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NASA NTRS2014

The Unusual Multiwavelength Properties of the Gamma-Ray Source PMN J1603-4904

Context. We investigate the nature and classification of PMNJ1603-4904, a bright radio source close to the Galactic plane, which is associated with one of the brightest hard-spectrum gamma-ray sources detected by Fermi/LAT. It has previously been classified as a low peaked BL Lac object based on its broadband emission and the absence of optical emission lines. Optical measurements, however, suffer strongly from extinction and the absence of pronounced short-time gamma-ray variability over years of monitoring is unusual for a blazar. Aims. In this paper, we are combining new and archival multi-wavelength data of PMNJ1603-4904 in order to reconsider the classification and nature of this unusual gamma-ray source. Methods. For the first time, we study the radio morphology of PMNJ1603-4904 at 8.4GHz and 22.3GHz, and its spectral properties on milliarcsecond scales, based on VLBI observations from the TANAMI program. We combine the resulting images with multi-wavelength data in the radio, IR, optical/UV, X-ray, and gamma-ray regimes. Results. PMNJ1603-4904 shows a symmetric brightness distribution at 8.4 GHz on milliarcsecond scales, with the brightest, and most compact component in the center of the emission region. The morphology is reminiscent of a compact symmetric object (CSO). Such objects, thought to be young radio galaxies, have been predicted to produce gamma-ray emission but have not been detected as a class by the Fermi gamma-ray telescope so far. Sparse (u, v)-coverage at 22.3GHz prevents an unambiguous modeling of the source morphology at this higher frequency. Moreover, infrared measurements reveal an excess in the spectral energy distribution (SED), which can be modeled with a blackbody with a temperature of about 1600 K, and which is usually not present in blazar SEDs. Conclusions. The TANAMI VLBI data and the shape of the broadband SED challenge the current blazar classification of one of the brightest gamma-ray sources in the sky. PMNJ1603-4904 seems to be either a highly peculiar BL Lac object or a misaligned jet source. In the latter case, the intriguing VLBI structure opens room for a possible classification of PMNJ1603-4904 as a gamma-ray bright CSO.

Multiwavelength↗

NASA NTRS1973

Some aspects of cosmic synchrotron sources

Synchrotron emission is considered from individual particles which have small pitch angles and the general properties of synchrotron sources which mainly contain such particles, as well as the emissivities and degrees of circular polarization for specific source distributions. The limitation of synchrotron source models for optical pulsars and compact extragalactic objects are discussed, and it is shown that several existing models for the pulsar NP 0532 are inconsistent with the measured time variations and polarizations of the optical emission. Discussion is made also of whether the low frequency falloffs in the extragalactic objects PKS 2134 + 004, OQ 208, and NGC 1068 is due to emission from particles with small pitch angles or absorption by a thermal plasma or synchrotron self-absorption. It is concluded that the absorption interpretations cannot account for the turnover in the spectrum of PKS 2134 + 004. Measurements of polarization, angular structure, and X-ray flux are also described.

Epstein, R. I.↗

NASA NTRS1975

The distribution of stars in galactic nuclei - Loaded polytropes

We consider the structure of a galactic nucleus in which a compact supermassive object (e.g., a black hole or spinar) is embedded. The surrounding stars are assumed to satisfy a polytropic or isothermal equation of state. The density distribution of these loaded polytropes has a sharp central spike in which the time scale for stellar collisions can be short. Other properties of loaded polytropes, such as their masses, radii, projected density distribution, relaxation times, and stability, can also differ significantly from those of normal polytropes.

Huntley, J. M.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Variations on a spherically symmetrical accretion flow

Spherically symmetrical accretion onto a compact gravitating object is considered from a purely hydrodynamical viewpoint while disregarding heating and cooling processes. The study derives the radial perturbation equation, expresses it in a Eulerian form which is simpler than the Lagrangian form considered, for example, by Balazs (1972), and discusses the relation between the two formulations. This perturbation equation is used for the stability analysis of standing waves as well as for the study of short wavelength traveling waves which are a generalization of Parker's (1966) traveling wave solutions in the sense that they are not restricted to isothermal flows. These traveling waves can cause fluctuations in the mass accretion rate to grow large, but will not drive the unperturbed solution away from its assumed stationary profile. The waves conserve the total energy contained in the perturbation.

Petterson, J. A.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Extended 20 micron emission from the center of NGC 1068

Multiaperture photometry of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068 is reported which demonstrates that significant 20 micron emission originates at positions located more than 3 arcsec, or 260 pc, from the nucleus. These observations strongly support arguments that most of the infrared flux is thermal emission from dust. It is argued that the dust giving rise to this extended emission cannot be heated solely by a compact nuclear object. It is suggested that there is a powerful energy-generation mechanism, possibly an enormous burst of star formation, operating on a scale much larger than that identified with the visible nucleus.

