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| Electron acceleration signatures in the magnetotail associated with substorms |
| We present Cluster multisatellite observations of accelerated electrons in the near-Earth magnetotail associated with substorms. We found that the hardest electron energy spectra appear in the earliest stage of substorm expansion in the near-Earth tail region and that they gradually become softer during the events. Enhancement of the high-energy electron flux occurs generally associated with the bulk acceleration of ions (fast flow) and electrons. It is also shown that the high-energy electrons sometimes show preferential perpendicular acceleration associated with the temporal enhancement of the normal component of the magnetic field, and then the anisotropic distribution quickly becomes isotropic. During the dipolarization interval, in which no convection signature is observed, perpendicular flux drops to less than the initial value, and the parallel flux is more than the perpendicular flux. The results suggest that the electron acceleration mechanism is mostly consistent with adiabatic betatron acceleration, while Fermi acceleration is not clear in the high-energy part. The effect of the pitch angle scattering is also important. The dispersive signature of the high-energy electron flux indicates fast dawnward drift loss, namely, the three-dimensional effect of the limited plasma acceleration region. |
| Publication date: 21 May 2010 |
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| INTEGRAL/IBIS 7-year All-Sky Hard X-Ray Survey – Part I: Image Reconstruction |
| This paper is the first in a series devoted to the hard X-ray whole sky survey performed by the INTEGRAL observatory over seven years. Here we present an improved method for image reconstruction with the IBIS coded mask telescope. The main improvements are related to the suppression of systematic effects which strongly limit sensitivity in the region of the Galactic Plane (GP), especially in the crowded field of the Galactic Center (GC). We extended the IBIS/ISGRI background model to take into account the Galactic Ridge X-ray Emission (GRXE). To suppress residual systematic artifacts on a reconstructed sky image we applied nonparametric sky image filtering based on wavelet decomposition. The implemented modifications of the sky reconstruction method decrease the systematic noise in the ~20 Ms deep field of GC by ~44%, and practically remove it from the high-latitude sky images. New observational data sets, along with an improved reconstruction algorithm, allow us to conduct the hard X-ray survey with the best currently available minimal sensitivity 3.7E-12 erg/s/cm2 ~0.26 mCrab in the 17-60 keV band at a 5 sigma detection level. The survey covers 90% of the sky down to the flux limit of 6.2E-11 erg/s/cm2 (~4.32 mCrab) and 10% of the sky area down to the flux limit of 8.6E-12 erg/s/cm2 (~0.60 mCrab). |
| Publication date: 20 May 2010 |
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| XMM-Newton detection of two clusters of galaxies with strong SPT Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect signatures |
We report on the discovery of two galaxy clusters, SPT-CL J2332-5358 and SPT-CL J2342-5411, in X-rays. These clusters were also independently detected through their Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect by the South Pole Telescope, and in the optical band by the Southern Cosmology Survey. They are thus the first clusters detected under survey conditions by all major cluster search approaches. The X-ray detection is made within the frame of the XMM-BCS cluster survey utilizing a novel XMM-Newton mosaic-mode of observations.
