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H. Imai

Publications and source records attributed to H. Imai.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

The application of MultiView Methods for High Precision Astrometric Space VLBI at Low Frequencies

High precision astrometric Space Very Long Baseline Interferometry (S-VLBI) at the low end of the conventional frequency range, i.e. 20cm, is a requirement for a number of high priority science goals. These are headlined by obtaining trigonometric parallax distances to pulsars in Pulsar--Black Hole pairs and OH masers anywhere in the Milky Way Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds. We propose a solution for the most difficult technical problems in S-VLBI by the MultiView approach where multiple sources, separated by several degrees on the sky, are observed simultaneously. We simulated a number of challenging S-VLBI configurations, with orbit errors up to 8m in size and with ionospheric atmospheres consistant with poor conditions. In these simulations we performed MultiView analysis to achieve the required science goals. This approach removes the need for beam switching requiring a Control Moment Gyro, and the space and ground infrastructure required for high quality orbit reconstruction of a space-based radio telescope. This will dramatically reduce the complexity of S-VLBI missions which implement the phase-referencing technique.

astro-ph.IM↗

ATCA survey of water masers in the Large Magellanic Cloud

We have analysed archival data taken with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) during 2001--2003 and detected nine new interstellar and circumstellar water masers in the LMC. This takes the total number of star formation water masers in the LMC to 23, spread over 14 different star forming regions and three evolved stars. Three water maser sources (N105a/MC23, N113/MC24, N157a/MC74) have been detected in all the previous observations that targeted these sites, although all show significant variability on timescales of decades. The total number of independent water maser sources now known in the LMC means that through very long baseline interferometry astrometric measurements it will be possible to construct a more precise model of the galactic rotation of the LMC and its orbital motion around the Milky Way Galaxy.

astro-ph.GA↗

GASKAP -- The Galactic ASKAP Survey

A survey of the Milky Way disk and the Magellanic System at the wavelengths of the 21-cm atomic hydrogen (HI) line and three 18-cm lines of the OH molecule will be carried out with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder telescope. The survey will study the distribution of HI emission and absorption with unprecedented angular and velocity resolution, as well as molecular line thermal emission, absorption, and maser lines. The area to be covered includes the Galactic plane (|b|< 10deg) at all declinations south of delta = +40deg, spanning longitudes 167deg through 360deg to 79deg at b=0deg, plus the entire area of the Magellanic Stream and Clouds, a total of 13,020 square degrees. The brightness temperature sensitivity will be very good, typically sigma_T ~ 1 K at resolution 30arcsec and 1 km/s. The survey has a wide spectrum of scientific goals, from studies of galaxy evolution to star formation, with particular contributions to understanding stellar wind kinematics, the thermal phases of the interstellar medium, the interaction between gas in the disk and halo, and the dynamical and thermal states of gas at various positions along the Magellanic Stream.

astro-ph.GA↗

Experimental Realization of Optimal Noise Estimation for a General Pauli Channel

We present the experimental realization of the optimal estimation protocol for a Pauli noisy channel. The method is based on the generation of 2-qubit Bell states and the introduction of quantum noise in a controlled way on one of the state subsystems. The efficiency of the optimal estimation, achieved by a Bell measurement, is shown to outperform quantum process tomography.

quant-ph↗

GASKAP -- A Galactic Spectral Line Survey with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder

One of the Survey Science Projects that the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope will do in its first few years of operation is a study of the 21-cm line of HI and the 18-cm lines of OH in the Galactic Plane and the Magellanic Clouds and Stream. The wide-field ASKAP can survey a large area with very high sensitivity much faster than a conventional telescope because of its focal plane array of receiver elements. The brightness sensitivity for the widespread spectral line emission of the interstellar medium depends on the beam size and the survey speed. In the GASKAP survey, maps with different resolutions will be synthesized simultaneously; these will be matched to different scientific applications such as diffuse HI and OH emission, OH masers, and HI absorption toward background continuum sources. A great many scientific questions will be answered by the GASKAP survey results; a central topic is the exchange of matter and energy between the Milky Way disk and halo. The survey will show how neutral gas at high altitude (z) above the disk, like the Magellanic Stream, makes its way down through the halo, what changes it experiences along the way, and how much is left behind.

astro-ph.GA↗

Distance and Proper Motion Measurement of the Red Supergiant, S Persei, with VLBI H2O Maser Astrometry

