Galactic outflows and the pollution of the galactic environment by supernovae

We here explore the effects of the SN explosions into the halo of star-forming galaxies like the Milky Way. Successive randomly distributed and clustered SNe explosions cause the formation of hot superbubbles that drive either fountains or galactic winds above the galactic disk, depending on the amount and concentration of energy that is injected by the SNe. In a galactic fountain, the ejected gas is re-captured by the gravitational potential and falls back onto the disk. From 3D non-equilibrium radiative cooling hydrodynamical simulations of these fountains, we find that they may reach altitudes up to about 5 kpc in the halo and thus allow for the formation of the so called intermediate-velocity-clouds (IVCs) which are often observed in the halos of disk galaxies. The high-velocity-clouds that are also observed but at higher altitudes (of up to 12 kpc) require another mechanism to explain their production. We argue that they could be formed either by the capture of gas from the intergalactic medium and/or by the action of magnetic fields that are carried to the halo with the gas in the fountains. Due to angular momentum losses to the halo, we find that the fountain material falls back to smaller radii and is not largely spread over the galactic disk. Instead, the SNe ejecta fall nearby the region where the fountain was produced, a result which is consistent with recent chemical models of the galaxy. The fall back material leads to the formation of new generations of molecular clouds and to supersonic turbulence feedback in the disk.     

X-ray halos as a possible constraint on an intergalactic dust component

We propose to use the dust scattered X-ray halo of the quasar 3C273 to check the existence of an intergalactic dust component placed along the line of sight in an intergalactic cloud. Based on numerical models we point out that the intensity profile of the X-ray halo could enable to set constraints on the the galactic extinction along the line of sight, the contribution of extragalactic dust to the observed halo as well as its distribution between the X-ray source and the observer.     

Antideuteron based dark matter search with GAPS: Current progress and future prospects

The General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is a new approach to the indirect detection of dark matter. It relies on searching for primary antideuterons produced in the annihilation of dark matter in the galactic halo. Low energy antideuterons produced through Standard Model processes, such as collisions of cosmic-rays with interstellar baryons, are greatly suppressed compared to primary antideuterons. Thus a low energy antideuteron search provides a clean signature of dark matter. In GAPS antiparticles are slowed down and captured in target atoms. The resultant exotic atom deexcites with the emission of X-rays and annihilation pions, protons and other particles. A tracking geometry allows for the detection of the X-rays and particles, providing a unique signature to identify the mass of the antiparticle. A prototype detector was successfully tested at the KEK accelerator in 2005, and a prototype GAPS balloon flight is scheduled for 2011. This will be followed by a full scale experiment on a long duration balloon from Antarctica in 2014. We discuss the status and future plans for GAPS.     

The relevance of the Eddington limit to thick accretion disks

Thick accretion disks with narrow funnels around massive black holes are considered promising models for active galactic nuclei. These models assume a supercritical accretion rate and emit collimated beams with super-Eddington luminosities. We have made approximate calculations of the interaction between the emerging radiation and the walls for an optically thin funnel. The results are sensitive to the sound velocity and to the viscosity parameter α. They suggest that a significant particle luminosity can accompany the radiation in the super-Eddington case. By applying an Eddington type limit based on mechanical equilibrium to a suitably chosen interior surface in the disk, we find that energy transport, if radiative, can strongly limit the efficiency of these models.     

Similarity of the infrared spectrum of an Orgueil organic polymer with interstellar organic compounds in the line of sight towards IRS 7.

We present a comparison between the IR spectrum of the galactic center source IRS 7 and the spectrum of a carbonaceous polymer from the Orgueil meteorite. We have obtained an almost perfect match between the two spectra in the region between 3020-2790 cm-1, which suggests that the chemical composition of the interstellar organic matter and that of the meteorite polymer are similar or that the meteoritic polymer could be a well preserved interstellar organic molecule. Assuming that the meteoritic polymer has the same C/H ratio as these interstellar molecules, we find that 45 % of the total abundance of carbon in the line of sight toward IRS 7 is trapped in such an interstellar organic grain material.     

