arXiv subjects

Marco Lombardi

Publications and source records attributed to Marco Lombardi.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

The shapes of column density PDFs - The importance of the last closed contour

The probability distribution function of column density (PDF) has become the tool of choice for cloud structure analysis and star formation studies. Its simplicity is attractive, and the PDF could offer access to cloud physical parameters otherwise difficult to measure, but there has been some confusion in the literature on the definition of its completeness limit and shape at the low column density end. In this Letter we use the natural definition of the completeness limit of a column density PDF, the last closed column-density contour inside a surveyed region, and apply it to a set of large-scale maps of nearby molecular clouds. We conclude that there is no observational evidence for log-normal PDFs in these objects. We find that all studied molecular clouds have PDFs well described by power-laws, including the diffuse cloud Polaris. Our results call for a new physical interpretation for the shape of the column density PDFs. We find that the slope of a cloud PDF is invariant to distance but not to the spatial arrangement of cloud material, and as such it is still a useful tool to investigate cloud structure.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

X Marks the Spot: Nexus of Filaments, Cores, and Outflows in a Young Star-Forming Region

We present a multiwavelength investigation of a region of a nearby giant molecular cloud that is distinguished by a minimal level of star formation activity. With our new 12CO(J=2-1) and 13CO(J=2-1) observations of a remote region within the middle of the California molecular cloud, we aim to investigate the relationship between filaments, cores, and a molecular outflow in a relatively pristine environment. An extinction map of the region from Herschel Space Observatory observations reveals the presence of two 2-pc-long filaments radiating from a high-extinction clump. Using the 13CO observations, we show that the filaments have coherent velocity gradients and that their mass-per-unit-lengths may exceed the critical value above which filaments are gravitationally unstable. The region exhibits structure with eight cores, at least one of which is a starless, prestellar core. We identify a low-velocity, low-mass molecular outflow that may be driven by a flat spectrum protostar. The outflow does not appear to be responsible for driving the turbulence in the core with which it is associated, nor does it provide significant support against gravitational collapse.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

Estimating Extinction using Unsupervised Machine Learning

Dust extinction is the most robust tracer of the gas distribution in the interstellar medium, but measuring extinction is limited by the systematic uncertainties involved in estimating the intrinsic colors to background stars. In this paper we present a new technique, PNICER, that estimates intrinsic colors and extinction for individual stars using unsupervised machine learning algorithms. This new method aims to be free from any priors with respect to the column density and intrinsic color distribution. It is applicable to any combination of parameters and works in arbitrary numbers of dimensions. Furthermore, it is not restricted to color space. Extinction towards single sources is determined by fitting Gaussian Mixture Models along the extinction vector to (extinction-free) control field observations. In this way it becomes possible to describe the extinction for observed sources with probability densities. PNICER effectively eliminates known biases found in similar methods and outperforms them in cases of deep observational data where the number of background galaxies is significant, or when a large number of parameters is used to break degeneracies in the intrinsic color distributions. This new method remains computationally competitive, making it possible to correctly de-redden millions of sources within a matter of seconds. With the ever-increasing number of large-scale high-sensitivity imaging surveys, PNICER offers a fast and reliable way to efficiently calculate extinction for arbitrary parameter combinations without prior information on source characteristics. PNICER also offers access to the well-established NICER technique in a simple unified interface and is capable of building extinction maps including the NICEST correction for cloud substructure. PNICER is offered to the community as an open-source software solution and is entirely written in Python.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2016

