Table of contents

Multi-wavelength observations are necessary for understanding the physical properties of astrophysical sources. In this paper, we use observations in the far-infrared to radio range to derive the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the Carina nebula. To do this, we carefully subtract the irregularly varying diffuse emission from the Galactic plane, which can be of the order of 10% of the nebula flux at these wavelengths. We find that the far-infrared SED can be modeled as emission from a dust population with a single temperature T_d = (34.5^+2.0_{− 1.8}) K and with a spectral index of emissivity α = −1.37^+0.09_{− 0.08}. We also find a total infrared luminosity of the nebula of (7.4^+2.5_{− 1.4})  ×  10⁶ L_☉ and, assuming a single temperature of the dust, a mass of the dust of (9500⁺⁴⁶⁰⁰_{− 3500}) M_☉.

We estimate the masses of elliptical galaxies out to five effective radii using planetary nebulae and globular clusters as tracers. A sample of 15 elliptical galaxies with a broad variation in mass is compiled from the literature. A distribution function-maximum likelihood analysis is used to estimate the overall potential slope, normalization, and velocity anisotropy of the tracers. We assume power-law profiles for the potential and tracer density and a constant velocity anisotropy. The derived potential power-law indices lie in between the isothermal and Keplerian regime and vary with mass: there is tentative evidence that the less massive galaxies have steeper potential profiles than the more massive galaxies. We use stellar mass-to-light ratios appropriate for either a Chabrier/KTG (Kroupa, Tout & Gilmore) or Salpeter initial mass function to disentangle the stellar and dark matter components. The fraction of dark matter within five effective radii increases with mass, in agreement with several other studies. We employ simple models to show that a combination of star formation efficiency and baryon extent are able to account for this trend. These models are in good agreement with both our measurements out to five effective radii and recent Sloan Lens ACS Survey measurements within one effective radii when a universal Chabrier/KTG initial mass function is adopted.

We present the results of Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer and Swift monitoring observations of the magnetar 1E 1547.0−5408 following the pulsar's radiative outbursts in 2008 October and 2009 January. We report on a study of the evolution of the timing properties and the pulsed flux from 2008 October 4 through 2009 December 26. In our timing study, a phase-coherent analysis shows that for the first 29 days following the 2008 outburst, there was a very fast increase in the magnitude of the rotational frequency derivative $\dot{\nu }$, such that $\ddot{\nu }$ was a factor of ∼60 larger than that reported in data from 2007. This $\dot{\nu }$ magnitude increase occurred in concert with the decay of the pulsed flux following the start of the 2008 event. Following the 2009 outburst, for the first 23 days, $\ddot{\nu }$ was consistent with zero, and $\dot{\nu }$ had returned to close to its 2007 value. In contrast to the 2008 event, the 2009 outburst showed a major increase in persistent flux, relatively little change in the pulsed flux, and sudden significant spectral hardening ∼15 days after the outburst. We show that, excluding the month following each of the outbursts, and because of the noise and the sparsity in the data, multiple plausible timing solutions fit the pulsar's frequency behavior. We note similarities in the behavior of 1E 1547.0−5408 following the 2008 outburst to that seen in the AXP 1E 1048.1−5937 following its 2001–2002 outburst and discuss this in terms of the magnetar model.

A large cloud in the north polar region of Titan was first observed by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) in 2005 and then in 2006. This cloud, confined beyond the latitude 62°N, is surrounded by a mixture of aerosol and mist probably lying in the low stratosphere and troposphere. Subsequent images of this region of Titan show a gradual vanishing of this cloud which was reported previously. In this paper, we characterize the physical properties of this cloud, haze, and mist as well as their time evolutions. We note several details on the images such as a secondary cloud above the main cloud and latitudes beyond 70°N. We also show that the cloud disappearance leaves the polar region poorly loaded in aerosols, yielding an annular zone of aerosols between 50°N and 65°N. Our analysis suggests that this structure observed by VIMS in the near-IR is an annular structure observed by ISS on board Voyager one Titan year ago in 1980.

Measurements of neutron star masses and radii are instrumental in determining the equation of state of their interiors, understanding the dividing line between neutron stars and black holes, and obtaining accurate statistics of source populations in the Galaxy. We report here on the measurement of the mass and radius of the neutron star in the low-mass X-ray binary KS 1731−260. The analysis of the spectroscopic data on multiple thermonuclear bursts yields well-constrained values for the apparent angular area and the Eddington flux of the source, both of which depend in a distinct way on the mass and radius of the neutron star. The binary KS 1731−260 is in the direction of the Galactic bulge, allowing a distance estimate based on the density of stars in that direction. Making use of the Han & Gould model, we determine the probability distribution over the distance to the source, which is approximately flat between 7 and 9 kpc. Combining these measurements, we place a strong upper bound on the radius of the neutron star, R ⩽ 12.5 km, while confining its mass to M ⩽ 2.1 M_☉.

We report two-dimensional spectroastrometry of Brγ emission of TW Hya to study the kinematics of the ionized gas in the star–disk interface region. The spectroastrometry with the integral field spectrograph SINFONI at the Very Large Telescope is sensitive to the positional offset of the line emission down to the physical scale of the stellar diameter (∼0.01 AU). The centroid of Brγ emission is displaced to the north with respect to the central star at the blue side of the emission line, and to the south at the red side. The major axis of the centroid motion is P.A. = −20°, which is nearly equal to the major axis of the protoplanetary disk projected on the sky, previously reported by CO submillimeter spectroscopy (P.A. = −27°). The line-of-sight motion of the Brγ emission, in which the northern side of the disk is approaching toward us, is also consistent with the direction of the disk rotation known from the CO observation. The agreement implies that the kinematics of Brγ emission is accounted for by the ionized gas in the inner edge of the disk. A simple modeling of the astrometry, however, indicates that the accretion inflow similarly well reproduces the centroid displacements of Brγ, but only if the position angles of the centroid motion and the projected disk ellipse are a chance coincidence. No clear evidence of disk wind is found.

We present a detailed analysis from new multi-wavelength observations of the exceptional galaxy cluster ACT-CL J0102−4915, likely the most massive, hottest, most X-ray luminous and brightest Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (SZ) effect cluster known at redshifts greater than 0.6. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) collaboration discovered ACT-CL J0102−4915 as the most significant SZ decrement in a sky survey area of 755 deg². Our Very Large Telescope (VLT)/FORS2 spectra of 89 member galaxies yield a cluster redshift, z = 0.870, and velocity dispersion, σ_gal = 1321 ± 106 km s⁻¹. Our Chandra observations reveal a hot and X-ray luminous system with an integrated temperature of T_X = 14.5 ± 0.1 keV and 0.5–2.0 keV band luminosity of L_X = (2.19 ± 0.11) × 10⁴⁵ h⁻²₇₀ erg s⁻¹. We obtain several statistically consistent cluster mass estimates; using empirical mass scaling relations with velocity dispersion, X-ray Y_X, and integrated SZ distortion, we estimate a cluster mass of M_200a = (2.16 ± 0.32) × 10¹⁵ h⁻¹₇₀ M_☉. We constrain the stellar content of the cluster to be less than 1% of the total mass, using Spitzer IRAC and optical imaging. The Chandra and VLT/FORS2 optical data also reveal that ACT-CL J0102−4915 is undergoing a major merger between components with a mass ratio of approximately 2 to 1. The X-ray data show significant temperature variations from a low of 6.6 ± 0.7 keV at the merging low-entropy, high-metallicity, cool core to a high of 22 ± 6 keV. We also see a wake in the X-ray surface brightness and deprojected gas density caused by the passage of one cluster through the other. Archival radio data at 843 MHz reveal diffuse radio emission that, if associated with the cluster, indicates the presence of an intense double radio relic, hosted by the highest redshift cluster yet. ACT-CL J0102−4915 is possibly a high-redshift analog of the famous Bullet cluster. Such a massive cluster at this redshift is rare, although consistent with the standard ΛCDM cosmology in the lower part of its allowed mass range. Massive, high-redshift mergers like ACT-CL J0102−4915 are unlikely to be reproduced in the current generation of numerical N-body cosmological simulations.

The Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) on the Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed that a number of high-mass protostars are associated with extended mid-infrared emission, particularly prominent at 4.5 μm. These are called "Green Fuzzy" emission or "Extended Green Objects." We present color analysis of this emission toward six nearby (d = 2–3 kpc) well-studied high-mass protostars and three candidate high-mass protostars identified with the Spitzer GLIMPSE survey. In our color–color diagrams, most of the sources show a positive correlation between the [3.6]−[4.5] and [3.5]−[5.8] colors along the extinction vector in all or part of the region. We compare the colors with those of scattered continuum associated with the low-mass protostar L 1527, modeled scattered continuum in cavities, shocked emission associated with low-mass protostars, modeled H₂ emission for thermal and fluorescent cases, and modeled polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission. Of the emission mechanisms discussed above, scattered continuum provides the simplest explanation for the observed linear correlation. In this case, the color variation within each object is attributed to different foreground extinctions at different positions. Alternative possible emission mechanisms to explain this correlation may be a combination of thermal and fluorescent H₂ emission in shocks, and a combination of scattered continuum and thermal H₂ emission, but detailed models or spectroscopic follow-up are required to investigate this possibility further. Our color–color diagrams also show possible contributions from PAHs in two objects. However, none of our samples show clear evidence for PAH emission directly associated with the high-mass protostars, several of which should be associated with ionizing radiation. This suggests that these protostars are heavily embedded even at mid-infrared wavelengths.

We study how the properties of transient sources of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) can be accessed by exploiting UHECR experiments, taking into account the propagation of UHECRs in magnetic structures which the sources are embedded in, i.e., clusters of galaxies and filamentary structures. Adopting simplified analytical models, we demonstrate that the structured extragalactic magnetic fields (EGMFs) play crucial roles in unveiling the properties of the transient sources. These EGMFs unavoidably cause significant delay in the arrival time of UHECRs as well as the Galactic magnetic field, even if the strength of magnetic fields in voids is zero. Then, we show that, given good knowledge on the structured EGMFs, UHECR observations with high statistics above 10²⁰ eV allow us to constrain the generation rate of transient UHECR sources and their energy input per burst, which can be compared with the rates and energy release of known astrophysical phenomena. We also demonstrate that identifying the energy dependence of the apparent number density of UHECR sources at the highest energies is crucial to such transient sources. Future UHECR experiments with extremely large exposure are required to reveal the nature of transient UHECR sources.