Constraints on injection parameters of cosmic rays in the Galactic center from resolved HESS observations

In this study, we investigate how restrictive the γ-ray emission from the Galactic center region, as seen by HESS and other Cherenkov air shower arrays, is against various models for cosmic ray injection. We derive diffusion coefficients which fit the observed spatial scales of diffuse γ-ray emission from the extended emission associated with the molecular clouds SgrA, B and C. Using these diffusion coefficients, we then obtain a limit for time scale of assumed recent proton acceleration near the SMBH, as the spatial size of SgrA^∗ in VHE γ-rays has to be consistent with the observed unresolved HESS point source size at this position. The signal from this hadronic component may be mixed with the expected VHE inverse Compton emission from the nearby unresolved pulsar wind nebula.     

Pulsars and their nebulae as EGRET sources

At the end of the EGRET mission, only 6–8 Galactic sources had been identified as young pulsars. Since then, several energetic pulsars have been detected in EGRET error boxes along the Galactic plane, as well as several pulsar wind nebulae from which pulsations have not yet been discovered. Some of these nebulae are associated with moderately variable EGRET sources, suggesting that the γ-ray emission might be coming from the nebula rather than from the pulsar magnetosphere. There is also a population of unidentified EGRET sources at mid-Galactic latitudes which have been proposed to be either nearby middle-aged pulsars or millisecond pulsars. I review the current status of observational studies of pulsars associated with EGRET sources and what they suggest the upcoming AGILE and GLAST γ-ray missions might observe.     

Dark matter and dark matter candidates

The nature and identity of the dark matter of the Universe is one of the most challenging problems facing modern cosmology. Only 5% of the energy density of the Universe can be associated with known forms of matter. Problems for baryonic and neutrino dark matter imply the necessity to search beyond the standard model for dark matter candidates. Emphasis is placed on the prospects for supersymmetric dark matter.     

Clump-driven galaxy evolution and quasar activity

The collapse of a protogalaxy composed of dark matter and primordial gas has been investigated by numerical simulations and analytical multi-zone modelling in an attempt to examine the early evolution of disk galaxies. The importance of ample interstellar matter existing in young galactic disks has been highlighted. Confrontation of the theoretical results with the available observational data has led to a new picture for disk galaxy evolution, in which the bulge is the secondary object formed from disk matter. Occurrence of quasar activity is also discussed in relation to the dynamical evolution of the host galaxy.     

X-ray measurements of the dark matter distribution in clusters of galaxies with Chandra

We investigate the dark matter distributions in the central region of two clusters of galaxies (A1835 and MKW3S) using Chandra data. N-body simulations in the standard cold dark matter (CDM) model predict the dark matter distribution shows a cuspy dark matter profile: ρ(r) ∝ r, with in the range 1–2, while observations of dwarf and low surface brightness galaxies seem to favor the presence of a relatively flat core: 0 <  < 1. To investigate the dark matter distributions in the central region of clusters of galaxies, we analyze the Chandra data of A1835 and MKW3S with a deprojection method. We derive the mass profiles without the assumption of analytical models. We examine the inner slope of derived mass profiles assuming the dark matter profile is described with a power-law expression. The values of the slope are 0.95 ± 0.10 for A1835 and 1.33 ± 0.12 for MKW3S within the radius of 200 kpc. These are consistent with the result of the CDM simulations. However, within the radius of 100 kpc, the value of is less than unity for A1835 (0.47 ± 0.31). Our result implies that the central dark matter profile of some clusters cannot be described by CDM halos.     

