An Infrared Photometric Study of Galaxies with Extragalactic H_2O Maser Sources

All galaxies with extragalactic H2O maser sources observed so far are collected. With the 2MASS and the IRAS photometric data an infrared study is performed on those galaxies. By a comparison between the H2O maser detected sources and non-detected sources in the infrared it is indicated that infrared properties in the IRAS 12-25 #m and 60-100#m are important for producing H20 masers in galaxies. It is also found that the H20 maser galaxies with different nuclear activity types have rather different infrared properties mainly in the IRAS 12-60 μm region.

Star formation associated with the infrared dust bubble N68

We investigated the environment of the infrared dust bubble N68 and searched for evidence of triggered star formation in its surroundings. We performed a multiwavelength study of the nebula with data taken from several large-scale surveys： GLIMPSE, MIPSGAL, IRAS, NVSS, GRS and JCMT. We analyzed the spectral pro- file and the distribution of the molecular gas （13CO J -- 1 - 0 and J -- 3 - 2）, and the dust in the environment of N68. The position-velocity diagram clearly shows that N68 may be expanding outward. We used two three-color images of the mid-infrared emis- sion to explore the physical environment, and one color-color diagram to investigate the distribution of young stellar objects （YSOs）. We found that the 24 p^m emission is surrounded by the 8.0 ~m emission. Morphologically, the 1.4 GHz continuum strongly correlates with the 24 gm emission, and the 13CO J -- 1 - 0 and J -- 3 - 2 emissions correlate well with the 8.0 p^m emission. We investigated two compact cores located in the shell of N68. The spectral intensity ratios of 13CO J -- 3 - 2 to J = 1 - 0 range from 5 to 0.3. In addition, YSOs, masers, IRAS and UC HII regions are distributed in the shell of the bubble. The active region may be triggered by the expansion of the bubble N68.

IRAS F21013-0739:a possible evolutionary successor of an ultraluminous infrared galaxy

We present a stellar population synthesis study of a type II luminous infrared galaxy, IRAS F21013-0739. Optical images show clear characteristics of a merger remnant. The H-band absolute magnitude is MH = -25.1, which is -2 times as luminous as L＊ galaxies. Stellar populations are obtained through the stellar synthesis code STARLIGHT. We find that it experienced a recent starburst （SB） phase - 100 Myr ago. By reconstructing the ultraviolet-to-optical spectrum, and adopting Calzetti et al. and Leitherer et al.＇s extinction curves, we estimate the past infrared （IR） luminosities of the host galaxy and find it may have experienced an ultraluminous infrared galaxy phase which lasted for about 100 Myr. Its i-band absolute magnitude is Mi = -22.463, and its spectral type shows type 2 active galactic nucleus （AGN） characteristics. The mass of the supermassive black-hole is estimated to be MBH = 1.6 × 107 M⊙ （lower- limit）. The Eddington ratio Lbol/LEdd is 0.15, which is typical of Palomar-Green （PG） quasars. Both the nuclear SB and AGN contribute to the present IR luminosity budget, and the SB contributes -67%. On the diagram of IR color versus IR/opfical excess, it is located between IR quasars and PG quasars. These results indicate that IRAS F21013-0739 has probably evolved from a ULIRG, and it can possibly evolve into an AGN.

Infrared Galaxies in the Nearby Universe

We used the Sloan Digital Sky Survey （SDSS） Data Release 5 （DR5） to study the morphological properties of 1137 nearby infrared （IR） galaxies, most of which are brighter than 15.9 mag in r-band. This sample was drawn from a cross-correlation of the Infra-Red Astronomical Satellite （IRAS） point source catalog redshift survey with DR5 at z ≤ 0.08. Based on this IR galaxy sample, we constructed five volume-limited sub-samples with IR luminosity ranging from 10^9.5 L⊙ to 10^12L⊙. By deriving the IR luminosity functions （LF） for different morphological types, we found that normal spiral galaxies are the dominant population below LIR ~ 8 ~ 10^10 L⊙; while the fraction of barred spiral galaxies increases with increasing IR luminosity and becomes dominant in spiral galaxies beyond LIR ≈ 5 × 10^10L⊙. As the IR luminosity decreases, the IR galaxies become more compact and have lower stellar masses. The analysis also shows that normal spiral galaxies give the dominant contribution to the total comoving IR energy density in the nearby universe, while, in contrast, the contribution from peculiar galaxies is only 39%.

