st AAS Winter Meeting Abstracts

297 Pages·2012·4.37 MB·English

st
AAS Winter Meeting Abstracts
90 – HAD I Special: Making Astronomy Public, Los Astrophysics with CCAT in the Next Decade 243 – Galaxy Clusters
Angeles Style 151 – HAD IV History of Astronomy 244 – HEAD III: First Results from the NuSTAR
91 – HAD II Special: Preservation of Astronomical 152 – Large Scale Structure, Cosmic Distance Scale Mission
Heritage and Archival Data and GRBs 245 – Intergalactic Medium, QSO Absorption Line
100 – Welcoming Address 153 – NASA's Physics of the Cosmos (PCOS) Systems
101 – Kavli Lecture: The Spitzer Space Telescope: Studies on Gravitational Wave and X-ray Mission 246 – K-12 Students Learning and Doing Astronomy
Science Return and Impact Concepts 247 – Large Synoptic Survey Telescope
103 – AGN: Jets and Feedback 154 – Pulsars, Neutron Stars 248 – New Results from Astronomy Education
104 – Circumstellar Disks I 155 – Relativistic Astrophysics, Gravitational Lenses Research
105 – Cosmic Microwave Background I & Waves 249 – Planetary Nebulae, Supernova Remnants
106 – Cosmology I 156 – Specialized Observatories and Light Pollution 250 – Star Associations, Star Clusters - Galactic and
107 – Dwarf and Irregular Galaxies I: Origins and 157 – Starburst Galaxies Extra-galactic
Dynamics 158 – Stars, Cool Dwarfs, Brown Dwarfs 251 – Star Formation
108 – Early Science Results from the Hydrogen 159 – The Sun 252 – Stellar Evolution, Stellar Populations
Epoch of Reionization Arrays (HERA) 160 – A Moderated Discussion about Interesting 253 – Supernovae
109 – Extrasolar Planet Detection from Spectroscopy Careers in Aerospace and Mission Operations 254 – The Milky Way, The Galactic Center
and Microlensing 200 – Finding the Next Earth 255 – Undergraduate and Graduate Teaching,
110 – From Star Formation to Cosmology: 201 – Astronomy Outreach for Non-traditional Learning and Research
Astrophysics with CCAT in the Next Decade Audiences 256 – Young Stellar Objects, Very Young Stars,
111 – Galaxy Clusters I 202 – Binary Star Systems: Observations, Models, T-Tauri Stars, H-H Objects
112 – Galaxy Evolution at z~2 Origins 300 – Heineman Prize: Extreme Transients in the High
113 – HAD III/HEAD I Special: Fifty Years 203 – Black Holes II Energy Universe
of Celestial X-ray Astronomy 204 – Circumnuclear Environments of AGN 301 – Astrophysics with Kepler's High Precision
114 – Relativistic Astrophysics, Gravitational Lenses 205 – Circumstellar Disks II Photometry I
& Waves 206 – Galaxies I 302 – Effective Education and Public Outreach
115 – Research Based Initiatives for Broadening the 207 – Galaxy Evolution at z = 4-12 303 – Galaxies III
Participation of Women and Minorities in Astronomy 208 – HAD VI History of Astronomy 304 – Galaxy Evolution in Protogalaxy Clusters
116 – Science Highlights from NASA's Astrophysics 209 – HEAD III: First Results from the NuSTAR 305 – Instrumentation: Ground, Airborne and Space I
Data Analysis Program I: Galactic Astrophysics Mission 306 – Molecular Clouds, HII Regions, Interstellar
117 – Young Stellar Objects, Very Young Stars, 210 – High Resolution Ultraviolet Imaging with the Medium
T-Tauri Stars, H-H Objects Hubble Space Telescope I [low redshift] 307 – Multi-wavelength Observations of Quasars
118 – Galaxy Clusters in the Golden Age of 211 – Innovations in Teaching, Learning, and 308 – Planetary Systems Orbiting White Dwarfs
High-Energy Astrophysics Mentoring 309 – QSO/AGN Engines and the Circumnuclear
122 – Andromeda and Local Group Dwarf Galaxies 212 – Intergalactic Medium, QSO Absorption Line Region
123 – Black Holes I Systems 310 – Reports from NASA's Program Analysis
124 – Cosmic Microwave Background II 213 – Stellar Evolution and Ages Groups
125 – Dark Matter Properties, Observations and 214 – Supernovae II 311 – Results from The Panchromatic Hubble
Constraints 215 – Surveys and Large Programs Andromeda Treasury
126 – Exoplanet Interiors and Atmospheres 216 – Zeroing in on eta-Earth with NASA's Kepler 312 – Star Formation - Dark Clouds and Clumps
127 – Family Leave Policies and Childcare for Mission 313 – Structure and Evolution of Local Galaxies
Graduate Students and Postdocs 217 – Cannon Award: Exploring the Diversity of 314 – The Solar System
128 – Galaxy Clusters II Exoplanetary Atmospheres 315 – Transit Detection of Extrasolar Planets
129 – Galaxy Evolution at z > 2 220 – Circumstellar Disks III 316 – Variable Stars
130 – HAD V History of Astronomy, with Osterbrock 221 – Cosmic Dawns: ALMA Early Science 317 – Warner Prize: A New View on Planetary
Book Prize Commences Orbital Dynamics
131 – HEAD II: New Revelations from the Transient 222 – Dark Energy, Tests of Gravity and Fundamental 321 – Astrophysics with Kepler's High Precision
Sky Constants Photometry II
132 – Large Scale Structure, Cosmic Distance Scale 223 – Dust 322 – Circumgalactic Matter of Galaxies at z=2-3
and GRBs I 224 – Exoplanet Atmospheres 323 – Cosmology II
133 – Quasars and Their Hosts, Near and Far 225 – Galaxies II 324 – Direct Detection of Exoplanets, Faint
134 – Science Highlights from NASA's Astrophysics 226 – Galaxy Clusters III Companions, and Protoplanetary Disks
Data Analysis Program II: Extragalactic Astrophysics 227 – Galaxy Evolution at z ~ 1 325 – Dusty Debris in the Terrestrial Planet Zone I
135 – Scientific Opportunities with the James Webb 228 – High Resolution Ultraviolet Imaging with the 326 – Evolution of Structure in Local Galaxies (z~0)
Space Telescope Hubble Space Telescope II [high redshift] 327 – Galaxies IV
136 – Supernovae I 229 – Instrumentation, Data Handling, and Image 328 – Instrumentation: Ground, Airborne and Space II
137 – Young Stellar Objects, Very Young Stars, Analysis 329 – Joining the Electromagnetic and Gravitational
T-Tauri Stars, H-H Objects - Disks 230 – New Insights into the Distribution of Stellar Wave Skies
138 – Henry Norris Russell Lecture: Thinking and Structure and Mass in Galaxies: Results from S^4G 330 – SNRs and PNe: Theory and Observation
Computing 231 – Planets and Planetary Systems Identified by 331 – Star Associations, Star Clusters - Galactic and
139 – From Gas to Stars Over Cosmic Time Kepler Theory
141 – Astronomy Outreach to the Public 232 – Stars and the Galactic Halo 332 – Star Formation - Cores, Clouds and the IMF
142 – Binary Stellar Systems, X-ray Binaries 233 – Supernovae III 333 – Super-Earths, M Dwarfs, and Habitability
143 – Black Holes 234 – The Galaxy: Age, Structure and Evolution 334 – Surveys and Catalogs of Extrasolar Planet
144 – Circumstellar Disks 235 – Turbulence: Theory and Observation Hosts
145 – Dust 236 – Newton Lacy Pierce Prize: Hot on the Trail of 335 – The Dark Energy Survey
146 – Elliptical and Spiral Galaxies Warm Planets Orbiting Cool M Dwarfs 336 – The Elemental Compositions of Extrasolar
147 – Evolution of Galaxies 237 – HEAD Rossi Prize: The Flaring Crab Nebula: Planetesimals from Spectroscopy of Polluted White
148 – Evolved Stars, Cataclysmic Variables, Novae, Surprises and Challenges Dwarfs
Wolf-Rayet Phenomena 240 – Computation, Data Handling, Image Analysis 337 – Computational Cosmology
149 – Extrasolar Planets: Detection 241 – Dark Matter and Dark Energy 339 – AGN, QSO, Blazars
150 – From Star Formation to Cosmology: 242 – Dwarf and Irregular Galaxies 340 – Catalogs
341 – Cosmology 404 – Dwarf and Irregular Galaxies II: ISM/IGM and 425 – Star Associations, Star Clusters - Extra-galactic
342 – Education and Professional Development the Magellanic Clouds 426 – Star Formation - Clusters and Cores
343 – Extrasolar Planets: Characterization, Theory and 405 – Evolution of Galaxy Mergers, Black Hole 427 – The Role of Calibration in Modern Optical and
Detection Formation, and Satellite Galaxies Infrared Astronomy
344 – Hubble Space Telescope Instruments and 407 – Kepler Exoplanets 428 – Gas Flows and Galaxy Evolution
Calibration 408 – Laboratory Astrophysics and Pulsar Potpourri 429 – Lancelot M. Berkeley Prize: Results from the
345 – Instrumentation: Ground and Airborne 409 – Large Scale Structure, Cosmic Distance Scale Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)
346 – Joining the Electromagnetic and Gravitational and GRBs II 430 – AGN and Friends
Wave Skies 410 – Massive Star Formation and Supernovae IV 431 – Computation and Other Topics
347 – JWST Mission and Instrumentation 411 – Nearby Star Forming Galaxies 432 – Cosmology and Other Topics
348 – Laboratory Astrophysics 412 – Pulsars, Neutron Stars 433 – Education and Public Outreach
349 – Molecular Clouds, HII Regions, Interstellar 413 – Radio Surveys of Galactic Clouds 434 – Evolution of Galaxies
Medium 414 – Starburst Galaxies 435 – Extrasolar Planets
350 – Space-Based Missions, Instruments and 415 – The Sun 436 – Galaxies
Technology 416 – The Hubble Constant in the Era of Precision 437 – Galaxy Clusters
351 – Stellar Atmospheres, Winds Cosmology 438 – GRBs
352 – Surveys and Large Programs 418 – CO, Dust, Outflows, etc. in Galaxies 439 – Instrumentation, Missions and Surveys
353 – The Solar System and Astrobiology 419 – Direct Imaging Methods for Extrasolar Planet 440 – Interstellar Medium
354 – Variable Stars & White Dwarfs Detection 441 – Star Clusters
400 – New Insights of Comets from the EPOXI 420 – Evolution in Compact Galaxy Clusters 442 – Star Formation
Mission 421 – High Energy Binaries 443 – Stellar Topics
401 – Cataclysmic Variables and Compact Binaries 422 – Multi-wavelength Spectroscopy of AGN 444 – Supernovae
402 – Cosmology, the Lyman-alpha Forest, 423 – Nearby Stars and Wide Binaries 445 – The Sun and Solar System
and Intergalactic Medium from BOSS 424 – Planetary Systems Orbiting White Dwarfs and
403 – Dusty Debris in the Terrestrial Planet Zone II Neutron Stars
90 – HAD I Special: Making Astronomy Public, Los Angeles Style
Special Session – Room 103B (Long Beach Convention Center) – 06 Jan 2013 01:30 PM to 03:30 PM
This 120 minute special session will explore aspects of popular astronomy in the Los Angeles area over the past 150 years that
stimulated public awareness and interest in astronomy. Topics include: (1) organized amateur astronomy in Los Angeles, (2) the
growth of the amateur telescope industry in Los Angeles, (3) L.A. style astronomical evangelists, (4) the forces that created and
shaped the Griffith Observatory and the Mt. Lowe Observatory, (5) the influence of astronomers ranging from George Ellery Hale
to Frederick C. Leonard to Tommy Cragg in all these aspects of public astronomy in the Los Angeles area, (6) if there is a
distinguishable 'L.A. style' to public astronomy in Los Angeles.
