arXiv subjects

Motohide Tamura

Publications and source records attributed to Motohide Tamura.

At least 325 records · Page 18Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

Extended High Circular Polarization in the Orion Massive Star Forming Region: Implications for the Origin of Homochirality in the Solar System

We present a wide-field (~6'x6') and deep near-infrared (Ks band: 2.14 micro m) circular polarization image in the Orion nebula, where massive stars and many low-mass stars are forming. Our results reveal that a high circular polarization region is spatially extended (~0.4 pc) around the massive star-forming region, the BN/KL nebula. However, other regions, including the linearly polarized Orion bar, show no significant circular polarization. Most of the low-mass young stars do not show detectable extended structure in either linear or circular polarization, in contrast to the BN/KL nebula. If our solar system formed in a massive star-forming region and was irradiated by net circularly polarized radiation, then enantiomeric excesses could have been induced, through asymmetric photochemistry, in the parent bodies of the meteorites and subsequently delivered to Earth. These could then have played a role in the development of biological homochirality on Earth.

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arXiv2010

Mid-Infrared Photometry of Cold Brown Dwarfs: Diversity in Age, Mass and Metallicity

We present Spitzer IRAC photometry of twelve very late-type T dwarfs; nine have [3.6], [4.5], [5.8] and [8.0] photometry and three have [3.6] and [4.5] photometry only. We investigate trends with type and color for the planning and interpretation of surveys for the coldest T or Y dwarfs. Brown dwarfs with effective temperature (T_eff) below 700K emit more than half their flux at wavelengths beyond 3um, and the ratio of the mid-infrared flux to the near-infrared flux becomes very sensitive to T_eff. The color H-[4.5] is a good indicator of T_eff with a relatively weak dependence on metallicity and gravity. Conversely, the colors H-K and [4.5]-[5.8] are sensitive to metallicity and gravity. Thus near- and mid-infrared photometry provide useful indicators of the fundamental properties of brown dwarfs, and if temperature and gravity are known, then mass and age can be determined from evolutionary models. There are twelve dwarfs known with H-[4.5]>3.0, and 500< T_eff K < 800, which we examine in detail. The ages of these dwarfs range from very young (0.1-1.0 Gyr) to relatively old (3-12 Gyr). The mass range is possibly as low as 5 Jupiter masses to up to 70 Jupiter masses. The metallicities also span a large range, from [m/H] -0.3 to [m/H] +0.3. The small number of T8-T9 dwarfs found in the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey to date appear to be mostly young low-mass dwarfs. Extensions to the mid-infrared space missions warm-Spitzer and WISE are desirable in order to obtain the vital mid-infrared data for cold brown dwarfs, and to discover more of these rare objects. (Abridged.)

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arXiv2009

Polarization in young open cluster NGC 6823

We present multiwavelength linear polarimetric observations of 104 stars towards the region of young open cluster NGC 6823. The polarization towards NGC 6823 is dominated by foreground dust grains and we found the evidence for the presence of several layers of dust towards the line of sight. The first layer of dust is located approximately within 200 pc towards the cluster, which is much closer to the Sun than the cluster (~ 2.1 kpc). The radial distribution of the position angles for the member stars are found to show a systematic change while the polarization found to reduce towards the outer parts of the cluster and the average position angle of coronal region of the cluster is very close to the inclination of the Galactic parallel (~ 32 degree). The size distribution of the grains within NGC 6823 is similar to those in general interstellar medium. The patchy distribution of foreground dust grains are suggested to be mainly responsible for the both differential reddening and polarization towards NGC 6823. The majority of the observed stars do not show the evidence of intrinsic polarization in their light.

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arXiv2009

Studies of Expolanets and Solar Systems with SPICA

The SPace Infrared telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA) is a proposed mid-to-far infrared (4-200 um) astronomy mission, scheduled for launch in 2017. A single, 3.5m aperture telescope would provide superior image quality at 5-200 um, and its very cold (~5 K) instrumentation would provide superior sensitivity in the 25-200 um wavelength regimes. This would provide a breakthrough opportunity for studies of exoplanets, protoplanetary and debris disk, and small solar system bodies. This paper summarizes the potential scientific impacts for the proposed instrumentation.

