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An Observational Pursuit for Population III Stars in a Lyα Emitter at z = 6.33 through He II Emission
We present a very deep near-infrared spectroscopic observation of astrong Lyα emitter at z=6.33, SDF J132440.6+273607, which we usedto search for He II λ1640. This emission line is expected if thetarget hosts a significant number of Population III stars. Even after 42ks of integration with the Subaru/OHS spectrograph, no emission-linefeatures are detected in the J and H bands, which confirms that SDFJ132440.6+273607 is neither an active galactic nucleus nor a low-zemission-line object. We obtained a 2 σ upper limit of9.06×10-18 ergs s-1 cm-2 on theHe II λ1640 emission-line flux, which corresponds to a luminosityof 4.11×1042 ergs s-1. This upper limit onthe He II λ1640 luminosity implies that the upper limit on thePopulation III star formation rate is in the range 4.9-41.2Msolar yr-1 if Population III stars suffer no massloss and in the range 1.8-13.2 Msolar yr-1 ifstrong mass loss is present. The nondetection of He II in SDFJ132440.6+273607 at z=6.33 may thus disfavor weak feedback models forPopulation III stars.Based on data collected at the Subaru Telescope, which is operated bythe National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.
| 3D mapping of the dense interstellar gas around the Local Bubble
We present intermediate results from a long-term program of mapping theneutral absorption characteristics of the local interstellar medium,motivated by the availability of accurate and consistent parallaxes fromthe Hipparcos satellite. Equivalent widths of the interstellar NaID-line doublet at 5890 Å are presented for the lines-of-sighttowards some 311 new target stars lying within ~ 350 pc of the Sun.Using these data, together with NaI absorption measurements towards afurther ~ 240 nearby targets published in the literature (for many ofthem, in the directions of molecular clouds), and the ~ 450lines-of-sight already presented by (Sfeir et al. \cite{sfeir99}), weshow 3D absorption maps of the local distribution of neutral gas towards1005 sight-lines with Hipparcos distances as viewed from a variety ofdifferent galactic projections.The data are synthesized by means of two complementary methods, (i) bymapping of iso-equivalent width contours, and (ii) by densitydistribution calculation from the inversion of column-densities, amethod devised by Vergely et al. (\cite{vergely01}). Our present dataconfirms the view that the local cavity is deficient in cold and neutralinterstellar gas. The closest dense and cold gas ``wall'', in the firstquadrant, is at ~ 55-60 pc. There are a few isolated clouds at closerdistance, if the detected absorption is not produced by circumstellarmaterial.The maps reveal narrow or wide ``interstellar tunnels'' which connectthe Local Bubble to surrounding cavities, as predicted by the model ofCox & Smith (1974). In particular, one of these tunnels, defined bystars at 300 to 600 pc from the Sun showing negligible sodiumabsorption, connects the well known CMa void (Gry et al. \cite{gry85}),which is part of the Local Bubble, with the supershell GSH 238+00+09(Heiles \cite{heiles98}). High latitude lines-of-sight with the smallestabsorption are found in two ``chimneys'', whose directions areperpendicular to the Gould belt plane. The maps show that the LocalBubble is ``squeezed'' by surrounding shells in a complicated patternand suggest that its pressure is smaller than in those expandingregions.We discuss the locations of several HI and molecular clouds. Usingcomparisons between NaI and HI or CO velocities, in some cases we areable to improve the constraints on their distances. According to thevelocity criteria, MBM 33-37, MBM 16-18, UT 3-7, and MBM 54-55 arecloser than ~ 100 pc, and MBM 40 is closer than 80 pc. Dense HI cloudsare seen at less than 90 pc and 85 pc in the directions of the MBM 12and MBM 41-43 clouds respectively, but the molecular clouds themselvesmay be far beyond. The above closest molecular clouds are located at theneutral boundary of the Bubble. Only one translucent cloud, G192-67, isclearly embedded within the LB and well isolated.These maps of the distribution of local neutral interstellar NaI gas arealso briefly compared with the distribution of both interstellar dustand neutral HI gas within 300 pc.Tables 1 and 2 are only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp:cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/411/447
| Properties of optically and X-ray selected quasars.
We have performed optical spectroscopy on 31 quasars and 8 narrowemission line objects identified from X-ray sources in two ROSAT PSPCfields at high galactic latitudes. The broad band and X-ray spectralproperties of the quasars have been investigated and are compared withthe properties of optically selected quasars observed with ROSAT in oneof the two fields. We find that optically luminous objects at highredshifts are relatively underluminous in X-rays and discuss attempts todisentangle the relations of α_ox_with luminosity and redshift.Based on simulations of the quasar samples we show that multivariateregression methods applied to the α_ox_(l_opt_,z) andα_ox_(l_x_,z) relations can yield misleading results asα_ox_and the luminosities are not statistically independentquantities. For our two samples we find that the α_ox_(l,z)relations of the optically and X-ray selected samples are consistentwith each other, not confirming previous claims about a difference. Inboth samples the mean X-ray spectra become flatter with increasingredshift. We conclude that the X-ray spectra of the low redshift objectsare dominated by a soft excess component which is shifted out of thePSPC sensitivity window for higher redshifts. From the X-ray spectraland broad band properties in our X-ray selected sample we conclude thatintrinsic absorption does not play a role in the quasar sample but insome of the narrow line objects. Our overall results are consistent withthe view that both optically and X-ray selected samples are drawn fromthe same population of objects.
| The Hercules H I shell - Distances of the gas clouds and topography of the shell
The structure and distances of high-latitude (l between 35 and 75 deg)neutral gas clouds constituting the galactic H I shell GS 57 + 41(which, due to its location in the constellation of Hercules was named'Hercules shell') are investigated, using the results of an extensivesurvey of interstellar Na I D absorption lines to determine distances tothe various neutral clouds and filaments in this field of the sky. Basedon the distances, conclusions are drawn with regard to the morphologicalstructure and the physical parameters of the GS 57 + 41. The results ofoptical high-resolution absorption and 21 cm emission line measurementsof the various H I clouds were compared with the cirrus of IRAS 100micron dust emission, as well as with the diffuse X-ray backgroundemission in this area.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Herkules |
| Right ascension: | 16h58m20.80s |
| Declination: | +28°13'08.3" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 8.665 |
| Distance: | 195.695 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | -10.4 |
| Proper motion Dec: | 16.9 |
| B-T magnitude: | 8.972 |
| V-T magnitude: | 8.691 |
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