119229485
Classification study of WISE infrared sources: identification of candidate asymptotic giant branch stars
In the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) all-sky source catalog there are 76 million mid-infrared point sources that were detected in the first three WISE bands and have association with only one 2MASS near-IR source within 3′′. We search for their identifications in the SIMBAD database and find 3.2 million identified sources. Based on these known sources, we establish three criteria for selecting candidate asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in the Galaxy, which are three defined zones in a color-color diagram, Galactic latitude |b| ≤ 20°, and “corrected” WISE third-band W3 c ≤11. Applying these criteria to the WISE+2MASS sources, 1.37 million of them are selected. We analyze the WISE third-band W3 distribution of the selected sources, and further establish that W3≤8 is required in order to exclude a large fraction of normal stars from them. We therefore find 0.47 million candidate AGB stars in our Galaxy from the WISE source catalog. Using W3 c , we estimate their distances and derive their Galactic distributions. The candidates are generally distributed around the Galactic center uniformly, with 68% (1-σ) of them within approximately 8 kpc. We discuss the idea that optical spectroscopy can be used to verify the C-rich AGB stars in our candidates, and thus a fraction of them (~10%) will be good targets for the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) survey that is planned to start in fall of 2012.
119069538
Search for gamma-ray emission from four accreting millisecond pulsars with Fermi/LAT
We report our search for -ray emission in the energy range from 100 MeV to 300 GeV from four Accreting Millisecond Pulsars (AMPs), SAX J1808.4 3658, IGR J00291+5934, XTE J1814 338, and XTE J0929 314. The data are from four-year observations carried out by Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi -ray Space Telescope. The AMPs were not detected, and their -ray luminosity upper limits we obtain are 5.1 × 10 33 ergs s −1 for SAX J1808.4 3658, 2.1 × 10 33 ergs s −1 for IGR J00291+5934, 1.2 × 10 34 ergs s −1 for XTE J1814 338, and 2.2 × 10 33 ergs s −1 for XTE J0929 314. We compare our results with -ray irradiation luminosities required for producing optical modulations seen from the companions in the AMPs, which has been suggested by Takata et al. (2012), and our upper limits have excluded -ray emission as the heating source in these systems except XTE J0929 314, the upper limit of which is not deep enough. Our results also do not support the model proposed by Takata et al. (2012) that relatively strong -ray emission could arise from the outer gap of a high-mass neutron star controlled by the photon-photon pair-creation for the AMPs. Two AMPs, SAX J1808.4 3658 and IGR J00291+5934, have the measurements of their spin-down rates, and we derive the upper limits of their -ray conversion efficiencies, which are 57% and 3%, respectively. We discuss the implications to the AMP systems by comparing the efficiency upper limit values with that of 20 -ray millisecond pulsars (MSP) detected by Fermi and the newly discovered transitional MSP binary J1023+0038. Subject headings: pulsars: general – stars: neutron – binaries: close – gamma rays: stars
303237
Discovery of Pulsations in the X-Ray Transient 4U 1901+03
We describe observations of the 2003 outburst of the hard-spectrum X-ray transient 4U 1901+03 with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The outburst was first detected in 2003 February by the All-Sky Monitor and reached a peak 2.5-25 keV flux of 8 × 10-9 ergs cm-2 s-1 (around 240 mcrab). The only other known outburst occurred 32.2 yr earlier, likely the longest currently known recurrence time for any X-ray transient. Proportional Counter Array (PCA) observations over the 5 month duration of the 2003 outburst revealed a 2.763 s pulsar in a 22.58 days orbit. The detection of pulsations down to a flux of 3 × 10-11 ergs cm-2 s-1 (2.5-25 keV), along with the inferred long-term accretion rate of 8.1 × 10-11 M☉ yr-1 (assuming a distance of 10 kpc), suggests that the surface magnetic field strength is below ~5 × 1011 G. The corresponding cyclotron energy is thus below 4 keV, consistent with the nondetection of resonance features at high energies. Although we could not unambiguously identify the optical counterpart, the lack of a bright IR candidate within the 1' RXTE error circle rules out a supergiant mass donor. The neutron star in 4U 1901+03 probably accretes from the wind of a main-sequence OB star, like most other high-mass binary X-ray pulsars. The almost circular orbit (e = 0.036) confirms the system's membership in a growing class of wide, low-eccentricity systems in which the neutron stars may have received much smaller kicks as a result of their natal supernova explosions.