We present the galaxy optical luminosity function for the redshift range 0.05 < z < 0.75 from the AGN and Galaxy Evolution Survey, a spectroscopic survey of 7.6 deg² in the Boötes field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey. Our statistical sample is composed of 12,473 galaxies with known redshifts down to I = 20.4 (AB). Our results at low redshift are consistent with those from Sloan Digital Sky Survey; at higher redshift, we find strong evidence for evolution in the luminosity function, including differential evolution between blue and red galaxies. We find that the luminosity density evolves as (1 + z)^{(0.54 ± 0.64)} for red galaxies and (1 + z)^{(1.64 ± 0.39)} for blue galaxies.

We present a Chandra, Suzaku, and ROSAT study of the hot intragroup medium (IGrM) of the relaxed fossil group/poor cluster RX J1159+5531. This group exhibits an advantageous combination of flat surface brightness profile, high luminosity, and optimal distance, allowing the gas to be detected out to the virial radius (R_vir≡ R₁₀₈ = 1100 kpc) in a single Suzaku pointing, while the complementary Chandra data reveal a round morphology and relaxed IGrM image down to kpc scales. We measure the IGrM entropy profile over ∼3 orders of magnitude in radius, including three data bins beyond ∼0.5R₂₀₀ that have good azimuthal coverage (>30%). We find no evidence that the profile flattens at large scales (>R₅₀₀), and when corrected for the enclosed gas fraction, the entropy profile is very close to the predictions from self-similar structure formation simulations, as seen in massive clusters. Within R_vir, we measure a baryon fraction of 0.17 ± 0.02, consistent with the cosmological value. These results are in sharp contrast to the gas behavior at large scales recently reported in the Virgo and Perseus clusters and indicate that substantial gas clumping cannot be ubiquitous near R_vir, at least in highly evolved (fossil) groups.

Following our previous work, we investigate through hydrodynamic simulations the destruction of newly formed dust grains by sputtering in the reverse shocks of supernova remnants. Using an idealized setup of a planar shock impacting a dense, spherical clump, we implant a population of Lagrangian particles into the clump to represent a distribution of dust grains in size and composition. We vary the relative velocity between the reverse shock and ejecta clump to explore the effects of shock heating and cloud compression. Because supernova ejecta will be metal-enriched, we consider gas metallicities from Z/Z_☉ = 1 to 100 and their influence on the cooling properties of the cloud and the thermal sputtering rates of embedded dust grains. We post-process the simulation output to calculate grain sputtering for a variety of species and size distributions. In the metallicity regime considered in this paper, the balance between increased radiative cooling and increased grain erosion depends on the impact velocity of the reverse shock. For slow shocks (v_shock ⩽ 3000 km s⁻¹), the amount of dust destruction is comparable across metallicities or in some cases is decreased with increased metallicity. For higher shock velocities (v_shock ⩾ 5000 km s⁻¹), an increase in metallicity from Z/Z_☉ = 10 to 100 can lead to an additional 24% destruction of the initial dust mass. While the total dust destruction varies widely across grain species and simulation parameters, our most extreme cases result in complete destruction for some grain species and only 44% dust mass survival for the most robust species. These survival rates are important in understanding how early supernovae contribute to the observed dust masses in high-redshift galaxies.

The green (5577 Å) and red-doublet (6300, 6364 Å) lines are prompt emissions of metastable oxygen atoms in the ¹S and ¹D states, respectively, that have been observed in several comets. The value of the intensity ratio of green to red-doublet (G/R ratio) of 0.1 has been used as a benchmark to identify the parent molecule of oxygen lines as H₂O. A coupled chemistry-emission model is developed to study the production and loss mechanisms of the O(¹S) and O(¹D) atoms and the generation of red and green lines in the coma of C/1996 B2 Hyakutake. The G/R ratio depends not only on photochemistry, but also on the projected area observed for cometary coma, which is a function of the dimension of the slit used and the geocentric distance of the comet. Calculations show that the contribution of photodissociation of H₂O to the green (red) line emission is 30%–70% (60%–90%), while CO₂ and CO are the next potential sources contributing 25%–50% (<5%). The ratio of the photoproduction rate of O(¹S) to O(¹D) would be around 0.03 (±0.01) if H₂O is the main source of oxygen lines, whereas it is ∼0.6 if the parent is CO₂. Our calculations suggest that the yield of O(¹S) production in the photodissociation of H₂O cannot be larger than 1%. The model-calculated radial brightness profiles of the red and green lines and G/R ratios are in good agreement with the observations made on the comet Hyakutake in 1996 March.

We present a new census of the Orion Nebula Cluster over a large field of view (≳ 30' × 30'), significantly increasing the known population of stellar and substellar cluster members with precisely determined properties. We develop and exploit a technique to determine stellar effective temperatures from optical colors, nearly doubling the previously available number of objects with effective temperature determinations in this benchmark cluster. Our technique utilizes colors from deep photometry in the I band and in two medium-band filters at λ ∼ 753 and 770 nm, which accurately measure the depth of a molecular feature present in the spectra of cool stars. From these colors we can derive effective temperatures with a precision corresponding to better than one-half spectral subtype, and importantly this precision is independent of the extinction to the individual stars. Also, because this technique utilizes only photometry redward of 750 nm, the results are only mildly sensitive to optical veiling produced by accretion. Completing our census with previously available data, we place some 1750 sources in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram and assign masses and ages down to 0.02 solar masses. At faint luminosities, we detect a large population of background sources which is easily separated in our photometry from the bona fide cluster members. The resulting initial mass function of the cluster has good completeness well into the substellar mass range, and we find that it declines steeply with decreasing mass. This suggests a deficiency of newly formed brown dwarfs in the cluster compared to the Galactic disk population.

We demonstrate how the Fundamental Manifold (FM) can be used to cross-calibrate distance estimators even when those "standard candles" are not found in the same galaxy. Such an approach greatly increases the number of distance measurements that can be utilized to check for systematic distance errors and the types of estimators that can be compared. Here we compare distances obtained using Type Ia supernova (SN Ia), Cepheids, surface brightness fluctuations, the luminosity of the tip of the red giant branch, circumnuclear masers, eclipsing binaries, RR Lyrae stars, and the planetary nebulae luminosity functions. We find no significant discrepancies (differences are <2σ) between distance methods, although differences at the ∼10% level cannot yet be ruled out. The potential exists for significant refinement because the data used here are heterogeneous B-band magnitudes that will soon be supplanted by homogeneous, near-infrared magnitudes. We illustrate the use of FM distances to (1) revisit the question of the metallicity sensitivity of various estimators, confirming the dependence of SN Ia distances on host galaxy metallicity, and (2) provide an alternative calibration of H₀ that replaces the classical ladder approach in the use of extragalactic distance estimators with one that utilizes data over a wide range of distances simultaneously.

We present an interferometric kinematic study of morphologically complex protostellar envelopes based on observations of the dense gas tracers N₂H⁺ and NH₃. The strong asymmetric nature of most envelopes in our sample leads us to question the common interpretation of velocity gradients as rotation, given the possibility of projection effects in the observed velocities. Several "idealized" sources with well-ordered velocity fields and envelope structures are now analyzed in more detail. We compare the interferometric data to position–velocity (PV) diagrams of kinematic models for spherical rotating collapse and filamentary rotating collapse. For this purpose, we developed a filamentary parameterization of the rotating collapse model to explore the effects of geometric projection on the observed velocity structures. We find that most envelopes in our sample have PV structures that can be reproduced by an infalling filamentary envelope projected at different angles within the plane of the sky. The infalling filament produces velocity shifts across the envelope that can mimic rotation, especially when viewed at single-dish resolutions and the axisymmetric rotating collapse model does not uniquely describe any data set. Furthermore, if the velocities are assumed to reflect rotation, then the inferred centrifugal radii are quite large in most cases, indicating significant fragmentation potential or more likely another component to the line-center velocity. We conclude that ordered velocity gradients cannot be interpreted as rotation alone when envelopes are non-axisymmetric and that projected infall velocities likely dominate the velocity field on scales larger than 1000 AU.

We performed an integrated optical polarization survey of 70 nearby galaxies to study the relationship between linear polarization and galaxy properties. To date this is the largest survey of its kind. The data were collected at McDonald Observatory using the Imaging Grism Polarimeter on the Otto Struve 2.1 m telescope. Most of the galaxies did not have significant level of linear polarization, where the bulk is <1%. A fraction of the galaxies showed a loose correlation between the polarization and position angle of the galaxy, indicating that dust scattering is the main source of optical polarization. The unbarred spiral galaxies are consistent with the predicted relationship with inclination from scattering models of ∼sin ²i.

The L183 (= L134N) dark molecular cloud has been probed using deep near-infrared imaging polarimetry of stars to beyond 14 mag in H band (1.6 μm), using the Mimir instrument on the 1.83 m Perkins Telescope. Nearly 400 arcmin² were surveyed, including the dense core in L183, as seen in WISE Band 3 (12 μm) extinction, and the near surroundings, revealing 35 stars with either detected polarizations or significant upper limits. Stars with detected polarizations are reddened if closer than 8 arcmin (0.25 pc at the 110 pc cloud distance) and unreddened beyond. The polarimetric sample probes as close to the core as 3 arcmin (0.1 pc), where A_V ∼ 14 mag. Compared to the relatively unextincted surrounding stars, the reddened stars show no increase in polarization with extinction, suggesting that all of the polarization is induced in the outer layers of the cloud. This 0.25 pc radius envelope magnetic field does show a strong interaction with the L183 dark cloud. The envelope field is also virtually perpendicular, on the plane of the sky, to the field seen at 850 μm, though more closely aligned with the rotation axis of the dense gas core. The physical size scale at which the envelope and the core magnetic fields either decouple from each other or strongly modify their directions must be inside the 0.1 pc region probed here.