VISION - Vienna survey in Orion I. VISTA Orion A Survey

Orion A hosts the nearest massive star factory, thus offering a unique opportunity to resolve the processes connected with the formation of both low- and high-mass stars. Here we present the most detailed and sensitive near-infrared (NIR) observations of the entire molecular cloud to date. With the unique combination of high image quality, survey coverage, and sensitivity, our NIR survey of Orion A aims at establishing a solid empirical foundation for further studies of this important cloud. In this first paper we present the observations, data reduction, and source catalog generation. To demonstrate the data quality, we present a first application of our catalog to estimate the number of stars currently forming inside Orion A and to verify the existence of a more evolved young foreground population. We used the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) to survey the entire Orion A molecular cloud in the NIR $J, H$, and $K_S$ bands, covering a total of $\sim$18.3 deg$^2$. We implemented all data reduction recipes independently of the ESO pipeline. Estimates of the young populations toward Orion A are derived via the $K_S$-band luminosity function. Our catalog (799995 sources) increases the source counts compared to the Two Micron All Sky Survey by about an order of magnitude. The 90% completeness limits are 20.4, 19.9, and 19.0 mag in $J, H$, and $K_S$, respectively. The reduced images have 20% better resolution on average compared to pipeline products. We find between 2300 and 3000 embedded objects in Orion A and confirm that there is an extended foreground population above the Galactic field, in agreement with previous work. The Orion A VISTA catalog represents the most detailed NIR view of the nearest massive star-forming region and provides a fundamental basis for future studies of star formation processes toward Orion.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Smoke in the Pipe Nebula: dust emission and grain growth in the starless core FeSt 1-457

(abridged) Methods: We derive maps of submillimeter dust optical depth and effective dust temperature from Herschel data that were calibrated against Planck. After calibration, we then fit a modified blackbody to the long-wavelength Herschel data, using the Planck-derived dust opacity spectral index beta, derived on scales of 30' (or ~1 pc). We use this model to make predictions of the submillimeter flux density at 850 micron, and we compare these in turn with APEX-Laboca observations. Results: A comparison of the submillimeter dust optical depth and near-infrared extinction data reveals evidence for an increased submillimeter dust opacity at high column densities, interpreted as an indication of grain growth in the inner parts of the core. Additionally, a comparison of the Herschel dust model and the Laboca data reveals that the frequency dependence of the submillimeter opacity, described by the spectral index beta, does not change. A single beta that is only slightly different from the Planck-derived value is sufficient to describe the data, beta=1.53+/-0.07. We apply a similar analysis to Barnard 68, a core with significantly lower column densities than FeSt 1-457, and we do not find evidence for grain growth but also a single beta. Conclusions: While we find evidence for grain growth from the dust opacity in FeSt 1-457, we find no evidence for significant variations in the dust opacity spectral index beta on scales 0.02<x<1 pc (or 36"<x<30'). The correction to the Planck-derived dust beta that we find in both cases is on the order of the measurement error, not including any systematic errors, and it would thus be reasonable to directly apply the dust beta from the Planck all-sky dust model. As a corollary, reliable effective temperature maps can be derived which would be otherwise affected by beta variations.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2015

Molecular clouds have power-law probability distribution functions

In this Letter we investigate the shape of the probability distribution of column densities (PDF) in molecular clouds. Through the use of low-noise, extinction-calibrated \textit{Herschel}/\textit{Planck} emission data for eight molecular clouds, we demonstrate that, contrary to common belief, the PDFs of molecular clouds are not described well by log-normal functions, but are instead power laws with exponents close to two and with breaks between $A_K \simeq 0.1$ and $0.2\,\mathrm{mag}$, so close to the CO self-shielding limit and not far from the transition between molecular and atomic gas. Additionally, we argue that the intrinsic functional form of the PDF cannot be securely determined below $A_K \simeq 0.1\,\mathrm{mag}$, limiting our ability to investigate more complex models for the shape of the cloud PDF.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2015

On the origin of intrinsic alignment in cosmic shear measurements: an analytic argument

Galaxy intrinsic alignment can be a severe source of error in weak-lensing studies. The problem has been widely studied by numerical simulations and with heuristic models, but without a clear theoretical justification of its origin and amplitude. In particular, it is still unclear whether intrinsic alignment of galaxies is dominated by formation and accretion processes or by the effects of the instantaneous tidal field acting upon them. We investigate this question by developing a simple model of intrinsic alignment for elliptical galaxies, based on the instantaneous tidal field. Making use of the galaxy stellar distribution function, we estimate the intrinsic alignment signal and find that although it has the expected dependence on the tidal field, it is too weak to account for the observed signal. This is an indirect validation of the standard view that intrinsic alignment is caused by formation and/or accretion processes.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

Some like it cold: molecular emission and effective dust temperatures of dense cores in the Pipe Nebula

