PROTOPLANETARY DISK EVOLUTION AROUND THE TRIGGERED STAR-FORMING REGION CEPHEUS B
The Cepheus B (Cep B) molecular cloud and a portion of the nearby Cep OB3b OB association, one of the most active regions of star formation within 1 kpc, have been observed with the Infrared Array Camera detector on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. The goals are to study protoplanetary disk evolution and processes of sequential triggered star formation in the region. Out of ~400 pre-main-sequence (PMS) stars selected with an earlier Chandra X-ray Observatory observation, ~95% are identified with mid-infrared sources and most of these are classified as diskless or disk-bearing stars. The discovery of the additional >200 IR-excess low-mass members gives a combined Chandra+Spitzer PMS sample that is almost complete down to 0.5 M ? outside of the cloud, and somewhat above 1 M ? in the cloud. Analyses of the nearly disk-unbiased combined Chandra and Spitzer-selected stellar sample give several results. Our major finding is a spatio-temporal gradient of young stars from the hot molecular core toward the primary ionizing O star HD 217086. This strongly supports the radiation-driven implosion (RDI) model of triggered star formation in the region. The empirical estimate for the shock velocity of ~1 km s?1 is very similar to theoretical models of RDI in shocked molecular clouds. The initial mass function (IMF) of the lightly obscured triggered population exhibits a standard Galactic field IMF shape. The unusually high apparent value of 70% star formation efficiency inferred from the ratio of star mass to current molecular gas mass indicates that most of the Cep B molecular cloud has been already ablated or transformed to stars. Contrary to the current RDI simulations, our findings indicate that star formation triggering by H II region shocks is not restricted to a single episode but can continue for millions of years. Other results include: (1) agreement of the disk fractions, their mass dependency, and fractions of transition disks with other clusters; (2) confirmation of the youthfulness of the embedded Cep B cluster; (3) confirmation of the effect of suppression of time-integrated X-ray emission in disk-bearing versus diskless systems.

title: A Deep Chandra ACIS Study of NGC 4151. III. The Line Emission and Spectral Analysis of the Ionization Cone
abstract: This paper is the third in a series in which we present deep Chandra ACIS-S imaging spectroscopy of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4151, devoted to study its complex circumnuclear X-ray emission. Emission features in the soft X-ray spectrum of the bright extended emission (L{sub 0.3-2{sub keV}} {approx} 10{sup 40} erg s{sup -1}) at r > 130 pc (2'') are consistent with blended brighter O VII, O VIII, and Ne IX lines seen in the Chandra HETGS and XMM-Newton RGS spectra below 2 keV. We construct emission line images of these features and find good morphological correlations with the narrow-line region clouds mapped in [O III] {lambda}5007. Self-consistent photoionization models provide good descriptions of the spectra of the large-scale emission, as well as resolved structures, supporting the dominant role of nuclear photoionization, although displacement of optical and X-ray features implies a more complex medium. Collisionally ionized emission is estimated to be {approx}<12% of the extended emission. Presence of both low- and high-ionization spectral components and extended emission in the X-ray image perpendicular to the bicone indicates leakage of nuclear ionization, likely filtered through warm absorbers, instead of being blocked by a continuous obscuring torus. The ratios of [O III]/soft X-raymore » flux are approximately constant ({approx}15) for the 1.5 kpc radius spanned by these measurements, indicating similar relative contributions from the low- and high-ionization gas phases at different radial distances from the nucleus. If the [O III] and X-ray emission arise from a single photoionized medium, this further implies an outflow with a wind-like density profile. Using spatially resolved X-ray features, we estimate that the mass outflow rate in NGC 4151 is {approx}2 M{sub Sun} yr{sup -1} at 130 pc and the kinematic power of the ionized outflow is 1.7 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 41} erg s{sup -1}, approximately 0.3% of the bolometric luminosity of the active nucleus in NGC 4151.« less

