Astronomy-related links

Research Interests & Selected Papers

My main interests are in the field of molecular clouds and star formation, and galactic structure & kinematics. Particular attention is being paid to the (Far-) Outer Galaxy, FOG for short, which is defined as that part of the galactic disk which is at galactocentric distances R>15 kpc.
Presently I am working on two topics in particular: A study of galactic abundance gradients (observations of C18O, C17O, 13C18O), and a search for precursors of Ultra Compact HII regions.
The items listed below provide an overview of the main projects, with links to preprints, published papers, and conference contributions. For an up-to-date list of all publications (with links to abstracts and full-text files), click here .

Figure: 25 micron HIRES image (IPAC) with 12CO(2-1) contours (KOSMA) of a 30'x50' region centered on the HII region Sharpless 151 (from Brand & Wouterloot "A multi-wavelength Study of the Sharpless 151 Region" -- Astron. & Astroph., 1998, 337, 539).

Collaborators with their own home pages are Jan Wouterloot, Sergio Molinari, Leonardo Testi, Qizhou Zhang. and Alexander Rudolph.

Selection of recent publication(s):

Outflow sources in the Vela region
(1999, A&AS 140, 177; Gzipped postscript file)
The search for high-mass protostars
(in 'Proceedings della Societa Italiana di Fisica' (eds. Porceddu & Aiello), Vol.67, p.133; Gzipped postscript file)
IRAS23385+6053: A prototype massive Class 0 protostar
(1998, ApJL 505, L39) Click here
A Multi-Wavelength Study of the S 151 Region
(1998, A&A 337, 539: (gzipped ps file)).
A summary is given in "Star Formation with ISO", A.S.P. Conference Series 132 (eds. Yun & Liseau), p. 322.
For (gzipped) postscript file of that: click here, or have a look at our poster.
Molecular Cloud/HII Region Interfaces in the Star Forming Region NGC 6357.
(1997, A&A 320, 972) For abstract click here
Mode Switching of the Water Maser in OH39.7+1.5.
(1997, A&A 322, 912) For abstract click here

The series on the (Far-) Outer Galaxy so far consists of nine papers. In reverse chronological order:

The 12C/13C Ratio in the Far-Outer Galaxy (1996, A&AS 119, 439) Abstract
Far-Outer Galaxy HII Regions (1996, ApJ 458, 653)
Properties of Far-Outer Galaxy Molecular Clouds (1995, A&A 303, 851) Abstract and Table with all cloud parameters
Analysis of the FIR, H2O and CO Emission (1995, A&A 301, 236)
Maps of Far-Outer Galaxy Molecular Clouds (1994, A&AS 103, 503)
Observations of H2O, OH, CH3OH, and CO (1993, A&AS 98, 589). Table .
Distribution in the Galactic Warp (1990, A&A 230, 21) Abstract & Table
CO Observations (1989, A&AS 80, 149). Table .
Star Formation in the Outer Galaxy (1988, A&A 191, 323)

For a quick overview, check out:

Molecular Clouds at the Edge of the Galaxy: Clouds of FOG
1995, in The Physics and Chemistry of Interstellar Molecular Clouds,
Lecture Notes in Physics Vol. 459, G. Winnewisser & G.C. Pelz (eds.), p. 13
Far-Outer Galaxy Molecular Clouds -- And a comparison of molecular clouds across the Galaxy
1996, in IAU Symp. 169: Unsolved Problems of the Milky Way, L. Blitz & P. Teuben (eds.), p. 561
Gzipped postscript file

For a list of HII regions and molecular clouds in the FOG, go to this page created by J. Wouterloot (Bonn/Cologne).

And here is a table with molecular cloud parameters, used in the paper "Properties of Far-Outer Galaxy Molecular Clouds" (1995, A&A 303, 851) [92 inner- and 112 outer Galaxy clouds]

Papers on the outer Galaxy velocity field and the rotation curve:

The Velocity Field of the Outer Galaxy (1993, A&A 275, 67) Abstract & Tables
Determination of Distances of O, B, and A-Type Stars in the Walraven Photometric System (1988, A&AS 75, 117)
CO Observations of Galactic Nebulae (1987, A&AS 68, 1; 69, 343)
Catalogue of Nebulous Objects (1986, A&AS 65, 537)

The following papers are related to our search for precursors of ultra-compact HII regions (i.e. massive protostars):

A Search for precursors of ultra-compact HII regions in a sample of luminous IRAS sources. III. Circumstellar dust properties (2000, A&A 355, 617)
IRAS23385+6053: A prototype massive Class 0 protostar (1998, ApJL 505, L39)
A Search for precursors of ultra-compact HII regions in a sample of luminous IRAS sources. II. VLA Observations (1998, A&A 336, 339)
A Search for precursors of ultra-compact HII regions in a sample of luminous IRAS sources. I. Association with Ammonia Cores (1996, A&A 308, 573)
Abstract; Table
Water Masers Associated with Compact Molecular Clouds and UC HII Regions. II. The Extended Sample (1993, A&A 280, 599)
Water Masers Associated with Compact Molecular Clouds and UC HII Regions (1991, A&A 246, 249)

Using the Medicina 32-m radio telescope we have compiled a catalogue of all known water masers at declinations north of -30 degrees (1994, A&AS 103, 541; 1993, A&AS 101, 153; 1990, A&AS 84, 179; 1988, A&AS 76, 445). The catalogue can be accessed by clicking here.
The Arcetri Catalogue of H2O masers Update (Brand et al. 1994) can be found here .

Journals

Alphabetic list of journals (Biblioteca dell'Area CNR)

Alternatively: EBSCO server (Biblioteca dell'Area CNR). Article & Journal search

CDS Biblio Service. A.o.: Astronomy & Astrophysics (Main) and PASP
This is abstracts only. Access to full Astron. & Astroph. papers (as of 1997) can be found here

Astronomy & Astrophysics Suppl.

Astrophysical Journal

Astronomical Journal

Proc. Astron. Soc. of the Pacific

Nature

Scientific American

New Scientist

Science

New Astronomy

The Star Formation Newsletter

Zenit

The Skeptical Inquirer

Data Bases

Ap. Data System Abstract Service (CDS mirror)

NASA Astronomical Data Center

CDS-Strassbourg

Physical reference data

Wordwide Molecular Astrophysics Resources (STRW Leiden)

Molecular Spectrospcopy Homepage (incl. Poynter & Pickett spectral line catalogue)

Lovas' list of recommended rest frequencies of spectral lines

Infrared line lists for atoms and molecules (MPE, Garching)

Additional useful information (dipole moments, freqs, coll. rate refs.)

Coordinate transformation (galactic to equatorial, 1950 to 2000, and vice-versa)

Astronomical Institutes

Masterlist of Observatories, Departments, and Institutes (also here)

Arcetri (Osservatorio Astrofisico) and ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter Array)

ESO (European Southern Observatory)

HST (Hubble Space Telescope)

I.A.U. Home Page

IRAM Granada

IRAM Grenoble

ISO (Infrared Space Observatory)

JCMT (James Clerk Maxwell Telescope)

KOSMA (Univ. of Cologne)

Leiden Observatory

Medicina (VLBI antenna)

MPIfR (Max-Planck-Institut fuer Radioastronomie)