Parameters of the local warp of the stellar-gaseous galactic disk from the kinematics of Tycho-2 nearby red giant clump stars

We analyze the three-dimensional kinematics of about 82 000 Tycho-2 stars belonging to the red giant clump (RGC). First, based on all of the currently available data, we have determined new, most probable components of the residual rotation vector of the optical realization of the ICRS/HIPPARCOS system relative to an inertial frame of reference, (ω _x , ω _y , ω _z ) = (−0.11, 0.24, −0.52) ± (0.14, 0.10, 0.16) mas yr⁻¹. The stellar proper motions in the form μ_α cos δ have then be corrected by applying the correction ω _z = −0.52 mas yr⁻¹. We show that, apart from their involvement in the general Galactic rotation described by the Oort constants A = 15.82 ± 0.21 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹ and B = −10.87 ± 0.15 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹, the RGC stars have kinematic peculiarities in the Galactic yz plane related to the kinematics of the warped stellar-gaseous Galactic disk. We show that the parameters of the linear Ogorodnikov-Milne model that describe the kinematics of RGC stars in the zx plane do not differ significantly from zero. The situation in the yz plane is different. For example, the component of the solid-body rotation vector of the local solar neighborhood around the Galactic x axis is M ₃₂⁻ = −2.6 ± 0.2 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹. Two parameters of the deformation tensor in this plane, namely M ₂₃⁺ = 1.0 ± 0.2 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹ and M ₃₃ − M ₂₂ = −1.3 ± 0.4 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹, also differ significantly from zero. On the whole, the kinematics of the warped stellar-gaseous Galactic disk in the local solar neighborhood can be described as a rotation around the Galactic x axis (close to the line of nodes of this structure) with an angular velocity −3.1 ± 0.5 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹ ≤ Ω_W ≤ −4.4 ± 0.5 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹.     

Galactic rotation curve from the space velocities of selected masers

Based on currently available observations of 28 maser sources in 25 star-forming regions with measured trigonometric parallaxes, proper motions, and radial velocities, we have constructed the rotation curve of the Galaxy. Taking different distances to the Galactic center R ₀, we have estimated the peculiar velocity of the Sun, the angular velocity of Galactic rotation, and its three derivatives. For R ₀ = 8 kpc, we have found the circular velocity of the Sun to be V ₀ = 243 ± 16 km s⁻¹, which corresponds to a revolution period of 202 ± 10 Myr. We have obtained the Oort constants A = 16.9 ± 1.2 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹ and B = −13.5 ± 1.4 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹. Our simulation of the influence of a spiral density wave has shown that the peculiar velocity of the Sun with respect to the local standard of rest and the component (V _⊙)_LSR depend significantly on the Sun’s phase in the spiral wave.     

Galactic kinematics from OB3 stars with distances determined from interstellar Ca II lines

Based on data for 102 OB3 stars with known proper motions and radial velocities, we have tested the distances derived by Megier et al. from interstellar Ca II spectral lines. The internal reconciliation of the distance scales using the first derivative of the angular velocity of Galactic rotation Ω′₀ and the external reconciliation with Humphreys’s distance scale for OB associations refined by Mel’nik and Dambis show that the initial distances should be reduced by ≈20%. Given this correction, the heliocentric distances of these stars lie within the range 0.6–2.6 kpc. A kinematic analysis of these stars at a fixed Galactocentric distance of the Sun, R ₀ = 8 kpc, has allowed the following parameters to be determined: (1) the solar peculiar velocity components (u _⊙, v _⊙, ω _⊙) = (8.9, 10.3, 6.8) ± (0.6, 1.0, 0.4) km s⁻¹; (2) the Galactic rotation parameters Ω₀ = −31.5 ± 0.9 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹, Ω′₀ = +4.49 ± 0.12 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻², Ω″₀ = −1.05 ± 0.38 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻³ (the corresponding Oort constants are A = 17.9 ± 0.5 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹, B = −13.6 ± 1.0 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹ and the circular rotation velocity of the solar neighborhood is |V ₀| = 252 ± 14 km s⁻¹); (3) the spiral density wave parameters, namely: the perturbation amplitudes for the radial and azimuthal velocity components, respectively, f _R = −12.5±1.1 km s⁻¹ and f _ϑ = 2.0 ± 1.6 km s⁻¹; the pitch angle for the two-armed spiral pattern i = −5.3° ± 0.3°, with the wavelength of the spiral density wave at the solar distance being λ = 2.3 ± 0.2 kpc; the Sun’s phase in the spiral wave x _⊙ = −91° ± 4°.     

