Search

The mid/far infrared hosts a wealth of spectral information that allows direct determination of the physical state of matter in a large variety of astronomical objects, unhindered by foreground obscuration. Accessing this domain is essential for astronomers to much better grasp the fundamental physical processes underlying the evolution of many types of celestial objects, ranging from protoplanetary systems in our own milky way to 10-12 billion year old galaxies at the high noon of galaxy formation in our universe. The joint ESA/JAXA SPICA mission will give such access for the astronomical community at large, by providing an observatory with unprecedented mid- to far-infrared imaging, polarimetric and spectroscopic capabilities.

Transitional disks around the Herbig Ae/Be stars are fascinating targets in the contexts of disk evolution and also planet formation. Oph IRS 48 is one of such Herbig Ae stars, which shows an inner dust cavity and azimuthally lopsided large dust distribution. We present new images of Oph IRS 48 at eight mid-infrared (MIR) wavelengths from 8.59 to 24.6\,$\mu {\rm m}$ taken with the COMICS mounted on the 8.2\,m Subaru Telescope. The N-band (7 to 13\,$\mu {\rm m}$) images show that the flux distribution is centrally peaked with a slight spatial extent, while the Q-band (17 to 25\,$\mu {\rm m}$) images show asymmetric double peaks (east and west). Using 18.8 and 24.6\,$\mu$m images, we derived the dust temperature at both east and west peaks to be 135$\pm$22 K. Thus, the asymmetry may not be attributed to a difference in the temperature. % thus other reason is necessary to explain the asymmetry of east and west peaks in Q-band. Comparing our results with previous modeling works, we conclude that the inner disk is aligned to the outer disk. A shadow casted by the optically thick inner disk has a great influence on the morphology of MIR thermal emission from the outer disk., Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, accepted in PASJ

Dust grains of crystalline silicate, which are rarely presented in interstellar space, were found in cometary nuclei. These crystalline silicates are thought to have formed by annealing of amorphous silicate grains or direct condensation of gaseous materials near the Sun in the solar nebula, and incorporated into cometary nuclei in the cold comet-forming region after radial transportation of grains in the solar nebula. Abundances of the crystalline silicate dust grains were therefore expected to be smaller farther from the Sun. We aim to better understand the formation mechanism of minerals incorporated into comet 17P/Holmes based on its mineral abundances. To derive the mineral composition of comet 17P/Holmes, we applied a thermal emission model for cometary dust grains to mid-infrared spectra of comet 17P/Holmes taken with the Cooled Mid-Infrared Camera and Spectrograph (COMICS) mounted on the Subaru Telescope a few days later the great outburst in October 2007. The resulting mass fraction of crystalline silicate, f_ cry, and an olivine-to-pyroxene abundance ratio, f_OP, are f_cry = 0.31 +/- 0.03 and f_OP = 1.20 +0.16/-0.12, respectively. Based on a simple consideration of the mixing of dust grains originating in both the interstellar medium and solar nebula, the minerals of 17P/Holmes formed by non-equilibrium condensation. This result is consistent with theoretical and experimental predictions for vaporization and condensation of olivine in the solar nebula., Comment: Accepted to AJ (on 2018 Aug 23)

著者人数: 42名, Accepted: 2011-03-08, 資料番号: SA1003241000

Based on optical and infrared observations, we study the albedo and the temperature of the dust grains associated with the spectacular 2007 outburst of Jupiter-family comet 17P/Holmes. We found that the albedo at the solar phase angle ~16° was 0.03-0.12. While the color temperature around 3-4 μm was 360 ± 40 K, the color temperature at 12.4 μm and 24.5 μm was ~200 K, which is consistent with that of a blackbody. We studied the equilibrium temperature of the dust grains at 2.44 AU and found that the big discrepancy in the temperature was caused by the heterogeneity in particle size, that is, hotter components consist of submicron absorbing grains whereas colder components consist of large (1 μm) grains. The contemporaneous optical and mid-infrared observations suggest that the albedo and the temperature could decrease within ~ 3 days after the outburst and stabilized at typical values of the other comets. We estimated the total mass injected into the coma by the outburst on the basis of the derived albedo and the optical magnitude for the entire dust cloud, and found that at least 4 × 1010 kg (equivalent to a few meter surface layer) was removed by the initial outburst event. The derived mass suggests that the outburst is explainable by neither the exogenetic asteroidal impact nor water ice sublimation driven by solar irradiation, but by an endogenic energy source. We conclude that the outburst was triggered by the energy sources several meters or more below the nuclear surface.