Probing the galactic halo with ROSAT

We discuss the current status of ROSAT shadowing observations designed to search for emission from million degree gas in the halo of the Milky Way galaxy. Preliminary results indicate that million degree halo gas is observed in the 1/4 keV band in some directions, most notably toward the Draco cloud at (ℓ, b) = (92°, +38°), but that the halo emission is patchy and highly anisotropic. Our current understanding of this halo emission is based on a small handful of observations which have been analyzed to date. Many more observations are currently being analyzed or are scheduled for observation within the next year, and we expect our understanding of this component of the galactic halo to improve dramatically in the near future.     

The dark matter halo structure of “fossil” groups candidates

We investigated properties of four isolated giant elliptical galaxies with extended X-ray halo using ASCA data. The derived size of X-ray halo, X-ray luminosity, and gravitational mass of the dark halo are unusually large those of X-ray halo of a single galaxy, but are typical for X-ray halos of groups and poor clusters of galaxies. The measured temperatures and abundances of the X-ray halo gas in these galaxies are also similar to those of the groups and poor clusters. Based on these results we identified these galaxies as “isolated X-ray overluminous elliptical galaxy” (IOLEG). The radial profiles of dark halo in these objects were derived from X-ray data. It is found that some are similar to those of compact groups while others are the same as those of normal ellipticals. The dark halos of lOLEGs are thus indistinguishable from those of groups (and poor clusters), which appears to be consistent with a widely believed idea that lOLEGs are a product of dynamical evolution of a compact group. However, mass-to-light ratios of IOLEGs (M₂₀₀/L_B  100–1000) are far greater than those of Hickson compact groups M₂₀₀/L_B  40–60). Since it is hard to consider that total optical luminosity of a compact group decreases by an order of magnitude in the course of dynamical evolution, such difference in the observed mass-to-light ratio between IOLEGs and Hickson compact groups strongly suggests that most IOLEGs have not evolved from compact groups which are observed at present.     

Status and future of high energy diffuse gamma-ray astronomy

There are two distinctly different high energy diffuse γ-ray components, one well correlated with broad galactic features and the other apparently isotropic and presumably extragalactic. The observed diffuse galactic high energy γ-radiation is generally thought to be produced in interactions between the cosmic rays and the interstellar matter and photons. It should then ultimately be possible to obtain from the diffuse galactic emission a detailed picture of the galactic cosmic-ray distribution, a high contrast view of the general structure of the galaxy, and further insight into molecular clouds. Two of the candidates for the explanation of the extragalactic diffuse radiation are the sum of emission from active galaxies and matter-antimatter annihilation. A major advancement in the study of the properties of both galactic and extragalactic γ radiation should occur over the next decade.     

Cosmic-ray antiprotons in the galaxy

A key issue in fundamental physics is the nature of non-baryonic dark matter in the universe. Among the candidates proposed by the particle physics community are neutralinos whose annihilation in the Galactic halo can produce antiprotons with a characteristic spectrum. Several balloon and space borne experiments have been actively looking to detect the neutralino signature in cosmic antiprotons. This task is however hampered by the existence of a secondary “background” flux of antiprotons produced in the interactions of cosmic-ray particles in the interstellar medium. A notable difficulty is that a self-consistent and complete model of cosmic-ray propagation in the Galaxy has thus far been elusive. When subtracting the secondary background from the observed data, it is therefore critical that all viable models of secondary cosmic-ray antiproton propagation be thoroughly examined, and all uncertainties stemming from plurality of the models be duly considered. In this paper we concentrate on three particular models of Diffusion, Galactic Wind, and Distributed Stochastic Reacceleration, and discuss the predicted antiproton spectrum in each model.     

