17255900
CONSTRAINTS ON A SECOND PLANET IN THE WASP-3 SYSTEM*
There have been previous hints that the transiting planet WASP-3b is accompanied by a second planet in a nearby orbit, based on small deviations from strict periodicity of the observed transits. Here we present 17 precise radial velocity (RV) measurements and 32 transit light curves that were acquired between 2009 and 2011. These data were used to refine the parameters of the host star and transiting planet. This has resulted in reduced uncertainties for the radii and masses of the star and planet. The RV data and the transit times show no evidence for an additional planet in the system. Therefore, we have determined the upper limit on the mass of any hypothetical second planet, as a function of its orbital period.
118032689
The Variable Star One-shot Project, and its little child: Wikimbad
The Variable Star One-shot Project (VSOP) aimed at providing to the world-wide stellar community the necessary one-shot spectrum of unstudied variable stars, too often classified as such by an analysis of photometric data only. The VSOP has established an new kind of observational model, where all steps from observations to spectral analysis, are automatized (or are underway to be fully automatized). The project is centralized on a collaborative wiki website. The VSOP operational model is very successful, data is continously flowing and being analyszed, and VSOP is now a worldwide open collaboration of people with very different and complementary skills and expertise. The idea of a central wiki website has been extended by one of us to propose a new service to the whole astronomical community, called Wikimbad. Wikimbad is an open wiki website aimed at collecting, organizing and making publicly available all kind of reduced and published astronomical data. Its strengths and a comparison with the Virtual Observatory are discussed. See: this http URL and this http URL
3235867
On the possibility of ground-based direct imaging detection of extra-solar planets: the case of TWA-7 ?
We show that ground-baseddirect imaging detection of extra-solar planets is possible with current technology. As an example, we present evidence for a possible planetary compan- ion to the young T Tauri star 1RXSJ104230.3 334014 (=TWA- 7), discovered by ROSAT as a member of the nearby TW Hya association. In an HST NICMOS F160W image, an object is detected that is more than 9 mag fainter than TWA-7, located 2:4450:035 00 south-east at a position angle of 142:241:34. One year later using the ESO-NTT with the SHARP speckle camera, we obtained H- and K-band detections of this faint ob- ject at a separation of 2:536 0:077 00 and a position angle of 139:3 2:1. Given the known proper motion of TWA-7, the pair may form a proper motion pair. If the faint object orbits TWA-7, then its apparent magnitudes of H=16:42 0:11 and K=16:340:15 mag yield absolute magnitudes consistent with a 10 6:5 yr old 3 Mjup mass object according to the non- gray theory by Burrows et al. (1997). At 55 pc, the angular separation of 2:5 00 corresponds to 138 AU, clearly within typical disk sizes. However, position angles and separations are slightly more consistent with a background object than with a companion.
10656237
Rotation periods of Post-T Tauri stars in Lindroos systems
We present a rotational study of Post-T Tauri stars (PTTSs) in Lindroos systems, defined as binaries with early type primaries on the main-sequence (MS) and late-type secondaries on the pre-main-sequence (PMS) phase. The importance of this study in comparison with previous ones is that the Lindroos sample is not X-ray selected so we avoid a possible bias towards fast rotators. In this preliminary study we have monitored eleven stars in the UBVRI bands during two campaigns of ten consecutive nights each. Eight of the observed PTTSs show periodic modulations in their lightcurves and the derived periods range from 1.9 d to 8.0 d. The comparison of these results with theoretical rotational tracks based on disk-star locking theory shows that star-disk decoupling times of 1−20 Myr could reproduce the rotational properties of the targets, assuming an initial rotation period of ∼ 8d and a mass of 1M� . We have studied the rotation-activity relations of Lindroos PTTSs and compared them with those found in other groups of PMS and zero-age main-sequence (ZAMS) ∼1 Mstars. The Lindroos sample displays activity-rotation relations very similar to those found in TTSs. It contains a mixture of very active stars, with LX/Lbol ratios close to the saturation level of -3, and less active (unsaturated) stars. This could be the result of different star-disk decoupling times. Future monitoring of a larger and unbiased sample of PTTS will be important to confirm the significance of these results.