Mid-infrared 8–25 m imaging and spectroscopic observations of the comet 17P/Holmes in the early phase of its outburst in brightness were performed on 2007 October 25–28 UT using the Cooled Mid-Infrared Camera and Spectrometer (COMICS) on the 8.2-m Subaru Telescope. We detected an isolated dust cloud that moved toward the south-west direction from the nucleus. The 11.2 m peak of a crystalline silicate feature onto a broad amorphous silicate feature was also detected both in the central condensation of the nucleus and an isolated dust cloud. The color temperature of the isolated dust cloud was estimated to be 200K, which is slightly higher than the black-body temperature. Our analysis of the motion indicates that the isolated cloud moved anti-sunward. We propose several possibilities for the motion of the cloud: fluffy dust particles in the isolated cloud started to depart from the nucleus due to radiation pressure almost as soon as the main outburst occurred, or dust particles moved by some other antisunward forces, such as a rocket effect and photophoresis when the surrounding dust coma became optically thin. The origin and the nature of the isolated dust cloud are discussed in this paper.

We carried out high spatial resolution N-band imaging and spectroscopic observations of the planetary nebula BD +30 3639 with the Cooled Mid-Infrared Camera and Spectrometer (COMICS) mounted on the Subaru telescope. Mid-infrared images reveal a rectangle shell structure of the nebula extending over 4'', which is supposed to be formed by the superwind from the central star. We have detected [Ne II] 12.8 μm and the unidentified infrared (UIR) bands at 8.6 and 11.2 μm, together with the broad plateau emission in 11-13 μm. In addition, the spectra clearly indicate the presence of silicate absorption around 10 μm for the first time, which increases sharply at the outside of the shell. This can be attributed to silicate grains that were formed in the O-rich phase of the central star, which is now C-rich. The present data indicate that these silicate grains are located in a very thin shell, suggesting that BD +30 3639 underwent a short period (~100 yr) of a high mass-loss rate (~3 × 10−3 M☉ yr−1) at the last epoch of the O-rich phase. N-band spectra show that the distribution of [Ne II] is not clearly different from that of the UIR band and suggest that the UIR band carriers coexist with the ionized gas to some extent. This may be attributed to a slow destruction of the band carriers in the ionized region of the high electron density. The 10 μm continuum and the 11-13 μm plateau emission are dominant in the shell region, while the UIR 11.2 μm band becomes stronger in the outside of the shell, suggesting a change in the dust composition or the dust size distribution between the shell and the outside of the shell region. On the contrary, the peak wavelength of the UIR 11.2 μm band agrees with the class B spectrum, which is often seen in planetary nebulae, and does not change between the shell and the outside of the shell region. These facts suggest that the UIR band carriers are originally formed in the carbon-rich stellar wind and partially destroyed in the shell by shocks. The change of the UIR band spectrum from class B to A, which is generally seen in H II regions, should take place outside of the nebula.

We carried out spectroscopic observations ( R ∼ 250 ) of Oort cloud comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) at the post-perihelion ( r h = 1.02 AU , Δ = 0.93 AU , 2004 June 4.2 UT) in mid-infrared 8 – 13 μ m region using the Cooled Mid-Infrared Camera and Spectrometer (COMICS) on 8.2 m Subaru Telescope. The silicate feature of comet Q4 shows the crystalline olivine peak at 11.2 μ m along with the broad amorphous silicate features. We present the detailed results of our fitting analysis by using a thermal emission model of cometary coma grains, and compare with other results of C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) at the different heliocentric distance pre-perihelion ( r h = 0.97 AU ), comet C/2002 V1 (NEAT), and comet C/1995 O1 (Hale–Bopp). The mass ratios of crystalline to amorphous silicate in sub- μ m grain size are between 1.9 and 2.5 for these comets. The similarity of coma dust mineralogy among these Oort cloud comets implies that the dust grains in these comets represent the similar physical conditions in the solar nebula and potentially similar regions of icy planetesimal formation.

著者人数：13名, Accepted: 2006-05-15, 資料番号: SA1000388000

Accepted: 2006-04-11, 資料番号: SA1000390000

Faint standard stars in the mid-infrared region (less than a few hundred millijanskys at 9 μm) are required for the on-orbit calibration of the Infrared Camera (IRC) on board ASTRO-F because of its high sensitivity, as well as the small dynamic range. Mid-infrared low-resolution (λ/Δλ ~ 250) spectra of six faint K and M giant stars (70-180 mJy at 9 μm, K1.5-M0 III), which are located in the north ecliptic polar region and are thus suitable for calibrators for the IRC, are obtained by using the Cooled Mid-Infrared Camera and Spectrometer (COMICS) on the Subaru telescope to test the faint-infrared standard-star network recently constructed for space-borne instruments. The spectra are directly calibrated relative to Vega (A0 V). The present results indicate that the spectra of the faint standard K-M0 giant stars show good agreement with those predicted in the standard network within 10% accuracy on average. The overall spectral shapes are also in agreement with the predictions. In particular, the observed SiO absorption feature in the 8 μm region matches well with the prediction for an M0 III star. The present observations directly connect a primary standard calibrator (Vega) to faint K giant calibrators of the network in the 10 μm region and validate several faint (~0.1 Jy) members of the standard-star network for the first time. Absolute calibrations are provided for five of the medium-band filters of the COMICS instrument in the 10 μm window.

