arXiv subjects

Koji S. Kawabata

Publications and source records attributed to Koji S. Kawabata.

126 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Anti-Correlation of the Near-Infrared and X-Ray Variations of the Microquasar GRS 1915+105 in Soft State

We report detailed, long term near-infrared (NIR) light curves of GRS 1915+105 in 2007-2008, covering its long "soft state" for the first time. From our NIR monitoring and the X-ray data of the All Sky Monitor (ASM) onboard Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), we discovered that the NIR flux dropped by > 1 mag during short X-ray flares with a time-scale of days. With the termination of the soft state, the H-Ks color reddened and the anti-correlation pattern was broken. The observed H-Ks color variation suggests that the dominant NIR source was an accretion disk during the soft state. The short X-ray flares during the soft state were associated with spectral hardening in X-rays and increasing radio emission indicating jet ejection. The temporal NIR fading during the X-ray flares, hence, implies a sudden decrease of the contribution of the accretion disk when the jet is ejected.

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arXiv2009

The Extremely Luminous Supernova 2006gy at Late Phase: Detection of Optical Emission from Supernova

We performed optical spectroscopy and photometry of SN 2006gy at late time, ~400 days after the explosion, with the Subaru/FOCAS in a good seeing condition. We found that the SN faded by ~3 mag from ~200 to ~400 days after the explosion (i.e., by ~5 mag from peak to ~400 days) in R band. The overall light curve is marginally consistent with the 56Ni heating model, although the flattening around 200 days suggests the optical flux declined more steeply between ~200 and ~400 days. The late time spectrum was quite peculiar among all types of SNe. It showed many intermediate width (~2000 km/s FWHM) emission lines, e.g., [Fe II], [Ca II], and Ca II. The absence of the broad [O I] 6300, 6364 line and weakness of [Fe II] and [Ca II] lines compared with Ca II IR triplet would be explained by a moderately high electron density in the line emitting region. This high density assumption seems to be consistent with the large amount of ejecta and low expansion velocity of SN 2006gy. The H-alpha line luminosity was as small as ~1x10^39 erg/s, being comparable with those of normal Type II SNe at similar epochs. Our observation indicates that the strong CSM interaction had almost finished by ~400 days. If the late time optical flux is purely powered by radioactive decay, at least M_Ni ~ 3 M_sun should be produced at the SN explosion. In the late phase spectrum, there were several unusual emission lines at 7400--8800 AA and some of them might be due to Ti or Ni synthesized at the explosion. (abridged)

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arXiv2008

No Evidence for Variability of Intervening Absorption Lines toward GRB 060206: Implications for the Mg II Incidence Problem

We examine variability of absorption line strength of intervening systems along the line of sight to GRB 060206 at $z = 4.05$, by the low-resolution optical spectra obtained by the Subaru telescope from six to ten hours after the burst. Strong variabilities of Fe\emissiontype{II} and Mg\emissiontype{II} lines at $z=1.48$ during $t=$5--8 hours have been reported for this GRB \citep{Hao07}, and this has been used to support the idea of clumpy Mg\emissiontype{II} cloudlets that was originally proposed to explain the anomalously high incidence of Mg\emissiontype{II} absorbers in GRB spectra compared with quasars . However, our spectra with higher signal-to-noise ratio do not show any evidence for variability in $t=$6-10 hours. There is a clear discrepancy between our data and Hao et al. data in the overlapping time interval. Furthermore, the line strengths in our data are in good agreement with those observed at $t \sim$ 2 hours by \citet{Tho08}. We also detected Fe\emissiontype{II} and Mg\emissiontype{II} absorption lines for a system at $z = 2.26$, and these lines do not show evidence for variability either. Therefore we conclude that there is no strong evidence for variability of intervening absorption lines toward GRB 060206, significantly weakening the support to the Mg\emissiontype{II} cloudlet hypothe sis by the GRB 060206 data.