Telesco, C. M.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Gravitational spin precession in binary systems

The precessional behavior of a binary system is modeled along the lines of one orbital angular and two spin angular non-dissipatively coupled momenta. It is found that the precessional behavior consists of a periodic nutation superimposed on an overall precession of the system about the axis of total angular momentum. A periodic nutation, superimposed on an overall precession of the system about the axis of total angular momentum, is found to characterize system behavior. It is also shown that the nutation associated with precession in such compact object-containing binaries as the PSR 1913+16 pulsar and the Martin and Rees (1979) model of SS 433 will generally be too small to be observable.

Hamilton, A. J. S.↗

NASA NTRS1983

The dynamics and fueling of active nuclei

It is generally believed that quasars and active galactic nuclei produce their prodigious luminosities in connection with the release of gravitational energy associated with accretion and infall of matter onto a compact central object. In the present analysis, it is assumed that the central object is a massive black hole. The fact that a black hole provides the deepest possible central potential well does imply that it is the most natural candidate for the central engine. It is also assumed that the quasar is associated with the nucleus of a conventional galaxy. A number of difficulties arise in connection with finding a suitable stellar fueling model. A simple scheme is discussed for resolving these difficulties. Attention is given to fueling in a nonaxisymmetric potential, the effects of a massive accretion disk, and the variability in the disk luminosity caused by star-disk collisions assuming that the energy deposited in the disk is radiated.

Norman, C.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Infrared observations of low-mass star formation in Orion - HH objects

The results of a preliminary analysis of IR data on Herbig-Haro objects in the Orion nebula are reported. The observations were made with the high angular resolution IR photometry equipment on the NASA Kuiper Airborne Observatory and the NASA facility on Mauna Kea, HI. Data were taken in the 1-200 microns region with 40, 6, and 8 arcsec resolution. Attention was focused on NGC 1999 (HH1-3) and M78 (HH24-25) and the determination of absolute luminosities of the exciting stars. Measurements were also made of the IR energy distribution in the thermally emitting dust clouds and the point sources. Herbig-Haro objects featured compact and far IR sizes and large visual extinction, in addition to a steeply rising energy distribution up to 50-100 microns, where the luminosity emitted was concentrated.

Harvey, P. M.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Millimeter interferometry of the molecular gas in ARP 20

The Owens Valley Millimeter Wave Interferometer has been used to map the 2.6-mm CO emission in the ultraluminous infrared galaxy Arp 220. Approximately 70 percent of the CO emission from the galaxy originates from an unresolved region less than 4 arcsec x 6 arcsec in size (corresponding to 1500 pc diameter) centered on the near-infrared nucleus. The mass of gas within this region is 10 to the 10th solar mass, which is about 30 times greater than that in an equivalent area of the Galaxy. This concentration could result in efficient star formation via cloud-cloud collisions and provide a significant accretion flow onto a compact, central object.

Scoville, N. Z.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Light propagation in inhomogeneous universes - The ray-shooting method

The propagation of light in a clumpy universe is studied using the ray-shooting method. It is found that 'empty cones' in a clumpy universe are rare, which points out the limitation of frequently used distance measures in an inhomogeneous universe. The results show some qualitatively new features of multiple-gravitational-lens geometry, and a likely explanation for these features is presented. A statistical analysis of the simulations give amplification probability distributions for extended sources, as well as the distribution for the ratio of amplifications of compact sources to amplifications of more extended sources. Sample light curves of individual sources are obtained. Finally, the results support the validity of recent investigations on the influence of gravitational light deflection on source counts of compact extragalactic objects.

Schneider, Peter↗

NASA NTRS1991

Preferential positron heating and acceleration by synchrotron maser instabilities in relativistic positron-electron-proton plasmas

A new process of the preferential strong heating of positrons through the ion synchrotron maser instability in positron-electron-proton magnetized plasmas is investigated using particle-in-cell simulations. It is shown that the positrons form a nonthermal power-law-like energy distribution via their gyroresonant interaction with the extraordinary modes emitted by the ions. It is noted that this process may be of significance in connection with the shock excitation of nonthermal synchrotron radiation from astrophysical systems powered by relativistic outflows from compact central objects, e.g., supernova remnants powered by pulsars and jets from active galactic nuclei.

Hoshino, Masahiro↗

NASA NTRS1992

Soft gamma rays from black holes versus neutron stars

The recent launches of GRANAT and GRO provide unprecedented opportunities to study compact collapsed objects from their hard x ray and gamma ray emissions. The spectral range above 100 keV can now be explored with much higher sensitivity and time resolution than before. The soft gamma ray spectral data is reviewed of black holes and neutron stars, radiation, and particle energization mechanisms and potentially distinguishing gamma ray signatures. These may include soft x ray excesses versus deficiencies, thermal versus nonthermal processes, transient gamma ray bumps versus power law tails, lines, and periodicities. Some of the highest priority future observations are outlines which will shed much light on such systems.

