The Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). Its legacy of UV surveys,and science highlights

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) imaged the sky in the Ultraviolet (UV) for almost a decade, delivering the first sky surveys at these wavelengths. Its database contains far-UV (FUV, λ _eff～1528 Å) and near-UV (NUV, λ _eff～2310 Å) images of most of the sky, including deep UV-mapping of extended galaxies, over 200 million source measurements, and more than 100,000 low-resolution UV spectra. The GALEX archive will remain a long-lasting resource for statistical studies of hot stellar objects, QSOs, star-forming galaxies, nebulae and the interstellar medium. It provides an unprecedented road-map for planning future UV instrumentation and follow-up observing programs in the UV and at other wavelengths. We review the characteristics of the GALEX data, and describe final catalogs and available tools, that facilitate future exploitation of this database. We also recall highlights from the science results uniquely enabled by GALEX data so far.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">GALEX</Emphasis> and star formation

Wide-field far-UV (FUV, 1344–1786 Å) and near-UV (NUV, 1771–2831 Å) imaging from GALEX provides a deep, comprehensive view of the young stellar populations in hundreds of nearby galaxies, shedding new light on the process of star formation (SF) in different environments, and on the interplay between dust and SF. GALEX’s FUV-NUV color is extremely sensitive to stellar populations of ages up to a few hundred Myrs, unambiguously probing their presence and enabling age-dating and stellar mass estimate, together with the characterization of interstellar dust extinction. The deep sensitivity, combined with the wide field-of-view, made possible in particular the discovery and characterization of star formation in extremely low-density, diffuse gas environments such as outer galaxy disks, tidal tails, low-surface-brightness galaxies (LSB) and dwarf Irregular galaxies, and of rejuvenation episodes in early-type galaxies. Such results provide several missing links for interpreting galaxy classes in an evolutionary context, extend our knowledge of the star-formation process to previously unexplored conditions, constrain models of galaxy disk formation, and clarify the mutual role of dust and star formation. We review a variety of star-forming environments studied by GALEX, and provide some model analysis tools useful for interpretation of GALEX measurements, and potentially as basic science planning tools for next-generation UV instruments.     

On the optical counterparts of the X-ray sources in the Orion Nebula

A great step forward in our knowledge of the X-ray emission from the Orion Nebula has recently been made possible by HEAO-2 observations. On the basis of these new data, and with the purpose of suggesting further analysis and observations, this note aims to contribute to on-going discussions about plausible optical counterparts, by considerations on those observational traits which have not yet been taken into account.     

The copper–gold and gold deposits of the Neoproterozoic Mara Rosa magmatic arc, central Brazil

Mineral exploration in the Neoproterozoic Goiás Magmatic Arc, central Brazil, dates back to the beginning of the 1970s. The Goiás Magmatic Arc extends for more than 1000 km in the western and northern parts of Goiás, into Tocantins, and disappears under the Phanerozoic Parnaíba Basin. Two main areas of Neoproterozoic juvenile crust, the Arenópolis and the Mara Rosa arcs, are identified. They lie in the southern and northern sectors of the Goiás Arc, respectively, and are relatively well studied.The Goiás Magmatic Arc dominantly comprises tonalitic/dioritic orthogneisses and narrow NNE-striking volcano-sedimentary belts. Recent U–Pb zircon data indicate crystallization of the tonalite protoliths in two main episodes: the older between ca. 890 and 790 Ma and the younger at 670–600 Ma. Nd isotopic data indicate the very primitive nature of the original magmas, with T_DM model ages mostly within the interval between 0.9 and 1.0 Ga and _Nd(T) values between +3.0 and +4.6. In the Chapada–Mara Rosa area, the supracrustal rocks form three individual NNE belts, known as the eastern, central and western belts, separated from each other by metatonalites/metadiorites.Gold and Cu–Au deposits of the Mara Rosa area occur in four main associations: (i) Au–Ag–Ba (e.g., Zacarias), which are interpreted as stratiform, disseminated volcanogenic deposits, (ii) Cu–Au (e.g., Chapada) which has been interpreted either as volcanogenic or as a porphyry-type deposit, (iii) Au-only deposits (e.g., Posse), interpreted as an epigenetic disseminated deposit controlled by a mesozonal shear zone and (iv) Au–Cu–Bi (e.g., the Mundinho occurrence), which are considered as vein-type deposits controlled by magnetite-rich diorites.The gold and Cu–Au deposits located within the Goiás Magmatic Arc can be spatially and temporally related to the magmatic evolution of a collisional belt or, in other words, to an orogenic gold deposit model. These models are based on the continuous evolution of collisional plates, which can be subdivided into four stages with distinct magmatic characteristics: (i) subduction stage, (ii) syntectonic collisional magmatism stage, (iii) post-tectonic collisional magmatism stage and (iv) post-orogenic extension stage.     

