More on the possible AD 774/775 hit on the Earth by a nearby GRB

I hadn't heard of either the odd AD 774/775 values of the C12/C14 and increased B10 ratios or the hypothesized casue: a nearby (within the Milky Way) Gamma Ray Burst before reading a blog post by Greg Laden related to climate change a while ago.

It turns out the GRB hypothesis was only recently advanced: Hambaryan & Neuhäuser, 2013, MNRAS, 430, 32 [full article text available online here]. Back at the time Phil Plait actually covered the story in his blog, which has a nice write up of the idea and why other explanations (Solar Flare, Magnetar, nearby Supernova) are claimed to be less likely than a "short" (neutron-star merger induced) GRB.

It somewhat surprises me that an event of the magnitude necessary to alter the isotopic composition of the Earth's atmosphere in less than a few seconds could occur without (a) anyone seeing anything and recording it, and more over (b) not causing any significant biological events (e.g. animal, plant or human deaths). Still, reality often runs counter to naive expectation (i.e. "common sense") so I'm not too put off the idea by that.

For now I'd view this idea of the Earth getting hit by a short GRB as a plausible hypothesis rather than concrete fact, at least until several more studies come to the same conclusion. Still, it is a rather fun and exciting idea.

Interesting Astrophysics: 22 Feb to 05 Mar, 2010

Of particular interest (to me at least) are a variety of papers related to galactic winds. The AKARI observations of Kaneda et al probe dust in M82's wind; Steidel et al use absorption lines probe the distribution and kinematics gas around redshift z~2-3 LBGs at impact parameters of - to ~100 kpc; Nestor et al propose to understand ultra-strong Mg II absorbers in the context of galactic winds; Alexander et al present evidence for a galactic wind in z~2 ULIRG; Sumui et al present a theoretical mixed Cosmic-ray/thermal wind model; and Pinsonneault et al consider the effects of galactic winds anisotropy in cosmological simulations.

In a similar vein, albeit not quite galactic winds, there is a conference proceedings by Proga et al on large scale outflows from AGN, and papers on dust in HII regions (Draine) and in wind-blown bubbles (Everett & Churchwell).

Quite of a few of these papers were noted in previous editions of "Interesting Astrophysics" when they appeared as preprints on arXiv.org, but its worth noting them again with their full journal reference information.

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Galaxies and Starbursts

Large-scale distributions of mid- and far-infrared emission from the center to the halo of M82 revealed with AKARI
H. Kaneda, D. Ishihara, T.Suzuki, N. Ikeda, T. Onaka, M. Yamagishi, Y. Ohyama, T. Wada, A. Yasuda, arXiv:1002.4521 [pdf, ps, other]
Comments: 12 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

Full abstract: "The edge-on starburst galaxy M82 exhibits complicated distributions of gaseous materials in its halo, which include ionized superwinds driven by nuclear starbursts, neutral materials entrained by the superwinds, and large-scale neutral streamers probably caused by a past tidal interaction with M81. We investigate detailed distributions of dust grains and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) around M82 to understand their interplay with the gaseous components. We performed mid- (MIR) and far-infrared (FIR) observations of M82 with the Infrared Camera and Far-Infrared Surveyor on board AKARI. We obtain new MIR and FIR images of M82, which reveal both faint extended emission in the halo and very bright emission in the center with signal dynamic ranges as large as five and three orders of magnitude for the MIR and FIR, respectively. We detect MIR and FIR emission in the regions far away from the disk of the galaxy, reflecting the presence of dust and PAHs in the halo of M82. We find that the dust and PAHs are contained in both ionized and neutral gas components, implying that they have been expelled into the halo of M82 by both starbursts and galaxy interaction. In particular, we obtain a tight correlation between the PAH and H$\alpha$ emission, which provides evidence that the PAHs are well mixed in the ionized superwind gas and outflowing from the disk."

Discovery of an unusual new radio source in the star-forming galaxy M82: Faint supernova, supermassive blackhole, or an extra-galactic microquasar?
T. W. B. Muxlow, R. J. Beswick, S. T. Garrington, A. Pedlar, D. M. Fenech, M. K. Argo, J. van Eymeren, M. Ward, A. Zezas, A. Brunthaler, arXiv:1003.0994 [pdf, ps, other]
Comments: 6 pages, 3 figures (2 colour), MNRAS letters accepted

The Structure and Kinematics of the Circum-Galactic Medium from Far-UV Spectra of z~2-3 Galaxies
C. C. Steidel, D. K. Erb, A. E. Shapley, M. Pettini, N. A. Reddy, M. Bogosavljević, G. C. Rudie, O. Rakic, arXiv:1003.0679 [pdf, ps, other]
Comments: Submitted to ApJ, 22 February 2010. 32 pages, 24 figures

Full abstract: "We present new results on the kinematics and spatial distribution of metal-enriched gas within 125 kpc (physical) of Lyman Break galaxies at redshifts z~2-3. In particular, we demonstrate how rest-UV galaxy spectra can be used to obtain key spatial and spectral information more efficiently than possible with QSO sightlines. After recalibrating the measurement of galaxy systemic redshifts from their UV spectra, we investigate the kinematics of galaxy-scale outflows via the strong interstellar (IS) absorption and Lya emission lines (when present), as well as their dependence on other physical properties of the galaxies. We construct a sample of 512 close (1-15 arcsec) angular pairs of z~2-3 LBGs in which the spectra background galaxies probe the circumgalactic gas surrrounding those in the foreground. The close pairs, together with spectra of the foreground galaxies themselves, sample galactocentric impact parameters b=0-125 kpc (physical) at <z>=2.2. The ensemble provides a spatial map of cool gas as a function of galactocentric distance for a well-characterized population of galaxies. We propose a simple model that simultaneously matches the kinematics, depth, and profile shape of IS absorption and Lya emission lines, as well as the observed variation of absorption line strength (of HI, CII, CIV, SiII, SiIV) versus galactocentric impact parameter. We discuss the results of the observations in the context of "cold accretion", in which cool gas accretes via filamentary streams directly onto the central regions of galaxies. At present, we find little observational support for cool infalling material, whereas evidence supporting the large-scale effects of outflows is strong. Reconciling theory and observation on the subject of gas flows into and out of forming galaxies seems necessary."

The SAURON project – XVI. On the sources of ionization for the gas in elliptical and lenticular galaxies
Marc Sarzi, et al, 2010, MNRAS, 402, 2187
Full Text: HTML, PDF (Size: 15234K)

From their abstract: "Finally, in the most massive and slowly or non-rotating galaxies in our sample, which can retain a massive X-ray halo, the finding of a spatial correlation between the hot and warm phases of the interstellar medium (ISM) suggests that the interaction with the hot ISM provides an additional source of ionization besides old ultraviolet-bright stars."

Note that they consider the X-ray gas static, as opposed to the SN Ia-driven wind scenario favored by Wang. Of course the kinematics of the WIM should provide insight into whether there is a bulk flow or not...

