Table of contents

The magnetism and rotation of white dwarf (WD) stars are investigated in relation to a hydromagnetic dynamo operating in the progenitor during shell burning phases. The downward pumping of angular momentum in the convective envelope, in combination with the absorption of a planet or tidal spin-up from a binary companion, can trigger strong dynamo action near the core–envelope boundary. Several arguments point to the outer core as the source for a magnetic field in the WD remnant: the outer third of a $\sim 0.55\;{M}_{\odot }$ WD is processed during the shell burning phase(s) of the progenitor; the escape of magnetic helicity through the envelope mediates the growth of (compensating) helicity in the core, as is needed to maintain a stable magnetic field in the remnant; and the intense radiation flux at the core boundary facilitates magnetic buoyancy within a relatively thick tachocline layer. The helicity flux into the growing core is driven by a dynamical imbalance with a latitude-dependent rotational stress. The magnetic field deposited in an isolated massive WD is concentrated in an outer shell of mass $\lesssim 0.1\;{M}_{\odot }$ and can reach ∼10 MG. A buried toroidal field experiences moderate ohmic decay above an age ∼0.3 Gyr, which may lead to growth or decay of the external magnetic field. The final WD spin period is related to a critical spin rate below which magnetic activity shuts off and core and envelope decouple; it generally sits in the range of hours to days. WD periods ranging up to a year are possible if the envelope re-expands following a late thermal pulse.

Extremely broad emission wings at Hβ and Hα have been found in VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey data for five very luminous BA supergiants in or near 30 Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The profiles of both lines are extremely asymmetrical, which we have found to be caused by very broad diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) in the longward wing of Hβ and the shortward wing of Hα. These DIBs are well known to interstellar but not to many stellar specialists, so that the asymmetries may be mistaken for intrinsic features. The broad emission wings are generally ascribed to electron scattering, although we note difficulties for that interpretation in some objects. Such profiles are known in some Galactic hyper/supergiants and are also seen in both active and quiescent Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs). No prior or current LBV activity is known in these 30 Dor stars, although a generic relationship to LBVs is not excluded; subject to further observational and theoretical investigation, it is possible that these very luminous supergiants are approaching the LBV stage for the first time. Their locations in the HRD and presumed evolutionary tracks are consistent with that possibility. The available evidence for spectroscopic variations of these objects is reviewed, while recent photometric monitoring does not reveal variability. A search for circumstellar nebulae has been conducted, with an indeterminate result for one of them.

Metal-poor stars in the Milky Way are local relics of the epoch of the first stars and the first galaxies. However, a low metallicity does not prove that a star formed in this ancient era, as metal-poor stars form over a range of redshift in different environments. Theoretical models of Milky Way formation have shown that at constant metallicity, the oldest stars are those closest to the center of the Galaxy on the most tightly bound orbits. For that reason, the most metal-poor stars in the bulge of the Milky Way provide excellent tracers of the chemistry of the high-redshift universe. We report the dynamics and detailed chemical abundances of three stars in the bulge with $[\mathrm{Fe}/{\rm{H}}]\lesssim -2.7$, two of which are the most metal-poor stars in the bulge in the literature. We find that with the exception of scandium, all three stars follow the abundance trends identified previously for metal-poor halo stars. These three stars have the lowest [Sc ii/Fe] abundances yet seen in α-enhanced giant stars in the Galaxy. Moreover, all three stars are outliers in the otherwise tight [Sc ii/Fe]–[Ti ii/Fe] relation observed among metal-poor halo stars. Theoretical models predict that there is a 30% chance that at least one of these stars formed at $z\gtrsim 15$, while there is a 70% chance that at least one formed at $10\lesssim z\lesssim 15$. These observations imply that by $z\sim 10$, the progenitor galaxies of the Milky Way had both reached $[\mathrm{Fe}/{\rm{H}}]\sim -3.0$ and established the abundance pattern observed in extremely metal-poor stars.

The Rankine–Hugoniot (R–H) jump conditions are the most important and frequently used equations in studies of the properties of space and astrophysical plasmas during their passage through shock discontinuities. This paper revisits the R–H conditions for shocks, develops the formulation of the compression ratio, and examines its range of values and properties. The analysis expresses the downstream thermodynamic variables and the compression ratio as functions of the upstream thermodynamic variables, either for equal or different polytropic indices upstream and downstream of the shock. In the general case of space plasmas with an oblique magnetic field, the compression ratio is given by a quartic polynomial, which is reduced to a cubic trinomial when the upstream/downstream polytropic indices are equal. The special cases of magnetic fields that are perpendicular or parallel to the shock normal are also examined. In any case, the compression ratio polynomial has one degree larger order, when the upstream/downstream polytropic indices are different. Emphasis is placed on the maximum value of the compression ratio, which is known to be ∼4 for adiabatic polytropic index ∼5/3. However, the compression ratio can be much larger if the upstream/downstream polytropic indices are not equal to each other and less than one. Several other issues are investigated: (i) the entropic condition, showing that statistical mechanics and thermodynamics lead to the same relation of entropy variation; (ii) the effect of kappa distributions on jump conditions; and (iii) the upper limit of the upstream temperature for a shock to exist.

Interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) often show unusual plasma compositional signatures (high He/P ratio, high ${{\rm{O}}}^{7+}/{{\rm{O}}}^{6+}$ ratio, and high Fe charge states), and their enhanced charge states of oxygen and iron are caused by flare-related heating in the corona. We investigated the abnormal plasma composition of small interplanetary magnetic flux ropes (IMFRs) in terms of He/P ratio, ${{\rm{O}}}^{7+}/{{\rm{O}}}^{6+}$ ratio, and mean Fe charge state. We discover that 18 of the 24 small IMFRs showed high He/P ratios. In addition, 12 and 8 of the 24 events showed high Fe charge states and ${{\rm{O}}}^{7+}/{{\rm{O}}}^{6+}$ ratios, respectively. This observation implies that these small IMFRs and ICMEs may be caused by the same coronal eruptions.

The quiet nature of sunspot cycle 24 was disrupted during the second half of 2014 when the Sun's large-scale field underwent a sudden rejuvenation: the solar mean field reached its highest value since 1991, the interplanetary field strength doubled, and galactic cosmic rays showed their strongest 27-day modulation since neutron-monitor observations began in 1957; in the outer corona, the large increase of field strength was reflected by unprecedentedly large numbers of coronal loops collapsing inward along the heliospheric current sheet. Here, we show that this rejuvenation was not caused by a significant increase in the level of solar activity as measured by the smoothed sunspot number and CME rate, but instead was caused by the systematic emergence of flux in active regions whose longitudinal distribution greatly increased the Sun's dipole moment. A similar post-maximum increase in the dipole moment occurred during each of the previous three sunspot cycles, and marked the start of the declining phase of each cycle. We note that the north–south component of this peak dipole moment provides an early indicator of the amplitude of the next cycle, and conclude that the amplitude of cycle 25 may be comparable to that of cycle 24, and well above the amplitudes obtained during the Maunder Minimum.

Many jets are detected at X-ray wavelengths in the Sun's polar regions, and the ejected plasma along the jets has been suggested to contribute mass to the fast solar wind. From in situ measurements in the magnetosphere, it has been found that the fast solar wind has photospheric abundances while the slow solar wind has coronal abundances. Therefore, we investigated the abundances of polar jets to determine whether they are the same as that of the fast solar wind. For this study, we selected 22 jets in the polar region observed by Hinode/EUV Imaging Spectroscopy (EIS) and X-ray Telescope (XRT) simultaneously on 2007 November 1–3. We calculated the First Ionization Potential (FIP) bias factor from the ratio of the intensity between high (S) and low (Si, Fe) FIP elements using the EIS spectra. The values of the FIP bias factors for the polar jets are around 0.7–1.9, and 75% of the values are in the range of 0.7–1.5, which indicates that they have photospheric abundances similar to the fast solar wind. The results are consistent with the reconnection jet model where photospheric plasma emerges and is rapidly ejected into the fast wind.

The intrinsic column density (N_H) distribution of quasars is poorly known. At the high obscuration end of the quasar population and for redshifts z < 1, the X-ray spectra can only be reliably characterized using broad-band measurements that extend to energies above 10 keV. Using the hard X-ray observatory NuSTAR, along with archival Chandra and XMM-Newton data, we study the broad-band X-ray spectra of nine optically selected (from the SDSS), candidate Compton-thick (N_H > 1.5 × 10²⁴ cm⁻²) type 2 quasars (CTQSO2s); five new NuSTAR observations are reported herein, and four have been previously published. The candidate CTQSO2s lie at z < 0.5, have observed [O iii] luminosities in the range $8.4\lt \mathrm{log}({L}_{[{\rm{O}}\ {\rm{III}}]}/{L}_{\odot })\lt 9.6$, and show evidence for extreme, Compton-thick absorption when indirect absorption diagnostics are considered. Among the nine candidate CTQSO2s, five are detected by NuSTAR in the high-energy (8–24 keV) band: two are weakly detected at the ≈3σ confidence level and three are strongly detected with sufficient counts for spectral modeling (≳90 net source counts at 8–24 keV). For these NuSTAR-detected sources direct (i.e., X-ray spectral) constraints on the intrinsic active galactic nucleus properties are feasible, and we measure column densities ≈2.5–1600 times higher and intrinsic (unabsorbed) X-ray luminosities ≈10–70 times higher than pre-NuSTAR constraints from Chandra and XMM-Newton. Assuming the NuSTAR-detected type 2 quasars are representative of other Compton-thick candidates, we make a correction to the N_H distribution for optically selected type 2 quasars as measured by Chandra and XMM-Newton for 39 objects. With this approach, we predict a Compton-thick fraction of ${f}_{\mathrm{CT}}={36}_{-12}^{+14}$ %, although higher fractions (up to 76%) are possible if indirect absorption diagnostics are assumed to be reliable.