The Galactic Thick Disk – Status

The status of the Galactic thick disk is reviewed. Consideration of the recent literature suggests that its vertical scale height and normalisation with respect to the thin disk remain uncertain to within a factor two, with values reported in the ranges 750–1500 pc, and 0.02–0.13, respectively. The bulk of the thick disk has kinematics (σ_U, σ_V, σ_W) = (65, 54, 38 km s^-1), and lags the thin disk by some 40 km s^-1; differences of opinion exists as to whether kinematics change with distance from the Galactic plane. The bulk of the thick disk has [Fe/H] ∼ −0.6, with little or no evidence for a vertical gradient. The question of gradients is critical for an understanding of thick disk cosmogony and needs closer attention. The reality of the so-called metal-weak thick disk (material having disklike kinematics and [Fe/H] ≤ −1.0) is also considered. The case for such material seems to be steadily growing: in the range −1.6 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ −1.0, recent estimates suggest ρ_MWTD/ρ_Halo ∼ 0.1-0.3. While many workers regard the thick disk as a discrete entity, the caveat is made that this is a sufficient condition, but not one necessarily required by the observations. Best practice requires that both the discrete model and the alternative extended configuration be compared with observational data to examine the relative likelihood of their relevance. Recent theoretical advances are also discussed, together with the need for in situ measurements of the thick disk away from the Galactic plane. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Dependence of the aerosol component of optical thickness and the relative concentration of methane on depth in atmospheres of giant planets

Based on the data on a spectral dependence of the geometric albedo of giant planet discs, we obtained depth variations in the optical thickness τ _a of the aerosol component and relative concentration γ of methane (Uranium, Neptune) lnτ _a = −0.720 + 1.507Δlnp (for −2.2085 ≤ lnp ≤ −1.0018), lnτ _a = +1.224 + 1.160Δlnp (for −1.0018 ≤ lnp ≤ −0.0595), lnτ _a = +2.318 + 0.192Δlnp (for −0.0595 ≤ lnp), γ = 0.0027 for Jupiter; lnτ _a = −0.846 + 1.598Δlnp (for −3.3619 ≤ lnp ≤ −2.0575), lnτ _a = +1.238 + 1.342Δlnp (for −2.0575 ≤ lnp ≤ −1.2074), lnτ _a = +2.379 + 0.722 (for −1.2074 ≤ lnp ≤ −0.6501), lnτ _a = +2.781 + 0.326Δlnp (for 0.6501 ≤ lnp), γ = 0.0027 for Saturn; lnτ _a = −2.694 + 0.087Δlnp (for +0.3685 ≤ lnp ≤ +1.2314), lnτ _a = −2.619 + 7.341Δlnp (for +1.2314 ≤ lnp ≤ +1.7556), lnτ _a = +1.229 + 0.956Δlnp (for +1.7556 ≤ lnp) for Uranium; lnτ _a = −1.861 + 1.248Δlnp (for +0.3204 ≤ lnp ≤ +0.9051), lnτ _a = −1.131 + 0.347Δlnp (for +0.9051 ≤ lnp) for Neptune; depth-averaged relative methane concentration lnγ = −9.982 + 2.676Δlnp(0.3584 ≤ lnp ≤ 1.5445); ln γ = −9.738 + 2.561Δlnp(0.3237 ≤ lnp ≤ 1.6156) and γ = 0.00382(lnp ≥ 1.6156); 0.00554(lnp ≥ 1.6156) for Uranium and Neptune, respectively (p is in bar).     