We have conducted VLBA phase-referencing monitoring of H2O masers around the red supergiant, S Persei, for six years. We have fitted maser motions to a simple expanding-shell model with a common annual parallax and stellar proper motion, and obtained the annual parallax as 0.413+/-0.017 mas, and the stellar proper motion as (-0.49+/-0.23 mas/yr, -1.19+/-0.20 mas/yr) in right ascension and declination, respectively. The obtained annual parallax corresponds to the trigonometric distance of 2.42+0.11-0.09 kpc. Assuming the Galactocentric distance of the Sun of 8.5 kpc, the circular rotational velocity of the LSR at the distance of the Sun of 220 km/s, and a flat Galactic rotation curve, S Persei is suggested to have a non-circular motion deviating from the Galactic circular rotation for 15 km/s, which is mainly dominated by the anti rotation direction component of 12.9+/-2.9 km/s. This red supergiant is thought to belong to the OB association, Per OB1, so that this non-circular motion is representative of a motion of the OB association in the Milky Way. This non-circular motion is somewhat larger than that explained by the standard density-wave theory for a spiral galaxy, and is attributed to either a cluster shuffling of the OB association, or to non-linear interactions between non-stationary spiral arms and multi-phase interstellar media. The latter comes from a new view of a spiral arm formation in the Milky Way suggested by recent large N-body/smoothed particle hydrodynamics numerical simulations.

astro-ph.GA↗

Microstructure and kinematics of H2O masers in the massive star forming region IRAS 06061+2151

We have made multi-epoch VLBI observations of H2O maser emission in the massive star forming region IRAS 06061+2151 with the Japanese VLBI network (JVN) from 2005 May to 2007 October. The detected maser features are distributed within an 1\arcsec$\times$1\arcsec (2000 au$\times$2000 au at the source position) around the ultra-compact H {\small\bf II} region seen in radio continuum emission. Their bipolar morphology and expanding motion traced through their relative proper motions indicate that they are excited by an energetic bipolar outflow. Our three-dimensional model fitting has shown that the maser kinematical structure in IRAS 06061+2151 is able to be explained by a biconical outflow with a large opening angle ($>$ 50\degr). The position angle of the flow major axis coincides very well with that of the large scale jet seen in 2.1$\:μ\rmn{m}$ hydrogen emission. This maser geometry indicates the existence of dual structures composed of a collimated jet and a less collimated massive molecular flow. We have also detected a large velocity gradient in the southern maser group. This can be explained by a very small (on a scale of several tens of au) and clumpy (the density contrast by an order of magnitude or more) structure of the parental cloud. Such a structure may be formed by strong instability of shock front or splitting of high density core.

astro-ph↗

First detection of CO lines in a water fountain star

[Context] Water fountain stars are very young post-AGB stars with high velocity water maser jets. They are the best objects to study the onset of bipolar jets from evolved stars due to their young dynamical ages. [Methods] We use the Arizona Radio Observatory 10m telescope to observe the CO J=2-1 line and compare the line parameters with that of masers. [Results] We report the detection of 12CO and 13COJ=2-1 lines from IRAS 16342-3814. The inferred 12CO mass loss rate is an order of magnitude lower than the infrared and OH mass loss rates, indicating a very cold and thick O-rich circumstellar envelope around the star. We also find a 12CO expansion velocity of Vexp = 46 +- 1 km/s that is too high for an AGB wind and confirm the systemic velocity of 44 +- 1 km/s. In addition we measure a very low 12CO/13CO line ratio of 1.7. [Conclusions] The first detection of CO lines has provided a new way to investigate the water fountain stars. Given the high expansion velocity of the CO gas and its relation to maser velocities, we infer that the CO emission region is co-located with the OH mainline masers in the warm base of the optical bipolar lobes, while the high velocity OH1612MHz and H2O masers are located in the side walls and at the farthest ends of the bipolar lobes, respectively. Further observations are highly desired to understand the very low 12CO/13CO line ratio.