(abridged) [...] Methods: In a continued study of the molecular core population of the Pipe Nebula, we present a molecular-line survey of 52 cores. Previous research has shown a variety of different chemical evolutionary stages among the cores. Using the Mopra radio telescope, we observed the ground rotational transitions of HCO+, H13CO+, HCN, H13CN, HNC, and N2H+. These data are complemented with near-infrared extinction maps to constrain the column densities, effective dust temperatures derived from Herschel data, and NH3-based gas kinetic temperatures. Results: The target cores are located across the nebula, span visual extinctions between 5 and 67 mag, and effective dust temperatures (averaged along the lines of sight) between 13 and 19 K. The extinction-normalized integrated line intensities, a proxy for the abundance in constant excitation conditions of optically thin lines, vary within an order of magnitude for a given molecule. The effective dust temperatures and gas kinetic temperatures are correlated, but the effective dust temperatures are consistently higher than the gas kinetic temperatures. Combining the molecular line and temperature data, we find that N2H+ is only detected toward the coldest and densest cores while other lines show no correlation with these core properties. Conclusions: Within this large sample, N2H+ is the only species to exclusively trace the coldest and densest cores, in agreement with chemical considerations. In contrast, the common high-density tracers HCN and HNC are present in a majority of cores, demonstrating the utility of these molecules to characterize cores over a large range of extinctions. The correlation between the effective dust temperatures and the gas kinetic temperatures suggests that the former are dominated by dust that is both dense and thermodynamically coupled to the dense gas traced by NH3. [...]

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2014

Herschel-Planck dust optical-depth and column-density maps: I. Method description and results for Orion

We present high-resolution, high dynamic range column-density and color-temperature maps of the Orion complex using a combination of Planck dust-emission maps, Herschel dust-emission maps, and 2MASS NIR dust-extinction maps. The column-density maps combine the robustness of the 2MASS NIR extinction maps with the resolution and coverage of the Herschel and Planck dust-emission maps and constitute the highest dynamic range column-density maps ever constructed for the entire Orion complex, covering $0.01 \, \mathrm{mag} < A_K < 30 \,\mathrm{mag}$, or $2 \times 10^{20} \, \mathrm{cm}^{-2} < N < 5 \times 10^{23} \,\mathrm{cm}^{-2}$. We determined the ratio of the 2.2 microns extinction coefficient to the 850 microns opacity and found that the values obtained for both Orion A and B are significantly lower than the predictions of standard dust models, but agree with newer models that incorporate icy silicate-graphite conglomerates for the grain population. We show that the cloud projected pdf, over a large range of column densities, can be well fitted by a simple power law. Moreover, we considered the local Schmidt-law for star formation, and confirm earlier results, showing that the protostar surface density $Σ_*$ follows a simple law $Σ_* \propto Σ_{gas}^β$, with $β\sim 2$.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2014

CLASH-VLT: Constraints on the Dark Matter Equation of State from Accurate Measurements of Galaxy Cluster Mass Profiles

A pressureless scenario for the Dark Matter (DM) fluid is a widely adopted hypothesis, despite the absence of a direct observational evidence. According to general relativity, the total mass-energy content of a system shapes the gravitational potential well, but different test particles perceive this potential in different ways depending on their properties. Cluster galaxy velocities, being $\ll$c, depend solely on the gravitational potential, whereas photon trajectories reflect the contributions from the gravitational potential plus a relativistic-pressure term that depends on the cluster mass. We exploit this phenomenon to constrain the Equation of State (EoS) parameter of the fluid, primarily DM, contained in galaxy clusters. We use the complementary information provided by the kinematic and lensing mass profiles of the galaxy cluster MACS 1206.2-0847 at $z=0.44$, as obtained in an extensive imaging and spectroscopic campaign within the CLASH survey. The unprecedented high quality of our data-set and the properties of this cluster are well suited to determine the EoS parameter of the cluster fluid. Since baryons contribute at most $15\%$ to the total mass in clusters and their pressure is negligible, the EoS parameter we derive describes the behavior of the DM fluid. We obtain the most stringent constraint on the DM EoS parameter to date, $w=(p_r+2\,p_t)/(3\,c^2ρ)=0.00\pm0.15\mathrm{(stat)}\pm0.08\mathrm{(syst)}$, averaged over the radial range $0.5\,\mathrm{Mpc}\leq$$r$$\leq$$r_{200}$, where $p_r$ and $p_t$ are the radial and tangential pressure, and $ρ$ is the density. We plan to further improve our constraint by applying the same procedure to all clusters from the ongoing CLASH-VLT program.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

