ESA Science & Technology - Publication Archive

Fomalhaut, a bright star 7.7 parsecs (25 light-years) from Earth, harbors a belt of cold dust with a structure consistent with gravitational sculpting by an orbiting planet. Here, we present optical observations of an exoplanet candidate, Fomalhaut b. Fomalhaut b lies about 119 astronomical units (AU) from the star and 18 AU of the dust belt, matching predictions of its location. Hubble Space Telescope observations separated by 1.73 years reveal counterclockwise orbital motion. Dynamical models of the interaction between the planet and the belt indicate that the planet's mass is at most three times that of Jupiter; a higher mass would lead to gravitational disruption of the belt, matching predictions of its location. The flux detected at 0.8 µm is also consistent with that of a planet with mass no greater than a few times that of Jupiter. The brightness at 0.6 µm and the lack of detection at longer wavelengths suggest that the detected flux may include starlight reflected off a circumplanetary disk, with dimension comparable to the orbits of the Galilean satellites. We also observe variability of unknown origin at 0.6 µm.

The giant elliptical galaxy NGC 1275, at the centre of the Perseus cluster, is surrounded by a well-known giant nebulosity of emission-line filaments, which are plausibly in excess of 10⁸ years old. The filaments are dragged out from the centre of the galaxy by radio-emitting 'bubbles' rising buoyantly in the hot intracluster gas, before later falling back. They act as markers of the feedback process by which energy is transferred from the central massive black hole to the surrounding gas. The mechanism by which the filaments are stabilized against tidal shear and dissipation into the surrounding extremely hot (4x10⁷ K) gas has been unclear. Here we report observations that resolve thread-like structures in the filaments. Some threads extend over 6 kpc, yet are only 70 pc wide. We conclude that magnetic fields in the threads, in pressure balance with the surrounding gas, stabilize the filaments, so allowing a large mass of cold gas to accumulate and delay star formation.

The fraction of stellar mass contained in globular clusters (GCs), also measured by number as the specific frequency, is a fundamental quantity that reflects both a galaxy's early star formation and its entire merging history. We present specific frequencies, luminosities, and mass fractions for the globular cluster systems of 100 early-type galaxies in the ACS Virgo Cluster Survey, the largest homogeneous catalog of its kind.

[This is an extract of the original abstract.]

Contents:

• Hubble Legacy Archive - Data Release One
• The WFC3 Slitless Spectroscopy Simulator aXeSIMweb
• Why Should We Bother to Communicate Astronomy?
• Tiny Tim PSF Simulator - with WFC3 Support

Using Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Spitzer IRAC imaging, we report the discovery of a very bright strongly lensed Lyman break galaxy (LBG) candidate at z ~ 7.6 in the field of the massive galaxy cluster Abell 1689 (z=0.18). The galaxy candidate, which we refer to as A1689-zD1, shows a strong z₈₅₀-J₁₁₀ break of at least 2.2 mag and is completely undetected (<1 sigma) in HST Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) g₄₇₅, r₆₂₅, i₇₇₅, and z₈₅₀ data. These properties, combined with the very blue J₁₁₀-H₁₆₀ and H₁₆₀-4.5 micron colors, are exactly the properties of an z ~ 7.6 LBG, and can only be reasonably fit by a star-forming galaxy at z=7.6±0.4 (Chi_mu-square=1.1). Attempts to reproduce these properties with a model galaxy at z < 4 yield particularly poor fits (Chi_mu-square=25). A1689-zD1 has an observed (lensed) magnitude of 24.7 AB (8 sigma) in the NICMOS H₁₆₀ band and is 1.3 mag brighter than the brightest known z₈₅₀-dropout galaxy. When corrected for the cluster magnification of ~9.3 at z~7.6, the candidate has an intrinsic magnitude of H₁₆₀=27.1 AB, or about an L* galaxy at z~7.6. The source-plane deprojection shows that the star formation is occurring in compact knots of size <~300 pc. The best-fit stellar population synthesis models yield a median redshift of 7.6, stellar masses (1.6-3.9)×10⁹ M_solar, stellar ages 45-320 Myr, star formation rates <~7.6 M_solar yr^-1, and low reddening with A_V<=0.3. These properties are generally similar to those of LBGs found at z~5-6. The inferred stellar ages suggest a formation redshift of z~8-10 (t<~0.63Gyr). A1689-zD1 is the brightest observed, highly reliable z>7.0 galaxy candidate found to date.