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arXiv2008

Detection of Polarimetric Variations Associated with the Shortest Time-Scale Variability in S5 0716$ + $714

We present the result of near-infrared and optical observations of the BL Lac object S5 0716$ + $714 carried out by the KANATA telescope. S5 0716$ + $714 has both a long term high-amplitude variability and a short-term variability within a night. The shortest variability (microvariability) time-scale is important for understanding the geometry of jets and magnetic field, because it provides a possible minimum size of variation sources. Here, we report the detection of 15-min variability in S5 0716$ + $714, which is one of the shortest time-scales in optical and near-infrared variations observed in blazars. The detected microvariation had an amplitude of $0.061{\pm}0.005$ mag in $V$ band and a blue color of $Δ(V-J)=-0.025{\pm}0.011$. Furthermore, we successfully detected an unprecedented, short time-scale polarimetric variation which correlated with the brightness change. We revealed that the microvariation had a specific polarization component. The polarization degree of the variation component was higher than that of the total flux. These results suggest that the microvariability originated from a small and local region where the magnetic field is aligned.

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arXiv2008

Science with UT's Dichroic-Mirror Camera (DMC), 15-band simultaneous imager

We introduce the Dichroic-Mirror Camera (DMC), an instrument developed at the University of Tokyo which is capable of performing simultaneous imaging in fifteen bands. The main feature of the DMC is the dichroic mirrors, which split incoming light into red and blue components. Combination of dichroic mirrors split light from the telescope focus into fifteen intermediate-width bands across 390 -- 950 nm. The fifteen bands of DMC provide measurements of the object's spectral energy distribution (SED) at fifteen wavelength points. During May -- June 2007 and March 2008, observing run of the DMC was carried out at Higashi-Hiroshima Observatory, Japan. We observed several objects i.e. planets, asteroids, standard stars & star clusters, planetary nebulae, galaxies, and supernovae. We describe several early scientific results from the DMC.

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arXiv2008

Optical Spectropolarimetry and Asphericity of Type Ic SN 2007gr

We present optical spectropolarimetric observations of Type Ic supernova (SN) 2007gr with Subaru telescope at 21 days after the maximum brightness (~37 days after the explosion). Non-zero polarization as high as ~3% is observed at the absorption feature of Ca II IR triplet. The polarization of the continuum light is ~0.5% if we estimate the interstellar polarization (ISP) component assuming that the continuum polarization has a single polarization angle. This suggests that the axis ratio of the SN photosphere projected to the sky is different from unity by ~10%. The polarization angle at the Ca II absorption is almost aligned to that of the continuum light. These features may be understood by the model where a bipolar explosion with an oblate photosphere is viewed from the slightly off-axis direction and explosively synthesized Ca near the polar region obscures the light originated around the minor axis of the SN photosphere. Given the uncertainty of the ISP, however, the polarization data could also be interpreted by the model with an almost spherically symmetric photosphere and a clumpy Ca II distribution.

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arXiv2008

The 2006 November outburst of EG Aquarii: the SU UMa nature revealed

We report time-resolved CCD photometry of the cataclysmic variable EG Aquarii during the 2006 November outburst During the outburst, superhumps were unambiguously detected with a mean period of 0.078828(6) days, firstly classifying the object as an SU UMa-type dwarf nova. It also turned out that the outburst contained a precursor. At the end of the precursor, immature profiles of humps were observed. By a phase analysis of these humps, we interpreted the features as superhumps. This is the second example that the superhumps were shown during a precursor. Near the maximum stage of the outburst, we discovered an abrupt shift of the superhump period by ${\sim}$ 0.002 days. After the supermaximum, the superhump period decreased at the rate of $\dot{P}/P$=$-8.2{\times}10^{-5}$, which is typical for SU UMa-type dwarf novae. Although the outburst light curve was characteristic of SU UMa-type dwarf novae, long-term monitoring of the variable shows no outbursts over the past decade. We note on the basic properties of long period and inactive SU UMa-type dwarf novae.