AINUR: Atlas of Images of NUclear Rings
S. Comerón, J. H. Knapen, J. E. Beckman, E. Laurikainen, H. Salo, I. Martínez-Valpuesta and R. J. Buta, 2010, MNRAS, 402, 2462
Full Text: HTML, PDF (Size: 10365K)

Cosmic ray driven outflows from high-redshift galaxies
Saumyadip Samui, Kandaswamy Subramanian and Raghunathan Srianand, 2010, MNRAS, 402, 2778
Full Text: HTML, PDF (Size: 1035K)

Searching for evidence of energetic feedback in distant galaxies: a galaxy wide outflow in a z ≈ 2 ultraluminous infrared galaxy
D. M. Alexander, A. M. Swinbank, Ian Smail, R. McDermid and N. P. H. Nesvadba, MNRAS, 402, 2211
Full Text: HTML, PDF (Size: 1066K)

Anisotropic Galactic Outflows and Enrichment of the Intergalactic Medium. II. Numerical Simulations

Steeve Pinsonneault, Hugo Martel, Matthew M. Pieri, arXiv:1002.4881 [pdf, ps, other]

Comments: Submitted to ApJ. Figures 4, 5 and 6 are not included because of their large sizes. They can be downloaded from: this http URL

Large scale outflows from z ~ 0.7 starburst galaxies identified via ultra-strong MgII quasar absorption lines
Daniel B. Nestor, Benjamin D. Johnson, Vivienne Wild, Brice Ménard, David A. Turnshek, Sandhya Rao, Max Pettini, arXiv:1003.0693 [pdf, ps, other]
Comments: 14 pages, 6 figure, to be submitted to MNRAS

Their abstract: "(Abridged) Star formation-driven outflows are a critically important phenomenon in theoretical treatments of galaxy evolution, despite our limited ability to trace them across cosmological timescales. It has been suggested that the strongest QAL systems might arise in such outflows. If confirmed, "Ultra-strong" MgII (USMgII) absorbers may identify galactic winds over a huge baseline in cosmic time, independently of the luminous properties of the galaxy. To this end, we present the first detailed imaging/spectroscopic study of the fields of two USMgII absorber systems culled from a statistical absorber catalog, to investigate the physical processes leading to the large velocity spreads that define such systems. Each field contains two bright emission-line galaxies at similar redshift to that of the absorption. Their specific SFRs are among the highest for their masses at these redshifts, and their 4000A break and Balmer absorption strengths imply they have undergone recent (~ 0.01-1 Gyr) starbursts. The concomitant presence of two rare phenomena - starbursts and USMgII absorbers - strongly implies a causal connection. We consider these data and USMgII absorbers in general in the context of various models, and conclude that galactic outflows are generally necessary to account for the velocity-extent of the absorption, favouring starburst driven outflows over tidally-stripped gas from a major interaction which triggered the starburst. Unlike past discoveries of blueshifted gas in the spectra of galaxies at cosmological distances, identifying outflows in this manner unambiguously demonstrates that the material reaches the IGM. Finally, we discuss the implications of these results and speculate on the overall contribution of such systems to the global SFR density at z ~ 0.7."

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Black Holes and AGN

Large-Scale Outflows from AGN: a link between central black holes and galaxies
Daniel Proga, Ryuichi Kurosawa, Kentaro Nagamine, arXiv:1002.4896 [pdf, ps, other]
Comments: 8 pages, 2 figures. To be published in the Proceedings of IAU Symposium 267 "Co-Evolution of Central Black Holes and Galaxies"

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Cosmology

A sub-resolution multiphase interstellar medium model of star formation and SNe energy feedback
Giuseppe Murante, Pierluigi Monaco, Martina Giovalli, Stefano Borgani, Antonaldo Diaferio, arXiv:1002.4122 [pdf, ps, other]
Comments: 23 pages, 26 figures, MNRAS accepted

Note to self: I need to have a careful look at what they assume about the energy efficiency of SN feedback.

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Interstellar Medium and Hydrodynamics

On Radiation Pressure in Static, Dusty HII Regions

B. T. Draine, arXiv:1003.0474 [pdf, ps, other]

Comments: submitted to ApJ

Dusty Wind-Blown Bubbles
John E. Everett, Ed Churchwell, arXiv:1003.0838 [pdf, ps, other]
Comments: 13 pages, 14 figures, Accepted to ApJ

rpSPH: a much improved Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Algorithm
Tom Abel, arXiv:1003.0937 [pdf, other]
Comments: 14 pages, 11 figures, submitted to MNRAS. Comments welcome

Let the flame wars among the SPH community commence!

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Stars, Supernovae and Planets

Bacterial survival in Martian conditions
Giuseppe Galletta; Giulio Bertoloni; Maurizio D'Alessandro, arXiv:1002.4077 [pdf, ps, other]
Comments: 5 pages, 3 figures, special issue of Planetary and Space science on Methane on Mars discovery. Topics: Astrobiology - Methods: laboratory - Mars - Panspermia

Full abstract: "We shortly discuss the observable consequences of the two hypotheses about the origin of life on Earth and Mars: the Lithopanspermia (Mars to Earth or viceversa) and the origin from a unique progenitor, that for Earth is called LUCA (the LUCA hypothesis). To test the possibility that some lifeforms similar to the terrestrial ones may survive on Mars, we designed and built two simulators of Martian environments where to perform experiments with different bacterial strains: LISA and mini-LISA. Our LISA environmental chambers can reproduce the conditions of many Martian locations near the surface trough changes of temperature, pressure, UV fluence and atmospheric composition. Both simulators are open to collaboration with other laboratories interested in performing experiments on many kind of samples (biological, minerals, electronic) in situations similar to that of the red planet. Inside LISA we have studied the survival of several bacterial strains and endospores. We verified that the UV light is the major responsible of cell death. Neither the low temperature, nor the pressure, nor the desiccation or the atmospheric changes were effective in this sense. We found that some Bacillus strains have a particular capability to survive for some hours in Martian conditions without being screened by dust or other shields. We also simulated the coverage happening on a planet by dust transported by the winds, blowing on the samples a very small quantity of volcanic ash grains or red iron oxide particles. Samples covered by these dust grains have shown a high percentage of survival, indicating that under the surface dust, if life were to be present on Mars in the past, some bacteria colonies or cells could still be present."

Interesting Astrophysics: Dec 21 to Dec 31, 2009

The final edition of Interesting Astrophysics for 2009 is as diverse as ever. Of particular note, a classic superwind in the "8 o'clock arc" at z~2.7 (Dessauges-Zavadsky et al), a sample of galaxy groups analogous to our own Local Group (Marino et al), stellar wind mass loss rates in hot stars (Lucy et al), and astrobiology (Cirkovic et al).

