Clumpy Structure Research Articles

The source of maser emission in W33C (G12.8-0.2)

The results of observations of the H2O and OH maser sources toward the region of W33C (G12.8-0.2) are reported. The observations were carried out on the 22-m radio telescope of the Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory in the 1.35-cm water-vapor line and on the Large Radio Telescope at Nançay (France), in the main (1665 and 1667 MHz) and satellite (1612 and 1720 MHz) OH lines. Multiple, strongly variable, short-lived H2O emission features were detected in a broad interval of radial velocities, from −7 to 55 km/s. OH maser emission in the 1667-MHz line was detected at velocities of 35–41 km/s. The Stokes parameters of the maser emission in the main OH lines 1665 and 1667 MHz were measured. Zeeman splitting was detected in the 1665-MHz line at 33.4 and 39.4 km/s, and in the 1667 MHz line only at 39.4 km/s. The magnetic-field intensity was estimated. Appreciable variability of the Zeeman splitting components was observed at 39 and 39.8 km/s in both main lines. The extended spectrum and fast variability of the H2O maser emission, together with the variability of the Zeeman-splitting components in the main OH lines, may indicate a composite clumpy structure of the molecular cloud and the presence of large-scale rotation, bipolar outflows, and turbulent motions of material in this cloud.

CHEERS RESULTS ON Mrk 573: A STUDY OF DEEPCHANDRAOBSERVATIONS

We present results on Mrk 573 obtained as part of the CHandra survey of Extended Emission-line Regions in nearby Seyfert galaxies (CHEERS). Previous studies showed that this source features a biconical emission in the soft X-ray band closely related with the Narrow Line Region as mapped by the [O iii] emission line and the radio emission, though on a smaller scale; we investigate the properties of soft X-ray emission from this source with new deep Chandra observations. Making use of the subpixel resolution of the Chandra/ACIS image and PSF-deconvolution, we resolve and study substructures in each ionizing cone. The two cone spectra are fitted with photoionization model, showing a mildly photoionized phase diffused over the bicone. Thermal collisional gas at about ~ 1.1 keV and ~ 0.8 keV appears to be located between the nucleus and the "knots" resolved in radio observations, and between the "arcs" resolved in the optical images, respectively; this can be interpreted in terms of shock interaction with the host galactic plane. The nucleus shows a significant flux decrease across the observations indicating variability of the AGN, with the nuclear region featuring higher ionization parameter with respect to the bicone region. The long exposure allows us to find extended emission up to ~ 7 kpc from the nucleus along the bicone axis. Significant emission is also detected in the direction perpendicular to the ionizing cones, disagreeing with the fully obscuring torus prescribed in the AGN unified model, and suggesting instead the presence of a clumpy structure.

DEAD CALM AREAS IN THE VERY QUIET SUN

We analyze two regions of the quiet Sun (35.6 x 35.6 Mm^2) observed at high spatial resolution (~100 km) in polarized light by the IMaX spectropolarimeter onboard the Sunrise balloon. We identify 497 small-scale (~400 km) magnetic loops, appearing at an effective rate of 0.25 loop h^{-1} arcsec^{-2}; further, we argue that this number and rate are underestimated by ~30%. However, we find that these small dipoles do not appear uniformly on the solar surface: their spatial distribution is rather filamentary and clumpy, creating dead calm areas, characterized by a very low magnetic signal and a lack of organized loop-like structures at the detection level of our instruments, that cannot be explained as just statistical fluctuations of a Poisson spatial process. We argue that this is an intrinsic characteristic of the mechanism that generates the magnetic fields in the very quiet Sun. The spatio-temporal coherences and the clumpy structure of the phenomenon suggest a recurrent, intermittent mechanism for the generation of magnetic fields in the quietest areas of the Sun.