A comparative study of the Λ hyperon equations of state of Banik, Hempel and Banyopadhyay (BHB), Banik et al., and Shen et al. (denoted as HShen Λ) for core-collapse supernova (CCSN) simulations is carried out in this work. The dynamical evolution of a protoneutron star (PNS) into a black hole is investigated in CCSN simulations in the general relativistic one-dimensional code using the $\mathrm{BHB}{\rm{\Lambda }}\phi$ and HShen Λ equation of state (EOS) tables and different progenitor models from Woosley & Heger. Radial profiles of the mass fractions of baryons, the density, as well as the temperature in the PNS at different moments in time, are compared for both EOS tables. The behavior of the central density of the PNS with time is demonstrated for these two Λ hyperon EOS tables and compared with their corresponding nuclear EOS tables. It is observed that the black hole formation time is higher in the $\mathrm{BHB}{\rm{\Lambda }}\phi$ case than in the HShen Λ EOS case for the entire set of progenitor models adopted here, because the repulsive Λ–Λ interaction makes the $\mathrm{BHB}{\rm{\Lambda }}\phi$ EOS stiffer. Neutrino emission with the Λ hyperon EOS ceases earlier than that of its nuclear counterpart. The long-duration evolution of the shock radius and the gravitational mass of the PNS after a successful supernova explosion with enhanced neutrino heating are studied with the $\mathrm{BHB}{\rm{\Lambda }}\phi$ EOS and s20WH07 progenitor model. The PNS is found to remain stable for 4 s and might evolve into a cold neutron star.

Supermassive binary black holes (BBHs) are unavoidable products of galaxy mergers and are expected to exist in the cores of many quasars. Great effort has been made during the past several decades to search for BBHs among quasars; however, observational evidence for BBHs remains elusive and ambiguous, which is difficult to reconcile with theoretical expectations. In this paper, we show that the distinct optical-to-UV spectrum of Mrk 231 can be well interpreted as emission from accretion flows onto a BBH, with a semimajor axis of ∼590 AU and an orbital period of ∼1.2 years. The flat optical and UV continua are mainly emitted from a circumbinary disk and a mini-disk around the secondary black hole (BH), respectively; and the observed sharp drop off and flux deficit at λ ∼ 4000–2500 Å is due to a gap (or hole) opened by the secondary BH migrating within the circumbinary disk. If confirmed by future observations, this BBH will provide a unique laboratory to study the interplay between BBHs and accretion flows onto them. Our result also demonstrates a new method to find sub-parsec scale BBHs by searching for deficits in the optical-to-UV continuum among the spectra of quasars.

Magnetohydrodynamic accretion disk simulations suggest that much of the energy liberated by the magnetorotational instability (MRI) can be channeled into large-scale toroidal magnetic fields through dynamo action. Under certain conditions, this field can dominate over gas and radiation pressure in providing vertical support against gravity, even close to the midplane. Using a simple model for the creation of this field, its buoyant rise, and its coupling to the gas, we show how disks could be driven into this magnetically dominated state and deduce the resulting vertical pressure and density profiles. Applying an established criterion for MRI to operate in the presence of a toroidal field, we show that magnetically supported disks can have two distinct MRI-active regions, separated by a "dead zone" where local MRI is suppressed, but where magnetic energy continues to flow upward from the dynamo region below. We suggest that the relative strengths of the MRI zones, and the local poloidal flux, determine the spectral states of X-ray binaries. Specifically, "intermediate" and "hard" accretion states occur when MRI is triggered in the hot, upper zone of the corona, while disks in "soft" states do not develop the upper MRI zone. We discuss the conditions under which various transitions should take place and speculate on the relationship of dynamo activity to the various types of quasi-periodic oscillations that sometimes appear in the hard spectral components. The model also explains why luminous accretion disks in the "soft" state show no signs of the thermal/viscous instability predicted by standard α-models.

Two Hubble Space Telescope narrow-band Hα images separated in time by 1.03 years are used for a proper motion measurement of the forward shock of the LMC supernova remnant 0509–67.5, the only spectroscopically confirmed LMC remnant of Ia origin. We measure a global shock speed of 6500 ± 200 km s⁻¹ and constrain the pre-shock neutral hydrogen density to be 0.084 ± 0.003 cm⁻³, for a typical mean number of Hα photons produced per neutral hydrogen atom entering the forward shock. Previously published broad Hα line widths from two locations on the rim and our corresponding shock speed measurements are consistent with Balmer shock models that do not include effects of cosmic-ray acceleration. For the northeastern rim location, we limit the post-shock electron temperature to 10% of the proton temperature by also using the broad-to-narrow flux ratio. Hydrodynamic simulations for different initial ejecta density profiles constrain the age and ambient medium density; for an exponential ejecta profile and initial explosion energy of 1.4 × 10⁵¹ erg, the remnant's age is ${310}_{-30}^{+40}$ years. For all evolutionary models explored, the expansion parameter falls in the range of 0.41–0.73, indicating that the remnant is still firmly in the ejecta-dominated phase of its evolution. Our measured neutral hydrogen density of the ambient medium, combined with the shocked density obtained in Williams et al., disfavors forward shock compression factors greater than ∼7.

