Diffuse Emission Research Articles

Sublimation and oxidation measurements of graphite and carbon black at high temperatures in a shock tube using absorption imaging and thermal emission

Surface mass loss rates due to sublimation and oxidation at temperatures of 3000–7000 K have been measured in a shock tube for graphite and carbon black (CB) particles. Diagnostics are presented for measuring surface mass loss rates by diffuse backlit illumination extinction imaging and thermal emission. The surface mass loss rate is found by regression fitting extinction and emission signals with an independent spherical primary particle assumption. Measured graphite sublimation and oxidation rates are reported to be an order of magnitude greater than CB sublimation and oxidation rates. It is speculated that the difference between CB and graphite surface mass loss rates is largely due to the primary particle assumption of the presented technique which misrepresents the effective surface area of an aggregate particle where primary particles overlap and shield inner particles. Measured sublimation rates are compared to sublimation models in the literature, and it is seen graphite shows fair agreement with the models while CB underestimates, likely a result of the particle shielding affect not being considered in the sublimation model.

Temperature, Water Depth, and Flow Velocity Are Important Drivers of Methane Ebullition in a Temperate Lowland Stream

AbstractStreams and rivers are a well‐recognized source of methane (CH4), with high spatiotemporal variability in fluxes. However, CH4 release in form of bubbles (ebullition) is rarely included in current global CH4 emission estimates from lotic ecosystems, due to the lack of reliable models to upscale ebullition. Our study aimed to determine the importance of individual emission pathways (diffusion and ebullition) for total CH4 emissions from a lowland stream with low sediment heterogeneity and explore the relations of ebullition to environmental variables to build a stream ebullition model for this simplified system. We measured CH4 and carbon dioxide (CO2) diffusive emissions and ebullition from a temperate lowland stream in Czech Republic (Central Europe) during the ice‐free season 2021. The studied stream was a significant source of CH4 (mean 260 ± 107 mg CH4 m−2 day−1), with ebullition as a prevailing pathway of CH4 emission (mean 74 ± 7%, range 55%–85%) throughout the whole monitored period. CH4 ebullition showed a high spatiotemporal heterogeneity, with sediment temperature and water depth as the strongest predictors, followed by the interaction between flow velocity and sediment temperature. Our model explained 81% of total variance of CH4 ebullition and suggests that it is possible to model ebullitive fluxes in lowland streams with homogeneous sediments. Since CH4 was an important part of the total CO2‐equivalent emissions from the examined stream, accounting for mean (±SD) 35 ± 7.4%, and ebullition the majority of the CH4 emission, the ability to adequately model ebullition is pertinent for lowland streams.

Abell 746: A Highly Disturbed Cluster Undergoing Multiple Mergers

We present deep XMM-Newton, Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, and upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope observations of Abell 746, a cluster that hosts a plethora of diffuse emission sources that provide evidence for the acceleration of relativistic particles. Our new XMM-Newton images reveal a complex morphology of the thermal gas with several substructures. We observe an asymmetric temperature distribution across the cluster: the southern regions exhibit higher temperatures, reaching ∼9 keV, while the northern regions have lower temperatures (≤4 keV), likely due to a complex merger. We find evidence of three surface brightness edges and one candidate edge, of which three are merger-driven shock fronts. Combining our new data with published LOw-Frequency ARray observations has unveiled the nature of diffuse sources in this system. The bright NW relic shows thin filaments and a high degree of polarization with aligned magnetic field vectors. We detect a density jump, aligned with the fainter relic to the north. To the south, we detect high-temperature regions, consistent with the shock-heated regions and a density jump coincident with the northern tip of the southern radio structure. Its integrated spectrum shows a high-frequency steepening. Lastly, we find that the cluster hosts large-scale radio halo emission. A comparison of the thermal and nonthermal emission reveals an anticorrelation between the bright radio and X-ray features at the center. Our findings suggest that Abell 746 is a complex system that involves multiple mergers.