domestic and international research institutions. Among the most remarkable were large
90.01 – Creating Griffith Observatory solar spars for Lockheed Solar Observatory in California and Ottawa River Solar
A. Cook, Griffith Observatory, Pasadena, CA Observatory in Canada. His instrumentation also equipped educational facilities including
01:30 PM-03:30 PM observatories at UCLA, Westmont College, Pasadena City College, Bevard Community
College, and many others. A Carroll telescope boasting a particularly distinguished
Griffith Observatory has been the iconic symbol of the sky for southern California since educational history was a small astrograph built in 1953 for Professor George Moyen of
it began its public mission on May 15, 1935. While the Observatory is widely known as Hollywood and subsequently used for the long-running Summer Science Program in
being the gift of Col. Griffith J. Griffith (1850-1919), the story of how Griffith’s gift Ojai, California. Later solar instruments built by Carson Instruments were closely
became reality involves many of the people better known for other contributions that derivative of Carroll designs.
made Los Angeles area an important center of astrophysics in the 20th century. Griffith
began drawing up his plans for an observatory and science museum for the people of
90.04 – Los Angeles and Its Influence on Professional and Popular Astronomy - A
Los Angeles after looking at Saturn through the newly completed 60-inch reflector on
Hollywood Love Story, by Lewis Chilton, Past President, Optical Shop Director and
Mt. Wilson. He realized the social impact that viewing the heavens could have if made
Historian, Los Angeles Astronomical Society
freely available, and discussing the idea of a public observatory with Mt. Wilson
L. Chilton, Los Angeles Astronomical Society, Los Angeles, CA
Observatory’s founder, George Ellery Hale, and Director, Walter Adams. This resulted,
in 1916, in a will specifying many of the features of Griffith Observatory, and 01:30 PM-03:30 PM
establishing a committee managed trust fund to build it. Astronomy popularizer Mars
The purpose of this presentation is to show through visualizations how the Los Angeles,
Baumgardt convinced the committee at the Zeiss Planetarium projector would be
California milieu of the early 20th century benefited the advancement of astronomy and
appropriate for Griffith’s project after the planetarium was introduced in Germany in
captured the public consciousness through popular press accounts of these
1923. In 1930, the trust committee judged funds to be sufficient to start work on creating
advancements and of the scientists who made them. The thesis of this presentation
Griffith Observatory, and letters from the Committee requesting help in realizing the
purports that a symbiosis developed between astronomers of Los Angeles-area
project were sent to Hale, Adams, Robert Millikan, and other area experts then engaged
scientific and educational institutions and a local community of interested laypersons, and
in creating the 200-inch telescope eventually destined for Palomar Mountain. A
was the catalyst that sparked future generations to enter the fields of astronomy, the
Scientific Advisory Committee, headed by Millikan, recommended that Caltech Physicist
allied sciences, education and technology. This presentation attempts to highlight the
Edward Kurth be put in charge of building and exhibit design. Kurth, in turn, sought help
importance of continued public outreach by the professional astronomical community, for
from artist Russell Porter. The architecture firm of John C. Austin and Fredrick Ashley
the ultimate benefit to itself, in Los Angeles and beyond.
was selected to design the project, and they adopted the designs of Porter and Kurth.
Philip Fox of the Adler Planetarium was enlisted to manage the completion of the
90.05 – Public Performance
Observatory and become its temporary Director.
E.C. Krupp, Griffith Obs., Los Angeles, CA
90.02 – The Early Years of Amateur Astronomy in Los Angeles—Conflicts and 01:30 PM-03:30 PM
Contradictions
America’s first planetaria all opened in the 1930s, and each was the distinctive product
T.R. Williams, AAVSO, Cambridge, MA of local circumstances. In Los Angeles, the populist sensibilities of Griffith J. Griffith
01:30 PM-03:30 PM prompted him to value the transformative power of a personal encounter with a
telescope, and he quickly embraced the idea of a public observatory with free access to
Astronomy had an active audience in Los Angeles from the latter years of the
all. Griffith Observatory and its planetarium emerged from that intent. Authenticity,
nineteenth century on. However, it is surprising that organized avocational astronomy did
intelligibility, and theatricality were fundamental principles in Griffith’s thinking, and they
not really flower until the promotion of amateur telescope making as a hobby beginning
were transformed into solid and enduring scientific and astronomical values by those
in the mid-1920s. Even though astronomy burgeoned as a local industry with the Mount
who actually guided the Observatory’s design, construction, and programming. That said,
Wilson Astronomical Observatory visible from much of the LA Basin on most days,
the public profile of Griffith Observatory was most defined by its inspired hilltop location,
astronomers from the observatory providing informative talks to local groups, and the
its distinctive, commanding architecture, and its felicitous proximity to Hollywood. The
Griffith Observatory actively promoting interest in astronomy as well as science more
Observatory is theatric in placement and in appearance, and before the Observatory
generally, interest in telescope making and recreational observing continued to dominate
even opened, it was used as a motion picture set. That continuing vocation turned
the activities of Los Angeles amateurs for the first twenty-five years of the local
Griffith Observatory into a Hollywood star. Because entertainment industry objectives
society’s existence. Even the later active membership of outstanding scientific
and resources were part of the Los Angeles landscape, they influenced Observatory
contributors like Tom Cave and Tom Cragg, and the participation of astronomy students
programming throughout the Observatory’s history. Public astronomy in Los Angeles
from UCLA and Cal Tech like George Herbig, yielded little change in direction over this
has largely been framed by the Observatory’s fundamental nature. It has exhibits, but it
period.
is not a museum. It has a planetarium, but it is essentially an observatory. As a public
observatory, it is filled with instruments that transform visitors into observers. This role
90.03 – The Space-Age Legacy of Telescope Designer George A. Carroll emphasized the importance of personal experience and established the perception of
J.W. Briggs, HUT Observatory, Eagle, CO Griffith Observatory as a place for public gathering and shared contact with the cosmos.
01:30 PM-03:30 PM The Observatory’s close and continuous link with amateur astronomers made amateurs
influential partners in the public enterprise. In full accord with Griffith J. Griffith’s
Remembered particularly as a founding member of Stony Ridge Observatory near original intent, Griffith Observatory has all been about putting people eyeball to the
Mount Wilson, George A. Carroll (1902-1987) was legendary in the Southern California universe with authenticity, showmanship, and style.
telescope making community. In Texas at the age of sixteen, Carroll built and flew his
own aircraft, becoming one of the youngest aviators in the country. He eventually
90.06 – Commentary on Making Astronomy Public, LA Style
became an employee of Lockheed's 'Skunk Works' in Burbank. His earliest known
D.H. De Vorkin, Smithsonian Inst., Washington, DC
commercial telescopes were high-end amateur instruments built by R. R. Cook. As
described in a brochure describing his later telescope work, he had 'experience in so 01:30 PM-03:30 PM
many branches of technology that it is unbelievable.' By the time Carroll's designs were
Commentary based upon the papers in this session will focus on historical issues
built by Thomas Tool & Die in Sun Valley, his telescopes were well known in the solar
relevant to promoting science literacy.
community and in use at National Solar Observatory, Caltech, and at many other
91 – HAD II Special: Preservation of Astronomical Heritage and Archival Data
Special Session – Room 103B (Long Beach Convention Center) – 06 Jan 2013 04:00 PM to 06:00 PM
This session will deal with preserving astronomy’s rich cultural heritage, including its largely untapped archival collections of
scientific data, sites of historical importance and the many historical papers and instruments that have yet to be scholarly discussed.