The discovery of 64 luminous infrared galaxies in the LAMOST Complete Spectroscopic Survey of Pointing Area at the Southern Galactic Cap

We report the discovery of 64 luminous infrared galaxies, based on new observations of 20 square degrees from the LAMOST Complete Spectroscopic Survey of Pointing Area at the Southern Galactic Cap and the WISE 22 μm catalog from the AllW ISE Data Release. Half of them are classified as late-type spirals and the others are classified as peculiar/compact galaxies. The peculiar/compact galaxies tend to exhibit higher luminosities and lower stellar masses. We also separate AGNs from HII galaxies in a simple way by examining LAMOST spectra. Those cases show that host AGNs are easily distinguished from others in the mid-infrared color-color diagrams.

Radio Identifications of Markarian Galaxies and the Correlation between Radio and Far-Infrared Properties

By checking DSS optical images and NVSS radio images, 782 Markarian galaxies were identified to be NVSS radio sources. A comparison of the radio luminosity at 1.4GHz and the far-infrared （FIR） luminosity for 468 “normal” galaxies shows a tight correlation. Most of the Seyfert galaxies and quasars follow the radio-FIR relation deduced from the “normal” galaxy sample, but with a somewhat larger scatter. A total 167 Markarian galaxies, comprising 100 “normal” galaxies, 66 Seyfert galaxies and one quasar, have either excess radio emission or much lower FIR spectral index α（25 μm, 60 μm）. These galaxies may be classified as “AGN-powered”. For “normal” galaxies, the average q value （defined as the log ratio between FIR and radio luminosities） is 2.3. There seems a trend for q to slightly decrease with increasing radio luminosity. This may imply that the ongoing active star formation in galaxies with higher radio luminosities is more efficient in heating the cosmic-ray electrons.

Characteristics of infrared point sources associated with OH masers

We collect 3249 OH maser sources from the literature published up to April 2007, and compile a new catalog of OH masers. We look for the exciting sources of these masers and their infrared properties from IRAS and MSX data, and make a sta- tistical study. MSX sources associated with stellar 1612 MHz OH masers are located mainly above the blackbody line; this is caused by the dust absorption of stellar en- velopes, especially in the MSX_A band. The mid-IR sources associated with stellar OH masers are concentrated in a small region in an [A]-[D] vs.[A]-[E] diagram with a small fraction of contamination; this gives us a new criterion to search for new stellar OH masers and distinguish stellar masers from unknown types of OH masers. IR sources associated with 1612 MHz stellar OH masers show an expected result： the average flux of sources with F60 〉 F25 increases with increasing wavelength, while those with F60 〈 F25 vary little with wavelength, because the sources with F60 〈 F25 are much hotter than those with F60 〉 F25.

Classification study of WISE infrared sources:identification of candidate asymptotic giant branch stars

In the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer （WISE） all-sky source catalog there are 76 million mid-infrared point sources that were detected in the first three WISE bands and have association with only one 2MASS near-IR source within 3. We search for their identifications in the SIMBAD database and find 3.2 million identified sources. Based on these known sources, we establish three criteria for selecting candidate asymptotic giant branch （AGB） stars in the Galaxy, which are three defined zones in a color-color diagram, Galactic latitude ｜b｜ 〈 20°, and ＂corrected＂ WISE third-band W3c≤ 11. Applying these criteria to the WISE＋2MASS sources, 1.37 million of them are selected. We analyze the WISE third-band W3 distribution of the selected sources, and further establish that W3〈8 is required in order to exclude a large fraction of normal stars from them. We therefore find 0.47 million candidate AGB stars in our Galaxy from the WISE source catalog. Using W3c, we estimate their distances and derive their Galactic distributions. The candidates are generally distributed around the Galactic center uniformly, with 68% （1-σ） of them within approximately 8 kpc. We discuss the idea that optical spectroscopy can be used to verify the C-rich AGB stars in our candidates, and thus a fraction of them （-10%） will be good targets for the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope （LAMOST） survey that is planned to start in fall of 2012.

