Found 9 talks width keyword Spitzer

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Tuesday April 18, 2023
University of Oxford

Abstract

 

Nowadays, it is widely accepted that most galaxies undergo an active phase in their evolution. The impact of the energy released by active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the interstellar medium (ISM) of the host galaxy has been proposed as a key mechanism responsible for regulating star formation (SF). The mid-infrared (IR) is the ideal spectral range to investigate the nuclear/circumnuclear regions of AGN since dust extinction is significantly lower compared to the visible range. Furthermore, it provides unique tracers to study the AGN-SF connection such as H2 rotational lines, fine structure lines and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs are also a powerful tool to characterize the ISM in different environments.

Recently, we presented new JWST/MIRI MRS spectroscopy of three Seyfert AGN in which we compare their nuclear PAH emission with that of star-forming regions. This study represents the first of its kind to use sub-arcsecond angular resolution data of local luminous Seyferts (Lbol > 10^44.5 erg/s) with a wide wavelength coverage (4.9-28.1 μm). Our results showed that a suite of PAH features is present in the innermost parts of these Seyfert galaxies. We found that the nuclear regions of AGN lie at different positions of the PAH diagnostic diagrams, whereas the SF regions are concentrated around the average values of SF galaxies. Furthermore, we find that the nuclear PAH emission mainly originates in neutral PAHs while, in contrast, PAH emission originating in the star forming regions favours small ionised PAH grains. Therefore, our results provide evidence that the AGN have a significant impact on the ionization state and size of the PAH grains on scales of ~142-245 pc. This is fundamental since PAH bands are routinely used to measure star-formation activity in near and far SF and active galaxies.

Finally, I will summarise our ongoing JWST work within the GATOS (Galactic Activity, Torus and Outflow Survey) collaboration. In particular, I will focus on our recent study about the survival of PAH molecules in AGN-driven outflows.


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Tuesday September 29, 2020
IAC

Abstract

The formation and evolution of planets in general is closely linked to the life of their host star. What happens to the planetary systems at the end stages of the life cycle of their star has been one of the questions that have received attention from a theoretical point of view but has had a lack of real life examples to study. Among more than 4000 known exoplanets to date only a few of these objects have been found orbiting around pulsars, but so far we have found nothing that resembles what our own solar system will be like long after the Sun leaves the main sequence.

In this talk we will discuss the recent announcement by A. Vanderburg et al. of a giant planet candidate detected by the transit method orbiting around a white dwarf. The candidate was discovered using data from the space-based NASA mission TESS and confirmed using GTC, Spitzer, and other ground-based facilities. We will talk about the role that GTC played in this discovery, the peculiarity of this candidate system, and the possibility of detecting atmospheres in rocky planets orbiting around white dwarfs.

Zoom link: https://rediris.zoom.us/j/95796802777
Youtube link: https://youtu.be/TX5KfTeJNAM


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Tuesday June 2, 2015
Centro de Astrobiología CSIC-INTA

Abstract

The importance of Luminous and Ultraluminous infrared galaxies (U/LIRGs) in the context of the cosmological evolution of the star-formation has been well established in the last decades. They have been detected in large numbers at high-z (z>1) in deep surveys with Spitzer and Herschel, and they seem to be the dominant component to the star formation rate (SFR) density of the Universe beyond z~2. Although rare locally, nearby U/LIRGs are valuable candidates to study extreme cases of compact star-formation and coeval AGN. In particular, the study of local U/LIRGs using near-IR integral field spectroscopic techniques allows us to disentangle the 2D distribution of the gas and the star-formation using high spatial resolution, and characterise dust-enshrouded, spatially-resolved star-forming regions with great amount of detail. In that context, we are carrying on a comprehensive 2D IFS near-IR survey of local 10 LIRGs and 12 ULIRGs, based on VLT-SINFONI observations. I will review different topics on the spatially resolved study of the ISM and the star-formation at different spatial scales. I will focus on the analysis of the multi-phase gas morphology and kinematics, and on the study of the spatially-resolved distribution of the extinction-corrected star-formation rate (SFR) and star-formation rate surface density (ΣSFR). In particular, I will present some recent results on the characterization of individual star-forming regions, in terms of their sizes and Paα luminosities.


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Tuesday May 4, 2010
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Spain

Abstract

Among the over 450 known exoplanets, the planets that transit their central star stand out, due to the wealth of information that can be gained about both planet and central star. The CoRoT mission has been designed to detect smaller and longer-periodic transiting exoplanets than can be found from ground observations. CoRoT-9b was detected by the satellite in summer 2008 and underwent follow-up observations from ground for another year. It stands out as having the largest periastron distance of all transiting planets, being expected to maintain permanently a moderate surface temperature, estimated between 250 and 430K. It is also the first exoplanet to which planet evolution models can be applied, without uncertain corrections that have been needed for 'hot' transiting planets. These models indicate it to be rather similar to Jupiter. Temperate gas-giant planets with low-to-moderate eccentric orbits constitute the largest group of currently known planets; they are probably similar to the gas giants of the solar system. With CoRoT-9b being this group’s first transiting planet, it may give rise to a much better understanding of these common planets. While CoRoT-9b itself is certainly not habitable, moons around it could be similar to Titan and provide some chance of habitability. Upcoming observations with the Spitzer space telescope are designed to improve on planet parameters and to perform a deeper search for the detection of its moons.