Well-behaved relativistic charged super-dense star models

A new class of charged super-dense star models is obtained by using an electric intensity, which involves a parameter, K. The metric describing the model shares its metric potential g ₄₄ with that of Durgapal’s fourth solution (J. Phys. A, Math. Gen. 15:2637, 1982). The pressure-free surface is kept at the density ρ _b =2×10¹⁴ g/cm³ and joins smoothly with the Reissner-Nordstrom solution. The charge analogues are well-behaved for a wide range, 0≤K≤59, with the optimum value of X=0.264 i.e. the pressure, density, pressure–density ratio and velocity of sound are monotonically decreasing and the electric intensity is monotonically increasing in nature for the given range of the parameter K. The maximum mass and the corresponding radius occupied by the neutral solution are 4.22M _Θ and 20 km, respectively for X=0.264. For the charged solution, the maximum mass and radius are defined by the expressions M≈(0.0059K+4.22)M _Θ and r _b ≈−0.021464K+20 km respectively.     

A new class of charged analogues of Vaidya–Tikekar type super-dense star

First ever closed form solution for charged fluid sphere expressed by a space time with its hypersurfaces t= constant as spheroid is obtained for the case 0<K<1. The same is utilized to construct a superdense star with surface density 2×10¹⁴ gm/cm³. The star is seen to satisfy the reality and causality conditions for 0<K≤0.045 and possesses maximum mass and radius to be 0.065216M _Θ and 1.137496 km respectively. Moreover the interior of the star satisfy strong energy condition. However in the absence of the causality condition, the reality conditions are valid for a wider range 0<K≤0.13. The maximum mass and radius for the later case are 1.296798M _Θ and 2.6107 km respectively for the strong energy condition, while the said parameters for the weak energy condition read as 1.546269M _Θ and 2.590062 km respectively.     

Instability of LBV stars against radial oscillations

Hydrodynamic calculations of nonlinear radial oscillations of LBV stars with effective temperatures 1.5 × 10⁴ K ⩽ T _eff ⩽ 3 × 10⁴ K and luminosities 1.2 × 10⁶ L _⊙ ⩽ L ⩽ 1.9 × 10⁶ L _⊙ have been performed. Models for the evolutionary sequences of Population I stars (X = 0.7, Z = 0.02) with initial masses 70M _⊙ ⩽ M _ZAMS ⩽ 90M _⊙ at the initial helium burning stage have been used as the initial conditions. The radial oscillations develop on a dynamical time scale and are nonlinear traveling waves propagating from the core boundary to the stellar surface. The amplitude of the velocity variations for the outer layers is several hundred km s⁻¹, while the bolometric magnitude variations are within ΔM _bol ⩽ 0_· ^m 2. The onset of oscillations is not related to the κ-mechanism and is attributable to the instability of a self-gravitating envelope gas whose adiabatic index is close to its critical value of Γ₁ = 4/3 due to the dominant contribution of radiation in the internal energy and pressure. The interval of magnitude variation periods (6 days ≤ II ≤ 31 days) encompasses all currently available estimates of the microvariability periods for LBV stars, suggesting that this type of nonstationarity is pulsational in origin.     