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arXiv2009

Magnetic Field Structure of the HH 1-2 Region: Near-Infrared Polarimetry of Point-Like Sources

The HH 1-2 region in the L1641 molecular cloud was observed in the near-IR J, H, and Ks bands, and imaging polarimetry was performed. Seventy six point-like sources were detected in all three bands. The near-IR polarizations of these sources seem to be caused mostly by the dichroic extinction. Using a color-color diagram, reddened sources with little infrared excess were selected to trace the magnetic field structure of the molecular cloud. The mean polarization position angle of these sources is about 111 deg, which is interpreted as the projected direction of the magnetic field in the observed region of the cloud. The distribution of the polarization angle has a dispersion of about 11 deg, which is smaller than what was measured in previous studies. This small dispersion gives a rough estimate of the strength of the magnetic field to be about 130 microG and suggests that the global magnetic field in this region is quite regular and straight. In contrast, the outflows driven by young stellar objects in this region seem to have no preferred orientation. This discrepancy suggests that the magnetic field in the L1641 molecular cloud does not dictate the orientation of the protostars forming inside.

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arXiv2009

Discovery of the Coldest Imaged Companion of a Sun-Like Star

We present the discovery of a brown dwarf or possible planet at a projected separation of 1.9" = 29 AU around the star GJ 758, placing it between the separations at which substellar companions are expected to form by core accretion (~5 AU) or direct gravitational collapse (typically >100 AU). The object was detected by direct imaging of its thermal glow with Subaru/HiCIAO. At 10-40 times the mass of Jupiter and a temperature of 550-640 K, GJ 758 B constitutes one of the few known T-type companions, and the coldest ever to be imaged in thermal light around a Sun-like star. Its orbit is likely eccentric and of a size comparable to Pluto's orbit, possibly as a result of gravitational scattering or outward migration. A candidate second companion is detected at 1.2" at one epoch.

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arXiv2009

First Evidence of a Retrograde Orbit of Transiting Exoplanet HAT-P-7b

We present the first evidence of a retrograde orbit of the transiting exoplanet HAT-P-7b. The discovery is based on a measurement of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect with the Subaru HDS during a transit of HAT-P-7b, which occurred on UT 2008 May 30. Our best-fit model shows that the spin-orbit alignment angle of this planet is λ= -132.6 (+10.5, -16.3) degrees. The existence of such a retrograde planet have been predicted by recent planetary migration models considering planet-planet scattering processes or the Kozai migration. Our finding provides an important milestone that supports such dynamic migration theories.

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arXiv2009

Near-infrared Polarimetry of flares from Sgr A* with Subaru/CIAO

We have performed near-infrared monitoring observations of Sgr A*, the Galactic center radio source associated with a supermassive black hole, with the near-infrared camera CIAO and the 36-element adaptive optics system on the Subaru telescope. We observed three flares in the Ks band (2.15micron) during 220 min monitoring on 2008 May 28, and confirmed the flare emission is highly polarized, supporting the synchrotron radiation nature of the near-infrared emission. Clear variations in the degree and position angle of polarization were also detected: an increase of the degree of polarization of about 20 %, and a swing of the position angle of about 60 - 70 degrees in the declining phase of the flares. The correlation between the flux and the degree of polarization can be well explained by the flare emission coming from hotspot(s) orbiting Sgr A*. Comparison with calculations in the literature gives a constraint to the inclination angle i of the orbit of the hotspot around Sgr A*, as 45 < i < 90 degrees (close to edge-on).

