DECONVOLUTION OF IMAGES FROM BLAST 2005: INSIGHT INTO THE K3-50 AND IC 5146 STAR-FORMING REGIONS

Journal Article · Fri Apr 01 04:00:00 EDT 2011 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/730/2/142· OSTI ID:21574811

Roy, Arabindo; Netterfield, Calvin B ^[1]; Ade, Peter A. R.; Griffin, Matthew; Hargrave, Peter C; Mauskopf, Philip ^[2]; Bock, James J ^[3]; Brunt, Christopher M ^[4]; Chapin, Edward L; Gibb, Andrew G; Halpern, Mark; Marsden, Gaelen ^[5]; Devlin, Mark J; Dicker, Simon R; Klein, Jeff ^[6]; France, Kevin ^[7]; Gundersen, Joshua O ^[8]; Hughes, David H ^[9]; Martin, Peter G ^[10]; Olmi, Luca ^[11]

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1. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 50 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4 (Canada)
2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, 5 The Parade, Cardiff, CF24 3AA (United Kingdom)
3. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA 91109-8099 (United States)
4. School of Physics, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QL (United Kingdom)
5. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, 6224 Agricultural Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 (Canada)
6. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States)
7. Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309 (United States)
8. Department of Physics, University of Miami, 1320 Campo Sano Drive, Carol Gables, FL 33146 (United States)
9. Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica Optica y Electronica (INAOE), Aptdo. Postal 51 y 72000, Puebla (Mexico)
10. Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 60 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada)
11. Physics Department, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, Box 23343, UPR station, San Juan, Puerto Rico (United States)

We present an implementation of the iterative flux-conserving Lucy-Richardson (L-R) deconvolution method of image restoration for maps produced by the Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST). Compared to the direct Fourier transform method of deconvolution, the L-R operation restores images with better-controlled background noise and increases source detectability. Intermediate iterated images are useful for studying extended diffuse structures, while the later iterations truly enhance point sources to near the designed diffraction limit of the telescope. The L-R method of deconvolution is efficient in resolving compact sources in crowded regions while simultaneously conserving their respective flux densities. We have analyzed its performance and convergence extensively through simulations and cross-correlations of the deconvolved images with available high-resolution maps. We present new science results from two BLAST surveys, in the Galactic regions K3-50 and IC 5146, further demonstrating the benefits of performing this deconvolution. We have resolved three clumps within a radius of 4.'5 inside the star-forming molecular cloud containing K3-50. Combining the well-resolved dust emission map with available multi-wavelength data, we have constrained the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of five clumps to obtain masses (M), bolometric luminosities (L), and dust temperatures (T). The L-M diagram has been used as a diagnostic tool to estimate the evolutionary stages of the clumps. There are close relationships between dust continuum emission and both 21 cm radio continuum and {sup 12}CO molecular line emission. The restored extended large-scale structures in the Northern Streamer of IC 5146 have a strong spatial correlation with both SCUBA and high-resolution extinction images. A dust temperature of 12 K has been obtained for the central filament. We report physical properties of ten compact sources, including six associated protostars, by fitting SEDs to multi-wavelength data. All of these compact sources are still quite cold (typical temperature below {approx} 16 K) and are above the critical Bonner-Ebert mass. They have associated low-power young stellar objects. Further evidence for starless clumps has also been found in the IC 5146 region.

• OSTI ID: 21574811
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 730; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
BACKGROUND NOISE
DUSTS
EMISSION
EVOLUTION
IMAGE PROCESSING
IMAGES
MAPS
NOISE
PROCESSING
STAR EVOLUTION