• 제목/요약/키워드: galaxies:interactions

검색결과 76건 처리시간 0.021초

THE QUEST FOR COSMIC RAY PROTONS IN GALAXY CLUSTERS

  • PFROMMER C.;ENSSLIN T. A.
    • 천문학회지
    • /
    • 제37권5호
    • /
    • pp.455-460
    • /
    • 2004
  • There have been many speculations about the presence of cosmic ray protons (CRps) in galaxy clusters over the past two decades. However, no direct evidence such as the characteristic $\gamma$-ray signature of decaying pions has been found so far. These pions would be a direct tracer of hadronic CRp interactions with the ambient thermal gas also yielding observable synchrotron and inverse Compton emission by additionally produced secondary electrons. The obvious question concerns the type of galaxy clusters most likely to yield a signal: Particularly suited sites should be cluster cooling cores due to their high gas and magnetic energy densities. We studied a nearby sample of clusters evincing cooling cores in order to place stringent limits on the cluster CRp population by using non-detections of EGRET. In this context, we examined the possibility of a hadronic origin of Coma-sized radio halos as well as radio mini-halos. Especially for mini-halos, strong clues are provided by the very plausible small amount of required CRp energy density and a matching radio profile. Introducing the hadronic minimum energy criterion, we show that the energetically favored CRp energy density is constrained to $2\%{\pm}1\%$ of the thermal energy density in Perseus. We also studied the CRp population within the cooling core region of Virgo using the TeV $\gamma$-ray detection of M 87 by HEGRA. Both the expected radial $\gamma$-ray profile and the required amount of CRp support this hadronic scenario.

3D SIMULATIONS OF RADIO GALAXY EVOLUTION IN CLUSTER MEDIA

  • O'NEILL SEAN M.;SHEARER PAUL;TREGILLIS IAN L.;JONES THOMAS W.;RYU DONGSU
    • 천문학회지
    • /
    • 제37권5호
    • /
    • pp.605-609
    • /
    • 2004
  • We present a set of high-resolution 3D MHD simulations exploring the evolution of light, supersonic jets in cluster environments. We model sets of high- and low-Mach jets entering both uniform surroundings and King-type atmospheres and propagating distances more than 100 times the initial jet radius. Through complimentary analyses of synthetic observations and energy flow, we explore the detailed interactions between these jets and their environments. We find that jet cocoon morphology is strongly influenced by the structure of the ambient medium. Jets moving into uniform atmospheres have more pronounced backflow than their non-uniform counterparts, and this difference is clearly reflected by morphological differences in the synthetic observations. Additionally, synthetic observations illustrate differences in the appearances of terminal hotspots and the x-ray and radio correlations between the high- and low-Mach runs. Exploration of energy flow in these systems illustrates the general conversion of kinetic to thermal and magnetic energy in all of our simulations. Specifically, we examine conversion of energy type and the spatial transport of energy to the ambient medium. Determination of the evolution of the energy distribution in these objects will enhance our understanding of the role of AGN feedback in cluster environments.

Electron Pre-acceleration in Weak Quasi-perpendicular Shocks in Clusters of Galaxies

  • Ha, Ji-Hoon;Kang, Hyesung;Ryu, Dongsu
    • 천문학회보
    • /
    • 제44권1호
    • /
    • pp.49.1-49.1
    • /
    • 2019
  • Giant radio relics in the outskirts of galaxy clusters have been observed and they are interpreted as synchrotron emission from relativistic electrons accelerated via diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) in weak shocks of Ms < 3.0. In the DSA theory, the particle momentum should be greater than a few times the momentum of thermal protons to cross the shock transition and participate in the Fermi acceleration process. In the equilibrium, the momentum of thermal electrons is much smaller than the momentum of thermal protons, so electrons need to be pre-accelerated before they can go through DSA. To investigate such electron injection process, we study the electron pre-acceleration in weak quasi-perpendicular shocks (Ms = 2.0 - 3.0) in an ICM plasma (kT = 8.6 keV, beta = 100) through 2D particle-in-cell simulations. It is known that in quasi-perpendicular shocks, a substantial fraction of electrons could be reflected upstream, gain energy via shock drift acceleration (SDA), and generate oblique waves via the electron firehose instability (EFI), leading the energization of electrons through wave-particle interactions. We find that such kinetic processes are effective only in supercritical shocks above a critical Mach number, $Ms{\ast}{\sim}2.3$. In addition, even in shocks with Ms > 2.3, energized electrons may not reach high energies to be injected to DSA, because the oblique EFI alone fails to generate long-wavelength waves. Our results should have implications for the origin and nature of radio relics.