Anomaly distribution of quasar magnitudes: a test of lensing by a hypothetic supergiant molecular cloud in the Galactic halo

An anomaly in the distribution of quasar magnitudes based on the SDSS survey, has been recently reported by Longo (2012). The angular size of this anomaly is of the order of $\rm \pm 15^o$ on the sky. A low surface brightness smooth structure in $\gamma$-rays, coincides with the sky location and extent of the quasar anomaly, and is close to the Northern component of a pair of $\gamma$-ray bubbles discovered in the \sl Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope \rm survey. Molecular clouds are thought to be illuminated by cosmic rays. I test the hypothesis that the magnitude anomaly in the quasar distribution, is due to a lensing effect by an hypothetic Supergiant Molecular Cloud (SGMC) in the Galactic halo.A series of grid lens models are built by assuming firstly that a SGMC is a lattice with clumps of $\rm 10^{-3} M_\odot$, 10 AU in size, and assuming various filling factors of the cloud, and secondly a fractal structure. Local amplifications are calculated for these lenses by using the public software LensTool, and the single plane approximation. A complex network of caustics due to the clumpy structure is present. Our best single plane lens model capable of explaining Longo's effect, \sl at least in sparse regions, \rm requires a mass $\rm (1.5-4.1) \times 10^{10} ~M_\odot$ within $\rm 8.7 \times 8.7 \times (5-8.6) kpc^3$ at a lens plane distance of 20 kpc. It is constructed from a molecular cloud building block of $5 \times 10^5 M_\odot$ within a scale of 30 pc expanded by fractal scaling with dimension $D = 1.8-2$ up to 5-8.6 kpc for the SGMC. If such a Supergiant Molecular Cloud were demonstrated, it might be part of a lens explanation for the luminous anomaly discovered in quasars and in red galaxies. The mass budget may be varied by changing the cloud depth and the fractal dimension.

Investigation of atmosphere nonstationarity in the supergiant 55Cyg. I. Temporal line profile variability

The CCD spectra taken with echelle spectrographs of the 2-m telescope of the Shemakha Astrophysical Observatory of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan and the 1-m telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences are used to study the line profile variations in the spectrum of the hot supergiant 55Cyg. The variability of the radial velocity and profiles of the lines of heavy elements is shown to be due to radial pulsation type motions. The corresponding variations for He I lines are due to nonradial pulsations. In the case of the Hβ and Hα lines the pattern and behavior of variations differ for different observing periods. The variability of these lines is mostly due to the photometric and positional variability of the absorption and emission components of their profiles. The profiles of these lines show additional emission components, which move from the blue toward the red line wing. Such a behavior is indicative of the clumpy structure of the stellar envelope.

The X-ray reflector in NGC 4945: a time- and space-resolved portrait

ABSTRACT We present a time, spectral and imaging analysis of the X-ray reflector in NGC 4945, which reveals its geometrical and physical structure with unprecedented detail. NGC 4945 hosts one of the brightest AGN in the sky above 10 keV, but it is only visible through its reflected/scattered emission below 10 keV, due to absorption by a column density of ∼4 × 1024 cm−2. A new Suzaku campaign of five observations spanning ∼6 months, together with past XMM–Newton and Chandra observations, shows a remarkable constancy (within <10 per cent) of the reflected component. Instead, Swift-BAT reveals strong intrinsic variability on time-scales longer than 1 yr. Modelling the circumnuclear gas as a thin cylinder with the axis on the plane of the sky, we show that the reflector is at a distance ≥30–50 pc, well within the imaging capabilities of Chandra at the distance of NGC 4945 (1 arcsec ∼18 pc). Accordingly, the Chandra imaging reveals a resolved, flattened, ∼150 pc long clumpy structure, whose spectrum is fully due to cold reflection of the primary AGN emission. The clumpiness may explain the small covering factor derived from the spectral and variability properties.