In January 2007, in response to concerns that parts of the heritage was in serious danger of being lost, the AAS created the
Working Group on the Preservation of Astronomical Heritage (WGPAH) charged with “developing and disseminating procedures,
criteria and priorities for identifying, designating, and preserving astronomical structures, instruments, and records so that they will
continue to be available for astronomical and historical research, for the teaching of astronomy, and for outreach to the general
public.” In 2008 the IAU and UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee approved the Astronomy and World Heritage Initiative
(AWHI) which aims to “identify, safeguard and promote cultural properties connected with astronomy.” Now five years on with
WGPAH and AWHI it is an appropriate time to see what has been accomplished.
91.01 – UNESCO's Astronomy and World Heritage Initiative: Progress to Date and 91.03 – Issues and Challenges in the Protection of Different Categories of Astronomical
Future Priorities Heritage: A Report from Beijing 2012
C. Ruggles, University of Leicester, Leicester, Leics, UNITED S. Schechner, Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA
KINGDOM 04:00 PM-06:00 PM
04:00 PM-06:00 PM On the occasion of the IAU’s General Assembly in Beijing in 2012, the Working Groups
for Astronomy and World Heritage (WG-AWH) and Historical Instruments (WG-HI) of
UNESCO’s thematic initiative on Astronomy and World Heritage was created in 2005
Commission 41 (History of Astronomy)—led by Clive Ruggles and Sara
“to establish a link between science and culture on the basis of research aimed at
Schechner—held a joint science meeting concerning shared issues in the “Conservation
acknowledging the cultural and scientific values of properties connected with
and Protection of Different Categories of Astronomical Heritage.” Since 2008, the
astronomy”. Since 2008, when a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was
WG-AWH had been working with UNESCO and its advisory bodies to identify and
signed between the IAU and UNESCO to work together to advance the Initiative, the
safeguard significant astronomical sites and assist in their eventual nomination for
IAU, through its Working Group on Astronomy and World Heritage, has been working
inclusion on the World Heritage List. That initiative was restricted to fixed sites and
to help identify, safeguard and promote the world’s most valuable cultural properties
monuments. Moveable, tangible objects, such as scientific instruments, could not be
connected with astronomy. The Working Group’s first major deliverable was the
included even though their significance was often interconnected with that of immovable
Thematic Study on the Heritage Sites of Astronomy and Archaeoastronomy, which was
sites. To address this concern, the 2012 joint science meeting convened international
prepared in collaboration with ICOMOS, the Advisory Body to UNESCO that assesses
experts in the history, scientific, and cultural value of astronomical buildings, instruments,
World Heritage List applications relating to cultural heritage. Published in 2010, this has
photographic plates, archives, and meteorites in order to discuss ways to develop and
been endorsed by the World Heritage Centre as a basis for developing specific
coordinate integrated approaches to the documentation and protection of these valuable
guidelines for UNESCO member states on the inscription of astronomical properties.
things. A wide range of materials was discussed. It was evident that the historical,
The IAU’s General Assembly in Beijing saw the launch of perhaps the most significant
scientific, and cultural value assigned to any particular item might differ from one
deliverable from the Initiative to date, the Portal to the Heritage of Astronomy
community to the next, and that the question of whom or what ultimately will determine
(www.astronomicalheritage.net) which is a dynamic, publicly accessible database,
how any heritage item is treated is complex, political, and negotiated. An important point
discussion forum, and document-repository on astronomical heritage sites throughout the
of agreement was the idea of developing a “science heritage” (rather than “architectural
world, whether or not they are on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. In recent months
heritage”) approach in which the value is enhanced (rather than diminished) by changes
the Working Group has completed a set of nine “Extended Case Studies', which raise a
to a facility that could lead to further scientific discoveries. It was hoped that such an
wide range of general issues, varying from the integrity of astronomical sightlines at
approach would make observatory directors and others more comfortable with outside
ancient sites to the preservation of dark skies at modern observatories. Given the
recognition of the heritage value of their working institutions.
progress that has been made to date, how would we wish to see the Initiative develop in
the future and what should be the Working Group’s priorities in the coming months and
91.04 – AAS Working Group on the Preservation of Astronomical Heritage: The
years? Among the suggestions I shall be discussing is that the WG should find ways to
Preservation of Astronomical Plates and Other Efforts
work more directly with national State Parties to encourage and help them prepare
viable nominations for astronomical heritage sites on the World Heritage List. W. Osborn, AAS WGPAH, Washington, DC; W. Osborn, Yerkes
Observatory, Willams Bay, WI
91.02 – Preserving a Piece of the True Cross 04:00 PM-06:00 PM
D.H. De Vorkin, Smithsonian Inst., Washington, DC
The WGPAH was created in 2007 in response to concerns that parts of astronomy’s
04:00 PM-06:00 PM
rich heritage were in serious danger of being lost. Three classes of heritage were listed
I will discuss shared concerns of Curators and Collections Management Specialists at as of concern: (1) historically significant astronomical sites, (2) historically significant
the National Air and Space Museum over the proper methods for identifying, instruments, and (3) archives of historical documents and observations. During its six
documenting and preserving astronomical instrumentation in the Museum's purview as years the WG’s efforts have been directed mainly toward the third area, and in
well as in the realm of modern astronomical research. Questions of 'what' and 'how' will particular toward the preservation of astronomical plates. This talk first provides an
be raised and discussed, including the issue of preserving the historical character of overview of the WGPAH – charge, structure and membership. It then describes the
instrumentation deemed still useful to astronomy. As part of this discussion, we will also results from its two major initiatives – the census of North American astronomical plates
consider: 'why' make the effort to preserve? What is the value of a personal physical carried out in 2008 and the Workshop on Developing a Plan for preserving Astronomy’s
encounter with the 'real thing?' Archival Records held in 2012. It concludes with the WG’s future challenges.
100 – Welcoming Address
Plenary Session – Grand Ballroom (Long Beach Convention Center) – 07 Jan 2013 08:00 AM to 08:30 AM
08:00 AM-08:30 AM
– Welcome Address by AAS President David Helfand
101 – Kavli Lecture: The Spitzer Space Telescope: Science Return and Impact
Plenary Session – Grand Ballroom (Long Beach Convention Center) – 07 Jan 2013 08:30 AM to 09:20 AM
the first direct detection of light from a planet orbiting another star and obtaining the first
101.01 – The Spitzer Space Telescope: Science Return and Impact thermal infrared spectrum of an exoplanet, to identifying the most distant galaxies
B.T. Soifer, Spitzer Science Center, Pasadena, CA; B.T. Soifer, known. Spitzer observations have defined the timescale of planetary system formation,
Caltech, Pasadena, CA as well as the timescale for buildup of stellar mass in galaxies. Its spectroscopic
08:30 AM-09:20 AM observations have discovered water raining down on forming planetary systems and
buckyballs in space as well as tracing aromatic molecules in dusty galaxies to look-back
The Spitzer Space Telescope is NASA’s Great Observatory for infrared astronomy. It times of ~ 12 Gyr. Its most important contributions were not anticipated before its
was launched on August 25, 2003 after a more than three decade gestation. As a launch, with the most striking example being its major impact on exoplanet studies, itself
cryogenic mission it operated from 3-160 microns and included imaging and an area that was unknown when the mission was being formulated and designed. In this
spectroscopy. Its cryogenic mission ended on May 15, 2009 when the last of its talk I will describe a few of the major scientific contributions of the Spitzer mission to
superfluid Helium evaporated. Since then Spitzer has operated in its “warm” phase, astrophysics, and its impact on the field. I will also describe the prospects for future
where the 3.6 and 4.5 micron imaging channels continue to operate at full sensitivity. contributions in the Spitzer Warm mission, which will extend through at least the end of
Spitzer has made major discoveries in virtually all areas of astrophysics, ranging from 2014.