We present evidence of a >10σ detection of the 10 μm silicate dust absorption feature in the spectrum of the gravitationally lensed quasar PKS 1830-211, produced by a foreground absorption system at redshift 0.886. We have examined more than 100 optical depth templates, derived from both observations of Galactic and extragalactic sources and laboratory measurements, in order to constrain the chemical structure of the silicate dust. We find that the best fit to the observed absorption profile is produced by laboratory crystalline olivine, with a corresponding peak optical depth of τ₁₀ = 0.27 ± 0.05. The fit is slightly improved upon by including small contributions from additional materials, such as silica, enstatite, or serpentine, which suggests that the dust composition may consist of a blend of crystalline silicates. Combining templates for amorphous and crystalline silicates, we find that the fraction of crystalline silicates needs to be at least 95%. Given the rarity of extragalactic sources with such a high degree of silicate crystallinity, we also explore the possibility that the observed spectral features are produced by amorphous silicates in combination with other molecular or atomic transitions, or by foreground source contamination. While we cannot rule out these latter possibilities, they lead to much poorer profile fits than for the crystalline olivine templates. If the presence of crystalline interstellar silicates in this distant galaxy is real, it would be highly unusual, given that the Milky Way interstellar matter contains essentially only amorphous silicates. It is possible that the z = 0.886 absorber toward PKS 1830-211, well known for its high molecular content, has a unique star-forming environment that enables crystalline silicates to form and prevail.

Dark matter sub-halos create gaps in the stellar streams orbiting in the halos of galaxies. We evaluate the sub-halo stream crossing integral with the guidance of simulations to find that the linear rate of gap creation, $\mathcal {R}_\cup$, in a typical cold dark matter (CDM) galactic halo at 100 kpc is $\mathcal {R}_\cup \simeq 0.0066{\hat{M}_8}^{-0.35} \, {\rm kpc}^{-1}\,{\rm Gyr}^{-1}$, where $\hat{M}_{8} (\equiv \hat{M}/10^{8} {\,M_\odot }$) is the minimum mass halo that creates a visible gap. The relation can be recast entirely in terms of observables, as $\mathcal {R}_\cup \simeq 0.059 w^{-0.85}\, {\rm kpc}^{-1}\,{\rm Gyr}^{-1}$, for w in kpc, normalized at 100 kpc. Using published data, the density of gaps is estimated for M31's NW stream and the Milky Way Pal 5 stream, Orphan stream, and Eastern Banded Structure. The estimated rates of gap creation all have errors of 50% or more due to uncertain dynamical ages and the relatively noisy stream density measurements. The gap-rate–width data are in good agreement with the CDM-predicted relation. The high density of gaps in the narrow streams requires a total halo population of 10⁵ sub-halos above a minimum mass of 10⁵ M_☉.

Observations and numerical simulations of galaxy clusters strongly indicate that the hot intracluster X-ray-emitting gas is not spherically symmetric. In many earlier studies, spherical symmetry has been assumed partly because of limited data quality; however, new deep observations and instrumental designs will make it possible to go beyond that assumption. Measuring the temperature and density profiles are of interest when observing the X-ray gas; however, the spatial shape of the gas itself also carries very useful information. For example, it is believed that the X-ray gas shape in the inner parts of galaxy clusters is greatly affected by feedback mechanisms, cooling, and rotation, and measuring this shape can therefore indirectly provide information on these mechanisms. In this paper, we present a novel method to measure the three-dimensional shape of the intracluster X-ray-emitting gas. We can measure the shape from X-ray observations only, i.e., the method does not require combination with independent measurements of, e.g., the cluster mass or density profile. This is possible when one uses the full spectral information contained in the observed spectra. We demonstrate the method by measuring radially dependent shapes along the line of sight for CHANDRA mock data. We find that at least 10⁶ photons are required to get a 5σ detection of shape for an X-ray gas having realistic features such as a cool core and a double power law for the density profile. We illustrate how Bayes' theorem is used to find the best-fitting model of the X-ray gas, an analysis that is very important in a real observational scenario where the true spatial shape is unknown. Not including a shape in the fit may propagate to a mass bias if the X-ray is used to estimate the total cluster mass. We discuss this mass bias for a class of spatial shapes.

We report nine new transit epochs of the extrasolar planet WASP-5b, observed in the Bessell I band with the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope at the Cerro Pachon Observatory and with the SMARTS 1 m Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, between 2008 August and 2009 October. The new transits have been combined with all previously published transit data for this planet to provide a new Transit Timing Variation (TTV) analysis of its orbit. We find no evidence of TTV rms variations larger than 1 minute over a 3 year time span. This result discards the presence of planets more massive than about 5 M_⊕, 1 M_⊕, and 2 M_⊕ around the 1:2, 5:3, and 2:1 orbital resonances, respectively. These new detection limits exceed by ∼5–30 times the limits imposed by current radial velocity observations in the mean motion resonances of this system. Our search for the variation of other parameters, such as orbital inclination and transit depth, also yields negative results over the total time span of the transit observations. This result supports formation theories that predict a paucity of planetary companions to hot Jupiters.

The three-dimensional structure of an active region filament is studied using nonlinear force-free field extrapolations based on simultaneous observations at a photospheric and a chromospheric height. To that end, we used the Si i 10827 Å line and the He i 10830 Å triplet obtained with the Tenerife Infrared Polarimeter at the Vacuum Tower Telescope (Tenerife). The two extrapolations have been carried out independently from each other and their respective spatial domains overlap in a considerable height range. This opens up new possibilities for diagnostics in addition to the usual ones obtained through a single extrapolation from, typically, a photospheric layer. Among those possibilities, this method allows the determination of an average formation height of the He i 10830 Å signal of ≈2 Mm above the surface of the Sun. It allows, as well, a cross-check of the obtained three-dimensional magnetic structures to verify a possible deviation from the force-free condition, especially at the photosphere. The extrapolations yield a filament formed by a twisted flux rope whose axis is located at about 1.4 Mm above the solar surface. The twisted field lines make slightly more than one turn along the filament within our field of view, which results in 0.055 turns Mm⁻¹. The convex part of the field lines (as seen from the solar surface) constitutes dips where the plasma can naturally be supported. The obtained three-dimensional magnetic structure of the filament depends on the choice of the observed horizontal magnetic field as determined from the 180° solution of the azimuth. We derive a method to check for the correctness of the selected 180° ambiguity solution.

Interfaces between hot and cold magnetized plasmas exist in various astrophysical contexts, for example, where hot outflows impinge on an ambient interstellar medium. It is of interest to understand how the structure of the magnetic field spanning the interface affects the temporal evolution of the temperature gradient. Here, we explore the relation between the magnetic field topology and the heat transfer rate by adding various fractions of tangled versus ordered field across a hot–cold interface that allows the system to evolve to a steady state. We find a simple mathematical relation for the rate of heat conduction as a function of the initial ratio of ordered-to-tangled field across the interface. We discuss potential implications for the astrophysical context of magnetized wind blown bubbles around evolved stars.

Giant molecular clouds contain supersonic turbulence and simulations of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence show that these supersonic motions decay in roughly a crossing time, which is less than the estimated lifetimes of molecular clouds. Such a situation requires a significant release of energy. We run models of C-type shocks propagating into gas with densities around 10³ cm⁻³ at velocities of a few km s⁻¹, appropriate for the ambient conditions inside of a molecular cloud, to determine which species and transitions dominate the cooling and radiative energy release associated with shock cooling of turbulent molecular clouds. We find that these shocks dissipate their energy primarily through CO rotational transitions and by compressing pre-existing magnetic fields. We present model spectra for these shocks, and by combining these models with estimates for the rate of turbulent energy dissipation, we show that shock emission should dominate over emission from unshocked gas for mid to high rotational transitions (J > 5) of CO. We also find that the turbulent energy dissipation rate is roughly equivalent to the cosmic-ray heating rate and that the ambipolar diffusion heating rate may be significant, especially in shocked gas.

We present X-ray observations of the new transient magnetar Swift J1834.9−0846, discovered with the Swift Burst Alert Telescope on 2011 August 7. The data were obtained with Swift, Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), CXO, and XMM-Newton both before and after the outburst. Timing analysis reveals single peak pulsations with a period of 2.4823 s and an unusually high pulsed fraction, 85% ± 10%. Using the RXTE and CXO data, we estimated the period derivative, $\dot{P}=8\times 10^{-12}$ s s⁻¹, and confirmed the high magnetic field of the source, B = 1.4 × 10¹⁴ G. The decay of the persistent X-ray flux, spanning 48 days, is consistent with a power law, F∝t^−0.5. In the CXO/Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer image, we find that the highly absorbed point source is surrounded by extended emission, which most likely is a dust scattering halo. Swift J1834.9−0846 is located near the center of the radio supernova remnant W41 and TeV source HESS J1834−087. An association with W41 would imply a source distance of about 4 kpc; however, any relation to the HESS source remains unclear, given the presence of several other candidate counterparts for the latter source in the field. Our search for an IR counterpart of Swift J1834.9−0846 revealed no source down to K_s ∼ 19.5 within the 06 CXO error circle.

The existence of primordial magnetic fields can induce matter perturbations with additional power at small scales as compared to the usual ΛCDM model. We study its implication within the context of a two-point shear correlation function from gravitational lensing. We show that a primordial magnetic field can leave its imprints on the shear correlation function at angular scales ≲  a few arcminutes. The results are compared with CFHTLS data, which yield some of the strongest known constraints on the parameters (strength and spectral index) of the primordial magnetic field. We also discuss the possibility of detecting sub-nano Gauss fields using future missions such as SNAP.

Accurate values for the intensity and polarization of light reflected and transmitted by optically thick Rayleigh scattering atmospheres with a Lambert surface underneath are presented. A recently reported new method for solving integral equations describing Chandrasekhar's X- and Y-functions is used. The results have been validated using various tests and techniques, including the doubling–adding method, and are accurate to within one unit in the eighth decimal place. Tables are stored electronically and expected to be useful as benchmark results for the (exo)planetary science and astrophysics communities. Asymptotic expressions to obtain Stokes parameters for a thick layer from those of a semi-infinite atmosphere are also provided.