We probe the role of carbon in the ultraviolet (UV) extinction by examining the relations between the amount of carbon required to be locked up in dust ${[{\rm{C}}/{\rm{H}}]}_{\mathrm{dust}}$ with the $2175\;\mathring{\rm A}$ extinction bump and the far-UV extinction rise, based on an analysis of the extinction curves along 16 Galactic sightlines for which the gas-phase carbon abundance is known and the $2175\;\mathring{\rm A}$ extinction bump exhibits variable strengths and widths. We derive ${[{\rm{C}}/{\rm{H}}]}_{\mathrm{dust}}$ from the Kramers–Kronig relation which relates the wavelength-integrated extinction to the total dust volume. This approach is less model-dependent since it does not require the knowledge of the detailed optical properties and size distribution of the dust.We also derive ${[{\rm{C}}/{\rm{H}}]}_{\mathrm{dust}}$ from fitting the observed UV/optical/near-infrared extinction with a mixture of amorphous silicate and graphite. We find that the carbon depletion ${[{\rm{C}}/{\rm{H}}]}_{\mathrm{dust}}$ tends to correlate with the strength of the $2175\;\mathring{\rm A}$ bump, while the abundance of silicon depleted in dust shows no correlation with the $2175\;\mathring{\rm A}$ bump. This supports graphite or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules as the possible carrier of the $2175\;\mathring{\rm A}$ bump. We also see that ${[{\rm{C}}/{\rm{H}}]}_{\mathrm{dust}}$ shows a trend of correlating with $1/{R}_{V}$, where R_V is the total-to-selective extinction ratio, suggesting that the far-UV extinction is more likely produced by small carbon dust than by small silicate dust.

On or about 2012 August 25, the Voyager 1 spacecraft crossed the heliopause into the nearby interstellar plasma. In the nearly three years that the spacecraft has been in interstellar space, three notable particle and field disturbances have been observed, each apparently associated with a shock wave propagating outward from the Sun. Here, we present a detailed analysis of the third and most impressive of these disturbances, with brief comparisons to the two previous events, both of which have been previously reported. The shock responsible for the third event was first detected on 2014 February 17 by the onset of narrowband radio emissions from the approaching shock, followed on 2014 May 13 by the abrupt appearance of intense electron plasma oscillations generated by electrons streaming outward ahead of the shock. Finally, the shock arrived on 2014 August 25, as indicated by a jump in the magnetic field strength and the plasma density. Various disturbances in the intensity and anisotropy of galactic cosmic rays were also observed ahead of the shock, some of which are believed to be caused by the reflection and acceleration of cosmic rays by the magnetic field jump at the shock, and/or by interactions with upstream plasma waves. Comparisons to the two previous weaker events show somewhat similar precursor effects, although differing in certain details. Many of these effects are very similar to those observed in the region called the "foreshock" that occurs upstream of planetary bow shocks, only on a vastly larger spatial scale.

We use the Sternberg et al. theory for interstellar atomic to molecular hydrogen (H i-to-H₂) conversion to analyze H i-to-H₂ transitions in five (low-mass) star-forming and dark regions in the Perseus molecular cloud, B1, B1E, B5, IC348, and NGC1333. The observed H i mass surface densities of 6.3–9.2 ${M}_{\odot }\;{\mathrm{pc}}^{-2}$ are consistent with H i-to-H₂ transitions dominated by H i-dust shielding in predominantly atomic envelopes. For each source, we constrain the dimensionless parameter $\alpha G$, and the ratio ${I}_{\mathrm{UV}}/n$, of the FUV intensity to hydrogen gas density. We find $\alpha G$ values from 5.0 to 26.1, implying characteristic atomic hydrogen densities 11.8–1.8 cm⁻³, for ${I}_{\mathrm{UV}}\approx 1$ appropriate for Perseus. Our analysis implies that the dusty H i shielding layers are probably multiphased, with thermally unstable UNM gas in addition to cold CNM within the 21 cm kinematic radius.

The masses of supermassive black holes (BHs) in broad-line active galactic nuclei (AGNs) can be measured through reverberation mapping, but this method currently cannot be applied to very large samples or to high-redshift AGNs. As a practical alternative, one can devise empirical scaling relations, based on the correlation between broad-line region size and AGN luminosity and the relation between BH mass and bulge stellar velocity dispersion, to estimate the virial masses of BHs from single-epoch spectroscopy. We present a revised calibration of the BH mass estimator for the commonly used Hβ emission line. Our new calibration takes into account the recent determination of the virial coefficient for pseudo and classical bulges.