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Galaxies and Starbursts

Galaxy Evolution in Local Group Analogs. I. A GALEX study of nearby groups
A. Marino, L. Bianchi, R. Rampazzo, L.M. Buson, D. Bettoni, arXiv:0912.4266 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 20 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

Rest-frame ultraviolet spectrum of the gravitationally lensed galaxy `the 8 o'clock arc': stellar and interstellar medium properties
M. Dessauges-Zavadsky, S. D'Odorico, D. Schaerer, A. Modigliani, C. Tapken, J. Vernet, arXiv:0912.4384 [ps, pdf, other]

Comments: 17 pages, 10 figures, A&amp;A, accepted

From their abstract: "We present the first detailed analysis of the rest-frame UV spectrum of the gravitationally lensed Lyman break galaxy (LBG), the `8 o'clock arc'. The spectrum of the 8 o'clock arc is rich in stellar and interstellar medium (ISM) features, and presents several similarities to the well-known MS1512-cB58 LBG. ... The ISM lines extend over ~1000 km/s and have their peak optical depth blueshifted relative to the stars, implying gas outflows of about -120 km/s. The Ly-alpha line is dominated by a damped absorption profile on top of which is superposed a weak emission, redshifted relative to the ISM lines by about +690 km/s and resulting from multiply backscattered Ly-alpha photons emitted in the HII region surrounded by the cold, expanding ISM shell."

Luminosity-Metallicity Relations for Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies in the Optical and Near-Infrared
Yinghe Zhao, Yu Gao, Qiusheng Gu, arXiv:0912.4932 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 32 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

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Black Holes and AGN

Infrared Diagnostics for the Extended 12 micron Sample of Seyferts
Stefi A. Baum, Jack F. Gallimore, Christopher P. O'Dea, Catherine L. Buchanan, Jacob Noel-Storr, David J. Axon, Andy Robinson, Moshe Elitzur, Meghan Dorn, Shawn Staudaher, Martin Elvis, arXiv:0912.3545 [ps, pdf, other]

Note to self: this paper deals with the correlations within the sample, but does not name the individual members of the sample.

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Numerical Astrophysics and Hydrodynamics

Self-Convergence of Radiatively Cooling Clumps
Kristopher Yirak, Adam Frank, Andrew J. Cunningham, arXiv:0912.4777 [pdf, other]
Comments: 24 pages, 7 figures. Submitted to the Astrophysical Journal

They find that a fixed number of cells per radius does not lead to convergence in simulations of radiatively cooling clumps. They present alternative prescriptions for assessing numerical convergence.

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X-ray astronomy

A wide field X-ray telescope for astronomical survey purposes: from theory to practice
P. Conconi, S. Campana, G. Tagliaferri, G. Pareschi, O. Citterio, V. Cotroneo, L. Proserpio, M. Civitani, arXiv:0912.5331 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Submitted to MNRAS (3 table, 13 figures), comments welcome

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Stars, Supernovae and Planets

Mass fluxes for hot stars
L.B. Lucy, arXiv:0912.4209 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Submitted to A&amp;A; 6 pages, 5 figures; second revision

Comprehensive Photometric Histories of All Known Galactic Recurrent Novae
Bradley E. Schaefer, arXiv:0912.4426 [pdf, other]

Comments: ApJSupp in press, 273 pages, 34 tables, 71 figures

Note the size of the paper! That is definitely a labor of love.

3D simulations of supernova remnants evolution including non-linear particle acceleration
Gilles Ferrand, Anne Decourchelle, Jean Ballet, Romain Teyssier, Federico Fraschetti, arXiv:0912.4886 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: accepted for publication in A&A (final version)

PopStar Evolutionary Synthesis Models II: Optical emission-line spectra from Giant Hii regions
M.L. Martín-Manjón, M.L. García-Vargas, M. Mollá, A.I. Díaz, arXiv:0912.4730 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 20 pages, 26 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS Main Journal

Including All the Lines
Robert L. Kurucz, arXiv:0912.5371 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 9 pages, no figures. Presented at "Dimitrifest" conference in Boulder, Colorado, March 30 - April 3, 2009
Journal-ref: Recent Directions in Astrophysical Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiation Hydrodynamics. Edited by I. Hubeny, J.M. Stone, K. MacGregor, and K. Werner. AIP Conference Proceedings 1171, pp. 43-51, 2009

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Astrobiology

Galactic Punctuated Equilibrium: How to Undermine Carter's Anthropic Argument in Astrobiology
Milan M. Cirkovic, Branislav Vukotic, Ivana Dragicevic, arXiv:0912.4980 [pdf]
Comments: 3 figures, 26 pages
Journal-ref: Published in Astrobiology, 2009, Volume 9, Issue 5, pp. 491-501

Interesting Astrophysics: Nov 09 to 13

A mixed set of interesting preprints this week, with a strong emphasis on winds, either supernova-driven winds starbursts at high redshift (Kornei et al) or possibly from the center of our own galaxy (Law), and even outflows driven by black holes (King).

A second theme with a strong showing of interesting papers is astrobiology: the biological effects of radiation from "normal" stellar processes on the main sequence (Cuntz et al) or from Gamma ray bursts (Martin et al).

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Galaxies and Starbursts

Morphologies of local Lyman break galaxy analogs II: A Comparison with galaxies at z=2-4 in ACS and WFC3 images of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
R.A. Overzier, T.M. Heckman, D. Schiminovich, A. Basu-Zych, T. Goncalves, D.C. Martin, R.M. Rich, arXiv:0911.1279 [ps, pdf, other]

Comments: Submitted to ApJ (14 pages, 7 figures). For a high-resolution colour version and background material, see this http URL

The Relationship Between Stellar Populations and Lyman Alpha Emission in Lyman Break Galaxies
Katherine A. Kornei, Alice E. Shapley, Dawn K. Erb, Charles C. Steidel, Naveen A. Reddy, Max Pettini, Milan Bogosavljevic, arXiv:0911.2000 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 24 pages, 15 figures, submitted to ApJ

From their abstract: "We accordingly conclude that, within the LBG sample, objects with strong Lya emission represent a later stage of galaxy evolution in which supernovae-induced outflows have reduced the dust covering fraction. We also examined the hypothesis that the attenuation of Lya photons is lower than that of the continuum, as proposed by some, but found no evidence to support this picture."

A Multiwavelength View of a Mass Outflow from the Galactic Center
C. J. Law, arXiv:0911.2061 [pdf, other]
Comments: Accepted to ApJ. 15 pages, 8 (compressed) figures

From the abstract: "I compare the physical conditions of the GC lobe to several models and find best agreement with the canonical starburst outflow model. The formation of the GC lobe is consistent with the currently observed pressure and star formation rate in the central tens of parsecs of our Galaxy. Outflows of this scale are more typical of dwarf galaxies and would not be easily detected in nearby spiral galaxies. Thus, the existence of such an outflow in our own Galaxy may indicate that it is relatively common phenomenon in the nuclei of spiral galaxies."