  • PDF

Observational Evidence of Merging and Accretion in the Milky Way Galaxy from the Spatial Distribution of Stars in Globular Clusters

  • Chun, Sang-Hyun
    • 천문학회보
    • /
    • 제38권2호
    • /
    • pp.76-76
    • /
    • 2013
  • The current hierarchical model of galaxy formation predicts that galaxy halos contain merger relics in the form of long stellar streams. In order to find stellar substructures in galaxy, we focused our investigation on the stellar spatial density around globular clusters and on the quantitative properties of the evolved sequences in the color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). First, we investigated the spatial configuration of stars around five metal-poor globular clusters in halo region (M15, M30, M53, NGC 5053, and NGC 5466) and one metal-poor globular cluster in bulge region (NGC 6626). Our findings indicate that all of these globular clusters show strong evidence of extratidal features in the form of extended tidal tails around the clusters. The orientations of the extratidal features show the signatures of tidal tails tracing the clusters' orbits and the effects of dynamical interactions with the galaxy. These features were also confirmed by the radial surface density profiles and azimuthal number density profiles. Our results suggest that these six globular clusters are potentially associated with the satellite galaxies merged into the Milky Way. Second, we derived the morphological parameters of the red giant branch (RGB) from the near-infrared CMDs of 12 metal-poor globular clusters in the Galactic bulge. The photometric RGB shape indices such as colors at fixed magnitudes, magnitudes at fixed colors, and the RGB slope were measured for each cluster. The magnitudes of the RGB bump and tip were also estimated. The derived RGB parameters were used to examine the overall behavior of the RGB morphology as a function of cluster metallicity. The behavior of the RGB shape parameters was also compared with the previous observational calibration relation and theoretical predictions of the Yonsei-Yale isochrones. Our results of studies for stellar spatial distribution around globular clusters and the morphological properties of RGB stars in globular clusters could add further observational evidence of merging scenario of galaxy formation.

  • PDF

Preliminary design of control software for SDSS-V Local Volume Mapper Instrument

  • Kim, Changgon;Ji, Tae-geun;Ahn, Hojae;Yang, Mingyeong;Lee, Sumin;Kim, Taeeun;Pak, Soojong;Konidaris, Nicholas P.;Drory, Niv;Froning, Cynthia S.;Hebert, Anthony;Bilgi, Pavan;Blanc, Guillermo A.;Lanz, Alicia E.;Hull, Charles L;Kollmeier, Juna A.;Ramirez, Solange;Wachter, Stefanie;Kreckel, Kathryn;Pellegrini, Eric;Almeida, Andr'es;Case, Scott;Zhelem, Ross;Feger, Tobias;Lawrence, Jon;Lesser, Michael;Herbst, Tom;Sanchez-Gallego, Jose;Bershady, Matthew A;Chattopadhyay, Sabyasachi;Hauser, Andrew;Smith, Michael;Wolf, Marsha J;Yan, Renbin
    • 천문학회보
    • /
    • 제46권1호
    • /
    • pp.39.1-39.1
    • /
    • 2021
  • The Local Volume Mapper(LVM) project in the fifth iteration of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-V) will produce large integral-field spectroscopic survey data to understand the physical conditions of the interstellar medium in the Milky Way, the Magellanic Clouds, and other local-volume galaxies. We are developing the LVM Instrument control software. The architecture design of the software follows a hierarchical structure in which the high-level software packages interact with the low-level and mid-level software and hardware components. We adopt the spiral software development model in which the software evolves by iteration of sequential processes, i.e., software requirement analysis, design, code generation, and testing. This spiral model ensures that even after being commissioned, the software can be revised according to new operational requirements. We designed the software by using the Unified Modeling Language, which can visualize functional interactions in structure diagrams. We plan to use the SDSS software framework CLU for the interaction between components, based on the RabbitMQ that implemented the Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP).