The Antennae galaxies are the closest example of an ongoing major galaxy merger and, as such, represent a unique laboratory for furthering the understanding of the formation of exotic objects (e.g., tidal dwarf galaxies, ultraluminous X-ray sources, super stellar clusters). In a previous paper HST WFPC2 observations were used to demonstrate that the Antennae system might be at a distance considerably less than that conventionally assumed in the literature. Here we report new, much deeper HST ACS imaging that resolves the composite stellar populations and, most importantly, reveals a well-defined red giant branch. The tip of this red giant branch (TRGB) is unambiguously detected at I₀^TRGB=26.65+-0.09 mag. Adopting the most recent calibration of the luminosity of the TRGB then yields a distance modulus for the Antennae of (m-M)₀ = 30.62+-0.17 corresponding to a distance of 13.3+-1.0 Mpc. This is consistent with our earlier result, once the different calibrations for the standard candle are considered. We briefly discuss the implications of this now well-determined shorter distance.

Using deep near-infrared spectroscopy, Kriek et al. found that 45% of massive galaxies at z~2.3 have evolved stellar populations and little or no ongoing star formation. Here we determine the sizes of these quiescent galaxies using deep, high-resolution images obtained with HST/NIC2 and laser guide star (LGS)-assisted Keck/adaptive optics (AO). Considering that their median stellar mass is 1.7 x 10¹¹ M_Sun, the galaxies are remarkably small, with a median effective radius r_e = 0.9 kpc. Galaxies of similar mass in the nearby universe have sizes of H5 kpc and average stellar densities that are 2 orders of magnitude lower than the z~2.3 galaxies. These results extend earlier work at z~1.5 and confirm previous studies at z>2 that lacked spectroscopic redshifts and imaging of sufficient resolution to resolve the galaxies. Our findings demonstrate that fully assembled early-type galaxies make up at most 10% of the population of K-selected quiescent galaxies at z~2.3, effectively ruling out simple monolithic models for their formation. The galaxies must evolve significantly after z~2.3, through dry mergers or other processes, consistent with predictions from hierarchical models.

The globular cluster omega Centauri is one of the largest and most massive members of the galactic system. However, its classification as a globular cluster has been challenged making it a candidate for being the stripped core of an accreted dwarf galaxy; this together with the fact that it has one of the largest velocity dispersions for star clusters in our galaxy makes it an interesting candidate for harboring an intermediate-mass black hole. We measure the surface brightness profile from integrated light on an HSTACS image of the center, and find a central power-law cusp of logarithmic slope -0.08.We also analyze Gemini GMOS-IFU kinematic data for a 5"x5" field centered on the nucleus of the cluster, as well as for a field 14" away.We detect a clear rise in the velocity dispersion from 18.6 km s^-1 at 14" to 23 km s^-1 in the center. A rise in the velocity dispersion could be due to a central black hole, a central concentration of stellar remnants, or a central orbital structure that is radially biased.We discuss each of these possibilities. An isotropic, spherical dynamical model implies a black hole mass of 4.0^+0.75_-1.0 x 10⁴ M_Sun, and excludes the no black hole case at greater than 99% significance. We have also run flattened, orbit-based models and find similar results. While our preferred model is the existence of a central black hole, detailed numerical simulations are required to confidently rule out the other possibilities.

Molecules present in the atmospheres of extrasolar planets are expected to influence strongly the balance of atmospheric radiation, to trace dynamical and chemical processes, and to indicate the presence of disequilibrium effects. As molecules have the potential to reveal atmospheric conditions and chemistry, searching for them is a high priority. The rotational–vibrational transition bands of water, carbon monoxide and methane are anticipated to be the primary sources of non-continuum opacity in hot-Jupiter planets. As these bands can overlap in wavelength, and the corresponding signatures from them are weak, decisive identification requires precision infrared spectroscopy. Here we report a near-infrared transmission spectrum of the planet HD 189733b that shows the presence of methane. Additionally, a resolved water vapour band at 1.9 µm confirms the recent claim of water in this object. On thermochemical grounds, carbon monoxide is expected to be abundant in the upper atmosphere of hot-Jupiter planets, but is not identifiable here; therefore the detection of methane rather than carbon monoxide in such a hot planet could signal the presence of a horizontal chemical gradient away from the permanent dayside, or it may imply an ill-understood photochemical mechanism that leads to an enhancement of methane.

