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We present a method to constrain galaxy parameters directly from three-dimensional data cubes. The algorithm compares directly the data with a parametric model mapped in $x,y,lambda$ coordinates. It uses the spectral lines-spread function (LSF) and the spatial point-spread function (PSF) to generate a three-dimensional kernel whose characteristics are instrument specific or user generated. The algorithm returns the intrinsic modeled properties along with both an `intrinsic model data cube and the modeled galaxy convolved with the 3D-kernel. The algorithm uses a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach with a nontraditional proposal distribution in order to efficiently probe the parameter space. We demonstrate the robustness of the algorithm using 1728 mock galaxies and galaxies generated from hydrodynamical simulations in various seeing conditions from 0.6 to 1.2. We find that the algorithm can recover the morphological parameters (inclination, position angle) to within 10% and the kinematic parameters (maximum rotation velocity) to within 20%, irrespectively of the PSF in seeing (up to 1.2) provided that the maximum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is greater than $sim3$ pixel$^{-1}$ and that the ratio of the galaxy half-light radius to seeing radius is greater than about 1.5. One can use such an algorithm to constrain simultaneously the kinematics and morphological parameters of (nonmerging) galaxies observed in nonoptimal seeing conditions. The algorithm can also be used on adaptive-optics (AO) data or on high-quality, high-SNR data to look for nonaxisymmetric structures in the residuals.
Understanding the formation and evolution of our Galaxy requires accurate distances, ages and chemistry for large populations of field stars. Here we present several updates to our spectro-photometric distance code, that can now also be used to estimate ages, masses, and extinctions for individual stars. Given a set of measured spectro-photometric parameters, we calculate the posterior probability distribution over a given grid of stellar evolutionary models, using flexible Galactic stellar-population priors. The code (called {tt StarHorse}) can acommodate different observational datasets, prior options, partially missing data, and the inclusion of parallax information into the estimated probabilities. We validate the code using a variety of simulated stars as well as real stars with parameters determined from asteroseismology, eclipsing binaries, and isochrone fits to star clusters. Our main goal in this validation process is to test the applicability of the code to field stars with known {it Gaia}-like parallaxes. The typical internal precision (obtained from realistic simulations of an APOGEE+Gaia-like sample) are $simeq 8%$ in distance, $simeq 20%$ in age,$simeq 6 %$ in mass, and $simeq 0.04$ mag in $A_V$. The median external precision (derived from comparisons with earlier work for real stars) varies with the sample used, but lies in the range of $simeq [0,2]%$ for distances, $simeq [12,31]%$ for ages, $simeq [4,12]%$ for masses, and $simeq 0.07$ mag for $A_V$. We provide StarHorse distances and extinctions for the APOGEE DR14, RAVE DR5, GES DR3 and GALAH DR1 catalogues.
We analyse new ALMA observations of the $^{29}$SiO ($ u$=0, $J$=8$-$7) and SO$_2$($ u$=0, $34_{3,31}$$-$$34_{2,32}$) line emissions of the circumstellar envelope (CSE) of the oxygen-rich AGB star R Dor. With a spatial resolution of $sim$2.3 au, they cover distances below $sim$30 au from the star providing a link between earlier observations and clarifying some open issues. The main conclusions are: 1) Rotation is confined below $sim$15 au from the star, with velocity reaching a maximum below 10 au and morphology showing no significant disc-like flattening. 2) In the south-eastern quadrant, a large Doppler velocity gas stream is studied in more detail than previously possible and its possible association with an evaporating planetary companion is questioned. 3) A crude evaluation of the respective contributions of rotation, expansion and turbulence to the morpho-kinematics is presented. Significant line broadening occurs below $sim$12 au from the star and causes the presence of high Doppler velocity components near the line of sight pointing to the centre of the star. 4) Strong absorption of the continuum emission of the stellar disc and its immediate dusty environment is observed to extend beyond the disc in the form of self-absorption. The presence of a cold SiO layer extending up to some 60 au from the star is shown to be the cause. 5) Line emissions from SO, $^{28}$SiO, CO and HCN molecules are used to probe the CSE up to some 100 au from the star and reveal the presence of two broad back-to-back outflows, the morphology of which is studied in finer detail than in earlier work.
We have studied a representative sample of intermediate-mass galaxies at z~1, observed by the kinematic survey KMOS3D. We have re-estimated the kinematical parameters from the published kinematic maps and analysed photometric data from HST to measure optical disk inclinations and PAs. We find that only half of the z~1 galaxies show kinematic properties consistent with rotating disks, using the same classification scheme than that adopted by the KMOS3D team. Because merger orbital motions can also brought rotation, we have also analysed galaxy morphologies from the available HST imagery. Combining these results to those from kinematics, it leads to a full morpho-kinematic classification. To test the robustness of the latter for disentangling isolated disks from mergers, we confronted the results with an analysis of pairs from the open-grism redshift survey 3D-HST. All galaxies found in pairs are affected by either kinematic and/or morphological perturbations. Conversely, all galaxies classified as virialized spirals are found to be isolated. A significant fraction (one fourth) of rotating disks classified from kinematics by the KMOS3D team are found in pairs, which further supports the need for a morpho-kinematic classification. It results that only one third of z~1 galaxies are isolated and virialized spirals, while 58% of them are likely involved in a merger sequence, from first approach to disk rebuilding. The later fraction is in good agreement with the results of semi-empirical {Lambda}CDM models, supporting a merger-dominated hierarchical scenario as being the main driver of galaxy formation at least during the last 8 billion years.
We present in this study a mapping of the optical turbulence (OT) above different astronomical sites. The mesoscale model Meso-NH was used together with the Astro-Meso-Nh package and a set of diagnostic tools allowing for a full 3D investigation of the Cn2. The diagnostics implemented in the Astro-Meso-Nh, allowing for a full 3D investigation of the OT structure in a volumetric space above different sites, are presented. To illustrate the different diagnostics and their potentialities, we investigated one night and looked at instantaneous fields of meteorologic and astroclimatic parameters. To show the potentialities of this tool for applications in an Observatory we ran the model above sites with very different OT distributions: the antarctic plateau (Dome C, Dome A, South Pole) and a mid-latitude site (Mt. Graham, Arizona). We put particular emphasis on the 2D maps of integrated astroclimatic parameters (seeing, isoplanatic angles) calculated in different slices at different heights in the troposhere. This is an useful tool of prediction and investigation of the turbulence structure. It can support the optimization of the AO, GLAO and MCAO systems running at the focus of the ground-based telescopes.From this studies it emerges that the astronomical sites clearly present different OT behaviors. Besides, our tool allowed us for discriminating these sites.
We present a new technique to fit color-magnitude diagrams of open clusters based on the Cross-Entropy global optimization algorithm. The method uses theoretical isochrones available in the literature and maximizes a weighted likelihood function based on distances measured in the color-magnitude space. The weights are obtained through a non parametric technique that takes into account the star distance to the observed center of the cluster, observed magnitude uncertainties, the stellar density profile of the cluster among others. The parameters determined simultaneously are distance, reddening, age and metallicity. The method takes binary fraction into account and uses a Monte-Carlo approach to obtain uncertainties on the determined parameters for the cluster by running the fitting algorithm many times with a re-sampled data set through a bootstrapping procedure. We present results for 9 well studied open clusters, based on 15 distinct data sets, and show that the results are consistent with previous studies. The method is shown to be reliable and free of the subjectivity of most previous visual isochrone fitting techniques.