The halos of galaxies preserve unique records of their formation histories. We carry out the first combined observational and theoretical study of phase-space halo substructure in an early-type galaxy: M87, the central galaxy in the Virgo cluster. We analyze an unprecedented wide-field, high-precision photometric and spectroscopic data set for 488 globular clusters (GCs), which includes new, large-radius Subaru/Suprime-Cam and Keck/DEIMOS observations. We find signatures of two substructures in position–velocity phase space. One is a small, cold stream associated with a known stellar filament in the outer halo; the other is a large shell-like pattern in the inner halo that implies a massive, hitherto unrecognized accretion event. We perform extensive statistical tests and independent metallicity analyses to verify the presence and characterize the properties of these features, and to provide more general methodologies for future extragalactic studies of phase-space substructure. The cold outer stream is consistent with a dwarf galaxy accretion event, while for the inner shell there is tension between a low progenitor mass implied by the cold velocity dispersion, and a high mass from the large number of GCs, which might be resolved by a ∼0.5 L* E/S0 progenitor. We also carry out proof-of-principle numerical simulations of the accretion of smaller galaxies in an M87-like gravitational potential. These produce analogous features to the observed substructures, which should have observable lifetimes of ∼1 Gyr. The shell and stream GCs together support a scenario where the extended stellar envelope of M87 has been built up by a steady rain of material that continues until the present day. This phase-space method demonstrates unique potential for detailed tests of galaxy formation beyond the Local Group.

With adaptive optics imaging at Keck observatory, we have discovered a substellar companion to the F6 Pleiades star HD 23514, one of the dustiest main-sequence stars known to date (L_IR/L_* ∼ 2%). This is one of the first brown dwarfs discovered as a companion to a star in the Pleiades. The 0.06 M_☉ late-M secondary has a projected separation of ∼360 AU. The scarcity of substellar companions to stellar primaries in the Pleiades combined with the extremely dusty environment make this a unique system to study.

The Chandra Multi-wavelength Plane (ChaMPlane) survey aims to constrain the Galactic population of mainly accretion-powered, but also coronal, low-luminosity X-ray sources (L_X ≲ 10³³ erg s⁻¹). To investigate the X-ray source content in the plane at fluxes F_X ≳ 3 × 10⁻¹⁴ erg s⁻¹ cm⁻², we study 21 of the brightest ChaMPlane sources, viz., those with >250 net counts (0.3–8 keV). By excluding the heavily obscured central part of the plane, our optical/near-infrared follow-up puts useful constraints on their nature. We have discovered two likely accreting white dwarf binaries. CXOPS J154305.5–522709 (CBS 7) is a cataclysmic variable showing periodic X-ray flux modulations on 1.2 hr and 2.4 hr; given its hard spectrum the system is likely magnetic. We identify CXOPS J175900.8–334548 (CBS 17) with a late-type giant; if the X-rays are indeed accretion powered, it belongs to the small but growing class of symbiotic binaries lacking strong optical nebular emission lines. CXOPS J171340.5–395213 (CBS 14) is an X-ray transient that brightened ≳100 times. We tentatively classify it as a very late type (>M7) dwarf, of which few have been detected in X-rays. The remaining sources are (candidate) active galaxies, normal stars and active binaries, and a plausible young T Tauri star. The derived cumulative number density versus flux (log N–log S) relation for the Galactic sources appears flatter than expected for an isotropic distribution, indicating that we are seeing a non-local sample of mostly coronal sources. Our findings define source templates that we can use, in part, to classify the >10⁴ fainter sources in ChaMPlane.

We present a multi-object optical spectroscopy follow-up study of X-ray sources in a field along the Galactic plane (l = 32742, b = 226) which is part of the Chandra Multi-wavelength Plane survey (ChaMPlane). We obtained spectra for 46 stars, including 15 likely counterparts to X-ray sources, and sources showing an Hα color excess. This has led to the identification of a new cataclysmic variable (CV), CXOPS J154305.5-522709, also named ChaMPlane Bright Source 7 (CBS 7), and we identified eight X-ray sources in the field as active late-type stars. CBS 7 was previously studied in X-rays and showed a hard spectrum and two periods: 1.22 ± 0.08 hr and 2.43 ± 0.26 hr. We present here clear evidence that the source is a CV through the detection of H, He i, and He ii emission lines in its optical spectrum. The hard X-ray spectrum and the presence of the He ii λ4686 in emission with a large equivalent width suggest a magnetic CV. The near-infrared counterpart is significantly variable, and we found a period consistent with the longest X-ray period at 2.39 ± 0.05 hr but not the shortest X-ray period. If this period is the orbital period, this would place the system in the CV period gap. The possible orbital period suggests a dM4 ± 1 companion star. The distance is then estimated to be ∼1 kpc. The system could be a relatively hard and X-ray luminous polar or an intermediate polar, possibly nearly synchronous.

We present the analysis of a pair of unusually energetic coronal hard X-ray (HXR) sources detected by the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager during the impulsive phase of an X3.9 class solar flare on 2003 November 3, which simultaneously shows two intense footpoint (FP) sources. A distinct loop top (LT) coronal source is detected up to ∼150 keV and a second (upper) coronal source up to ∼80 keV. These photon energies, which were not fully investigated in earlier analysis of this flare, are much higher than commonly observed in coronal sources and pose grave modeling challenges. The LT source in general appears higher in altitude with increasing energy and exhibits a more limited motion compared to the expansion of the thermal loop. The high-energy LT source shows an impulsive time profile and its nonthermal power-law spectrum exhibits soft–hard–soft evolution during the impulsive phase, similar to the FP sources. The upper coronal source exhibits an opposite spatial gradient and a similar spectral slope compared to the LT source. These properties are consistent with the model of stochastic acceleration of electrons by plasma waves or turbulence. However, the LT and FP spectral index difference (varying from ∼0 to 1) is much smaller than commonly measured and than that expected from a simple stochastic acceleration model. Additional confinement or trapping mechanisms of high-energy electrons in the corona are required. Comprehensive modeling including both kinetic effects and the macroscopic flare structure may shed light on this behavior. These results highlight the importance of imaging spectroscopic observations of the LT and FP sources up to high energies in understanding electron acceleration in solar flares. Finally, we show that the electrons producing the upper coronal HXR source may very likely be responsible for the type III radio bursts at the decimetric/metric wavelength observed during the impulsive phase of this flare.

Recent observations of Sgr A* by Fermi and HESS have detected steady γ-ray emission in the GeV and TeV bands. We present a new model to explain the GeV γ-ray emission by inverse Compton scattering by nonthermal electrons supplied by the NIR/X-ray flares of Sgr A*. The escaping electrons from the flare regions accumulate in a region with a size of ∼10¹⁸ cm and magnetic fields of ≲ 10⁻⁴ G. Those electrons produce γ-rays by inverse Compton scattering off soft photons emitted by stars and dust around the central black hole. By fitting the GeV spectrum, we find constraints on the magnetic field and the energy density of optical-UV radiation in the central 1 pc region around the supermassive black hole. While the GeV spectrum is well fitted by our model, the TeV γ-rays, whose spectral index is different from that of the GeV emission, may be from different sources such as pulsar wind nebulae.

In this paper, we present a model for the long-term evolution of the merger of two unequal mass C/O white dwarfs (WDs). After the dynamical phase of the merger, magnetic stresses rapidly redistribute angular momentum, leading to nearly solid-body rotation on a viscous timescale of 10⁻⁴–1 yr, long before significant cooling can occur. Due to heating during the dynamical and viscous phases, the less massive WD is transformed into a hot, slowly rotating, and radially extended envelope supported by thermal pressure. Following the viscous phase of evolution, the maximum temperature near the envelope base may already be high enough to begin off-center convective carbon burning. If not, Kelvin–Helmholtz contraction of the inner region of the envelope on a thermal timescale of 10³–10⁴ yr compresses the base of the envelope, again yielding off-center burning. As a result, the long-term evolution of the merger remnant is similar to that seen in previous calculations: the burning shell diffuses inward over ∼10⁴ yr, eventually yielding a high-mass O/Ne WD or a collapse to a neutron star, rather than a Type Ia supernova. During the cooling and shell-burning phases, the merger remnant radiates near the Eddington limit. Given the double WD merger rate of a few per 1000 yr, a few dozen of these ∼10³⁸ erg s⁻¹ sources should exist in a Milky Way type galaxy. While the end result is similar to that of previous studies, the physical picture and the dynamical state of the matter in our model differ from previous work. Furthermore, substantial remaining uncertainties related to the convective structure near the photosphere and mass loss during the thermal evolution may significantly affect our conclusions. Thus, future work within the context of the physical model presented here is required to better address the eventual fate of double WD mergers, including those for which one or both of the components is a He WD.

We present continued radio observations of the tidal disruption event Swift J164449.3+573451 extending to δt ≈ 216 days after discovery. The data were obtained with the EVLA, AMI Large Array, CARMA, the SMA, and the VLBA+Effelsberg as part of a long-term program to monitor the expansion and energy scale of the relativistic outflow, and to trace the parsec-scale environment around a previously dormant supermassive black hole (SMBH). The new observations reveal a significant change in the radio evolution starting at δt ≈ 1 month, with a brightening at all frequencies that requires an increase in the energy by about an order of magnitude, and an overall density profile around the SMBH of ρ∝r^−3/2 (0.1–1.2 pc) with a significant flattening at r ≈ 0.4–0.6 pc. The increase in energy cannot be explained with continuous injection from an L∝t^−5/3 tail, which is observed in the X-rays. Instead, we conclude that the relativistic jet was launched with a wide range of Lorentz factors, obeying E(> Γ_j)∝Γ^−2.5_j. The similar ratios of duration to dynamical timescale for Sw 1644+57 and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) suggest that this result may be applicable to GRB jets as well. The radial density profile may be indicative of Bondi accretion, with the inferred flattening at r ∼ 0.5 pc in good agreement with the Bondi radius for a ∼few × 10⁶M_☉ black hole. The density at ∼0.5 pc is about a factor of 30 times lower than inferred for the Milky Way Galactic Center, potentially due to a smaller number of mass-shedding massive stars. From our latest observations (δt ≈ 216 days) we find that the jet energy is E_{j, iso} ≈ 5 × 10⁵³ erg (E_j ≈ 2.4 × 10⁵¹ erg for θ_j = 0.1), the radius is r ≈ 1.2 pc, the Lorentz factor is Γ_j ≈ 2.2, the ambient density is n ≈ 0.2 cm⁻³, and the projected angular size is r_proj ≈ 25 μas, below the resolution of the VLBA+Effelsberg. Assuming no future changes in the observed evolution and a final integrated total energy of E_j ≈ 10⁵² erg, we predict that the radio emission from Sw 1644+57 should be detectable with the EVLA for several decades and will be resolvable with very long baseline interferometry in a few years.