astro-ph↗

JVN observations of H2O masers around the evolved star IRAS 22480+6002

We report on the H2O maser distributions around IRAS 22480+6002 (=IRC+60370) observed with the Japanese VLBI Network (JVN) at three epochs spanning 2 months. This object was identified as a K-type supergiant in 1970s, which was unusual as a stellar maser source. The spectrum of H2O masers consists of 5 peaks separated roughly equally by a few km/s each. The H2O masers were spatially resolved into more than 15 features, which spread about 50 mas along the east--west direction. However, no correlation was found between the proper motion vectors and their spatial distributions; the velocity field of the envelope seems random. A statistical parallax method applied to the observed proper-motion data set gives a distance of 1.0+-0.4 kpc for this object, that is considerably smaller than previously thought. The distance indicates that this is an evolved star with L~5800 Lsun. This star shows radio, infrared, and optical characteristics quite similar to those of the population II post-AGB stars such as RV Tau variables.

astro-ph↗

A Measurement of Proper Motions of SiO Maser Sources in the Galactic Center with the VLBA

We report on the high-precision astrometric observations of maser sources around the Galactic Center in the SiO J=1--0 v=1 and 2 lines with the VLBA during 2001 -- 2004. With phase-referencing interferometry referred to the radio continuum source Sgr A*, accurate positions of masers were obtained for three detected objects: IRS 10 EE (7 epochs), IRS 15NE (2 epochs), and SiO 6 (only 1 epoch). Because circumstellar masers of these objects were resolved into several components, proper motions for the maser sources were derived with several different methods. Combining our VLBA results with those of the previous VLA observations, we obtained the IRS 10EE proper motion of 76+-3 km s^{-1} (at 8 kpc) to the south relative to Sgr A*. Almost null proper motion of this star in the east--west direction results in a net transverse motion of the infrared reference frame of about 30+-9 km s^{-1} to the west relative to Sgr A*. The proper-motion data also suggests that IRS 10EE is an astrometric binary with an unseen massive companion.

astro-ph↗

An SiO Maser Search off the Galactic Plane

We have searched for the SiO J=1--0 v= 1 and 2 maser lines at ~ 43 GHz in 277 2MASS/MSX/IRAS sources off the Galactic plane (|b|> 3 deg), which resulted in 119 (112 new) detections. Among the new detections, are two very faint objects with MSX 12 micron flux densities below 2 Jy. These are likely to be O-rich AGB-stars associated with dwarf-galaxy tidal tails. The sample also includes medium bright MSX objects at moderately high Galactic latitudes (3 deg<|b|<5 deg) and in the IRAS gap at higher latitudes. A signature of a warp of the inner Galactic disk is found for a disk subsample. This warp appears relatively strongly in the area of 0<l<45 deg and 3<|b|<5 deg. We also found a group of stars that does not follow to the Galactic rotation. This feature appears in the Galactic disk at l~ 27 deg, and extends more than 15 deg in Galactic latitude, like a stream of tidal debris from a dwarf galaxy.

astro-ph↗

A magnetically collimated jet from the evolved star W43A

We present the first direct measurements of the magnetic field strength and direction in a collimated jet from an evolved star on its way to become a planetary nebula. Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations of the linear and circular polarization of the water masers in the collimated jet of W43A reveal a strong toroidal magnetic field, indicating that the jet is magnetically collimated. The magnetic field strength in the jet extrapolated back to the stellar surface yields a surface field of several Gauss, consistent with the measurements of maser polarization in a large sample of evolved stars. The origin of the magnetic field is yet unknown, although the jet precession might point to the existence of a heavy planet or stellar companion. This is the first direct observational evidence for magnetic collimation in the jets, that likely play an important role in shaping planetary nebulae.

astro-ph↗

Possible Magnetic Chirality in Optically Chiral Magnet [Cr(CN)$_6$][Mn($S$)-pnH(H$_2$O)](H$_2$O) Probed by Muon Spin Rotation and Relaxation

Local magnetic fields in a molecule-based optically chiral magnet [Cr(CN)$_6$][Mn($S$)-pnH(H$_2$O)](H$_2$O) (GN-S) and its enantiomer (GN-R) are studied by means of muon spin rotation and relaxation (muSR). Detailed analysis of muon precession signals under zero field observed below T_c supports the average magnetic structure suggested by neutron powder diffraction. Moreover, comparison of muSR spectra between GN-S and GN-R suggests that they are a pair of complete optical isomers in terms of both crystallographic and magnetic structure. Possibility of magnetic chirality in such a pair is discussed.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

