Probing the feeding and feedback of activity near and far

High-resolution CO maps are an essential tool to search for observational evidence of AGN fueling in galaxy nuclei. While their capabilities will be surpassed by ALMA, current mm-interferometers can already provide relevant information on scales which are critical for the process of angular momentum transfer in fueling the AGN. In this context we present the latest results issued from the NUclei of GAlaxies (NUGA) project, a high-resolution (0.5^′′–1^′′) CO survey of low luminosity AGNs conducted with the IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer (PdBI). The use of more specific molecular tracers of dense gas can probe the feedback influence of activity on the chemistry and energy balance in the interstellar medium of nearby galaxies, a prerequisite to understanding how feedback operate at higher redshift galaxies. We discuss the results obtained in an ongoing study devoted to probe the feedback of activity from nearby Seyferts to high-redshift QSO.     

ASTE observations of the massive-star forming region Sgr B2: a giant impact scenario

We report mapping observations of a 35 pc × 35 pc region covering the Sgr B2 molecular cloud complex in the ¹³CO (3-2) and the CS (7-6) lines using the ASTE 10 m telescope with high angular resolution. The central region was mapped also in the C¹⁸O (3-2) line. The images not only reproduce the characteristic structures noted in the preceding millimeter observations, but also highlight the interface of the molecular clouds with a large velocity jump of a few tens of km s⁻¹. These new results further support the scenario that a cloud–cloud collision has triggered the formation of massive cloud cores, which form massive stars of Sgr B2. Prospects of exciting science enabled by ALMA are discussed in relation to these observations.     

The morphological and spectral investigation of the galaxies Kaz 5, Kaz 92, and Kaz 390

The results of morphological and spectral study of the galaxies Kaz 5, Kaz 92, and Kaz 390 are presented. The observations were made on the 2.6-m telescope at the Byurakan Observatory with the VAGR microlenses spectrograph. Isophotes of the images of the galaxies are constructed in the Hα, [NII] λλ6584 , 6548, and [SII] λλ6731, 6717 emission lines and in the continuum. The masses of Kaz 5 and Kaz 92 are determined to be 8.6 × 10⁸ M_⊙ and 6.1 × 10⁹ M_⊙ , respectively. The mass of the gaseous component in the centers of regions I and IV of Kaz 390, which encompass a 1 pixel area, are also determined. The morphological structure of the central region of Kaz 5 in the observed spectral range, λλ6400–6800?, differs completely from the structure of the same part of the galaxy observed with the 6-m and 2.5-m telescopes. It is shown that these differences in the structure in images of Kaz 5 are mostly explained by the comparatively low resolution of the telescope in combination with the VAGR spectrograph. Absorbing matter also contributes to this effect. It is also shown that a “deficit” of nitrogen has been observed in the region of Kaz 390 studied here (a circle of diameter 40″). Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 52, No. 1, pp. 63–74 (February 2009).     

The GraF instrument for Imaging Spectroscopy with the Adaptive Optics

The GraF instrument using a Fabry-Perot interferometer cross-dispersed with a grating was one of the first integral-field and long-slit spectrographs built for and used with an adaptive optics system. We describe its concept, design, optimal observational procedures and the measured performances. The instrument was used in 1997–2001 at the ESO3.6 m telescope equipped with ADONIS adaptive optics and SHARPII+camera. The operating spectral range was 1.2–2.5 μm. We used the spectral resolution from 500 to 10 000 combined with the angular resolution of 0.1″–0.2″. The quality of GraF data is illustrated by the integral field spectroscopy of the complex0.9″ × 0.9″ central region of η Car in the1.7 μm spectral range at the limit of spectral and angular resolutions. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A statistical study of Galactic SNRs using the PMN survey