119218814
Infrared Observations of the Millisecond Pulsar Binary J1023+0038: Evidence for the Short-term Nature of Its Interacting Phase in 2000-2001
We report our multi-band infrared (IR) imaging of the transitional millisecond pulsar system J1023+0038, a rare pulsar binary known to have an accretion disk in 2000-2001. The observations were carried out with ground-based and space telescopes from near-IR to far-IRwavelengths. We detected the source in near-IR JH bands and Spitzer 3.6 and 4.5 mu m mid-IR channels. Combined with the previously reported optical spectrum of the source, the IR emission is found to arise from the companion star, with no excess emission detected in the wavelength range. Because our near-IR fluxes are nearly equal to those obtained by the 2MASS all-sky survey in 2000 February, the result indicates that the binary did not contain the accretion disk at the time, whose existence would have raised the near-IR fluxes to twice larger values. Our observations have thus established the short-term nature of the interacting phase seen in 2000-2001: the accretion disk existed for at most 2.5 yr. The binary was not detected by the WISE all-sky survey carried out in 2010 at its 12 and 22 mu m bands and our Herschel far-IR imaging at 70 and 160 mu m. Depending on the assumed properties of the dust, the resulting flux upper limits provide a constraint of <3 x 10(22)-3 x 10(25) g on the mass of the dust grains that possibly exist as the remnants of the previously seen accretion disk.
18351437
Search for the Optical Counterparts of Southern Anomalous X-Ray Pulsars and Radio-Quiet Neutron Stars in Young Supernova Remnants
We report on our search for the optical counterparts of the Southern Hemisphere anomalous X-ray pulsar 1E1048.1-5937 and the radio-quiet neutron stars in supernova remnants Puppis A, RCW 103, and PKS 1209-52. The observations were carried out with the new MIT/CfA MagIC camera on the Magellan-I 6.5 m telescope in Chile. We present deep multiband optical images of the X-ray error circles for each of these targets and discuss the resulting candidates and limits.
14090535
An Accurate Determination of the Optical Periodic Modulation in the X-Ray Binary SAX J1808.4-3658
We report on optical imaging of the X-ray binary SAX J1808.4 – 3658 with the 8 m Gemini South Telescope. The binary, containing an accretion-powered millisecond pulsar, appears to have a large periodic modulation in its quiescent optical emission. In order to clarify the origin of this modulation, we obtained three time-resolved r'-band light curves (LCs) of the source over five days. The LCs can be described by a sinusoid, and the long time-span between them allows us to determine optical period P = 7251.9 s and phase 0.671 at MJD 54599.0 (TDB; phase 0.0 corresponds to the ascending node of the pulsar orbit), with uncertainties of 2.8 s and 0.008 (90% confidence), respectively. This periodicity is highly consistent with the X-ray orbital ephemeris. By considering this consistency and the sinusoidal shape of the LCs, we rule out the possibility of the modulation arising from the accretion disk. Our study supports the previous suggestion that the X-ray pulsar becomes rotationally powered in quiescence, with its energy output irradiating the companion star, causing the optical modulation. While it has also been suggested that the accretion disk would be evaporated by the pulsar, we argue that the disk exists and gives rise to the persistent optical emission. The existence of the disk can be verified by long-term, multiwavelength optical monitoring of the source in quiescence, as an increasing flux and spectral changes from the source would be expected based on the standard disk-instability model.
26132013
Towards hard x-ray imaging at GHz frame rate.
Gigahertz (GHz) imaging using hard x-rays (> or approximately equal to 10 keV) can be useful to high-temperature plasma experiments, as well as research and applications using coherent photons from synchrotron radiation and x-ray free electron lasers. GHz framing rate can be achieved by using multiple cameras through multiplexing. The advantages and trade-offs of single-photon detection mode, when no more than one x-ray photon is detected per pixel, are given. Two possible paths towards x-ray imaging at GHz frame rates using a single camera are: (a) avalanche photodiode arrays of high-Z materials and (b) microchannel plate photomultipliers in conjunction with materials with large indices of refraction.