103 – AGN: Jets and Feedback
Oral Session – Room 101A (Long Beach Convention Center) – 07 Jan 2013 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
103.01D – Spectroscopy of the Largest Ever Gamma-Ray Selected AGN Sample 103.04 – Acceleration of Relativistic Jets in the MOJAVE Program
M.S. Shaw, R.W. Romani, S.E. Healey, P.F. Michelson, Stanford D.C. Homan, Denison Univ., Granville, OH
University, Stanford, CA; A.C. Readhead, W. Max-Moerbeck, O.G. 10:40 AM-10:50 AM
King, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA; G. Cotter, We present results and analysis on the acceleration of extra-galactic radio jets on parsec
W.J. Potter, University of Oxford, Oxford, UNITED KINGDOM; J. scales as measured by the MOJAVE program: Monitoring Of Jets in AGN with VLBA
Richards, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN Experiments. We have added almost four years of kinematic data, expanding the
number of jet features with high quality motions suitable for acceleration analysis to 327,
10:00 AM-10:20 AM
a 60% increase from our previous study. We confirm our previous result that
We report on new optical spectroscopy of 459 Fermi blazars---164 Flat Spectrum Radio accelerations parallel to the velocity of jet features are larger on average than
Quasars (FSRQs) and 295 BL Lacertae Objects (BL Lacs) drawn from the First and perpendicular accelerations, indicating that changes in the Lorentz factors of the
Second Fermi LAT AGN Catalogs. Including archival measurements (correcting several features, rather than simple jet bending, are required to explain much of the observed
erroneous literature values) we have spectroscopic redshifts for 62% (46%) of the LAT accelerations. We perform a more detailed analysis of our earlier result linking the
AGN (BL Lacs). We establish firm lower redshift limits via intervening absorption acceleration of jet features with projected distance along the jet. By analyzing jet
systems and statistical lower limits via searches for host galaxies. This provides redshift features with parallel acceleration at least twice the magnitude of their perpendicular
constraints for an additional 49% of the BL Lac sample leaving only 5% of the BL Lacs acceleration, we select the features most likely to have experienced Lorentz factor
unconstrained. The new redshifts raise the median spectroscopic z of the BL Lacs from changes. Features with positive accelerations, indicating increasing Lorentz factor, occur
0.23 to 0.33 and includes redshifts as large as z=2.2. Spectroscopic absorption limits at shorter projected distances in the jet than features with negative accelerations.
have z= 0.70, showing a substantial fraction at large z and arguing against strong Features with positive and negative accelerations form distinct populations in terms of jet
negative evolution. We find that detected BL Lac hosts are bright ellipticals with hole distance with a probability of less than one in a million of being drawn from the same
masses ~ 10^{8.5-9} M_{sun}, substantially larger than the mean of optical AGN. The distribution. If the motion of jet features reflects the underlying jet flow, our results
FSRQs have smaller virial estimates of black hole mass than the optical quasar sample. indicate that the transition from positive acceleration out of the SMBH/accretion disk
This appears to be largely due to a preferred (axial) view of the gamma-ray FSRQ and system to deceleration of the larger scale jet occurs at projected distances in the range
non-isotropic (H/R ~ 0.4) distribution of broad-line velocities. The power-law dominance ~10-20 pc, corresponding to de-projected distances of order 102 pc from the central
of the optical spectrum extends to extreme values, but within the BL Lac class, this does engine. The MOJAVE project is supported under NASA-Fermi grants NNX08AV67G
not strongly correlate with the gamma-ray properties, suggesting that strong beaming is and 11-Fermi11-0019.
the primary cause of the range in continuum dominance. This substantially complete
survey provides new opportunities for understanding blazar evolution and their role in
103.05 – A Universal Scaling for the Energetics of Black Hole Jets
contributions to, and probes of, the cosmic extragalactic background.
R. Nemmen, S. Guiriec, N. Gehrels, NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD;
M. Georganopoulos, University of Maryland Baltimore County,
103.02 – Correlation Between Black Hole Mass and Bulge Luminosity in 235 Nearby
Active Galaxies Baltimore, MD; E.T. Meyer, Rice University, Houston, TX; R.M.
M. Kim, L.C. Ho, Carnegie Observatory, Pasadena, CA; M. Kim, Sambruna, George Mason University, Virginia, VA
KASI, Daejeon, KOREA, REPUBLIC OF; C.Y. Peng, Giant 10:50 AM-11:00 AM
Magellan Telescope Organization, Pasadena, CA; A.J. Barth, Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) produce powerful
University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA; M. Im, Seoul National relativistic jets and their central engines share the same basic astrophysical ingredients,
University, Seoul, KOREA, REPUBLIC OF despite the vastly different mass scales of the accreting black holes. An outstanding
question is how the jet physics scales from stellar to supermassive black holes. In this
10:20 AM-10:30 AM
talk, I will report the discovery of a universal scaling for the energetics of relativistic jets
We present the correlation between the bulge luminosity of host galaxies and the black based on observations of AGNs and GRBs made with the Fermi and Swift
hole (BH) masses of nearby (z < 0.35) type I active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from the observatories. I will discuss how this result paves the road to an unified understanding of
2-D image composition of HST archival images for 235 objects. We find that the zero black hole activity across the mass scale.
point of the relation for AGNs is significantly smaller than that for quiescent galaxies.
We also find that the zero point is highly sensitive to accretion rate and BH mass, while 103.06 – Radiative Transfer, Black Hole Growth, AGN Feedback in Galaxies
it appears to be independent of other properties of AGNs and galaxies, such as radio- G. Novak, Paris Observatory, Paris, FRANCE
loudness, presence of a bar, or signs of interactions. We show that the offset in the BH
11:00 AM-11:10 AM
mass-bulge luminosity relation can be explained in three ways: (1) bulge luminosity is
enhanced by recent star formation, (2) BH is rapidly growing during the AGN phase, or We have performed 3D hydrodynamic simulations of black hole fueling and AGN
(3) BH mass is underestimated and the scaling factor increases with increasing feedback using a novel method for treating the radial forces on interstellar gas due to
accretion rate. absorption of photons by dust grains. The method provides a solution to the radiative
transfer equation and hence computes forces on the gas self-consistently by first solving
103.03 – Sub-mm Observations of Low-luminosities AGNs for a Complete SED for the radiation field taking into account radiation sources, absorption, and scattering.
H. Flohic, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, CHILE The algorithm gives the correct behavior in all of the relevant limits (dominated by the
central point source; dominated by the distributed isotropic source; optically thin;
10:30 AM-10:40 AM
optically thick to UV/optical; optically thick to IR) and reasonably interpolates between
With APEX, we measured the sub-mm flux of 5 low-luminosity AGNs in order to fill the the limits when necessary. The simulations allow us to study gas flows and feedback
gap in the spectral energy distribution (SED). With a more complete SED, we are now processes over length scales from ~1 pc to ~100 kpc. We find that the dynamics and
able to better determine the relative contribution of jet and accretion power to the final state of simulations are measurably but only moderately affected by radiative
luminosity, and to assess the structure of the accretion flow. forces on dust, even when assumptions about the dust-to-gas ratio are varied from zero
to a value appropriate for the Milky Way. In simulations with high gas densities designed
to mimic ULIRGs with a star formation rate of several hundred solar masses per year,
103.08 – Re-examining the Black Hole in M87 Through Gas-dynamical Modeling
dust makes a more substantial contribution to the dynamics and outcome of the
J. Walsh, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX; A.J. Barth,
simulation.
University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA; L.C. Ho, Carnegie
103.07 – Measuring Feedback from Mass Outflows of Ionized Gas in Nearby AGN Observatories, Pasadena, CA; M. Sarzi, University of Hertfordshire,
D.M. Crenshaw, T.C. Fischer, Georgia State Univ., Atlanta, GA; Hatfield, UNITED KINGDOM
S.B. Kraemer, The Catholic University of America, Washington, 11:20 AM-11:30 AM
DC; H.R. Schmitt, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC; J.
M87 is one of the most luminous nearby galaxies and hosts one of the most massive
Turner, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD black holes known, making it a very important target for extragalactic studies. The
11:10 AM-11:20 AM supermassive black hole has been the subject of several stellar and gas-dynamical mass
measurements; however the best current measurements disagree by a factor of 2,
We present an investigation into the impact of feedback from outflows of ionized gas in corresponding to a 2-sigma discrepancy. Given the uncertainties associated with the
nearby (z < 0.04) AGN. From our studies of outflowing UV a and X-ray absorbers, we sparsely populated upper end of the relationships between black hole mass and host
found that most Seyfert 1 galaxies with moderate bolometric luminosities have mass galaxy bulge properties, resolving this disagreement in the M87 black hole mass is
outflow rates that are 10 - 1000 times the mass accretion rates needed to generate their crucial. Here, we present newly acquired multi-slit Space Telescope Imaging
observed luminosities, indicating that most of the mass outflow originates from outside Spectrograph observations from the Hubble Space Telescope. We measure the
the inner accretion disk. We also found that many of these AGN have kinetic emission-line kinematics within ~40 pc of the M87 nucleus, fully mapping out the nuclear
luminosities in the range 0.5 to 5% bolometric, which is in the range often suggested by gas disk. We will present preliminary results from the comprehensive gas-dynamical
feedback models needed for efficient self-regulation of black-hole and galactic bulge modeling and constraints on the black hole mass.
growth. We investigate the possibility that mass outflows on larger scales (hundreds of
parsecs) may provide similar or even larger mass outflow rates and kinetic luminosities
in nearby, moderate luminosity AGN.