Noise reduction methods in the analysis of near infrared lunar occultation light curves for high angular resolution measurements

A lunar occultation （LO） technique in the near-infrared （NIR） provides angular resolution down to milliarcseconds for an occulted source, even with ground- based 1 m class telescopes. LO observations are limited to brighter objects because they require a high signal-to-noise ratio （S/N ~40） for proper extraction of angular diameter values. Hence, methods to improve the S/N ratio by reducing noise using Fourier and wavelet transforms have been explored in this study. A sample of 54 NIR LO light curves observed with the IR camera at Mt Abu Observatory has been used. It is seen that both Fourier and wavelet methods have shown an improvement in S/N compared to the original data. However, the application of wavelet transforms causes a slight smoothing of the fringes and results in a higher value for angular diameter. Fourier transforms which reduce discrete noise frequencies do not distort the fringe. The Fourier transform method seems to be effective in improving the S/N, as well as improving the model fit, particularly in the fainter regime of our sample. These methods also provide a better model fit for brighter sources in some cases, though there may not be a significant imorovement in S/N.

Contribution from normal and starburst galaxies to the extragalactic gamma-ray background (EGRB)

The extragalactic diffuse emission at γ-ray energies has interesting cosmological implications since these photons suffer little or no attenuation during their propagation from the site of origin. The emission could originate from either truly diffuse processes or from unresolved point sources such as AGNs, normal galaxies and starburst galaxies. Here, we examine the unresolved point source origin of the extragalactic γ-ray background emission from normal galaxies and starburst galaxies. γ-ray emission from normal galaxies is primarily coming from cosmic-ray interactions with interstellar matter and radiation （-90%） along with a small contribution from discrete point sources （-10%）. Starburst galaxies are expected to have enhanced supernovae activity which leads to higher cosmic-ray densities, making starburst galaxies sufficiently luminous atγ-ray energies to be detected by the current γ-ray mission （Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope）.

The Evolution of Advanced Merger (U)LIRGs on the Color-Stellar Mass Diagram

Based on a sample of 79 local advanced merger （adv-merger） （U）LIRGs, we search for evidence of quenching processes by investigating the distributions of star formation history indicators （EW（Ha）, EW（HfiA） and D,（4000）） on the NUV-r color-mass and SFR-M, diagrams. The distributions of EW（Ha） and Dn（4000） on the NUV-r color-mass diagram show clear trends that at a given stellar mass, galaxies with redder NUV-r colors have smaller EW（Ha） and larger Dn （4000）. The reddest adv-merger （U）LIRGs close to the green valley mostly have Dn（4000）〉 1.4. In addition, in the SFR-M, diagram, as the SFR decreases, the EW（Ha） decreases and the Dn （4000） increases, implying that the adv-merger （U）LIRGs on the star formation main sequence have more evolved stellar populations than those above the main sequence. These results indicate that a fraction of the adv-merger （U）LIRGs have already exhibited signs of fading from the starburst phase and that the NUV-r reddest adv-merger （U）LIRGs are likely at the initial stage of post-starbursts with an age of - 1 Gyr, which is consistent with the gas exhaustion time-scales. Therefore, our results offer additional support for the fast evolutionary track from the blue cloud to the red sequence.

棒在星系恒星形成中的作用

从理论N体模拟、射电辐射、红外辐射以及统计比较等几个方面，概述了棒在星系恒星形成中的作用，并讨论了在这一问题研究中出现的互相予盾的一些结果。

Optical Design of Multilayer Achromatic Waveplate by Simulated Annealing Algorithm

We applied a Monte Carlo method -- simulated annealing algorithm -- to carry out the design of multilayer achromatic waveplate. We present solutions for three-, six- and ten-layer achromatic waveplates. The optimized retardance settings are found to be 89°51′39″ ± 0°33′37″ and 89°54′46″ ± 0°22′4″ for the six- and ten-layer waveplates, respectively, for a wavelength range from 1000 nm to 1800 nm. The polarimetric properties of multilayer waveplates are investigated based on several numerical experiments. In contrast to previously proposed three-layer achromatic waveplate, the fast axes of the new six- and ten-layer achromatic waveplate remain at fixed angles, independent of the wavelength. Two applications of multilayer achromatic waveplate are discussed, the general-purpose phase shifter and the birefringent filter in the Infrared Imaging Magnetograph （IRIM） system of the Big Bear Solar Observatory （BBSO）. We also checked an experimental method to measure the retardance of waveplates.

