arXiv subjects

L. Guzman-Ramirez

Publications and source records attributed to L. Guzman-Ramirez.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2020

Re-analysis of the 267-GHz ALMA observations of Venus: No statistically significant detection of phosphine

Context: ALMA observations of Venus at 267 GHz have been presented in the literature that show the apparent presence of phosphine (PH3) in its atmosphere. Phosphine has currently no evident production routes on the planet's surface or in its atmosphere. Aims: The aim of this work is to assess the statistical reliability of the line detection by independent re-analysis of the ALMA data. Methods: The ALMA data were reduced as in the published study, following the provided scripts. First the spectral analysis presented in the study was reproduced and assessed. Subsequently, the spectrum was statistically evaluated, including its dependence on selected ALMA baselines. Results: We find that the 12th-order polynomial fit to the spectral passband utilised in the published study leads to spurious results. Following their recipe, five other >10 sigma lines can be produced in absorption or emission within 60 km/s from the PH3 1-0 transition frequency by suppressing the surrounding noise. Our independent analysis shows a feature near the PH3 frequency at a ~2 sigma level, below the common threshold for statistical significance. Since the spectral data have a non-Gaussian distribution, we consider a feature at such level as statistically unreliable that cannot be linked to a false positive probability. Conclusions: We find that the published 267-GHz ALMA data provide no statistical evidence for phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus.

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arXiv2019

Resolved imaging of the AR Puppis circumbinary disk

Circumbinary disks are common around post-asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) stars with a stellar companion on orbital time scales of a few 100 to few 1000 days. The presence of a disk is usually inferred from the system's spectral energy distribution (SED), and confirmed, for a sub-sample, by interferometric observations. We used the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument on the Very Large Telescope to obtain extreme adaptive optics assisted scattered light images of the post-AGB binary system AR Puppis. Data have been obtained in the V, I, and H bands. Our observations have produced the first resolved images of AR Puppis' circumbinary disk and confirm its edge-on orientation. In our high angular-resolution and high dynamic-range images we identify several structural components such as a dark mid-plane, the disk surface, and arc-like features. We discuss the nature of these components and use complementary photometric monitoring to relate them to the orbital phase of the binary system. Because the star is completely obscured by the disk at visible wavelengths, we conclude that the long-term photometric variability of the system must be caused by variable scattering, not extinction, of star light by the disk over the binary orbit. Finally, we discuss how the short disk life times and fast evolution of the host stars compared to the ages at which protoplanetary disks are typically observed make systems like AR Puppis valuable extreme laboratories to study circumstellar disk evolution and constrain the time scale of dust grain growth during the planet formation process.

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arXiv2018

Opening PANDORA's box: APEX observations of CO in PNe

Context. Observations of molecular gas have played a key role in developing the current understanding of the late stages of stellar evolution. Aims. The survey Planetary nebulae AND their cO Reservoir with APEX (PANDORA) was designed to study the circumstellar shells of evolved stars with the aim to estimate their physical parameters. Methods. Millimetre carbon monoxide (CO) emission is the most useful probe of the warm molecular component ejected by low- to intermediate-mass stars. CO is the second-most abundant molecule in the Universe, and the millimeter transitions are easily excited, thus making it particularly useful to study the mass, structure, and kinematics of the molecular gas. We present a large survey of the CO (J = 3 - 2) line using the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) telescope in a sample of 93 proto-planetary nebulae and planetary nebulae. Results. CO (J = 3 - 2) was detected in 21 of the 93 objects. Conclusions. CO (J = 3 - 2) was detected in all 4 observed pPNe (100%), 15 of the 75 PNe (20%), one of the 4 wide binaries (25%), and in 1 of the 10 close binaries (10%). Using the CO (J = 3 - 2) line, we estimated the column density and mass of each source.

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arXiv2017

Gas and dust from solar metallicity AGB stars

We study the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) evolution of stars with masses between $1~M_{\odot} - 8.5~M_{\odot}$. We focus on stars with a solar chemical composition, which allows us to interpret evolved stars in the Galaxy. We present a detailed comparison with models of the same chemistry, calculated with a different evolution code and based on a different set of physical assumptions. We find that stars of mass $\ge 3.5~M_{\odot}$ experience hot bottom burning at the base of the envelope. They have AGB lifetimes shorter than $\sim 3\times 10^5$ yr and eject into their surroundings gas contaminated by proton-capture nucleosynthesis, at an extent sensitive to the treatment of convection. Low mass stars with $1.5~M_{\odot} \le M \le 3~M_{\odot}$ become carbon stars. During the final phases the C/O ratio grows to $\sim 3$. We find a remarkable agreement between the two codes for the low-mass models and conclude that predictions for the physical and chemical properties of these stars, and the AGB lifetime, are not that sensitive to the modelling of the AGB phase. The dust produced is also dependent on the mass: low-mass stars produce mainly solid carbon and silicon carbide dust, whereas higher mass stars produce silicates and alumina dust. Possible future observations potentially able to add more robustness to the present results are also discussed.

