Found 25 talks archived in ISM and nebulae

I will present an extensive analysis of the 850 microns (353 GHz) polarization maps of the SCUBA Polarimeter Legacy (SCUPOL) Catalogue produced by Matthews et al., focusing on the molecular clouds and star-forming regions. The first half of the presentation will concern the several methods used in order to analyze and characterize the observed polarization maps and a statistical analysis of the results will be presented. The second half of the talk will focus on a method used for describing the turbulent regimes of the four well sampled regions, S106, OMC-2/3, W49, and DR21, based on comparisons with three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) numerical simulations scaled to the observed polarization maps. It will be shown how this method can be used for constraining the values of the inclination angle of the mean magnetic field with respect to the line of sight. Consistency of the results obtained from the comparison of the information extracted from the analysis of the observed and simulated maps with results obtained from independent observation data analysis by other authors will be discussed. Conclusions regarding how simple, ideal, isothermal, and non-self-gravitating MHD simulations may be sufficient in order to describe the large-scale observed physical properties of some molecular cloud envelopes will be given.

A simple model using the balance of photodissociation assuming a one-dimensional plane-parallel model yields total hydrogen volume densities for a column of atomic hydrogen under the influence of a far-ultraviolet radiation field. This can be applied wherever atomic hydrogen can be assumed to be the product of photodissociation, or perhaps where it is being kept in its atomic state because of the local radiation field. I have previously applied this model to the nearby spiral galaxies M33, M81 and M83 in the past, but the application is mostly manual and cumbersome. In order to make this method suitable to apply to larger samples of galaxies, we developed an automated procedure that identifies candidate PDRs, calculates the balance of photodissociation at locations where PDR-produced HI can be expected and provides total hydrogen volume densities. We applied the procedure to M83 as a consistency check. It is also ready to take advantage of the latest integral field spectroscopy data (metallicity), which we did in the case of M74. In principle this procedure is most suitable to probe the diffuse interstellar medium at the edges of HII regions in other galaxies than our own. However, if detailed morphological information is already available, we can improve our understanding of the method by applying it to very specific cases, such as parts of the Taurus molecular cloud. While the results are highly sensitive to the local morphology, they can potentially be used as an independent probe of the molecular gas.

A serious limitation in the study of the Galactic inner halo and bulge globular clusters has been the existence of large and differential extinction by foreground dust. We have mapped the differential extinction and removed its effects, using a new dereddening technique, in a sample of 25 clusters in the direction of the inner Galaxy, observed in the optical using the Magellan 6.5m telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope. We have also observed a sample of 33 inner Galactic globular clusters in the framework of the VVV survey that is currently being conducted with the new Vista 4m telescope, in infrared bands where the extinction is highly reduced. Using these observations we have produced high quality color-magnitude diagrams of these poorly studied clusters that allow us to determine these clusters relative ages, distances and chemistry more accurately and to address important questions about the formation and the evolution of the inner Galaxy.

The anomalous microwave emission (AME) is an additional diffuse foreground component, originated by an emission mechanism in the ISM different from the well-known synchrotron, free-free and thermal dust emissions. It was first discovered at the end of the nineties as a correlated signal between microwave CMB maps and infrared maps tracing the dust emission. Ever since several detections have been found in individual clouds in our Galaxy. This emission is an important contaminant for current and future CMB experiments, and therefore its characterization (both in temperature and in polarization) and understanding is mandatory. So far different theoretical models have been proposed to explain the physical mechanism that give rise to this emission. In this talk we will review these models and will present the current observational status of the AME, with particular emphasis on some recent studies that have been performed by our group in the IAC in the Perseus molecular complex and in the Pleiades reflection nebula.

The spectral analysis of HII regions allows one to determine the chemical composition of the ionized gas phase of the interstellar medium (ISM) from the solar neighborhood to the high-redshift galaxies. Therefore, it stands as an essential tool for our knowledge of the chemical evolution of the Universe. However, it turns out that chemical abundances of heavy-element ions determined from the bright collisionally excited lines (CELs) are systematically lower than the abundances derived from the faint recombination lines (RLs) emitted by the same ions. Today, this controversial issue is known as abundance discrepancy problem and it is far from negligible. In the analysis of Galactic and extragalactic HII regions the O2+/H+ ratio calculated from the OII RLs is between 0.10 and 0.35 dex higher than that obtained from the [OIII] CELs. In this talk, we will face this problem in the benchmark object of the solar vicinity, the Orion Nebula. Due to its high surface brightness and proximity, the Orion Nebula is an ideal lab, which allows us to study in detail the possible role of its rich and well-resolved internal structure (such as Herbig-Haro objects, protoplanetary disks or bars) on the abundance discrepancy.