2MASS wide field extinction maps: V. Corona Australis

We present a near-infrared extinction map of a large region ($\sim$870 deg$^2$) covering the isolated Corona Australis complex of molecular clouds. We reach a 1-$σ$ error of 0.02 mag in the K-band extinction with a resolution of 3 arcmin over the entire map. We find that the Corona Australis cloud is about three times as large as revealed by previous CO and dust emission surveys. The cloud consists of a 45 pc long complex of filamentary structure from the well known star forming Western-end (the head, $N \geq10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$) to the diffuse Eastern-end the tail, ($N \leq10^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$). Remarkably, about two thirds of the complex both in size and mass lie beneath A$_V\sim1$ mag. We find that the PDF of the cloud cannot be described by a single log-normal function. Similar to prior studies, we found a significant excess at high column densities, but a log-normal + power-law tail fit does not work well at low column densities. We show that at low column densities near the peak of the observed PDF, both the amplitude and shape of the PDF are dominated by noise in the extinction measurements making it impractical to derive the intrinsic cloud PDF below A$_K <$ 0.15 mag. Above A$_K \sim 0.15$ mag, essentially the molecular component of the cloud, the PDF appears to be best described by a power-law with index $-3$, but could also described as the tail of a broad and relatively low amplitude, log-normal PDF that peaks at very low column densities.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2013

Fitting density models to observational data - The local Schmidt law in molecular clouds

We consider the general problem of fitting a parametric density model to discrete observations, taken to follow a non-homogeneous Poisson point process. This class of models is very common, and can be used to describe many astrophysical processes, including the distribution of protostars in molecular clouds. We give the expression for the likelihood of a given spatial density distribution of protostars and apply it to infer the most probable dependence of the protostellar surface density on the gas surface density. Finally, we apply this general technique to model the distribution of protostars in the Orion molecular cloud and robustly derive the local star formation scaling (Schmidt) law for a molecular cloud. We find that in this cloud the protostellar surface density, $Σ_\mathrm{YSO}$, is directly proportional to the square gas column density, here expressed as infrared extinction in the $K$-band, $A_K$: more precisely, $Σ_\mathrm{YSO} = (1.65 \pm 0.19) A_K^{(2.03 \pm 0.15)}$ stars pc$^{-2}$.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2013

Schmidt's Conjecture and Star Formation in Molecular Clouds

We investigate Schmidt's conjecture (i.e., that the star formation rate scales in a power-law fashion with the gas density) for four well-studied local molecular clouds (GMCs). Using the Bayesian methodology we show that a local Schmidt scaling relation of the form Sigma*(A_K) = kappa x (A_K)^{beta} (protostars pc^{-2}) exists within (but not between) GMCs. Further we find that the Schmidt scaling law, by itself, does not provide an adequate description of star formation activity in GMCs. Because the total number of protostars produced by a cloud is given by the product of Sigma*(A_K) and S'(> A_K), the differential surface area distribution function, integrated over the entire cloud, the cloud's structure plays a fundamental role in setting the level of its star formation activity. For clouds with similar functional forms of Sigma*(A_K), observed differences in their total SFRs are primarily due to the differences in S'(> A_K) between the clouds. The coupling of Sigma*(A_K) with the measured S'(> A_K) in these clouds also produces a steep jump in the SFR and protostellar production above A_K ~ 0.8 magnitudes. Finally, we show that there is no global Schmidt law that relates the star formation rate and gas mass surface densities between GMCs. Consequently, the observed Kennicutt-Schmidt scaling relation for disk galaxies is likely an artifact of unresolved measurements of GMCs and not a result of any underlying physical law of star formation characterizing the molecular gas.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2012

On the shear estimation bias induced by the spatial variation of colour across galaxy profiles