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Monday March 1, 2010
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Abstract

We present the results of our systematic search for optically elusive, but intrinsically luminous buried AGNs in >100 nearby (z < 0.3) luminous infrared galaxies with L(IR) > 1011 L⊙, classified optically as non-Seyferts. To disentangle AGNs and stars, we have performed (1) infrared 2.5-35 μ low-resolution (R ~ 100) spectroscopy using Subaru, AKARI, and Spitzer, to estimate the strengths of PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) emission and dust absorption features, (2) high-spatial-resolution infrared 20 micron imaging observations using Subaru and Gemini, to constrain the emission surface brightnesses of energy sources, and (3) millimeter interferometric measurements of molecular gas flux ratios, which reflect the physical and chemical effects from AGNs and stars. Overall, all methods provided consistent pictures. We found that the energetic importance of buried AGNs is relatively higher in galaxies with higher infrared luminosities (where more stars will be formed), suggesting that AGN-starburst connections are luminosity dependent. Our results might be related to the AGN feedback scenario as the possible origin of the galaxy down-sizing phenomenon.

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Saturday October 24, 2009
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Spain

Abstract

Galaxies are the basic building blocks of the Universe, and understanding their formation and evolution is crucial to many areas of current astrophysical research. Nearby galaxies, being the 'fossil record' of the evolution of galaxies, provide a wealth of detail to test extensively the current models of galaxy formation and evolution. A galaxy's structure is linked to both its mass and evolutionary history. Probing galactic structure requires understanding the distribution of stars among galaxies of all types and luminosities across the full range of environments. We are performing a complete volume-limited (d < 40 Mpc) survey of over 2200 nearby spiral, elliptical and dwarf galaxies at 3.6 and 4.5 μ in the Spitzer Warm Mission to address fundamental questions of galactic structure that are united by the common need for deep, uniform, unbiased maps of the stellar mass in galaxies. I will introduce the survey, give examples of images and of the science that can be done, and explain how other researchers at the IAC can become involved in analysing these exciting data.

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Thursday March 19, 2009
European Southern Observatory, Garching, Germany

Abstract

Most studies of the stellar and substellar populations of star forming regions rely on the identification of the signatures of accretion, outflows, circumstellar dust, or activity characteristic of the early stages of stellar evolution. However, the decay of these observational signatures with time limits our ability to understand the complete star forming history of young aggregates, and to obtain unbiased samples of young stellar objects at different stages of disk evolution. I will present the results of a wide-area study of the stellar population of selected clouds in the nearby Lupus star forming region, initially defined to complement the data obtained by the Spitzer Space Observatory Legacy Program “From molecular cores to planet-forming disks”. When combined with 2MASS photometry, our data allow us to fit the spectral energy distributions of well over 150,000 sources seen in that direction, and to identify possible new members based on their photospheric fluxes alone, with independence of the display of signposts of youth. In this way we identify a very clear signature of the existence of a surprisingly numerous and thus far unrecognized population of cool members of Lupus 1 and 3, which is absent from Lupus 4.
The approximately 130 new members that we identify show that Lupus 1 and 3 have been forming low mass stars in numbers comparable to, or even exceeding in Lupus 1, those revealed by recent sensitive surveys based on the signposts of youth. We hypothesize on several possibilities for the origin of this population that may account for its puzzling properties of general lack of disks, coevality with the disk-bearing population, and preferential off-cloud location, which hint at a picture more complex and interesting than the quiescent formation inside dense molecular clouds.

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Wednesday September 24, 2008
University of Tennessee, USA

Abstract

The Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) on Spitzer has observed more than 120 asteroids, several Centaurs and Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs), and satellites of the giant planets. The asteroid sample includes objects from near-Earth space, through the Main Belt, and into the Jupiter Trojan swarms. Asteroids from all taxonomic classes have been observed, as have several binary and multiple component systems. The diameters of these targets range from a few hundred meters to a few hundred kilometers. On the whole, IRS has provided a broad sample of emissivity spectra of small Solar System bodies. The largest emissivity features detected are at the 10% level and are confined to the more primitive asteroid classes. Significant spectral variation is apparent among the IRS asteroid sample. Some of the dust observed in the close environment of other stars likely comes from asteroid collisions, so asteroids in the Solar System are proper mineralogical analogs. As capabilities continue to improve, direct observations of small body populations in other systems and inter-comparisons between systems will foster significant insights into the formation and evolution of planetary systems. The Solar System occupies a unique role by its accessibility and the detail to which it can be studied. While the IRS data are a good start, there is much to be learned from a larger set of mid-infrared spectra (e.g., from JWST and SOFIA). In this talk, I will present an overview of the IRS observations of small Solar System bodies, with a few representative objects highlighted for detailed discussion.

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Tuesday July 1, 2008
SETI/NASA Ames Research Center, USA

Abstract

The composition of the outer solar system is of particular interest because it holds the key to understanding the chemical evolution of the Solar System. Observations at the edge of the Solar System are difficult because of distance and size limitations. The Spitzer Space Telescope has provided a wealth of data for Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs), the small inhabitants of this remote part of the Solar System past the orbit of Neptune, as well as for Centaurs, similar objects to the KBOs but with orbits that come closer to the Sun. Are these observations sufficient to tell us what the composition of these objects is? We briefly introduce spectral modeling, its strengths and limitations. Making use of synthetic surface reflectance spectra we assess the feasibility of determining the composition of Kuiper Belt Objects and Centaurs making use of Spitzer-IRAC data alone.

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