On most general exact solution for Vaidya-Tikekar isentropicsuperdense star

The energy density of Vaidya-Tikekar isentropic superdense star is found to be decreasing away from the center, only if the parameter K is negative. The most general exact solution for the star is derived for all negative values of K in terms of circular and inverse circular functions. Which can further be expressed in terms of algebraic functions for K = 2-(n/δ)² < 0 (n being integer andδ = 1,2,3 4). The energy conditions 0 ≤ p ≤ αρc ², (α = 1 or 1/3) and adiabatic sound speed conditiondp dρ ≤ c ², when applied at the center and at the boundary, restricted the parameters K and α such that .18 < −K −2287 and.004 ≤ α ≤ .86. The maximum mass of the star satisfying the strong energy condition (SEC), (α = 1/3) is found to be3.82 Mq_· at K=−2/3, while the same for the weak energy condition (WEC), (α =1) is 4.57 M_ _⊙ atK=−>5/2. In each case the surface density is assumed to be 2 × 10¹⁴ gm cm^-3. The solutions corresponding to K>0 (in fact K>1) are also made meaningful by considering the hypersurfaces t= constant as 3-hyperboloid by replacing the parameter R ² by −R² in Vaidya-Tikekar formalism. The solutions for the later case are also expressible in terms of algebraic functions for K=2-(n/δ² > 1 (n being integer or zero and δ =1,2,3 4). The cases for which 0 < K < 1 do not possess negative energy density gradient and therefore are incapable of representing any physically plausible star model. In totality the article provides all the physically plausible exact solutions for the Buchdahl static perfect fluid spheres. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Search for ultrahigh-energy cosmic gamma-ray bursts on the Baksan underground scintillation telescope

Based on data from the Baksan underground scintillation telescope (BUST) for the period 2001–2004, we searched for cosmic gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) at primary photon energies of 0.5 TeV or higher. We obtained constraints on the rate of bursts with durations of 1–10 s for fluences within the range 4.6 × 10⁻³-1.8 × 10⁻² erg cm⁻² in the declination band 30° ≤ δ ≤ 80°. We searched for ultrahigh-energy gamma rays from GRBs detected on spacecraft during and within ±2 h of the burst. No statistically significant excesses above the background of random coincidences were found. The derived constraints on the ultrahigh-energy gamma-ray fluence during GRBs lie within the range 4.6 × 10⁻³-3.7 × 10⁻² erg cm⁻².     

New class of Well behaved exact solutions of relativistic charged <Emphasis Type="Italic">white-dwarf</Emphasis> star with perfect fluid

The paper presents a class of interior solutions of Einstein-Maxwell field equations of general relativity for a static, spherically symmetric distribution of the charged fluid. This class of solutions describes well behaved charged fluid balls. The class of solutions gives us wide range of parameter K (0.3277≤K≤0.49), for which the solution is well behaved hence, suitable for modeling of super dense star. For this solution the mass of a star is maximized with all degree of suitability and by assuming the surface density ρ _b =2×10¹⁴ g/cm³. Corresponding to K=0.3277 with X=−0.15, the maximum mass of the star comes out to be M=0.92M _Θ with radius r _b ≈17.15 km and the surface red shift Z _b ≈0.087187. It has been observed that under well behaved conditions this class of solutions gives us the mass of super dense object within the range of white-dwarf.     

The role of a strong far-infrared radiation field in line excitation and cooling of photodissociation regions and molecular clouds

We have theoretically studied the influence of a far-infrared radiation (FIR) field from H_π region on the cooling by C and O atoms, C⁺ ion and CO molecule in a photodissociation region, and a molecular cloud associated with H_π region (hereinafter referred as H_I region) at low temperatures (T _k≤200 K). Comparisons have been made for cooling with and without FIR for two extreme abundances (10⁻⁴ and 10⁻⁷) of the mentioned species for temperatures ranging between 10 and 200K and an hydrogen particle density range 10 cm⁻³≤n _o≤ 10⁷ cm³. The cooling by the species with low line-splitting (C_I, C_π and CO) is significantly influenced by the radiation field for temperaturesT _k < 100 K while the effect of radiation field on cooling by O_I is significant even at higher temperatures (T _k > 100 K). The effect of FIR field on the cooling of CO from low rotational transitions is negligibly small, whereas it is considerable for higher transitions. In general, the cooling terms related to the short-wavelength transitions are more affected by FIR than those related to longer wavelengths. It is also demonstrated here that in the determination of thermal structure of an HI region the dust grains play an important role in the heating of gas only through photoelectron emission following irradiation by far-ultraviolet (FUV) radiation, as the infrared radiation from the dust is too small to have substantial effect on the cooling. It is found that in the H_π /H_I interface the FIR field from grains in the H_π region is not capable of modifying the temperature of the warmest regions but does so in the inner part where the temperature is low enough.     