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arXiv2008

The evolution of the peculiar Type Ia supernova SN 2005hk over 400 days

$UBVRI$ photometry and medium resolution optical spectroscopy of peculiar Type Ia supernova SN 2005hk are presented and analysed, covering the pre-maximum phase to around 400 days after explosion. The supernova is found to be underluminous compared to "normal" Type Ia supernovae. The photometric and spectroscopic evolution of SN 2005hk is remarkably similar to the peculiar Type Ia event SN 2002cx. The expansion velocity of the supernova ejecta is found to be lower than normal Type Ia events. The spectra obtained $\gsim 200$ days since explosion do not show the presence of forbidden [\ion{Fe}{ii}], [\ion{Fe}{iii}] and [\ion{Co}{iii}] lines, but are dominated by narrow, permitted \ion{Fe}{ii}, NIR \ion{Ca}{ii} and \ion{Na}{i} lines with P-Cygni profiles. Thermonuclear explosion model with Chandrasekhar mass ejecta and a kinetic energy smaller ($\KE = 0.3 \times 10^{51} {\rm ergs}$) than that of canonical Type Ia supernovae is found to well explain the observed bolometric light curve. The mass of \Nifs synthesized in this explosion is $0.18 \Msun$. The early spectra are successfully modeled with this less energetic model with some modifications of the abundance distribution. The late spectrum is explained as a combination of a photospheric component and a nebular component.

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arXiv2007

Testing the External Shock Model of Gamma-Ray Bursts using the Late-Time Simultaneous Optical and X-ray Afterglows

We study the ``normal'' decay phase of the X-ray afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), which follows the shallow decay phase, using the events simultaneously observed in the R-band. The classical external shock model -- in which neither the delayed energy injection nor time-dependency of shock micro-physics is considered -- shows that the decay indices of the X-ray and R-band light curves, $α_{\rm X}$ and $α_{\rm O}$, obey a certain relation, and that in particular, $α_{\rm O}-α_{\rm X}$ should be larger than -1/4 unless the ambient density increases with the distance from the central engine. For our selected 14 samples, we have found that 4 events violate the limit at more than the 3$σ$ level, so that a fraction of events are outliers of the classical external shock model at the ``normal'' decay phase.

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arXiv2006

Spectropolarimetric Study on Circumstellar Structure of Microquasar LS I +61deg 303

We present optical linear spectropolarimetry of the microquasar LS I +61$^{\circ}$ 303. The continuum emission is mildly polarized (up to 1.3 %) and shows almost no temporal change. We find a distinct change of polarization across the H$α$ emission line, indicating the existence of polarization component intrinsic to the microquasar. We estimate the interstellar polarization (ISP) component from polarization of the H$α$ line and derive the intrinsic polarization component. The wavelength dependence of the intrinsic component is well explained by Thomson scattering in equatorial disk of the Be-type mass donor. The position angle (PA) of the intrinsic polarization $\sim 25^{\circ}$ represents the rotational axis of the Be disk. This PA is nearly perpendicular to the PA of the radio jet found during quiescent phases. Assuming an orthogonal disk-jet geometry around the compact star, the rotational axis of the accretion disk is almost perpendicular to that of the Be disk. Moreover, according to the orbital parameters of the microquasar, the compact star is likely to get across the Be disk around their periastron passage. We discuss the peculiar circumstellar structure of this microquasar inferred from our observation and possible connection with its high-energy activities.

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arXiv2006

Low- and Medium-Dispersion Spectropolarimetry of Nova V475 Sct (Nova Scuti 2003): Discovery of an Asymmetric High-Velocity Wind in a Moderately Fast Nova

We present low-resolution ($R\sim 90$) and medium-resolution ($R\sim 2500$) spectropolarimetry of Nova V475 Sct with the HBS instrument, mounted on the 0.91-m telescope at the Okayama Astrophysical Observatory, and with FOCAS, mounted on the 8.2-m Subaru telescope. We estimated the interstellar polarization toward the nova from the steady continuum polarization components and H$α$ line emission components. After subtracting the interstellar polarization component from the observations, we found that the H$α$ emission seen on 2003 October 7 was clearly polarized. In the polarized flux spectrum, the H$α$ emission had a distinct red wing extending to $\sim +4900$ km s$^{-1}$ and a shoulder around $+3500$ km s$^{-1}$, showing a constant position angle of linear polarization $θ_{\rm *}\simeq 155\arcdeg\pm 15\arcdeg$. This suggests that the nova had an asymmetric outflow with a velocity of $v_{\rm wind}\simeq 3500$ km s$^{-1}$ or more, which is six times higher than the expansion velocity of the ionized shell at the same epoch. Such a high-velocity component has not previously been reported for a nova in the `moderately fast' speed class. Our observations suggest the occurrence of violent mass-loss activity in the nova binary system even during the common-envelope phase. The position angle of the polarization in the H$α$ wing is in good agreement with that of the continuum polarization found on 2003 September 26 ($p_{\rm *}\simeq 0.4$--0.6 %), which disappeared within the following 2 d. The uniformity of the PA between the continuum polarization and the wing polarization on October 7 suggests that the axis of the circumstellar asymmetry remained nearly constant during the period of our observations.

