TY - JOUR A1 - Weilbacher, Peter Michael A1 - Monreal-Ibero, Ana A1 - Verhamme, Anne A1 - Sandin, Christer A1 - Steinmetz, Matthias A1 - Kollatschny, Wolfram A1 - Krajnovic, Davor A1 - Kamann, Sebastian A1 - Roth, Martin M. A1 - Erroz-Ferrer, Santiago A1 - Marino, Raffaella Anna A1 - Maseda, Michael V. A1 - Wendt, Martin A1 - Bacon, Roland A1 - Dreizler, Stefan A1 - Richard, Johan A1 - Wisotzki, Lutz T1 - Lyman-continuum leakage as dominant source of diffuse ionized gas in the Antennae galaxy JF - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal N2 - The Antennae galaxy (NGC 4038/39) is the closest major interacting galaxy system and is therefore often studied as a merger prototype. We present the first comprehensive integral field spectroscopic dataset of this system, observed with the MUSE instrument at the ESO VLT. We cover the two regions in this system which exhibit recent star formation: the central galaxy interaction and a region near the tip of the southern tidal tail. In these fields, we detect H II regions and diffuse ionized gas to unprecedented depth. About 15% of the ionized gas was undetected by previous observing campaigns. This newly detected faint ionized gas is visible everywhere around the central merger, and shows filamentary structure. We estimate diffuse gas fractions of about 60% in the central field and 10% in the southern region. We are able to show that the southern region contains a significantly different population of H II regions, showing fainter luminosities. By comparing H II region luminosities with the HST catalog of young star clusters in the central field, we estimate that there is enough Lyman-continuum leakage in the merger to explain the amount of diffuse ionized gas that we detect. We compare the Lyman-continuum escape fraction of each H II region against emission line ratios that are sensitive to the ionization parameter. While we find no systematic trend between these properties, the most extreme line ratios seem to be strong indicators of density bounded ionization. Extrapolating the Lyman-continuum escape fractions to the southern region, we conclude that simply from the comparison of the young stellar populations to the ionized gas there is no need to invoke other ionization mechanisms than Lyman-continuum leaking H II regions for the diffuse ionized gas in the Antennae. KW - galaxies: interactions KW - galaxies: individual: NGC 4038, NGC 4039 KW - galaxies: ISM KW - ISM: structure KW - H II regions Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201731669 SN - 1432-0746 VL - 611 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weilbacher, Peter Michael A1 - Monreal-Ibero, Ana A1 - Kollatschny, Wolfram A1 - Ginsburg, Adam A1 - McLeod, Anna F. A1 - Kamann, Sebastian A1 - Sandin, Christer A1 - Palsa, Ralf A1 - Wisotzki, Lutz A1 - Bacon, Roland A1 - Selman, Fernando A1 - Brinchmann, Jarle A1 - Caruana, Joseph A1 - Kelz, Andreas A1 - Martinsson, Thomas A1 - Pecontal-Rousset, Arlette A1 - Richard, Johan A1 - Wendt, Martin T1 - A MUSE map of the central Orion Nebula (M 42) JF - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal N2 - We present a new integral field spectroscopic dataset of the central part of the Orion Nebula (M 42), observed with the MUSE instrument at the ESO VLT. We reduced the data with the public MUSE pipeline. The output products are two FITS cubes with a spatial size of similar to 5'9 x 4'9 (corresponding to similar to 0.76 x 0.63 pc(2)) and a contiguous wavelength coverage of 4595 ... 9366 angstrom, spatially sampled at 0 ''.2. We provide two versions with a sampling of 1.25 angstrom and 0.85 angstrom in dispersion direction. Together with variance cubes these files have a size of 75 and 110 GiB on disk. They are the largest integral field mosaics to date in terms of information content. We make them available for use in the community. To validate this dataset, we compare world coordinates, reconstructed magnitudes, velocities, and absolute and relative emission line fluxes to the literature values and find excellent agreement. We derive a 2D map of extinction and present de-reddened flux maps of several individual emission lines and of diagnostic line ratios. We estimate physical properties of the Orion Nebula, using the emission line ratios [N II] and [S III] (for the electron temperature T-e) and [S II] and [Cl III] (for the electron density N-e), and show 2D images of the velocity measured from several bright emission lines. KW - H II regions KW - ISM: individual objects: M 42 KW - open clusters and associations: individual: Trapezium cluster Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201526529 SN - 1432-0746 VL - 582 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Steffen, M. A1 - Hubrig, Swetlana A1 - Todt, Helge Tobias A1 - Schoeller, M. A1 - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer A1 - Sandin, Christer A1 - Schönberner, Detlef T1 - Weak magnetic fields in central stars of planetary nebulae? JF - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal N2 - Context. It is not yet clear whether magnetic fields play an essential role in shaping planetary nebulae (PNe), or whether stellar rotation alone and/or a close binary companion, stellar or substellar, can account for the variety of the observed nebular morphologies. Aims. In a quest for empirical evidence verifying or disproving the role of magnetic fields in shaping planetary nebulae, we follow up on previous attempts to measure the magnetic field in a representative sample of PN central stars. Methods. We obtained low-resolution polarimetric spectra with FORS2 installed on the Antu telescope of the VLT for a sample of 12 