Microlensing of broad absorption line quasars     

Lewis  & Belle 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》1998,297(1):69-76

The physical nature of the material responsible for the high-velocity broad absorption line (BAL) features seen in a small fraction of quasar spectra has been the subject of debate since their discovery. This has been especially compounded by the lack of observational probes of the absorbing region. In this paper we examine the role of 'microlenses' in external galaxies in the observed variability in the profiles of BALs in multiply imaged quasars. Utilizing realistic models for both the BAL region and the action of an ensemble of microlensing masses, we demonstrate that stars at cosmological distances can provide an important probe of the physical state and structure of material at the heart of these complex systems. Applying these results to the macrolensed BAL quasar system H1413+117, the observed spectral variations are readily reproduced, but without the fine-tuning requirements of earlier studies which employ more simplistic models.  相似文献   

A new look at the isotropy of narrow-line emission in extragalactic radio sources     

Chris Simpson 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》1998,297(2):L39-L43

We undertake a quantitative investigation, using Monte Carlo simulations, of the amount by which quasars are expected to exceed radio galaxies in optical luminosity in the context of the 'receding torus' model. We compare these simulations with the known behaviour of the [O  III ] λ5007 and [O  II ] λ3727 emission lines and conclude that [O  III ] is the better indicator of the strength of the underlying non-stellar continuum.  相似文献   

Possible formation scenarios for the giant H i envelope around the NGC 4490/4485 system     

M. S. Clemens  P. Alexander  & D. A. Green 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》1998,297(4):1015-1020

We present observations of H i in the nearby interacting galaxies NGC 4490 and 4485 made with the VLA in both C and D arrays. The galaxies are embedded in an extensive envelope of neutral hydrogen which is elongated in a direction approximately perpendicular to the plane of NGC 4490, with an extent of about 56 kpc. We argue that this distribution of neutral hydrogen can best be explained by a galactic-scale bipolar outflow of H  i driven by supernovae in NGC 4490. The flow from the disc appears to be reasonably well collimated and has probably persisted for approximately 6 × 10⁸ yr. The implications for galaxy evolution when such mass loss occurs are briefly discussed.  相似文献   

MERLIN observations of water maser proper motions in VY Canis Majoris     

A. M. S. Richards  J. A. Yates  & R. J. Cohen 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》1998,299(2):319-331

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High-redshift galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field— II. Colours and number counts     

Lucia Pozzetti  Piero Madau  Gianni Zamorani  Henry C. Ferguson  & Gustavo Bruzual A. 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》1998,298(4):1133-1144

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Mid-infrared imaging of WL 16: the spatial distribution of the hydrocarbon emission features     

Moore  Emerson  Skinner  Meixner  Arens  & Jernigan 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》1998,299(4):1209-1214

We present arcsec-resolution images at 8.2, 10.0 and 11.3 μm of the unusual young object WL 16 in Ophiuchus, which has an extended envelope of fluorescing hydrocarbon molecules. To the limit of achieved sensitivity, the faint 10.0-μm continuum has a surface-brightness distribution that is not distinguishable from those at 8.2 and 11.3 μm, where the luminosity is known to be dominated by the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission features. We conclude that the 10-μm continuum either arises from non-equilibrium heating of small dust grains that are well mixed with the hydrocarbons or is quasi-continuous emission from the PAH particles themselves, rather than thermal equilibrium emission from macroscopic dust grains, and that there is no significant silicate absorption variation across the source. The extended hydrocarbon emission may trace a flattened, equatorial distribution of circumstellar material or arise in bipolar lobes. The former case is slightly favoured, based on currently available data, and would imply that WL 16 is a relatively evolved Herbig Ae star, the equatorial plane of which has been almost cleared of normal dust, leaving only fluorescing hydrocarbons and larger coagulated particles as a possibly transient fossil of the original circumstellar disc.  相似文献   

Precise laboratory wavelengths of the Mg I and Mg II resonance transitions at 2853, 2803 and 2796 Å     

J. C. Pickering  A. P. Thorne  & J. K. Webb 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》1998,300(1):131-134

Strong ultraviolet resonance transitions are observed routinely both in the Galactic interstellar medium and in quasar absorption systems. The quality of the astronomical spectroscopic data now available demands more precise laboratory rest wavelengths. Of particular interest is the accuracy with which one can constrain space–time variations in fundamental constants using quasar spectra. A recent analysis by Webb et al. of 25 quasar spectra using Mg and Fe transitions tentatively suggests that the fine-structure constant was smaller at earlier epochs. To permit a check on this result, and to allow further more extensive investigations, we have carried out a new determination of the laboratory wavelengths of Mg  i  2853 Å, Mg  II  2796 Å and Mg  II  2803 Å by high-resolution Fourier transform spectroscopy. Our results for Mg  II  2796 Å are consistent with the value measured independently by two other groups. To our knowledge, no previous measurements of comparable precision exist for Mg  I  2853 Å and Mg  II  2803 Å.  相似文献   

1982年12月2日耀斑随时间变化的半经验模型     

方成  黄佑然  胡菊  甘为群 《中国天文和天体物理学报》1986,(4)

我们利用南京大学太阳塔中的多波段光谱仪,在H_α、H_β和CaⅡ H、K三个波段同时拍到了1982年12月2日日面S15W11处的一个SB级耀斑的光谱。本文给出其中七个时刻的谱线轮廓及有关参数的序列。在非局部热动平衡条件下计算了耀斑随时间变化的半经验模型,结果显示了色球耀斑的演化过程。利用模型得到了一些色球物质蒸发参数,结果同根据SMM的X射线观测所作的估计相一致。  相似文献   

On the origin of the galactic ridge recombination lines     

K. R. Anantharamaiah 《Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy》1986,7(3):131-139

Radio recombination lines are known to be observable at positions along the galactic ridge which are free of discrete continuum sources. Based on the results of a recent survey of H272α lines it is shown that most of the observed galactic ridge recombination lines can be explained as emission from outer low-density envelopes of normal Hn regions. The distribution of low-density ionized gas and discrete HII regions as a function of the distance from the galactic centre is also derived.  相似文献   

A broad-band spectroscopic search for CO line emission in HDF850.1: the brightest submillimetre object in the Hubble Deep Field-North     

J. Wagg  D. H. Hughes  I. Aretxaga  E. L. Chapin  J. S. Dunlop  E. Gaztañaga  M. Devlin 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2007,375(2):745-752

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