Constraints on the Origins of the Galactic Neutrino Flux Detected by IceCube

Galactic and extragalactic objects in the Universe are sources of high-energy neutrinos that may contribute to the astrophysical neutrino signal seen by IceCube. Recently, a study done using cascade-like events seen by IceCube reported neutrino emission from the Galactic plane with >4σ significance. In this work, we put a lower limit on the number of Galactic sources required to explain this emission. To achieve this, we use a simulation package created to simulate point sources in the Galaxy along with the neutrino and gamma-ray flux emissions originating from them. Along with using past IceCube discovery potential curves, we also account for Eddington bias effects due to Poisson fluctuations in the number of detected neutrino events. We present a toy Monte Carlo simulation to show that there must be at least eight sources, each with luminosity less than 1.6 × 1035 erg s−1, responsible for the Galactic neutrino emission. Our results constrain the number of individual point-like emission regions, which apply both to discrete astrophysical sources and to individual points of diffuse emission.

The Seeding of Cosmic Ray Electrons by Cluster Radio Galaxies: A Review

Radio galaxies in clusters of galaxies are a prominent reservoir of magnetic fields and of non-thermal particles, which become mixed with the intracluster medium. We review the observational and theoretical knowledge of the role of these crucial ingredients for the formation of diffuse radio emission in clusters (radio halos, relics, mini halos) and outline the open questions in this field.

Disentangling the anisotropic radio sky: Fisher forecasts for 21 cm arrays

ABSTRACT The existence of a radio synchrotron background (RSB) excess is implied by a number of measurements, including excess emission seen by the Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Diffuse Emission (ARCADE 2) and Long Wavelength Array (LWA) experiments. Highly sensitive wideband radio arrays, of the kind used to measure the cosmic 21 cm signal, provide a promising way to further constrain the RSB excess through its anisotropy, providing additional insight into its origin. We present a framework for evaluating the potential of 21 cm arrays to disentangle different components of the diffuse radio sky based on the combination of their frequency spectrum and angular power spectrum. The formalism is designed to calculate uncertainties due to the intrinsic cosmic variance alone or together with instrumental noise. In particular, we predict the potential for measuring the anisotropy of a broad generalized class of excess radio background models using the low-frequency Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) as an example. We find that a HERA-like array can distinguish an RSB excess from other sky components based on its angular clustering and spectral dependence, even if these are quite similar to one or more of the other components – but only in the case that the RSB excess is relatively bright.

Prototype Faraday Rotation Measure Catalogs from the Polarisation Sky Survey of the Universe’s Magnetism (POSSUM) Pilot Observations

The Polarisation Sky Survey of the Universe’s Magnetism (POSSUM) will conduct a sensitive ∼1 GHz radio polarization survey covering 20,000 deg2 of the southern sky with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder. In anticipation of the full survey, we analyze pilot observations of low-band (800–1087 MHz), mid-band (1316–1439 MHz), and combined-band observations for an extragalactic field and a Galactic plane field (low-band only). Using the POSSUM processing pipeline, we produce prototype rotation measure (RM) catalogs that are filtered to construct prototype RM grids. We assess typical RM grid densities and RM uncertainties and their dependence on frequency, bandwidth, and Galactic latitude. We present a median filter method for separating foreground diffuse emission from background components and find that after application of the filter, 99.5% of the measured RMs of simulated sources are within 3σ of their true RM, with a typical loss of polarized intensity of 5% ± 5%. We find RM grid densities of 35.1, 30.6, 37.2, and 13.5 RMs per square degree and median uncertainties on RM measurements of 1.55, 12.82, 1.06, and 1.89 rad m−2 for the median-filtered low-band, mid-band, combined-band, and Galactic observations, respectively. We estimate that the full POSSUM survey will produce an RM catalog of ∼775,000 RMs with median-filtered low-band observations and ∼877,000 RMs with median-filtered combined-band observations. We construct a structure function from the Galactic RM catalog, which shows a break at 0.°7, corresponding to a physical scale of 12–24 pc for the nearest spiral arm.

Constraining the Inner Galactic DM Density Profile with H.E.S.S.