104 – Circumstellar Disks I
Oral Session – Room 202B (Long Beach Convention Center) – 07 Jan 2013 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
104.01 – Weak Accretion in the Outer Regions of Protoplanetary Disks 104.03 – From Dust to Planetesimals: Criteria for Gravitational Instability of Small
Particles in Gas
J.B. Simon, P.J. Armitage, K. Beckwith, University of Colorado,
J. Shi, E. Chiang, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA; J. Shi, E. Chiang,
Boulder, CO; X. Bai, J.M. Stone, Princeton University, Princeton,
Center for Integrative Planetary Science, Berkeley, CA
NJ; X. Bai, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics,
10:30 AM-10:40 AM
Cambirdge, MA; K. Beckwith, Tech-X Corporation, Boulder, CO
10:00 AM-10:10 AM Dust particles sediment toward the midplanes of protoplanetary disks, forming dust-rich
sublayers encased in gas. What densities must the particle sublayer attain before it can
I will present numerical simulations of turbulence in the outer regions of protoplanetary fragment by self-gravity? We describe various candidate threshold densities. One of
disks. In these regions, low ionization levels and gas densities lead to weak coupling these is the Roche density, which is that required for a strengthless satellite to resist tidal
between neutral and ionized gas, enhancing the effect of ambipolar diffusion drastically. disruption by its primary. Another is the Toomre density, which is that required for
Only very thin surface layers of the disk are well ionized due to FUV photons from the de-stabilizing self-gravity to defeat the stabilizing influences of pressure and rotation. We
central star. Our simulations focus on turbulent accretion driven by the show that for sublayers containing aerodynamically well-coupled dust, the Toomre
magnetorotational instability (MRI) in the absence of a vertical magnetic field density exceeds the Roche density by many (up to about 4) orders of magnitude. We
penetrating the disk. The result is a form of layered accretion, akin to the Ohmic dead present 3D shearing box simulations of self-gravitating, stratified, dust-gas mixtures to
zone paradigm relevant to smaller disk radii; gas is only accreted through very thin test which of the candidate thresholds is relevant for collapse. All our simulations
surface layers that surround a magnetically inactive 'ambipolar dead zone'. We find that indicate that the larger Toomre density is required for collapse. This result is sensible
the measured accretion rates due to this strong ambipolar diffusion are too small, by at because sublayers are readily stabilized by pressure. Sound-crossing times for thin
least an order of magnitude, to account for observations. I will discuss the implications layers are easily shorter than free-fall times, and the effective sound speed in dust-gas
of these results for disk evolution, and a promising solution to the problem by including a suspensions decreases only weakly with the dust-to-gas ratio (as the inverse square
vertical magnetic field. root). Our findings assume that particles are small enough that their stopping times in
gas are shorter than all other timescales. Relaxing this assumption may lower the
104.02D – The Earliest Stage of Planet Formation: Disk-Planet Interactions in threshold for gravitational collapse back down to the Roche criterion. In particular, if the
Protoplanetary Disks and Observations of Transitional Disks particle stopping time becomes longer than the sound-crossing time, sublayers may lose
R. Dong, R. Rafikov, J.M. Stone, Princeton University, Princeton, pressure support and become gravitationally unstable.
NJ; L.W. Hartmann, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
10:10 AM-10:30 AM 104.04 – The Effect of Dust Self-Gravity on the Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability of Settled
Dust Layers in Protoplanetary Disks
I will first talk about numerical simulations of disk-planet interactions in protoplanetary J.A. Barranco, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA;
disks. Particularly, I’ll discuss the damping of the density waves excited by planets due
E. Chiang, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
to the nonlinearity in their propagation, which can result in gap opening in a low viscosity
10:40 AM-10:50 AM
disk by low mass planets. I'll also discuss the effects of various numerical algorithms
and parameters in simulations of disk-planet interaction, and address the question of how It is a remarkable fact that planets start out as microscopic grains within protoplanetary
to produce correct simulations. Then I’ll move on to recent Subaru observations of disks of gas and dust in orbit around newly-formed protostars, somehow growing by a
transitional disks, which are protoplanetary disks with central depleted regions (cavities).
40 7
Several ideas on the formation of transitional disks have been proposed, including gaps factor of 10 in mass in a period no more than 10 years. In the early stages of the
opened by planet(s). Recently, Subaru directly imaged a number of such disks at near planet formation, small dust grains settle into the midplane of the disk in a few thousand
infrared (NIR) wavelengths (the SEEDS project) with high spatial resolution and small years. As the dust layer gets thinner, a vertical shear develops between the dust-rich
inner working angles. Using radiative transfer simulations, we study the structure of layer at the midplane and the dust-poor gas above and below. Of great interest is
transitional disks by modeling the NIR images, the SED, and the sub-mm observations whether such a layer will be unstable to Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI), which will
from literature (whenever available) simultaneously. We obtain physical disk+cavity remix the dust with the gas, thwarting the formation of planets. We work in the
structures, and constrain the spatial distribution of the dust grains, particularly inside the single-fluid limit in which the local dust-to gas ratio is an advectively conserved quantity
cavity and at the cavity edge. Interestingly, we find that in some cases cavities are not (valid when the dust-gas friction time is very short). Here, we present new simulations
present in the scattered light. In such cases we present a new transitional disk model to which include the effect of dust self-gravity on the stability of the dust layer and explore
simultaneously account for all observations. Decoupling between the sub-um-sized and parameter space to determine under what conditions further settling may trigger
mm-sized grains inside the cavity is required, which may necessitate the dust filtration gravitational instability and the direct formation of planetesimals.
mechanism. For another group of transitional disks in which Subaru does reveal the
cavities at NIR, we focus on whether grains at different sizes have the same spatial 104.05 – Probing for Exoplanets Hiding in Dusty Debris Disks III: Disk Imaging,
distribution or not. We use our modeling results to constrain transitional disk formation Characterization, and Exploration with HST/STIS Multi-Roll Coronagraphy - Completing
theories, particularly to comment on their possible planets origin. the Survey
G. Schneider, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
10:50 AM-11:00 AM
104.06 – A Search for Exozodis with Kepler
Spatially resolved images of light-scattering circumstellar debris in exoplanetary systems C.C. Stark, A.P. Boss, A.J. Weinberger, B. Jackson, Carnegie
constrain the physical properties and orbits of the dust grains in these systems. Such Institution of Washington, Washington, DC; M. Endl, W.D.
images also inform on co-orbiting (but unseen) planets and the systemic architectures.
Cochran, C. Caldwell, University of Texas, Austin, TX; E. Agol,
Using HST/STIS broadband optical coronagraphy, we have recently (Nov. 2012)
University of Washington, Seattle, WA; E.B. Ford, University of
completed the observational phase of a program to study the spatial distribution of dust
in a well-selected sample of 11 circumstellar debris disks, all with HST pedigree, using Florida, Gainesville, FL; J. Hall, K. Ibrahim, Orbital Sciences
STIS visible-light PSF-subtracted multi-roll coronagraphy. In many cases, these new Corporation/NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA; J. Li,
observations probe the interior regions of these debris systems, with inner working SETI Institute/NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
distances < app 8 AU for half the stars in this sample, corresponding to the giant planet
11:00 AM-11:10 AM
and Kuiper belt regions within our own solar system. These observations also reveal
diffuse low-surface brightness dust at larger stellocentric distances, observations of Planets embedded within exozodiacal dust disks may form large scale clumpy dust
which remain a technical challenge to the most aggressive and advanced ground based structures by trapping dust into resonant orbits. When viewed edge-on, these clumpy
techniques and facilities We have previously reported preliminary observational results dust structures periodically pass in front of their host star, creating orbit-long light curve
from this program of a subset of the brighter disks (in both surface brightness and variations potentially detectable with Kepler. Here I present the first search for these
f_disk/f_star scattering fraction). Here in present new results, including fainter disks resonant structures in the inner regions of planetary systems by analyzing the light
such as HD 92945 (f_disk/f_star approximately 5E-5) for which we confirm (and better curves of planet candidate host stars identified by the Kepler mission. Our detection
reveal) the existence of an inner dust ring within a larger diffuse dust disk as suggested routine produced one promising candidate disk structure associated with a hot Jupiter
from earlier ACS observations. These new images from our HST/STIS GO 12228 planet candidate. However, radial velocity measurements show this planet candidate to
program enable direct inter-comparison of the architectures of these exoplanetary debris be an eclipsing binary with an unusual periodic signal. We use our null result to place an
systems in the context of our own Solar System. Based on observations made with the upper limit on the frequency of high contrast resonant dust clumps, a useful metric for
NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at, and with support for program #12228 future missions that aim to image extrasolar planets in the inner regions of their
from, the STScI, which is operated by the AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS planetary systems.
5-26555. These observations are associated with program #12228.
105 – Cosmic Microwave Background I
Oral Session – Grand Ballroom (Long Beach Convention Center) – 07 Jan 2013 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
105.01 – New Results from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT): Maps and 105.04 – ACTPol: A New Instrument to Measure CMB Polarization with the Atacama
Power Spectra Cosmology Telescope
J.L. Sievers, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ; J.L. Sievers, M. Niemack, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; M. Niemack, National
UKZN, Durban, SOUTH AFRICA Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO
10:00 AM-10:10 AM 10:40 AM-10:50 AM
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) observed the Cosmic Microwave We are in the process of building and deploying ACTPol: a new polarization-sensitive
Background from high in the Chilean Andes from 2007-2010. We present the final 148 receiver for the six-meter Atacama Cosmology Telescope. ACTPol will be used to
and 220 GHz maximum-likelihood maps and power spectra from data taken along two measure the CMB polarization on arcminute scales in two frequency bands centered
stripes of constant declination. The maps cover ~1300 square degrees, the deepest 600 near 90 and 150 GHz. These measurements will provide improved constraints on
of which are used in power spectrum estimation. Typical depths for the power spectrum cosmological parameters as well as measurements of the projected mass distribution via
regions are 20-25 uK-arcmin (CMB) for the 148 GHz mps and 35-40 uK-arcmin gravitational lensing of the CMB, which can be used to probe early dark energy,
(CMB) for the 220 GHz maps. curvature, and the sum of the neutrino masses. In addition, we project that ACTPol will
be ~4x more sensitive than the previous ACT receiver at 150 GHz, enabling improved
CMB temperature science, such as surveys for galaxy clusters via the Sunyaev-
105.02D – New Results from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT): Cosmological
Zel'dovich effect. We will describe the science goals and status of the instrument.