The Parkes–MIT–NRAO (PMN) radio survey has been used to generate a quasi all-sky study of Galactic Supernova Remnants (SNRs) at a common frequency of 4.85 GHz (λ=6 cm). We present flux densities estimated for the sample of 110 Southern Galactic SNRs (up to δ=−65°) observed with the Parkes 64-m radio telescope and an additional sample of 54 from the Northern PMN (up to δ=+64°) survey undertaken with the Green Bank 43-m (20 SNRs) and 91-m (34 SNRs) radio telescopes. Out of this total sample of 164 selected SNRs (representing 71% of the currently 231 known SNRs in the Green catalogue) we consider 138 to provide reliable estimates of flux density and surface brightness distribution. This sub-sample represents those SNRs which fall within carefully chosen selection criteria which minimises the effects of the known problems in establishing reliable fluxes from the PMN survey data. Our selection criteria are based on a judicious restriction of source angular size and telescope beam together with careful evaluation of fluxes on a case by case basis. Direct comparison of our new fluxes with independent literature values gives excellent overall agreement. This gives confidence in the newly derived PMN fluxes when the selection criteria are respected. We find a sharp drop off in the flux densities for Galactic SNRs beyond 4 Jy and then a fairly flat distribution from 5 to 9 Jy, a slight decline and a further flat distribution from 9 to 20 Jy though the numbers of SNR in each Jy bin are low. We also re-visit the contentious Σ–D (radio surface brightness–SNRs diameter) relation to determine a new power law index for a sub-sample of shell type SNRs which yields β=−2.2±0.6. This new evaluation of the Σ–D relation, applied to the restricted sample, provides new distance estimates and their Galactic scale height distribution. We find a peak in the SNR distribution between 7–11 kpc with most restricted to ±100 pc Galactic scale height.     

Molecular Gas in the Abell 262 Cluster Galaxy Ugc 1347

We present the results of ¹²CO(1-0) and ¹²CO(2-1) observations on UGC 1347 obtained with BIMA and the IRAM 30 m telescope. UGC 1347 is a member of the Abell 262 cluster. In Abell 262, a nearby spiral rich cluster, the signs of galaxy interaction and therefore the mechanisms which play an important role in galaxy evolution within clusters can be studied with high spatial resolution. Aside from its bright central region, UGC 1347 features a second prominent source at the southern tip of the bar, which has been identified as region with recent enhanced star formation. The CO observations prove the existence of reservoirs of cold molecular gas at the positions of both bright regions.     

Exploring morphological correlations among H2CO, 12CO, MSX and continuum mappings

There are relatively few H₂CO mappings of large-area giant molecular cloud (GMCs). H₂CO absorption lines are good tracers for low-temperature molecular clouds towards star formation regions. Thus, the aim of the study was to identify H₂CO distributions in ambient molecular clouds. We investigated morphologic relations among 6-cm continuum brightness temperature (CBT) data and H₂CO (1₁₁−1₁₀; Nanshan 25-m radio telescope), ¹²CO (1–0; 1.2-m CfA telescope) and midcourse space experiment (MSX) data, and considered the impact of background components on foreground clouds. We report simultaneous 6-cm H₂CO absorption lines and H110α radio recombination line observations and give several large-area mappings at 4.8 GHz toward W49 (50′×50′), W3 (70′×90′), DR21/W75 (60′×90′) and NGC2024/NGC2023 (50′×100′) GMCs. By superimposing H₂CO and ¹²CO contours onto the MSX color map, we can compare correlations. The resolution for H₂CO, ¹²CO and MSX data was ∼10′, ∼8′ and ∼18.3″, respectively. Comparison of H₂CO and ¹²CO contours, 8.28-μm MSX colorscale and CBT data revealed great morphological correlation in the large area, although there are some discrepancies between ¹²CO and H₂CO peaks in small areas. The NGC2024/NGC2023 GMC is a large area of HII regions with a high CBT, but a H₂CO cloud to the north is possible against the cosmic microwave background. A statistical diagram shows that 85.21% of H₂CO absorption lines are distributed in the intensity range from −1.0 to 0 Jy and the ΔV range from 1.206 to 5 km s⁻¹.     