CONFIRMING THE PRIMARILY SMOOTH STRUCTURE OF THE VEGA DEBRIS DISK AT MILLIMETER WAVELENGTHS

Clumpy structure in the debris disk around Vega has been previously reported at millimeter wavelengths and attributed to concentrations of dust grains trapped in resonances with an unseen planet. However, recent imaging at similar wavelengths with higher sensitivity has disputed the observed structure. We present three new millimeter-wavelength observations that help to resolve the puzzling and contradictory observations. We have observed the Vega system with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) at a wavelength of 880 um and angular resolution of 5"; with the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA) at a wavelength of 1.3 mm and angular resolution of 5"; and with the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) at a wavelength of 3.3 mm and angular resolution of 10". Despite high sensitivity and short baselines, we do not detect the Vega debris disk in either of the interferometric data sets (SMA and CARMA), which should be sensitive at high significance to clumpy structure based on previously reported observations. We obtain a marginal (3-sigma) detection of disk emission in the GBT data; the spatial distribution of the emission is not well constrained. We analyze the observations in the context of several different models, demonstrating that the observations are consistent with a smooth, broad, axisymmetric disk with inner radius 20-100 AU and width >50 AU. The interferometric data require that at least half of the 860 um emission detected by previous single-dish observations with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope be distributed axisymmetrically, ruling out strong contributions from flux concentrations on spatial scales of <100 AU. These observations support recent results from the Plateau de Bure Interferometer indicating that previous detections of clumpy structure in the Vega debris disk were spurious.

3D radiative transfer modelling of the dusty tori around active galactic nuclei as a clumpy two-phase medium

We investigate the emission of active galactic nuclei (AGN) dusty tori in the infrared domain. Following theoretical predictions coming from hydrodynamical simulations, we model the dusty torus as a 3D two-phase medium with high-density clumps and low-density medium filling the space between the clumps. Spectral energy distributions (SED) and images of the torus at different wavelengths are obtained using 3D Monte Carlo radiative transfer code SKIRT. Our approach of generating clumpy structure allows us to model tori with single clumps, complex structures of merged clumps or interconnected sponge-like structure. A corresponding set of clumps-only models and models with smooth dust distribution is calculated for comparison. We found that dust distribution, optical depth, clump size and their actual arrangement in the innermost region, all have an impact on the shape of near- and mid-infrared SED. The 10 micron silicate feature can be suppressed for some parameters, but models with smooth dust distribution are also able to produce a wide range of the silicate feature strength. Finally, we find that having the dust distributed in a two-phase medium, might offer a natural solution to the lack of emission in the near-infrared, compared to observed data, which affects clumpy models currently available in the literature.

Disk modelling by radiation-magnetohydrodynamic simulations

Historically, various accretion models have been discussed under radially one-zone approximations. In such one-zone models, however, dynamical aspects of the accretion flow, such as internal circulation and outflows, have been totally neglected. Further, the disk viscosity is usually described by the phenomenological α-viscosity model. We, here, elucidate the theory of accretion flows and outflows based on our global, two-dimensional radiation-magnetohydrodynamic simulations, not relying on the α model. We have succeeded in producing three distinct states of accretion flow by controling only one parameter, a density normalization. Of particular importance is the presence of outflows in all three states. Several noteworthy features of the supercritical (or super-Eddington) accretion flows are found; that is, relativistic, collimated outflows (jets), and low-velocity, uncollimated outflows with clumpy structure. Observational implications are briefly discussed.

Detection of HF emission from the Orion Bar

The clumpy density structure of photon-dominated regions is well established, but the physical properties of the clumps and of the surrounding interclump medium are only approximately known. The aim of this paper is to constrain the physical and chemical conditions in the Orion Bar, a prototypical nearby photon-dominated region. We present observations of the HF J=1-0 line, which appears in emission toward the Orion Bar, and compare the brightness of the line to non-LTE radiative transfer calculations. The large width of the HF line suggests an origin of the emission in the interclump gas, but collisional excitation by H2 in the interclump gas underpredicts the observed line intensity by factors of 3-5. In contrast, an origin of the line in the dense clumps requires a density of ~10^9 cm^-3, 10-100 times higher than previous estimates, which is unlikely. However, electron impact excitation reproduces our observations for T = 100 K and n(e) = 10 cm^-3, as expected for the interclump gas. We conclude that HF emission is a signpost of molecular gas with a high electron density. Similar conditions may apply to active galactic nuclei where HF also appears in emission.

