Discovery of a new kind of explosive X-ray transient near M86

Astrophysical Journal 779:1 (2013)

Authors:

PG Jonker, A Glennie, M Heida, T Maccarone, S Hodgkin, G Nelemans, JCA Miller-Jones, MAP Torres, R Fender

Abstract:

We present the discovery of a new type of explosive X-ray flash in Chandra images of the old elliptical galaxy M86. This unique event is characterized by the peak luminosity of 6 × 1042 erg s-1 for the distance of M86, the presence of precursor events, the timescale between the precursors and the main event (∼4000 s), the absence of detectable hard X-ray and γ-ray emission, the total duration of the event, and the detection of a faint associated optical signal. The transient is located close to M86 in the Virgo cluster at the location where gas and stars are seen protruding from the galaxy probably due to an ongoing wet minor merger. We discuss the possible mechanisms for the transient and conclude that the X-ray flash could have been caused by the disruption of a compact white dwarf star by a ∼104 M black hole. Alternative scenarios such that of a foreground neutron star accreting an asteroid or the detection of an off-axis (short) γ-ray burst cannot be excluded at present. © 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..

The Youngest Known X-ray Binary: Circinus X-1 and its Natal Supernova Remnant

(2013)

Authors:

S Heinz, P Sell, RP Fender, PG Jonker, WN Brandt, DE Calvelo-Santos, AK Tzioumis, MA Nowak, NS Schulz, R Wijnands, M van der Klis

A simple disc wind model for broad absorption line quasars

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press (OUP) 436:2 (2013) 1390-1407

Authors:

N Higginbottom, C Knigge, KS Long, SA Sim, JH Matthews

Detecting cosmic rays with the LOFAR radio telescope

Astronomy and Astrophysics 560 (2013)

Authors:

P Schellart, A Nelles, S Buitink, A Corstanje, JE Enriquez, H Falcke, W Frieswijk, JR Horandel, A Horneffer, CW James, M Krause, M Mevius, O Scholten, S Ter Veen, S Thoudam, M Van Den Akker, A Alexov, J Anderson, IM Avruch, L Bahren, R Beck, ME Bell, P Bennema, MJ Bentum, G Bernardi, P Best, J Bregman, F Breitling, M Brentjens, J Broderick, M Bruggen, B Ciardi, A Coolen, F De Gasperin, E De Geus, A De Jong, M De Vos, S Duscha, J Eisloffel, RA Fallows, C Ferrari, MA Garrett, J Grießmeier, T Grit, JP Hamaker, TE Hassall, G Heald, JWT Hessels, M Hoeft, HA Holties, M Iacobelli, E Juette, A Karastergiou, W Klijn, J Kohler, VI Kondratiev, M Kramer, M Kuniyoshi, G Kuper, P Maat, G Macario, G Mann, S Markoff, D McKay-Bukowski, JP McKean, JCA Miller-Jones, JD Mol, DD Mulcahy, H Munk, R Nijboer, MJ Norden, E Orru, R Overeem, H Paas, M Pandey-Pommier, R Pizzo, AG Polatidis, A Renting, JW Romein, H Rottgering, A Schoenmakers, D Schwarz, J Sluman, O Smirnov, C Sobey, BW Stappers, M Steinmetz, J Swinbank, Y Tang, C Tasse, C Toribio, J Van Leeuwen, R Van Nieuwpoort, RJ Van Weeren, N Vermaas, R Vermeulen, C Vocks, C Vogt, RAMJ Wijers, SJ Wijnholds

Abstract:

The low frequency array (LOFAR), is the first radio telescope designed with the capability to measure radio emission from cosmic-ray induced air showers in parallel with interferometric observations. In the first ~2 years of observing, 405 cosmic-ray events in the energy range of 1016-1018 eV have been detected in the band from 30-80 MHz. Each of these air showers is registered with up to ~1000 independent antennas resulting in measurements of the radio emission with unprecedented detail. This article describes the dataset, as well as the analysis pipeline, and serves as a reference for future papers based on these data. All steps necessary to achieve a full reconstruction of the electric field at every antenna position are explained, including removal of radio frequency interference, correcting for the antenna response and identification of the pulsed signal. © ESO, 2013.

