European Southern Observatory

About: European Southern Observatory is a facility organization based out in Garching bei München, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Galaxy & Stars. The organization has 3594 authors who have published 16157 publications receiving 823095 citations. The organization is also known as: The European Southern Observatory，ESO & ESO.

Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): ugriz galaxy luminosity functions

Abstract: Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) is a project to study galaxy formation and evolution, combining imaging data from ultraviolet to radio with spectroscopic data from the AAOmega spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. Using data from Phase 1 of GAMA, taken over three observing seasons, and correcting for various minor sources of incompleteness, we calculate galaxy luminosity functions (LFs) and their evolution in the ugriz passbands. At low redshift, z < 0.1, we find that blue galaxies, defined according to a magnitude-dependent but non-evolving colour cut, are reasonably well fitted over a range of more than 10 magnitudes by simple Schechter functions in all bands. Red galaxies, and the combined blue plus red sample, require double power-law Schechter functions to fit a dip in their LF faintwards of the characteristic magnitude M* before a steepening faint end. This upturn is at least partly due to dust-reddened disc galaxies. We measure the evolution of the galaxy LF over the redshift range 0.002 < z < 0.5 both by using a parametric fit and by measuring binned LFs in redshift slices. The characteristic luminosity L* is found to increase with redshift in all bands, with red galaxies showing stronger luminosity evolution than blue galaxies. The comoving number density of blue galaxies increases with redshift, while that of red galaxies decreases, consistent with prevailing movement from blue cloud to red sequence. As well as being more numerous at higher redshift, blue galaxies also dominate the overall luminosity density beyond redshifts z≃ 0.2. At lower redshifts, the luminosity density is dominated by red galaxies in the riz bands, and by blue galaxies in u and g.

M22: An [Fe/H] Abundance Range Revealed

Abstract: Intermediate resolution spectra at the Ca II triplet have been obtained for 55 candidate red giants in the field of the globular cluster M22 with the VLT/FORS2 instrument. Spectra were also obtained for a number of red giants in standard globular clusters to provide a calibration of the observed line strengths with overall abundance [Fe/H]. For the 41 M22 member stars that lie within the V – VHB bounds of the calibration, we find an abundance distribution that is substantially broader than that expected from the observed errors alone. We argue that this broad distribution cannot be the result of differential reddening. Instead, we conclude that, as has long been suspected, M22 is similar to ω Cen in having an intrinsic dispersion in heavy element abundance. The observed M22 abundance distribution rises sharply to a peak at [Fe/H] –1.9 with a broad tail to higher abundances: the highest abundance star in our sample has [Fe/H] –1.45 dex. If the unusual properties of ω Cen have their origin in a scenario in which the cluster is the remnant nucleus of a disrupted dwarf galaxy, then such a scenario likely also applies to M22.

Planck intermediate results. XX. Comparison of polarized thermal emission from Galactic dust with simulations of MHD turbulence

Abstract: Polarized emission observed by Planck HFI at 353 GHz towards a sample of nearby fields is presented, focusing on the statistics of polarization fractions p and angles ψ. The polarization fractions and column densities in these nearby fields are representative of the range of values obtained over the whole sky. We find that: (i) the largest polarization fractions are reached in the most diffuse fields; (ii) the maximum polarization fraction pmax decreases with column density NH in the more opaque fields with NH> 1021 cm-2; and (iii) the polarization fraction along a given line of sight is correlated with the local spatial coherence of the polarization angle. These observations are compared to polarized emission maps computed in simulations of anisotropic magnetohydrodynamical turbulence in which we assume a uniform intrinsic polarization fraction of the dust grains. We find that an estimate of this parameter may be recovered from the maximum polarization fraction pmax in diffuse regions where the magnetic field is ordered on large scales and perpendicular to the line of sight. This emphasizes the impact of anisotropies of the magnetic field on the emerging polarization signal. The decrease of the maximum polarization fraction with column density in nearby molecular clouds is well reproduced in the simulations, indicating that it is essentially due to the turbulent structure of the magnetic field: an accumulation of variously polarized structures along the line of sight leads to such an anti-correlation. In the simulations, polarization fractions are also found to anti-correlate with the angle dispersion function

Element abundances of unevolved stars in the open cluster M 67

Abstract: Context. The star-to-star scatter in lithium abundances observed among otherwise similar stars in the solar-age open cluster M 67 is one of the most puzzling results in the context of the so called “lithium problem”. Among other explanations, the hypothesis has been proposed that the dispersion in Li is due to star-to-star differences in Fe or other element abundances which are predicted to affect Li depletion. Aims. The primary goal of this study is the determination of the metallicity ([Fe/H]), α - and Fe-peak abundances in a sample of Li-poor and Li-rich stars belonging to M 67, in order to test this hypothesis. By comparison with previous studies, the present investigation also allows us to check for intrinsic differences in the abundances of evolved and unevolved cluster stars and to draw more secure conclusions on the abundance pattern of this cluster. Methods. We have carried out an analysis of high resolution UVES/VLT spectra of eight unevolved and two slightly evolved cluster members using MOOG and measured equivalent widths. For all the stars we have determined [Fe/H] and element abundances for O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr and Ni. Results. We find an average metallicity [Fe/H] = $0.03\pm0.01$, in very good agreement with previous determinations. All the [ X /Fe] abundance ratios are very close to solar. The star-to-star scatter in [Fe/H] and [ X /Fe] ratios for all elements, including oxygen, is lower than 0.05 dex, implying that the large dispersion in lithium among cluster stars is not due to differences in these element abundances. We also find that, when using a homogeneous scale, the abundance pattern of unevolved stars in our sample is very similar to that of evolved stars, suggesting that, at least in this cluster, RGB and clump stars have not undergone any chemical processing. Finally, our results show that M 67 has a chemical composition that is representative of the solar neighborhood.

A Lyman-α blob in the GOODS South field: evidence for cold accretion onto a dark matter halo ⋆

Abstract: Received date / Accepted date Abstract. We report on the discovery of a z = 3.16 Lyman-� emitting blob in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) South field. The discovery was made with the VLT, through narrow-band imaging. The blob has a total Ly� luminosity of � 10 43 erg s −1 and a diameter larger than 60 kpc. The available multi-wavelength data in the GOODS field consists of 13 bands from X-rays (Chandra) to infrared (Spitzer). Unlike other known Lyblobs, this blob shows no obvious continuum counter-parts in any of the broad-bands. In particular, no optical counter-parts are found in deep HST/ACS imaging. For previously published blobs, AGN (Active Galactic Nuclei) or "superwind" models have been found to provide the best match to the data. We here argue that the most probable origin of the extended Lyemission from this blob is cold accretion onto a dark matter halo.