] λ5007 luminosity to a control sample of isolated galaxies. By fitting the [O iii] λ5007 line, we find ionized outflows in ∼15 per cent of our entire sample. Outflows are much rarer in star-forming galaxies compared to active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and outflow incidence and velocity increase with [O iii] λ5007 luminosity. Outflow incidence is significantly elevated in the optical + mid-infrared selected AGN compared to purely optical AGN; over 60 per cent show outflows at the highest luminosities ($L_{\mathrm{[OIII]~\lambda 5007}}\, \gtrsim$ 1042 erg s−1), suggesting mid-infrared AGN selection favours galaxies with powerful outflows, at least for higher [O iii] λ5007 luminosities. However, we find no statistically significant difference in outflow incidence, velocity, and luminosity in mergers compared to isolated galaxies, and there is no dependence on merger stage. Therefore, while interactions are predicted to drive gas inflows and subsequently trigger nuclear star formation and accretion activity, when the power source of the outflow is controlled for, the merging environment has no further impact on the large-scale ionized outflows as traced by [O iii] λ5007.
The CO luminosity, far-IR luminosity, and virial mass of 55 molecular clouds are determined and related to star formation rates (SFRs) in the clouds. The SFR of OB stars per unit of available molecular mass is found to be independent of cloud mass and varies widely over a range of about 100 for clouds of mass between 30,000 and five million solar masses. The far-IR luminosity is proportional to the first power of the CO luminosity for clouds undergoing high-mass star formation. There are massive clouds without any current high-mass star formation. The average gas depletion time is about 2.5 billion yr. The far-IR luminosity-to-mass ratio for isolated or weakly interacting spiral galaxies observed by IRAS is twice that for the average Galactic molecular cloud. The star formation mechanism operating in strongly interacting galaxies is five times more efficient than that of the most active Galactic cloud and 30 times that of the average Galactic cloud.
A bstract Dark sectors with Abelian gauge symmetries can interact with ordinary matter via kinetic mixing. In such scenarios, magnetic monopoles of a broken dark U(1) will appear in our sector as confined milli-magnetically charged objects under ordinary electromagnetism. Halo ellipticity constraints are shown to significantly bound the strength of dark magnetic Coulomb monopole interactions. The bound magnetic monopole ground state, which in vacuum is stable and has no magnetic charge or moment, is shown to become quantum mechanically unstable in the presence of an external, ordinary magnetic field. If these states contribute sizably to the local dark matter density, they extract significant energy from the galactic magnetic field. We revise and extend this “Parker Bound” on galactic magnetic energy loss to milli-magnetic monopoles which leads to the strongest existing constraints on these states, satisfying our halo ellipticity bounds, over a wide range of magnetic monopole masses.
Examination of the interaction between supernova (SN) ejecta and the various environments in which the explosive event might occur shows that only a small fraction of the many SNs produce observable supernova remnants (SNRs). This fraction, which is found to depend weakly upon the lower mass limit of the SN progenitors, and more strongly on the specfic characteristics of the associated interstellar medium, decreases from approximately 15 percent near the galctic center to 10 percent at Rgal approximately 10 kpc and drops nearly to zero for Rgal 15 kpc. Generally, whether a SNR is detectable is determined by the density of the ambient interstellar medium in which it is embeeede. The presence of large, low density cavities arpund stellar associations due to the combined effects of stellar winds and supernova shells strongly suggests that a large portion of the detectable SNRs have runway stars as their progenitors. These results explain the differences between the substantially larger SN rates in the galaxy derived both from pulsar statistics and from observations of SN events in external galaxies, when compared to the substantially smaller SN rates derived form galactic SNR statistics.
ABSTRACT We present MeerKAT L-band (886–1682 MHz) observations of the extended radio structure of the peculiar galaxy pair PKS 2130−538 known as the ‘Dancing Ghosts’. The complex of bending and possibly interacting jets and lobes originate from two active galactic nuclei hosts in the Abell 3785 galaxy cluster, one of which is the brightest cluster galaxy. The radio properties of the PKS 2130−538 – flux density, spectral index, and polarization – are typical for large, bent-tail galaxies. We also investigate a number of thin extended low surface brightness filaments originating from the lobes. South-east from the Dancing Ghosts, we detect a region of low surface brightness emission that has no clear origin. While it could originate from the Abell 3785 radio halo, we investigate the possibility that it is associated with the two PKS 2130−538 hosts. We find no evidence of interaction between the two PKS 2130−538 hosts.
The biostack experiment is described which was designed to study the biologic effects of individual heavy nuclei of galactic cosmic radiation during space flight outside the magnetosphere of the earth. Specifically, the biostack experiment was designed to promote research on the effects of high energy/high Z particles of galactic cosmic radiation on a broad spectrum of biologic systems, from the molecular to the highly organized and developed forms of life. The experiment was considered unique and scientifically meritorious because of its potential yield of information - currently unavailable on earth - on the interaction of biologic systems with the heavy particles of galactic cosmic radiation.
The author gives a summary of the conference proceedings. The conference began with the presentation of the basic data sets on pairs, groups, and interacting galaxies with the latter being further discussed with respect to both global properties and properties of the galactic nuclei. Then followed the theory, modelling and interpretation using analytic techniques, simulations and general modelling for spirals and ellipticals, starbursts and active galactic nuclei. Before the conference the author wrote down the three questions concerning pairs, groups and interacting galaxies that he hoped would be answered at the meeting: (1) How do they form, including the role of initial conditions, the importance of subclustering, the evolution of groups to compact groups, and the fate of compact groups; (2) How do they evolve, including issues such as relevant timescales, the role of halos and the problem of overmerging, the triggering and enhancement of star formation and activity in the galactic nuclei, and the relative importance of dwarf versus giant encounters; and (3) Are they important, including the frequency of pairs and interactions, whether merging and interactions are very important aspects of the life of a normal galaxy at formation, during its evolution, in forming bars, shells, rings, bulges, etc., and in the formation and evolution of active galaxies? Where possible he focuses on these three central issues in the summary.