In this short review, corresponding to a talk given at the conference “Cosmology 2023 in Miramare”, we combine an analysis of five regions observed by H.E.S.S. in the Galactic Center, intending to constrain the Dark Matter (DM) density profile in a WIMP annihilation scenario. For the analysis, we include the state-of-the-art Galactic diffuse emission Gamma-optimized model computed with DRAGON and a wide range of DM density profiles from cored to cuspy profiles, including different kinds of DM spikes. Our results are able to constrain generalized NFW profiles with an inner slope γ≳1.3. When considering DM spikes, the adiabatic spike is completely ruled out. However, smoother spikes given by the interactions with the bulge stars are compatible if γ≲0.8, with an internal slope of γsp-stars=1.5.

Deciphering crystal structure of Li3Bi3Te2O12:Sm3+ phosphors with high thermal stability for plant cultivation and white light‐emitting diodes

AbstractThe novel orange‐red light‐emitting garnet‐type phosphors Li3Bi3Te2O12:xSm3+ (0.005 ≤ x ≤ 0.25) were first synthesized using the high‐temperature solid‐state reaction method. The phase structure was recorded with XRD. Raman spectroscopic analysis was conducted for the first time to extract detailed structural insights of the tellurate garnet Li3Bi3Te2O12:Sm3+. The characteristics of the obtained compounds were investigated, including particle morphology, elemental mapping, diffuse reflection spectra, excitation and emission spectra, thermal stability, chromaticity coordinates according to the Commission International del′Eclairage, and color purity. The Li3Bi3Te2O12:Sm3+ phosphor could be effectively excited by 406 nm irradiation, and four sharp peaks were presented. The dominant peaks are located at 613 and 653 nm, corresponding to the typical transition of Sm3+ ions at 4G5/2→6H7/2 and 4G5/2→6H9/2, respectively. The phosphors present a regular concentration quenching trend, with an optimum Sm3+ doping concentration of 0.02. Impressively, the product demonstrates remarkable thermal stability by maintaining an emission intensity of 93% at a working temperature of 423 K. Additionally, the thermal quenching temperature (T0.5) surpasses 480 K. The lighting performance of the white light‐emitting diode fabricated using Li3Bi3Te2O12:0.02Sm3+ phosphor has been found to be exceptional, characterized by a high color rendering index (Ra = 90) and a low correlated color temperature (CCT = 5122 K). The electroluminescent spectrum of the red light‐emitting diode device fabricated by Li3Bi3Te2O12:0.02Sm3+ overlapped well with the absorption spectra of the phytochromes, suggesting its potential for plant cultivation light source. In conclusion, considering all these photoluminescent properties mentioned above, Li3Bi3Te2O12:Sm3+ phosphor can be regarded as a promising material for daily illumination and plant cultivation LEDs.

Experimental Ecosystem Eutrophication Causes Offsetting Effects on Emissions of CO2, CH4, and N2O from Agricultural Reservoirs.

Despite decades of research and management efforts, eutrophication remains a persistent threat to inland waters. As nutrient pollution intensifies in the coming decades, the implications for aquatic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are poorly defined, particularly the responses of individual GHGs: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). The biogeochemical controls of each gas can differ, making it difficult to predict the overall effect of nutrient pollution on the net radiative forcing of aquatic ecosystems. Here, we induced eutrophication of small nitrogen (N)-limited agricultural reservoirs and measured changes in diffusive GHG emissions within a before-after-control-impact (BACI) study design during June to September 2021. Each gas exhibited a unique response to 300% increases in primary production, with a shift from an overall CO2 source to a sink, a modest increase in N2O flux, and, unexpectedly, no significant change in CH4 emissions. The lack of net directional change in CO2-equivalent GHG emissions in fertilized reservoirs during the summer contrasts findings from empirical studies of eutrophic lakes. Our findings illustrate the difficulty in extrapolating among different sized ecosystems and suggest that forecast 2-fold increases in agricultural N fertilization by 2050 may not result in consistently elevated GHG emissions during summer, at least from small reservoirs in continental grassland regions.

