No Arabic abstract
We have observed a sample of 64 small diameter sources towards the central -6 degree < l< 6 degree, -2 degree < b < 2 degree of the Galaxy with the aim of studying the Faraday rotation measure near the Galactic Centre (GC) region. All the sources were observed at 6 and 3.6 cm wavelengths using the ATCA and the VLA. Fifty nine of these sources are inferred to be extragalactic. The observations presented here constitute the first systematic study of the radio polarisation properties of the background sources towards this direction and increases the number of known extragalactic radio sources in this part of the sky by almost an order of magnitude. Based on the morphology, spectral indices and lack of polarised emission, we identify four Galactic HII regions in the sample.
To determine the properties of the Faraday screen and the magnetic field near the central region of the Galaxy, we measured the Faraday rotation measure (RM) towards 60 background extragalactic source components through the -6 deg < l <6 deg, -2 deg < b < 2 deg region of the Galaxy using the 4.8 and 8.5 GHz bands of the ATCA and VLA. Here we use the measured RMs to estimate the systematic and the random components of the magnetic fields. The measured RMs are found to be mostly positive for the sample sources in the region. This is consistent with either a large scale bisymmetric spiral magnetic fields in the Galaxy or with fields oriented along the central bar of the Galaxy. The outer scale of the RM fluctuation is found to be about 40 pc, which is much larger than the observed RM size scales towards the non-thermal filaments (NTFs). The RM structure function is well-fitted with a power law index of 0.7 +/- 0.1 at length scales of 0.3 to 100 pc. If Gaussian random processes in the ISM are valid, the power law index is consistent with a two dimensional Kolmogorov turbulence. If there is indeed a strong magnetic field within 1 degree (radius 150 pc) from the GC, the strength of the random field in the region is estimated to be 20 microGauss. Given the highly turbulent magnetoionic ISM in this region, the strength of the systematic component of the magnetic fields would most likely be close to that of the random component. This suggests that the earlier estimated milliGauss magnetic field near the NTFs is localised and does not pervade the central 300 pc of the Galaxy.
We combine VLT/ISAAC NIR spectroscopy with archival HST/WFPC2 and HST/NICMOS imaging to study the central 20x20 of M83. Our NIR indices for clusters in the circumnuclear star-burst region are inconsistent with simple instantaneous burst models. However, models of a single burst dispersed over a duration of 6 Myrs fit the data well and provide the clearest evidence yet of an age gradient along the star forming arc, with the youngest clusters nearest the north-east dust lane. The long slit kinematics show no evidence to support previous claims of a second hidden mass concentration, although we do observe changes in molecular gas velocity consistent with the presence of a shock at the edge of the dust lane.
We present the results of a study of the variability of X-ray sources in the central 30 of the nearby Andromeda Galaxy (M31) based on XMM Performance Verification observations. Two observations of this field, with a total exposure time of about 50 ks, were performed in June and December of 2000. We found 116 sources brighter than a limiting luminosity of 6 x 10(35) erg/s (0.3--12 keV, d=760 kpc). For the ~60 brightest sources, we searched for periodic and non-periodic variability; at least 15% of these sources appear to be variable on a time scale of several months. We discovered a new bright transient source ~2.9 from the nucleus in the June observation; this source faded significantly and was no longer detected in December. The behaviour of the object is similar to a handful of Galactic LMXB transients, most of which are supposed to harbor black holes. We detected pulsations with a period of ~865 s from a source with a supersoft spectrum. The flux of this source decreased significantly between the two XMM observations. The detected period is unusually short and points to a rapidly spinning magnetized white dwarf. The high luminosity and transient nature of the source suggest its possible identification with classical or symbiotic nova, some of which were observed earlier as supersoft sources.
Using the method of integral-field (3D) spectroscopy, we have investigated the kinematics and distribution of the gas and stars at the center of the early-type spiral galaxy with a medium scale bar NGC 7177 as well as the change in the mean age of the stellar population along the radius. A classical picture of radial gas inflow to the galactic center along the shock fronts delineated by dust concentration at the leading edges of the bar has been revealed. The gas inflow is observed down to a radius R = 1.5 -- 2, where the gas flows at the inner Lindblad resonance concentrate in an azimuthally highly inhomogeneous nuclear star formation ring. The bar in NGC 7177 is shown to be thick in z coordinate; basically, it has already turned into a pseudo-bulge as a result of secular dynamical evolution. The mean stellar age inside the star formation ring, in the galactic nucleus, is old, ~10 Gyr. Outside, at a distance R = 6 - 8 from the nucleus, the mean age of the stellar population is ~2 Gyr. If we agree that the bar in NGC 7177 is old, then, obviously, the star formation ring has migrated radially inward in the last 1-2 Gyr, in accordance with the predictions of some dynamical models.
We present mid infrared (MIR) spectra of the Seyfert 2 (Sy 2) galaxy NGC 1808, obtained with the Geminis Thermal-Region Camera Spectrograph (T-ReCS) at a spatial resolution of 26 pc. The high spatial resolution allowed us to detect bright polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) emissions at 8.6micron and 11.3micron in the galaxy centre (26 pc) up to a radius of 70 pc from the nucleus. The spectra also present [Ne ii]12.8micron ionic lines, and H2 S(2)12.27micron molecular gas line. We found that the PAHs profiles are similar to Peeterss A class, with the line peak shifted towards the blue. The differences in the PAH line profiles also suggests that the molecules in the region located 26 pc NE of the nucleus are more in the neutral than in the ionised state, while at 26 pc SW of the nucleus, the molecules are mainly in ionised state. After removal of the underlying galaxy contribution, the nuclear spectrum can be represented by a Nenkovas clumpy torus model, indicating that the nucleus of NGC 1808 hosts a dusty toroidal structure with an angular cloud distribution of sigma = 70degree, observers view angle i = 90degree, and an outer radius of R0 = 0.55 pc. The derived column density along the line of sight is NH = 1.5 x 10^24 cm-2, which is sufficient to block the hard radiation from the active nucleus, and would explain the presence of PAH molecules near to the NGC 1808s active nucleus.