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arXiv2004

Subaru Spectropolarimetry of Mrk 573: The Hidden High-Ionization Nuclear Emission-Line Region inside the Dusty Torus

We report on the result of our high quality spectropolarimetric observation for the narrow-line region in a nearby Seyfert 2 galaxy, Mrk 573, by the Subaru Telescope. The polarized flux spectrum of Mrk 573 shows not only prominent scattered broad H$α$ emission but also various narrow forbidden emission lines. We find that the measured polarization degree of the observed forbidden emission lines is positively correlated with the ionization potential of the corresponding ions and the critical density of the corresponding transitions. We discuss some possible origins of these correlations, and then we point out that the correlations are caused due to the obscuration of the stratified narrow-line region in Mrk 573 by the optically and geometrically thick dusty torus, just similar to the previous study on NGC 4258.

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arXiv2004

Detection of Polarized Broad Emission in the Seyfert 2 Galaxy Mrk 573

We report the discovery of the scattered emission from a hidden broad-line region (BLR) in a Seyfert 2 galaxy, Mrk 573, based on our recent spectropolarimetric observation performed at the Subaru Telescope. This object has been regarded as a type 2 AGN without a hidden BLR by the previous observations. However, our high quality spectrum of the polarized flux of Mrk 573 shows prominent broad (~3000 km/s) H_alpha emission, broad weak H_beta emission, and subtle Fe II multiplet emission. Our new detection of these indications for the presence of the hidden BLR in the nucleus of Mrk 573 is thought to be owing to the high signal-to-noise ratio of our data, but the possibility of a time variation of the scattered BLR emission is also mentioned. Some diagnostic quantities such as the IRAS color, the radio power, and the line ratio of the emission from the narrow-line region of Mrk 573 are consistent with the distributions of such quantities of type 2 AGNs with a hidden BLR. Mrk 573 is thought to be an object whose level of the AGN activity is the weakest among the type 2 AGNs with a hidden BLR. In terms of the systematic differences between the type 2 AGNs with and without a hidden BLR, we briefly comment on an interesting Seyfert 2 galaxy, Mrk 266SW, which may possess a hidden BLR but has been treated as a type 2 AGNs without a hidden BLR.

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arXiv2003

Dusty ERO Search behind Two Massive Clusters

We performed deep K'-band imaging observations of 2 massive clusters, MS 0451.6-0305 at z = 0.55 and MS 0440.5+0204 at z = 0.19, for searching counterparts of the faint sub-mm sources behind these clusters, which would provide one of the deepest extremely red object(ERO) samples. Comparing our near-infrared images with optical images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and by the Subaru Telescope, we identified 13 EROs in these fields. The sky distributions of EROs are consistent with the previous results, that there is a sign of strong clustering among detected EROs. Also, the surface density with corrected lensing amplification factors in both clusters are in good agreement with that derived from previous surveys. We found 7 EROs and 3 additional very red objects in a small area (\sim 0.6 arcmin^2) of the MS 0451.6-0305 field around an extended SCUBA source. Many of their optical and near-infrared colors are consistent with dusty star-forming galaxies at high redshifts(z \sim 1.0-4.0), and they may be constituting a cluster of dusty starburst galaxies and/or lensed star-forming galaxies at high redshift. Their red J-K' colors and faint optical magnitudes suggest they are relatively old massive stellar systems with ages(>300 Mega years) suffering from dust obscuration. We also found a surface-density enhancement of EROs around the SCUBA source in the MS 0440.5+0204 field.

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arXiv2002

SDSSp J104433.04$-$012502.2 at $z=5.74$ is Gravitationally Magnified by an Intervening Galaxy

During the course of our optical deep survey program on L$α$ emitters at $z \approx 5.7$ in the sky area surrounding the quasar SDSSp J104433.04$-$012502.2 at $z=5.74$, we found that a faint galaxy with $m_B$(AB) $\approx 25$ is located at \timeform{1".9} southwest of the quasar. Its broad-band color properties from $B$ to $z^\prime$ suggest that the galaxy is located at a redshift of $z \sim 1.5$ -- 2.5. This is consistent with no strong emission line in our optical spectroscopy. Since the counter image of the quasar cannot be seen in our deep optical images, the magnification factor seems not to be very high. Our modest estimate is that this quasar is gravitationally magnified by a factor of 2.

