George Sonneborn

The James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large (6.6 m), cold (<50 K), infrared (IR)-optimized space observatory that will be launched early in the next decade into orbit around the second Earth–Sun Lagrange point. The observatory will have four instruments: a near-IR camera, a near-IR multiobject spectrograph, and a tunable filter imager will cover the wavelength range, 0.6 < ; < 5.0 μ m, while the mid-IR instrument will do both imaging and spectroscopy from 5.0 < ; < 29 μ m.The JWST science goals are divided into four themes. The key objective of The End of the Dark Ages: First Light and Reionization theme is to identify the first luminous sources to form and to determine the ionization history of the early universe. The key objective of The Assembly of Galaxies theme is to determine how galaxies and the dark matter, gas, stars, metals, morphological structures, and active nuclei within them evolved from the epoch of reionization to the present day. The key objective of The Birth of Stars and Protoplanetary Systems theme is to unravel the birth and early evolution of stars, from infall on to dust-enshrouded protostars to the genesis of planetary systems. The key objective of the Planetary Systems and the Origins of Life theme is to determine the physical and chemical properties of planetary systems including our own, and investigate the potential for the origins of life in those systems. Within these themes and objectives, we have derived representative astronomical observations.To enable these observations, JWST consists of a telescope, an instrument package, a spacecraft, and a sunshield. The telescope consists of 18 beryllium segments, some of which are deployed. The segments will be brought into optical alignment on-orbit through a process of periodic wavefront sensing and control. The instrument package contains the four science instruments and a fine guidance sensor. The spacecraft provides pointing, orbit maintenance, and communications. The sunshield provides passive thermal control. The JWST operations plan is based on that used for previous space observatories, and the majority of JWST observing time will be allocated to the international astronomical community through annual peer-reviewed proposal opportunities.

Overview of the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer Mission

The Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer satellite observes light in the far-ultraviolet spectral region, 905-1187 Angstrom, with a high spectral resolution. The instrument consists of four co-aligned prime-focus telescopes and Rowland spectrographs with microchannel plate detectors. Two of the telescope channels use Al :LiF coatings for optimum reflectivity between approximately 1000 and 1187 Angstrom, and the other two channels use SiC coatings for optimized throughput between 905 and 1105 Angstrom. The gratings are holographically ruled to correct largely for astigmatism and to minimize scattered light. The microchannel plate detectors have KBr photocathodes and use photon counting to achieve good quantum efficiency with low background signal. The sensitivity is sufficient to examine reddened lines of sight within the Milky Way and also sufficient to use as active galactic nuclei and QSOs for absorption-line studies of both Milky Way and extragalactic gas clouds. This spectral region contains a number of key scientific diagnostics, including O VI, H I, D I, and the strong electronic transitions of H-2 and HD.

On-Orbit Performance of the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer Satellite

The launch of the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) has been followed by an extensive period of calibration and characterization as part of the preparation for normal satellite operations. Major tasks carried out during this period include the initial coalignment, focusing, and characterization of the four instrument channels and a preliminary measurement of the resolution and throughput performance of the instrument. We describe the results from this test program and present preliminary estimates of the on-orbit performance of the FUSE satellite based on a combination of these data and prelaunch laboratory measurements.

HIGHLY IONIZED HIGH-VELOCITY GAS IN THE VICINITY OF THE GALAXY

We report the results of a FUSE study of high-velocity O VI absorption along complete sight lines through the Galactic halo in directions toward 100 extragalactic objects and two halo stars. The high-velocity O VI traces a variety of phenomena, including tidal interactions with the Magellanic Clouds, accretion of gas, outflowing material from the Galactic disk, warm/hot gas interactions in a highly extended Galactic corona, and intergalactic gas in the Local Group. We identify 84 high-velocity O VI features at ≥3 σ confidence at velocities of -500 106 K), low-density (n 10-4-10-5 cm-3) Galactic corona or Local Group medium. The existence of a hot, highly extended Galactic corona or Local Group medium and the prevalence of high-velocity O VI are consistent with predictions of current galaxy formation scenarios. Distinguishing between the various phenomena producing high-velocity O VI in and near the Galaxy will require continuing studies of the distances, kinematics, elemental abundances, and physical states of the different types of high-velocity O VI found in this study. Descriptions of galaxy evolution will need to account for the highly ionized gas, and future X-ray studies of hot gas in the Local Group will need to consider carefully the relationship of the X-ray absorption/emission to the complex high-velocity absorption observed in O VI.

Herschel detects a massive dust reservoir in supernova 1987A.

The large amount of dust produced by this supernova may help explain the dust observed in young galaxies. We report far-infrared and submillimeter observations of supernova 1987A, the star whose explosion was observed on 23 February 1987 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy located 160,000 light years away. The observations reveal the presence of a population of cold dust grains radiating with a temperature of about 17 to 23 kelvin at a rate of about 220 times the luminosity of the Sun. The intensity and spectral energy distribution of the emission suggest a dust mass of about 0.4 to 0.7 times the mass of the Sun. The radiation must originate from the supernova ejecta and requires the efficient precipitation of all refractory material into dust. Our observations imply that supernovae can produce the large dust masses detected in young galaxies at very high redshifts.