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Black Holes and AGN

Discovery of a 115 Day Orbital Period in the Ultraluminous X-ray Source NGC 5408 X-1
Tod E. Strohmayer, arXiv:0911.1339 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Accepted for Publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters

Black Hole Outflows
A.R. King, arXiv:0911.1639 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: MNRAS, to appear

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Numerical Astrophyics

Generating on-the-fly large samples of theoretical spectra through N-dimensional grid
Ching-Wa Yip, arXiv:0911.1280 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 7 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in AJ

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Stars, Supernovae and Planets

Biological Damage due to Photospheric, Chromospheric and Flare Radiation in the Environments of Main-Sequence Stars
M. Cuntz, E. F. Guinan, R. L. Kurucz, arXiv:0911.1982 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 8 pages, 4 figues, Planetary Systems as Potential Sites for Life, Invited Paper, IAU Symposium 264, eds. A. Kosovichev et al. (San Francisco: Astr. Soc. Pac.), in press

Effects of Gamma Ray Bursts in Earth Biosphere
Osmel Martin, Rolando Cardenas, Mayrene Guimaraes, Liuba Penate, Jorge Horvath, Douglas Galante, arXiv:0911.2196 [pdf, other]
Comments: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics &amp; Space Science

Interesting Astrophysics: Nov 02 to Nov 06

Of particular note this week are Crighton et al (who suggest a particular case of intergalactic metal line absorption can be associated with a z=0.2272 galaxy polluting a region ~200 kpc in radius), Bertone et al (metal line cooling from the IGM predicted in the OWLS simulations) Risaliti & Elvis (a line driven model for AGN winds), and Bond et al (terrestrial planet formation models that correctly predict the observed elemental abundances also predict that terrestrial planets form wet and do not need significant water delivery from comets).

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Galaxies and Starbursts

Searching for Evidence of Energetic Feedback in Distant Galaxies: A Galaxy Wide Outflow in a z~2 Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxy
D.M. Alexander, A.M. Swinbank, I. Smail, R. McDermid, N. Nesvadba, arXiv:0911.0014 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 10 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. Resubmitted to MNRAS after taking account of referees feedback

Galaxies at Redshift ~0.5 Around Three Closely Spaced Quasar Sightlines
Neil H. M. Crighton, Simon L. Morris, Jill Bechtold, Robert A. Crain, Buell T. Jannuzi, Allen Shone, Tom Theuns, arXiv:0911.0368 [pdf, other]
Comments: 45 pages, 21 figures. Accepted by MNRAS

From their abstract: "We identify a galaxy at z=0.2272 with associated metal absorption in two sightlines, each 200 kpc away. By constraining the star formation history of the galaxy, we show the gas causing this metal absorption may have been enriched and ejected by the galaxy during a burst of star formation 2 Gyr ago."

Enhanced Dense Gas Fraction in Ultra-Luminous Infrared Galaxies
S. Juneau, D. T. Narayanan, J. Moustakas, Y. L. Shirley, R. S. Bussmann, R. C. Kennicutt Jr, P. A. Vanden Bout, arXiv:0911.0413 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 20 pages, 10 figures. To be published in The Astrophysical Journal (accepted)

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Black Holes and AGN

Comparison between the Luminosity functions of X-ray and [OIII] selected AGN
I. Georgantopoulos, A. Akylas, arXiv:0911.0102 [ps, pdf, other]

Comments: 7 pages to appear in Astronomy & Astrophysics

A non-hydrodynamical model for acceleration of line-driven winds in Active Galactic Nuclei
G. Risaliti, M. Elvis, arXiv:0911.0958 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 15 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics

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Numerical Astrophysics

Metal-line emission from the warm-hot intergalactic medium: I. Soft X-rays
Serena Bertone, Joop Schaye, Claudio Dalla Vecchia, C.M. Booth, Tom Theuns, Robert P.C. Wiersma, arXiv:0910.5723 [ps, pdf, other]

The Enrichment of Intergalactic Medium With Adiabatic Feedback I: Metal Cooling and Metal Diffusion
Sijing Shen, James Wadsley, Gregory Stinson, arXiv:0910.5956 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 16 pages, 11 figures, submitted to MNRAS

Ram-pressure stripping of halo gas in disc galaxies: implications for galactic star formation in different environments
Kenji Bekki, 2009, MNRAS, 399, 2221
Full Text: HTML, PDF (Size: 4409K)

The impact of feedback on the low redshift Intergalactic Medium
Luca Tornatore, Stefano Borgani, Matteo Viel, Volker Springel, arXiv:0911.0699 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: revised version after referee's comments

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Stars, Supernovae and Planets

Making the Earth: Combining Dynamics and Chemistry in the Solar System
Jade C. Bond, Dante S. Lauretta, David P. O'Brien, arXiv:0911.0426 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 61 pages (including online material), 12 figures (7 in paper, 5 online). Accepted to Icarus

From their abstract: "Bulk elemental abundances based on disk equilibrium studies have been determined for the simulated terrestrial planets of O'Brien et al. (2006). These abundances are in excellent agreement with observed planetary values, indicating that the models of O'Brien et al. (2006) are successfully producing planets comparable to those of the Solar System in terms of both their dynamical and chemical properties. Significant amounts of water are accreted in the present simulations, implying that the terrestrial planets form "wet" and do not need significant water delivery from other sources. Under the assumption of equilibrium controlled chemistry, the biogenic species N and C still need to be delivered to the Earth as they are not accreted in significant proportions during the formation process."

Interesting Astrophysics: Jul 14 to 24

This edition of Interesting Astrophysics is graced by not one, not two, but five papers on galactic winds. Matsubayashi et al present Fabry-Perot observations of the NGC 253's wind, while both Westmoquette et al and Veilleux et al present observations of M82's wind. Two papers consider theoretical models, specifically numerical simulations, of winds: Cooper et al simulate individual cloud(s) in a superwind at very high resolution, while Kapferer et al simulate clusters of galaxies including a semi-analytical prescription for mixed mode thermal/CR-driven winds.

Finally there is a very extensive discussion of Fermi's Paradox by Cirkovic, which is well worth a read by anyone interested in astrobiology, while Selvelli and Molaro discuss the nature of the telescopes in the paintings of Brueghel the Elder.

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Galaxies and Starbursts

Galactic Wind in the Nearby Starburst Galaxy NGC 253 Observed with the Kyoto3DII Fabry-Perot Mode
K. Matsubayashi, H. Sugai, T. Hattori, A. Kawai, S. Ozaki, G. Kosugi, T. Ishigaki, A. Shimono, arXiv:0907.2012 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 22 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in ApJ

The Optical Structure of the Starburst Galaxy M82. II. Nebular Properties of the Disk and Inner-Wind
M. S. Westmoquette, J. S. Gallagher, L. J. Smith, G. Trancho, N. Bastian, I. S. Konstantopoulos, arXiv:0907.3162 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 27 pages, 18 figures (13 in colour), accepted for publication in ApJ

WARM MOLECULAR HYDROGEN IN THE GALACTIC WIND OF M82
Sylvain Veilleux, David S. N. Rupke, and Rob Swaters, 2009, ApJ, 700, L149
PDF (1.23 MB) | HTML

Mass Loss From Planetary Nebulae in Elliptical Galaxies
Joel N. Bregman, Joel R. Parriott, arXiv:0907.3489 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 34 pages with 20 figures. Higher quality figures are in the ApJ version
Journal-ref: ApJ, 699, 2009, 923-932

