Interesting Astrophysics: Jul 01 to Jul 13

A quiet few weeks from on the astrophysical journals and arXiv.

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Galaxies and Starbursts

Confirming a Population of Hot-Dust Dominated, Star Forming Ultraluminous Galaxies at High-Redshift
C.M. Casey, S.C. Chapman, R.J. Beswick, A.D. Biggs, A.W. Blain, L.J. Hainline, R.J. Ivison, T. Muxlow, I. Smail, arXiv:0906.5346 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 9 pages, 6 figures; accepted for publication in MNRAS

The Disruption of Giant Molecular Clouds by Radiation Pressure and the Efficiency of Star Formation in Galaxies
Norman Murray, Eliot Quataert, Todd A. Thompson, arXiv:0906.5358 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 17 pages, 5 figures, submitted to ApJ

The New Frontier: Galactic-Scale Star Formation
Daniela Calzetti, Robert C. Kennicutt, arXiv:0907.0203 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: accepted for publication on PASP, short review for the IYA2009, 12 pages, no figures

The age of blue LSB galaxies
E. I. Vorobyov, Yu. Shchekinov, D. Bizyaev, D. Bomans, R.-J. Dettmar, arXiv:0907.0830 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

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Black Holes and AGN

The Infrared Nuclear Emission of Seyfert Galaxies on Parsec Scales: Testing the Clumpy Torus models
Cristina Ramos Almeida, Nancy A. Levenson, Jose Miguel Rodriguez Espinosa, Almudena Alonso Herrero, Andres Asensio Ramos, James T. Radomski, Chris Packham, R. Scott Fisher, Charles M. Telesco, arXiv:0906.5368 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 26 pages, 8 figures, 9 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Their sample is Centaurus A, Circinus, IC 5063, Mrk 573, NGC 1386, NGC 1808, NGC 3081, NGC 3281, NGC 4388, NGC 5728, NGC 7172, NGC 7582, NGC 1365, NGC 2992, NGC 5506, NGC 3227, NGC, 4151, NGC 1566.

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Instrumentation

Analytical computation of the off-axis Effective Area of grazing incidence X-ray mirrors
D. Spiga, V. Cotroneo, S. Basso, P. Conconi, arXiv:0906.5367 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 12 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in "Astronomy & Astrophysics", section "Instruments, observational techniques, and data processing"

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Numerical Astrophysics and Hydrodynamics

Two-dimensional AMR simulations of colliding flows
Markus Niklaus, Wolfram Schmidt, Jens C. Niemeyer, arXiv:0907.1239 [pdf, other]
Comments: 6 pages, 6 figures, submitted to A&A

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Stars and Supernovae

Comparisons of the radial distributions of core-collapse supernovae with those of young and old stellar populations
J. P. Anderson, P. A. James, arXiv:0907.0034 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Predicted gamma-ray image of SN 1006 due to inverse Compton emission
O.Petruk, F.Bocchino, M.Miceli, G.Dubner, G.Castelletti, S.Orlando, D.Iakubovskyi, I.Telezhinsky, arXiv:0907.0976 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 10 pages, 11 figures, accepted in MNRAS

Interesting Astrophysics: Jun 22 - Jun 30

The following set of astrophysical preprints from arXiv attracted my attention in the last week. Beyond the usual predominance of galaxy-related papers (in particular detection of molecular P-Cygni profiles in Arp 220's core) there are a number of interesting star/star cluster related papers (in particular Krumholz & Matzner; Allison et al; van Loon).

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Galaxies and Starbursts

Star Formation Rates for Starburst Galaxies from Ultraviolet, Infrared, and Radio Luminosities
Authors: Lusine A. Sargsyan, Daniel W. Weedman, arXiv:0906.3688 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

Origin and Dynamical Support of Ionized Gas in Galaxy Bulges
Authors: Luis C. Ho, arXiv:0906.4103 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: To appear in ApJ, 11 pages, 6 figures

P-Cygni Profiles of Molecular Lines toward Arp 220 Nuclei
Authors: Kazushi Sakamoto, Susanne Aalto, David J. Wilner, John H. Black, John E. Conway, Francesco Costagliola, Alison B. Peck, Marco Spaans, Junzhi Wang, Martina C. Wiedner, arXiv:0906.5197 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: ApJL in press, 6 pages

Quest for truly isolated galaxies
Authors: Noah Brosch, arXiv:0906.4212 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Contribution for the "Galaxies in Isolation" conference