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arXiv2017

The very fast evolution of Sakurai's object

V4334 Sgr (a.k.a. Sakurai's object) is the central star of an old planetary nebula that underwent a very late thermal pulse a few years before its discovery in 1996. We have been monitoring the evolution of the optical emission line spectrum since 2001. The goal is to improve the evolutionary models by constraining them with the temporal evolution of the central star temperature. In addition the high resolution spectral observations obtained by X-shooter and ALMA show the temporal evolution of the different morphological components.

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arXiv2017

Early Science with the Large Millimetre Telescope: Molecules in the Extreme Outflow of a proto-Planetary Nebula

Extremely high velocity emission likely related to jets is known to occur in some proto-Planetary Nebulae. However, the molecular complexity of this kinematic component is largely unknown. We observed the known extreme outflow from the proto-Planetary Nebula IRAS 16342-3814, a prototype water fountain, in the full frequency range from 73 to 111 GHz with the RSR receiver on the Large Millimetre Telescope. We detected the molecules SiO, HCN, SO, and $^{13}$CO. All molecular transitions, with the exception of the latter are detected for the first time in this source, and all present emission with velocities up to a few hundred km s$^{-1}$. IRAS 16342-3814 is therefore the only source of this kind presenting extreme outflow activity simultaneously in all these molecules, with SO and SiO emission showing the highest velocities found of these species in proto-Planetary Nebulae. To be confirmed is a tentative weak SO component with a FWHM $\sim$ 700 km s$^{-1}$. The extreme outflow gas consists of dense gas (n$_{\rm H_2} >$ 10$^{4.8}$--10$^{5.7}$ cm$^{-3}$), with a mass larger than $\sim$ 0.02--0.15 M$_{\odot}$. The relatively high abundances of SiO and SO may be an indication of an oxygen-rich extreme high velocity gas.

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arXiv2016

The ALMA detection of CO rotational line emission in AGB stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Context: Low- and intermediate-mass stars lose most of their stellar mass at the end of their lives on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). Determining gas and dust mass-loss rates (MLRs) is important in quantifying the contribution of evolved stars to the enrichment of the interstellar medium. Aims: Attempt to, for the first time, spectrally resolve CO thermal line emission in a small sample of AGB stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Methods: ALMA was used to observe 2 OH/IR stars and 4 carbon stars in the LMC in the CO J= 2-1 line. Results: We present the first measurement of expansion velocities in extragalactic carbon stars. All four C-stars are detected and wind expansion velocities and stellar velocities are directly measured. Mass-loss rates are derived from modelling the spectral energy distribution and Spitzer/IRS spectrum with the DUSTY code. Gas-to-dust ratios are derived that make the predicted velocities agree with the observed ones. The expansion velocities and MLRs are compared to a Galactic sample of well-studied relatively low MLRs stars supplemented with "extreme" C-stars that have properties more similar to the LMC targets. Gas MLRs derived from a simple formula are significantly smaller than derived from the dust modelling, indicating an order of magnitude underestimate of the estimated CO abundance, time-variable mass loss, or that the CO intensities in LMC stars are lower than predicted by the formula derived for Galactic objects. This could be related to a stronger interstellar radiation field in the LMC. Conclusions: Although the LMC sample is small and the comparison to Galactic stars is non-trivial because of uncertainties in their distances it appears that for C stars the wind expansion velocities in the LMC are lower than in the solar neighbourhood, while the MLRs appear similar. This is in agreement with dynamical dust-driven wind models.