Radio monitoring of NGC 7469: Late time radio evolution of SN 2000ft and the circumnuclear starburst in NGC 7469
M.A. Perez-Torres, A. Alberdi, L. Colina, J.M. Torrelles, N. Panagia, A. Wilson, E. Kankare, S. Mattila, arXiv:0907.2644 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Integral field optical spectroscopy of a representative sample of ULIRGs: I. The Data
M. Garcia-Marin, L. Colina, S. Arribas, A. Monreal-Ibero, arXiv:0907.2408 [pdf, other]

Comments: To appear in A&A. Paper with higher quality images can be found at this http URL

Integral field optical spectroscopy of a representative sample of ULIRGs: II. Two-dimensional kpc-scale extinction structure
M. Garcia-Marin, L. Colina, S. Arribas, arXiv:0907.2218 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: To appear in A&A

Starburst-Driven Galactic Winds: Filament Formation and Emission Processes
J. L. Cooper, G. V. Bicknell, R. S. Sutherland, J. Bland-Hawthorn

Comments: Accepted to ApJ, 39 pages, 21 figures, movie file can obtained at this http URL

From their abstract, with my comments in square brackets: "The degree of fragmentation is highly dependent on the resolution of the simulation, with the number of cloudlets formed increasing as the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability is better resolved [1]. Nevertheless, there is a clear qualitative trend, with the filamentary structure still persistent at high resolution. We confirm the mechanism behind the formation of the H-alpha emitting filaments found in our global simulations of a starburst-driven wind. Based on our resolution study, we conclude that bow shocks around accelerated gas clouds, and their interaction, are the main source of the soft X-ray emission observed in these galactic-scale winds [2]."

[1] This is actually a very worrying result, and indeed is one of the primary reasons I have not pushed forward to publish our our high resolution 2-D and 3-D simulations but have instead switched to analytical theory. The characteristic size of H-alpha cloudlets in reality cannot be arbitrarily small (and if it were, there would be adverse dynamical consequences), so increasing fragmentation in the numerical simulations suggests that the results are being driven by numerics and not physics. There are reason to worry about instabilities, structure formation and mixing processes within even apparently converged grid-based simulations (as demonstrated by e.g. the Santa Barbara Cluster Comparison Project; Frenk et al 1999).

[2] Good! - that's what I've been saying for years (for very similar reasons and with similar or greater levels of quantitative justification, dare I say it).

I really would have liked to see some quantitative justification for the claims regarding both the X-ray emission and whether the H-alpha cloud complexes/filaments are really luminous enough to reproduce real winds.

The classic problem with simulating winds is that is it trivial to produce things that qualitatively reproduce wind-like structures, and adding resolution always generates more structure which makes the simulation superficially look more like real (complex, multiphase, messy) superwinds. But those same simulations can be orders of magnitude off in terms of quantitatively matching real winds. Even when you can get the models to match one particular observational parameter well quantitatively (e.g. the cloud OVI/X-ray flux ratio; Marcolini et al 2005) you often find some other observable parameter has values that tell you your beautiful simulation can't be a truly realistic model of reality (e.g. you cloud lifetime is ~1 Myr when real cloud lifetimes must be ~10 Myr, or the OVI column density through the cloud is one hundredth of the observed total line of sight OVI column density, meaning that your model implies you'd need ~100 clouds along every line of sight through a superwind).

Overall, its nice work but the very limited time scales (~ 1 Myr), the numerical issues I mentioned above, and lack of quantification in terms of luminosities make its claims seem no more strongly justified than preceding work.

Metal enrichment of the intra-cluster medium by thermally and cosmic-ray driven galactic winds
W. Kapferer, T. Kronberger, D. Breitschwerdt, S. Schindler, E. van Kampen, S. Kimeswenger, W. Domainko, M. Mair, M. Ruffert, arXiv:0907.3800 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 9 pages, 6 figures, accepted by A&A

Assumes that the terminal velocity of the (effectively single phase) wind is equal to the galactic escape velocity. Its a common assumption, and may have some semi-empirical justification for the entrained cool gas (T<10⁵ K) in starburst-driven winds, but this assumption lacks theoretical and observational justification for the hot gas (admittedly, and notably, all the observational data is on winds from starburst galaxies, which are almost certainly predominantly thermally-driven). And in thermal or even mixed-mode thermal+CR winds its the hot gas that is involved in driving the wind and holds the metals.

Numerical simulations of hot halo gas in galaxy mergers
Manodeep Sinha, Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, 2009, MNRAS, 397, 190
Full Text: HTML, PDF (Size: 46324K)

Less than 10 percent of star formation in z=0.6 massive galaxies is triggered by major interactions
Aday R. Robaina, et al, arXiv:0907.3728 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Submitted to ApJ. 41 pages, 11 figures

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Black Holes and AGN

Optical--to--X-ray emission in low-absorption AGN: Results from the Swift-BAT 9 month catalogue
R. V. Vasudevan, R. F. Mushotzky, L. M. Winter, A. C. Fabian, arXiv:0907.2272 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 25 pages, 22 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS

AGN with strong forbidden high-ionization lines selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Jonathan M. Gelbord, James R. Mullaney, Martin J. Ward, 2009, MNRAS, 397, 172
Full Text: HTML, PDF (Size: 2513K)

Black Holes in the Galaxy
Josep M. Paredes, arXiv:0907.3602 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Notes to a series of five Lectures given in the First La Plata International School on Astronomy and Geophysics: Compact Objects and their emission, La Plata Observatory, 10-14 March 2008, Argentina, 32 pages, 12 figures, 1 table, editors G.E. Romero and P. Benaglia; ISBN 978-987-24948-0-3

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Other

On the telescopes in the paintings of J. Brueghel the Elder
Pierluigi Selvelli, Paolo Molaro, arXiv:0907.3745 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 5 pages, 3 figures. Proceedings of 400 years of Astronomical telescopes Conference at ESA/ESTEC in Noordwijk. Brandl, Bernhard R.; Stuik, Remko; Katgert-Merkeli, J.K. (Jet) (Eds.)

Fermi's Paradox - The Last Challenge for Copernicanism?
Milan M. Cirkovic, arXiv:0907.3432 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 39 pages, 3 figures, slightly expanded in comparison to the journal version
Journal-ref: Serbian Astronomical Journal, vol. 178, pp. 1-20 (2009)

Interesting Astrophysics: Jun 15 - Jun 19

A quiet week on the journals and astro-ph. Of the papers that did strike my eye quiet a few were on moderate-to-high redshift galaxies (Hainline et al; Quider et al; Nesvadba et al) and/or the IGM (Chen & Muchaey, Cooksey et al).

There is also an interesting paper by Mellot et al re-examining the often reoccuring and always controversial claims of links between terrestrial mass extinctions and the Solar system's crossing of Milky Way spiral arms.