17464041
The T Tauri star RX J1608.6-3922 -not an eclipsing binary but a spotted single star
High-resolution spectroscopy and photometric monitoring of the pre-main sequence star RX J1608.6-3922 shows that it is not an eclipsing binary, as previously claimed. Radial velocity measurements covering suitable time spans in order to detect a spectroscopic binary with the claimed period of about 7 days have been performed. The scatter of the radial velocity does not exceed 2.4 km s -1 , defining an upper mass limit of 24 $M_{{\tiny Jupiter}}$ for any eclipsing companion orbiting this star with the claimed period. Photometric observations of RX J1608.6-3922 in 7 consecutive nights (i.e. as long as the claimed orbital period) reveal brightness variations of the order of 0.2 mag with a period of 3.6 days. The shape of the detected light curve differs from a light curve of the star recorded in 1996. The small variations of the radial velocity, the variable shape of the light curve, as well as ($B-V$) color variations suggest that the flux of RX J1608.6-3922 is modulated by spots on the stellar surface with a rotational period of 3.6 days. The stellar activity of this star seems to be highly variable, taking into account the variable shape of the light curve, with an amplitude varying from 0.5 to 0.2 mag in a few years, as well as hints for a variable H α equivalent width.
118556816
The stellar content of the young open cluster Trumpler 37
With an apparent cluster diameter of 1.5° and an age of 4 Myr, Trumpler 37 is an ideal target for photometric monitoring of young stars as well as for the search of planetary transits, eclipsing binaries and other sources of variability. The YETI consortium has monitored Trumpler 37 throughout 2010 and 2011 to obtain a comprehensive view of variable phenomena in this region. In this first paper we present the cluster properties and membership determination as derived from an extensive investigation of the literature. We also compared the coordinate list to some YETI images. For 1872 stars we found literature data. Among them 774 have high probability of being member and 125 a medium probability. Based on infrared data we re-calculate a cluster extinction of 0.9–1.2 mag. We can confirm the age and distance to be 3–5 Myr and870 pc. Stellar masses are determined from theoretical models and the mass function is fitted with a power-law index of α = 1.90 (0.1–0.4 M⊙) and α = 1.12 (1–10 M⊙). (© 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
121953438
Bosonic string theory in Lorentzian principal circle bundles over anti-de-Sitter space AdS3
Abstract In this note we show a bosonic conformal string theory on U (1)-bundles over AdS 3 . To this end, we first look for r -elastic helices in the space AdS 3 , because they generate solutions of the motion equation on backgrounds P which are principal circle-bundles over AdS 3 endowed with the standard metric or generalized Kaluza–Klein metrics. In fact, we reduce the search of U (1)-symmetric string configurations on P to the search of r -elastic curves in the orbit space AdS 3 .
123257317
PERFORMANCE TEST OF THE CMS LINK ALIGNMENT SYSTEM
Abstract A first global test of the CMS Alignment System was performed at the I4 hall of the CERN ISR tunnel. Positions of the network, reproducing a set of points in the CMS detector monitored by the Link System, were reconstructed and compared to survey measurements. Spatial and angular reconstruction precisions reached in the present experimental set-up are already close to the CMS requirements.
120520890
Silicon microstrip detectors for future tracker alignment systems
Abstract The next experiments at particles colliders will demand stability of the tracking systems to the level of few microns. The available technology cannot provide a supporting structure able to guarantee this degree of stability in working condition, when environmental changes will misalign the detectors out of their nominal position. Based on the successful experience of AMS and CMS tracker systems, we propose to use infrared laser beams traversing consecutive layers of silicon detectors to align them with respect to the beams. For such a laser track to reach the last sensor, high transmittance of microstrip sensors to infrared (IR) light is needed. We simulated the passage of a coherent beam of light through a microstrips detector and we identified the minimum set of changes to the design and technology that boost its transmittance while still respecting its tracking capabilities. The first prototypes are in process at IMB-CNM clean room facilities. We held the fabrication process at an intermediate step and we performed the first measurements of transmittance and reflectance on the sensors.
120425236
Effect of neutron and gamma-ray irradiation on the transmittance power of glasses and glues
Abstract LHC, working at the expected nominal luminosity, will induce an extremely high irradiation in the CMS experiment. The CMS alignment system uses optical elements to build the laser beams paths. Optical properties of basic components such as glasses and glues may result affected and their transmission power may degrade significantly. We have proceeded to a first test of various glasses and glues and identified some of them that can stand up to 150 kGy of gamma-rays plus 5×10 14 neutrons / cm 2 .
17574926
Elasticity and conformal tension via the Kaluza-Klein mechanism
The principle of symmetric criticality allows one to reduce the search of symmetric critical points for the conformal total tension functional in a Kaluza‐Klein conformal universe, to the search of closed curves in its gravitatory component which are critical points for certain r-elastic energy functionals. The constancy of the mean curvature is preserved in this reduction of symmetry. In this framework we study ther-elasticity of fibres in a semi-Riemannian warped tube. We obtain a wide class of tubes which are foliated by r-elastic circles and give some applications including a characterization of the photon sphere in a Schwarzschild spacetime from the point of view of the r-elasticity. © 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.