Accepted: 2004-10-18, 資料番号: SA1003389000

We carried out imaging and long-slit spectroscopic observations of the Red Rectangle in the N -band using the 8.2-m SUBARU telescope. The resulting images reveal a central bright core and an extended nebula. The central core is slightly extended in the N -band. The core radius is estimated to be ~, which corresponds to 60 AU. The core spectrum is well modeled by blackbody emission with a temperature of 358 K. The estimated size and temperature are in good agreement with the predictions of recent dusty torus models. In the north/south nebula, unidentified infrared (UIR) emission features at 8.6 μ m and 11.2 μ m are prominently observed. At radii > they completely dominate the N -band spectra, suggesting that the nebula seen at N -band wavelengths is primarily brightened by the UIR-band emission, not by scattered light. We also detected shifts in the UIR-feature peaks with increasing distance from the center. These may be attributed to isotopic shifts due to the presence of in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) like particles. In addition to the UIR emission, a broad feature at 11.27 μ m is seen at a distance of 0.3´´ on all sides of the nebula. We attribute this to crystalline silicate olivine grains around the central torus.

We report the results of mid-infrared (7.8μm–13.2 μm) high-spatial resolution imaging and spectroscopic observations of the Galactic center region with the Cooled Mid-Infrared Camera and Spectrometer (COMICS) on the Subaru telescope. The images clearly show bright infrared sources and small structures in the diffuse emission. The spectra of all the observed positions show the 9.7 μm silicate absorption feature. After corrected for the empirically-derived extinction, the intrinsic spectra of the infrared sources show either strong silicate emission or absorption, while the intrinsic diffuse emission has a power-law type spectrum. This difference indicates a possibility of dust processing due to the interaction between the infrared sources and their surrounding medium or a different origin of the dust grains surrounding the sources from those in the diffuse region.

Accepted: 2002-10-14, 資料番号: SA1003358000

著者人数: 12名, Accepted: 2017-05-24, 資料番号: SA1170040000

We present the current status of the development of the SPICA Coronagraph Instrument (SCI). SPICA is a next-generation 3-meter class infrared telescope, which will be launched in 2022. SCI is high-contrast imaging, spectroscopic instrument mainly for direct detection and spectroscopy of extra-solar planets in the near-to-mid infrared wavelengths to characterize their atmospheres, physical parameters and evolutionary scenarios. SCI is now under the international review process. In this paper, we present a science case of SCI. The main targets of SCI, not only for direct imaging but also for spectroscopy, are young to matured giant planets. We will also show that some of known exoplanets by ground-based direct detection are good targets for SCI, and a number of direct detection planets that are suitable for SCI will be significantly increased in the next decade. Second, a general design of SCI and a key technology including a new high-throughput binary mask coronagraph, will be presented. Furthermore, we will show that SCI is potentially capable of achieving 10 -6 contrast by a PSF subtraction method, even with a telescope pointing error. This contrast enhancement will be important to characterize low-mass and cool planets.