Contrôle structural du partage de Rb entre fluide et micas potassiques dans les pegmatites du Brésil

A geochemical study of pegmatitic micas from Minas Gerais State in Brazil was performed with an electron microprobe, in order to examine the variations of Rb, K, Al and F contents. It is observed a linear decreasing relationship between the [Rb/K] ratio of the micas and their contents in Al^VI. The interpretation is based on the hypothesis that the partition coefficient C_Rb/K^mica/fl between fluid and mineral does not vary significantly as a function of temperature and pressure in the narrow conditions of crystallization of pegmatites. It is suggested that the relation: C_Rb/K^mica/fl=0.55×(5?[Al^VI]) is of crystallochemical order. Micas with low contents in Al take higher contents in Rb because the potassic sites where Rb enters are larger. This relation gives another way of calculating the values [Rb/K] of the fluids knowing Rb, K, Al and Si in the micas. This crystallochemistry also allows us to foresee a direct correlation between Rb and F in the pegmatitic micas. To cite this article: J. Quéméneur et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).     

Internal Variability Versus Anthropogenic Forcing on Sea Level and Its Components

In this paper we review and update detection and attribution studies in sea level and its major contributors during the past decades. Tide gauge records reveal that the observed twentieth-century global and regional sea level rise is out of the bounds of its natural variability, evidencing thus a human fingerprint in the reported trends. The signal varies regionally, and it partly depends on the magnitude of the background variability. The human fingerprint is also manifested in the contributors of sea level for which observations are available, namely ocean thermal expansion and glaciers’ mass loss, which dominated the global sea level rise over the twentieth century. Attribution studies provide evidence that the trends in both components are clearly dominated by anthropogenic forcing over the second half of the twentieth century. In the earlier decades, there is a lack of observations hampering an improved attribution of causes to the observed sea level rise. At certain locations along the coast, the human influence is exacerbated by local coastal activities that induce land subsidence and increase the risk of sea level-related hazards.     

Using GALEX-SDSS-PanSTARRS-HST-Gaia to understand post-AGB evolution

Hot WDs in binary systems with a less evolved star are particularly invaluable astrophysical probes, the unevolved companion enabling better derivation of distance and age than is usually possible for post-AGB objects, and therefore also of their radius and luminosity. But hot white dwarfs (WD) are elusive at all wavelengths except the UV (Bianchi et al. 2011a). From our GALEX UV source catalogs (Bianchi et al. 2011a,b, 2014, 2017) matched to SDSS, we identified thousands of candidate hot WDs including WDs in binary systems consisting of a hot WD and a companion of spectral type from A to M. The identification and preliminary characterization of the stellar parameters is based on the analysis of the photometric SED from far-UV to z-band.We have observed subsamples of the UV-selected WDs with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to better characterize their stellar parameters. We obtained (1) UV spectroscopy with STIS and analyzed the UV spectra together with optical SDSS spectra, and (2) multi-band imaging with WFC3 (\(0.04^{\prime\prime}/\mbox{pixel}\)) to measure angular separation and individual SEDs of the pair’s components in binary systems. In our HST/WFC3 sample of 59 hot-WD binaries with late-type companions, we found that at least a dozen have possibly evolved without exchanging mass. The UV STIS spectroscopy led to the revision of previous results based on optical spectra only, because of the often undetectable or unquantifiable contribution of the hot component to the optical fluxes.     

Attenuation,source parameters and site effects in the Irpinia–Basilicata region (southern Apennines,Italy)

We derive S-wave attenuation characteristics, earthquake source parameters and site amplification functions at seismic stations used for earthquake early warning in the Irpinia–Basilicata region, using non-parametric spectral inversion of seismograms from 49 local events with M _L = 1.5–3.1. We obtain relatively low Q values (Q ₀ = 28 at a frequency of 1 Hz) in conjunction with a strong frequency-dependence (close to linear). The source spectra can be satisfactorily modeled using the omega-square model, with stress drops ranging between 0.01–2 MPa, and in the narrow magnitude range available for analysis, the source spectra seem to scale self-similarly. The local magnitude M _L shows a linear correlation with moment magnitude M _W, however with a systematic underestimation by about 0.5-magnitude units. The results obtained in this work provide important insights into the ground-motion characteristics that are required for appropriate seismic hazard assessment and are of practical relevance for a suite of applications, such as the calibration of ground-motion prediction equations or the correction for site amplification in earthquake early warning and rapid calculation of shake-maps for seismic emergency management.     

The Need for Ultraviolet to Understand the Chemical Evolution of the Universe and Cosmology.

We identify an important set of key areas where an advanced observational Ultraviolet capability would have major impact on studies of cosmology and Galaxy formation in the young Universe. Most of these are associated with the Universe at z < 3–4. We address the issues associated with Dark matter evidence in the local Universe and the impact of the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium WHIM on the local Baryon count. The motivations to make ultraviolet (UV) studies of supernovae (SNe) are reviewed and discussed in the light of the results obtained so far by means of IUE and HST observations. It appears that UV studies of SNe can, and do lead to fundamental results not only for our understanding of the SN phenomenon, such as the kinematics and the metallicity of the ejecta, but also for exciting new findings in Cosmology, such as the tantalizing evidence for “dark energy” that seems to pervade the Universe and to dominate its energetics. The need for additional and more detailed UV observations is also considered and discussed.Finally we show the enormous importance of the UV for abundance evolution in the Intergalactic Medium (IGM), and the importance of the He II studies to identify re-ionization epochs, which can only be done in the UV.