Structure of clusters with bimodal distribution of radial velocities of galaxies. IV: A1569

We report the results of study of the A1569 cluster (12 ^h 36^m.3, +16°35′) and the neighboring A1589 cluster (12 ^h 41^m.3, +18°34′), making up a pair (a supercluster) with a projected size of about 10Mpc. This study is done within the framework of our program for investigating the galaxy clusters with bimodal velocity distributions (i.e., clusters where the velocities of subsystems differ by more than Δcz ∼ 3000 km/s). In the A1569 cluster we have identified two subsystems: A1569A (cz = 20613 km/s) and A1569B (cz = 23783 km/s). These subsystems have the line-of-sight velocity dispersions of 484 km/s and 493 km/s, and dynamic masses within the R ₂₀₀ radius equal to 1.8 × 10¹⁴ and 2.0 × 10¹⁴ M _⊙, respectively. We directly estimate the distances to these subsystems using three methods applied to earlytype galaxies: the Kormendy relation, photometric plane, and fundamental plane. To this end, we use the results of our observations made with the 1-m telescope of the SAO RAS and the data adopted from the SDSS DR7 catalog. We found that A1569 consists of two independent clusters. The A1569B cluster is located at the Hubble distance corresponding to its radial velocity. The A1569A cluster has a peculiar velocity of −1290 ± 630 km/s, which can be explained by the effect of the more massive A1589 cluster (with a mass of 7.9 × 10¹⁴ M _⊙) and of the supercluster where it resides. In all the four bimodal clusters that we studied within the framework of our program, A1035, A1775, A1831, and A1569, the subsystems are independent clusters lying close to the Hubble relation between redshift and distance.     

A family of physically realizable perfect fluid spheres representing a quark–stars in general relativity

In the present article, a family of static spherical symmetric well behaved interior solutions is derived by considering the metric potential g ₄₄=B(1−Cr ²)⁻ⁿ for the various values of n, such that (1+n)/(1−n) is positive integer. The solutions so obtained are utilised to construct the heavenly bodies’ like quasi-black holes such as white dwarfs, neutron stars, quarks etc., by taking the surface density 2×10¹⁴ gm/cm³. The red shifts at the centre and on the surface are also computed for the different star models. Moreover the adiabatic index is calculated in each case. In this process the authors come across the quarks star only. Least and maximum mass are fond to be 3.4348M _Θ and 4.410454M _Θ along with the radii 21.0932 km and 23.7245 km respectively.     

New evidence for strong nonthermal effects in Tycho’s supernova remnant

For the case of Tycho’s supernova remnant (SNR) we present the relation between the blast wave and contact discontinuity radii calculated within the nonlinear kinetic theory of cosmic ray (CR) acceleration in SNRs. It is demonstrated that these radii are confirmed by recently published Chandra measurements which show that the observed contact discontinuity radius is so close to the shock radius that it can only be explained by efficient CR acceleration which in turn makes the medium more compressible. Together with the recently determined new value E _sn=1.2×10⁵¹ erg of the SN explosion energy this also confirms our previous conclusion that a TeV γ-ray flux of (2–5)×10⁻¹³ erg/(cm² s) is to be expected from Tycho’s SNR. Chandra measurements and the HEGRA upper limit of the TeV γ-ray flux together limit the source distance d to 3.3≤d≤4 kpc.     