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arXiv2016

First Detection of $^3$He$^+$ in the Planetary Nebula IC$\,$418

The $^3$He isotope is important to many fields of astrophysics, including stellar evolution, chemical evolution, and cosmology. The isotope is produced in low-mass stars which evolve through the planetary nebula (PN) phase. $^3$He abundances in PNe can help test models of the chemical evolution of the Galaxy. We present the detection of the $^3$He$^+$ emission line using the single dish Deep Space Station 63, towards the PN IC$\,$418. We derived a $^3$He/H abundance in the range 1.74$\pm$0.8$\times$10$^{-3}$ to 5.8$\pm$1.7$\times$10$^{-3}$, depending on whether part of the line arises in an outer ionized halo. The lower value for $^3$He/H ratio approaches values predicted by stellar models which include thermohaline mixing, but requires that large amounts of $^3$He are produced inside low-mass stars which enrich the interstellar medium (ISM). However, this over-predicts the $^3$He abundance in HII regions, the ISM, and proto-solar grains, which is known to be of the order of 10$^{-5}$. This discrepancy questions our understanding of the evolution of the $^3$He, from circumstellar environments to the ISM.

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arXiv2016

A search for white dwarfs in the Galactic plane: the field and the open cluster population

We investigated the prospects for systematic searches of white dwarfs at low Galactic latitudes, using the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) H$α$ Photometric Survey of the Galactic plane and Bulge (VPHAS+). We targeted 17 white dwarf candidates along sightlines of known open clusters, aiming to identify potential cluster members. We confirmed all the 17 white dwarf candidates from blue/optical spectroscopy, and we suggest five of them to be likely cluster members. We estimated progenitor ages and masses for the candidate cluster members, and compared our findings to those for other cluster white dwarfs. A white dwarf in NGC 3532 is the most massive known cluster member (1.13 M$_{\odot}$), likely with an oxygen-neon core, for which we estimate an $8.8_{-4.3}^{+1.2}$ M$_{\odot}$ progenitor, close to the mass-divide between white dwarf and neutron star progenitors. A cluster member in Ruprecht 131 is a magnetic white dwarf, whose progenitor mass exceeded 2-3 M$_{\odot}$. We stress that wider searches, and improved cluster distances and ages derived from data of the ESA Gaia mission, will advance the understanding of the mass-loss processes for low- to intermediate-mass stars.

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arXiv2015

LX Cygni: A carbon star is born

Context: The Mira variable LX Cyg showed a dramatic increase of its pulsation period in the recent decades and appears to undergo an important transition in its evolution. Aims: We aim at investigating the spectral type evolution of this star over the recent decades as well as during one pulsation cycle in more detail and discuss it in connection with the period evolution. Methods: We present optical, near- and mid-IR low-resolution as well as optical high-resolution spectra to determine the current spectral type. The optical spectrum of LX Cyg has been followed for more than one pulsation cycle. Recent spectra are compared to archival spectra to trace the spectral type evolution and a Spitzer mid-IR spectrum is analysed for the presence of molecular and dust features. Furthermore, the current period is derived from AAVSO data. Results: It is found that the spectral type of LX Cyg changed from S to C sometime between 1975 and 2008. Currently, the spectral type C is stable during a pulsation cycle. It is shown that spectral features typical of C-type stars are present in its spectrum from ~0.5 to 14 $μ{\rm{m}}$. An emission feature at 10.7 $μ{\rm{m}}$ is attributed to SiC grains. The period of LX Cyg has increased from ~460 d to ~580 d within only 20 years, and is stable now. Conclusions: We conclude that the change in spectral type and the increase in pulsation period happened simultaneously and are causally connected. Both a recent thermal pulse (TP) and a simple surface temperature decrease appear unlikely to explain the observations. We therefore suggest that the underlying mechanism is related to a recent third dredge-up mixing event that brought up carbon from the interior of the star, i.e. that a genuine abundance change happened. We propose that LX Cyg is a rare transition type object that is uniquely suited to study the transformation from O- to C-rich stars in detail.

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arXiv2015

An Overview of the 2014 ALMA Long Baseline Campaign

A major goal of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is to make accurate images with resolutions of tens of milliarcseconds, which at submillimeter (submm) wavelengths requires baselines up to ~15 km. To develop and test this capability, a Long Baseline Campaign (LBC) was carried out from September to late November 2014, culminating in end-to-end observations, calibrations, and imaging of selected Science Verification (SV) targets. This paper presents an overview of the campaign and its main results, including an investigation of the short-term coherence properties and systematic phase errors over the long baselines at the ALMA site, a summary of the SV targets and observations, and recommendations for science observing strategies at long baselines. Deep ALMA images of the quasar 3C138 at 97 and 241 GHz are also compared to VLA 43 GHz results, demonstrating an agreement at a level of a few percent. As a result of the extensive program of LBC testing, the highly successful SV imaging at long baselines achieved angular resolutions as fine as 19 mas at ~350 GHz. Observing with ALMA on baselines of up to 15 km is now possible, and opens up new parameter space for submm astronomy.