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Galaxies and Starbursts

Rest-Frame Optical Spectra of Three Strongly Lensed Galaxies at z~2
Kevin N. Hainline, Alice E. Shapley, Katherine A. Kornei, Max Pettini, Elizabeth Buckley-Geer, Sahar S. Allam, Douglas L. Tucker, arXiv:0906.2197 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 16 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

The Ultraviolet Spectrum of the Gravitationally Lensed Galaxy `The Cosmic Horseshoe': A Close-up of a Star-forming Galaxy at z = 2
Anna M. Quider, Max Pettini, Alice E. Shapley, Charles C. Steidel, arXiv:0906.2412 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 17 pages, 9 Figures, Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Dwarf Galaxies in the NGC 1023 Group
Neil Trentham, Brent Tully, arXiv:0906.2540 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: MNRAS, in press

Probing the IGM-Galaxy Connection at z < 0.5 I: A Galaxy Survey in QSO Fields and a Galaxy-Absorber Cross-Correlation Study
Hsiao-Wen Chen, John S. Mulchaey, arXiv:0906.3293 [ps, pdf, other]

Comments: 27 journal-style pages, 15 figures; ApJ in press; full-resolution version is available at this http URL

The Last Eight-Billion Years of Intergalactic CIV Evolution
Kathy L. Cooksey, Christopher Thom, J. Xavier Prochaska, Hsiao-Wen Chen, arXiv:0906.3347 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 63 pages, 18 figures, 10 tables; submitted to ApJ

Effects of Galactic fountains and delayed mixing in the chemical evolution of the Milky Way

E. Spitoni, F. Matteucci, S. Recchi, G. Cescutti, A. Pipino, arXiv:0906.3400 [ps, pdf, other]

Comments: Accepted by A&A

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The Interstellar Medium

Supershells in the Multi-Phase Milky Way: Insights from HI Synthesis Imaging and CO Surveys
J. R. Dawson, N. M. McClure-Griffiths, Y. Fukui, arXiv:0906.2630 [pdf, other]
Comments: 4 pages, to appear in conference proceedings "The Role of Disk-Halo Interaction in Galaxy Evolution, Outflow vs. Infall?" ed. M. A. de Avillez, European Astronomical Society Publications, 2009 in press

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Black Holes and AGN

Giant outflows in z~2 radio galaxies: The smoking gun of AGN feedback in the early universe
N. P. H. Nesvadba, arXiv:0906.2900 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: To appear in the proceedings of the workshop "The Interface between Galaxy Formation and AGN", Vulcano (Messina), Italy

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Stars, Supernovae and Planets

Spectral Evolution of the Extraordinary Type IIn Supernova 2006gy
Nathan Smith, Ryan Chornock, Jeffrey M. Silverman, Alexei V. Filippenko, Ryan J. Foley, arXiv:0906.2200 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Really long. 30 pages, 26 figs, appendix. Submitted to ApJ - v2 corrected one reference

Testing the link between terrestrial climate change and Galactic spiral structure
Adrian L. Melott, Andrew C. Overholt, Martin K. Pohl, arXiv:0906.2777 [pdf]

Their abstract: "We confront past suggestions of a close link between terrestrial climate change and the Sun's transit of spiral arms in its path through the Milky Way galaxy. These links produced concrete fits, deriving the unknown spiral pattern speed from terrestrial climate correlations. We use new information on spiral structure based on CO data that does not make simplifying assumptions about symmetry and circular rotation. Comparing the times of these transits to changes in the climate of Earth, not only do the claimed correlations disappear, but also we find that they cannot be resurrected for any reasonable pattern speed."

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Other

Radio quiet, please! - protecting radio astronomy from interference
W. van Driel, arXiv:0906.2268 [pdf, other]
Comments: To appear in IAU Symposium 260 The Role of Astronomy in Society and Culture, 8 pages

Interesting Astrophysics: Apr 13 to Apr 17

A lot of interesting galaxy-related stuff came out this week, either in the journals or on astro-ph. Of particular note there is a new radio supernova in M82 (Brunthaler et al), two papers on IR observations of star-forming galaxies (Siana et al; Weedmand and Houck) and even a paper on post-starburst galaxies (Wild et al). Everett et al expand on their work on hybrid Cosmic Ray plus Thermal galactic winds, and Maddox et al look at the X-ray emission from the N11 superbubble in the LMC.

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Galaxies and Starbursts

Discovery of a bright radio transient in M82: a new radio supernova?
A. Brunthaler, K.M. Menten, M.J. Reid, C. Henkel, G.C. Bower, H. Falcke, arXiv:0904.2388 [ps, pdf, other]

Comments: submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysics, 4 pages, 3 figures, also available at this http URL

This is pretty cool - a new bright radio source has appeared near the kinematic center of M82, possibly a radio supernova.

Post-starburst galaxies: more than just an interesting curiosity
Vivienne Wild, C. Jakob Walcher, Peter H. Johansson, Laurence Tresse, Stéphane Charlot, Agnieszka Pollo, Olivier Le Fèvre and Loic de Ravel, 2009, MNRAS, 395, 144
Full Text: HTML, PDF (Size: 1562K)

Detection of PAH and Far-Infrared Emission from the Cosmic Eye: Probing the Dust and Star Formation of Lyman Break Galaxies
Brian Siana, Ian Smail, A. Mark Swinbank, Johan Richard, Harry I. Teplitz, Kristen E. K. Coppin, Richard S. Ellis, Daniel P. Stark, Jean-Paul Kneib, Alistair C. Edge, arXiv:0904.1742 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 9 pages, 7 figures

Evolution of the Most Luminous Dusty Galaxies
Daniel W. Weedman, James R. Houck, arXiv:0904.2331 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

Spitzer IRS observations for a significant number of ULIRGs, tabulates the 8 micron fluxes.

Synchrotron Constraints on a Hybrid Cosmic-Ray and Thermally-Driven Galactic Wind
John E. Everett, Quintin G. Schiller, Ellen G. Zweibel, arXiv:0904.1964 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 13 pages, 8 figures; submitted to ApJ; comments and questions welcome

Hitting the Bull's-eye: The Radial Profile of Accretion and Star Formation in the Milky Way
J. E. G. Peek, arXiv:0904.2000 [pdf, other]
Comments: 9 pages, 5 figures, accepted to the ApJ

Understanding Global Galactic Star Formation
Paul A. Scowen. et al, arXiv:0904.2002 [pdf]
Comments: 8 pages - Science White Paper for the Astro2010 Decadal Survey Panel(s): Planetary Systems and Star Formation; Stars and Stellar Evolution

The evolution of the mass-metallicity relation in galaxies of different morphological types
F. Calura, A. Pipino, C. Chiappini, F. Matteucci, R. Maiolino, arXiv:0904.2180 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 20 pages, 13 figures, accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics

Reproduces galaxy mass-metallicity (MZ) relationship using increasing SF efficiency in more massive galaxies, without the need for outflows. This is hardly surprising, as even outflow advocates acknowledge that most/much of the MZ relationship is driven by the different amount of gas consumption and thus relative degree of chemical evolution of host galaxies of different mass. Unfortunately Calura et al don't show what the galaxy mass versus effective yield (M-y_eff) relationship predicted by their model, which is annoying as the M-y_eff would take this effect out and observationally still shows apparent metal loss in low mass galaxies (although c.f. Dalcanton '07, who showed y_eff is not always an honest tracer).