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arXiv2002

Decomposition of the Superwind in M82

We present new optical images ($B$, $V$, and H$α$) of the archetypical starburst/superwind galaxy M82 obtained with the 8.2 m Subaru Telescope to reveal new detailed structures of the superwind-driven nebula and the high-latitude dark lanes. The emission-line nebula is decomposed into (1) a ridge-dominated component comprising numerous filament/loop sub-structures whose overall morphology appears as a pair of narrow cylinders, and (2) a diffuse component extended over much wider opening angle from the nucleus. We suggest that these two components have different origins. The ridge-dominated component appears as a pair of cylinders rather than a pair of cones. Since this morphological property is similar to that of hot plasma probed by soft X-ray, this component seems to surround the hot plasma. On the other hand, the diffuse component may arise from dust grains which scatter stellar light from the galaxy. Since inner region of this component is seen over the prominent ^^ ^^ X"-shaped dark lanes streaming out from the nuclear region and they can be reproduced as a conical distribution of dust grains, there seems to be a dusty cold outflow as well as the hot one probed by soft X-ray and shock-excited optical emission lines. If this is the case, the presence of such high-latitude dust grains implies that neutral gaseous matter is also blown out during the course of the superwind activity.

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arXiv2002

Subaru Spectroscopy of the Gravitational Lens HST 14176+5226: Implications for a Large Cosmological Constan

We present new optical spectroscopy of the lens elliptical galax in the ``Einstein Cross'' lens system HST 14176+5226, using the Faint Object Camera and Spectrograph (FOCAS) of the Subaru t Our spectroscopic observations are aimed at measuring the stella dispersion of the lens galaxy, located at high redshift of z_L= as an important component to lens models. We have measured this 230 +- 14 km s^{-1} (1 sigma) inside 0.35 effective radi based on the comparison between the observed galaxy spectrum and templates of three G-K giants by means of the Fourier cross-corr To extract the significance of this information on the geometry universe which also affects the lensing of the background image, to fit three different lens models to the available data of the Provided that the lens galaxy has the structural and dynamical p (i.e., its radial density profile, core radius, and velocity ani similar to those of local elliptical galaxies, we calculate the function for the simultaneous reproduction of both the observed and newly measured velocity dispersion of the lens. Although the interval depends rather sensitively on the adopted lens models o parameters, our experiments suggest the larger likelihood for a cosmological constant, Omega_Lambda: formal 1 sigma lower Omega_Lambda in the flat universe ranges 0.73 to 0.97, where lower limit is basically unavailable. This method for determinin model is thus dependent on lens models but is insensitive to oth ambiguities, such as the dust absorption or the evolutionary eff galaxies. Exploring spectroscopic observations of more lens gala redshift may minimize the model uncertainties and thus place a m constraint on Omega_Lambda.

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arXiv2001

A Shock-Induced Pair of Superbubbles in the High-Redshift Powerful Radio Galaxy MRC 0406-244

We present new optical spectroscopy of the high-redshift powerful radio galaxy MRC 0406$-$244 at redshift of 2.429. We find that the two extensions toward NW and SE probed in the rest-frame ultraviolet image are heated mainly by the nonthermal continuum of the active galactic nucleus. However, each extension shows a shell-like morphology, suggesting that they are a pair of superbubbles induced by the superwind activity rather than by the interaction between the radio jet and the ambient gas clouds. If this is the case, the intense starburst responsible for the formation of superbubbles could occur $\sim 1 \times 10^9$ yr ago. On the other hand, the age of the radio jets may be of the order of $\sim 10^6$ yr, being much shorter than the starburst age. Therefore, the two events, i.e., the starburst and the radio-jet activities, are independent phenomena. However, their directions of the expanding motions could be governed by the rotational motion of the gaseous component in the host galaxy. This idea appears to explain the alignment effect of MRC 0406$-$244.

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