The spatial variation of the colour of a galaxy may introduce a bias in the measurement of its shape if the PSF profile depends on wavelength. We study how this bias depends on the properties of the PSF and the galaxies themselves. The bias depends on the scales used to estimate the shape, which may be used to optimise methods to reduce the bias. Here we develop a general approach to quantify the bias. Although applicable to any weak lensing survey, we focus on the implications for the ESA Euclid mission. Based on our study of synthetic galaxies we find that the bias is a few times 10^-3 for a typical galaxy observed by Euclid. Consequently, it cannot be neglected and needs to be accounted for. We demonstrate how one can do so using spatially resolved observations of galaxies in two filters. We show that HST observations in the F606W and F814W filters allow us to model and reduce the bias by an order of magnitude, sufficient to meet Euclid's scientific requirements. The precision of the correction is ultimately determined by the number of galaxies for which spatially-resolved observations in at least two filters are available. We use results from the Millennium Simulation to demonstrate that archival HST data will be sufficient for the tomographic cosmic shear analysis with the Euclid dataset.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

A Simple Perspective on the Mass-Area Relationship in Molecular Clouds

Despite over 30 years of study, the mass-area relationship within and among clouds is still poorly understood both observationally and theoretically. Modern extinction datasets should have sufficient resolution and dynamic range to characterize this relationship for nearby molecular clouds, although recent papers using extinction data seem to yield different interpretations regarding the nature and universality of this aspect of cloud structure. In this paper we try to unify these various results and interpretations by accounting for the different ways cloud properties are measured and analyzed. We interpret the mass-area relationship in terms of the column density distribution function and its possible variation within and among clouds. We quantitatively characterize regional variations in the column density PDF. We show that structures both within and among clouds possess the same degree of "universality", in that their PDF means do not systematically scale with structure size. Because of this, mass scales linearly with area.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2012

The extinction law from photometric data: linear regression methods

Context. The properties of dust grains, in particular their size distribution, are expected to differ from the interstellar medium to the high-density regions within molecular clouds. Since the extinction at near-infrared wavelengths is caused by dust, the extinction law in cores should depart from that found in low-density environments if the dust grains have different properties. Aims. We explore methods to measure the near-infrared extinction law produced by dense material in molecular cloud cores from photometric data. Methods. Using controlled sets of synthetic and semi-synthetic data, we test several methods for linear regression applied to the specific problem of deriving the extinction law from photometric data. We cover the parameter space appropriate to this type of observations. Results. We find that many of the common linear-regression methods produce biased results when applied to the extinction law from photometric colors. We propose and validate a new method, LinES, as the most reliable for this effect. We explore the use of this method to detect whether or not the extinction law of a given reddened population has a break at some value of extinction.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2012

IEAD: A Novel One-Line Interface to Query Astronomical Science Archives

In this article I present IEAD, a new interface for astronomical science databases. It is based on a powerful, yet simple, syntax designed to completely abstract the user from the structure of the underlying database. The programming language chosen for its implementation, JavaScript, makes it possible to interact directly with the user and to provide real-time information on the parsing process, error messages, and the name resolution of targets; additionally, the same parsing engine is used for context-sensitive autocompletion. Ultimately, this product should significantly simplify the use of astronomical archives, inspire more advanced uses of them, and allow the user to focus on what scientific research to perform, instead of on how to instruct the computer to do it.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2011

Star Formation Rates in Molecular Clouds and the Nature of the Extragalactic Scaling Relations

In this paper we investigate scaling relations between star formation rates and molecular gas masses for both local Galactic clouds and a sample of external galaxies. We specifically consider relations between the star formation rates and measurements of dense, as well as total, molecular gas masses. We argue that there is a fundamental empirical scaling relation that directly connects the local star formation process with that operating globally within galaxies. Specifically, the total star formation rate in a molecular cloud or galaxy is linearly proportional to the mass of dense gas within the cloud or galaxy. This simple relation, first documented in previous studies, holds over a span of mass covering nearly nine orders of magnitude and indicates that the rate of star formation is directly controlled by the amount of dense molecular gas that can be assembled within a star formation complex. We further show that the star formation rates and total molecular masses, characterizing both local clouds and galaxies, are correlated over similarly large scales of mass and can be described by a family of linear star formation scaling laws, parameterized by $f_{DG}$, the fraction of dense gas contained within the clouds or galaxies. That is, the underlying star formation scaling law is always linear for clouds and galaxies with the same dense gas fraction. These considerations provide a single unified framework for understanding the relation between the standard (non-linear) extragalactic Schmidt-Kennicutt scaling law, that is typically derived from CO observations of the gas, and the linear star formation scaling law derived from HCN observations of the dense gas.

astro-ph.GA↗