Variability: A X-ray ruler for the AGN structure model

Validating our understanding of the innermost structure of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) would require resolving sub-parsec scales. Lacking adequate direct imaging, X-ray astronomy can still contribute to this undertaking through the study of spectral variability on time-scales from days to years. This bears information on the location of gaseous and dusty systems in the innermost regions around the accreting supermassive black hole. In this paper I discuss the application of this concept in two specific contexts: a) fast column density variations in heavily obscured AGN; b) reverberation of optically-thick reprocessing. These results lend support to a scenario where obscuration and optically thick reprocessing are due to a variety of different systems, ranging from the Broad Line Regions to a clumpy structure extended on larger scales up to hundreds of parsecs.

Interaction of clumpy dark matter with interstellar medium in astrophysical systems

Contemporary cosmological conceptions suggest that the dark matter in haloes of galaxies and galaxy clusters has most likely a clumpy structure. If a stream of gas penetrates through it, a small-scale gravitational field created by the clumps disturbs the flow resulting in momentum exchange between the stream and the dark matter. In this article, we perform an analysis of this effect, based on the hierarchial halo model of the dark matter structure and Navarro-Frenk-White density profiles. We consider the clumps of various masses, from the smallest up to the highest ones $M\ge 10^{9} M_\odot$. It has been found that in any event the effect grows with the mass of the clump: not only the drag force $\mathfrak F$ acting on the clump, but also its acceleration $w=\mathfrak F/M$ increases. We discuss various astrophysical systems. The mechanism proved to be ineffective in the case of galaxy or galaxy cluster collisions. On the other hand, it played an important role during the process of galaxy formation. As a result, the dark matter should have formed a more compact, oblate, and faster rotating substructure in the halo of our Galaxy. We have shown that this thick disk should be more clumpy than the halo. This fact is very important for the indirect detection experiments since it is the clumps that give the main contribution to the annihilation signal. Our calculations show that the mechanism of momentum exchange between the dark and baryon matter is ineffective on the outskirts of the galactic halo. It means that the clumps from there were not transported to the thick disk, and this regions should be more clumpy than the halo on the average.

Panchromatic radiative transfer modelling of stars and dust in the Sombrero galaxy

We present a detailed study of the dust energy balance in the Sombrero galaxy M104. From a full radiative transfer analysis, including scattering, absorption and thermal re-emission, we construct models that can reproduce images at optical/near-infrared wavelengths, the observed stellar SED and the minor axis extinction profiles in the V and R_C band. A standard model, that contains only an old stellar population to heat the dust, underestimates the observations of dust emission at infrared wavelengths by a factor of ~ 3. Supplementing this basic model with a young stellar component of low star formation activity in both the inner disk (SFR ~ 0.21 Msun/yr) and dust ring (SFR ~ 0.05 Msun/yr), we are capable of solving the discrepancy in the dust energy budget of the Sombrero galaxy at wavelengths shortwards of 100 \mum. To account for the increased FIR/submm emission beyond 100 \mum, we propose a additional dust component distributed in quiescent clumps. This model with a clumpy dust structure predicts three-quarters of the total dust content (~ 2.8 x 10^7 Msun) to reside in compact dust clouds with no associated embedded sources. Although the assumption of a clumpy dust structure in the Sombrero galaxy is supported by high-resolution optical data, we cannot rule out the possibility that dust grains with a higher dust emissivity account for part of the discrepancy in the energy budget at submm wavelengths.