New Plateau de Bure observations of M 1–92; unveiling the core

M 1–92 is a very well studied bipolar pPN that can be considered an archetype of this type of sources; it shows a clear axial symmetry, along with the kinematics characteristic of this class of envelopes around post-AGB stars. We performed sub-arcsecond resolution observations of the J=2–1 rotational line of ¹³CO in M 1–92 with the new extended configurations of the IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer, for studying the morphology and velocity field of the molecular gas better in the nebula, particularly in its central parts. We found that the equatorial structure dividing the two lobes is a thin flat disk, which expands radially with a velocity proportional to the distance to the central stellar system. The kinetic age of this equatorial flow is very similar to that measured in the two lobes, suggesting that the whole structure was formed as a result of a single event some 1200 yr ago, after which the nebula reached an expansion velocity field with axial symmetry. The small widths and velocity dispersion in the gas forming the lobe walls confirm that the acceleration responsible for the nebular shape could not last more than 100–120 yr. In view of the similarity to η Car, we speculate on the possibility that the whole nebula was formed as a result of a magneto-rotational explosion in a common-envelope system. The study of the possible importance of this mechanism in the context of global PNe and pPNe reshaping should be one on the fields in which future ALMA observations will make a crucial contribution. Based on observations carried out with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer. IRAM is supported by INSU/CNRS (France), MPG (Germany) and IGN (Spain).     

Infrared dark clouds as precursors to star clusters

Infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) are cold, dense molecular clouds identified as extinction features against the bright mid-infrared Galactic background. Our recent 1.2 mm continuum emission survey of IRDCs reveals many compact (<0.5 pc) and massive (10–2100 M_⊙) cores within them. These prestellar cores hold the key to understanding IRDCs and their role in star formation. Here, we present high angular resolution spectral-line and mm/sub-mm continuum images obtained with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer and the Sub-Millimeter Array towards three high-mass IRDC cores. The high angular resolution images reveal that two of the cores are resolved into multiple, compact protostellar condensations, while the remaining core contains a single, compact protostellar condensation with a very rich molecular spectrum, indicating that it is a hot molecular core. The derived gas masses for these condensations suggest that each core is forming at least one high-mass protostar, while two of the cores are also forming lower-mass protostars. The close proximity of multiple protostars of disparate mass indicates that these IRDCs are in the earliest evolutionary states in the formation of stellar clusters.     

Kyiv meridian axial circle with a new CCD camera

Specifications of a new Apogee Alta U47 CCD camera mounted at the Kyiv meridian axial circle (MAC) are presented. The camera is based on the 1024 × 1024 pxl e2v CCD47-10 with pixel sizes of 13 × 13 μm. Observations are carried out in the scan-drift mode with an effective exposure time of 77 s for equatorial stars. The MAC photometric system answers the standard Johnson V band, the MAC limiting magnitude V is 17 ^m . The test MAC observations of 2009 give positional accuracy and V magnitude errors equal to approximately 0.1″ and 0.09 ^m , respectively, for Tycho-2 stars. The telescope is used for observations of equatorial stars with the purpose of detecting their positions, proper motion, and brightness.     

Fast optical variability of SS 433

We study the variability of the optical flux from the peculiar Galactic source SS 433 based on observations with the Russian-Turkish 1.5-m telescope. We describe in detail the technique of highquality photometric measurements with a time resolution of 0.3–1 s using an ordinary CCD. Through test observations of nonvariable stars, we show that atmospheric turbulence introduces no significant distortions into the light curves. Therefore, such data are well suited for studying the aperiodic variability of various objects.     

Periodic Motion Along Solar Filaments

We present observations of four filaments that exhibit large-amplitude periodic mass motion. Observations are obtained using the high resolution (2″) and high cadence (1 min) Hα telescope system at the Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO). The motions found in these events are along the axis of the filaments, and are associated with the activity of a nearby flare or filament. The most characteristic properties of these motions are long period (≥ q80 min), large distance (≥ q 4 × 10⁴ km) of mass transport at much higher velocity (≥ q 30 km s⁻¹) than ever detected from filament motions. The velocity, period, dimension and damping timescale measured for these motions are presented, and discussed to identify the most plausible restoring force and damping mechanism.     