Using the Herschel Space Observatory's Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared, we have observed para-chloronium (H₂Cl⁺) toward six sources in the Galaxy. We detected interstellar chloronium absorption in foreground molecular clouds along the sight lines to the bright submillimeter continuum sources Sgr A (+50 km s⁻¹ cloud) and W31C. Both the para-H³⁵₂Cl⁺ and para-H³⁷₂Cl⁺ isotopologues were detected, through observations of their 1₁₁–0₀₀ transitions at rest frequencies of 485.42 and 484.23 GHz, respectively. For an assumed ortho-to-para ratio (OPR) of 3, the observed optical depths imply that chloronium accounts for ∼4%–12% of chlorine nuclei in the gas phase. We detected interstellar chloronium emission from two sources in the Orion Molecular Cloud 1: the Orion Bar photodissociation region and the Orion South condensation. For an assumed OPR of 3 for chloronium, the observed emission line fluxes imply total beam-averaged column densities of ∼2 × 10¹³ cm⁻² and ∼1.2 × 10¹³ cm⁻², respectively, for chloronium in these two sources. We obtained upper limits on the para-H³⁵₂Cl⁺ line strengths toward H₂ Peak 1 in the Orion Molecular cloud and toward the massive young star AFGL 2591. The chloronium abundances inferred in this study are typically at least a factor ∼10 larger than the predictions of steady-state theoretical models for the chemistry of interstellar molecules containing chlorine. Several explanations for this discrepancy were investigated, but none has proven satisfactory, and thus the large observed abundances of chloronium remain puzzling.

The existence of asymmetries in the circular polarization (Stokes V) profiles emerging from the solar photosphere has been known since the 1970s. These profiles require the presence of a velocity gradient along the line of sight (LOS), possibly associated with gradients of magnetic field strength, inclination, and/or azimuth. We have focused our study on the Stokes V profiles showing extreme asymmetry in the form of only one lobe. Using Hinode spectropolarimetric measurements, we have performed a statistical study of the properties of these profiles in the quiet Sun. We show their spatial distribution, their main physical properties, how they are related with several physical observables, and their behavior with respect to their position on the solar disk. The single-lobed Stokes V profiles occupy roughly 2% of the solar surface. For the first time, we have observed their temporal evolution and have retrieved the physical conditions of the atmospheres from which they emerged using an inversion code implementing discontinuities of the atmospheric parameters along the LOS. In addition, we use synthetic Stokes profiles from three-dimensional magnetoconvection simulations to complement the results of the inversion. The main features of the synthetic single-lobed profiles are in general agreement with the observed ones, lending support to the magnetic and dynamic topologies inferred from the inversion. The combination of all these different analyses suggests that most of the single-lobed Stokes V profiles are signals coming from the magnetic flux emergence and/or submergence processes taking place in small patches in the photosphere of the quiet Sun.

We search for a direction in the sky that exhibits parity symmetry under reflections through a plane. We use the natural estimator, which compares the power in even and odd ℓ + m multipoles, and apply minimal blind masking of outliers to the Internal Linear Combination map in order to avoid large errors in the reconstruction of multipoles. The multipoles of the cut sky are calculated both naively and by using the covariance inversion method, and we estimate the significance of our results using ΛCDM simulations. Focusing on low multipoles, 2 ⩽ ℓ ⩽ ℓ_max with ℓ_max = 5, 6, or even 7, we find two perpendicular directions of even and odd parity in the map. While the even parity direction does not appear significant, the odd direction is quite significant—at least a 3.6σ effect.

We estimate the total dust input from the cool evolved stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud, using the 8 μm excess emission as a proxy for the dust-production rate (DPR). We find that asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and red supergiant (RSG) stars produce (8.6–9.5) × 10⁻⁷ M_☉ yr⁻¹ of dust, depending on the fraction of far-infrared sources that belong to the evolved star population (with 10%–50% uncertainty in individual DPRs). RSGs contribute the least (<4%), while carbon-rich AGB stars (especially the so-called extreme AGB stars) account for 87%–89% of the total dust input from cool evolved stars. We also estimate the dust input from hot stars and supernovae (SNe), and find that if SNe produce 10⁻³ M_☉ of dust each, then the total SN dust input and AGB input are roughly equivalent. We consider several scenarios of SN dust production and destruction and find that the interstellar medium (ISM) dust can be accounted for solely by stellar sources if all SNe produce dust in the quantities seen around the dustiest examples and if most SNe explode in dense regions where much of the ISM dust is shielded from the shocks. We find that AGB stars contribute only 2.1% of the ISM dust. Without a net positive contribution from SNe to the dust budget, this suggests that dust must grow in the ISM or be formed by another unknown mechanism.

We study the thermal evolution of super-Earths with a one-dimensional (1D) parameterized convection model that has been adopted to account for a strong pressure dependence of the viscosity. A comparison with a 2D spherical convection model shows that the derived parameterization satisfactorily represents the main characteristics of the thermal evolution of massive rocky planets. We find that the pressure dependence of the viscosity strongly influences the thermal evolution of super-Earths—resulting in a highly sluggish convection regime in the lower mantles of those planets. Depending on the effective activation volume and for cooler initial conditions, we observe with growing planetary mass even the formation of a conductive lid above the core-mantle boundary (CMB), a so-called CMB-lid. For initially molten planets our results suggest no CMB-lids but instead a hot lower mantle and core as well as sluggish lower mantle convection. This implies that the initial interior temperatures, especially in the lower mantle, become crucial for the thermal evolution—the thermostat effect suggested to regulate the interior temperatures in terrestrial planets does not work for massive planets if the viscosity is strongly pressure dependent. The sluggish convection and the potential formation of the CMB-lid reduce the convective vigor throughout the mantle, thereby affecting convective stresses, lithospheric thicknesses, and heat fluxes. The pressure dependence of the viscosity may therefore also strongly affect the propensity of plate tectonics, volcanic activity, and the generation of a magnetic field of super-Earths.

The issue of which stars may reach the conditions of electron/positron pair-formation instability is of importance to understand the final evolution both of the first stars and of contemporary stars. The criterion to enter the pair-instability regime in density and temperature is basically controlled by the mass of the oxygen core. The main-sequence masses that produce a given oxygen core mass are, in turn, dependent on metallicity, mass loss, and convective and rotationally induced mixing. We examine the evolution of massive stars to determine the minimum main-sequence mass that can encounter pair-instability effects, either a pulsational pair-instability supernova (PPISN) or a full-fledged pair-instability supernova (PISN). We concentrate on zero-metallicity stars with no mass-loss subject to the Schwarzschild criterion for convective instability, but also explore solar metallicity and mass loss and the Ledoux criterion. As expected, for sufficiently strong rotationally induced mixing, the minimum main-sequence mass is encountered for conditions that induce effectively homogeneous evolution such that the original mass is converted almost entirely to helium and then to oxygen. For this case, we find that the minimum main-sequence mass is about 40 M_☉ to encounter PPISN and about 65 M_☉ to encounter a PISN. The implications of these results for the first stars and for contemporary supernovae are discussed.

Classical nova events in symbiotic stars, although rare, offer a unique opportunity to probe the interaction between ejecta and a dense environment in stellar explosions. In this work, we use X-ray data obtained with Swift and Suzaku during the recent classical nova outburst in V407 Cyg to explore such an interaction. We find evidence of both equilibrium and non-equilibrium ionization plasmas at the time of peak X-ray brightness, indicating a strong asymmetry in the density of the emitting region. Comparing a simple model to the data, we find that the X-ray evolution is broadly consistent with nova ejecta driving a forward shock into the dense wind of the Mira companion. We detect a highly absorbed soft X-ray component in the spectrum during the first 50 days of the outburst that is consistent with supersoft emission from the nuclear burning white dwarf. The high temperature and short turnoff time of this emission component, in addition to the observed breaks in the optical and UV light curves, indicate that the white dwarf in the binary is extremely massive. Finally, we explore the connections between the X-ray and GeV γ-ray evolution, and propose that the gamma-ray turnoff is due to the stalling of the forward shock as the ejecta reach the red giant surface.

We present a study on GRB 071112C X-ray and optical light curves. In these two wavelength ranges, we have found different temporal properties. The R-band light curve showed an initial rise followed by a single power-law decay, while the X-ray light curve was described by a single power-law decay plus a flare-like feature. Our analysis shows that the observed temporal evolution cannot be described by the external shock model in which the X-ray and optical emission are produced by the same emission mechanism. No significant color changes in multi-band light curves and a reasonable value of the initial Lorentz factor (Γ₀ = 275 ± 20) in a uniform interstellar medium support the afterglow onset scenario as the correct interpretation for the early R band rise. The result suggests that the optical flux is dominated by afterglow. Our further investigations show that the X-ray flux could be created by an additional feature related to energy injection and X-ray afterglow. Different theoretical interpretations indicate the additional feature in X-ray can be explained by either late internal dissipation or local inverse-Compton scattering in the external shock.

Galaxy clusters, the most massive collapsed structures, have been routinely used to determine cosmological parameters. When using clusters for cosmology, the crucial assumption is that they are relaxed. However, subarcminute resolution Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (SZ) effect images compared with high-resolution X-ray images of some clusters show significant offsets between the two peaks. We have carried out self-consistent N-body/hydrodynamical simulations of merging galaxy clusters using FLASH to study these offsets quantitatively. We have found that significant displacements result between the SZ and X-ray peaks for large relative velocities for all masses used in our simulations as long as the impact parameters were about 100–250 kpc. Our results suggest that the SZ peak coincides with the peak in the pressure times the line-of-sight characteristic length and not the pressure maximum (as it would for clusters in equilibrium). The peak in the X-ray emission, as expected, coincides with the density maximum of the main cluster. As a consequence, the morphology of the SZ signal, and therefore the offset between the SZ and X-ray peaks, change with viewing angle. As an application, we compare the morphologies of our simulated images to observed SZ and X-ray images and mass surface densities derived from weak-lensing observations of the merging galaxy cluster CL0152-1357, we find that a large relative velocity of 4800 km s⁻¹ is necessary to explain the observations. We conclude that an analysis of the morphologies of multi-frequency observations of merging clusters can be used to put meaningful constraints on the initial parameters of the progenitors.