The analytical theory of diffusive cosmic-ray acceleration at parallel stationary shock waves with magnetostatic turbulence is generalized to arbitrary shock speeds ${V}_{{\rm{s}}}={\beta }_{1}c$, including, in particular, relativistic speeds. This is achieved by applying the diffusion approximation to the relevant Fokker–Planck particle transport equation formulated in the mixed comoving coordinate system. In this coordinate system, the particle's momentum coordinates p and $\mu ={p}_{\parallel }/p$ are taken in the rest frame of the streaming plasma, whereas the time and space coordinates are taken in the observer's system. For magnetostatic slab turbulence, the diffusion–convection transport equation for the isotropic (in the rest frame of the streaming plasma) part of the particle's phase space density is derived. For a step-wise shock velocity profile, the steady-state diffusion–convection transport equation is solved. For a symmetric pitch-angle scattering Fokker–Planck coefficient, ${D}_{\mu \mu }(-\mu )={D}_{\mu \mu }(\mu )$, the steady-state solution is independent of the microphysical scattering details. For nonrelativistic mono-momentum particle injection at the shock, the differential number density of accelerated particles is a Lorentzian-type distribution function, which at large momenta approaches a power-law distribution function $N(p\geqslant {p}_{c})\propto {p}^{-\xi }$ with the spectral index $\xi ({\beta }_{1})=1+[3/({{\rm{\Gamma }}}_{1}\sqrt{{r}^{2}-{\beta }_{1}^{2}}-1)(1+3{\beta }_{1}^{2})]$. For nonrelativistic (${\beta }_{1}\ll 1$) shock speeds, this spectral index agrees with the known result $\xi ({\beta }_{1}\ll 1)\simeq (r+2)/(r-1)$, whereas for ultrarelativistic (${{\rm{\Gamma }}}_{1}\gg 1$) shock speeds the spectral index value is close to unity.

We investigate roles of Alfvénic waves in the weakly ionized atmosphere of hot Jupiters by carrying out non-ideal MHD simulations with ohmic diffusion in one-dimensional magnetic flux tubes. Turbulence at the surface excites Alfvén waves, and they propagate upward to drive hot ($\approx {10}^{4}$ K) outflows. The magnetic diffusion plays an important role in the dissipation of the Alfvénic waves in the weakly ionized atmosphere of hot Jupiters. The mass-loss rate of the spontaneously driven planetary wind is considerably reduced, in comparison with that obtained from ideal MHD simulations because the Alfvénic waves are severely damped at low altitudes in the atmosphere, whereas the wave heating is still important in the heating of the upper atmosphere. Dependence on the surface temperature, planetary radius, and velocity dispersion at the surface is also investigated. We find an inversion phenomenon of the transmitted wave energy flux; the energy flux carried by Alfvén waves in the upper atmosphere has a nonmonotonic correlation with the input energy flux from the surface in a certain range of the surface temperature because the resistivity is determined by the global physical properties of the atmosphere in a complicated manner. We also point out that the heating and mass loss are expected only in limited zones if the open magnetic field is confined in the limited regions.

The proton temperature profile of the asymptotic solar wind plasma can be modified by four different physical effects: PdV work, external heat deposition, ${\rm{\Delta }}Q$, divergence of heat, ${\rm{\nabla }}\cdot {\boldsymbol{q}}$, and collisional energy exchange with other species in the plasma. Suggestions in the literature that ${\rm{\Delta }}Q$ heating is "required" to explain the proton profile have often been deduced while neglecting ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}_{{p}}$ and energy exchange. Despite the adiabatic approximation ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}_{{p}}=0$ having no rigorous justification in low-density plasmas, the simultaneous neglect of energy exchange unnaturally forces the "need" for ${\rm{\Delta }}Q$ to balance adiabatic cooling caused by the wind's expansion. In this paper, the asymptotic wind proton heat flux is determined which balances the inner Heliosphere's steady state entropy equation for the protons, ignoring heat addition and energy exchange. The solutions of the energy equation recover both the power-law trend and amplitude of the 5 year averaged Helios temperature profiles that were segregated by speed. The dimensionless skewness ${\mathcal{S}}$ of the heat flow is empirically shown to scale for all wind states below 600 km s⁻¹ as if it were equal to the Knudsen number determined by Coulomb collisions, a relation that is rigorously demonstrated for an infinitesimal Knudsen number, bridging the unusual adiabatic protons for $U\simeq 250$ km s⁻¹ and the higher speed states of the winds that remain hotter over a wider radial domain. Higher speed states ($U\gt 650$ km s⁻¹) may require additional scattering beyond what Coulomb effects can provide, although the averaged profiles for these speeds are not as accurate as those below 600 km s⁻¹.

S-stars, discovered in the vicinity of the massive black hole (MBH) in the Galactic center (GC), are anticipated to provide unique dynamical constraints on the MBH spin and metric, in addition to the mass. In this paper, we develop a fast full general relativistic method to simultaneously constrain the MBH mass, spin, and spin direction by considering both the orbital motion of a star close to the GC MBH and the propagation of photons from the star to a distant observer. Based on the current observations and dynamical model predictions, we assume six example stars with different semimajor axes (${a}_{\mathrm{orb}}$) and eccentricities (${e}_{\mathrm{orb}}$) and numerically calculate their projected trajectories in the sky plane and redshift curves. Two of those stars are set to have orbital configurations similar to that of S0-2/S2 and S0-102. We find that the spin-induced effects on the projected trajectory and redshift curve of a given star, including the leading term by the Lense–Thirring precession and the frame dragging, and the high-order precession due to the quadruple moment, depend on both the absolute value and the direction of the spin. The maximum values of the spin-induced position displacement and the redshift differences of the star over a full orbit may differ by a factor of several to more than one order of magnitude for two cases with significantly different spin directions. The dependence patterns of the position displacements and redshift differences on the spin direction are different, and thus the position and the redshift data are complementary for constraining the MBH spin and its direction. Adopting the Markov Chain Monte Carlo fitting technique, we illustrate that the spin of the GC MBH is likely to be well constrained by using the motion of S0-2/S2 over a period of ∼45 years if the spin is close to one and if the astrometric and spectroscopic precisions can be as high as $({\sigma }_{{\rm{p}}},{\sigma }_{Z})\sim (10\;\mu \mathrm{as},1\;\mathrm{km}\;{{\rm{s}}}^{-1})$, which is expected to be realized by future facilities like GRAVITY on the Very Large Telescope Interferometer, the thirty meter telescope, and the European extremely large telescope. If ${\sigma }_{{\rm{p}}}$ and ${\sigma }_{Z}$ can be further improved by a factor of several, the MBH spin can be well constrained by monitoring S0-2/S2 over a period of ∼15 years. In the mean time, the distance from the sun to the GC and the MBH mass can also be constrained to an unprecedented accuracy (0.01%–0.1%). If there exists a star with a semimajor axis that is a few times smaller, and eccentricity larger, than those of S0-2/S2, the MBH spin and its direction can be constrained with high accuracy over a period of $\lesssim 10$ years by future facilities, even if the spin is only moderately large. Our results suggest that long-term monitoring of the motions of stars in the vicinity of the GC MBH by the next generation facilities is likely to provide a dynamical test, for the first time, to the spin and metric of the GC MBH.

