Young stars typically form in star clusters, so the supernovae (SNe) they produce are clustered in space and time. This clustering of SNe may alter the momentum per SN deposited in the interstellar medium (ISM) by affecting the local ISM density, which in turn affects the cooling rate. We study the effect of multiple SNe using idealized 1D hydrodynamic simulations which explore a large parameter space of the number of SNe, and the background gas density and metallicity. The results are provided as a table and an analytic fitting formula. We find that for clusters with up to ∼ 100 SNe the asymptotic momentum scales super-linearly with the number of SNe, resulting in a momentum per SN that can be an order of magnitude larger than for a single SN, with a maximum efficiency for clusters with 10 − 100 SNe. We argue that additional physical processes not included in our simulations -self-gravity, breakout from a galactic disk, and galactic shear -can slightly reduce the momentum enhancement from clustering, but the average momentum per SN still remains a factor of 4 larger than the isolated SN value when averaged over a realistic cluster mass function for a star-forming galaxy. We conclude with a discussion of the possible role of mixing between hot and cold gas, induced by multi-dimensional instabilities or preexisting density variations, as a limiting factor in the buildup of momentum by clustered SNe, and suggest future numerical experiments to explore these effects.

While the evolution of superbubbles driven by clustered supernovae has been studied by numerous authors, the resulting radial momentum yield is uncertain by as much as an order of magnitude depending on the computational methods and assumed properties of the surrounding interstellar medium (ISM). In this work, we study the origin of these discrepancies, and seek to determine the correct momentum budget for a homogeneous ISM. We carry out 3D hydrodynamic (HD) and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of clustered supernova explosions, using a Lagrangian method and checking for convergence with respect to resolution. We find that the terminal momentum of a shell driven by clustered supernovae is dictated primarily by the mixing rate across the contact discontinuity between the hot and cold phases, and that this energy mixing rate is dominated by numerical diffusion even at the highest resolution we can complete, 0.03 M . Magnetic fields also reduce the mixing rate, so that MHD simulations produce higher momentum yields than HD ones at equal resolution. As a result, we obtain only a lower limit on the momentum yield from clustered supernovae. Combining this with our previous 1D results, which provide an upper limit because they allow almost no mixing across the contact discontinuity, we conclude that the momentum yield per supernova from clustered supernovae in a homogeneous ISM is bounded between 2 × 10 5 and 3 × 10 6 M km s −1 . A converged value for the simple homogeneous ISM remains elusive.

Abstract. We report on a novel six-channel optical spectrometer (further on called mini-DOAS instrument) for airborne nadir and limb measurements of atmospheric trace gases, liquid and solid water, and spectral radiances in the UV/vis and NIR spectral ranges. The spectrometer was developed for measurements from aboard the German High-Altitude and Long-Range (HALO) research aircraft during dedicated research missions. Here we report on the relevant instrumental details and the novel scaling method used to infer the mixing ratios of UV/vis absorbing trace gases from their absorption measured in limb geometry. The uncertainties of the scaling method are assessed in more detail than before for sample measurements of NO 2 and BrO. Some first results are reported along with complementary measurements and comparisons with model predictions for a selected HALO research flight from Cape Town to Antarctica, which was performed during the research mission ESMVal on 13 September 2012.

New images of the FR II radio galaxy Pictor A from the Hubble Space Telescope reveal a previously undiscovered tidal tail, as well as a number of jet knots coinciding with a known X-ray and radio jet. The tidal tail is approximately 5″ wide (3 kpc projected), starting 18″ (12 kpc) from the center of Pictor A, and extends more than 90″ (60 kpc). The knots are part of a jet observed to be about 4′ (160 kpc) long, extending to a bright hotspot. These images are the first optical detections of this jet, and by extracting knot flux densities through three filters, we set constraints on emission models. While the radio and optical flux densities are usually explained by synchrotron emission, there are several emission mechanisms that might be used to explain the X-ray flux densities. Our data rule out Doppler-boosted inverse Compton scattering as a source of the high-energy emission. Instead, we find that the observed emission can be well described by synchrotron emission from electrons with a low-energy index (p 2 ) that dominates the radio band, while a high-energy index (p 3 ) is needed for the X-ray band and the transition occurs in the optical/infrared band. This model is consistent with a continuous electron injection scenario.