Earth- and space-based observations provide synergistic information for space mission encounters by providing data over longer timescales, at different wavelengths and using techniques that are impossible with an in situ flyby. We report here such observations in support of the EPOXI spacecraft flyby of comet 103P/Hartley 2. The nucleus is small and dark, and exhibited a very rapidly changing rotation period. Prior to the onset of activity, the period was ∼16.4 hr. Starting in 2010 August the period changed from 16.6 hr to near 19 hr in December. With respect to dust composition, most volatiles and carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios, the comet is similar to other Jupiter-family comets. What is unusual is the dominance of CO2-driven activity near perihelion, which likely persists out to aphelion. Near perihelion the comet nucleus was surrounded by a large halo of water-ice grains that contributed significantly to the total water production. Fil: Meech, K. J.. Institute for Astronomy; Estados Unidos Fil: A’Hearn, M. F.. University of Maryland; Estados Unidos Fil: Adams, J. A.. Cornell University; Estados Unidos Fil: Bacci, P.. Centro Astronomico di Libbiano; Italia Fil: Bai, J.. Chinese Academy of Sciences; China Fil: Barrera, L.. Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educacion; Chile Fil: Battelino, M.. Swedish Space Corporation; Suecia Fil: Bauer, J. M.. Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Estados Unidos Fil: Becklin, E.. Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy; Estados Unidos Fil: Bhatt, B.. Indian Institute of Astrophysics; India Fil: Biver, N.. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Observatoire de Paris; Francia Fil: Bockelee Morvan, D.. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Observatoire de Paris; Francia Fil: Bodewits, D.. University of Maryland; Estados Unidos Fil: Bohnhardt, H.. Gobierno de la Republica Federal de Alemania. Max Planck Institut Fur Astrophysik; Alemania Fil: Boissier, J.. Inst. di Radioastronomia; Italia Fil: Bonev, B. P.. Catholic University of America; Estados Unidos Fil: Borghini, W.. Osservatorio Astronomico Naturalistico di Casasco; Italia Fil: Brucato, J. R.. Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri; Italia Fil: Bryssinck, E.. Brixiis Observatory; Bélgica Fil: Buie. M. W.. Southwest Research Institute; Estados Unidos Fil: Canovas, H.. Utrecht University; Países Bajos Fil: Castellano, D.. Unione Astrofili Italiani; Italia Fil: Charnley, S. B.. National Aeronautics And Space Administration; Estados Unidos Fil: Chen, W. P.. National Taiwan Normal University; Corea del Sur Fil: Chiang, P.. Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute; Corea del Sur Fil: Choi, Y. J.. Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute; Corea del Sur Fil: Christian, D. J.. California State University; Estados Unidos Fil: Chuang, Y. L.. National Taiwan Normal University; Corea del Sur Fil: Cochran, A. L.. University of Texas; Estados Unidos Fil: Melita, Mario Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; Argentina

SPICA will provide the best sensitivity and image quality than ever at 5–210 μm. This will revolutionize our understanding of exoplanets, protoplanetary disks, debris disks, and Solar system small bodies. This paper summarizes such key sciences with SPICA discussed so far among the Japanese SPICA Science Working Group, stressing on the planetary formation, and exoplanet detection and characterization.

We carried out mid-infrared observations of the Deep Impact (DI) collision with a Jupiter-family (JF) comet, 9P/Tempel, using the Cooled Mid-Infrared Camera and Spectrometer (COMICS) on the 8.2 m Subaru Telescope. The N-band spectrum (8–13 μm; $R ∼ 250$) of the dust ejecta from the comet nucleus 3.5 hours after the DI event shows a strong crystalline silicate feature. The Subaru/COMICS observation also reveals that small (< 1 μm) amorphous pyroxene and carbon-rich grains flew away in the forefront of the ejecta plume before our spectroscopic observation, leaving behind relatively large submicron (0.8–1 μm) crystalline particles that we subsequently observed. The submicron grains within the subsurface layer of comet 9P/Tempel’s nucleus have a higher crystalline-to-amorphous silicate ratio than that in the comae of other JF comets, and even that of Oort cloud comets. Near the comet nucleus 3.5 hours after the impact the crystalline-to-amorphous ratio is similar to that of Hale-Bopp coma dust at 0.97 AU.

Coronagraphic imaging for the Herbig Ae star, HD 142527, was performed using the Coronagraphic Imager with Adaptive Optics (CIAO) on the 8.2 m Subaru Telescope. The images were obtained in the H2O ice filter (λ = 3.08 μm) using adaptive optics (AO), and in the L' band without AO. Combining these data with previous observational results in the H and K bands, we derived the spectra of the scattered light from the circumstellar disk around HD 142527 and detected an H2O ice absorption feature in the spectra. This result can be explained by the presence of silicate and H2O ice grains of ~1 μm in size, according to the prediction model by Inoue et al. This grain size is consistent with previous observational study by Fukagawa et al. and Fujiwara et al. The present result demonstrates that high-resolution imaging of disk-scattered light in the ice band is useful for detecting H2O ice grain distributions in circumstellar disks.

The birth of very massive stars is not well understood(1-3), in contrast to the formation process of low-mass stars like our Sun(4,5). It is not even clear that massive stars can form as single entities; rather, they might form through the mergers of smaller ones born in tight groups(6,7). The recent claim of the discovery of a massive protostar in M17 (a nearby giant ionized region) forming through the same mechanism as low-mass stars(8) has therefore generated considerable interest. Here we show that this protostar has an intermediate mass of only 2.5 to 8 solar masses (M.), contrary to the earlier claim of 20. (ref. 8). The surrounding circumstellar envelope contains only 0.09M. and a much more extended local molecular cloud has 4-9M..