Anthropogenic dissolved organic matter accumulation fuels greenhouse gas diffusive emissions in urban lakes along trophic state levels

Lakes are an important reservoir of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and also emit large amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). Yet, the linkages between quantity and quality of DOM and GHGs emissions are still not well understood. Hence, we investigated how DOM optical properties mediated dissolved GHGs levels and diffusive fluxes along a trophic state level in subtropical urban lakes, China. Our study showed that anthropogenic protein-like DOM (tryptophan- and tyrosine-like components) dominated the DOM pools, comprising 62% of total fluorescence DOM (FDOM). Partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) showed that the direct contribution of relative abundance of DOM to CO2 and CH4 diffusion in the highly-eutrophic state was higher than in the mesotrophic and lightly/moderately-eutrophic states. In particular, protein-like DOM primarily accounted for CO2 variations (44%-49%), while humic- and protein-like DOM contributed comparably to CH4 variations (38%-40% vs. 36%-40%). Furthermore, in the lightly/moderately- and highly-eutrophic states, nutrients contributed to DOM, CO2 and CH4 in both direct and indirect ways, while phytoplankton (chlorophyll a, Chl-a) negatively and directly affected carbon emissions. However, only nitrogen content directly contributed to N2O production and diffusion in the mesotrophic and lightly/moderately-eutrophic states. We concluded that protein-like DOM enrichment had the potential to trigger CO2 and CH4 diffusion and this process was largely mediated by nutrient levels. N2O diffusion was found to be mainly influenced by nitrogen loadings and forms. Our findings highlight the urgency for effective strategies to reduce anthropogenic DOM inputs and control nutrient levels to reduce GHGs diffusion in highly human-impacted aquatic systems.

Volcanic soil gas 4He/CO2 ratio: a useful geochemical tool for real-time eruption forecasting

At many dormant volcanoes, magmatic gases are not channeled through preferential degassing routes as fumaroles and only percolate through the flanks of the volcano in a diffuse way. This type of volcanic gas emission provides valuable information, even though the soil matrix contains an important atmospheric component. This study aimed to demonstrate that chemical ratios such as He/CO2 in soil gases provide excellent information on the evolution of volcanic unrest episodes and help forecast the volcanic eruption onset. Before and during the occurrence of the October 2011–March 2012 submarine of El Hierro, Canary Islands, more than 8500 soil He analyses and diffuse CO2 emission measurements were performed. The results show that the soil He/CO2 emission ratio began increasing drastically one month before eruption onset, reaching the maximum value 10 days before. During the eruptive period, this ratio also showed a maximum value several days before the period with the highest magma emission rate. The He/CO2 ratio was also helpful in forecasting the eruption onset. We demonstrate that this tool can be applied in real-time during volcanic emergencies. Our results also encourage a reevaluation of the global He emission from the subaerial volcanism.

Laboratory evidence of Weibel magnetogenesis driven by temperature gradient using three-dimensional synchronous proton radiography.

The origin of the cosmic magnetic field remains an unsolved mystery, relying not only on specific dynamo processes but also on the seed field to be amplified. Recently, the diffuse radio emission and Faraday rotation observations reveal that there has been a microgauss-level magnetic field in intracluster medium in the early universe, which places strong constraints on the strength of the initial field and implies the underlying kinetic effects; the commonly believed Biermann battery can only provide extremely weak seed of 10-21 G. Here, we present evidence for the spontaneous Weibel-type magnetogenesis in laser-produced weakly collisional plasma with the three-dimensional synchronous proton radiography, where the distribution anisotropy directly arises from the temperature gradient, even without the commonly considered interpenetrating plasmas or shear flows. This field can achieve sufficient strength and is sensitive to Coulomb collision. Our results demonstrate the importance of kinetics in magnetogenesis in weakly collisional astrophysical scenarios.

GeV γ-ray emission in the field of young massive star cluster RCW 38

ABSTRACT We report the detection of γ-ray emission by the Fermi Large Area Telescope towards the young massive star cluster RCW 38 in the 1–500 GeV photon energy range. We found spatially extended GeV emission towards the direction of RCW 38, which is best modelled by a Gaussian disc of 0.23° radius with a significance of the extension of ∼11.4σ. Furthermore, the spatial correlation with the ionized and molecular gas content favours the hadronic origin of the γ-ray emission. The γ-ray spectrum of RCW 38 has a relatively hard photon index of 2.44 ± 0.03, which is similar to other young massive star clusters. We argue that the diffuse GeV γ-ray emission in this region likely originates from the interaction of accelerated protons in the stellar cluster with the ambient gas.

