Interesting Astrophysics: Dec 06 to Dec 12

This weeks batch of peer-reviewed papers and arXiv preprints I consider interesting.

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Galaxies and Starbursts

The Elliptical-Spheroidal and Elliptical-Elliptical Galaxy Dichotomies
John Kormendy, arXiv:0812.0806 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 8 pages, 4 figures, requires asp2006.sty, to be published in Galaxy

Evolution: Emerging Insights and Future Challenges, ed. S. Jogee et al.,
Astron. Soc. Pacific, 2009

The evolution of the Galactic metallicity gradient from high-resolution spectroscopy of open clusters
Laura Magrini, Paola Sestito, Sofia Randich, Daniele Galli, arXiv:0812.0854 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 16 pages, 18 figures, A&A accepted

Metallicity determination in gas-rich galaxies with semiempirical methods
A.M. Hidalgo-Gamez, D. Ramirez-Fuentes, arXiv:0812.1041 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 26 pages, 9 figures and 2 tables. To appear at AJ, January 2009

The impact of TP-AGB stars on hierarchical galaxy formation models
Chiara Tonini, Claudia Marasto, Julien Devriendt, Daniel Thomas, Joseph Silk, arXiv:0812.1225 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 5 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to MNRAS Letters

Essential observations of the Lyman continuum
Stephan R. McCandliss, arXiv:0812.2018 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: A contributed paper to the FUSE Annapolis Conference entitled, "Future Directions in Ultraviolet Spectroscopy." Five pages, 1 figure. To appear as an AIP Conference Proceeding

Exploring the Star Formation History of Elliptical Galaxies: Beyond Simple Stellar Populations with a New Estimator of Line Strengths
Ben Rogers, Ignacio Ferreras, Reynier F. Peletier, Joseph Silk, arXiv:0812.2029 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 13 pages, 12 figures, 4 table. Submitted for publication in MNRAS

Triggered Star Formation and the Creation of the Supergiant HI Shell in IC 2574
Daniel R. Weisz, Evan D. Skillman, John M. Cannon, Fabian Walter, Elias Brinks, Juergen Ott, Andrew E. Dolphin, arXiv:0812.2036 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 5 Pages, 4 Figures, ApJ Letter, Accepted

Can the cosmic-ray driven dynamo model explain the observations of the polarized emission of edge-on galaxies ?
Katarzyna Otmianowska-Mazur, Marian Soida, Barbara Kulesza-Żydzik, Michał Hanasz, Grzegorz Kowal, arXiv:0812.2150 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 7 pages, 7 figures. ApJ, accepted

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Numerical Astrophysics and Hydrodynamics

Gas Properties and Implications for Galactic Star Formation in Numerical Models of the Turbulent, Multiphase ISM
H. Koyama, E. C. Ostriker, arXiv:0812.1846 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 63 pages including 19 Figures; Accepted for publication in ApJ

Pressure Relations and Vertical Equilibrium in the Turbulent, Multiphase ISM
H. Koyama, E. C. Ostriker, arXiv:0812.1848 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 31 pages including 9 Figures; Accepted for Publication in ApJ

Redistributing hot gas around galaxies: do cool clouds signal a solution to the overcooling problem?
Tobias Kaufmann, James S. Bullock, Ariyeh H. Maller, Taotao Fang, James Wadsley, arXiv:0812.2025 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 14 pages, 11 figures. Submitted to MNRAS

This last one uses SPH, so I debated whether it really belonged in the hydrodynamics category or in the theoretical cosmology category, but in the end I decided to be generous and count it as hydrodynamics.

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X-rays

An analysis of electron distributions in galaxy clusters by means of the flux ratio of iron lines FeXXV and XXVI
D.A. Prokhorov, F. Durret, V.A. Dogiel, S. Colafrancesco, arXiv:0812.1650 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

This paper computes line emission for non-Maxwellian electron distributions! I really should spend the time to read this paper fully...

X-raying the Intergalactic OVI Absorbers
Y. Yao, T. M. Tripp, Q. D. Wang, C. W. Danforth, C. R. Canizares, J. M. Shull, H. L. Marshall, L. Song, arXiv:0812.2020 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 9 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables, submitted to ApJ

Evidence for the Missing Baryons in the Angular Correlation of the Diffuse X-ray Background
M. Galeazzi, A. Gupta, E. Ursino, arXiv:0812.2219 [pdf, other]
Comments: 15 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication on ApJ

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AGN and Black Holes

Feast and Famine: Regulation of Black Hole Growth in Low Redshift Galaxies
Guinevere Kauffmann, Timothy M. Heckman, arXiv:0812.1224 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 22 pages, 11 figures, submitted to MNRAS

On the jet contribution to the AGN cosmic energy budget
A. Cattaneo, P. N. Best, arXiv:0812.1562 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 7 pages, 3 figures, submitted to MNRAS

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Cosmology (Theoretical)

The Star Forming Universe at z=2
S. Khochfar, J. Silk, arXiv:0812.1183 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Submitted to ApJL, high-resolution figures available from sadeghk@mpe.mpg.de

The Challenge of Modelling Galactic Disks
Andreas Burkert, arXiv:0812.1835 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 7 pages, 2 figures, invited contribution: IAU Symposium 254 on "The Galaxy Disk in Cosmological Context"

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Stars, Supernova and Star Clusters

Stellar Age Estimation from ~3 Myr to ~3 Gyr
Lynne Hillenbrand, Eric Mamajek, John Stauffer, David Soderblom, John Carpenter, Michael Meyer, arXiv:0812.1262 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 4 pages; to appear in "Cool Stars XV" published by AIP Conference Series (online only)

The mass function of young star clusters in spiral galaxies
S. S. Larsen, arXiv:0812.1400 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 14 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A

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Solar System, Planets and Astrobiology

Habitability of Super-Earth Planets around Other Suns: Models including Red Giant Branch Evolution
W. von Bloh, M. Cuntz, K.-P. Schroeder, C. Bounama, S. Franck, arXiv:0812.1027 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 40 pages, 6 figures; Astrobiology (in press)