bright central stars of PNe with different morphologies, including two round nebulae, seven elliptical nebulae, and three bipolar nebulae. Two targets are Wolf-Rayet type central stars. Results. For the majority of the observed central stars, we do not find any significant evidence for the existence of surface magnetic fields. However, our measurements may indicate the presence of weak mean longitudinal magnetic fields of the order of 100 Gauss in the central star of the young elliptical planetary nebula IC 418 as well as in the Wolf-Rayet type central star of the bipolar nebula Hen 2-113 and the weak emission line central star of the elliptical nebula Hen 2-131. A clear detection of a 250 G mean longitudinal field is achieved for the A-type companion of the central star of NGC 1514. Some of the central stars show a moderate night-to-night spectrum variability, which may be the signature of a variable stellar wind and/or rotational modulation due to magnetic features. Conclusions. Since our analysis indicates only weak fields, if any, in a few targets of our sample, we conclude that strong magnetic fields of the order of kG are not widespread among PNe central stars. Nevertheless, simple estimates based on a theoretical model of magnetized wind bubbles suggest that even weak magnetic fields below the current detection limit of the order of 100 G may well be sufficient to contribute to the shaping of the surrounding nebulae throughout their evolution. Our current sample is too small to draw conclusions about a correlation between nebular morphology and the presence of stellar magnetic fields. KW - planetary nebulae: general KW - stars: magnetic field KW - stars: AGB and post-AGB KW - binaries: close KW - techniques: polarimetric Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201423842 SN - 0004-6361 SN - 1432-0746 VL - 570 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmaelzlin, Elmar A1 - Moralejo, Benito A1 - Rutowska, Monika A1 - Monreal-Ibero, Ana A1 - Sandin, Christer A1 - Tarcea, Nicolae A1 - Popp, Juergen A1 - Roth, Martin M. T1 - Raman imaging with a fiber-coupled multichannel spectrograph JF - Sensors N2 - Until now, spatially resolved Raman Spectroscopy has required to scan a sample under investigation in a time-consuming step-by-step procedure. Here, we present a technique that allows the capture of an entire Raman image with only one single exposure. The Raman scattering arising from the sample was collected with a fiber-coupled high-performance astronomy spectrograph. The probe head consisting of an array of 20 x 20 multimode fibers was linked to the camera port of a microscope. To demonstrate the high potential of this new concept, Raman images of reference samples were recorded. Entire chemical maps were received without the need for a scanning procedure. KW - multichannel Raman spectroscopy KW - astronomy spectrograph KW - optical fiber bundle KW - Raman imaging Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/s141121968 SN - 1424-8220 VL - 14 IS - 11 SP - 21968 EP - 21980 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Monreal-Ibero, Ana A1 - Weilbacher, Peter Michael A1 - Wendt, Martin A1 - Selman, Fernando A1 - Lallement, Rosine A1 - Brinchmann, Jarle A1 - Kamann, Sebastian A1 - Sandin, Christer T1 - Towards DIB mapping in galaxies beyond 100 Mpc A radial profile of the lambda 5780.5 diffuse interstellar band in AM1353-272 B JF - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal N2 - Context. Diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) are non-stellar weak absorption features of unknown origin found in the spectra of stars viewed through one or several clouds of the interstellar medium (ISM). Research of DIBs outside the Milky Way is currently very limited. In particular, spatially resolved investigations of DIBs outside of the Local Group are, to our knowledge, inexistent. Aims. In this contribution, we explore the capability of the high-sensitivity integral field spectrograph, MUSE, as a tool for mapping diffuse interstellar bands at distances larger than 100 Mpc. Methods. We used MUSE commissioning data for AM1353-272 B, the member with the highest extinction of the Dentist's Chair, an interacting system of two spiral galaxies. High signal-to-noise spectra were created by co-adding the signal of many spatial elements distributed in a geometry of concentric elliptical half-rings. Results. We derived decreasing radial profiles for the equivalent width of the lambda 5780.5 DIB both in the receding and approaching side of the companion galaxy up to distances of similar to 4.6 kpc from the centre of the galaxy. The interstellar extinction as derived from the Ha/H beta line ratio displays a similar trend, with decreasing values towards the external parts. This translates into an intrinsic correlation between the strength of the DIB and the extinction within AM1353-272 B, consistent with the currently existing global trend between these quantities when using measurements for Galactic and extragalactic sightlines. Conclusions. It seems feasible to map the DIB strength in the Local Universe, which has up to now only been performed for the Milky Way. This offers a new approach to studying the relationship between DIBs and other characteristics and species of the ISM in addition to using galaxies in the Local Group or sightlines towards very bright targets outside the Local Group. KW - dust, extinction KW - ISM: lines and bands KW - galaxies: ISM KW - galaxies: individual: AM1353-272 B Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201525854 SN - 0004-6361 SN - 1432-0746 VL - 576 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis ER -