We present the results of five years (2005–2009) of MAGIC observations of the BL Lac object PG 1553+113 at very high energies (VHEs; E > 100 GeV). Power-law fits of the individual years are compatible with a steady mean photon index Γ = 4.27 ± 0.14. In the last three years of data, the flux level above 150 GeV shows a clear variability (probability of constant flux < 0.001%). The flux variations are modest, lying in the range from 4% to 11% of the Crab Nebula flux. Simultaneous optical data also show only modest variability that seems to be correlated with VHE gamma-ray variability. We also performed a temporal analysis of (all available) simultaneous Fermi/Large Area Telescope data of PG 1553+113 above 1 GeV, which reveals hints of variability in the 2008–2009 sample. Finally, we present a combination of the mean spectrum measured at VHEs with archival data available for other wavelengths. The mean spectral energy distribution can be modeled with a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton model, which gives the main physical parameters governing the VHE emission in the blazar jet.

Using high spatial resolution Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys imaging of resolved stellar populations, we constrain the contribution of thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) stars and red helium burning (RHeB) stars to the 1.6 μm near-infrared (NIR) luminosities of 23 nearby galaxies, including dwarfs and spirals. The TP-AGB phase contributes as much as 17% of the integrated F160W flux, even when the red giant branch is well populated. The RHeB population contribution can match or even exceed the TP-AGB contribution, providing as much as 21% (18% after a statistical correction for foreground) of the integrated F160W light. We estimate that these two short-lived phases may account for up to 70% of the rest-frame NIR flux at higher redshift. The NIR mass-to-light (M/L) ratio should therefore be expected to vary significantly due to fluctuations in the star formation rate (SFR) over timescales from 25 Myr to several Gyr, an effect that may be responsible for some of the lingering scatter in NIR galaxy scaling relations such as the Tully–Fisher and metallicity–luminosity relations. We compare our observational results to predictions based on optically derived star formation histories and stellar population synthesis (SPS) models, including models based on the 2008 Padova isochrones (used in popular SPS programs) and the updated 2010 Padova isochrones, which shorten the lifetimes of low-mass (old) low-metallicity TP-AGB populations. The updated (2010) SPS models generally reproduce the expected numbers of TP-AGB stars in the sample; indeed, for 65% of the galaxies, the discrepancy between modeled and observed numbers is smaller than the measurement uncertainties. The weighted mean model/data number ratio for TP-AGB stars is 1.5 (1.4 with outliers removed) with a standard deviation of 0.5. The same SPS models, however, give a larger discrepancy in the F160W flux contribution from the TP-AGB stars, overpredicting the flux by a weighted mean factor of 2.3 (2.2 with outliers removed) with a standard deviation of 0.8. This larger offset is driven by the prediction of modest numbers of high-luminosity TP-AGB stars at young (<300 Myr) ages. The best-fit SPS models simultaneously tend to underpredict the numbers and fluxes of stars on the RHeB sequence, typically by a factor of 2.0 ± 0.6 for galaxies with significant numbers of RHeBs. Possible explanations for both the TP-AGB and RHeB model results include (1) difficulties with measuring the SFHs of galaxies especially on the short timescales over which these stars evolve (several Myr), (2) issues with the way the SPS codes populate the color–magnitude diagrams (e.g., how they handle pulsations or self-extinction), and/or (3) lingering issues with the lifetimes of these stars in the stellar evolution codes. Coincidentally these two competing discrepancies—overprediction of the TP-AGB and underprediction of the RHeBs—result in a predicted NIR M/L ratio largely unchanged for a rapid SFR, after correcting for these effects. However, the NIR-to-optical flux ratio of galaxies could be significantly smaller than AGB-rich models would predict, an outcome that has been observed in some intermediate-redshift post-starburst galaxies.

We study the influence of cluster environment on the chemical evolution of spiral galaxies in the Pegasus I cluster. We determine the gas-phase heavy element abundances of six galaxies in Pegasus derived from H ii region spectra obtained from integral-field spectroscopy. These abundances are analyzed in the context of Virgo, whose spirals are known to show increasing interstellar metallicity as a function of H i deficiency. The galaxies in the Pegasus cluster, despite its lower density and velocity dispersion, also display gas loss due to interstellar-medium–intracluster-medium interaction, albeit to a lesser degree. Based on the abundances of three H i deficient spirals and two H i normal spirals, we observe a heavy element abundance offset of +0.13 ± 0.07 dex for the H i deficient galaxies. This abundance differential is consistent with the differential observed in Virgo for galaxies with a similar H i deficiency, and we observe a correlation between log (O/H) and the H i deficiency parameter DEF for the two clusters analyzed together. Our results suggest that similar environmental mechanisms are driving the heavy element enhancement in both clusters.

We report on optical spectroscopy of 165 flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) in the Fermi 1LAC sample, which have helped allow a nearly complete study of this population. Fermi FSRQs show significant evidence for non-thermal emission even in the optical; the degree depends on the γ-ray hardness. They also have smaller virial estimates of hole mass than the optical quasar sample. This appears to be largely due to a preferred (axial) view of the γ-ray FSRQ and non-isotropic (H/R ∼ 0.4) distribution of broad-line velocities. Even after correction for this bias, the Fermi FSRQs show higher mean Eddington ratios than the optical population. A comparison of optical spectral properties with Owens Valley Radio Observatory radio flare activity shows no strong correlation.

We use the new 4 Ms exposure of the Chandra Deep Field-South (CDF-S) field obtained with the Chandra X-ray satellite to investigate the properties of the faintest X-ray sources over a wide range of redshifts. We use an optimized averaging procedure to investigate the weighted mean X-ray fluxes of optically selected sources in the CDF-S over the redshift range z = 0–8 and down to 0.5–2 keV fluxes as low as 5 × 10⁻¹⁹ erg cm⁻² s⁻¹. None of the samples of sources at high redshifts (z > 5) show any significant flux, and at z = 6.5 we place an upper limit on the X-ray luminosity of 4 × 10⁴¹ erg s⁻¹ in the rest-frame 3.75–15 keV band for the sample of Bouwens et al. This is consistent with any X-ray production in the galaxies being solely due to star formation. At lower redshifts, we find significant weighted mean X-ray fluxes in many samples of sources over the redshift range z = 0–4. We use these to argue that (1) the relation between star formation and X-ray production remains invariant over this redshift range, (2) X-ray sources below the direct detection threshold in the CDF-S are primarily star forming, and (3) there is full consistency between UV and X-ray estimations of the star formation history.

At large magnetic Reynolds numbers, magnetic helicity evolution plays an important role in astrophysical large-scale dynamos. The recognition of this fact led to the development of the dynamical α quenching formalism, which predicts catastrophically low mean fields in open systems. Here, we show that in oscillatory αΩ dynamos this formalism predicts an unphysical magnetic helicity transfer between scales. An alternative technique is proposed where this artifact is removed by using the evolution equation for the magnetic helicity of the total field in the shearing advective gauge. In the traditional dynamical α quenching formalism, this can be described by an additional magnetic helicity flux of small-scale fields that does not appear in homogeneous α² dynamos. In αΩ dynamos, the alternative formalism is shown to lead to larger saturation fields than what has been obtained in some earlier models with the traditional formalism. We have compared the predictions of the two formalisms to results of direct numerical simulations, finding that the alternative formulation provides a better fit. This suggests that worries about catastrophic dynamo behavior in the limit of large magnetic Reynolds number are unfounded.

The abundance of iron is measured from emission line complexes at 6.65 keV (Fe line) and 8 keV (Fe/Ni line) in RHESSI X-ray spectra during solar flares. Spectra during long-duration flares with steady declines were selected, with an isothermal assumption and improved data analysis methods over previous work. Two spectral fitting models give comparable results, viz., an iron abundance that is lower than previous coronal values but higher than photospheric values. In the preferred method, the estimated Fe abundance is A(Fe) = 7.91 ± 0.10 (on a logarithmic scale, with A(H) = 12) or 2.6 ± 0.6 times the photospheric Fe abundance. Our estimate is based on a detailed analysis of 1898 spectra taken during 20 flares. No variation from flare to flare is indicated. This argues for a fractionation mechanism similar to quiet-Sun plasma. The new value of A(Fe) has important implications for radiation loss curves, which are estimated.

The emergence process of the magnetic field into the solar atmosphere plays an essential role in determining the configuration of the magnetic field and its activity on the Sun. This paper focuses on how much the magnetic flux contained by a flux tube emerges into the solar atmosphere, which is the key to understanding the physical mechanism of solar eruptions. By comparing a kinematic model of an emerging flux tube to a series of magnetohydrodynamic simulations, we derive the characteristics of the emergence process, showing how the process depends on the pre-emerged state of the magnetic field such as the radius of a flux tube, field strength, field-line twist, and wavelength of undulation assumed by the flux tube. We also discuss the relationship between magnetic configurations and their stability on the Sun.

We study the detailed structure of galaxies at redshifts z ⩾ 2 using cosmological simulations with improved modeling of the interstellar medium and star formation. The simulations follow the formation and dissociation of molecular hydrogen and include star formation only in cold molecular gas. The molecular gas is more concentrated toward the center of galaxies than the atomic gas, and as a consequence, the resulting stellar distribution is very compact. For halos with total mass above 10¹¹ M_☉, the median half-mass radius of the stellar disks is 0.8 kpc at z ≈ 3. The vertical structure of the molecular disk is much thinner than that of the atomic neutral gas. Relative to the non-radiative run, the inner regions of the dark matter halo change shape from prolate to mildly oblate and align with the stellar disk. However, we do not find evidence for a significant fast-rotating "dark disk" of dark matter around the stellar disk. The outer halo regions retain the orientation acquired during accretion and mergers and are significantly misaligned with the inner regions. The radial profile of the dark matter halo contracts in response to baryon dissipation, establishing an approximately isothermal profile throughout most of the halo. This effect can be accurately described by a modified model of halo contraction. The angular momentum of a fixed amount of inner dark matter is approximately conserved over time, while in the dissipationless case most of it is transferred outward during mergers. The conservation of the dark matter angular momentum provides supporting evidence for the validity of the halo contraction model in a hierarchical galaxy formation process.