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arXiv2015

Witnessing the Emergence of a Carbon Star

During the late stages of their evolution, Sun-like stars bring the products of nuclear burning to the surface. Most of the carbon in the Universe is believed to originate from stars with masses up to a few solar masses. Although there is a chemical dichotomy between oxygen-rich and carbon-rich evolved stars, the dredge-up itself has never been directly observed. In the last three decades, however, a few stars have been shown to display both carbon- and oxygen-rich material in their circumstellar envelopes. Two models have been proposed to explain this dual chemistry: one postulates that a recent dredge-up of carbon produced by nucleosynthesis inside the star during the Asymptotic Giant Branch changed the surface chemistry of the star. The other model postulates that oxygen-rich material exists in stable keplerian rotation around the central star. The two models make contradictory, testable, predictions on the location of the oxygen-rich material, either located further from the star than the carbon-rich gas, or very close to the star in a stable disk. Using the Faint Object InfraRed CAmera (FORCAST) instrument on board the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Telescope, we obtained images of the carbon-rich planetary nebula (PN) BD+30 3639 which trace both carbon-rich polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and oxygen-rich silicate dust. With the superior spectral coverage of SOFIA, and using a 3D photoionisation and dust radiative transfer model we prove that the O-rich material is distributed in a shell in the outer parts of the nebula, while the C-rich material is located in the inner parts of the nebula. These observations combined with the model, suggest a recent change in stellar surface composition for the double chemistry in this object. This is evidence for dredge-up occurring ~1000yr ago.

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arXiv2015

ALMA Observations of Asteroid 3 Juno at 60 Kilometer Resolution

We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) 1.3 mm continuum images of the asteroid 3 Juno obtained with an angular resolution of 0.042 arcseconds (60 km at 1.97 AU). The data were obtained over a single 4.4 hr interval, which covers 60% of the 7.2 hr rotation period, approximately centered on local transit. A sequence of ten consecutive images reveals continuous changes in the asteroid's profile and apparent shape, in good agreement with the sky projection of the three-dimensional model of the Database of Asteroid Models from Inversion Techniques. We measure a geometric mean diameter of 259pm4 km, in good agreement with past estimates from a variety of techniques and wavelengths. Due to the viewing angle and inclination of the rotational pole, the southern hemisphere dominates all of the images. The median peak brightness temperature is 215pm13 K, while the median over the whole surface is 197pm15 K. With the unprecedented resolution of ALMA, we find that the brightness temperature varies across the surface with higher values correlated to the subsolar point and afternoon areas, and lower values beyond the evening terminator. The dominance of the subsolar point is accentuated in the final four images, suggesting a reduction in the thermal inertia of the regolith at the corresponding longitudes, which are possibly correlated to the location of the putative large impact crater. These results demonstrate ALMA's potential to resolve thermal emission from the surface of main belt asteroids, and to measure accurately their position, geometric shape, rotational period, and soil characteristics.

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arXiv2015

First Results from High Angular Resolution ALMA Observations Toward the HL Tau Region

We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations from the 2014 Long Baseline Campaign in dust continuum and spectral line emission from the HL Tau region. The continuum images at wavelengths of 2.9, 1.3, and 0.87 mm have unprecedented angular resolutions of 0.075 arcseconds (10 AU) to 0.025 arcseconds (3.5 AU), revealing an astonishing level of detail in the circumstellar disk surrounding the young solar analogue HL Tau, with a pattern of bright and dark rings observed at all wavelengths. By fitting ellipses to the most distinct rings, we measure precise values for the disk inclination (46.72pm0.05 degrees) and position angle (+138.02pm0.07 degrees). We obtain a high-fidelity image of the 1.0 mm spectral index ($α$), which ranges from $α\sim2.0$ in the optically-thick central peak and two brightest rings, increasing to 2.3-3.0 in the dark rings. The dark rings are not devoid of emission, we estimate a grain emissivity index of 0.8 for the innermost dark ring and lower for subsequent dark rings, consistent with some degree of grain growth and evolution. Additional clues that the rings arise from planet formation include an increase in their central offsets with radius and the presence of numerous orbital resonances. At a resolution of 35 AU, we resolve the molecular component of the disk in HCO+ (1-0) which exhibits a pattern over LSR velocities from 2-12 km/s consistent with Keplerian motion around a ~1.3 solar mass star, although complicated by absorption at low blue-shifted velocities. We also serendipitously detect and resolve the nearby protostars XZ Tau (A/B) and LkHa358 at 2.9 mm.

