Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userLimits on the Macho Content of the Galactic Halo from the EROS-2 Survey of the Magellanic Clouds
80
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
The EROS-2 project was designed to test the hypothesis that massive compact halo objects (the so-called ``machos) could be a major component of the dark matter halo of the Milky Way galaxy. To this end, EROS-2 monitored over 6.7 years $33times10^6$ stars in the Magellanic clouds for microlensing events caused by such objects. In this work, we use only a subsample of $7times10^6$ bright stars spread over $84 deg^2$ of the LMC and $9 deg^2$ of the SMC. The strategy of using only bright stars helps to discriminate against background events due to variable stars and allows a simple determination of the effects of source confusion (blending). The use of a large solid angle makes the survey relatively insensitive to effects that could make the optical depth strongly direction dependent. Using this sample of bright stars, only one candidate event was found, whereas $sim39$ events would have been expected if the Halo were entirely populated by objects of mass $Msim0.4M_{odot}$. Combined with the results of EROS-1, this implies that the optical depth toward the Large Magellanic Cloud (object{LMC}) due to such lenses is $tau<0.36times10^{-7}$ (95%CL), corresponding to a fraction of the halo mass of less than 8%. This optical depth is considerably less than that measured by the MACHO collaboration in the central region of the LMC. More generally, machos in the mass range $0.6times10^{-7}M_odot<M<15M_{odot}$ are ruled out as the primary occupants of the Milky Way Halo.
rate research
Read More
A number of microlensing dark-matter surveys have produced tens of millions of light curves of individual background stars. These data provide an unprecedented opportunity for systematic studies of whole classes of variable stars and their host galaxies. We aim to use the EROS-2 survey of the Magellanic Clouds to detect and study the population of beat Cepheids (BCs) in both Clouds. BCs pulsating simultaneously in the first overtone and fundamental modes (FO/F) or in the second and first overtone modes (SO/FO) are of particular interest. Using special software designed to search for periodic variables, we have scanned the EROS-2 data base for variables in the typical period range of Cepheids. Metallicities of FO/F objects were then calculated from linear nonadiabatic convective stellar models. We identify 74 FO/F BCs in the LMC and 41 in the SMC, and 173 and 129 SO/FO pulsators in the LMC and SMC, respectively; 185 of these stars are new discoveries. For nearly all the FO/F objects we determine minimum, mean, and maximum values of the metallicity. The EROS data have expanded the samples of known BCs in the LMC by 31%, in the SMC by 110%. The FO/F objects provide independent measures of metallicities in these galaxies. The mean value of metallicity is 0.0045 in the LMC and 0.0018 in the SMC.
The interpretation of microlensing results towards the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) still remains controversial. White dwarfs have been proposed to explain these results and, hence, to contribute significantly to the mass budget of our Galaxy. However, several constraints on the role played by regular carbon-oxygen white dwarfs exist. Massivewhite dwarfs are thought to be made of a mixture of oxygen and neon. Correspondingly, their cooling rate is larger than those of typical carbon-oxygen white dwarfs and they fade to invisibility in short timescales. Consequently, they constitute a good candidate for explaining the microlensing results. Here, we examine in detail this hypothesis by using the most recent and up-to-date cooling tracks for massive white dwarfs and a Monte Carlo simulator which takes into account the most relevant Galactic inputs. We find that oxygen-neon white dwarfs cannot account for a substantial fraction of the microlensing depth towards the LMC, independently of the adopted initial mass function, although some microlensing events could be due to oxygen--neon white dwarfs. The white dwarf population contributes at most a 5% to the mass of the Galactic halo.
We are conducting a 377-square-degree proper motion survey in the ~V and I bands in order to determine the cool white dwarf contribution to the Galactic dark matter. Using the 250 square degrees for which we possess three epochs, and applying selection criteria designed to isolate halo-type objects, we find no candidates in a 5500 pc^3 effective volume for old, fast M_V=17 white dwarfs. We check the detection efficiency by cross-matching our catalogue with Luytens NLTT catalogue. The halo white dwarf contribution cannot exceed 5% (95% C.L.) for objects with M_V=17 and 1<V-I<1.5. The same conclusion applies to a 14Gyr halo composed of white dwarfs with hydrogen atmosphere, as modeled by Chabrier (99).
The carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars constitutes an important index of evolutionary and environment/metallicity factor. We develop a method for mass C/O classification of AGBs in photometric surveys without using periods. For this purpose we rely on the slopes in the tracks of individual stars in the colour-magnitude diagram. We demonstrate that our method enables the separation of C-rich and O-rich AGB stars with little confusion. For the Magellanic Clouds we demonstrate that this method works for several photometric surveys and filter combinations. As we rely on no period identification, our results are relatively insensitive to the phase coverage, aliasing, and time-sampling problems that plague period analyses. For a subsample of our stars, we verify our C/O classification against published C/O catalogues. With our method we are able to produce C/O maps of the entire Magellanic Clouds. Our purely photometric method for classification of C- and O-rich AGBs constitutes a method of choice for large, near-infrared photometric surveys. Because our method depends on the slope of colour-magnitude variation but not on magnitude zero point, it remains applicable to objects with unknown distances.
We present a new sample of 4634 eclipsing binary stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), expanding on a previous sample of 611 objects and a new sample of 1509 eclipsing binary stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), that were identified in the light curve database of the MACHO project. We perform a cross correlation with the OGLE-II LMC sample, finding 1236 matches. A cross correlation with the OGLE-II SMC sample finds 698 matches. We then compare the LMC subsamples corresponding to center and the periphery of the LMC and find only minor differences between the two populations. These samples are sufficiently large and complete that statistical studies of the binary star populations are possible.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