EFFICIENT THREE-DIMENSIONAL NLTE DUST RADIATIVE TRANSFER WITH SKIRT

We present an updated version of SKIRT, a 3D Monte Carlo radiative transfer code developed to simulate dusty galaxies. The main novel characteristics of the SKIRT code are the use of a stellar foam to generate random positions, an efficient combination of eternal forced scattering and continuous absorption, and a new library approach that links the radiative transfer code to the DustEM dust emission library. This approach enables a fast, accurate and self-consistent calculation of the dust emission of arbitrary mixtures of transiently heated dust grains and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, even for full 3D models containing millions of dust cells. We have demonstrated the accuracy of the SKIRT code through a set of simulations based on the edge-on spiral galaxy UGC 4754. The models we ran were gradually refined from a smooth, 2D, LTE model to a fully 3D model that includes NLTE dust emission and a clumpy structure of the dusty ISM. We find that clumpy models absorb UV and optical radiation less efficiently than smooth models with the same amount of dust, and that the dust in clumpy models is on average both cooler and less luminous. Our simulations demonstrate that, given the appropriate use of optimization techniques, it is possible to efficiently and accurately run Monte Carlo radiative transfer simulations of arbitrary 3D structures of several million dust cells, including a full calculation of the NLTE emission by arbitrary dust mixtures.

A detailed dust energy balance study of the Sombrero galaxy

AbstractThe Sombrero galaxy (M104) is an interesting object for a dust energy balance study due to its very symmetric dust lane, its proximity and its (nearly edge-on) inclination of 84°. From a panchromatic radiative transfer analysis, including scattering, absorption and thermal dust re-emission, we construct a standard model for M104 accounting for observations in the optical wave bands (stellar SED, images and extinction profiles in the V and RC band). This standard model underestimates the observed dust emission at infrared wavelengths by a factor of ~ 3, similar to the discrepancy found in other energy balance studies of edge-on spirals. Supplementing this standard model with a young stellar component of low star formation activity in both the inner disk (SFR ~ 0.21 M⊙ yr−1) and dust ring (SFR ~ 0.05 M⊙ yr−1), we are capable of solving the discrepancy in the dust energy budget of the Sombrero galaxy at wavelengths shortwards of 100 μm. To account for the remaining discrepancy at longer wavelengths, we propose a secondary dust component distributed in quiescent clumps. This model with a clumpy dust structure predicts three-quarters of the total dust content to reside in compact dust clouds with no associated embedded sources.

GRAVITATIONAL INSTABILITIES IN TWO-COMPONENT GALAXY DISKS WITH GAS DISSIPATION

Growth rates for gravitational instabilities in a thick disk of gas and stars are determined for a turbulent gas that dissipates on the local crossing time. The scale heights are derived from vertical equilibrium. The accuracy of the usual thickness correction, (1 + kH)−1, is better than 6% in the growth rate when compared to exact integrations for the gravitational acceleration in the disk. Gas dissipation extends the instability to small scales, removing the minimum Jeans length. This makes infinitesimally thin disks unstable for all Toomre-Q values and reasonably thick disks stable at high Q primarily because of thickness effects. The conventional gas+star threshold, Qtot, increases from ∼1 without dissipation to 2 or 3 when dissipation has a rate equal to the crossing rate over a perturbation scale. Observations of Qtot ∼ 2–3 and the presence of supersonic turbulence suggest that disks are unstable over a wide range of scales. Such instabilities drive spiral structure if there is shear and clumpy structure if shear is weak; they may dominate the generation of turbulence. Feedback regulation of Qtot is complex because the stellar component does not cool; the range of spiral strengths from multiple arm to flocculent galaxies suggests that feedback is weak. Gravitational instabilities may have a connection to star formation even when the star formation rate scales directly with the molecular mass because the instabilities return dispersed gas to molecular clouds and complete the cycle of cloud formation and destruction. The mass flow to dense clouds by instabilities can be 10 times larger than the star formation rate.