title: A DEEP CHANDRA ACIS STUDY OF NGC 4151. I. THE X-RAY MORPHOLOGY OF THE 3 kpc DIAMETER CIRCUM-NUCLEAR REGION AND RELATION TO THE COLD INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM
abstract: We report on the imaging analysis of ~200 ks sub-arcsecond resolution Chandra Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS-S) observations of the nearby Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4151. Bright, structured soft X-ray emission is observed to extend from 30 pc to 1.3 kpc in the southwest from the nucleus, much farther than seen in earlier X-ray studies. The terminus of the northeastern X-ray emission is spatially coincident with a CO gas lane, where the outflow likely encounters dense gas in the host galactic disk. X-ray emission is also detected outside the boundaries of the ionization cone, which indicates that the gas there is not completely shielded from the nuclear continuum, as would be the case for a molecular torus collimating the bicone. In the central r < 200 pc region, the subpixel processing of the ACIS data recovers the morphological details on scales of <30 pc (<05) first discovered in Chandra High Resolution Camera images. The X-ray emission is more absorbed toward the boundaries of the ionization cone, as well as perpendicular to the bicone along the direction of a putative torus in NGC 4151. The innermost region where X-ray emission shows the highest hardness ratio is spatially coincident with the near-infrared-resolved H2 emission and dusty spirals we find in an Hubble Space Telescope V – H color image. The agreement between the observed H2 line flux and the value predicted from X-ray-irradiated molecular cloud models supports photo-excitation by X-rays from the active nucleus as the origin of the H2 line, although contribution from UV fluorescence or collisional excitation cannot be ruled out with current data. The discrepancy between the mass of cold molecular gas inferred from recent CO and near-infrared H2 observations may be explained by the anomalous CO abundance in this X-ray-dominated region. The total H2 mass derived from the X-ray observation agrees with the recent measurement by Storchi-Bergmann et al.

title: IMAGING THE CIRCUMNUCLEAR REGION OF NGC 1365 WITH CHANDRA
abstract: We present the first Chandra/ACIS imaging study of the circumnuclear region of the nearby Seyfert galaxy NGC 1365. The X-ray emission is resolved into pointlike sources and complex, extended emission. The X-ray morphology of the extended emission shows a biconical soft X-ray-emission region extending ~5 kpc in projection from the nucleus, coincident with the high-excitation outflow cones seen in optical emission lines particularly to the northwest. Harder X-ray emission is detected from a kpc-diameter circumnuclear ring, coincident with the star-forming ring prominent in the Spitzer mid-infrared (IR) images; this X-ray emission is partially obscured by the central dust lane of NGC 1365. Spectral fitting of spatially separated components indicates a thermal plasma origin for the soft extended X-ray emission (kT = 0.57 keV). Only a small amount of this emission can be due to photoionization by the nuclear source. Detailed comparison with [O III]λ5007 observations shows that the hot interstellar medium (ISM) is spatially anticorrelated with the [O III]-emitting clouds and has thermal pressures comparable to those of the [O III] media, suggesting that the hot ISM acts as a confining medium for the cooler photoionized clouds. The abundance ratios of the hot ISM are fully consistent with the theoretical values for enrichment from Type II supernovae, suggesting that the hot ISM is a wind from the starburst circumnuclear ring. X-ray emission from a ~450 pc long nuclear radio jet is also detected to the southeast.

title: The X-ray reflector in NGC 4945: a time- and space-resolved portrait
abstract: We present a time, spectral and imaging analysis of the X-ray reflector in NGC 4945, which reveals its geometrical and physical structure with unprecedented detail. NGC 4945 hosts one of the brightest AGN in the sky above 10 keV, but it is only visible through its reflected/scattered emission below 10 keV, due to absorption by a column density of ∼4 × 10 24 cm −2 .An ew Suzaku campaign of five observations spanning ∼6 months, together with past XMM–Newton and Chandra observations, shows a remarkable constancy (within <10 per cent) of the reflected component. Instead, Swift-BAT reveals strong intrinsic variability on time-scales longer than 1 yr. Modelling the circumnuclear gas as a thin cylinder with the axis on the plane of the sky, we show that the reflector is at a distance ≥30–50 pc, well within the imaging capabilities of Chandra at the distance of NGC 4945 (1 arcsec ∼18 pc). Accordingly, the Chandra imaging reveals a resolved, flattened, ∼150 pc long clumpy structure, whose spectrum is fully due to cold reflection of the primary AGN emission. The clumpiness may explain the small covering factor derived from the spectral and variability properties.

