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Jerry Edelstein

Publications and source records attributed to Jerry Edelstein.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Global distribution of far-ultraviolet emissions from highly ionized gas in the Milky Way

We present all-sky maps of two major FUV cooling lines, C IV and O VI, of highly ionized gas to investigate the nature of the transition-temperature gas. From the extinction-corrected line intensities of C IV and O VI, we calculated the gas temperature and the emission measure of the transition-temperature gas assuming isothermal plasma in the collisional ionization equilibrium. The gas temperature was found to be more or less uniform throughout the Galaxy with a value of (1.89 $\pm$ 0.06) $\times$ $10^5$ K. The emission measure of the transition-temperature gas is described well by a disk-like model in which the scale height of the electron density is $z_0=6_{-2}^{+3}$ kpc. The total mass of the transition-temperature gas is estimated to be approximately $6.4_{-2.8}^{+5.2}\times10^9 M_{\bigodot}$. We also calculated the volume-filling fraction of the transition-temperature gas, which was estimated to be $f=0.26\pm0.09$, and varies from $f\sim0.37$ in the inner Galaxy to $f\sim0.18$ in the outer Galaxy. The spatial distribution of C IV and O VI cannot be explained by a simple supernova remnant model or a three-phase model. The combined effects of supernova remnants and turbulent mixing layers can explain the intensity ratio of C IV and O VI. Thermal conduction front models and high-velocity cloud models are also consistent with our observation.

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Design and production of the DESI fibre cables

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is under construction to measure the expansion history of the Universe using the Baryonic Acoustic Oscillation technique. The spectra of 35 million galaxies and quasars over 14000 sq deg will be measured during the life of the experiment. A new prime focus corrector for the KPNO Mayall telescope will deliver light to 5000 fibre optic positioners. The fibres in turn feed 10 broad-band spectrographs. We will describe the design and production progress on the fibre cables, strain relief system and preparation of the slit end. In contrast to former projects, the larger scale of production required for DESI requires teaming up with industry to find a solution to reduce the time scale of production as well as to minimise the stress on the optical fibres.

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Fabrication of the DESI Corrector Lenses

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is under construction to measure the expansion history of the Universe using the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation technique. The spectra of 35 million galaxies and quasars over 14000 square degrees will be measured during the life of the experiment. A new prime focus corrector for the KPNO Mayall telescope will deliver light to 5000 fiber optic positioners. The fibers in turn feed ten broad-band spectrographs. We describe the DESI corrector optics, a series of six fused silica and borosilicate lenses. The lens diameters range from 0.8 to 1.1 meters, and their weights 84 to 237 kg. Most lens surfaces are spherical, and two are challenging 10th-order polynomial aspheres. The lenses have been successfully polished and treated with an antireflection coating at multiple subcontractors, and are now being integrated into the DESI corrector barrel assembly at University College London. We describe the final performance of the lenses in terms of their various parameters, including surface figure, homogeneity, and others, and compare their final performance against the demanding DESI corrector requirements. Also we describe the reoptimization of the lens spacing in their corrector barrel after their final measurements are known. Finally we assess the performance of the corrector as a whole, compared to early budgeted estimates.

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Overview of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is under construction to measure the expansion history of the Universe using the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation technique. The spectra of 35 million galaxies and quasars over 14000 square degrees will be measured during the life of the experiment. A new prime focus corrector for the KPNO Mayall telescope will deliver light to 5000 fiber optic positioners. The fibers in turn feed ten broad-band spectrographs. We present an overview of the instrumentation, the main technical requirements and challenges, and the current status of the project.

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Far-ultraviolet fluorescent molecular hydrogen emission map of the Milky Way Galaxy

We present the far-ultraviolet (FUV) fluorescent molecular hydrogen (H_2) emission map of the Milky Way Galaxy obtained with FIMS/SPEAR covering ~76% of the sky. The extinction-corrected intensity of the fluorescent H_2 emission has a strong linear correlation with the well-known tracers of the cold interstellar medium (ISM), including color excess E(B-V), neutral hydrogen column density N(H I), and H_alpha emission. The all-sky H_2 column density map was also obtained using a simple photodissociation region model and interstellar radiation fields derived from UV star catalogs. We estimated the fraction of H2 (f_H2) and the gas-to-dust ratio (GDR) of the diffuse ISM. The f_H2 gradually increases from <1% at optically thin regions where E(B-V) < 0.1 to ~50% for E(B-V) = 3. The estimated GDR is ~5.1 x 10^21 atoms cm^-2 mag^-1, in agreement with the standard value of 5.8 x 10^21 atoms cm^-2 mag^-1.