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arXiv2009

A near-infrared survey of Miras and the distance to the Galactic Centre

We report the results of a near-infrared survey for long-period variables in a field of view of 20 arcmin by 30 arcmin towards the Galactic Centre (GC). We have detected 1364 variables, of which 348 are identified with those reported in Glass et al. (2001). We present a catalogue and photometric measurements for the detected variables and discuss their nature. We also establish a method for the simultaneous estimation of distances and extinctions using the period-luminosity relations for the JHKs bands. Our method is applicable to Miras with periods in the range 100--350 d and mean magnitudes available in two or more filter bands. While J-band means are often unavailable for our objects because of the large extinction, we estimated distances and extinctions for 143 Miras whose H- and Ks-band mean magnitudes are obtained. We find that most are located at the same distance to within our accuracy. Assuming that the barycentre of these Miras corresponds to the GC, we estimate its distance modulus to be 14.58+-0.02(stat.)+-0.11(syst.) mag, corresponding to 8.24+-0.08(stat.)+-0.42(syst.) kpc. We have assumed the distance modulus to the LMC to be 18.45 mag, and the uncertainty in this quantity is included in the systematic error above. We also discuss the large and highly variable extinction. Its value ranges from 1.5 mag to larger than 4 mag in A(Ks) except towards the thicker dark nebulae and it varies in a complicated way with the line of sight. We have identified mid-infrared counterparts in the Spitzer/IRAC catalogue of Ramirez et al. (2008) for most of our variables and find that they follow rather narrow period-luminosity relations in the 3.6 to 8.0 micrometre wavelength range.

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arXiv2009

Substellar Objects in Nearby Young Clusters (SONYC): The bottom of the Initial Mass Function in NGC1333

SONYC -- Substellar Objects in Nearby Young Clusters -- is a survey program to investigate the frequency and properties of substellar objects with masses down to a few times that of Jupiter in nearby star-forming regions. Here we present the first results from SONYC observations of NGC1333, a ~1Myr old cluster in the Perseus star-forming complex. We have carried out extremely deep optical and near-infrared imaging in four bands (i', z', J, K) using Suprime-Cam and MOIRCS instruments at the Subaru telescope. The survey covers 0.25sqdeg and reaches completeness limits of 24.7mag in the i'-band and 20.8mag in the J-band. We select 196 candidates with colors as expected for young, very low-mass objects. Follow-up multi-object spectroscopy with MOIRCS is presented for 53 objects. We confirm 19 objects as likely brown dwarfs in NGC1333, seven of them previously known. For 11 of them, we confirm the presence of disks based on Spitzer/IRAC photometry. The effective temperatures for the brown dwarf sample range from 2500K to 3000K, which translates to masses of ~0.015 to 0.1Ms. For comparison, the completeness limit of our survey translates to mass limits of 0.004Ms for Av<~5mag or 0.008Ms for Av<~ 10mag. Compared with other star-forming regions, NGC1333 shows an overabundance of brown dwarfs relative to low-mass stars, by a factor of 2-5. On the other hand, NGC1333 has a deficit of planetary-mass objects: Based on the surveys in SOrionis, the ONC and Cha I, the expected number of planetary-mass objects in NGC1333 is 8-10, but we find none. It is plausible that our survey has detected the minimum mass limit for star formation in this particular cluster, at around 0.012-0.02Ms. If confirmed, our findings point to significant regional/environmental differences in the number of brown dwarfs and the minimum mass of the IMF. (abridged)

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arXiv2009

Improved Measurement of the Rossiter-McLaughlin Effect in the Exoplanetary System HD 17156

We present an improved measurement of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect for the exoplanetary system HD 17156, based on radial-velocity data gathered with the Subaru 8.2m telescope throughout the planetary transit of UT 2008 November 7. The data allow for a precise and independent determination of the projected spin-orbit angle of this system: $λ= 10.0^{\circ} \pm 5.1^{\circ}$. This result supersedes the previous claim of $λ= 62^{\circ} \pm 25^{\circ}$ by Narita et al., which was based on lower-precision data with poor statistics. Thus the stellar spin and planetary orbital axes of the HD 17156 system are likely to be well-aligned, despite the planet's large orbital eccentricity suggesting a history of strong dynamical interactions.

