Multiple stellar populations in the Sextans dwarf spheroidal galaxy?     

M. Bellazzini  F.R. Ferraro  E. Pancino † 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2001,327(1):L15-L20

We present wide-field     multiband ( BVI ) CCD photometry (down to     of the very low surface brightness dwarf spheroidal galaxy Sextans. In the derived colour–magnitude diagrams we find evidence suggesting the presence of multiple stellar populations in this dwarf spheroidal. In particular, we discover (i) a blue horizontal branch tail that appears to lie on a brighter sequence with respect to the prominent red horizontal branch and the RR Lyrae stars, very similar to what was found by Majewski et al. for the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal, (ii) hints of a bimodal distribution in colour of the red giant branch stars, (iii) a double red giant branch bump. All of these features suggest that (at least) two components are present in the old stellar population of this galaxy: the main one with     and a minor component around     . The similarity to the Sculptor case may indicate that multiple star formation episodes are also common in the most nearby dwarf spheroidals that ceased their star formation activity at very early epochs.  相似文献   

Chemo-spectrophotometric evolution of spiral galaxies – IV. Star formation efficiency and effective ages of spirals     

S. Boissier  A. Boselli  N. Prantzos  G. Gavazzi 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2001,321(4):733-742

We study the star formation history of normal spirals by using a large and homogeneous data sample of local galaxies. For our analysis we utilize detailed models of chemical and spectrophotometric galactic evolution, calibrated on the Milky Way disc. We find that star formation efficiency is independent of galactic mass, while massive discs have, on average, lower gas fractions and are redder than their low-mass counterparts; put together, these findings convincingly suggest that massive spirals are older than low-mass ones. We evaluate the effective ages of the galaxies of our sample and we find that massive spirals must be several Gyr older than low-mass ones. We also show that these galaxies (having rotational velocities in the 80–400 km s⁻¹ range) cannot have suffered extensive mass losses, i.e. they cannot have lost during their lifetime an amount of mass much larger than their current content of gas+stars.  相似文献   

First results from the Isaac Newton Telescope Wide Angle Survey: the     quasar survey     

R.G. Sharp  R.G. McMahon  M.J. Irwin  S.T. Hodgkin 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2001,326(4):L45-L49

We report the first results of an observational programme designed to determine the luminosity density of high-redshift quasars     quasars) using deep multicolour CCD data. We report the discovery and spectra of three     high-redshift     quasars, including one with     . At     , this is the fourth highest redshift quasar currently published. Using these preliminary results we derive an estimate of the         quasar space density in the redshift range     of     . When completed, the survey will provide a firm constraint on the contribution to the ionizing UV background in the redshift range     from quasars by determining the faint-end slope of the quasar luminosity function. The survey uses imaging data taken with the 2.5-m Isaac Newton Telescope as part of the Public Isaac Newton Group Wide Field Survey (WFS). This initial sample of objects is taken from two fields of effective area ∼12.5 deg² from the final ∼100 deg².  相似文献   

Effective collision strengths with inclusion of resonance for hyperfine-structure transitions in H- and Li-like ions     

Hong Lin Zhang  Douglas H. Sampson 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2001,322(3):433-437

Calculations are made of the resonance contribution to electron-impact excitation of H-like ¹³C and Li-like ²³Na, ²⁵Mg, ²⁷Al and ²⁹Si to the upper hyperfine levels that produce millimetre (mm) lines of likely astrophysical interest. The resonance contribution is found to be very important for these Li-like ions, considerably more important than for Li-like ⁵⁷Fe considered previously. However, resonances are found to be rather unimportant for H-like ¹³C. The effect of radiative decay on the resonance contribution is found to be insignificant in all of the present calculations.  相似文献   