  • PDF

Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy of Active Galactic Nuclei

  • Doikov, Dmytry N.;Yushchenko, Alexander V.;Jeong, Yeuncheol
    • Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
    • /
    • 제36권1호
    • /
    • pp.21-33
    • /
    • 2019
  • This paper focuses on the interpretation of radiation fluxes from active galactic nuclei. The advantage of positron annihilation spectroscopy over other methods of spectral diagnostics of active galactic nuclei (therefore AGN) is demonstrated. A relationship between regular and random components in both bolometric and spectral composition of fluxes of quanta and particles generated in AGN is found. We consider their diffuse component separately and also detect radiative feedback after the passage of high-velocity cosmic rays and hard quanta through gas-and-dust aggregates surrounding massive black holes in AGN. The motion of relativistic positrons and electrons in such complex systems produces secondary radiation throughout the whole investigated region of active galactic nuclei in form of cylinder with radius R= 400-1000 pc and height H=200-400 pc, thus causing their visible luminescence across all spectral bands. We obtain radiation and electron energy distribution functions depending on the spatial distribution of the investigated bulk of matter in AGN. Radiation luminescence of the non-central part of AGN is a response to the effects of particles and quanta falling from its center created by atoms, molecules and dust of its diffuse component. The cross-sections for the single-photon annihilation of positrons of different energies with atoms in these active galactic nuclei are determined. For the first time we use the data on the change in chemical composition due to spallation reactions induced by high-energy particles. We establish or define more accurately how the energies of the incident positron, emitted ${\gamma}-quantum$ and recoiling nucleus correlate with the atomic number and weight of the target nucleus. For light elements, we provide detailed tables of all indicated parameters. A new criterion is proposed, based on the use of the ratio of the fluxes of ${\gamma}-quanta$ formed in one- and two-photon annihilation of positrons in a diffuse medium. It is concluded that, as is the case in young supernova remnants, the two-photon annihilation tends to occur in solid-state grains as a result of active loss of kinetic energy of positrons due to ionisation down to thermal energy of free electrons. The single-photon annihilation of positrons manifests itself in the gas component of active galactic nuclei. Such annihilation occurs as interaction between positrons and K-shell electrons; hence, it is suitable for identification of the chemical state of substances comprising the gas component of the investigated media. Specific physical media producing high fluxes of positrons are discussed; it allowed a significant reduction in the number of reaction channels generating positrons. We estimate the brightness distribution in the ${\gamma}-ray$ spectra of the gas-and-dust media through which positron fluxes travel with the energy range similar to that recorded by the Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics (PAMELA) research module. Based on the results of our calculations, we analyse the reasons for such a high power of positrons to penetrate through gas-and-dust aggregates. The energy loss of positrons by ionisation is compared to the production of secondary positrons by high-energy cosmic rays in order to determine the depth of their penetration into gas-and-dust aggregations clustered in active galactic nuclei. The relationship between the energy of ${\gamma}-quanta$ emitted upon the single-photon annihilation and the energy of incident electrons is established. The obtained cross sections for positron interactions with bound electrons of the diffuse component of the non-central, peripheral AGN regions allowed us to obtain new spectroscopic characteristics of the atoms involved in single-photon annihilation.