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arXiv2009

H band Image of a Planetary Companion around HR 8799 in 2002

The discovery of three planetary companions around HR 8799 (Marois et al. 2008) marked a significant epoch in direct imaging of extrasolar planets. Given the importance of this system, we re-analyzed H band images of HR 8799 obtained with the Subaru 36-elements adaptive optics (AO) in July 2002. The low-order AO imaging combined with the classical PSF-subtraction methods even revealed the extrasolar planet, HR 8799b. Our observations in 2002 confirmed that it has been orbiting HR 8799 in a counter-clockwise direction. The flux of HR 8799b was consistent with those in the later epochs within the uncertainty of 0.25 mag, further supporting the planetary mass estimate by Marois et al. (2008).

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arXiv2009

Interstellar Extinction Law toward the Galactic Center III: J, H, Ks bands in the 2MASS and the MKO systems, and 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, 8.0 micron in the Spitzer/IRAC system

We have determined interstellar extinction law toward the Galactic center (GC) at the wavelength from 1.2 to 8.0 micron, using point sources detected in the IRSF/SIRIUS near-infrared survey and those in the 2MASS and Spitzer/IRAC/GLIMPSE II catalogs. The central region |l| < 3deg and |b| < 1deg has been surveyed in the J, H and Ks bands with the IRSF telescope and the SIRIUS camera whose filters are similar to the Mauna Kea Observatories (MKO) near-infrared photometric system. Combined with the GLIMPSE II point source catalog, we made Ks versus (Ks - lambda) color-magnitude diagrams where lambda = 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 micron. The Ks magnitudes of bulge red clump stars and the (Ks - lambda) colors of red giant branches are used as a tracer of the reddening vector in the color-magnitude diagrams. From these magnitudes and colors, we have obtained the ratios of total to selective extinction A(Ks)/E(Ks-lambda) for the four IRAC bands. Combined with A(lambda)/A(Ks) for the J and H bands derived by Nishiyama et al., we obtain A(J):A(H):A(Ks):A([3.6]):A([4.5]):A([5.8]):A([8.0])=3.02:1.73:1:0.50:0.39:0.36:0.43 for the line of sight toward the GC. This confirms the flattening of the extinction curve at lambda > 3 micron from a simple extrapolation of the power-law extinction at shorter wavelengths, in accordance with recent studies. The extinction law in the 2MASS JHKs bands has also been calculated, and a good agreement with that in the MKO system is found. In nearby molecular clouds and diffuse interstellar medium, the lack of reliable measurements of the total to selective extinction ratios hampers unambiguous determination of the extinction law; however, observational results toward these lines of sight cannot be reconciled with a single extinction law.

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arXiv2009

An Infrared Census of Star Formation in the Horsehead Nebula

At ~ 400 pc, the Horsehead Nebula (B33) is the closest radiatively-sculpted pillar to the Sun, but the state and extent of star formation in this structure is not well understood. We present deep near-infrared (IRSF/SIRIUS JHKs) and mid-infrared (Spitzer/IRAC) observations of the Horsehead Nebula in order to characterize the star forming properties of this region and to assess the likelihood of triggered star formation. Infrared color-color and color-magnitude diagrams are used to identify young stars based on infrared excess emission and positions to the right of the Zero-Age Main Sequence, respectively. Of the 45 sources detected at both near- and mid-infrared wavelengths, three bona fide and five candidate young stars are identified in this 7' by 7' region. Two bona fide young stars have flat infrared SEDs and are located at the western irradiated tip of the pillar. The spatial coincidence of the protostars at the leading edge of this elephant trunk is consistent with the Radiation-Driven Implosion (RDI) model of triggered star formation. There is no evidence, however, for sequential star formation within the immediate ~ 1.5' (0.17 pc) region from the cloud/H II region interface.