119548246
Subarcsecond Resolution Mid-Infrared Observations of Super Star Clusters in the Antennae (NGC 4038/4039)*
We present ground-based subarcsecond mid-infrared imaging and spectroscopy of young super star clusters in the overlap region of the merging galaxies NGC 4038/4039 (the Antennae) obtained with the VLT Imager and Spectrometer for mid-InfraRed (VISIR). With its unprecedented spatial resolution, VISIR begins for the first time to resolve the H II/photodissociation region complexes around the star-forming regions. In the N-band spectra of two young star clusters, unexpectedly low polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission is observed, compared to what is seen with the Infrared Space Observatory and with the Spitzer Space Telescope. We conclude that a large fraction of the PAH emission cannot be directly associated with the super star clusters but originates from an extended region of at least 215 pc radius around the clusters. In the distribution of [Ne II] 12.81 μm emission, a highly obscured cluster is discovered that does not have an optical or near-infrared counterpart.
14950144
Structure of the axial-vector meson D(s1)(2460)
In this article, we take the point of view that the charmed axial-vector meson $D_{s1}(2460)$ is the conventional $c\bar{s}$ meson and calculate the strong coupling constant $g_{D_{s1} D^* K}$ in the framework of the light-cone QCD sum rules approach. The numerical values of strong coupling constants $g_{D_{s1} D^* K}$ and $g_{D_{s0} D K}$ are very large, and support the hadronic dressing mechanism. Just like the scalar mesons $f_0(980)$ and $a_0(980)$, the scalar meson $D_{s0}(2317)$ and axial-vector meson $D_{s1}(2460)$ may have small $c\bar{s}$ kernels of the typical $c\bar{s}$ meson size, the strong couplings to the hadronic channels (or the virtual mesons loops) may result in smaller masses than the conventional $c\bar{s}$ mesons in the constituent quark models, and enrich the pure $c\bar{s}$ states with other components.
118235333
Dielectron Production in Nucleus+Nucleus Collisions at 1.05 GeV/nucleon
Measurements of dielectron production in heavy-ion collisions are valuable probes into the dynamics of the collision process. While the hadronic participants of the collision are subject to strong final state interactions, the coupling of the electron-positron pair to the collision medium is electromagnetic. Dielectrons, therefore suffer little rescattering leaving the interaction and can retain information about their production origins, probing even the early stages in the evolution of the collision. The DiLepton Spectrometer (DLS) collaboration`s original measurements of dielectron production established the existence of the signal at Bevalac energies. The 1992- 93 DLS measurements in nucleus+Nucleus collisions at a kinetic beam energy of 1.05 {ital GeV/nucleon} are the subject of this presentation.
13852548
Optical/Infrared Observations of the Anomalous X-Ray Pulsar 1E 1048.1-5937 During Its 2007 X-Ray Flare
We report on optical and infrared observations of the anomalous X-ray pulsar (AXP) 1E 1048.1–5937 made during its ongoing X-ray flare that started in 2007 March. We detected the source in the optical I and near-infrared Ks bands in two ground-based observations and obtained deep flux upper limits from four observations, including one with the Spitzer Space Telescope at 4.5 and 8.0 μm. The detections indicate that the source was approximately 1.3-1.6 mag brighter than in 2003-2006, when it was at the tail of a previous similar X-ray flare. Similar related flux variations have been seen in two other AXPs during their X-ray outbursts, suggesting common behavior for large X-ray flux variation events in AXPs. The Spitzer flux limits are sufficiently deep that we can exclude mid-infrared emission similar to that from the AXP 4U 0142+61, which has been interpreted as arising from a dust disk around the AXP. The optical/near-infrared emission from 1E 1048.1–5937 probably has a magnetospheric origin. The similarity in the flux spectra of 1E 1048.1–5937 and 4U 0142+61 challenges the dust disk model proposed for the latter.