Identifying clouds over the Pierre Auger Observatory using infrared satellite data

Astroparticle Physics Elsevier 50 (2013) 92-101

Authors:

P Abreu, M Aglietta, M Ahlers, EJ Ahn, IFM Albuquerque, I Allekotte, J Allen, P Allison, A Almela, J Alvarez Castillo, J Alvarez-Muñiz, R Alves Batista, M Ambrosio, A Aminaei, L Anchordoqui, S Andringa, T Antičić, C Aramo, F Arqueros, H Asorey, P Assis, J Aublin, M Ave, M Avenier, G Avila, AM Badescu, KB Barber, AF Barbosa, R Bardenet, B Baughman, J Bäuml, C Baus, JJ Beatty, KH Becker, A Bellétoile, JA Bellido, S BenZvi, C Berat, X Bertou, PL Biermann, P Billoir, F Blanco, M Blanco, C Bleve, H Blümer, M Boháčová, D Boncioli, C Bonifazi, R Bonino, N Borodai, J Brack, I Brancus, P Brogueira, WC Brown, P Buchholz, A Bueno, L Buroker, RE Burton, M Buscemi, KS Caballero-Mora, B Caccianiga, L Caccianiga, L Caramete, R Caruso, A Castellina, G Cataldi, L Cazon, R Cester, SH Cheng, A Chiavassa, JA Chinellato, J Chirinos, J Chudoba, M Cilmo, RW Clay, G Cocciolo, R Colalillo, L Collica, MR Coluccia, R Conceição, F Contreras, H Cook, MJ Cooper, S Coutu, CE Covault, A Criss, J Cronin, A Curutiu, R Dallier, B Daniel, S Dasso, K Daumiller, BR Dawson, RM de Almeida, M De Domenico, SJ de Jong, G De La Vega, WJM de Mello, JRT de Mello Neto, I De Mitri, V de Souza, KD de Vries, L del Peral, O Deligny, H Dembinski, N Dhital, C Di Giulio, JC Diaz, ML Díaz Castro, PN Diep, F Diogo, C Dobrigkeit, W Docters, JC D’Olivo, PN Dong, A Dorofeev, JC dos Anjos, MT Dova, D D’Urso, J Ebr, R Engel, M Erdmann, CO Escobar, J Espadanal, A Etchegoyen, P Facal San Luis, H Falcke, K Fang, G Farrar, AC Fauth, N Fazzini, AP Ferguson, B Fick, JM Figueira, A Filevich, A Filipčič, S Fliescher, BD Fox, CE Fracchiolla, ED Fraenkel, O Fratu, U Fröhlich, B Fuchs, R Gaior, RF Gamarra, S Gambetta, B García, ST Garcia Roca, D Garcia-Gamez, D Garcia-Pinto, G Garilli, A Gascon Bravo, H Gemmeke, PL Ghia, M Giller, J Gitto, C Glaser, H Glass, G Golup, F Gomez Albarracin, M Gómez Berisso, PF Gómez Vitale, P Gonçalves, JG Gonzalez, B Gookin, A Gorgi, P Gorham, P Gouffon, S Grebe, N Griffith, AF Grillo, TD Grubb, Y Guardincerri, F Guarino, GP Guedes, P Hansen, D Harari, TA Harrison, JL Harton, A Haungs, T Hebbeker, D Heck, AE Herve, GC Hill, C Hojvat, N Hollon, VC Holmes, P Homola, JR Hörandel, P Horvath, M Hrabovský, D Huber, T Huege, A Insolia, S Jansen, C Jarne, S Jiraskova, M Josebachuili, K Kadija, KH Kampert, P Karhan, P Kasper, I Katkov, B Kégl, B Keilhauer, A Keivani, JL Kelley, E Kemp, RM Kieckhafer, HO Klages, M Kleifges, J Kleinfeller, J Knapp, R Krause, N Krohm, O Krömer, D Kruppke-Hansen, D Kuempel, JK Kulbartz, N Kunka, G La Rosa, D LaHurd, L Latronico, R Lauer, M Lauscher, P Lautridou, S Le Coz, MSAB Leão, D Lebrun, P Lebrun, MA Leigui de Oliveira, A Letessier-Selvon, I Lhenry-Yvon, K Link, R López, A Lopez Agüera, K Louedec, J Lozano Bahilo, L Lu, A Lucero, M Ludwig, H Lyberis, MC Maccarone, C Macolino, M Malacari, S Maldera, J Maller, D Mandat, P Mantsch, AG Mariazzi, J