Evolution of the X-ray Luminosity in Young HII Galaxies
Authors: D. Rosa González, E. Terlevich, E. Jiménez Bailón, R. Terlevich, P. Ranalli, A. Comastri, E. Laird, K. Nandra, arXiv:0906.4461 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Accepted by MNRAS

The Discovery of a Large Lyman-alpha+HeII Nebula at z~1.67: A Candidate Low Metallicity Region?
Authors: M. K. M. Prescott, A. Dey, B. T. Jannuzi, arXiv:0906.4785 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Accepted for publication in ApJ; emulateapj format, 17 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables

An Ultraviolet Study of Star-Forming Regions in M31
Authors: Yongbeom Kang, Luciana Bianchi, Soo-Chang Rey, arXiv:0906.4839 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 39 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

From their abstract: "When star formation detected from IR measurements of the heated dust is added to the UV-measured star formation (from the unobscured populations) in the recent few Myrs, we find the SFR has slightly decreased in recent epochs, with a possible peak between 10 and 100 Myrs, and an average value of SFR ~ 0.6 or 0.7 M_{sun} yr^{-1} (for metallicity Z=0.02 or 0.05 respectively) over the last 400 Myrs."

The Cosmic Web of Baryons
Authors: Joel N. Bregman, arXiv:0906.4984 [pdf]
Comments: Submitted as a science white paper to the Decadal Survey (Astro2010). In pdf format only. 7 pages

The Missing Baryons in the Milky Way and Local Group
Authors: Joel N. Bregman, arXiv:0906.4993 [pdf]
Comments: A White Paper submitted to The Galactic Neighborhood Science Frontiers Panel of Astro2010 (Decadal Survey). 7 pages in pdf format only

Faint Lyman-Break galaxies as a crucial test for galaxy formation models
Authors: Barbara Lo Faro, Pierluigi Monaco, Eros Vanzella, Fabio Fontanot, Laura Silva, Stefano Cristiani, arXiv:0906.4998 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 17 pages, 13 figures, 1 table; accepted for publication by MNRAS

A Physical Model of Lyman Alpha Emitters
Authors: Vithal Tilvi, Sangeeta Malhotra, James E. Rhoads, Evan Scannapieco, Robert J. Thacker, Ilian T. Iliev, Garrelt Mellema, arXiv:0906.5159 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 9 pages, 6 figures, Comments welcome

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The Interstellar Medium

The Dynamics of Radiation Pressure-Dominated HII Regions
Authors: Mark R. Krumholz, Christopher D. Matzner, arXiv:0906.4343 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 10 pages, 2 figures, emulateapj format, submitted to ApJ

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Stars

Dynamical mass segregation on a very short timescale
Authors: R. J. Allison, S. P. Goodwin, R. J. Parker, R. de Grijs, S. F. Portegies Zwart, M. B. N. Kouwenhoven, arXiv:0906.4806 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: ApJ Letter, accepted

The effects of red supergiant mass loss on supernova ejecta and the circumburst medium
Authors: Jacco Th. van Loon, arXiv:0906.4855 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: Invited review, in "Hot and Cool: Bridging Gaps in Massive Star Evolution", Pasadena (USA), November 2008. ASP Conference Series, 10 pages

A Possible Supernova Remnant high above the Galactic Disk
Authors: David B. Henley, Robin L. Shelton, arXiv:0906.4937 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 16 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

Hard X-ray flux from low-mass stars in the Cygnus OB2 Association
Authors: M. Caramazza, J.J. Drake, G. Micela, E. Flaccomio, arXiv:0906.5222 [ps, pdf, other]
Comments: 5 pages

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Numerical and Statistical Methods

Fisher Matrices and Confidence Ellipses: A Quick-Start Guide and Software
Authors: Dan Coe, arXiv:0906.4123 [pdf, other]

Comments: 4 pages, 1 figure, not submitted to any journal. Comments welcome. Software will be made available at this http URL

Frank James Low, 1933-2009

Frank J. Low, a pioneer in infra-red astronomical detector design, passed away on June 10th, 2009.

Of particular note is his work on detectors for Kuiper Airborne Observatory, IRAS and the Spitzer Space Telescope.

The NYT has an obituary by Dennis Overbye: "Frank J. Low, Who Helped Drive Field of Infrared Astronomy, Dies at 75".

Another biography of him associated with his winning of the ASp's 2006 Bruce Medal can be found here.

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