VLBI observations of high-opacity HI gas in NGC 5793

We report on observations, with sub-parsec resolution, of neutral hydrogen seen in absorption in the λ=21 cm line against the nucleus of the active spiral galaxy NGC 5793. The absorption line consists of three components separated in both location as well as velocity. We derive HI column densities of 2×10²² cm⁻² assuming a gas spin temperature of 100 K. For the first time we are able to reliably estimate the HI cloud sizes (≈15 pc) and atomic gas densities (≈200 cm⁻³). Our results suggest that the HI gas is not associated with the <10 pc region which presumably contains the H₂O masers, but it is more distant from the nucleus, and is probably associated with the r1 kpc gas seen in CO.     

The Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array: overview & status

The Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an international millimeter-wavelength radio telescope under construction in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. ALMA will be situated on a high-altitude site at 5000 m elevation which provides excellent atmospheric transmission over the instrument wavelength range of 0.3 to 3 mm. ALMA will be comprised of two key observing components—a main array of up to sixty-four 12-m diameter antennas arranged in a multiple configurations ranging in size from 0.15 to ∼18 km, and a set of four 12-m and twelve 7-m antennas operating in a compact array ∼50 m in diameter (known as the Atacama Compact Array, or ACA), providing both interferometric and total-power astronomical information. High-sensitivity dual-polarization 8 GHz-bandwidth spectral-line and continuum measurements between all antennas will be available from two flexible digital correlators. At the shortest planned wavelength and largest configuration, the angular resolution of ALMA will be 0.005″. The instrument will use superconducting (SIS) mixers to provide the lowest possible receiver noise contribution, and special-purpose water vapor radiometers to assist in calibration of atmospheric phase distortions. A complex optical fiber network will transmit the digitized astronomical signals from the antennas to the correlators in the Array Operations Site Technical Building, and post-correlation to the lower-altitude Operations Support Facility where the array will be controlled, and initial construction and maintenance of the instrument will occur. ALMA Regional Centers in the US, Europe, Japan and Chile will provide the scientific portals for the use of ALMA; early science observations are expected in 2010, with full operations in 2012.     

Spectral and spatial fluctuations of cosmic microwave background radiation. RATAN-600 radio telescope observations with a Fourier spectral analyzer

The “circumpolar survey” technique allowed us to achieve a rather high antenna temperature sensitivity of 0.5 mK at 6 cm on a fixed antenna with a relatively narrow frequency resolution band (600 kHz) and an angular resolution of 45″ × 7′. Starting from 2007 we use a Fourier spectral analyzer with a survey band 10 times broader than that of previous observations. This upgrade allowed us to rapidly perform repeated test observations, which confirmed the power-law nature and the frequency structure of spatial spectra in two strips in the vicinity of the celestial pole in the 4′–16′ interval of angular periods. These observations also showed that the Galactic CH molecular line that was by chance captured in our survey strip (Λ-doubling of rotational transition) has nothing to do with the emission spectra we obtained. The angular pattern of emission in two main lines of Λ-doubling (4847.84 and 4870.12 MHz) is absolutely different, whereas there is practically no maser amplification in the CH line to explain this fact. Our observations also confirm the H110 α line (4874.157 MHz), which forms in the tenuous ionized Galactic hydrogen at such relatively high latitudes. Other features of the spatial spectra also appear to be quite real, although their interpretation remains unclear and requires further studies.     