What Is the Total Deuterium Abundance in the Local Galactic Disk

Analyses of spectra obtained with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) satellite, together with spectra from the Copernicus and interstellar medium absorption profile spectrograph (IMAPS) instruments, reveal an unexplained, very wide range in the observed deuterium/hydrogen (D/H) ratios for interstellar gas in the Galactic disk beyond the Local Bubble. We argue that spatial variations in the depletion of deuterium onto dust grains can explain these local variations in the observed gas-phase D/H ratios. We present a variable deuterium depletion model that naturally explains the constant measured values of D/H inside the Local Bubble, the wide range of gas-phase D/H ratios observed in the intermediate regime [log N(H ) = 19.2-20.7], and the low gas-phase D/H ratios observed at larger hydrogen column densities. We consider empirical tests of the deuterium depletion hypothesis: (1) correlations of gas-phase D/H ratios with depletions of the refractory metals iron and silicon, and (2) correlation with the H2 rotational temperature. Both of these tests are consistent with deuterium depletion from the gas phase in cold, not recently shocked regions of the ISM, and high gas-phase D/H ratios in gas that has been shocked or otherwise heated recently. We argue that the most representative value for the total (gas plus dust) D/H ratio within 1 kpc of the Sun is ≥23.1 ± 2.4(1 σ) parts per million (ppm). This ratio constrains Galactic chemical evolution models to have a very small deuterium astration factor, the ratio of primordial to total (D/H) ratio in the local region of the Galactic disk, which we estimate to be fd ≤ 1.19(1 σ) or ≤1.12 ± 0.14(1 σ) depending on the adopted light-element nuclear reaction rates.

A Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer Survey of Interstellar Molecular Hydrogen in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds

We describe a moderate-resolution Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) survey of H2 along 70 sight lines to the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, using hot stars as background sources. FUSE spectra of 67% of observed Magellanic Cloud sources (52% of LMC and 92% of SMC) exhibit absorption lines from the H2 Lyman and Werner bands between 912 and 1120 A. Our survey is sensitive to N(H2) ≥ 1014 cm-2; the highest column densities are log N(H2) = 19.9 in the LMC and 20.6 in the SMC. We find reduced H2 abundances in the Magellanic Clouds relative to the Milky Way, with average molecular fractions = 0.010 for the SMC and = 0.012 for the LMC, compared with = 0.095 for the Galactic disk over a similar range of reddening. The dominant uncertainty in this measurement results from the systematic differences between 21 cm radio emission and Lyα in pencil beam sight lines as measures of N(H I). These results imply that the diffuse H2 masses of the LMC and SMC are 8 × 106 and 2 × 106 M☉, respectively, 2% and 0.5% of the H I masses derived from 21 cm emission measurements. The LMC and SMC abundance patterns can be reproduced in ensembles of model clouds with a reduced H2 formation rate coefficient, R ~ 3 × 10-18 cm3 s-1, and incident radiation fields ranging from 10-100 times the Galactic mean value. We find that these high-radiation, low formation rate models can also explain the enhanced N(4)/N(2) and N(5)/N(3) rotational excitation ratios in the Clouds. We use H2 column densities in low rotational states (J = 0 and 1) to derive kinetic and/or rotational temperatures of diffuse interstellar gas, and we find that the distribution of rotational temperatures is similar to Galactic gas, with T01 = 82 ± 21 K for clouds with N(H2) ≥ 1016.5 cm-2. There is only a weak correlation between detected H2 and far-infrared fluxes as determined by IRAS, perhaps as a result of differences in the survey techniques. We find that the surface density of H2 probed by our pencil beam sight lines is far lower than that predicted from the surface brightness of dust in IRAS maps. We discuss the implications of this work for theories of star formation in low-metallicity environments.

SN 1992A : ultraviolet and optical studies based on HST, IUE, and CTIO observations

The Type Ia supernova SN 1992A in the SO galaxy NGC 1380 was observed as a target of opportunity by the International Ultrauiolet Explorer (IUE) and with great alacrity by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Here we present the HST and IUE spectra and photometry that we obtained, as well as optical spectra obtained at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). The HST Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS) spectra, from 5 and 45 days past maximum light, are the best UV spectra of a Type Ia supernova and reveal for the first time with good signal-to-noise ratio the Type Ia spectral region blueward of ∼2650 A