Previous studies have established that large merged interaction regions (MIRs) in the outer heliosphere are the main cause of the 11-year modulation cycle of galactic cosmic rays in the ecliptic. Those simulations were successful despite their use of a constant convection speed. In this study, we show that a large rise in solar wind speed, seen at higher heliographic latitudes during 1985-1987, combined with MIRs, can generate the difference between the Voyager I and Voyager 2 count rates in this period. Also, the difference between the starting times of the new cycle at both spacecraft is directly attributable to the difference between the pattern of MIRs measured at the two spacecraft. In addition, the Voyager 2 simulation exhibits the correct behavior of the 11-year cycle in the cosmic ray radial gradients between points in the outer heliosphere.
A previous analysis of the manifestations of charged-pion-decay secondary electrons in interstellar cloud material is extended to include those contributions to the Galactic radio and soft gamma-ray backgrounds that are directly attributable to energetic secondaries. The equilibrium distribution of secondary electrons in dense interstellar clouds is calculated, synchrotron emissivity from isolated interstellar clouds is examined, and it is shown how the value of the magnetic field in these clouds may be determined by observing the radio emission in their directions. The contribution that such clouds make to the integrated radio background is evaluated, and the Galactic distribution of bremsstrahlung gamma rays that arise from interactions of secondary electrons with thermal material in dense clouds is computed. The results indicate that a magnetic field of no more than 80 microgauss is characteristic of dense clouds and that the integrated synchrotron radiation from secondary electrons in interstellar clouds will contribute a significant fraction of the nonthermal brightness along the Galactic equator even if the mean cloud field is as low as 35 microgauss.
Carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars are a unique resource for Galactic archaeology because they probe the properties of the First Stars, early chemical evolution, and binary interactions at very low metallicity. Comparing the fractions and properties of CEMP stars in different Galactic environments can provide us with unique insights into the formation and evolution of the Milky Way halo and its building blocks. In this work, we investigate whether directly comparing fractions of CEMP stars from different literature samples of very metal-poor [Fe/H] < -2.0 stars is valid. We compiled published CEMP fractions and samples of Galactic halo stars from the past 25 years, and find that they are not all consistent with each other. Focusing on giant stars, we find significant differences between various surveys when comparing their trends of [Fe/H] versus [C/Fe] and their distributions of CEMP stars. To test the role of the analysis pipelines for low-resolution spectroscopic samples, we re-analysed giant stars from various surveys with the sspp and ferre pipelines. We found systematic differences in [C/Fe] of ~0.1-0.4 dex, partly independent of degeneracies with the stellar atmospheric parameters. These systematics are likely due to the different pipeline approaches, different assumptions in the employed synthetic grids, and/or the comparison of different evolutionary phases. We conclude that current biases in (the analysis of) very metal-poor samples limit the conclusions one can draw from comparing different surveys. We provide some recommendations and suggestions that will hopefully aid the community to unlock the full potential of CEMP stars for Galactic archaeology.
There are two distinctly different high energy diffuse gamma-ray components, one well correlated with broad galactic features and the other apparently isotropic and presumably extragalactic. The observed diffuse galactic high energy gamma radiation is generally thought to be produced in interactions between the cosmic rays and the interstellar matter and photons. It should then ultimately be possible to obtain from the diffuse galactic emission a detailed picture of the galactic cosmic-ray distribution, a high contrast view of the general structure of the galaxy, and further insight into molecular clouds. Two of the candidates for the explanation of the extragalactic diffuse radiation are the sum of emission from active galaxies and matter-antimatter annihilation. A major advancement in the study of the properties of both galactic and extragalactic gamma radiation should occur over the next decade.
Assuming cosmic rays pervade the Galaxy, they necessarily produced high energy gamma-rays as they interact with the instellar matter and photons. The cosmic ray nucleon interactions five rise to gamma rays primarily through the decay of pi mesons, giving a unique spectrum with a maximum at approximately 68 MeV. Cosmic ray electrons produce gamma rays through bremsstrahlung, but with a markedly different energy spectral shape, one which decreases monotonically with energy. Cosmic ray electrons also interact with the interstellar starlight, optical and infrared photons, and the blackbody radiation through the Compton process. A model of galactic gamma ray production is discussed, and the predicted spatial distribution and energy spectra are presented. Considering the uncertainty in the point source contributions, the agreement between the theoretical predictions and the gamma ray data seems quite reasonable.
The Apollo 17 biostack experiment to establish the biological efficiency of individual heavy nuclei particles of galactic cosmic radiation are reported. The experiment theory, interaction of heavy nuclei particles with biologic matter, and the total dose of cosmic ionizing radiation are discussed along with the radiation effects of heavy nuclei on Artemia salina eggs, and Bacillus subtilis.
Both man and technological equipment must survive the near-earth space radiation environment, which can, under specific conditions, be extremely severe. This conference produced 17 papers on the dynamic space radiation environment covering: galactic, solar and trapped particles; nuclear fragmentation; nuclear interactions and transport theory; solar proton events; radiation shielding; and heavy ion fluences. Several papers present results from the recent SAMPEX mission.