The NuSTAR View of Perseus: The Intracluster Medium and a Peculiar Hard Excess

As the brightest galaxy cluster in the X-ray sky, Perseus is an excellent target for studying the intracluster medium (ICM), but until recently, its active galactic nucleus (AGN) made studies of the diffuse emission near its center nearly impossible to accomplish with NuSTAR, due to the extended wings of NuSTAR's point-spread function. The development of a new open-source software package—nucrossarf—now allows the contribution from point and diffuse sources to be modeled so that scattered light from the AGN can be accounted for. Using this technique, we present an analysis of diffuse hard X-ray (3–25 keV) emission from the ICM using three archival NuSTAR observations of the Perseus cluster. We find a ∼10% excess of emission beyond 20 keV not describable by purely thermal models. By performing similar analyses of AGNs in archival observations, we have characterized the systematic uncertainty of the modeled AGN contribution to be 3.4%. However, in order to explain the excess, the total scattered AGN emission would have to be 39% stronger than we have measured. We test physical explanations for the excess, such as diffuse inverse-Compton emission potentially originating from the radio mini-halo, but we determine that none of the models are compelling. An upper limit on the inverse-Compton flux (≤1.5 × 10−11 erg s−1 cm−2) and a corresponding lower limit on the global magnetic field strength (≥0.35 μG) are derived. We discuss the potential origin and implications of the excess and present our characterization of the nucrossarf systematic uncertainty, which should be useful for future work.

Robust inference of the Galactic Centre gamma-ray excess spatial properties

ABSTRACT The gamma-ray Fermi-LAT Galactic Centre excess (GCE) has puzzled scientists for over 15 yr. Despite ongoing debates about its properties, and especially its spatial distribution, its nature remains elusive. We scrutinize how the estimated spatial morphology of this excess depends on models for the Galactic diffuse emission, focusing particularly on the extent to which the Galactic plane and point sources are masked. Our main aim is to compare a spherically symmetric morphology – potentially arising from the annihilation of dark matter (DM) particles – with a boxy morphology – expected if faint unresolved sources in the Galactic bulge dominate the excess emission. Recent claims favouring a DM-motivated template for the GCE are shown to rely on a specific Galactic bulge template, which performs worse than other templates for the Galactic bulge. We find that a non-parametric model of the Galactic bulge derived from the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea survey results in a significantly better fit for the GCE than DM-motivated templates. This result is independent of whether a galprop-based model or a more non-parametric ring-based model is used to describe the diffuse Galactic emission. This conclusion remains true even when additional freedom is added in the background models, allowing for non-parametric modulation of the model components and substantially improving the fit quality. When adopted, optimized background models provide robust results in terms of preference for a boxy bulge morphology for the GCE, regardless of the mask applied to the Galactic plane.

The XMM-Newton Line Emission Analysis Program (X-LEAP). I. Emission-line Survey of O vii, O viii, and Fe L-shell Transitions

The XMM-Newton Line Emission Analysis Program (X-LEAP) is designed to study diffuse X-ray emissions from the Milky Way (MW) hot gas, as well as emissions from the foreground solar wind charge exchange (SWCX). This paper presents an all-sky survey of spectral feature intensities corresponding to the O vii, O viii, and iron L-shell (Fe-L) emissions. These intensities are derived from 5418 selected XMM-Newton observations with long exposure times and minimal contamination from point or extended sources. For 90% of the measured intensities, the values are within ≈2–18 photons cm−2 s−1 sr−1 (line unit (LU)), ≈0–8 LU, and ≈0–9 LU, respectively. We report long-term variations in O vii and O viii intensities over 22 yr, closely correlating with the solar cycle and attributed to SWCX emissions. These variations contribute ∼30% and ∼20% to the observed intensities on average and peak at ≈4 and ≈1 LU during solar maxima. We also find evidence of short-term and spatial variations in SWCX, indicating the need for a more refined SWCX model in future studies. In addition, we present SWCX- and absorption-corrected all-sky maps for a better view of the MW hot gas emission. These maps show a gradual decrease in oxygen intensity moving away from the Galactic center and a concentration of Fe-L intensity in the Galactic bubbles and disk.