We present the analysis of high-resolution spectra obtained with UVES and UVES-FLAMES at the Very Large Telescope of 17 giants in the globular cluster (GC) M22, a stellar system suspected to have an intrinsic spread in iron abundance. We find that when surface gravities are derived spectroscopically (in order to obtain the same iron abundance from Fe i and Fe ii lines) the [Fe/H] distribution spans ∼0.5 dex, according to previous analyses. However, the gravities obtained in this way correspond to unrealistically low stellar masses (0.1–0.5 ${M}_{\odot }$) for most of the surveyed giants. Instead, when photometric gravities are adopted, the [Fe ii/H] distribution shows no evidence of spread, in variance with the [Fe i/H] distribution. This difference has been recently observed in other clusters and could be due to non-local thermodynamical equilibrium effects driven by over-ionization mechanisms that mainly affect the neutral species (thus providing lower [Fe i/H]), but leave [Fe ii/H] unaltered. We confirm that the s-process elements show significant star-to-star variations and their abundances appear to be correlated with the difference between [Fe i/H] and [Fe ii/H]. This puzzling finding suggests that the peculiar chemical composition of some cluster stars may be related to effects able to spuriously decrease [Fe i/H]. We conclude that M22 is a GC with no evidence of intrinsic iron spread, ruling out that it has retained the supernovae ejecta in its gravitational potential well.

We report the results of a long-term spectroscopic monitoring of the FS CMa type object MWC 728. We found that it is a binary system with a B5 ve (${T}_{\mathrm{eff}}$ = 14,000 ± 1000 K) primary and a G8 iii type (${T}_{\mathrm{eff}}\,\sim$ 5000 K) secondary. Absorption line positions of the secondary vary, with a semi-amplitude of ∼20 km s⁻¹ and a period of 27.5 days. The system's mass function is 2.3 × 10⁻²${M}_{\odot }$, and its orbital plane is ∼13°–15° tilted from the plane of the sky. The primary's $v\sin i\sim 110$ km s⁻¹, combined with this tilt, implies that it rotates at a nearly breakup velocity. We detected strong variations of the Balmer and He i emission-line profiles on timescales from days to years. This points to a variable stellar wind of the primary in addition to the presence of a circum-primary gaseous disk. The strength of the absorption-line spectrum, along with the optical and near infrared (IR) continuum, suggest that the primary contributes ∼60% of the V-band flux, the disk contributes ∼30%, and the secondary contributes ∼10%. The system parameters, along with the interstellar extinction, suggest a distance of ∼1 kpc, that the secondary does not fill its Roche lobe, and that the companions' mass ratio is $q\,\sim$ 0.5. Overall, the observed spectral variability and the presence of a strong IR-excess are in agreement with a model of a close binary system that has undergone a non-conservative mass-transfer.

We present a detailed investigation of the flaring activity observed from a BL Lac object, S5 0716+714 , during its brightest ever optical state in the second half of 2015 January. Observed almost simultaneously in the optical, X-rays, and γ-rays, a significant change in the degree of optical polarization (PD) and a swing in the position angle (PA) of polarization were recorded. A TeV (VHE) detection was also reported by the MAGIC consortium during this flaring episode. Two prominent sub-flares, peaking about five days apart, were seen in almost all of the energy bands. The multi-wavelength light curves, spectral energy distribution, and polarization are modeled using the time-dependent code developed by Zhang et al. This model assumes a straight jet threaded by large-scale helical magnetic fields taking into account the light travel time effects, incorporating synchrotron flux and polarization in 3D geometry. The rapid variation in PD and rotation in PA are most likely due to reconnections happening in the emission region in the jet, as suggested by the change in the ratio of toroidal to poloidal components of the magnetic field during the quiescent and flaring states.