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arXiv2008

A Chain of Dark Clouds in Projection Against the Galactic Center

In the J, H, and Ks bands survey of the the Galactic Center region over an area of 2deg x 5deg, we have found many dark clouds, among which a distinguished chain of dark clouds can be identified with a quiescent CO cloud. The distances of the clouds is estimated to be 3.2-4.2 kpc, corresponding to the Norma arm by our new method to determine distance to dark clouds using the cumulative number of stars against J-Ks colors. Adopting these estimated distances, the size is about 70 pc in length and the total mass of the cloud is 6x10^4 M_solar. Three compact HII regions harbor in the cloud, indicating that star forming activities are going on at the cores of the quiescent CO cloud on the spiral arm.

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arXiv2008

Near-Infrared Imaging Polarimetry of S106 Cluster-Forming Region with SIRPOL

We present the results of wide-field JHKs polarimetry toward the HII region S106 using the IRSF (Infrared Survey Facility) telescope. Our polarimetry data revealed an extended (up to ~ 5') polarized nebula over S106. We confirmed the position of the illuminating source of most of the nebula as consistent with S106 IRS4 through an analysis of polarization vectors. The bright portion of the polarized intensity is consistent with the red wing component of the molecular gas. Diffuse polarized intensity emission is distributed along the north--south molecular gas lanes. We found the interaction region between the radiation from S106 IRS4 and the dense gas. In addition, we also discovered two small polarization nebulae, SIRN1 and SIRN2, associated with a young stellar objects (YSO). Aperture polarimetry of point-like sources in this region was carried out for the first time. The regional magnetic field structures were derived using point-like source aperture polarimetry, and the magnetic field structure position angle around the cluster region in S106 was found to be ~ 120$\arcdeg$. The magnetic fields in the cluster region, however, have three type position angles: ~ 20$\arcdeg$, ~ 80$\arcdeg$, and ~ 120$\arcdeg$. The present magnetic field structures are consistent with results obtained by submillimeter continuum observations. We found that the magnetic field direction in the dense gas region is not consistent with that of the low density gas region.

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arXiv2008

Near-Infrared Polarimetry toward the Galactic Center

Near-infrared polarimetry of point sources reveals the presence of a toroidal magnetic field in the central 20' x 20' region of our Galaxy. Comparing the Stokes parameters between high extinction stars and relatively low extinction ones, we have obtained a polarization originating from magnetically aligned dust grains at the central region of our Galaxy of at most 1-2 kpc. The derived direction of the magnetic field is in good agreement with that obtained from far-infrared/submillimeter observations, which detect polarized thermal emission from dust in the molecular clouds at the Galactic center. Our results show that by subtracting foreground components, near-infrared polarimetry allows investigation of the magnetic field structure at the Galactic center. The distribution of the position angles shows a peak at around 20deg, nearly parallel to the direction of the Galactic plane, suggesting a toroidal magnetic configuration.

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arXiv2008

Magnetic Field Configuration at the Galactic Center Investigated by Wide Field Near-Infrared Polarimetry

We present a polarimetric map of a 20'x20' area toward the Galactic center. The polarization of point sources has been measured in the J, H, and Ks bands using the near-infrared polarimetric camera SIRPOL on the 1.4 m telescope IRSF. One percent or better accuracy of polarization degree is achieved for sources with J<14.5, H<13.5, and Ks<12.0. Comparing the Stokes parameters between high extinction stars and relatively low extinction ones, we have obtained a polarization originating from magnetically aligned dust grains at the central region of our Galaxy of at most 1-2 kpc. The distribution of the position angles shows a peak at about 20 deg, nearly parallel to the Galactic plane, suggesting a toroidal magnetic configuration. The derived direction of the magnetic field is in good agreement with that obtained from far-infrared/submillimeter observations, which detect polarized thermal emission from dust in the molecular clouds at the Galactic center. Our results show that by subtracting foreground components, near-infrared polarimetry allows investigation of the magnetic field structure "at" the Galactic center.

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