Parameters from the Complete ACT Survey
R. Hlozek, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
105.05D – Measuring the Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization with SPT-POL
10:10 AM-10:30 AM
A. Crites, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) has mapped the microwave sky to 10:50 AM-11:10 AM
arcminute scales. We present constraints on parameters from the observations at 148
and 217 GHz respectively by ACT from 2007-2010. Efficient map-making and A new polarization-sensitive camera, SPT-POL, designed to measure the polarization of
spectrum-estimation techniques allow us to probe the acoustic peaks deep into the the cosmic microwave background (CMB), was deployed on the 10 meter South Pole
damping tail, and allow for confirmation of the concordance model, and tests for Telescope in January 2012. The goal of the project is to exploit the high resolution of the
deviations from the standard cosmological picture. We fit a model of primary telescope (1 arcminute beam) and the high sensitivity afforded by the 1536 detector
cosmological and secondary foreground parameters to the dataset, including camera to characterize the B-mode polarization induced by the gravitational lensing of
contributions from both the thermal and kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect, Poisson the primordial E-mode CMB polarization, as well as to detect or set an upper limit on the
distributed and correlated infrared sources, radio sources and a term modeling the level of the B-mode polarization from inflationary gravitational waves. The lensing
correlation between the thermal SZ effect and the Cosmic Infrared Background. We B-modes will be used to constrain the sum of the neutrino masses by measuring large
will describe the multi-frequency likelihood for the ACT data, and present constraints on scale structure, while the inflationary B-modes are sensitive to the energy scale of
a variety of cosmological parameters using this complete dataset. inflation. I will discuss the development of the SPT-POL camera including the cryogenic
design and the transition edge sensor (TES) detectors as well as the science goals and
status of the ongoing of the SPT-POL program.
105.03 – New Results from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT): The Kinematic
Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect
105.06D – The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Mapping Dark Matter with CMB
N. Hand, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Lensing
10:30 AM-10:40 AM
B. Sherwin, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Using the millimeter-wavelength data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), 11:10 AM-11:30 AM
the motions of galaxy clusters and groups were detected for the first time through their
temperature distortions of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) due to the Measurements of lensing in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) directly probe
kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. The positions of galaxy clusters in the ACT data the projected distribution of dark matter out to high redshifts. I will describe the first
were identified by their constituent luminous galaxies, as observed by the Baryon detection of the power spectrum of CMB lensing with the Atacama Cosmology
Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). I will describe the initial measurement of the Telescope (ACT) and its cosmological implications, and will show results from cross-
mean pairwise momentum, and subsequent attempts to use this result to provide an correlations of ACT CMB lensing maps with quasars, galaxies and other tracers of dark
estimate of the average baryon mass fraction on cluster length scales for our galaxy matter. I will then explain the great scientific potential of upcoming polarization lensing
sample. measurements with ACTPol, and will discuss the development of a lensing pipeline for
this experiment.
106 – Cosmology I
Oral Session – Room 103B (Long Beach Convention Center) – 07 Jan 2013 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
10:30 AM-10:40 AM
106.01 – A New, Precise Measurement of the Primordial Abundance of Deuterium
R. Cooke, M. Pettini, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UNITED Weak gravitational lensing due to large scale structure (cosmic shear) has been shown
to be contaminated by the intrinsic alignment (IA) of galaxies, which poses a barrier to
KINGDOM; R. Cooke, Astronomy & Astrophysics, UC Santa Cruz,
precision weak lensing measurements in planned surveys. To address this contamination,
Santa Cruz, CA we have extended the 2-point self-calibration techniques to the cosmic shear bispectrum,
10:00 AM-10:10 AM using information already measured in a weak lensing survey to self-calibrate the IA
contamination. The 3-point self-calibration techniques use the redshift separation
We are currently in an exciting era of precision cosmology. With the imminent release of
dependencies of the IA bispectra and the non-linear galaxy bias in order to isolate and
the cosmic microwave background data recorded by the Planck satellite, we will soon
remove the impact of the IA correlations on the cosmic shear signal. Using conservative
be presented with an opportunity to accurately test the standard model of Big Bang
estimates of photo-z accuracy, we find that planned surveys will be able to measure the
Nucleosynthesis. However, independent measures of the primordial deuterium
IA redshift separation dependence over ranges in photo-z of 0.2 in the 3-point ellipticity
abundance, to be analysed in conjunction with the baryon density determined by Planck,
auto-correlation. For the 3-point cross-correlations, we find that the self-calibration
are vital in order to achieve this goal. In this talk, I will present a new, precise measure
technique allows for reductions in the IA contamination by a factor of 10 or more over
of the primordial abundance of deuterium - the most accurate measurement to date -
most scales and redshift bin choices and in all cases by a factor of 3-5 or more. The
derived from the spectrum of a redshift ~ 3 metal-poor damped Lyman-alpha system.
3-point self-calibration techniques thus provide a means to greatly reduce the impact of
Such accurate measures are now able to place strong limits on the effective number of
IA contamination of the bispectrum in future measurements of cosmic shear.
neutrino species in the early Universe, which depends only on the primordial deuterium
abundance and the baryon density of the Universe. Using our measure of the deuterium
106.05 – Cosmology from SALT II Fitted Supernovae Ia: A Bayesian Hierarchical
abundance in conjunction with the WMAP 7 year data release, we find that the number
Analysis of the Supernovae Systematic Uncertainties and Statistical Properties of the
of neutrino families = 3.0 +/- 0.5, in good agreement with both the standard model and
Light-curve Stretch and Color Parameters
that measured with particle colliders. Finally, I shall discuss an ongoing survey to search
for additional damped Lyman-alpha systems where such precise measurements of M. March, University of Sussex, Brighton, East Sussex, UNITED
deuterium are available. With just a small handful of systems, we may soon be able to KINGDOM; R. Trotta, Imperial College , London, Greater London,
pin down the number of neutrino families when the Universe was in its infancy. UNITED KINGDOM; M. Smith, University of Cape Town, Cape
Town, SOUTH AFRICA; G.D. Starkman, Case Western Reserve
106.02 – The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: Final Results
University, Cleveland, OH
T. Davis, D. Parkinson, S. Riemer-Sørensen, M. Drinkwater,
10:40 AM-10:50 AM
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, AUSTRALIA; C.
Blake, G.B. Poole, E. Kazin, K. Glazebrook, W. Couch, Swinburne The Supernova Bayesian Hierarchical Model (SNBHM) provides a framework for
cosmological parameter inference and model selection in which the statistical properties
University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA; M.
of the SNIa population are fully modeled. We demonstrate how the SNBHM can be
Scrimgeour, F. Beutler, University of Western Australia, Perth, used to extract information about the statistical properties of the SNIa population.
Western Australia, AUSTRALIA Supernovae Ia light-curves fitted with the SALT II fitter are each characterized by a
10:10 AM-10:20 AM colour c and stretch x1 parameter and an absolute B-band magnitude mB. These fitted
parameters, along with the SN global parameters α and β are used to reduce the scatter
Observations are now complete for the WiggleZ dark energy survey and we have in the Hubble diagram in order that constraints on the cosmological parameters may be
mapped the positions of ~220,000 bright blue galaxies out to a redshift of z~1, over a obtained. The SNBHM can be used to obtain an estimate for the unknown systematic
cubic giga-parsec of space. I will present the full complement of cosmological results uncertainty which characterizes the residual scatter about the Hubble diagram which
coming out of this data set. With the addition of WiggleZ data, baryon acoustic remains even after application of the stretch and color correction. We show how the
oscillations are now able to confirm the acceleration of the expansion of the universe, mean and variance of the underlying stretch and color parameters which characterize
independent of any supernova data, and this has since been further strengthened by the the SALT II fitted SN light curves can be recovered using the SNBHM, either for the
addition of Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey data. Arguably the most exciting whole SN sample or as a function of survey or redshift. We investigate the effect a
results are our measurements of the growth of structure out to z~0.8, and measurements non-Gaussian distribution of color parameters has on the ability of the SNBHM to
of the Alcock-Paczynski effect (sphericity of spheres) that allow us to measure the rate recover the cosmological parameters. We apply the SNBHM to both simulated and real
of expansion at different redshifts H(z) without needing a cosmological model. These data sets, and we present results of the SNBHM cosmological analysis of the combined
allow us to distinguish between non-standard models of gravity that are indistinguishable Low Z, Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS3) and
using only measurements of expansion rate. I will also cover our constraints on the mass Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data sets, and its statistical properties.
of the neutrino and the effective number of neutrinos, which are amongst the tightest
constraints available from any experiment. Finally, I will show how the large volume we
106.06D – Correlations Between Type Ia Supernovae and Their Host Galaxies Using
have sampled has allowed us to detect the scale at which the universe transitions from
the SDSS and Multi-wavelength Photometry
clustered to homogeneous, confirming one of the cornerstones of modern cosmology.