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The DESI Experiment Part I: Science,Targeting, and Survey Design

DESI (Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument) is a Stage IV ground-based dark energy experiment that will study baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) and the growth of structure through redshift-space distortions with a wide-area galaxy and quasar redshift survey. To trace the underlying dark matter distribution, spectroscopic targets will be selected in four classes from imaging data. We will measure luminous red galaxies up to $z=1.0$. To probe the Universe out to even higher redshift, DESI will target bright [O II] emission line galaxies up to $z=1.7$. Quasars will be targeted both as direct tracers of the underlying dark matter distribution and, at higher redshifts ($ 2.1 < z < 3.5$), for the Ly-$α$ forest absorption features in their spectra, which will be used to trace the distribution of neutral hydrogen. When moonlight prevents efficient observations of the faint targets of the baseline survey, DESI will conduct a magnitude-limited Bright Galaxy Survey comprising approximately 10 million galaxies with a median $z\approx 0.2$. In total, more than 30 million galaxy and quasar redshifts will be obtained to measure the BAO feature and determine the matter power spectrum, including redshift space distortions.

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The DESI Experiment Part II: Instrument Design

DESI (Dark Energy Spectropic Instrument) is a Stage IV ground-based dark energy experiment that will study baryon acoustic oscillations and the growth of structure through redshift-space distortions with a wide-area galaxy and quasar redshift survey. The DESI instrument is a robotically-actuated, fiber-fed spectrograph capable of taking up to 5,000 simultaneous spectra over a wavelength range from 360 nm to 980 nm. The fibers feed ten three-arm spectrographs with resolution $R= λ/Δλ$ between 2000 and 5500, depending on wavelength. The DESI instrument will be used to conduct a five-year survey designed to cover 14,000 deg$^2$. This powerful instrument will be installed at prime focus on the 4-m Mayall telescope in Kitt Peak, Arizona, along with a new optical corrector, which will provide a three-degree diameter field of view. The DESI collaboration will also deliver a spectroscopic pipeline and data management system to reduce and archive all data for eventual public use.

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Bright stars observed by FIMS/SPEAR

In this paper, we present a catalogue of the spectra of bright stars observed during the sky survey using the Far-Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (FIMS), which was designed primarily to observe diffuse emissions. By carefully eliminating the contamination from the diffuse background, we obtain the spectra of 70 bright stars observed for the first time with a spectral resolution of 2--3 Å over the wavelength of 1370--1710 Å. The far-ultraviolet spectra of an additional 139 stars are also extracted with a better spectral resolution and/or higher reliability than those of the previous observations. The stellar spectral type of the stars presented in the catalogue spans from O9 to A3. The method of spectral extraction of the bright stars is validated by comparing the spectra of 323 stars with those of the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) observations.

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Giving Cosmic Redshift Drift a Whirl

Redshift drift provides a direct kinematic measurement of cosmic acceleration but it occurs with a characteristic time scale of a Hubble time. Thus redshift observations with a challenging precision of $10^{-9}$ require a 10 year time span to obtain a signal-to-noise of 1. We discuss theoretical and experimental approaches to address this challenge, potentially requiring less observer time and having greater immunity to common systematics. On the theoretical side we explore allowing the universe, rather than the observer, to provide long time spans; speculative methods include radial baryon acoustic oscillations, cosmic pulsars, and strongly lensed quasars. On the experimental side, we explore beating down the redshift precision using differential interferometric techniques, including externally dispersed interferometers and spatial heterodyne spectroscopy. Low-redshift emission line galaxies are identified as having high cosmology leverage and systematics control, with an 8 hour exposure on a 10-meter telescope (1000 hours of exposure on a 40-meter telescope) potentially capable of measuring the redshift of a galaxy to a precision of $10^{-8}$ (few $\times 10^{-10}$). Low-redshift redshift drift also has very strong complementarity with cosmic microwave background measurements, with the combination achieving a dark energy figure of merit of nearly 300 (1400) for 5% (1%) precision on drift.