title: A DEEP CHANDRA ACIS STUDY OF NGC 4151. II. THE INNERMOST EMISSION LINE REGION AND STRONG EVIDENCE FOR RADIO JET–NLR CLOUD COLLISION
abstract: We have studied the X-ray emission within the inner {approx}150 pc radius of NGC 4151 by constructing high spatial resolution emission line images of blended O VII, O VIII, and Ne IX. These maps show extended structures that are spatially correlated with the radio outflow and optical [O III] emission. We find strong evidence for jet-gas cloud interaction, including morphological correspondences with regions of X-ray enhancement, peaks of near-infrared [Fe II] emission, and optical clouds. In these regions, moreover, we find evidence of elevated Ne IX/O VII ratios; the X-ray emission of these regions also exceeds that expected from nuclear photoionization. Spectral fitting reveals the presence of a collisionally ionized component. The thermal energy of the hot gas suggests that {approx}> 0.1% of the estimated jet power is deposited into the host interstellar medium through interaction between the radio jet and the dense medium of the circumnuclear region. We find possible pressure equilibrium between the collisionally ionized hot gas and the photoionized line-emitting cool clouds. We also obtain constraints on the extended iron and silicon fluorescent emission. Both lines are spatially unresolved. The upper limit on the contribution of an extended emission region to the Fe K{alpha} emission is {approx}<more » 5% of the total, in disagreement with a previous claim that 65% of the Fe K{alpha} emission originates in the extended narrow line region.« less

title: EVOLUTION OF GASEOUS DISK VISCOSITY DRIVEN BY SUPERNOVA EXPLOSION. II. STRUCTURE AND EMISSIONS FROM STAR-FORMING GALAXIES AT HIGH REDSHIFT
abstract: High spatial resolution observations show that high-redshift galaxies are undergoing intensive evolution of dynamical structure and morphologies displayed by the Hα, Hβ, [O III], and [N II] images. It has been shown that supernova explosion (SNexp) of young massive stars during the star formation epoch, as kinetic feedback to host galaxies, can efficiently excite the turbulent viscosity. We incorporate the feedback into the dynamical equations through mass dropout and angular momentum transportation driven by the SNexp-excited turbulent viscosity. The empirical Kennicutt-Schmidt law is used for star formation rates (SFRs). We numerically solve the equations and show that there can be intensive evolution of structure of the gaseous disk. Secular evolution of the disk shows interesting characteristics: (1) high viscosity excited by SNexp can efficiently transport the gas from 10 kpc to ~1 kpc forming a stellar disk whereas a stellar ring forms for the case with low viscosity; (2) starbursts trigger SMBH activity with a lag of ~108 yr depending on SFRs, prompting the joint evolution of SMBHs and bulges; and (3) the velocity dispersion is as high as ~100 km s–1 in the gaseous disk. These results are likely to vary with the initial mass function (IMF) that the SNexp rates rely on. Given the IMF, we use the GALAXEV code to compute the spectral evolution of stellar populations based on the dynamical structure. In order to compare the present models with the observed dynamical structure and images, we use the incident continuum from the simple stellar synthesis and CLOUDY to calculate emission line ratios of Hα, Hβ, [O III], and [N II], and Hα brightness of gas photoionized by young massive stars formed on the disks. The models can produce the main features of emission from star-forming galaxies. We apply the present model to two galaxies, BX 389 and BX 482 observed in the SINS high-z sample, which are bulge and disk-dominated, respectively. Two successive rings independently evolving are able to reproduce the main dynamical and emission properties of the two galaxies, such as the Baldwin-Phillips-Terlevich diagram, the relation between line ratios, and Hα brightness. The observed relation between turbulent velocity and the Hα brightness can be explained by the present model. High viscosity excited by SNexp is able to efficiently transport the gas into a bulge to maintain high SFRs or to form a stellar ring close enough to the bulge so that it immigrates into the bulge of its host galaxy. This leads to a fast growing bulge. Implications and future work of the present models have been extensively discussed for galaxy formation in high-z universe.

title: Quantifying the role of bars in the build-up of central mass concentrations in disc galaxies
abstract: We analyze the role of bars in the build-up of central mass concentrations in massive, disk galaxies. Our parent sample consists of 3757 face-on disk galaxies with redshifts between 0.01 and 0.05, selected from the seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. 1555 galaxies with bars are identified using position angle and el lipticity profiles of the i-band light. We compare the ratio of the specific star formation rate measu red in the 1-3 kpc central region of the galaxy to that measured for the whole galaxy. Galaxies with strong bars have centrally enhanced star formation; the degree of enhancement depends primarily on the ellipticity of the bar, and not on the size of the bar or on the mass or structure of the host galaxy. The fraction of galaxies with strong bars is highest at stellar m asses greater than 3×10 10 M⊙, stellar surface densities less than 3× 10 8 M⊙ and concentration indices less than 2.5. In this region of parameter space, galaxies with strong bars either have enhanced central star formation rates, or star formation that is suppressed compared to the mean. This suggests that bars may play a role in the eventual quenching of star formation in galaxies. Only 50% of galaxies with strongly concentrated star formation have strong bars, indicating that other processes such as galaxy interactions also induce central star-bursts. We al so find that the ratio of the size of the bar to that of the disk depends mainly on the colour of the galaxy, suggesting that the growth and destruction of bars are regulated by gas accretion, as su ggested by simulations.