The Keck Interferometer Nuller (KIN), the first operational separated-aperture infrared nulling interferometer, was designed to null the mid-infrared emission from nearby stars so as to ease the measurement of faint circumstellar emission. This paper describes the basis of the KIN's four-beam, two-stage measurement approach and compares it to the simpler case of a two-beam nuller. In the four-beam KIN system, the starlight is first nulled in a pair of nullers operating on parallel 85 m Keck–Keck baselines, after which "cross-combination" on 4 m baselines across the Keck apertures is used to modulate and detect residual coherent off-axis emission. Comparison to the constructive stellar fringe provides calibration. The response to an extended source is similar in the two cases, except that the four-beam response includes a term due to the visibility of the source on the cross-combiner baseline—a small effect for relatively compact sources. The characteristics of the dominant null depth errors are also compared for the two cases. In the two-beam nuller, instrumental imperfections and asymmetries lead to a series of quadratic, positive-definite null leakage terms. For the four-beam nuller, the leakage is instead a series of correlation cross-terms combining corresponding errors in each of the two nullers, which contribute offsets only to the extent that these errors are correlated on the timescale of the measurement. This four-beam architecture has allowed a significant (∼order of magnitude) improvement in mid-infrared long-baseline fringe-visibility accuracies.

We present the first weak gravitational lensing analysis of the completed Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS). We study the 64 deg² W1 field, the largest of the CFHTLS-Wide survey fields, and present the largest contiguous weak lensing convergence "mass map" yet made. 2.66 million galaxy shapes are measured, using the Kaiser Squires and Broadhurst Method (KSB) pipeline verified against high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope imaging that covers part of the CFHTLS. Our i'-band measurements are also consistent with an analysis of independent r'-band imaging. The reconstructed lensing convergence map contains 301 peaks with signal-to-noise ratio ν > 3.5, consistent with predictions of a ΛCDM model. Of these peaks, 126 lie within 30 of a brightest central galaxy identified from multicolor optical imaging in an independent, red sequence survey. We also identify seven counterparts for massive clusters previously seen in X-ray emission within 6 deg² XMM-LSS survey. With photometric redshift estimates for the source galaxies, we use a tomographic lensing method to fit the redshift and mass of each convergence peak. Matching these to the optical observations, we confirm 85 groups/clusters with χ²_reduced < 3.0, at a mean redshift 〈z_c〉 = 0.36 and velocity dispersion 〈σ_c〉 = 658.8 km s⁻¹. Future surveys, such as DES, LSST, KDUST, and EUCLID, will be able to apply these techniques to map clusters in much larger volumes and thus tightly constrain cosmological models.

A logarithmic transform of the convergence field improves "the information content," i.e., the overall precision associated with the measurement of the amplitude of the convergence power spectrum, by improving the covariance matrix properties. The translation of this improvement in the information content to that in cosmological parameters, such as those associated with dark energy, requires knowing the sensitivity of the log-transformed field to those cosmological parameters. In this paper, we use N-body simulations with ray tracing to generate convergence fields at multiple source redshifts as a function of cosmology. The gain in information associated with the log-transformed field does lead to tighter constraints on dark energy parameters, but only if shape noise is neglected. The presence of shape noise quickly diminishes the advantage of the log-mapping, more quickly than we would expect based on the information content. With or without shape noise, using a larger pixel size allows for a more efficient log-transformation.

We present the first rates of flares from M dwarf stars in both red optical and near-infrared (NIR) filters. We have studied ∼50,000 M dwarfs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82 area and 1321 M dwarfs from the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) Calibration Scan Point Source Working Database that overlap SDSS imaging fields. We assign photometric spectral types from M0 to M6 using (r − i) and (i − z) colors for every star in our sample. Stripe 82 stars each have 50–100 epochs of data, while 2MASS Calibration stars have ∼1900 epochs. From these data we estimate the observed rates and theoretical detection thresholds for flares in eight photometric bands as a function of spectral type. Optical flare rates are found to be in agreement with previous studies, while the frequency per hour of NIR flare detections is found to be more than two orders of magnitude lower. An excess of small-amplitude flux increases in all bands exhibits a power-law distribution, which we interpret as the result of flares below our detection thresholds. In order to investigate the recovery efficiency for flares in each filter, we extend a two-component flare model into the NIR. Quiescent M0–M6 spectral templates were used with the model to predict the photometric response of flares from u to K_s. We determine that red optical filters are sensitive to flares with u-band amplitudes ≳2 mag, and NIR filters to flares with Δu ≳ 4.5 mag. Our model predicts that M0 stars have the best color contrast for J-band detections, but M4–M6 stars should yield the highest rate of NIR flares with amplitudes of ΔJ ⩾ 0.01 mag. Characterizing flare rates and photometric variations at longer wavelengths is important for predicting the signatures of M dwarf variability in next-generation surveys, and we discuss their impact on surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

The Swift burst GRB 110205A was a very bright burst visible in the Northern Hemisphere. GRB 110205A was intrinsically long and very energetic and it occurred in a low-density interstellar medium environment, leading to delayed afterglow emission and a clear temporal separation of the main emitting components: prompt emission, reverse shock, and forward shock. Our observations show several remarkable features of GRB 110205A: the detection of prompt optical emission strongly correlated with the Burst Alert Telescope light curve, with no temporal lag between the two; the absence of correlation of the X-ray emission compared to the optical and high-energy gamma-ray ones during the prompt phase; and a large optical re-brightening after the end of the prompt phase, that we interpret as a signature of the reverse shock. Beyond the pedagogical value offered by the excellent multi-wavelength coverage of a gamma-ray burst with temporally separated radiating components, we discuss several questions raised by our observations: the nature of the prompt optical emission and the spectral evolution of the prompt emission at high energies (from 0.5 keV to 150 keV); the origin of an X-ray flare at the beginning of the forward shock; and the modeling of the afterglow, including the reverse shock, in the framework of the classical fireball model.

Multiscale topological complexity of the solar magnetic field is among the primary factors controlling energy release in the corona, including associated processes in the photospheric and chromospheric boundaries. We present a new approach for analyzing multiscale behavior of the photospheric magnetic flux underlying these dynamics as depicted by a sequence of high-resolution solar magnetograms. The approach involves two basic processing steps: (1) identification of timing and location of magnetic flux origin and demise events (as defined by DeForest et al.) by tracking spatiotemporal evolution of unipolar and bipolar photospheric regions, and (2) analysis of collective behavior of the detected magnetic events using a generalized version of the Grassberger–Procaccia correlation integral algorithm. The scale-free nature of the developed algorithms makes it possible to characterize the dynamics of the photospheric network across a wide range of distances and relaxation times. Three types of photospheric conditions are considered to test the method: a quiet photosphere, a solar active region (NOAA 10365) in a quiescent non-flaring state, and the same active region during a period of M-class flares. The results obtained show (1) the presence of a topologically complex asymmetrically fragmented magnetic network in the quiet photosphere driven by meso- and supergranulation, (2) the formation of non-potential magnetic structures with complex polarity separation lines inside the active region, and (3) statistical signatures of canceling bipolar magnetic structures coinciding with flaring activity in the active region. Each of these effects can represent an unstable magnetic configuration acting as an energy source for coronal dissipation and heating.

Scalar fields, strongly coupled to matter, can be present in nature and still be invisible to local experiments if they are subject to a screening mechanism. The symmetron is one such mechanism that relies on restoration of a spontaneously broken symmetry in regions of high density to shield the scalar fifth force. We have investigated structure formation in the symmetron model by using N-body simulations and find observable signatures in both the linear and nonlinear matter power spectrum and on the halo mass function. The mechanism for suppressing the scalar fifth force in high-density regions is also found to work very well.

In the context of the multiple stellar population scenario in globular clusters, helium (He) has been proposed as a key element to interpret the observed multiple main sequences, subgiant branches, and red giant branches, as well as the complex horizontal branch (HB) morphology. In particular, second-generation stars belonging to the bluer part of the HB are thought to be more He-rich (ΔY = 0.03 or more) but also more Na-rich/O-poor than those located in the redder part that should have Y equal to the cosmological value. Up to now this hypothesis was only partially confirmed in NGC 6752, where stars of the redder zero-age HB showed an He content of Y = 0.25 ± 0.01, fully compatible with the primordial He content of the universe, and were all Na-poor/O-rich. Here we study hot blue horizontal branch (BHB) stars in the GC NGC 6121 (M4) to measure their He plus O/Na content. Our goal is to complete the partial results obtained for NGC 6752, focusing our attention on targets located on the bluer part of the HB of M4. We observed six BHB stars using the VLT2/UVES spectroscopic facility. Spectra of signal-to-noise ratio ∼ 150 were obtained and the very weak He line at 5875 Å measured for all our targets. We compared this feature with synthetic spectra to obtain He abundances. In addition O, Na, and Fe abundances were estimated. Stars turned out to be all Na-rich and O-poor and to have a homogeneous He content with a mean value of Y = 0.29 ± 0.01(random) ± 0.01(systematic), which is enhanced by ΔY ∼ 0.04 with respect to the most recent measurements of the primordial He content of the universe (Y ∼ 0.24/0.25). The high He content of blue HB stars in M4 is also confirmed by the fact that they are brighter than red HB stars (RHB). Theoretical models suggest the BHB stars are He-enhanced by Δ(Y) = 0.02/0.03 with respect to the RHB stars. The whole sample of stars has a metallicity of [Fe/H] = −1.06 ± 0.02 (internal error), in agreement with other studies available in the literature. This is a rare direct measurement of the (primordial) He abundance for stars belonging to the Na-rich/O-poor population of GC stars in a temperature regime where the He content is not altered by sedimentation or extreme mixing as suggested for the hottest, late helium flash HB stars. Our results support theoretical predictions that the Na-rich/O-poor population is also more He-rich than the Na-poor/O-rich generation and that a leading contender for the second parameter is the He abundance.