Reconstruction of an Accretion Disk Image in AU Mon from CoRoT Photometry

AbstractThe long-period binary system AU Mon was photometrically observed on-board the CoRoT satellite in a continuous run of almost 60 days long which has covered almost 5 complete cycles. Unprecedented sub milimag precision of CoRoT photometry reveals all complexity of its light variations in this, still active mass-transfer binary system. We present images of an accretion disk reconstructed by eclipse mapping, and an optimization of intensity distribution along disk surface. Time resolution and accurate CoRoT photometric measurements allow precise location of spatial distribution of ‘hot’ spots on the disk, and tracing temporal changes in their activity. Clumpy disk structure is similar to those we detected early for another W Serpentis binary W Cru (Pavlovski, Burki &amp; Mimica, 2006, A&amp;A, 454, 855).

On the stability of tidal streams

We explore the stability of tidal streams to perturbations, motivated by recent claims that the clumpy structure of the stellar streams surrounding the globular cluster Palomar 5 are the result of gravitational instability. We calculate the Jeans length of tidal streams by treating them as a thin expanding cylinder of collisionless matter. We also find a general relation between the density and the velocity dispersion inside a stream, which is used to determine the longitudinal Jeans criterion. Our analytic results are checked by following the time evolution of the phase space density within streams using numerical simulations. We conclude that tidal streams within our galactic halo are stable on all length scales and over all timescales.

Radiation feedback on dusty clouds during Seyfert activity

We investigate the evolution of dusty gas clouds falling into the centre of an active Seyfert nucleus. Two-dimensional high-resolution radiation hydrodynamics simulations are performed to study the fate of single clouds and the interaction between two clouds approaching the Active Galactic Nucleus. We find three distinct phases of the evolution of the cloud: (i) formation of a lenticular shape with dense inner rim caused by the interaction of gravity and radiation pressure (the lense phase), (ii) formation of a clumpy sickle-shaped structure as the result of a converging flow (the clumpy sickle phase) and (iii) a filamentary phase caused by a rapidly varying optical depth along the sickle. Depending on the column density of the cloud, it will either be pushed outwards or its central (highest column density) parts move inwards, while there is always some material pushed outwards by radiation pressure effects. The general dynamical evolution of the cloud can approximately be described by a simple analytical model.

Escape fraction of ionizing photons from high-redshift galaxies in cosmological SPH simulations

Combing the three-dimensional radiative transfer (RT) calculation and cosmological SPH simulations, we study the escape fraction of ionizing photons (f_esc) of high-redshift galaxies at z=3-6. Our simulations cover the halo mass range of M_h = 10^9 - 10^12 M_sun. We postprocess several hundred simulated galaxies with the Authentic Radiative Transfer (ART) code to study the halo mass dependence of f_esc. In this paper, we restrict ourselves to the transfer of stellar radiation from local stellar population in each dark matter halo. We find that the average f_esc steeply decreases as the halo mass increases, with a large scatter for the lower mass haloes. The low mass haloes with M_h ~ 10^9 M_sun have large values of f_esc (with an average of ~ 0.4), whereas the massive haloes with M_h ~ 10^11 M_sun show small values of f_esc (with an average of ~ 0.07). This is because in our simulations, the massive haloes show more clumpy structure in gas distribution, and star-forming regions are embedded inside these clumps, making it more difficult for the ionizing photons to escape. On the other hand, in low mass haloes, there are often conical regions of highly ionized gas due to the shifted location of young star clusters from the center of dark matter halo, which allows the ionizing photons to escape more easily than in the high-mass haloes. By counting the number of escaped ionizing photons, we show that the star-forming galaxies can ionize the intergalactic medium at z=3-6. The main contributor to the ionizing photons is the haloes with M_h < 10^10 M_sun owing to their high f_esc. The large dispersion in f_esc suggests that there may be various sizes of H{\sc ii} bubbles around the haloes even with the same mass in the early stages of reionization. We also examine the effect of UV background radiation field on f_esc using simple, four different treatment of UV background.