The present study makes the first scientific use of this operation mode. We estimate the X-ray spectroscopic temperature of SPT-CL J2332-5358 (at redshift z = 0.32) to be T = 9.3 [+3.3][-1.9] keV, implying a high mass, M500 = 8.8 ± 3.8 × 1014 solar masses. For SPT-CL J2342-5411, at z = 1.08, the available X-ray data do not allow us to directly estimate the temperature with good confidence. However, using our measured luminosity and scaling relations we estimate that T = 4.5 ± 1.3 keV and M500 = 1.9 ± 0.8 × 1014 solar masses. We find a good agreement between the X-ray masses and those estimated from the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. |
| Publication date: 18 May 2010 |
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| Confirmation of X-ray absorption by warm-hot intergalactic medium in the sculptor wall |
| In a previous paper, we reported a 3 sigma detection of an absorption line from the warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) using the Chandra and XMM X-ray grating spectra of the blazar H2356-309, the sight line of which intercepts the Sculptor Wall, a large-scale superstructure of galaxies at z ~ 0.03. To verify our initial detection, we obtained a deep (500 ks), follow-up exposure of H2356-309 as part of the Cycle-10 Chandra Large Project Program. From a joint analysis of the Cycle-10 and previous (Cycle-8) Chandra grating data we detect the redshifted O VII WHIM line at a significance level of 3.4 sigma, a substantial improvement over the 1.7 sigma level reported previously when using only the Cycle-8 data. The significance increases to 4.0 sigma when the existing XMM grating data are included in the analysis, thus confirming at higher significance the existence of the line at the redshift of the Sculptor Wall with an equivalent width of 28.5 ± 10.5 mÅ (90% confidence). We obtain a 90% lower limit on the O VII column density of 0.8 × 1016 cm-2 and a 90% upper limit on the Doppler b parameter of 460 km s-1. Assuming the absorber is uniformly distributed throughout the ~15 Mpc portion of the blazar's sight line that intercepts the Sculptor Wall, that the O VII column density is 2 × 1016 cm-2 (corresponding to b >~150 km-1where the inferred column density is only weakly dependent on b), and that the oxygen abundance is 0.1 solar, we estimate a baryon over-density of ~30 for the WHIM, which is consistent with the peak of the WHIM mass fraction predicted by cosmological simulations. The clear detection of O VII absorption in the Sculptor Wall demonstrates the viability of using current observatories to study WHIM in the X-ray absorption spectra of blazars behind known large-scale structures. |
| Publication date: 11 May 2010 |
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| Comparative investigation of the terrestrial and Venusian magnetopause: Kinetic modeling and experimental observations by Cluster and Venus Express |
| In June 2006 Venus Express crossed several times the outer boundary of Venus induced magnetosphere, its magnetosheath and its bow shock. During the same interval the Cluster spacecraft surveyed the dawn flank of the terrestrial magnetosphere, intersected the Earth's magnetopause and spent long time intervals in the magnetosheath. This configuration offers the opportunity to perform a joint investigation of the interface between Venus and Earth's outer plasma layers and the shocked solar wind. We discuss the kinetic structure of the magnetopause of both planets, its global characteristics and the effects on the interaction between the planetary plasma and the solar wind. A Vlasov equilibrium model is constructed for both planetary magnetopauses and provides good estimates of the magnetic field profile across the interface. The model is also in agreement with plasma data and evidence the role of planetary and solar wind ions on the spatial scale of the equilibrium magnetopause of the two planets. The main characteristics of the two magnetopauses are discussed and compared. |
| Publication date: 06 May 2010 |
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| Comparative investigation of the terrestrial and Venusian magnetopause: Kinetic modeling and experimental observations by Cluster and Venus Express |
| In June 2006 Venus Express crossed several times the outer boundary of Venus induced magnetosphere, its magnetosheath and its bow shock. During the same interval the Cluster spacecraft surveyed the dawn flank of the terrestrial magnetosphere, intersected the Earth's magnetopause and spent long time intervals in the magnetosheath. This configuration offers the opportunity to perform a joint investigation of the interface between Venus and Earth's outer plasma layers and the shocked solar wind. We discuss the kinetic structure of the magnetopause of both planets, its global characteristics and the effects on the interaction between the planetary plasma and the solar wind. A Vlasov equilibrium model is constructed for both planetary magnetopauses and provides good estimates of the magnetic field profile across the interface. The model is also in agreement with plasma data and evidence the role of planetary and solar wind ions on the spatial scale of the equilibrium magnetopause of the two planets. The main characteristics of the two magnetopauses are discussed and compared. |
| Publication date: 06 May 2010 |
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| A&A special feature: Science with AKARI |
The May 2010 issue of Astronomy & Astrophysics is a special feature devoted to the new results obtained with the infrared satellite AKARI, a JAXA project with the participation of ESA. It includes 17 articles dealing with various subjects. Some papers are based on the AKARI all-sky survey, which has just been released. Others are dedicated to pointed observations of many astronomical targets from solar system bodies to distant galaxies. |
| Publication date: 01 May 2010 |
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