A targeted survey for H i clouds in galaxy groups

Five galaxy groups with properties similar to those of the Local Group have been surveyed for H  i clouds with the Arecibo Telescope. In total 300 pointings have been observed on grids of approximately 2.5×1.5 Mpc² centred on the groups. The 4.5 σ detection limit on the minimal detectable H  i masses is approximately 7×10⁶ M_⊙ ( H ₀=65 km s⁻¹ Mpc⁻¹) . All detections could be attributed to optical galaxies; no significant detections of H  i clouds have been made. This null result leads to the conclusion that the total H  i mass of intragroup clouds must be less than 10 per cent of the total H  i mass of galaxy groups and less than 0.05 per cent of the dynamical mass. The recent hypothesis that Galactic high-velocity clouds are Local Group satellite galaxies is highly inconsistent with these observations.     

The distribution of atomic gas and dust in nearby galaxies – I. Presentation of matched-resolution VLA H i and SCUBA 850-μm maps

We present matched-resolution VLA H  i and SCUBA 850-μm maps of 20 IRAS -bright galaxies. Of the galaxies observed, two were not detected in H  i and two were detected in absorption. The H  i distributions of the galaxies have a range of morphologies. Some of the systems appear H  i deficient in the central regions which could be due to a high conversion rate of H  i into molecules or H  i absorption. In contrast to the H  i , the 850-μm emission has a smooth distribution which is concentrated towards the optical centre of each galaxy. We also find evidence for 850-μm emission extending to the periphery of the optical disc in some of the galaxies. Finally, we note that the relative lack of 850-μm emission when compared with H  i does not necessarily mean that the atomic gas and dust do not have similar mass distributions.     

Hard X-ray states and radio emission in GRS 1915+105

We compare simultaneous Ryle Telescope radio and Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer X-ray observations of the galactic microquasar GRS 1915+105, using the classification of the X-ray behaviour in terms of three states as previously established. We find a strong (one-to-one) relation between radio oscillation events and series of spectrally hard states in the X-ray light curves, if the hard states are longer than ∼100 s and are 'well separated' from each other. In all other cases the source shows either low-level or high-level radio emission, but no radio oscillation events. During intervals when the source stays in the hard spectral state for periods of days to months, the radio behaviour is quite different; during some of these intervals a quasi-continuous jet is formed with an almost flat synchrotron spectrum extending to at least the near-infrared. Based on the similarities between the oscillation profiles at different wavelengths, we suggest a scenario which can explain most of the complex X-ray:radio behaviour of GRS 1915+105. We compare this behaviour with that of other black hole sources, and challenge previous reports of a relation between spectrally soft X-ray states and the radio emission.     

Observations of Rotating Jets of Carbon Monoxide in Comet Hale–Bopp with the Iram Interferometer

CO was observed on March 11, 1997 in comet Hale–Bopp with theIRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer. The maps show evidence for asymmetrical patterns, due to the Existence of CO jets. Analysis of the spectra and their velocity shifts shows that there is a spiral CO jet rotating in a plane almost perpendicular to the sky plane.This is the first time that rotating jets are observed for parent molecules.We have developed a 3-D model simulating rotating spiral jets of CO gas.We present here the comparison between the observations and our model.     

Multifrequency Polarization Variations in the Quasar 0917＋624

We present a detailed analysis of multi-frequency observations of linear polarization in the intraday variable quasar 0917+624 (z = 1.44). The observations were made in May 1989 at five frequencies (1.4, 2.7, 5.0, 8.3 and 15GHz) with the VLA and the Effelsberg 100 m-telescope and in December 1988 at two frequencies (2.7 and 5.0 GHz) with the latter. It is shown that the relationship between the variations of the polarized and total flux density is highly wavelength dependent, and the multi-frequency polarization behavior may be essential for investigating the mechanisms causing these variations. It is shown that the variations observed at 20 cm can be interpreted in terms of refractive interstellar scintillation. However, after subtracting the variation due to scintillation, three 'features' emerged in the light-curve of the polarized flux density, indicating an additional variable component. Interestingly, these features are shown to be correlated with the variations at 2-6 cm, thus indicating that thes     

Carbon recombination lines from the Galactic plane at 34.5 & 328 MHz

We present the results of a search for carbon recombination lines in the Galaxy at 34.5 MHz (C575α) made using the dipole array at Gauribidanur near Bangalore. Observations made towards 32 directions resulted in detections of lines, in absorption at nine positions. Followup observations at 328 MHz (C272α) using the Ooty Radio Telescope detected these lines in emission. A VLA D-array observation of one of the positions at 330 MHz yielded no detection implying a lower limit of 10′ for the angular size of the line forming region. The longitude-velocity distribution of the observed carbon lines indicate that the line forming regions are located mainly between 4 kpc and 7 kpc from the Galactic centre. Combining our results with published carbon recombination line data near 76 MHz (Erickson, McConnell & Anantharamaiah 1995), we obtain constraintson the physical parameters of the line forming regions. We find thatif the angular size of the line forming regions is ≥ 4°, then the range of parameters that fit the data are:T _e =20–40 K,n _e ∼ 0.1–0.3 cm⁻³ and pathlengths ∼ 0.07–0.9 pc which may correspond to thin photodissociated regions around molecular clouds. On the other hand, if the line forming regions are ∼ 2° in extent, then warmer gas (T _e ∼ 60–300 K) with lower electron densities (n _e ∼ 0.03–0.05 cm⁻³) extending over several tens of parsecs along the line of sight and possibly associated with atomic HI gas can fit the data. Based on the range of derived parameters, we suggest that the carbon line regions are most likely associated with photo-dissociation regions.     

Wakes of ram-pressure-stripped disc galaxies

We present a sample of 30 wide-angle tailed radio galaxies (WATs) that we use to constrain the jet speeds in these sources. We measure the distribution of the jet-sidedness ratios for the sample, and assuming that the jets are beamed, the jet speeds in the range (0.3–0.7) c are obtained. Whilst the core prominence of the sample, which ought to be a reliable indicator of beaming, shows little correlation with the jet sidedness, we argue that due to the peculiar nature of the WATs, core prominence is unlikely to be a good indicator of beaming in these sources. We further show that if the jets are fast and light, then the galaxy speeds required to bend the jets into C-shapes such as those seen in 0647+693 are reasonable for a galaxy in a merging or recently merged cluster.