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Cosmology

Big Bang Nucleosynthesis: The Strong Force meets the Weak Anthropic Principle
J. MacDonald, D. J. Mullan, arXiv:0904.1807 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 13 figures

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Numerical Methods and Numerical Astrophysics

PCA Tomography: how to extract information from data cubes
J. E. Steiner, R. B. Menezes, T. V. Ricci and A. S. Oliveira, 2009, MNRAS, 395, 64
Full Text: HTML, PDF (Size: 20939K)

The Fate of High-Velocity Clouds: Warm or Cold Cosmic Rain?
Fabian Heitsch, Mary E. Putman, arXiv:0904.1995 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 12 pages, 8 figures, accepted by ApJ

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Stars, Supernovae and Planets

Nonthermal X-ray Emission from the N11 Superbubble in the Large Magellanic Cloud
L.A. Maddox, R.M. Williams, B.C. Dunne, Y.-H Chu, arXiv:0904.1821 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 16 pages, 3 figures, submitted to ApJ

Short-term Effects of Gamma Ray Bursts on Earth
Osmel Martín, Douglas Galante, Rolando Cárdenas, J.E. Horvath, arXiv:0904.1755 [pdf]
Comments: 13 pp., to appear in Astrophysics and Space Science

Interesting Astrophysics: Mar 30 to Apr 03

Its raining in Baltimore. Another fine day for science!

There are a variety of interesting BH/AGN-related papers this week, in particular discussing the filling factor of AGN wind (Blustin & Fabian), UV-outflows in Seyferts (Stoll) and isotropic luminosity indicators for AGN (Diamond-Stanic).

Julian Pittard has a nice new paper on 3-D modelling of colliding stellar winds, and Christensen-Dalsgaard has a nice review of the Sun as the fundamental calibrator for theories of stellar evolution.

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Galaxies and Starbursts

The mass-metallicity relation in galaxy clusters: the relative importance of cluster membership versus local environment
Sara L. Ellison, Luc Simard, Nicolas B. Cowan, Ivan K. Baldry, David R. Patton, Alan W. McConnachie, arXiv:0903.4684 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: MNRAS, accepted

Early assembly of the most massive galaxies
Chris A. Collins, et al, arXiv:0904.0006 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Published in Nature 2nd April 2009. This astro ph version includes main text and supplementary material combined

The Star Formation Law in Atomic and Molecular Gas
Mark R. Krumholz, Christopher F. McKee, Jason Tumlinson, arXiv:0904.0009 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 7 pages, 2 figures, emulateapj format, submitted to ApJ

Dust in the Early (z>1) Universe
Fabian Walter, arXiv:0904.0152 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 20 pages, review to appear in "Cosmic Dust -- Near and Far", ed. Th. Henning, E. Grun, J. Steinacker (ASP Conf. Series)

Discovery, Photometry, and Kinematics of Planetary Nebulae in M 82
L. C. Johnson, R. H. Mendez, A. M. Teodorescu, arXiv:0904.0266 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 16 pages, 13 figures, Accepted by ApJ

Derive a distance to M82 using the PNLF of 4.2+/-0.4 Mpc, rather higher than TRGB distances of ~3.6 Mpc to both M81 and M82. Suggest that all their PNs suffer significant extinction, of order 0.4 magntitudes, which when corrected for reconciles distances. Also claim that PN-based rotation curve shows known weird falling rotation curve.

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Black Holes and AGN

Radio constraints on the volume filling factors of AGN winds
A. J. Blustin, A. C. Fabian, arXiv:0904.0209 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 6 pages, accepted by MNRAS

Parsec-scale dust distributions in Seyfert galaxies - Results of the MIDI AGN snapshot survey
Konrad R. W. Tristram, et al, arXiv:0903.4892 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 19 pages, 8 figures, submitted to A&amp;A, recommended for publication

Scaling ultraviolet outflows in Seyferts
R. Stoll, S. Mathur, Y. Krongold, F. Nicastro, arXiv:0903.5310 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 7 pages, 5 figures, submitted to ApJ

A Photoionized Nebula Surrounding and Variable Optical Continuum Emission from the Ultraluminous X-Ray Source in NGC 5408
Philip Kaaret, Stephane Corbel, arXiv:0903.5329 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: accepted by ApJ, 8 pages

Isotropic Luminosity Indicators in a Complete AGN Sample
Aleksandar M. Diamond-Stanic, George H. Rieke, Jane R. Rigby, arXiv:0904.0250 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 9 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Note to self: NGC 3079 is in their sample.

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Hydrodynamics

A Hydrodynamical Analysis of the Steady-State Shock Model
A. Preite Martinez, 2009, Open Astronomy Journal , 2, 1.

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Stars, Supernovae and Planets

Gamma-Ray Bursts as a Threat to Life on Earth
Brian C. Thomas, arXiv:0903.4710 [pdf]
Comments: 8 pages; submitted as part of proceedings of the ESLAB Symposium on 'Cosmic Cataclysms and Life', November 2008; to be published in a special issue of the International Journal of Astrobiology

3D Models of Radiatively Driven Colliding Winds In Massive O+O Star Binaries: I. Hydrodynamics
J. M. Pittard, arXiv:0904.0164 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 21 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Very nice science from Julian, as always. Nice figures too.

The Sun as a fundamental calibrator of stellar evolution
J. Christensen-Dalsgaard, arXiv:0904.0358 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: To appear in Proc. IAU Symposium 258, The Ages of Stars, eds E. E. Mamajek, D. R. Soderblom &amp; R. F. G. Wyse, IAU and Cambridge University Press

Interesting wrt stellar age, stellar evolution, and also the ongoing controvsery regarding Solar abundances (see discussion at end).

Interesting Astrophysics: Jan 19 to Jan 30

Interesting astrophysics is back, now with two weeks worth of papers. There look interesting based on the titles and abstracts, but I haven't had time to actually read many of them seriously.

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Galaxies and Starbursts

X-ray emission from the extended disks of spiral galaxies
R.A. Owen, R.S. Warwick, arXiv:0901.4263 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 17 pages, 6 figures, 7 tables

I must admit to experiencing a moment of horror and panic when I saw the Owen paper on arXiv and read the abstract - had I been scooped on publishing my own hard-won observations again? Thankfully not, a different set of "normal" galaxies! A nice interesting paper.

GEMINI 3D spectroscopy of BAL + IR + Fe ii QSOs – I. Decoupling the BAL, QSO, starburst, NLR, supergiant bubbles and galactic wind in Mrk 231
S. Lipari, S. F. Sanchez, M. Bergmann, R. Terlevich, B. Garcia-Lorenzo, B. Punsly, E. Mediavilla, Y. Taniguchi, M. Ajiki, W. Zheng, J. Acosta and K. Jahnke, 2009, MNRAS, 392, 1295
Full Text: HTML, PDF (Size: 104115K)

Properties of the Molecular Gas in Starburst Galaxies and AGN
S. Mühle, E.R. Seaquist, C. Henkel, arXiv:0901.3468 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 6 pages, 4 figures, proceedings of the 9th European VLBI Network Symposium on "The role of VLBI in the Golden Age for Radio Astronomy and EVN Users Meeting", to appear in Proceedings of Science

Significant emphasis on everyones favorite starburst galaxy: M82.