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arXiv2015

ALMA Long Baseline Observations of the Strongly Lensed Submillimeter Galaxy HATLAS J090311.6+003906 at z=3.042

We present initial results of very high resolution Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the $z$=3.042 gravitationally lensed galaxy HATLAS J090311.6+003906 (SDP.81). These observations were carried out using a very extended configuration as part of Science Verification for the 2014 ALMA Long Baseline Campaign, with baselines of up to 15 km. We present continuum imaging at 151, 236 and 290 GHz, at unprecedented angular resolutions as fine as 23 milliarcseconds (mas), corresponding to an un-magnified spatial scale of ~180 pc at z=3.042. The ALMA images clearly show two main gravitational arc components of an Einstein ring, with emission tracing a radius of ~1.5". We also present imaging of CO(10-9), CO(8-7), CO(5-4) and H2O line emission. The CO emission, at an angular resolution of ~170 mas, is found to broadly trace the gravitational arc structures but with differing morphologies between the CO transitions and compared to the dust continuum. Our detection of H2O line emission, using only the shortest baselines, provides the most resolved detection to date of thermal H2O emission in an extragalactic source. The ALMA continuum and spectral line fluxes are consistent with previous Plateau de Bure Interferometer and Submillimeter Array observations despite the impressive increase in angular resolution. Finally, we detect weak unresolved continuum emission from a position that is spatially coincident with the center of the lens, with a spectral index that is consistent with emission from the core of the foreground lensing galaxy.

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arXiv2014

First release of the IPHAS Catalogue of New Extended Planetary Nebulae

We present the first results of our search for new, extended Planetary Nebulae (PNe) based on careful, systematic, visual scrutiny of the imaging data from the INT Photometric H-alpha Survey of the Northern Galactic Plane (IPHAS). The newly uncovered PNe will help to improve the census of this important population of Galactic objects that serve as key windows into the late stage evolution of low to intermediate mass stars. They will also facilitate study of the faint end of the ensemble Galactic PN luminosity function. The sensitivity and coverage of IPHAS allows PNe to be found in regions of greater extinction in the Galactic Plane and/or those PNe in a more advanced evolutionary state and at larger distances compared to the general Galactic PN population. Using a set of newly revised optical diagnostic diagrams in combination with access to a powerful, new, multi-wavelength imaging database, we have identified 159 true, likely and possible PNe for this first catalogue release. The ability of IPHAS to unveil PNe at low Galactic latitudes and towards the Galactic Anticenter, compared to previous surveys, makes this survey an ideal tool to contribute to the improvement of our knowledge of the whole Galactic PN population

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arXiv2014

PAH Formation in O-rich Planetary Nebulae

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been observed in O-rich planetary nebulae towards the Galactic Bulge. This combination of oxygen-rich and carbon-rich material, known as dual-dust or mixed chemistry, is not expected to be seen around such objects. We recently proposed that PAHs could be formed from the photodissociation of CO in dense tori. In this work, using VISIR/VLT, we spatially resolved the emission of the PAH bands and ionised emission from the [SIV] line, confirming the presence of dense central tori in all the observed O-rich objects. Furthermore, we show that for most of the objects, PAHs are located at the outer edge of these dense/compact tori, while the ionised material is mostly present in the inner parts of these tori, consistent with our hypothesis for the formation of PAHs in these systems. The presence of a dense torus has been strongly associated with the action of a central binary star and, as such, the rich chemistry seen in these regions may also be related to the formation of exoplanets in post-common-envelope binary systems.

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arXiv2013

3He: Does the problem persists?

To understand the chemical evolution of the Galaxy, we need to understand the contribution of PNe in the 3He abundance. 3He abundances have been detected only in a couple of PNe, their abundances are consistent with the standard models, in which 3He is produced in significant quantities by stars of 1-2M_sun. However, for all the other PNe observed to date there have been no detections, therefore only upper limits in their abundance can be calculated. Observations of the 3He+ emission line using the VLA towards the PNe IC 418, NGC 6572 and NGC 7009 were used to obtain upper limits for their 3He abundance. Because the abundance of 3He in HII regions, the ISM and the proto-solar system is much lower than what is predicted, new chemical models were proposed. The resulting evolution of 3He, based on stellar evolution models, can be consistent with the values determined in pre-solar material and the ISM if 96 percent of the population of stars with mass below 2.5M_sun has undergone enhanced 3He depletion. This implies that unless the combined sample of PNe that has been observed so far is very atypical, the solution to the "The 3He Problem" lies elsewhere. However, the results presented here suggest that more observations are needed in order to make a strong conclusion about the stellar evolution models.

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