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Global Far-Ultraviolet Properties of the Cygnus Loop

We present the C III λ977, O VI λλ1032, 1038 and N IV] λ1486 emission line maps of the Cygnus Loop, obtained with the newly processed data of Spectroscopy of Plasma Evolution from Astrophysical Radiation (SPEAR; also known as FIMS) mission. In addition, the Si IV+O IV] line complexes around 1400 Å are resolved into two separate emission lines, whose intensity demonstrates a relatively high Si IV region predicted in the previous study. The morphological similarity between the O VI and X-ray images, as well as a comparison of the O VI intensity with the value expected from the X-ray results, indicates that large portions of the observed O VI emissions could be produced from X-ray emitting gas. Comparisons of the far-ultraviolet (FUV) images with the optical and H I 21 cm images, reveal spatial variations of shock-velocity populations and high FUV extinction in the direction of a previously identified H I cloud. By calculating the FUV line ratios for several subregions of the Cygnus Loop, we investigate the spatial variation of the population of radiative shock velocities; and the effects of resonance scattering, X-ray emitting gas, and non-radiative shocks. The FUV and X-ray luminosity comparisons between the Cygnus Loop and the Vela supernova remnant suggest that the fraction of shocks in the early evolutionary stages is much larger in the Cygnus Loop.

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Far-Ultraviolet Spectral Images of the Vela Supernova Remnant: Supplements and Comparisons with other Wavelength Images

We present the improved far-ultraviolet (FUV) emission-line images of the entire Vela supernova remnant (SNR) using newly processed SPEAR/FIMS data. The incomplete C III λ977 and O VI λλ1032, 1038 images presented in the previous study are updated to cover the whole region. The C IV λλ1548, 1551 image with a higher resolution and new images at Si IV λλ1394, 1403, O IV] λ1404, He II λ1640.5, and O III] λλ1661, 1666 are also shown. Comparison of emission line ratios for two enhanced FUV regions reveals that the FUV emissions of the east enhanced FUV region may be affected by nonradiative shocks of another very young SNR, the Vela Jr. SNR (RX J0852.0-4622, G266.6-1.2). This result is the first FUV detection that is likely associated with the Vela Jr. SNR, supporting previous arguments that the Vela Jr. SNR is close to us. The comparison of the improved FUV images with soft X-ray images shows that a FUV filamentary feature forms the boundary of the northeast-southwest asymmetrical sections of the X-ray shell. The southwest FUV features are characterized as the region where the Vela SNR is interacting with slightly denser ambient medium within the dim X-ray southwest section. From a comparison with the Hα image, we identify a ring-like Hα feature overlapped with an extended hot X-ray feature of similar size and two local peaks of C IV emission. Their morphologies are expected when the Hα ring is in direct contact with the near or far side of the Vela SNR.

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Comparison of the Diffuse Halpha and FUV Continuum Backgrounds: On the Origins of the Diffuse Halpha Background

We compare the diffuse H$α$ map of our Galaxy with the FUV (1370-1710Å) continuum map. The H$α$ intensity correlates well with the FUV intensity. The H$α$/FUV intensity ratio increases in general with the H$α$ intensity and the FUV hardness ratio (1370-1520Å to 1560-1710Å), implying that late OB stars may be the main source of the H$α$ recombination line at high latitudes. The variation of the H$α$ intensity as a function of the Galactic latitude is also very similar to that of the FUV intensity. The results likely suggest that not only the original radiation sources of the H$α$ and FUV backgrounds but also the radiative transfer mechanisms responsible for the diffuse backgrounds are largely common. Therefore, we propose a scenario wherein the H$α$ background at high latitudes is mostly composed of two components, H$α$ photons produced by in-situ recombination at the ionized regions around late OB stars and dust-scattered light of the H$α$ photons originating from late OB stars.

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Implications of the SPEAR FUV Maps on Our Understanding of the ISM

The distribution of a low-density transition temperature (10^4.5 - 10^5.5 K) gas in the interstellar medium conveys the character and evolution of diffuse matter in the Galaxy. This difficult to observe component of the ISM emits mainly in the far-ultraviolet (FUV) (912-1800 Å) band. We describe spectral maps of FUV emission lines from the highly ionized species CIV and OVI likely to be the dominant cooling mechanisms of transition temperature gas in the ISM. The maps were obtained using an orbital spectrometer, SPEAR, that was launched in 2003 and has observed the FUV sky with a spectral resolution of \sim 550 and an angular resolution of 10'. We compare distribution of flux in these maps with three basic models of the distribution of transition temperature gas. We find that the median distribution of CIV and OVI emission is consistent with the spatial distribution and line ratios expected from a McKee-Ostriker (MO) type model of evaporative interfaces. However, the intensities are a factor of three higher than would be expected at the MO preferred parameters. Some high intensity regions are clearly associated with supernova remnants and superbubble structures. Others may indicate regions where gas is cooling through the transition temperature.