An accreting massive black hole (MBH) in a galactic nucleus is surrounded by a dense stellar cluster. We analyze and simulate numerically the evolution of a thin accretion disk due to its internal viscous torques, due to the frame-dragging torques of a spinning MBH (the Bardeen–Petterson effect), and due to the orbit-averaged gravitational torques by the stars (resonant relaxation). We show that the evolution of the MBH mass accretion rate, the MBH spin growth rate, and the covering fraction of the disk relative to the central ionizing continuum source, are all strongly coupled to the stochastic fluctuations of the stellar potential via the warps that the stellar torques excite in the disk. These lead to fluctuations by factors of up to a few in these quantities over a wide range of timescales, with most of the power on timescales ≳ (M_•/M_d)P(R_d), where M_• and M_d are the masses of the MBH and disk, and P is the orbital period at the disk's mass-weighted mean radius R_d. The response of the disk is stronger the lighter it is and the more centrally concentrated the stellar cusp. As proof of concept, we simulate the evolution of the low-mass maser disk in NGC 4258 and show that its observed O(10°) warp can be driven by the stellar torques. We also show that the frame dragging of a massive active galactic nucleus disk couples the stochastic stellar torques to the MBH spin and can excite a jitter of a few degrees in its direction relative to that of the disk's outer regions.

Located at the tip of the wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), the star-forming region NGC 602/N90 is characterized by the H ii nebular ring N90 and the young cluster of pre-main-sequence (PMS) and early-type main-sequence stars NGC 602, located in the central area of the ring. We present a thorough cluster analysis of the stellar sample identified with Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys in the region. We show that apart from the central cluster low-mass PMS stars are congregated in 13 additional small, compact sub-clusters at the periphery of NGC 602, identified in terms of their higher stellar density with respect to the average background density derived from star counts. We find that the spatial distribution of the PMS stars is bimodal, with an unusually large fraction (∼60%) of the total population being clustered, while the remaining is diffusely distributed in the intercluster area, covering the whole central part of the region. From the corresponding color–magnitude diagrams we disentangle an age difference of ∼2.5 Myr between NGC 602 and the compact sub-clusters, which appear younger, on the basis of comparison of the brighter PMS stars with evolutionary models, which we accurately calculated for the metal abundance of the SMC. The diffuse PMS population appears to host stars as old as those in NGC 602. Almost all detected PMS sub-clusters appear to be centrally concentrated. When the complete PMS stellar sample, including both clustered and diffused stars, is considered in our cluster analysis, it appears as a single centrally concentrated stellar agglomeration, covering the whole central area of the region. Considering also the hot massive stars of the system, we find evidence that this agglomeration is hierarchically structured. Based on our findings, we propose a scenario according to which the region NGC 602/N90 experiences an active clustered star formation for the last ∼5 Myr. The central cluster NGC 602 was formed first and rapidly started dissolving into its immediate ambient environment, possibly ejecting also massive stars found away from its center. Star formation continued in sub-clusters of a larger stellar agglomeration, introducing an age spread of the order of 2.5 Myr among the PMS populations.

Supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) are the products of frequent galaxy mergers. The coalescence of the SMBHBs is a distinct source of gravitational wave (GW) radiation. The detections of the strong GW radiation and their possible electromagnetic counterparts are essential. Numerical relativity suggests that the post-merger supermassive black hole (SMBH) gets a kick velocity up to 4000 km s⁻¹ due to the anisotropic GW radiations. Here, we investigate the dynamical coevolution and interaction of the recoiling SMBHs and their galactic stellar environments with one million direct N-body simulations including the stellar tidal disruption by the recoiling SMBHs. Our results show that the accretion of disrupted stars does not significantly affect the SMBH dynamical evolution. We investigate the stellar tidal disruption rates as a function of the dynamical evolution of oscillating SMBHs in the galactic nuclei. Our simulations show that most stellar tidal disruptions are contributed by the unbound stars and occur when the oscillating SMBHs pass through the galactic center. The averaged disruption rate is ∼10⁻⁶ M_☉ yr⁻¹, which is about an order of magnitude lower than that by a stationary SMBH at similar galactic nuclei. Our results also show that a bound star cluster is around the oscillating SMBH of about ∼0.7% the black hole mass. In addition, we discover a massive cloud of unbound stars following the oscillating SMBH. We also investigate the dependence of the results on the SMBH masses and density slopes of the galactic nuclei.

We present observational results of a type II burst associated with a CME–CME interaction observed in the radio and white-light (WL) wavelength range. We applied radio direction-finding techniques to observations from the STEREO and Wind spacecraft, the results of which were interpreted using WL coronagraphic measurements for context. The results of the multiple radio direction-finding techniques applied were found to be consistent both with each other and with those derived from the WL observations of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The results suggest that the type II burst radio emission is causally related to the CMEs interaction.

The search for diffuse non-thermal, inverse Compton (IC) emission from galaxy clusters at hard X-ray energies has been underway for many years, with most detections being either of low significance or controversial. In this work, we investigate 14–195 keV spectra from the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) all-sky survey for evidence of non-thermal excess emission above the exponentially decreasing tail of thermal emission in the flux-limited HIFLUGCS sample. To account for the thermal contribution at BAT energies, XMM-Newton EPIC spectra are extracted from coincident spatial regions so that both thermal and non-thermal spectral components can be determined simultaneously. We find marginally significant IC components in six clusters, though after closer inspection and consideration of systematic errors we are unable to claim a clear detection in any of them. The spectra of all clusters are also summed to enhance a cumulative non-thermal signal not quite detectable in individual clusters. After constructing a model based on single-temperature fits to the XMM-Newton data alone, we see no significant excess emission above that predicted by the thermal model determined at soft energies. This result also holds for the summed spectra of various subgroups, except for the subsample of clusters with diffuse radio emission. For clusters hosting a diffuse radio halo, a relic, or a mini-halo, non-thermal emission is initially detected at the ∼5σ confidence level—driven by clusters with mini-halos—but modeling and systematic uncertainties ultimately degrade this significance. In individual clusters, the non-thermal pressure of relativistic electrons is limited to ≲ 10% of the thermal electron pressure, with stricter limits for the more massive clusters, indicating that these electrons are likely not dynamically important in the central regions of clusters.

Blazars constitute the most enigmatic class of extragalactic γ-ray sources, and their observational features have been ascribed to a relativistic jet closely aligned to the line of sight. They are generally divided in two main classes: the BL Lac objects (BL Lacs) and the flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs). In the case of BL Lacs the double-bumped spectral energy distribution (SED) is generally described by the synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) emission, while for the FSRQs it is interpreted as due to external Compton (EC) emission. Recently, we showed that in the [3.4]–[4.6]–[12] μm color–color diagram the blazar population covers a distinct region (i.e., the WISE blazar Strip (WBS)) clearly separated from the other extragalactic sources that are dominated by thermal emission. In this paper, we investigate the relation between the infrared and γ-ray emission for a subset of confirmed blazars from the literature, associated with Fermi sources, for which WISE archival observations are available. This sample is a proper subset of the sample of sources used previously, and the availability of Fermi data is critical to constrain the models on the emission mechanisms for the blazars. We found that the selected blazars also lie on the WBS covering a narrower region of the infrared color–color planes than the overall blazar population. We then found an evident correlation between the IR and γ-ray spectral indices expected in the SSC and EC frameworks. Finally, we determined the ratio between their γ-ray and infrared fluxes, a surrogate of the ratio of powers between the inverse Compton and the synchrotron SED components, and used such parameter to test different blazar emitting scenarios.

We used optical, near-infrared photometry, and radial velocity data for a sample of 11 Cepheids belonging to the young LMC blue populous cluster NGC 1866 to estimate their radii and distances on the basis of the CORS Baade–Wesselink method. This technique, based on an accurate calibration of surface brightness as a function of (U − B), (V − K) colors, allows us to estimate, simultaneously, the linear radius and the angular diameter of Cepheid variables, and consequently to derive their distance. A rigorous error estimate on radii and distances was derived by using Monte Carlo simulations. Our analysis gives a distance modulus for NGC 1866 of 18.51 ± 0.03 mag, which is in agreement with several independent results.

We discuss three new equations of state (EOS) in core-collapse supernova simulations. The new EOS are based on the nuclear statistical equilibrium model of Hempel and Schaffner-Bielich (HS), which includes excluded volume effects and relativistic mean-field (RMF) interactions. We consider the RMF parameterizations TM1, TMA, and FSUgold. These EOS are implemented into our spherically symmetric core-collapse supernova model, which is based on general relativistic radiation hydrodynamics and three-flavor Boltzmann neutrino transport. The results obtained for the new EOS are compared with the widely used EOS of H. Shen et al. and Lattimer & Swesty. The systematic comparison shows that the model description of inhomogeneous nuclear matter is as important as the parameterization of the nuclear interactions for the supernova dynamics and the neutrino signal. Furthermore, several new aspects of nuclear physics are investigated: the HS EOS contains distributions of nuclei, including nuclear shell effects. The appearance of light nuclei, e.g., deuterium and tritium, is also explored, which can become as abundant as alphas and free protons. In addition, we investigate the black hole formation in failed core-collapse supernovae, which is mainly determined by the high-density EOS. We find that temperature effects lead to a systematically faster collapse for the non-relativistic LS EOS in comparison with the RMF EOS. We deduce a new correlation for the time until black hole formation, which allows the determination of the maximum mass of proto-neutron stars, if the neutrino signal from such a failed supernova would be measured in the future. This would give a constraint for the nuclear EOS at finite entropy, complementary to observations of cold neutron stars.

We present the results of a multi-wavelength multi-epoch survey of five evolved protoplanetary disks in the IC 348 cluster that show significant infrared variability. Using 3–8 μm and 24 μm photometry along with 5–40 μm spectroscopy from the Spitzer Space Telescope, as well as ground-based 0.8–5 μm spectroscopy, optical spectroscopy, and near-infrared photometry, covering timescales of days to years, we examine the variability in the disk, stellar, and accretion flux. We find substantial variations (10%–60%) at all infrared wavelengths on timescales of weeks to months for all of these young stellar objects. This behavior is not unique when compared to other cluster members and is consistent with changes in the structure of the inner disk, most likely scale height fluctuations on a dynamical timescale. Previous observations, along with our near-infrared photometry, indicate that the stellar fluxes are relatively constant; stellar variability does not appear to drive the large changes in the infrared fluxes. Based on our near-infrared spectroscopy of the Paβ and Brγ lines we find that the accretion rates are variable in most of the evolved disks but the overall rates are probably too small to cause the infrared variability. We discuss other possible physical causes for the variability, including the influence of a companion, magnetic fields threading the disk, and X-ray flares.