title: Roadmap for selected key measurements of LHCb
abstract: Six of the key physics measurements that will be made by the LHCb experiment, concerning CP asymmetries and rare B decays, are discussed in detail. The "road map" towards the precision measurements is presented, including the use of control channels and other techniques to understand the performance of the detector with the first data from the LHC.

title: Very-low-mass Stellar and Substellar Companions to Solar-like Stars from Marvels. III. A Short-period Brown Dwarf Candidate around an Active G0IV Subgiant
abstract: We present an eccentric, short-period brown dwarf candidate orbiting the active, slightly evolved subgiant star TYC 2087-00255-1, which has effective temperature T_(eff) = 5903 ± 42 K, surface gravity log (g) = 4.07 ± 0.16 (cgs), and metallicity [Fe/H] = -0.23 ± 0.07. This candidate was discovered using data from the first two years of the Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanets Large-area Survey, which is part of the third phase of Sloan Digital Sky Survey. From our 38 radial velocity measurements spread over a two-year time baseline, we derive a Keplerian orbital fit with semi-amplitude K = 3.571 ± 0.041 km s^(–1), period P = 9.0090 ± 0.0004 days, and eccentricity e = 0.226 ± 0.011. Adopting a mass of 1.16 ± 0.11 M_☉ for the subgiant host star, we infer that the companion has a minimum mass of 40.0 ± 2.5 M_(Jup). Assuming an edge-on orbit, the semimajor axis is 0.090 ± 0.003 AU. The host star is photometrically variable at the ~1% level with a period of ~13.16 ± 0.01 days, indicating that the host star spin and companion orbit are not synchronized. Through adaptive optics imaging we also found a point source 643 ± 10 mas away from TYC 2087-00255-1, which would have a mass of 0.13 M_☉ if it is physically associated with TYC 2087-00255-1 and has the same age. Future proper motion observation should be able to resolve if this tertiary object is physically associated with TYC 2087-00255-1 and make TYC 2087-00255-1 a triple body system. Core Ca II H and K line emission indicate that the host is chromospherically active, at a level that is consistent with the inferred spin period and measured v_(rot) sin i, but unusual for a subgiant of this T_(eff). This activity could be explained by ongoing tidal spin-up of the host star by the companion.

title: The Aquarius project: the subhaloes of galactic haloes
abstract: We have performed the largest ever particle simulation of a Milky Way sized dark matter halo, and present the most comprehensive convergence study for an individual dark matter halo carried out thus far. We have also simulated a sample of six ultrahighly resolved Milky Way sized haloes, allowing us to estimate the halo-to-halo scatter in substructure statistics. In our largest simulation, we resolve nearly 300 000 gravitationally bound subhaloes within the virialized region of the halo. Simulations of the same object differing in mass resolution by factors of up to 1800 accurately reproduce the largest subhaloes with the same mass, maximum circular velocity and position, and yield good convergence for the abundance and internal properties of dark matter substructures. We detect up to four generations of subhaloes within subhaloes, but contrary to recent claims, we find less substructure in subhaloes than in the main halo when regions of equal mean overdensity are compared. The overall substructure mass fraction is much lower in subhaloes than in the main halo. Extrapolating the main halo's subhalo mass spectrum down to an Earth mass, we predict the mass fraction in substructure to be well below 3 per cent within 100 kpc, and to be below 0.1 per cent within the solar circle. The inner density profiles of subhaloes show no sign of converging to a fixed asymptotic slope and are well fitted by gently curving profiles of Einasto form. The mean concentrations of isolated haloes are accurately described by the fitting formula of Neto et al. down to maximum circular velocities of 1.5 km s(-1), an extrapolation over some five orders of magnitude in mass. However, at equal maximum circular velocity, subhaloes are more concentrated than field haloes, with a characteristic density that is typically similar to 2.6 times larger and increases with decreasing distance from halo centre.