R. Gupta, C. D'Andrea, M. Sako, University of Pennsylvania,
The WiggleZ data have now been made public, and include data, random catalogues,
and lognormal realizations. With it we have also released our CosmoMC module so our Philadelphia, PA; C. Conroy, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for
data can easily be included in your own cosmological analyses. Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA; M. Smith, Astrophysics, Cosmology
and Gravity Centre, Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA; B. Bassett,
106.03 – Interactive Cosmological Data Fitting Simulations: A Further Examination of South African Astronomical Observatory, Cape Town, SOUTH
CosmoEJS
AFRICA; B. Bassett, Dept. of Mathematics and Applied
J. Moldenhauer, L. Engelhardt, K.M. Stone, E. Shuler, Francis
Mathematics, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, SOUTH
Marion University, Florence, SC
AFRICA; J. Frieman, R. Kessler, Department of Astronomy &
10:20 AM-10:30 AM
Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL; J. Frieman, J.
We discuss usage and development of a collection of cosmological modeling programs Marriner, Fermilab, Batavia, IL; P.M. Garnavich, Department of
built with Easy Java Simulations. These interactive programs allow for modeling of the
Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN; S. Jha,
accelerated expansion of the universe (cosmic acceleration). The simulations compare
Department of Physics & Astronomy, Rutgers, the State University
theoretical models to experimental data sets with real-time plotting and numerical fitting.
We include several models for the user to choose, or design their own. We also provide of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ; R. Kessler, Kavli Institute for
a range of surveys from different observations. We have simple versions of the Cosmological Physics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL; C.
programs available for teaching and more sophisticated versions for research. All of the D'Andrea, H. Lampeitl, R. Nichol, Institute of Cosmology and
programs can be found at Compadre Open Source Physics website,
Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UNITED
http://www.compadre.org/osp/items/detail.cfm?ID=12406.
KINGDOM; D.P. Schneider, Department of Astronomy &
106.04 – Self-Calibration Techniques for 3-point Intrinsic Alignment Correlations in Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park,
Weak Gravitational Lensing Surveys PA
M.A. Troxel, M.B. Ishak-Boushaki, University of Texas at Dallas, 10:50 AM-11:10 AM
Richardson, TX
We improve estimates of the stellar mass and mass-weighted average age of Type Ia
supernova (SN Ia) host galaxies by combining UV and near-IR photometry with optical A&M University, College Station, TX; J. Hennawi, Max Planck
photometry in our analysis. Using 206 SNe Ia drawn from the full three-year Sloan Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, GERMANY; C. Lidman,
Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-II) Supernova Survey (median redshift of z ≈ 0.2) and multi-
Australian Astronomical Observatory, Epping, New South Wales,
wavelength host-galaxy photometry from SDSS, the Galaxy Evolution Explorer, and the
AUSTRALIA; J. Mendez, P. Ruiz-Lapuente, University of
United Kingdom Infrared Telescope Infrared Deep Sky Survey, we present evidence of
a correlation (1.9σ confidence level) between the residuals of SNe Ia about the best-fit Barcelona, Barcelona, SPAIN; E.S. Rykoff, Stanford Linear
Hubble relation and the mass-weighted average age of their host galaxies. The trend is Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, CA
such that older galaxies host SNe Ia that are brighter than average after standard 11:10 AM-11:30 AM
light-curve corrections are made. We also confirm, at the 3.0σ level, the trend seen by
previous studies that more massive galaxies often host brighter SNe Ia after light-curve We have obtained deep, very high signal-to-noise ratio spectra of a sample of 40 host
correction. galaxies of Type Ia supernovae (SNe). The host galaxies are chosen from the Nearby
SN Factory, the SDSS SN Survey, and Swift-observed SNe, with the requirement that
106.07D – Correlations Between Type Ia Supernova Properties and Early-type Host they have passive stellar populations. We perform a detailed stellar population analysis
Galaxy Spectra of the SN host galaxies, measuring their ages and the abundances of multiple elements,
J. Meyers, G. Graves, H. Fakhouri, J. Nordin, S. Perlmutter, D. including Fe, Mg, C, N, and Ca. We find that the age and abundance patterns of the SN
hosts are similar to those of a control sample of early-type SDSS galaxies. We
Rubin, C. Saunders, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley,
rediscover the correlation between the SN decline rate and host galaxy age, and show
CA; J. Meyers, G. Graves, G.S. Aldering, H. Fakhouri, J. Nordin, that host [Mg/Fe], [C/Fe], and [N/Fe] enhancement are also correlated with SN decline
S. Perlmutter, D. Rubin, C. Saunders, A.L. Spadafora, N. Suzuki, rates. In contrast to studies of SNe with mixed host types, however, we do not see any
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA; R. evidence for correlations between SN Hubble residuals and early-type host galaxy
properties, suggesting that Hubble residual correlations with host properties saturate at
Amanullah, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SWEDEN; K.H.
the domains of early-type galaxies.
Barbary, Argonne National Lab, Argonne, IL; P.J. Brown, Texas
107 – Dwarf and Irregular Galaxies I: Origins and Dynamics
Oral Session – Room 104A (Long Beach Convention Center) – 07 Jan 2013 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
V(Rd)/Rd, where Rd is the galaxy scale-length. We find that V(Rd)/Rd correlates with
107.01D – The Origin of Dwarf Early-Type Galaxies i) the central surface brightness; ii) the mean HI surface density over the stellar disk;
E. Toloba, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA; E. and iii) the SFR density. BCDs have higher V(Rd)/Rd than typical irregulars, suggesting
Toloba, Carnegie Observatories, Pasadena, CA; A. Boselli, that the starburst activity is closely linked with the gravitational potential and the
Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille-LAM, Marseille, concentration of gas. We decompose the rotation curves of BCDs into mass
components and find that baryons (stars and gas) are dynamically important. This is
FRANCE; J. Gorgas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid,
remarkable, as dwarf galaxies are commonly thought to be entirely dominated by dark
Madrid, SPAIN matter. We discuss the implications of these results on the evolution of dwarf galaxies
10:00 AM-10:20 AM and in particular on the properties of the progenitors and descendants of BCDs.
The physical mechanisms involved in the formation and evolution of dwarf early-type
107.03 – Dark Matter Profiles in Late-type Dwarf Galaxies from Stellar Kinematics
galaxies (dEs) are not well understood yet. Whether these objects, that outnumber any
other class of object in clusters, are the low luminosity extension of massive early-type J.J. Adams, J.D. Simon, Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of
galaxies, i.e. formed through similar processes, or are a different group of objects Washington, Pasadena, CA; M.H. Fabricius, Max-Planck Institut
possibly formed through the transformation of low luminosity spiral galaxies, is still an für extraterrestrische Physik, München, GERMANY; K. Gebhardt,
open debate. Studying the kinematic properties of dEs is a powerful way to distinguish
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
between these two scenarios. In my PhD, awarded with a Fulbright postdoctoral
10:30 AM-10:40 AM
Fellowship and with the 2011 prize to the best Spanish PhD dissertation in Astronomy,
we used this technique to make a spectrophotometric analysis of 18 dEs in the Virgo We present new stellar and gaseous velocity fields for thirteen late-type dwarf galaxies,
cluster. I found some differences for these dEs within the cluster. The dEs in the outer primarily to study the density distributions of their baryons and dark matter. A subset of
parts of Virgo have rotation curves with shapes and amplitudes similar to late-type our targets reach high enough signal-to-noise that the central dark matter density profile
galaxies of the same luminosity. They are rotationally supported, have disky isophotes, slope can be reliably estimated from the stellar kinematics alone. Most previous
and younger ages than those dEs in the center of Virgo, which are pressure supported, observations have been based on kinematics from atomic or ionized gas and have
often have boxy isophotes and are older. Ram pressure stripping, which removes the gas derived best-fit profiles much shallower than those predicted by pure N-body simulations
of galaxies leaving the stars untouched, explains the properties of the dEs located in the in ΛCDM. In contrast to those results, we find from the stellar kinematics that galaxies
outskirts of Virgo. However, the dEs in the central cluster regions, which have lost their contain a wide variety of density profiles ranging from completely cored halos up to
angular momentum, must have suffered a more violent transformation. A combination of cuspy r^-1 profiles comparable to the predicted NFW form. We present our
ram pressure stripping and harassment is not enough to remove the rotation and the measurements, demonstrate cases where the gas gives a biased inference on the dark
disky structures of these galaxies. I am conducting new analysis with 20 new dEs to matter properties, and fit Jeans models to the data with baryonic and dark components.
throw some light in this direction. I also analysed the Faber-Jackson and the For the cases that deviate from an NFW profile, we search our data for unusual orbital
Fundamental Plane relations, and I found that dEs deviate from the trends of massive structure (anisotropies) and chemical abundance gradients in order to constrain the
elliptical galaxies towards the position of dark matter dominated systems such as the proposed mechanisms that may alter the initial configuration of the dark matter halo.
dwarf spheroidal satellites of the Milky Way and M31. This indicates that dEs have a
non-negligible dark matter fraction within their half light radius, we used these diagrams
107.04D – Dynamically Extreme Stellar and Galactic Populations in the Via Lactea II
to quantify this dark matter content, which is ~40%, significantly larger than previously
Cosmological Simulation and Their Observable Counterparts
thought for these kind of objects.