On water ice formation in interstellar clouds     

R. Papoular 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2005,362(2):489-497

A model is proposed for the formation of water ice mantles on grains in interstellar clouds. This occurs by direct accretion of monomers from the gas, be they formed by gas or surface reactions. The formation of the first monolayer requires a minimum extinction of interstellar radiation, sufficient to lower the grain temperature to the point where thermal evaporation of monomers is just offset by monomer accretion from the gas. This threshold is mainly determined by the adsorption energy of water molecules on the grain material; for hydrocarbon material, chemical simulation places this energy between 0.5 and 2 kcal mol⁻¹, which sets the (true) visible extinction threshold at a few magnitudes. However, realistic distributions of matter in a cloud will usually add to this an unrelated amount of cloud core extinction, which can explain the large dispersion of observed (apparent) thresholds. Once the threshold is crossed, all available water molecules in the gas are quickly adsorbed, because the grain cools down and the adsorption energy on ice is higher than on bare grain. The relative thickness of the mantle, and, hence, the slope of  τ₃( A _v)  depend only on the available water vapour, which is a small fraction of the oxygen abundance. Chemical simulation was also used to determine the adsorption sites and energies of O and OH on hydrocarbons and study the dynamics of formation of water molecules by surface reactions with gaseous H atoms, as well as their chances to stick in situ.  相似文献   

三峡库首区重点断裂围限区蓄水的加卸载效应     

陈蜀俊  姚运生  蔡永建 《大地测量与地球动力学》2006,26(4):97-101

通过对蓄水前后三峡库首区构造应力场进行三维数值模拟发现,相对于蓄水前,蓄水至135 m水位时,官渡口断裂-马鹿池断裂-牛口断裂围限区、秭归地理中心和九湾溪断裂带,出现了4个主应力下降区和共轭的主应力增长区,形成了差应力场;175 m水位与135 m水位相比,局部差应力场呈现逆向变化,即形成了加载效应与卸载效应的交替过程。这一过程,可能是水库诱发地震的诱震(或触震)因素。  相似文献   

Weathering process at the natural fission reactor of Bangombé     

G. Bracke  S. Salah  F. Gauthier-Lafaye 《Environmental Geology》2001,40(4-5):403-408

 The uranium deposits in the basin of Franceville (Gabon) host the only natural fission reactors known in the world. Unique geological conditions favoured a natural fission reaction 2 Ga ago. This was detected by anomalous isotopic compositions of uranium and rare earth elements (REE), which are produced by the fission reaction. In total, 16 reactor zones were found. Most of them are mined out. The reactor zone of Bangombé, is only 10–11 m below the surface. This site has been influenced by surface weathering processes. Six drill cores have been sampled at the site of the reactor zone of Bangombé during the course of the study and only one drill core (BAX 08) hit the core of the reactor. From these data and previous drilling campaigns, the reactor size is estimated to be 10 cm thick, 2–3 m wide and 4–6 m long. The migration of fission products can be traced by the anomalous isotope ratios of REE because of the fission process. The ¹⁴⁹Sm/¹⁴⁷Sm ratio close to the reactor zone is only 0.28 (normal: 0.92) because of the intense neutron capture of ¹⁴⁹Sm and subsequent transmutation, whereas ¹⁴⁷Sm is enriched by the fission reaction. Similar changes in isotopic patterns are detectable on other REE. The isotope ratios of Sm and Nd of whole rock and fracture samples surrounding the reactor indicate that fission-genic REE migrated only a few decimetres above and mainly below the reactor zone. Organic matter (bitumen) seems to act as a trap for fission-genic REE. Additional REE-patterns show less intense weathering with increasing depth in the log profile and support a simple weathering model. Received: 26 November 1999 · Accepted: 2 May 2000  相似文献   

Fragmentation and the formation of primordial protostars: the possible role of collision-induced emission     

E. Ripamonti  T. Abel 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2004,348(3):1019-1034

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The star formation history of intermediate-redshift late-type galaxies     

Ignacio Ferreras  Joseph Silk  Asmus Böhm  Bodo Ziegler 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2004,355(1):64-72

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X-shaped radio galaxies as observational evidence for the interaction of supermassive binary black holes and accretion disc at parsec scale     

F. K. Liu 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2004,347(4):1357-1369

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