Liang, Edison P.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Dense clumps of ionized gas near Pi Scorpii, as revealed by the fine-structure excitation of N II

The column density and the emission of the ionized gas along the line of sight toward the B1 V + B2 V binary star Pi Sco are measured on the basis of the fine-structure absorption lines of the ground state N II. It is found that the bulk of this ionized gas must be clumped on a length scale of 0.025 pc, which is far smaller than the observed size of the diffuse H II region surrounding Pi Sco of about 6 pc. The observed column density of S III toward Pi Sco yields an upper limit on the distance of the absorbing, clumped gas from the star of less than about 0.02 pc, assuming that both the N II and S III absorption arise from the same gas. The possibility that the ionized gas originates from a photoevaporating circumstellar disk directly surrounding Pi Sco is excluded, since such a disk would have an unusual size of order 0.025 pc and would have had to survive for the estimated age of Pi Sco of 5-8 Myr. The derived mean density of the clumped gas is of order 40/cu cm, so that the gas is at a pressure that far exceeds the mean pressure in the H II region. It is concluded that the ionized gas could originate from evaporation flows off a cluster of compact neutral objects that evaporate due to the ionizing radiation of Pi Sco.

Bertoldi, Frank↗

NASA NTRS1994

Can lensed stars be regarded as pointlike for microlensing by MACHOs?

We derive an analytical formula for the maginification of an extended source with constant surface brightness lensed by a point mass. We find that the magnification for an extended source is significantly different from that for a point source when the impact parameter is comparable to the source size. In particular, the peak magnification for an extended source can be larger or smaller than the peak magnification for a point source. The results are relevant to the short-duration (approximately day) and high-magnification events in the search of massive compact halo objects in the Galactic halo by microlensing.

Witt, Hans J.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Can MACHOs probe the shape of the galaxy halo ?

Microlensing searches in our galaxy have recently discovered several candidates in the direction of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We study the prospects for such searches to yield useful information about the flattening of the Galaxy dark matter halo, using a self-consistent oblate halo model and allowing for the possibility of misalignment between the disk and halo symmetry axes. The microlensing optical depth for the LMC, tau(LMC), depends sensitively on the disk-halo tilt angle in the Milky Way, as does the ratio tau(SMC)/tau(LMC). If the tilt angle is as large as 30 deg, a much larger spread in values for tau(LMC) is consistent with rotation curve constraints than previously thought. Disk-halo tilt and halo flattening do not significantly affect the massive compact halo object (MACHO) masses inferred from event durations.

Frieman, Joshua↗

NASA NTRS1994

Finite source sizes and the information content of macho-type lens search light curves

If the dark halo matter is primarily composed of Massive Compact Halo Objects (MACHOs) toward the lower end of the possible detection range (less than 10(exp -3) solar mass) a fraction of the lens detection events should involve the lens crossing directly in front of the disk of the background star. Previously, Nemiroff has shown that each crossing would create an inflection point in the light curve of the MACHO event. Such inflection points would allow a measure of the time it took for the lens to cross the stellar disk. Given an independent estimate of the stellar radius by other methods, one could then obtain a more accurate estimate of the velocity of the lens. This velocity could then, in turn, be used to obtain a more accurate estimate of the mass range for the MACHO or disk star doing the lensing.

Nemiroff, Robert J.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Spectroscopy of candidate young globular clusters in NGC 1275

We present spectra of the brightest member of the population of compact blue objects discovered in the peculiar galaxy NGC 1275 by Holtzman et al. (1992) using Hubble Space Telescope images. These spectra show strong Balmer absorption lines like those observed in A-type stars, as expected if the object is a young globular cluster. The age estimated from the strength of the Balmer lines is about 0.5 Gyr, although ages ranging from 0.1 Gyr to 0.9 Gyr cannot be confidently excluded given current models of stellar populations. If these estimated ages are adopted for the young cluster population of NGC 1275 as a whole, the fading predicted by stellar populations models gives a luminosity function which is consistent with that of the Galactic globular cluster system convolved with the observational selection function for the NGC 1275 system. We also use the equivalent widths of the Mg b and Fe 5270 features to constrain the metallicity of the young cluster. Combining these absorption-line widths with the age estimates from the Balmer lines and stellar population models, we find a metallicity of roughly solar, based on the Mg b index, and somewhat higher for the Fe 5270 index. The radial velocity of the absorption lines of the cluster spectrum is offset from the emission lines of the galaxy spectrum at the same position by - 130 km/s, providing further evidence for the identification of the object as a global cluster and opening up the future possibility of studying the kinematics of young cluster systems. The discovery of objects with the characteristics of young globular clusters in NGC 1275, which shows evidence of a recent interaction or merger, supports the hypothesis that galaxy interactions and mergers are favorable sites for the formation of globular clusters.

Zepf, Stephen E.↗

NASA NTRS1997

HCO(+) ionization from SGR1806-20

The region surrounding the soft gamma ray repeater SGR 1806-20 in the HCO(+) (J = 1-0) transition was observed. Previous observations of compact Galactic objects suggest that a link exists between these objects and molecular clouds in which they are possibly embedded. Such a link would help explain some of the phenomena observed from these objects. A measure of the ionization rate as a function of distance from the source implies that the cloud is associated with the source. The abundance of HCO(+), which varies with increasing or decreasing ionization rates, is considered to be an ideal tool for this measurement. The observations acquired in the direction of the nebula surrounding SGR 1806-20 are presented, and the resulting 7 x 12 arcmin map derived from the HCO(+) data is shown.

Hannikainen, D.↗