In several recent observational studies of Type Ib/c supernovae (SNe Ib/c), the inferred ejecta masses have a peak value of 2.0–4.0 ${M}_{\odot }$, in favor of the binary scenario for their progenitors rather than the Wolf–Rayet star scenario. To investigate the observational properties of relatively low-mass helium stars in binary systems as possible SN Ib/c progenitors, we constructed atmospheric models with the non-LTE radiative transfer code CMFGEN, using binary star evolution models. We find that these helium stars can be characterized by relatively narrow helium emission lines if the mass-loss rate during the final evolutionary phase is significantly enhanced as implied by many SN Ib/c observations. The optical brightness of helium star progenitors can be meaningfully enhanced with a strong wind for stars with $M\gtrsim 4.4\;{M}_{\odot }$, but is hardly affected or slightly weakened for relatively low-mass stars with $\sim 3.0\;{M}_{\odot }$, compared to the simple estimate using blackbody approximation. We further confirm the previous suggestion that the optical brightness would be generally higher for a less massive SN Ib/c progenitor. In good agreement with previous studies, our results indicate that the optical magnitudes and colors of the recently detected progenitor of the SN Ib iPTF13bvn can be well explained by a binary progenitor with a final helium star mass of about 3.0–4.4 ${M}_{\odot }$.

We present an overview of four deep phase-constrained Chandra HETGS X-ray observations of δ Ori A. Delta Ori A is actually a triple system that includes the nearest massive eclipsing spectroscopic binary, δ Ori Aa, the only such object that can be observed with little phase-smearing with the Chandra gratings. Since the fainter star, δ Ori Aa2, has a much lower X-ray luminosity than the brighter primary (δ Ori Aa1), δ Ori Aa provides a unique system with which to test the spatial distribution of the X-ray emitting gas around δ Ori Aa1 via occultation by the photosphere of, and wind cavity around, the X-ray dark secondary. Here we discuss the X-ray spectrum and X-ray line profiles for the combined observation, having an exposure time of nearly 500 ks and covering nearly the entire binary orbit. The companion papers discuss the X-ray variability seen in the Chandra spectra, present new space-based photometry and ground-based radial velocities obtained simultaneously with the X-ray data to better constrain the system parameters, and model the effects of X-rays on the optical and UV spectra. We find that the X-ray emission is dominated by embedded wind shock emission from star Aa1, with little contribution from the tertiary star Ab or the shocked gas produced by the collision of the wind of Aa1 against the surface of Aa2. We find a similar temperature distribution to previous X-ray spectrum analyses. We also show that the line half-widths are about 0.3−0.5 times the terminal velocity of the wind of star Aa1. We find a strong anti-correlation between line widths and the line excitation energy, which suggests that longer-wavelength, lower-temperature lines form farther out in the wind. Our analysis also indicates that the ratio of the intensities of the strong and weak lines of Fe xvii and Ne x are inconsistent with model predictions, which may be an effect of resonance scattering.

We present time-resolved and phase-resolved variability studies of an extensive X-ray high-resolution spectral data set of the δ Ori Aa binary system. The four observations, obtained with Chandra ACIS HETGS, have a total exposure time of $\approx 479$ ks and provide nearly complete binary phase coverage. Variability of the total X-ray flux in the range of 5–25 Å is confirmed, with a maximum amplitude of about ±15% within a single $\approx 125$ ks observation. Periods of 4.76 and 2.04 days are found in the total X-ray flux, as well as an apparent overall increase in the flux level throughout the nine-day observational campaign. Using 40 ks contiguous spectra derived from the original observations, we investigate the variability of emission line parameters and ratios. Several emission lines are shown to be variable, including S xv, Si xiii, and Ne ix. For the first time, variations of the X-ray emission line widths as a function of the binary phase are found in a binary system, with the smallest widths at ϕ = 0.0 when the secondary δ Ori Aa2 is at the inferior conjunction. Using 3D hydrodynamic modeling of the interacting winds, we relate the emission line width variability to the presence of a wind cavity created by a wind–wind collision, which is effectively void of embedded wind shocks and is carved out of the X-ray-producing primary wind, thus producing phase-locked X-ray variability.

We report on both high-precision photometry from the Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars (MOST) space telescope and ground-based spectroscopy of the triple system δ Ori A, consisting of a binary O9.5II+early-B (Aa1 and Aa2) with P = 5.7 days, and a more distant tertiary (O9 IV $P\gt 400$ years). This data was collected in concert with X-ray spectroscopy from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Thanks to continuous coverage for three weeks, the MOST light curve reveals clear eclipses between Aa1 and Aa2 for the first time in non-phased data. From the spectroscopy, we have a well-constrained radial velocity (RV) curve of Aa1. While we are unable to recover RV variations of the secondary star, we are able to constrain several fundamental parameters of this system and determine an approximate mass of the primary using apsidal motion. We also detected second order modulations at 12 separate frequencies with spacings indicative of tidally influenced oscillations. These spacings have never been seen in a massive binary, making this system one of only a handful of such binaries that show evidence for tidally induced pulsations.