COMICS is an observatory and mid-infrared instrument for the 8.2 m Subaru Telescope. It is designed for imaging and spectroscopic observations in the N- (8-13 micron) and Q-bands (16-25 micron) atmospheric windows. The design and very preliminary performances at the first light observations in December 1999 were reported at the SPIE meeting in 2000. We describe here the improved performances of COMICS and capability of high spectral resolution spectrocopy which became available from December 2001. We will also briefly report preliminary scientific results.

Astronomy and Astrophysics 555 (2013): A64 with permission from Astronomy & Astrophysics, Context. The evolution of young massive protoplanetary disks toward planetary systems is expected to correspond to structural changes in observational appearance, which includes the formation of gaps and the depletion of dust and gas. Aims. A special group of disks around Herbig Ae/Be stars do not show prominent silicate emission features, although they still bear signs of flaring disks, the presence of gas, and small grains. We focus our attention on four key Herbig Ae/Be stars to understand the structural properties responsible for the absence of silicate feature emission. Methods. We investigate Q- and N-band images taken with Subaru/COMICS, Gemini South/T-ReCS, and VLT/VISIR. We perform radiative transfer modeling to examine the radial distribution of dust and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Our solutions require a separation of inner- and outer- disks by a large gap. From this, we characterize the radial density structure of dust and PAHs in the disk. Results. The inner edge of the outer disk has a high surface brightness and a typical temperature between _100–150 K and therefore, dominates the emission in the Q-band. All four disks are characterized by large gaps.We derive radii of the inner edge of the outer disk of AU for HD97048, HD169142, HD135344 B, and Oph IRS 48, respectively. For HD 97048 this is the first detection of a disk gap. The large gaps deplete the entire population of silicate particles with temperatures suitable for prominent midinfrared feature emission, while small carbonaceous grains and PAHs can still show prominent emission at mid-infrared wavelengths. The continuum emission in the N-band is not due to emission in the wings of PAHs. This continuum emission can be due to very small grains or to thermal emission from the inner disk. We find that PAH emission is not always dominated by PAHs on the surface of the outer disk. Conclusions. The absence of silicate emission features is due to the presence of large gaps in the critical temperature regime. Many, if not all Herbig disks with spectral energy distribution classification “group I”, are disks with large gaps and can be characterized as (pre-) transitional. An evolutionary path from the observed group I to the observed group II sources seems no longer likely. Instead, both might derive from a common ancestor, This project is supported by a grant from the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA). Acknowledges funding from the EU FP7-2011 under Grant Agreement nr. 284405. This research was partially supported by KAKENHI (Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists B: 21740141) by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan.

We observed embedded super-star clusters (SSCs) in blue compact dwarf galaxies (BCDs) IIZw40 and He2-10 with N-band and Q-band imaging and spectroscopy using the Cooled Mid-Infrared Camera and Spectrometer (COMICS) on board the 8m Subaru Telescope. Our infrared images of Henize 2–10 resolve the radio knots (knots I-V; Kobulnicky & Johnson 1999) and the N- and Q-band spectra show the strong [NeII] 12.8 μm and the [SIII] 18.71 μm together with relatively weak [SIV] 10.51 μm and [ArIII] 8.99 μm as well as the distinct unidentified infrared (UIR) bands at 8.6, 11.2 and 12.7 μm. We find the typical stellar spectral type of the members in the SSCs is O9 using the CoStar model (Stasinska & Schaerer 1997) and that the ionization environment in the most deeply embedded SSC(POS/#D) is the softest among those SSCs. The UIR bands exhibit a flat distribution over the galaxy and do not show a correlation with the MIR continuum, suggesting that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are not strongly associated with the SSCs. We also find a possible decrease in the UIR 12.7 μm/11.2 μm ratio inside the embedded SSCs, suggesting that smooth-edged large PAHs are dominant (Hony et al. 2001) there. The small UIR to continuum ratio inside the embedded SSCs also suggests that the size distribution of the carbonaceous dust is skewed to the larger ones inside the embedded SSCs. Possible destruction of smaller species by harsh radiation field in the vicinity of massive stars due to the smaller heat capacity and/or the coagulation process that have been undertaken in dense dusty embedded SSCs would explain our results consistently. From the mid-infrared spectroscopy of IIZw40, the UIR bands are detected only in the south-western border of the mid-infrared peaks, suggesting the uneven distribution of PAHs within 4×106yr (Vanzi et al. 1996) after the nuclear starburst triggered in the merging of two small original galaxies.