Point source

About: Point source is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5077 publications have been published within this topic receiving 94091 citations.

Fermi Discovery of Gamma-Ray Emission from NGC 1275

Abstract: We report the discovery of high-energy (E>100 MeV) gamma-ray emission from NGC 1275, a giant elliptical galaxy lying at the center of the Perseus cluster of galaxies, based on observations made with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) of the Fermi Gamma ray Space Telescope. The positional center of the gamma-ray source is only ~3' away from the NGC 1275 nucleus, well within the 95% LAT error circle of ~5'.The spatial distribution of gamma-ray photons is consistent with a point source. The average flux and power-law photon index measured with the LAT from 2008 August 4 to 2008 December 5 are F_gamma = (2.10+-0.23)x 10^{-7} ph (>100 MeV) cm^{-2} s^{-1} and Gamma = 2.17+-0.05, respectively. The measurements are statistically consistent with constant flux during the four-month LAT observing period.Previous EGRET observations gave an upper limit of F_gamma 100 MeV) cm^{-2} s^{-1} to the gamma-ray flux from NGC 1275. This indicates that the source is variable on timescales of years to decades, and therefore restricts the fraction of emission that can be produced in extended regions of the galaxy cluster. Contemporaneous and historical radio observations are also reported. The broadband spectrum of NGC 1275 is modeled with a simple one-zone synchrotron/synchrotron self-Compton model and a model with a decelerating jet flow.

Waveform inversion of very-long-period impulsive signals associated with magmatic injection beneath Kilauea volcano, Hawaii

Abstract: We use data from broadband seismometers deployed around the summit of Kilauea Volcano to quantify the mechanism associated with a transient in the flow of magma feeding the east rift eruption of the volcano. The transient is marked by rapid inflation of the Kilauea summit peaking at 22 μrad 4.5 hours after the event onset, followed by slow deflation over a period of 3 days. Superimposed on the summit inflation is a series of sawtooth displacement pulses, each characterized by a sudden drop in amplitude lasting 5–10 s followed by an exponential recovery lasting 1–3 min. The sawtooth waveforms display almost identical shapes, suggesting a process involving the repeated activation of a fixed source. The particle motion associated with each sawtooth is almost linear, and its major swing shows compressional motion at all stations. Analyses of semblance and particle motion are consistent with a point source located 1 km beneath the northeast edge of the Halemaumau pit crater. To estimate the source mechanism, we apply a moment tensor inversion to the waveform data, assuming a point source embedded in a homogeneous half-space with compressional and shear wave velocities representative of the average medium properties at shallow depth under Kilauea. Synthetic waveforms are constructed by a superposition of impulse responses for six moment tensor components and three single force components. The origin times of individual impulses are distributed along the time axis at appropriately small, equal intervals, and their amplitudes are determined by least squares. In this inversion, the source time functions of the six tensor and three force components are determined simultaneously. We confirm the accuracy of the inversion method through a series of numerical tests. The results from the inversion show that the waveform data are well explained by a pulsating transport mechanism operating on a subhorizontal crack linking the summit reservoir to the east rift of Kilauea. The crack acts like a buffer in which a batch of fluid (magma and/or gas) accumulates over a period of 1–3 min before being rapidly injected into a larger reservoir (possibly the east rift) over a timescale of 5–10 s. The seismic moment and volume change associated with a typical batch of fluid are approximately 1014 N m and 3000 m3, respectively. Our results also point to the existence of a single force component with amplitude of 109 N, which may be explained as the drag force generated by the flow of viscous magma through a narrow constriction in the flow path. The total volume of magma associated with the 4.5-hour-long activation of the pulsating source is roughly 500,000 m3 in good agreement with the integrated volume flow rate of magma estimated near the eruptive site.

Iron Kα lines from X-ray photoionized accretion discs

Abstract: The properties of the iron Kα line emitted by an accretion disc illuminated by an external X-ray source are calculated for different values of the disc accretion rate m, and for two different source geometries: a point source located on the disc axis and an extended source above the innermost part of the disc. We find that for large values of m the matter can be significantly ionized, and the iron line equivalent width can reach values as high as 250 eV for the point source, and up to about 400 eV for the extended source; the line centroid energy, in the emitting rest frame, is significantly higher than 6.4 keV, the value for neutral iron. A further increase of m leads to a strong decrease of the line intensity, because the iron becomes fully stripped in the inner region of the disc

Solutions of the bio-heat transfer equation.

Abstract: A solution of the bio-heat transfer equation for a 'step-function point source' is presented and discussed. From this basic solution one can, in principle, obtain the temperature field resulting from a general heat source distribution by superposition. As an example, the method is used to calculate the temperature on the body surface at a point where therapeutic ultrasound is applied. Comparison is made with experimental results recently published by Williams and co-workers.