On the Galactic radio signal from stimulated decay of axion dark matter

We study the full-sky distribution of the radio emission from the stimulated decay of axions which are assumed to compose the dark matter in the Galaxy. Besides the constant extragalactic and CMB components, the decays are stimulated by a Galactic radio emission with a spatial distribution that we empirically determine from observations. We compare the diffuse emission to the counterimages of the brightest supernovæ remnants, and take into account the effects of free-free absorption. We show that, if the dark matter halo is described by a cuspy NFW profile, the expected signal from the Galactic center is the strongest. Interestingly, the emission from the Galactic anti-center provides competitive constraints that do not depend on assumptions on the uncertain dark matter density in the inner region. Furthermore, the anti-center of the Galaxy is the brightest spot if the Galactic dark matter density follows a cored profile. The expected signal from stimulated decays of axions of mass ma ∼ 10-6 eV is within reach of the Square Kilometer Array for an axion-photon coupling gaγ ≳ (2-3) × 10-11 GeV-1.

Nature of the diffuse emission sources in the H i supershell in the galaxy IC 1613

ABSTRACT We present a study of the nearby low-metallicity dwarf galaxy IC 1613, focusing on the search for massive stars and related feedback processes, as well as for faint supernova remnants (SNR) in late stages of evolution. We obtained the deepest images of IC 1613 in the narrow-band H α, He ii and [S ii] emission lines and new long-slit spectroscopy observations using several facilities (6-m BTA, 2.5m SAI MSU, and 150RTT telescopes), in combination with the multiwavelength archival data from MUSE/VLT, VLA, XMM–Newton, and Swift/XRT. Our deep narrow-band photometry identifies several faint shells in the galaxy, and we further investigate their physical characteristics with the new long-slit spectroscopy observations and the archival multiwavelength data. Based on energy balance calculations and assumptions about their possible nature, we propose that one of the shells is a possible remnant of a supernova explosion. We study five out of eight Wolf–Rayet (WR) star candidates previously published for this galaxy using the He ii emission line mapping, MUSE/VLT archival spectra, and new long-slit spectra. Our analysis discards the considered WR candidates and finds no new ones. We found P Cyg profiles in H α line in two stars, which we classify as Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) star candidates. Overall, the galaxy IC 1613 may have a lower rate of WR star formation than previously suggested.

First evidence of a connection between cluster-scale diffuse radio emission in cool-core galaxy clusters and sloshing features

Radio observations of a few cool-core galaxy clusters have revealed the presence of diffuse emission on cluster scales, similar to what was found in merging clusters in the form of radio halos. These sources might suggest that a minor merger, while not sufficiently energetic to disrupt the cool core, could still trigger particle acceleration in the intracluster medium on scales of hundreds of kiloparsecs. We aim to verify the occurrence of cluster-scale diffuse radio emission in cool-core clusters and test the minor merger scenario. With the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) at 144 MHz, we observed a sample of twelve cool-core galaxy clusters presenting some level of dynamical disturbances, according to X-ray data. We also performed a systematic search of cold fronts in these clusters, re-analysing archival Chandra observations. The clusters PSZ1G139.61+24, A1068 (new detection), MS 1455.0+2232, and RX J1720.1+2638 present diffuse radio emission on a cluster scale ($r $). This emission is characterised by a double component: a central mini-halo confined by cold fronts and diffuse emission on larger scales, whose radio power at 144 MHz is comparable to that of radio halos detected in merging systems with the same cluster mass. The cold fronts in A1068 are a new detection. We also found a candidate plasma depletion layer in this cluster. No sloshing features are found in the other eight clusters. Two of them present a mini-halo, with diffuse radio emission confined to the cluster core. We also found a new candidate mini-halo. Whereas, for the remaining five clusters, we did not detect halo-like emission. For clusters without cluster-scale halos, we derived upper limits to the radio halo power. We found that cluster-scale diffuse radio emission is not present in all cool-core clusters when observed at a low frequency, but it is correlated to the presence of cold fronts. The coexistence of cluster-scale diffuse radio emission and cold fronts in cool-core clusters requires a specific configuration of the merger and so it puts some constraints on the turbulence, which deserves to be investigated in the future with theoretical works.