Distribution and Kinematics of O VI in the Galactic Halo

Far-Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) spectra of 100 extragalactic objects and two distant halo stars are analyzed to obtain measures of O VI λλ1031.93, 1037.62 absorption along paths through the Milky Way thick disk/halo. Strong O VI absorption over the velocity range from -100 to 100 km s-1 reveals a widespread but highly irregular distribution of O VI, implying the existence of substantial amounts of hot gas with T ~ 3 × 105 K in the Milky Way thick disk/halo. The integrated column density, log [N(O VI) cm-2], ranges from 13.85 to 14.78 with an average value of 14.38 and a standard deviation of 0.18. Large irregularities in the gas distribution are found to be similar over angular scales extending from 45°) range from -46 to 82 km s-1, with a high-latitude sample average of 0 km s-1 and a standard deviation of 21 km s-1. High positive velocity O VI absorbing wings extending from ~100 to ~250 km s-1 observed along 21 lines of sight may be tracing the flow of O VI into the halo. A combination of models involving the radiative cooling of hot fountain gas, the cooling of supernova bubbles in the halo, and the turbulent mixing of warm and hot halo gases is required to explain the presence of O VI and other highly ionized atoms found in the halo. The preferential venting of hot gas from local bubbles and superbubbles into the northern Galactic polar region may explain the enhancement of O VI in the north. If a fountain flow dominates, a mass flow rate of approximately 1.4 M⊙ yr-1 of cooling hot gas to each side of the Galactic plane with an average density of 10-3 cm-3 is required to explain the average value of log [N(O VI) sin |b|] observed in the southern Galactic hemisphere. Such a flow rate is comparable to that estimated for the Galactic intermediate-velocity clouds.

Interstellar Abundances in the Magellanic Clouds. II. The Line of Sight to SN 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud

We have analyzed both high-resolution optical absorption-line spectra and UV spectra obtained with IUE of the LMC SN 1987A, in order to determine abundances and physical conditions in the various neutral interstellar clouds along the line of sight to the supernova (SN). We have used a flat-fielding procedure to enhance the signal-to-noise ratios (S/Ns) and the reliability of weak features in the UV spectra and have modeled the UV line profiles using the component structure derived from the higher resolution, high-S/N optical spectra of Ca II and Na I. Fits to the Ca II, Ca I, and Na I absorption-line profiles reveal (at least) 46 components, at velocities -24 km s-1v296 km s-1, which can be associated with the 10 component groups discernible in the lower resolution UV spectra. From the UV spectra, we determined component-group column densities for C I, Mg I, Mg II, Al II, Si II, P II, Cl I, Ti?II, Cr II, Mn II, Fe II, Ni II, and Zn II?with 1 ? uncertainties less than 0.1 dex in many cases. These are the most extensive and accurate abundances yet measured for the neutral ISM in the LMC. The component velocities, the patterns of relative elemental abundances [X/Zn] and [X/Fe], and various diagnostic ratios have been used to estimate the locations and physical characteristics [N(H), T, n] of these component groups. (Systematic differences among the diagnostic ratios make the derived physical properties somewhat uncertain, however.) The components at low velocities (5 km s-1v23 km s-1) have relative abundances and values for the diagnostic ratios very similar to those found for warm, diffuse Galactic disk clouds and likely are due to a mixture of warm and cool gas in the Galactic disk. The components at velocities 56 km s-1v90 km s-1 are due to a mixture of warm and cool gas, apparently with negligible depletions, in the Galactic halo. The two intermediate-velocity component groups (109 km s-1v140 km s-1 and 155 km s-1v176 km s-1) both have relative abundances similar to those found for Galactic halo clouds. These warm (T4500 K), partially ionized clouds are probably located in the Galactic halo and in the LMC, respectively. The components at velocities 191 km s-1v225 km s-1 also have relative abundances similar to those in the halo clouds but are likely due to gas in the LMC, perhaps very close to the SN. The component groups at 238 km s-1v255 km s-1 and 265 km s-1v270 km s-1 are probably located on opposite sides of the main LMC component group (at velocities 275 km s-1v296 km s-1) (using absorption-line data for several other adjacent lines of sight and the structure inferred from SN light-echo observations). Although the relative abundances and diagnostic ratios for those three LMC groups are similar to those found for warm, low-density Galactic disk clouds, the widths of individual components seen in very high resolution spectra of Na I and K I imply that T is generally less than about 1500 K. Higher N(Na I)/N(Ca II) ratios, the presence of CH, and the C I fine structure level populations suggest that the main LMC group contains both cool and warm gas. For the LMC components, the total N(H) estimated from the observed relative abundances and inferred depletions is consistent with the value obtained from Ly? absorption toward the neighboring star Sk -69?203, after accounting for differences in reddening and for an overall subsolar metallicity of 0.2-0.3 dex for the LMC ISM. Since the relative abundance patterns determined for stars and gaseous nebulae in both the SMC and the LMC appear to be similar to the solar pattern (for the elements whose interstellar abundances we have considered), the similarities in relative gas-phase interstellar abundances in our Galaxy and in the Magellanic Clouds suggest that the dust depletions follow similar patterns as well?despite differences in metallicity and dust-to-gas ratio among the three galaxies. These local relative abundance/depletion patterns may thus be used to infer total (gas+dust) abundances for QSO absorption-line systems at various redshifts.