Galactic Spiral Structure
Charles Francis, Erik Anderson, arXiv:0901.3503 [pdf]

Comments: A high resolution version of this file can be downloaded from this http URL

The Star Formation Histories of the M31 and M33 Spheroids
Thomas M. Brown, arXiv:0901.2577 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 7 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of "Galaxy Evolution: Emerging Insights and Future Challenges," 11-14 November 2008, Austin, USA

A Wide-field High Resolution HI Mosaic of Messier 31: I. Opaque Atomic Gas and Star Formation Rate Density
Robert Braun, David Thilker, Rene Walterbos, Edvige Corbelli,arXiv:0901.4154 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 34 pages, 20 figures

A Multi-Wavelength Infrared Study of NGC 891
C. Whaley, J. Irwin, S. Madden, F. Galliano, G. Bendo, arXiv:0901.4351 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 24 pages, 17 figures, 7 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Distance to NGC 0247
Barry F. Madore, Wendy L. Freedman, J. Catanzarite, Mauricio Navarrete, arXiv:0901.3097 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Accepted ApJ Nov 2008: 51 pages, 19 figures, 16 tables

A Search for Radio Supernova Remnants in Four Irregular Galaxies
Laura Chomiuk, Eric Wilcots, arXiv:0901.2919 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Accepted by AJ. 17 pages, 9 figures. 23 additional figures will be available in the online version of the Astronomical Journal

The rotation curves shapes of late-type dwarf galaxies
R.A. Swaters, R. Sancisi, T.S. van Albada, J.M. van der Hulst, arXiv:0901.4222 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 22 pages, 2009 A&A 493, 871
Journal-ref: A&A, 493, (2009) 871

Diverging UV and Halpha fluxes of star forming galaxies predicted by the IGIMF theory
J. Pflamm-Altenburg, C. Weidner, P. Kroupa, arXiv:0901.4335 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: accepted by MNRAS

Ram pressure stripping of the multiphase ISM in the Virgo cluster spiral galaxy NGC 4438
B. Vollmer, M. Soida, A. Chung, L. Chemin, J. Braine, A. Boselli, R.Beck, arXiv:0901.2770 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 8 pages, 6 figures, A&A, accepted for publication

Numerical Simulations of Hot Halo Gas in Galaxy Mergers

Manodeep Sinha, Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, arXiv:0901.3782 [ps, pdf, other]

Comments: Submitted to MNRAS. Paper with high-resolution images and associated movies available at this http URL

Correlations Between Supermassive Black Holes, Velocity Dispersions, and Mass Deficits in Elliptical Galaxies with Cores
John Kormendy, Ralf Bender, arXiv:0901.3778 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 table; requires emulateapj.sty
Journal-ref: 2009 ApJ 691 L142-L146

This Kormendy would be more interesting if it weren't so damned short. I suppose we'll have to wait for the real paper to come out to really assess this. This smacks of the "publish two for the price of one and get publication date priority" style of gaming the publish-or-perish system.

Different types of ultraluminous X-ray sources in NGC 4631
Authors: Roberto Soria, Kajal Ghosh, arXiv:0901.4302 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 12 pages, accepted by ApJ

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Numerical Astrophysics and Hydrodynamics

iVINE – Ionization in the parallel tree/sph code VINE: first results on the observed age-spread around O-stars
M. Gritschneder, T. Naab, A. Burkert, S. Walch, F. Heitsch and M. Wetzstein, 2009, MNRAS, 393, 21
Full Text: HTML, PDF (Size: 2038K)

Spectral Analysis in the Virtual Observatory
Thomas Rauch, Iliya Nickelt, arXiv:0901.4202 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 3 pages

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Cosmology

Missing Halo Baryons and Galactic Outflows
Romeel Davé, arXiv:0901.3149 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 7 pages, to appear in proc. "Galaxy Evolution: Emerging Insights and Future Challenges", ASP (uses asp2006.sty)

The Effects of Gas on Morphological Transformation in Mergers: Implications for Bulge and Disk Demographics
Philip F. Hopkins, Rachel S. Somerville, Thomas J. Cox, Lars Hernquist, Shardha Jogee, Dusan Keres, Chung-Pei Ma, Brant Robertson, Kyle Stewart, arXiv:0901.4111 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 19 pages, 13 figures, submitted to MNRAS

Apparent discordant redshift QSO-galaxy associations
Martin Lopez-Corredoira, arXiv:0901.4534 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: invited talk, to be published in the proceedings of the conference "Evolution of Cosmic Objects through their Physical Activity (V. Ambartsumian 100th anniversary)", held at Byurakan Observatory (Armenia), on September 15th-18th, 2008. Eds. H. A. Harutyunian, H. Y. Terzian. Armenian Academy of Sciences

All I can say is that in the one case where I have really examined this sort of thing seriously (NGC 3628, which is mentioned in this article although not elaborated upon), both the qualitative claims of physical association between QSO and the NGC 3628 superwind, and the quantitative claims of the QSO's presence in the field of view being statistically unlikely simply failed to hold up under examination. See Strickland et al, 2004a, ApJS, 151, 193 (footnote 11).

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Astrophysical Plasmas

Giant cavities, cooling and metallicity substructure in Abell 2204
J. S. Sanders, A. C. Fabian and G. B. Taylor, 2009, MNRAS, 393, 71
Full Text: HTML, PDF (Size: 17147K)

The effect of photoionization on the cooling rates of enriched, astrophysical plasmas
Robert P. C. Wiersma, Joop Schaye and Britton D. Smith, 2009, MNRAS, 393, 99
Full Text: HTML, PDF (Size: 389K)

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Stars, Supernovae, Star Clusters, Planets etc.

Chemical Yields from Supernovae and Hypernovae
Ken'ichi Nomoto, Shinya Wanajo, Yasuomi Kamiya, Nozomu Tominaga, Hideyuki Umeda, arXiv:0901.4536 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 13 pages, 10 figures. To appear in the Proceedings of IAU Symposium 254 "The Galaxy Disk in Cosmological Context" (2008), eds. J. Andersen, J. Bland-Hawthorn, and B. Nordstrom (Cambridge University Press)

Title: Tangential Motions and Spectroscopy within NGC 6720, the Ring Nebula
C. R. O'Dell, W. J. Henney, F. Sabbadin, arXiv:0901.3185 [pdf, other]
Comments: Astronomical Journal, in press

Whilst this Planet Has Gone Cycling On: What Role for Periodic Astronomical Phenomena in Large Scale Patterns in the History of Life?
B.S. Lieberman, A.L. Melott, arXiv:0901.3173 [pdf]
Comments: 39 pages, 5 figures, to be published in the Biosphere volume of the International Year of Planet Earth Series, J. Talent, Ed

Methane from Mars

Mars + Methane = Life? Big NASA press event today. Read about it at the Loom (Carl Zimmer's blog).

[Image of Martian releasing methane taken from NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter website. Just kidding, it is actually a cool War of the Worlds poster available here.]

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)