We have selected the Galactic HII region M43, a close-by apparently spherical nebula ionized by a single star (HD37061, B0.5V) to investigate several topics of recent interest in the field of HII regions and massive stars. We perform a combined, comprehensive study
of the nebula and its ionizing star by using as many observational constraints as possible. For this study we collected a set of high-quality observations, including the optical spectrum of HD3706, along with nebular optical imaging and long-slit spatially resolved spectroscopy. On the one hand, we have carried out a quantitative spectroscopic analysis of the ionizing star from which we have determined the stellar parameters of HD37061 and the total number of ionizing photons emitted by the star; on the other hand, we have done a
empirical analysis of the nebular images and spectroscopy from which we have find observational evidence of scattered light from the Huygens region (the brightest part of the Orion nebula) in the M43 region. We show the importance of an adequate correction of this scattered light in both the imagery and spectroscopic observations of M43 in accurately determining the total nebular Halpha luminosity, the nebular physical
conditions. and chemical abundances. We have computed total abundances for three of the analyzed elements (O, S, and N), directly from
observable ions (no ionization correction factors are needed). The comparison of these abundances with those derived from the spectrum of the Orion nebula indicates the importance of the atomic data and, specially in the case of M42, the considered ionization correction factors.

In this talk I consider two questions. First, I investigate the formation of molecular clouds from diffuse interstellar gas. It has been argued that the midplane pressure controls the fraction of molecular hydrogen present, and thus the star formation rate. Alternatively, I and others have suggested that the gravitational instability of the disk controls both. I present numerical results demonstrating that the observed correlations between midplane pressure, molecular hydrogen fraction, and star formation rate can be explained within the gravitational instability picture. Second, I discuss how ionization affects the formation of massive stars. Although most distinctive observables of massive stars can be traced back to their ionizing radiation, it does not appear to have a strong effect on their actual formation. Rather, I present simulations suggesting that stars only ionize large volumes after their accretion has already been throttled by gravitational fragmentation in the accretion flow. At the same time these models can explain many aspects of the observations of ultracompact H II regions.

The detection and number estimates of supermassive binary black holes (SMBBHs) provide important constraints on the hierarchical models for galaxy formation and evolution. I will present two different approaches for the possible identification of SMBBHs. 1.Radio-optical studies of X-shaped radio sources:X-shaped radio galaxies are extragalactic radio sources that present two pairs of radio lobes passing symmetrically through the center of the host galaxy, giving the galaxy the X-shaped morphology seen on radio maps.This morphology can reflect either a recent merger of two supermassive black holes or the presence of a second active black hole in the galactic nucleus. This scenario is studied by determining the mass, luminosity, jet dynamic age and starburst of a sample of X-shaped sources and comparing the results to a sample of radio-loud active nuclei with similar redshift and luminosities. 2.Compact radio emission in ULX objects: Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) have luminosities exceeding 10E39 erg/s, suggesting either the presence of black holes larger than stellar mass black holes or sources apparently radiating above the Eddington limit. I will present milliarcsecond-scale radio observations of some ULXs located within optical bright galaxies, resolving their compact radio emission, and measuring its brightness temperature and spectral properties. This allows us to uncover the nature of these sources and investigate whether they are intermediate mass black holes or supermassive black holes stripped of their accretion disks in post-merger systems.

In this talk I will present the first complete 12CO J=3-2 map of M81, observed as part of the Nearby Galaxies Legacy Survey. We have detected nine regions of significant CO emission located at different positions within the spiral arms, and confirmed that the global CO emission in the galaxy is low. Using a new Hα map obtained with the Isaac Newton Telescope and archival data I will discuss a series of topics including the correlation between the molecular gas and star forming regions, the CO (3-2)/(1-0) line ratio, and the amount of hydrogen produced in photo-dissociation regions near the locations where CO J=3-2 was detected.