Marin, V Marin, IC Mariş, HR Marquez Falcon, G Marsella, D Martello, L Martin, H Martinez, O Martínez Bravo, D Martraire, JJ Masías Meza, HJ Mathes, J Matthews, JAJ Matthews, G Matthiae, D Maurel, D Maurizio, E Mayotte, PO Mazur, G Medina-Tanco, M Melissas, D Melo, E Menichetti, A Menshikov, S Messina, R Meyhandan, S Mićanović, MI Micheletti, L Middendorf, IA Minaya, L Miramonti, B Mitrica, L Molina-Bueno, S Mollerach, M Monasor, D Monnier Ragaigne, F Montanet, B Morales, C Morello, JC Moreno, M Mostafá, CA Moura, MA Muller, G Müller, M Münchmeyer, R Mussa, G Navarra, JL Navarro, S Navas, P Necesal, L Nellen, A Nelles, J Neuser, PT Nhung, M Niechciol, L Niemietz, N Nierstenhoefer, T Niggemann, D Nitz, D Nosek, L Nožka, J Oehlschläger, A Olinto, M Oliveira, M Ortiz, N Pacheco, D Pakk Selmi-Dei, M Palatka, J Pallotta, N Palmieri, G Parente, A Parra, S Pastor, T Paul, M Pech, J Pe¸kala, R Pelayo, IM Pepe, L Perrone, R Pesce, E Petermann, S Petrera, A Petrolini, Y Petrov, C Pfendner, R Piegaia, T Pierog, P Pieroni, M Pimenta, V Pirronello, M Platino, M Plum, VH Ponce, M Pontz, A Porcelli, P Privitera, M Prouza, EJ Quel, S Querchfeld, J Rautenberg, O Ravel, D Ravignani, B Revenu, J Ridky, S Riggi, M Risse, P Ristori, H Rivera, V Rizi, J Roberts, W Rodrigues de Carvalho, I Rodriguez Cabo, G Rodriguez Fernandez, J Rodriguez Martino, J Rodriguez Rojo, MD Rodríguez-Frías, G Ros, J Rosado, T Rossler, M Roth, B Rouillé-d’Orfeuil, E Roulet, AC Rovero, C Rühle, SJ Saffi, A Saftoiu, F Salamida, H Salazar, F Salesa Greus, G Salina, F Sánchez, CE Santo, E Santos, EM Santos, F Sarazin, B Sarkar, R Sato, N Scharf, V Scherini, H Schieler, P Schiffer, A Schmidt, O Scholten, H Schoorlemmer, J Schovancova, P Schovánek, FG Schröder, J Schulz, D Schuster, SJ Sciutto, M Scuderi, A Segreto, M Settimo, A Shadkam, RC Shellard, I Sidelnik, G Sigl, O Sima, A Śmiałkowski, R Šmída, GR Snow, P Sommers, J Sorokin, H Spinka, R Squartini, YN Srivastava, S Stanič, J Stapleton, J Stasielak, M Stephan, M Straub, A Stutz, F Suarez, T Suomijärvi, AD Supanitsky, T Šuša, MS Sutherland, J Swain, Z Szadkowski, M Szuba, A Tapia, M Tartare, O Taşcău, R Tcaciuc, NT Thao, D Thomas, J Tiffenberg, C Timmermans, W Tkaczyk, CJ Todero Peixoto, G Toma, L Tomankova, B Tomé, A Tonachini, G Torralba Elipe, D Torres Machado, P Travnicek, DB Tridapalli, E Trovato, M Tueros, R Ulrich, M Unger, M Urban, JF Valdés Galicia, I Valiño, L Valore, G van Aar, AM van den Berg, S van Velzen, A van Vliet, E Varela, B Vargas Cárdenas, G Varner, JR Vázquez, RA Vázquez, D Veberič, V Verzi, J Vicha, M Videla, L Villaseñor, H Wahlberg, P Wahrlich, O Wainberg, D Walz, AA Watson, M Weber, K Weidenhaupt, A Weindl, F Werner, S Westerhoff, BJ Whelan, A Widom, G Wieczorek, L Wiencke, B Wilczyńska, H Wilczyński, M Will, C Williams, T Winchen, B Wundheiler, T Yamamoto, T Yapici, P Younk, G Yuan, A Yushkov, B Zamorano Garcia, E Zas, D Zavrtanik, M Zavrtanik, I Zaw, A Zepeda, J Zhou, Y Zhu, M Zimbres Silva, M Ziolkowski, The Pierre Auger Collaboration