The atmospheres of the gas giant planets (Jupiter and Saturn) contain jets that dominate the circulation at visible levels. The power source for these jets (solar radiation, internal heat, or both) and their vertical structure below the upper cloud are major open questions in the atmospheric circulation and meteorology of giant planets. Several observations and in situ measurements found intense winds at a depth of 24 bar, and have been interpreted as supporting an internal heat source. This issue remains controversial, in part because of effects from the local meteorology. Here we report observations and modelling of two plumes in Jupiter's atmosphere that erupted at the same latitude as the strongest jet (23° N). The plumes reached a height of 30 km above the surrounding clouds, moved faster than any other feature (169 m s^-1), and left in their wake a turbulent planetary-scale disturbance containing red aerosols. On the basis of dynamical modelling, we conclude that the data are consistent only with a wind that extends well below the level where solar radiation is deposited.

We present a high resolution dark matter reconstruction of the z = 0.16 Abell 901/902 supercluster from a weak lensing analysis of the STAGES HST survey. We detect the four main structures of the supercluster at high significance, resolving substructure within and between the clusters. We find that the distribution of dark matter is well traced by the cluster galaxies, with the brightest cluster galaxies marking out the strongest peaks in the dark matter distribution. We also find a significant extension of the dark matter distribution of Abell 901a in the direction of an infalling X-ray group Abell 901-alpha. We present mass, mass-to-light and massto-stellar mass ratio measurements of the structures and substructures that we detect. We find no evidence for variation of the mass-to-light and mass-to-stellar mass ratio between the different clusters. We compare our space-based lensing analysis with an earlier ground-based lensing analysis of the supercluster to demonstrate the importance of space-based imaging for future weak lensing dark matter 'observations'.

Contents:

• Hubble News Update
• ST-ECF Pre-Release of NICMOS Grism Data
• Simulating Slitless Spectroscopic Images with aXeSIM
• Virtual Observatory Services at the ST-ECF
• Inside the ESA/Hubble Internship Programme

We present multi-wavelength observations of stellar features in the HI tidal bridge connecting M81 and M82 in the region called Arp's Loop. We identify eight young star-forming regions from Galaxy Evolution Explorer ultraviolet observations. Four of these objects are also detected at HI. We determine the basic star formation history of Arp's Loop using F475W and F814W images obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on board the Hubble Space Telescope. We find both a young (< 10 Myr) and an old (> 1 Gyr) stellar population with a similar spatial distribution and a metallicity Z ~ 0.004. We suggest that the old stellar population was formed in the stellar disk of M82 and/or M81 and ejected into the intergalactic medium during a tidal passage (~ 200-300 Myr ago), whereas the young UV-bright stars have formed in the tidal debris. The UV luminosities of the eight objects are modest and typical of small clusters or OB associations. The tidal bridge between M81-M82 therefore appears to be intermediate between the very low levels of star formation seen in the Magellanic bridge and actively star-forming tidal tails associated with major galaxy mergers.

The nearby transiting planet HD 189733b was observed during three transits with the ACS camera of the Hubble Space Telescope in spectroscopic mode. The resulting time series of 675 spectra covers the 550-1050 nm range, with a resolution element of ~ 8 nm, at extremely high accuracy (signal-to-noise ratio up to 10,000 in 50 nm intervals in each individual spectrum). Using these data, we disentangle the effects of limb darkening, measurement systematics, and spots on the surface of the host star, to calculate the wavelength dependence of the effective transit radius to an accuracy of ~ 50 km. This constitutes the "transmission spectrum" of the planetary atmosphere. It indicates at each wavelength at what height the planetary atmosphere becomes opaque to the grazing stellar light during the transit. In this wavelength range, strong features due to sodium, potassium and water are predicted by atmosphere models for a planet like HD 189733b, but they can be hidden by broad absorption from clouds or hazes higher up in the atmosphere.
We observed an almost featureless transmission spectrum between 550 and 1050 nm, with no indication of the expected sodium or potassium atomic absorption features. Comparison of our results with the transit radius observed in the near and mid-infrared (2-8 micron), and the slope of the spectrum, suggest the presence of a haze of sub-micron particles in the upper atmosphere of the planet.