Results from the Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) on the Compton Observatory

The Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory covers the high energy gamma ray energy range, approximately 30 MeV to 30 GeV, with a sensitivity considerably greater than earlier high energy gamma-ray satellites. Thus far, 4 pulsars have been detected and their properties measured, including in 3 cases the energy spectrum as a function of phase. The details of the galactic plane are being mapped and a spectra of the center region has been obtained in good agreement with that expected from cosmic ray interactions. The Magellanic clouds have been examined with the Large Magellanic Cloud having been detected at a level consistent with it having a cosmic ray density compatible with quasi-stable equilibrium. Sixteen Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN's) have been seen thus far with a high degree of certainty including 12 quasars and 4 BL Lac objects, but no Seyferts. Time variation has been detected in some of these AGN's.     

X-ray investigations of the hot ISM

At energies less than one keV, the intensity of the galactic x-ray background dominates that of the extragalactic background in almost every direction on the sky. Below 1/4 keV, the galactic x-ray background has a galactic stellar component, but the dominant emitter seems to be hot interstellar matter. The origin of the general 3/4 keV x-ray background remains uncertain, but one component must also be the contribution from hot interstellar matter. An overview is given of recent x-ray investigations of the hot interstellar medium using data from the ROSAT XRT/PSPC instrument. Several prominent features in the low energy x-ray background that are interpreted as fossil supernova remnants are discussed.     

The composition of cosmic rays at high energies

Measurements of the composition of the cosmic rays at high energies, and of the energy spectra of the individual components provide the basis for the understanding of the sources, of the acceleration mechanism, and of the galactic containment of these particles. We briefly review the presently available information, and we describe a recent measurement on the Space Shuttle that we performed in order to substantially extend the range of energies in which the elemental composition is known. We present and discuss the results, and we also summarize and discuss recent data on the electron component of cosmic rays. The body of data now available contains several features that are difficult to explain within current models of galactic shock acceleration and “leaky box” containment. We emphasize the need for further measurements, and we briefly discuss possible opportunities for future work.     

Centaurus A: Multiwavelength observations of the nearest active galaxy from radio to gamma-rays

Centaurus A (Cen A, NGC 5128) is the nearest active galaxy and, notably, the viewing angle with respect to the jet axis is very large (> 70°). A first contemporaneous OSSE, COMPTEL, and EGRET spectrum obtained in October 1991 covers an energy range from 50 keV up to 1 GeV. This γ-ray broad-band spectrum was taken when Cen A was in an intermediate emission state as defined by the BATSE X-ray light-curve. The first simultaneous multiwavelength spectrum from radio to γ-rays was measured in July 1995 when Cen A was in a low emission state (the prevailing state for the last 7 years). The different spatial and temporal resolution in the different frequency regimes produces problems in the construction and interpretation of the multiwavelength spectra. These are addressed in this paper. The detection of emission > 1 MeV makes the inclusion of such high-energy emission into models for the spectral energy distribution mandatory.     

Understanding high-density matter through analysis of surface spectral lines and burst oscillations from accreting neutron stars

We discuss millisecond period brightness oscillations and surface atomic spectral lines observed during type I X-ray bursts from a neutron star in a low mass X-ray binary system. We show that modeling of these phenomena can constrain models of the dense cold matter at the cores of neutron stars. We demonstrate that, even for a broad and asymmetric spectral line, the stellar radius-to-mass ratio can be inferred to better than 5%. We also fit our theoretical models to the burst oscillation data of the low mass X-ray binary XTE J1814-338, and find that the 90% confidence lower limit of the neutron star’s dimensionless radius-to-mass ratio is 4.2.     

Results from the Far Ultraviolet Space Telescope (FAUST)

We present early results from the Far Ultraviolet Space Telescope (FAUST), which flew in March 1992 with the ATLAS space shuttle mission. The telescope provides wide-field images in the far ultraviolet (1400–1800 Å). Studies underway using the data obtained on this mission include establishing the brightness and distribution of far ultraviolet stars in the halo of our Galaxy, establishing the far ultraviolet properties of nearby galaxies and nearby clusters of galaxies, analyzing the diffuse galactic light, and searching for the origin of the extragalactic ultraviolet light. We discuss the instrument performance, and early results from these observations.