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.

The Aquila prestellar core population revealed by Herschel

Abstract: The origin and possible universality of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is a major issue in astrophysics. One of the main objectives of the Herschel Gould Belt Survey is to clarify the link between the prestellar core mass function (CMF) and the IMF. We present and discuss the core mass function derived from Herschel data for the large population of prestellar cores discovered with SPIRE and PACS in the Aquila Rift cloud complex at d ~ 260 pc. We detect a total of 541 starless cores in the entire ~11 deg^2 area of the field imaged at 70-500 micron with SPIRE/PACS. Most of these cores appear to be gravitationally bound, and thus prestellar in nature. Our Herschel results confirm that the shape of the prestellar CMF resembles the stellar IMF, with much higher quality statistics than earlier submillimeter continuum ground-based surveys.

A companion to AB Pic at the planet/brown dwarf boundary

Abstract: We report deep imaging observations of the young, nearby star AB Pic, a member of the large Tucana-Horologium association. We have detected a faint, red source 5.5 South of the star with JHK colors compatible with that of a young substellar L dwarf. Follow-up observations at two additional epochs confirm, with a confidence level of 4.7σ, that the faint red object is a companion to AB Pic rather than it being a stationary background object. A low resolution K-band spectrum indicates an early-L spectral type for the companion. Finally, evolutionary model predictions based on the JHK photometry of AB Pic b indicate a mass of 13 to 14 M Jup if its age is ∼30 Myr. Is AB Pic b a massive planet or a minimum mass brown dwarf?

ULTRACAM: an ultrafast, triple - beam CCD camera for high-speed astrophysics

Abstract: ULTRACAM is a portable, high-speed imaging photometer designed to study faint astronomical objects at high temporal resolutions. ULTRACAM employs two dichroic beamsplitters and three frame-transfer CCD cameras to provide three-colour optical imaging at frame rates of up to 500 Hz. The instrument has been mounted on both the 4.2-m William Herschel Telescope on La Palma and the 8.2-m Very Large Telescope in Chile, and has been used to study white dwarfs, brown dwarfs, pulsars, black hole/neutron star X-ray binaries, gamma-ray bursts, cataclysmic variables, eclipsing binary stars, extrasolar planets, flare stars, ultracompact binaries, active galactic nuclei, asteroseismology and occultations by Solar System objects (Titan, Pluto and Kuiper Belt objects). In this paper we describe the scientific motivation behind ULTRACAM, present an outline of its design and report on its measured performance.

Departures from LTE for neutral Li in late-type stars

Abstract: We perform non-LTE calculations of lithium in late-type stars for a wide range of stellar parameters, including quantum mechanical cross-sections for collisions with neutral hydrogen and th e negative hydrogen ion. Non-LTE abundance corrections for the lithium resonance line at 670.7 nm and the subordinate line at 610.3 nm, are calculated using 1D MARCS model atmospheres spanning a grid Teff = [4000, 8000] K, log g = [1.0, 5.0], and [Fe/H] = [0.0,−3.0], for lithium abundances in the range A(Li) = [−0.3, 4.2]. The competing effects of ultraviolet over-ionization and photon losses in th e resonance line govern the behaviour of the non-LTE effects with stellar parameters and lithium abundance. The size and sign of the non-LTE abundance corrections vary signific antly over the grid for the 670.7 nm line, but are typically positive and below 0.15 dex for the 610.3 nm, line. The new collisional data play a significant role in determining the abundance corrections.