A magnetically collimated jet from an evolved star

Planetary nebulae often have asymmetric shapes, which could arise due to collimated jets from evolved stars before evolution to the planetary nebula phase. The source of jet collimation in these stars is unknown. Magnetic fields are thought to collimate outflows that are observed in many other astrophysical sources, such as active galactic nuclei and proto-stars, although hitherto there are no direct observations of both the magnetic field direction and strength in any collimated jet. Theoretical models have shown that magnetic fields could also be the dominant source of collimation of jet in evolved stars. Here we report measurements of the polarization of water vapour masers that trace the precessing jet emanating from the asymptotic giant branch star W43A at 2.6 kpc from the Sun, which is undergoing rapid evolution into a planetary nebula. The masers occur in two clusters at opposing tips of the jets, ~1,000 AU from the star. We find direct evidence that the magnetic field is collimating the jet.

astro-ph↗

Water maser motions in W3(OH) and a determination of its distance

We report phase-referencing VLBA observations of H2O masers near the star-forming region W3(OH) to measure their parallax and absolute proper motions. The measured annual parallax is 0.489 +/- 0.017 milli-arcseconds (2.04 +/- 0.07 kpc), where the error is dominated by a systematic atmospheric contribution. This distance is consistent with photometric distances from previous observations and with the distance determined from CH3OH maser astrometry presented in a related paper. We also find that the source driving the H2O outflow, the ``TW-object'', moves with a 3-dimensional velocity of > 7 km/s relative to the ultracompact HII region W3(OH).

astro-ph↗

Multi-epoch VERA Observations of H2O masers in OH 43.8-0.1

We report on the multi-epoch observations of H2O maser emission in star forming region OH 43.8-0.1 carried out with VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA). The large-scale maser distributions obtained by single-beam VLBI mapping reveal new maser spots scattered in area of 0.7 x 1.0 arcsec, in addition to a `shell-like' structure with a scale of 0.3 x 0.5 arcsec which was previously mapped by Downes et al.(1979). Proper motions are also obtained for 43 spots based on 5-epoch monitoring with a time span of 281 days. The distributions of proper motions show a systematic outflow in the north-south direction with an expansion velocity of ~8 km/s, and overall distributions of maser spots as well as proper motions are better represented by a bipolar flow plus a central maser cluster with a complex structure, rather than a shell with a uniform expansion such as those found in Cep A R5 and W75N VLA2. The distance to OH 43.8-0.1 is also estimated based on the statistical parallax, yielding D = 2.8 +/- 0.5 kpc. This distance is consistent with a near kinematic distance and rules out a far kinematics distance (~9 kpc), and the LSR velocity of OH 43.8-0.1 combined with the distance provides a constraint on the flatness of the galactic rotation curve, that there is no systematic difference in rotation speeds at the Sun and at the position of OH 43.8-0.1, which is located at the galacto-centric radius of ~6.3 kpc.

astro-ph↗

Distance of W3(OH) by VLBI annual parallax measurement

The most powerful tool for measuring distances within our Galaxy is the annual parallax. We carried out phase-referencing VLBI observations of H$_{2}$O masers in the star forming region W3(OH) with respect to the extragalactic continuum source ICRF 0244+624 to measure their absolute proper motions. The measured annual parallax is 0.484 $\pm$ 0.004 milli-arcseconds which corresponds to a distance of 2.07^{+0.01}_{-0.02}$ kpc from the sun. This distance is consistent with photometric and kinematic distances from previous observations.

astro-ph↗

Carrier-Induced Magnetic Circular Dichloism in the Magnetoresistive Pyrochlore Tl2Mn2O7

Infrared magnetic circular dichloism (MCD), or equivalently magneto-optical Kerr effect, has been measured on the Tl2Mn2O7 pyrochlore, which is well known for exhibiting a large magnetoresistance around the Curie temperature T_C ~ 120 K. A circularly polarized, infrared synchrotron radiation is used as the light source. A pronounced MCD signal is observed exactly at the plasma edge of the reflectivity near and below T_c. However, contrary to the conventional behavior of MCD for ferromagnets, the observed MCD of Tl2Mn2O7 grows with the applied magnetic field, and not scaled with the internal magnetization. It is shown that these results can be basically understood in terms of a classical magnetoplasma resonance. The absence of a magnetization-scaled MCD indicates a weak spin-orbit coupling of the carriers in Tl2Mn2O7. We discuss the present results in terms of the microscopic electronic structures of Tl2Mn2O7.

cond-mat.str-el↗