Constraining the cosmological time variation of the fine - structure constant

The variation of the fine-structure constant α = e ² / ħc can be probed by comparing the wavelength of atomic transitions from the redshift of quasars in the Universe and laboratory over cosmological time scales t ~ 10¹⁰ yr. After a careful selection of pairs of lines, the Thong method with a derived analytical expression for the error analysis was applied to compute the α variation. We report a new constraint on the variation of the fine-structure constant based on the analysis of the C_IV, N_V, Mg_II, Al_III, and Si_IV doublet absorption lines. The weighted mean value of the variation in α derived from our analysis over the redshift range 0.4939 ≤ z ≤ 3.7 is = ( 0.09 ± 0.07)×10⁻⁵. This result is three orders of magnitude better than the results obtained by earlier analysis of the same data on the constraint on Δα/α .     

The kinematics of Trapezium-type systems

Summary In this paper the results of the research of the stars proper motions Trapezium components are reported. They are: the galactic coordinates of the solar aprx and the Sun velocity (L _⊙=43±18°,B _⊙=+28±13°,V _⊙=13±4 km s⁻¹), the dispersion of peculiar velocities in the direction of the galactic coordinates for the above mentioned stars (σ _l =±11 km s⁻¹, σ _b =±7 km s⁻¹).The attained accuracy of the proper motions (±0.005″ yr⁻¹) is shown to be insufficient to the study of internal space motions in these systems. At present the work to increase the relative proper motions accuracy for multiple system components and to improve reductions from the relative to absolute proper motions, is being carried out in the Main Astronomical Observatory (Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR). The new catalogue of the AGK3 stars is composed now in the vicinity of the galactic equator in order to improve reductions from the relative to absolute proper motions. The r.m.s. errors of the proper motions, obtained in the AGK3 system, are ±0.005″ yr⁻¹.     

Dark energy and flatness from observational H(z)+WMAP constraint

We analyse the dark energy problem using observational H(z) data plus the curvature constraint given by WMAP. After a non-parametric statistical study covering the most probable range of Ω _m0 and H ₀ from different combination of data, we investigate the possibility of having the dark energy EoS parameter ω _x ≠−1. In order to keep strict flatness (1% of deviation from Ω=1), our results point out this is the case for 0.20≲Ω _m0≲0.23 and H ₀≈67 km/s/Mpc, with ω _x ≈−0.55. However, if we admit a 10% deviation from the flatness condition, ω _x may have any value in the range [−1.2,−0.5] for 0.20≲Ω _m0≲0.35 and 67≲H ₀≲74 km/s/Mpc.     

Local Kinematics of Classical Cepheids

Combining Hipparcos proper motions and the radial velocity data, we have studied the Cepheid kinematics on the basis of the three-dimensional Ogorodnikov-Milne model. The results seem to show a slight contracting motion of the Galaxy in the solar neighbourhood, ∂ V _θ / ∂θ / R = −2.60 ± 1.07 km s^-1 kpc^-1, which is along the solar circle. Under the hypothesis of a circular stream model, we have determined the galactic rotation V _θ = −240.5 ± 10.2 km s^-1 for the classical Cepheids. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Polar-ring galaxies: New candidates and statistics

We present the results of our observational study of two candidates for polar-ring galaxies (PRGs). Both objects, A2330-3751 and SDSS J000911.57-003654.7, are giant edge-on galaxies with large-scale structures resembling polar rings observed along their minor axes. The optical diameter of the putative ring reaches 60 kpc in A2330-3751 and 18 kpc in SDSS J000911.57-003654.7. To estimate the space density of PRGs, we have constructed their luminosity function in the range of B-band absolute magnitudes from −17_· ^m 5 to −21_· ^m 5. We have found that ∼10⁻³ of the nearby galaxies exhibit polar structures. Polar rings around early-type (E/S0) galaxies are encountered approximately a factor of 3 more frequently than those around spiral ones. According to our estimates, ∼20–30 PRGs in which large-scale rings are seen almost face-on must be observed among relatively bright galaxies (B ≤ 15 ^m ).