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Precise Stellar Radial Velocities of an M Dwarf with a Michelson Interferometer and a Medium-resolution Near-infrared Spectrograph

Precise near-infrared radial velocimetry enables efficient detection and transit verification of low-mass extrasolar planets orbiting M dwarf hosts, which are faint for visible-wavelength radial velocity surveys. The TripleSpec Exoplanet Discovery Instrument, or TEDI, is the combination of a variable-delay Michelson interferometer and a medium-resolution (R=2700) near-infrared spectrograph on the Palomar 200" Hale Telescope. We used TEDI to monitor GJ 699, a nearby mid-M dwarf, over 11 nights spread across 3 months. Analysis of 106 independent observations reveals a root-mean-square precision of less than 37 m/s for 5 minutes of integration time. This performance is within a factor of 2 of our expected photon-limited precision. We further decompose the residuals into a 33 m/s white noise component, and a 15 m/s systematic noise component, which we identify as likely due to contamination by telluric absorption lines. With further development this technique holds promise for broad implementation on medium-resolution near-infrared spectrographs to search for low-mass exoplanets orbiting M dwarfs, and to verify low-mass transit candidates.

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A Vigorous Explorer Program

Explorers have made breakthroughs in many fields of astrophysics. The science from both these missions contributed to three Nobel Prizes - Giacconi (2002), Mather, and Smoot (2006). Explorers have: marked the definitive beginning of precision cosmology, discovered that short gamma-ray bursts are caused by compact star mergers and have measured metalicity to redshifts z>6. NASA Explorers do cutting-edge science that cannot be done by facility-class instruments. The Explorer program provides a rapid response to changing science and technology, to enable cutting-edge science at moderate cost. Explorers also enable innovation, and engage & train scientists, managers and engineers, adding human capital to NASA and the nation. The astrophysics Explorer launch rate now being achieved is 1 per 3 years, and budget projections are in the $150M/year range for the next five years. A newly Vigorous Explorer Program should be created to: 1. Reach the long-stated goal of annual astrophysics launches; 2. Find additional launch options for Explorers and actively encourage cost savings in launchers and spacecraft, such as new commercial vehicles and innovative partnerships. 3. Mitigate risk via stronger technical development and sub-orbital programs, and through longer, more thorough, Phase A programs, potentially reducing the need for a 30% contingency; 4. Strive to protect the funding for missions that have reached Phase B, to prevent significant launch slips and cancellations, with a goal of 4 to 5 years from Phase B to launch; 5. Review the project management procedures and requirements to seek cost reductions, including the risk management strategy and the review and reporting process; 6. Review and possibly modify the cost caps for all Explorer classes to optimize scientific returns per dollar. [ABRIDGED]

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Photometric Calibrations for 21st Century Science

The answers to fundamental science questions in astrophysics, ranging from the history of the expansion of the universe to the sizes of nearby stars, hinge on our ability to make precise measurements of diverse astronomical objects. As our knowledge of the underlying physics of objects improves along with advances in detectors and instrumentation, the limits on our capability to extract science from measurements is set, not by our lack of understanding of the nature of these objects, but rather by the most mundane of all issues: the precision with which we can calibrate observations in physical units. We stress the need for a program to improve upon and expand the current networks of spectrophotometrically calibrated stars to provide precise calibration with an accuracy of equal to and better than 1% in the ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared portions of the spectrum, with excellent sky coverage and large dynamic range.

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TEDI: the TripleSpec Exoplanet Discovery Instrument

The TEDI (TripleSpec - Exoplanet Discovery Instrument) will be the first instrument fielded specifically for finding low-mass stellar companions. The instrument is a near infra-red interferometric spectrometer used as a radial velocimeter. TEDI joins Externally Dispersed Interferometery (EDI) with an efficient, medium-resolution, near IR (0.9 - 2.4 micron) echelle spectrometer, TripleSpec, at the Palomar 200" telescope. We describe the instrument and its radial velocimetry demonstration program to observe cool stars.

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Far-Ultraviolet Cooling Features of the Antlia Supernova Remnant

We present far-ultraviolet observations of the Antlia supernova remnant obtained with Far-ultraviolet IMaging Spectrograph (FIMS, also called SPEAR). The strongest lines observed are C IV 1548,1551 and C III 977. The C IV emission of this mixed-morphology supernova remnant shows a clumpy distribution, and the line intensity is nearly constant with radius. The C III 977 line, though too weak to be mapped over the whole remnant, is shown to vary radially. The line intensity peaks at about half the radius, and drops at the edge of the remnant. Both the clumpy distribution of C IV and the rise in the C IV to C III ratio towards the edge suggest that central emission is from evaporating cloudlets rather than thermal conduction in a more uniform, dense medium.

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