To appear in The Astrophysical Journal

High redshift galaxies selected on the basis of their strong Lyman-alpha emission tend to be young ages and small physical sizes. We show this by analyzing the spectral energy distribution (SED) of 9 Lyman-alpha emitting (LAE) galaxies at 4.0 < z < 5.7 in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF). Rest-frame UV to optical 700A < lambda < 7500A luminosities, or upper limits, are used to constrain old stellar populations. We derive best fit, as well as maximally massive and maximally old, properties of all 9 objects. We show that these faint and distant objects are all very young, being most likely only a few millions years old, and not massive, the mass in stars being ~10⁶-10⁸ M_Sun. Deep Spitzer Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) observations of these objects, even in cases where objects were not detected, were crucial in constraining the masses of these objects. The space density of these objects, ~1.25x10^-4 Mpc^-3 is comparable to previously reported space density of LAEs at moderate to high redshifts. These Lyman-alpha galaxies show modest star formation rates of ~8 M_Sun yr^-1, which is nevertheless strong enough to have allowed these galaxies to assemble their stellar mass in less than a few x10⁶ years. These sources appear to have small physical sizes, usually smaller than 1 Kpc, and are also rather concentrated. They are likely to be some of the least massive and youngest high redshift galaxies observed to date.

Contents:

• Hubble Status
• Spectral Signal-to-Noise
• Staff Update
• Re-activation of the ACS Solar Blind Channel (SBC)
• Scisoft VII - with VO Support
• Hubblecast: A Video Podcast from ST-ECF

We present a comprehensive mass reconstruction of the rich galaxy cluster Cl 0024+17 at z ~ 0.4 from ACS data, unifying both strong- and weak-lensing constraints. The weak-lensing signal from a dense distribution of background galaxies (~120 arcmin^-2) across the cluster enables the derivation of a high-resolution parameter-free mass map. The strongly lensed objects tightly constrain the mass structure of the cluster inner region on an absolute scale, breaking the mass-sheet degeneracy. The mass reconstruction of Cl 0024+17 obtained in such a way is remarkable. It reveals a ringlike dark matter substructure at r ~ 75" surrounding a soft, dense core at r <= 50". We interpret this peculiar substructure as the result of a high-speed line-of-sight collision of two massive clusters ~1-2 Gyr ago. Such an event is also indicated by the cluster velocity distribution. Our numerical simulation with purely collisionless particles demonstrates that such density ripples can arise by radially expanding, decelerating particles that originally comprised the precollision cores. Cl 0024+17 can be likened to the bullet cluster 1E 0657-56, but viewed along the collision axis at a much later epoch. In addition, we show that the long-standing mass discrepancy for Cl 0024+17 between X-ray and lensing can be resolved by treating the cluster X-ray emission as coming from a superposition of two X-ray systems. The cluster's unusual X-ray surface brightness profile that requires a two isothermal sphere description supports this hypothesis.

We describe two peculiar galaxies falling into the massive galaxy clusters Abell 1689 (z ~ 0.18) and Abell 2667 (z ~ 0.23), respectively. Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images show extraordinary trails composed of bright blue knots (-16.5 < M < -11.5 mag) and stellar streams associated with each of these systems. Combining optical, near- and mid-infrared and radio observations we prove that while both galaxies show similar extended trails of star-forming knots, their recent star formation histories are different. One (~L*) is experiencing a strong burst of star formation, appearing as a rare example of a luminous infrared cluster galaxy. In comparison, the other (~0.1L*) has recently ceased its star formation activity. Our model suggests that the morphologies and star formation in these galaxies have been influenced by the combined action of tidal interaction (likely with the cluster potential) and of ram pressure with the intracluster medium (ICM). These results can be used to gain more insights to the origin of S0s, dwarf and ultracompact dwarf (UCD) cluster galaxies.

Ordinary baryonic particles (such as protons and neutrons) account for only one-sixth of the total matter in the Universe. The remainder is a mysterious 'dark matter' component, which does not interact via electromagnetism and thus neither emits nor reflects light. As dark matter cannot be seen directly using traditional observations, very little is currently known about its properties. It does interact via gravity, and is most effectively probed through gravitational lensing: the deflection of light from distant galaxies by the gravitational attraction of foreground mass concentrations. This is a purely geometrical effect that is free of astrophysical assumptions and sensitive to all matter - whether baryonic or dark. Here we show high-fidelity maps of the large-scale distribution of dark matter, resolved in both angle and depth. We find a loose network of filaments, growing over time, which intersect in massive structures at the locations of clusters of galaxies. Our results are consistent with predictions of gravitationally induced structure formation, in which the initial, smooth distribution of dark matter collapses into filaments then into clusters, forming a gravitational scaffold into which gas can accumulate, and stars can be built.

Contents:

• Hubble's Bequest to Astronomy
• PHLAG: Pipeline for Hubble Legacy Archive Grism Data
• ESA-ESO Topical Science Working Groups
• Solar System Bodies in Hubble Observations
• Staff Update
• Communication of the "Pluto Affair"
• NASA Award for ST-ECF Staff
• The International Year of Astronomy 2009
• Servicing Mission 4