HI吸收线星系中的射电连续谱研究

利用VLBI档案数据研究了5个在40%阿雷西博河外HI巡天天区(α.40天区)发现的具有本征HI吸收线的星系,分析了它们在毫角秒尺度下的射电结构及亮温度TB,并计算了星系的q值(远红外流量与射电流量密度之比)以及利用WISE (wide-field infrared survey explorer)数据对星系进行了分类。研究发现5个源中的NGC 315,NGC 5363存在明显的射电喷流结构,IC 860和CGCG 049-057在pc尺度下存在致密的核,但流量小于NVSS流量的20%,以上4个源的核区的亮温度均超过106K,UGC 6081在毫角秒尺度下没有致密的射电结构,几乎完全分解。通过射电结构、亮温度以及q值得出这5个源的射电连续谱辐射可能来自射电喷流、星暴活动与射电喷流共存,及纯星暴活动等3种情况,说明HI吸收线的探测可能不依赖于中央核区连续谱辐射的类型。利用WISE数据分类显示5个源可以分为2类,3个为4.6μm亮星系,2个为12μm亮星系。没有贫尘埃星系,说明这类星系在α.40天区的数量较少或HI吸收线探测率较低。

The debris disk candidates:eleven 24μm excess stars in the Spitzer SWIRE fields

We present the optical to mid-infrared SEDs of 11 debris disk candidates from Spitzer SWIRE fields. All the candidates are selected from SWIRE 24 μm sources matched with both the SDSS star catalog and the 2MASS point source catalog. They show an excess in the mid-infrared at 24 μm （Ks-[24]vega 〉 0.44）, indicating the presence of a circumstellar dust disk. The observed optical spectra show that they are all late-type main-sequence stars covering the spectral types of FGKM. Their fractional luminosities are well above 5× 10-5, even up to the high fractional luminosity of 1×10-3. The high galactic latitudes of SWIRE fields indicate that most of these candidates could belong to the oldest stars in the thick disk. Our results indicate that high fractional luminosity debris disks could exist in old solar-like star systems, though they are still quite rare. Their discovery at high galactic latitudes also provides an exellent opportunity for further study of the properties and evolution of debris disks in regions of the Galaxy with low densities of ISM, called ISM poor environments.

Observational evidence for the evolution of nuclear metallicity and star formation rate with the merger stage

We investigate the evolution of nuclear gas-phase oxygen abundance and star formation rate（SFR） of local far-infrared selected star-forming galaxies along the merger sequence, as traced by their optical morphologies. The sample was drawn from a cross-correlation analysis of the IRAS Point Source Catalog Redshift Survey and 1 Jy ultraluminous infrared galaxy sample with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 database. The investigation is done by comparing our sample to a control sample matched in the normalized redshift distribution in two diagnostics, which are the nuclear gas-phase metallicity vs.stellar mass and the nuclear SFR vs. stellar mass diagrams. Galaxies with different morphological types show different mass-metallicity relations（MZRs）. Compared to the MZR defined by the control sample,isolated spirals have comparable metallicities with the control sample at a given stellar mass. Spirals in pairs and interacting galaxies with projected separations of rp 〉 20 kpc show a mild metallicity dilution of0.02–0.03 dex. Interacting galaxies with rp 〈 20 kpc, pre-mergers and advanced mergers are underabundant by～0.06,～0.05 and～0.04 dex, respectively. This shows an evolutionary trend that the metallicity is increasingly depressed as the merging proceeds and it is diluted most dramatically when two galaxies are closely interacting. Afterwards, the interstellar medium（ISM） is enriched when the galaxies coalesce.This is the first time that such ISM enrichment at the final coalescence stage has been observed, which demonstrates the importance of supernova explosions in affecting the nuclear metallicity. Moreover, the central SFR enhancement relative to the control sample evolves simultaneously with the nuclear gas-phase oxygen abundance. Our results support the predictions from numerical simulations.

The relationship between the properties of PAHs and AGN activities in type-I AGNs

In order to explore the relationship between properties of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons （PAHs） and AGN activities in Type-I AGNs, we compiled a sample of 47 Type-I AGNs with measured PAH 11.3 μm and 7.7 μm emission lines. The PAH emission and optical properties of these AGNs are taken from the literature. It is found that the equivalent width （EW） of 11.3 μm emission from PAHs shows a weak correlation with the ratio of the EWs of the FelI complex between λ4434 and A4684 to H/3 （RFe）. The PAH 11.3/7.7 ratio is correlated with various elements defined by the first eigenvector space, which are RFe, [OIII]A5007 luminosity and H/3 asymmetry. These correlations infer that AGNs with high RFe, weak [OIII] emission and a strong H/3 blue-wing are likely to have low PAH ionization, and hence a larger amount of neutral PAHs.