High-resolution mm interferometry and the search for massive protostellar disks: the case of Cep-A HW2

The direct detection of accretion onto massive protostars through rotating disks constitutes an important tile in the massive-star-formation-theory mosaic. This task is however observationally very challenging. A very interesting example is Cepheus A HW2. The properties of the molecular emission around this YSO seems to suggest the presence of a massive rotating disk (cf. Patel et al. in Nature 437:109, 2005). We have carried out sub-arcsec-resolution PdBI observations of high-density and shock tracers such as SO₂, SiO, CH₃CN, and CH₃OH towards the center of the outflow. A detailed analysis of the spatial distribution and of the velocity field traced by all observed species leads us to conclude that, on a ∼700 AU scale, the Cep-A “disk” is actually the result of the superposition of multiple hot-core-type objects, at least one of them ejecting an outflow at a small angle with respect to the line of sight. Together with the well-known large-scale outflow ejected by HW2, this setup makes for a very complex spatial and kinematic picture. Based on observations carried out with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer. IRAM is supported by INSU/CNRS (France), MPG (Germany) and IGN (Spain).     

High resolution submillimeter observations of massive protostars

We describe results from recent Submillimeter Array observations of massive protostellar objects (CepheusA-East, NGC7538 IRS1, and G5.89-0.39) with resolutions ranging from 0.8″ to 2″. A wide range of spectral and continuum properties are observed, with one unifying theme: at these resolutions all of the studied sources reveal multiple submillimeter cores. Some are observed to have cm-wavelength counterparts, and others not, suggesting a range of evolutionary stages coexisting in close proximity. In the presence of such complexity and multiplicity of sources, these data suggest that the interpretation of diagnostics such as kinematic velocity gradients and temperatures that are strongly dependent on spatial resolution should be approached cautiously.     

Ionized gas in the Irr galaxy IC 10: The emission spectrum and ionization sources

We present the observations of the Irr galaxy IC 10 at the 6-m SAO telescope with the panoramic Multi-Pupil Fiber Spectrograph (MPFS). Based on the results of these observations and our long-slit spectroscopy performed previously, we have investigated the ionized-gas emission spectrum in the region of intense star formation and refined the gas metallicity estimates. We show that the “diagnostic diagrams” constructed from our observations agree best with the new improved ionization models by Martin-Manjon et al. Using these models, we have determined the electron density and gas ionization parameter and ionizing-cluster characteristics, the age and mass, from the spectra of the investigated HII regions. The cluster ages and masses are shown to be within the ranges 2.5–5 Myr and (0.2–1) × 10⁵ M _⊗, respectively.     

Feeding Monsters – A Study of Active Galaxies

We present new interferometric observations of the molecular gas distribution and kinematics in the nuclei of different active galaxies at high angular resolution and high sensitivity carried out with the IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer (PdBI). The observations cover galaxies in a redshift range of 0.03–1.4. We have so far observed five different active galaxies: NGC3718, NGC1068, HE1029–1831, 3C48 and Q0957+561. The first two objects belong to the NUGA (NUclei of GAlaxies) project – an international collaboration mainly between Spain, France and Germany – containing about 30 Seyfert and LINER galaxies. Both are at the same distance of 14Mpc and show a warped gas and dust disk. The new mosaic map of NGC3718 corrected for short-spacing effects with IRAM 30 m observations well demonstrates the existence of the warped gas disk with several secondary maxima in the projected gas distribution caused by orbit crowding effects. Based on these new data we have improved recent simulations of the warped disk in NGC3718. HE1029–1831 and 3C48 are nearby QSOs. HE1029–1831 is taken out of the Cologne nearby QSO sample. The maps of the integrated CO(1–0) and CO(2–1) emission clearly show that the molecular gas is mostly related to the central bulge with a non-negligible fraction distributed along the bar known from optical observations. Our new CO data of 3C48 unveil new information about the kinematics of its molecular gas complementing and improving further studies based on previous infrared observations and detailed multi-particle simulations. Finally, new measurements of the CO(1–0) line in Q0957+561 – a highly-red-shifted, gravitationally lensed quasar – will be presented as a link to earlier evolutionary stages of active galaxies and their hosts.