M. Teyssier, Columbia University, New York, NY
10:40 AM-11:00 AM
107.02 – Dynamics of Starbursting Dwarf Galaxies
F. Lelli, M.A. Verheijen, F. Fraternali, R. Sancisi, Kapteyn We describe dynamically unusual populations with observable counterparts (backsplash
Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, galaxies, wandering stars and high velocity stars) in the environment in and outside of a
Milky Way-like object. Analysis of VLII halo histories and z=0 distribution allows us to
NETHERLANDS; F. Fraternali, Department of Astronomy,
distinguish which Local Group field galaxies may have passed through the virial volume
University of Bologna, Bologna, ITALY; R. Sancisi, INAF -
of the Milky Way. We find it likely that Tucana, Cetus, NGC3109, SextansA, SextansB,
Astronomical Observatory of Bologna, Bologna, ITALY Antlia, NGC6822, Phoenix, LeoT, and NGC185 have passed through the Milky Way.
10:20 AM-10:30 AM Several of these galaxies contain signatures in their morphology, star formation history,
and/or gas content, that are indicative of evolution seen in simulations of satellite/parent
The mechanisms that trigger strong bursts of star formation in dwarf galaxies are poorly galactic interactions. We use the histories of VLII particles that are far outside Rvir at
understood. Blue Compact Dwarfs (BCDs) are nearby starburst galaxies that may hold z=0 to estimate the likelihood of observing inter-galactic supernovae in current and
the key to understand these mechanisms. We are studying a sample of 18 BCDs using near-future large-scale time-domain surveys. Finally, we ask whether a merger history
both new and archival HI data. In several cases we find that BCDs have a steeply- similar to what is seen in VLII should lead to a significant population of old high-velocity
rising rotation curve that flattens in the outer parts. This points to a strong central stars associated with dark matter flows.
concentration of mass. We introduce a new parameter to quantify the central mass
concentration in dwarf galaxies (BCDs and irregulars): the circular-velocity gradient
driven energetic feedback. We find that reionization is primarily responsible for expelling
107.05D – The Effect of Feedback and Reionization on Star Formation in Low-mass
most of the gas in our simulations, but that supernova feedback is required to disperse
Dwarf Galaxy Halos
the dense, cold gas in the core of the halo. Moreover, we show that the timing of
C.M. Simpson, G. Bryan, K.V. Johnston, M. Mac Low, Columbia
reionization can produce an order of magnitude difference in the final stellar mass of the
University, New York, NY; M. Mac Low, AMNH, New York City, NY; system. For our full physics run with reionization at z=9, we find a stellar mass of about
B.D. Smith, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI; J. 5
10 M⊙ at z=0, and a mass-to-light ratio within the half-light radius of approximately
Tumlinson, STSI, Baltimore, MD; S. Sharma, University of Sydney, 130 M⊙/L⊙, consistent with observed low-luminosity dwarfs. However, the resulting
Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA median stellar metallicity is 0.06 Z⊙, considerably larger than observed systems. In
11:00 AM-11:20 AM addition, we find star formation is truncated between redshifts 4 and 7, at odds with the
observed late time star formation in isolated dwarf systems but in agreement with Milky
I will present a set of high resolution simulations of a 109 M⊙ dark matter halo in a Way ultrafaint dwarf spheroidals. We investigate the efficacy of energetic feedback in
cosmological setting done with an adaptive-mesh refinement code as a mass analogue to our simple thermal-energy driven feedback scheme, and suggest that it may still suffer
local low-luminosity dwarf spheroidal galaxies. The primary goal of our simulations is to from excessive radiative losses, despite reaching stellar particle masses of about 100
investigate the roles of reionization and supernova feedback in determining the star M⊙, and a comoving spatial resolution of 11 pc. This has led us to pursue improvements
formation histories of low mass dwarf galaxies. We include a wide range of physical in our supernova feedback model to include kinetic as well as thermal energy in the
effects, including metal cooling, molecular hydrogen formation and cooling, proportions predicted by Sedov-Taylor models on the scale of a few parsecs, which is
photoionization and photodissociation from a metagalactic (but not local) background, a approximately the resolution of our simulations at high redshift when the star formation
simple prescription for self-shielding, star formation, and a simple model for supernova rate peaks.
108 – Early Science Results from the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Arrays (HERA)
Special Session – Room 101B (Long Beach Convention Center) – 07 Jan 2013 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
The first Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Arrays (HERA), including the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) in Western Australia
and the Precision Array to the Probe the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER) in South Africa, are low-frequency radio telescopes that
aim to detect redshifted 21 cm emission from neutral hydrogen gas in the intergalactic medium during the Epoch of Reionization
(EoR). The HERA program is focused on radio frequencies between 100 and 200 MHz, corresponding to redshifts of 13 > z > 6
for hydrogen 21 cm emission from the EoR. The radio sky in this frequency range remains a largely unstudied frontier. It is
dominated by foreground synchrotron emission from the Milky Way and extragalactic sources that is four orders of magnitude
brighter than the expected EoR signal. In this session, we highlight early science results from the HERA pathfinders that
characterize the low-frequency radio sky, including new catalogs of radio sources, wide-field maps of diffuse Galactic emission
structures, and surveys for transient sources. We focus on initial results from MWA and PAPER and their implications for deep
EoR observations. Both MWA and PAPER have recently undergone major expansions from their early prototype configurations
and have begun extensive observing campaigns targeting redshifted 21 cm emission.
10:30 AM-10:40 AM
108.01 – Transient and Pulsar Searches with the Murchison Widefield Array
D.L. Kaplan, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI The GMRT-EoR project has continued the multi-year campaign to measure the neutral
hydrogen 21cm fluctuations at z=8.5, probing the reionization epoch using the Giant
10:00 AM-10:10 AM
Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in India. We have acquired new data and
As one of a new generation of widefield, low-frequency radio telescopes, the Murchison continued to improve our analysis strategy and process. To cope with the stringent
Widefield Array has enormous potential to conduct blind searches for radio transients foreground subtraction requirement, our team has developed a new method for
and probe the nearby pulsar population. We are working to develop a common component separation; I will present updates on the latest analysis and future prospects.
framework with the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) Variables
and Slow Transients (VAST) survey to allow real-time transient detection and 108.05 – The MWA 32-Tile Prototype: Surveys, Foregrounds and Looking Through the
characterization. I will discuss the expected types of sources that we hope to discover EoR Window
with the full array and review some of the initial results from our 32-element testbed. M.F. Morales, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
10:40 AM-10:50 AM
108.02 – Upper Limits on the Power Spectrum of 21cm Reionization with PAPER
A. Parsons, J. Pober, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, The MWA prototypes' high survey speed has enabled systematic surveys of bright
extra-galactic sources, diffuse galactic emission, and polarized sources over large areas
CA
of the southern sky. These systematic surveys are a key step in subtracting foreground
10:10 AM-10:20 AM
emission from the EoR signal, and have enabled the first observations of the predicted
We report new upper limits on the power spectrum of 21cm reionization using data from EoR foreground window. I will review the latest results from the 32 tile MWA prototype
a deployment of the PAPER telescope in South Africa, observing for four months in a and early commissioning observations from the full 128 tile array, as we start to peer
maximum redundancy array configuration with a 64-input correlator. While not yet quite through the EoR window.
at the level of ruling out realistic reionization models, these results are sensitivity-limited,
and demonstrate the efficacy of the delay-spectrum analysis technique for foreground 108.06 – The MWA 32-tile Prototype: Deep Integrations and Power Spectra of
avoidance. We also report early results from a new observing campaign beginning with Foregrounds
a 128-input correlator for PAPER, and forecast the expected sensitivity of this new J.N. Hewitt, MIT, Cambridge, MA; J.N. Hewitt, Murchison
observing campaign. Widefield Array, Murchison Shire, Western Australia, AUSTRALIA
10:50 AM-11:00 AM
108.03 – Full Stokes Observations with PAPER: Measurements and Implications
J.E. Aguirre, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA The 32-tile Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) prototype operated as a science array
from March 2010 through September 2011. Tracked observations of cold regions of the
10:20 AM-10:30 AM
sky, chosen as test fields for Epoch of Reionization (EoR) studies, were carried out
The Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER) operating in South during prototype operation. These observations enabled tests of the performance of the
Africa in late 2011 and 2012, has acquired data in both 32 and 64 antenna configurations array, the development of techniques for wide-field imaging and EoR analysis, and
with full Stokes parameters. These configurations include an “imaging” configuration measurements of the properties of astronomical foregrounds. We present the results of
with minimally redundant sampling of the u-v plane, and a highly redundant configuration long integrations on the fields, including the power spectra of fluctuations in the data
designed for power spectrum sensitivity. We present images and analysis from these cubes, that show predicted features in the two-dimensional power spectra of
configurations, as well as a new formalism for characterizing the leakage of polarized foregrounds and provide current limits on EoR power spectra. Implications for EoR
flux into Stokes I. The implications of contamination of the reionization signal by analysis of the full 128-tile MWA will be discussed.
polarized foregrounds are discussed.
108.07 – Imaging on PAPER
108.04 – GMRT-EoR Project Update C.L. Carilli, NRAO, Socorro, NM; I. Stefan, Cavendish Laboratory,
T. Chang, ASIAA, Taipei, TAIWAN Cambridge, cambridgeshire, UNITED KINGDOM; J.E. Aguirre,