Galaxy formation in the reionization epoch as hinted by WideField Camera 3 observations of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field

We present a large sample of candidate galaxies at z ≈ 7 - 10, selected in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field using the new observations of the Wide Field Camera 3 that was recently installed on the Hubble Space Telescope. Our sample is composed of 20 z850-dropouts （four new discoveries）, 15 Y105-dropouts （nine new discoveries） and 20 J125-dropouts （all new discoveries）. The surface densities of the Z850-dropouts are close to what was predicted by earlier studies, however, those of the Y105- and J125-dropouts are quite unexpected. While no Y105- or J125-dropouts have been found at AB ≤ 28.0 mag, their surface densities seem to increase sharply at fainter levels. While some of these candidates seem to be close to foreground galaxies and thus could possibly be gravitationally lensed, the overall surface densities after excluding such cases are still much higher than what would be expected if the luminosity function does not evolve from z ～ 7 to 10. Motivated by such steep increases, we tentatively propose a set of Schechter function parameters to describe the luminosity functions at z ≈8 and 10. As compared to their counterpart at z ≈ 7, here L^＊ decreases by a factor of ～ 6.5 and Ф^＊ increases by a factor of 17-90. Although such parameters are not yet demanded by the existing observations, they are allowed and seem to agree with the data better than other alternatives. If these luminosity functions are still valid beyond our current detection limit, this would imply a sudden emergence of a large number of low-luminosity galaxies when looking back in time to z ≈ 10, which, while seemingly exotic, would naturally fit in the picture of the cosmic hydrogen reionization. These early galaxies could easily account for the ionizing photon budget required by the reionization, and they would imply that the global star formation rate density might start from a very high value at z ≈ 10, rapidly reach the minimum at z≈ 7, and start to rise again towards z ≈ 6. In this scenario, the majority of the stellar mass that the universe assembled through the reionization epoch seems still undetected by current observations at z ≈ 6.

Estimation of lunar FeO abundance based on imaging by LRO Diviner

Understanding the abundance and distribution characteristics of FeO on the surface of the Moon is important for investigating its evolution. The current high resolution maps of the global FeO abundance are mostly produced with visible and near infrared reflectance spectra. The Christiansen Feature （CF） in mid-infrared has strong sensitivity to lunar minerals and correlates to major elements composing minerals. This paper investigates the possibility of mapping global FeO abundance using the CF values from the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter （LRO） mission. A high correlation between the CF values and FeO abundances from the Apollo samples was found. Based on this high correlation, a new global map （±60°） of FeO was produced using the CF map. The results show that the global FeO average is 8.2 wt.%, the highland average is 4.7 wt.%, the global modal abundance is 5.4 wt.% and the lunar mare mode is 15.7 wt.%. These results are close to those derived from data provided by Clementine, the Lunar Prospector Gamma Ray Spectrometer （LP-GRS） and the Chang＇e-1 Interference Imaging Spectrometer （IIM）, demonstrating the feasibility of estimating FeO abundance based on the Diviner CF data. The near global FeO abundance map shows an enrichment of lunar major elements.

Surface thermophysical properties on the potentially hazardous asteroid (99942) Apophis

We investigate the surface thermophysical properties（thermal emissivity, thermal inertia,roughness fraction and geometric albedo） of asteroid（99942） Apophis, using the currently available mid-infrared observations from CanariC am on Gran Telescopio CANARIAS and far-infrared data from PACS on Herschel, based on the Advanced Thermophysical Model. We show that the thermal emissivity of Apophis should be wavelength dependent from 8.70 μm to 160 μm, and the maximum emissivity may appear around 20 μm, similar to that of Vesta. Moreover, we further derive the thermal inertia,roughness fraction, geometric albedo and effective diameter of Apophis within a possible 1σ scale of Γ = 100（-52）^（＋100）＋Jm^（-2）s^-0.5K^-1, fr = 0.78~1.0, pv = 0.286（-0.026）^（＋0.030） and D（eff） = 378（-25）^（＋19）m, and 3σscale of Γ = 100（-100）^（＋240）Jm^（-2）s^-0.5 K^-1, fr = 0.2~1.0, pv = 0.286（-0.029）^（＋0.039） and D（eff） = 378（-29）^（＋27） m. The derived low thermal inertia but high roughness fraction may imply that Apophis could have regolith on its surface, where stronger space weathering but weaker regolith migration has happened in comparison with asteroid Itokawa. Our results show that small-size asteroids could also have fine regolith on the surface, and further infer that Apophis may have been delivered from the Main Belt by the Yarkovsky effect.