Eclipsing systems of massive stars allow one to explore the properties of their components in great detail. We perform a multi-wavelength, non-LTE analysis of the three components of the massive multiple system δ Ori A, focusing on the fundamental stellar properties, stellar winds, and X-ray characteristics of the system. The primary's distance-independent parameters turn out to be characteristic for its spectral type (O9.5 II), but usage of the Hipparcos parallax yields surprisingly low values for the mass, radius, and luminosity. Consistent values follow only if δ Ori lies at about twice the Hipparcos distance, in the vicinity of the σ-Orionis cluster. The primary and tertiary dominate the spectrum and leave the secondary only marginally detectable. We estimate the V-band magnitude difference between primary and secondary to be ${\rm{\Delta }}V\approx 2\buildrel{\rm{m}}\over{.} 8$. The inferred parameters suggest that the secondary is an early B-type dwarf (≈B1 V), while the tertiary is an early B-type subgiant (≈B0 IV). We find evidence for rapid turbulent velocities (∼200 km s⁻¹) and wind inhomogeneities, partially optically thick, in the primary's wind. The bulk of the X-ray emission likely emerges from the primary's stellar wind ($\mathrm{log}{L}_{{\rm{X}}}/{L}_{\mathrm{Bol}}\approx -6.85$), initiating close to the stellar surface at ${R}_{0}\sim 1.1\;{R}_{*}$. Accounting for clumping, the mass-loss rate of the primary is found to be $\mathrm{log}\dot{M}\approx -6.4$$({M}_{\odot }\;{\mathrm{yr}}^{-1})$, which agrees with hydrodynamic predictions, and provides a consistent picture along the X-ray, UV, optical, and radio spectral domains.

We report the discovery of one extremely metal-poor (EMP; $[\mathrm{Fe}/{\rm{H}}]\;$$\lt \;-3$) and one ultra metal-poor (UMP; $[\mathrm{Fe}/{\rm{H}}]\;$$\lt \;-4$) star selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey/Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration survey. These stars were identified as EMP candidates based on their medium-resolution ($R\;\sim 2000$) spectra, and were followed up with high-resolution ($R\;\sim$ 35,000) spectroscopy with the Magellan/Clay Telescope. Their derived chemical abundances exhibit good agreement with those of stars with similar metallicities. We also provide new insights on the formation of the UMP stars, based on comparisons with a new set of theoretical models of supernovae (SNe) nucleosynthesis. The models were matched with 20 UMP stars found in the literature, together with one of the program stars (SDSS J1204+1201), with $[\mathrm{Fe}/{\rm{H}}]=-4.34$. From fitting their abundances, we find that the SNe progenitors, for stars where carbon and nitrogen are measured, had masses ranging from $20.5\;{M}_{\odot }$ to $28\;{M}_{\odot }$ and explosion energies from 0.3 to $0.9\times {10}^{51}\;\mathrm{erg}$. These results are highly sensitive to the carbon and nitrogen abundance determinations, which is one of the main drivers for a future high-resolution follow-up of UMP candidates. In addition, we are able to reproduce the different CNO abundance patterns found in UMP stars with a single progenitor type by varying its mass and explosion energy.

A major unexplained feature of the solar atmosphere is the accumulation of magnetic shear in the form of filament channels at photospheric polarity inversion lines (PILs). In addition to free energy, this shear represents magnetic helicity, which is conserved under reconnection. In this paper we address the problem of filament channel formation and show how filaments acquire their shear and magnetic helicity. The results of three-dimensional (3D) simulations using the Adaptively Refined Magnetohydrodynamics Solver are presented. Our findings support the model of filament channel formation by magnetic helicity condensation that was developed by Antiochos. We consider the small-scale photospheric twisting of a quasi-potential flux system that is bounded by a PIL and contains a coronal hole (CH). The magnetic helicity injected by the small-scale photospheric motions is shown to inverse cascade up to the largest allowable scales that define the closed flux system: the PIL and the CH. This process produces field lines that are both sheared and smooth, and are sheared in opposite senses at the PIL and the CH. The accumulated helicity and shear flux are shown to be in excellent quantitative agreement with the helicity condensation model. We present a detailed analysis of the simulations, including comparisons of our analytical and numerical results, and discuss their implications for observations.

In order to investigate the origin of quasars, we estimate the bias factor for low-luminosity quasars at high redshift for the first time. In this study, we use the two-point angular cross-correlation function (CCF) for both low-luminosity quasars at $-24\lt {M}_{1450}\lt -22$ and Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs). Our sample consists of both 25 low-luminosity quasars (16 objects are spectroscopically confirmed low-luminosity quasars) in the redshift range $3.1\lt z\lt 4.5$ and 835 color-selected LBGs with ${z}_{\mathrm{LBG}}^{\prime }\lt 25.0$ at z ∼ 4 in the COSMOS field. We have performed our analysis for the following two quasar samples: (1) the spectroscopic sample (the 16 quasars confirmed by spectroscopy), and (2) the total sample (the 25 quasars including 9 quasars with photometric redshifts). The bias factor for low-luminosity quasars at z ∼ 4 is derived by utilizing the quasar-LBG CCF and the LBG auto-correlation function. We then obtain the 86% upper limits of the bias factors for low-luminosity quasars, which are 5.63 and 10.50 for the total and the spectroscopic samples, respectively. These bias factors correspond to the typical dark matter halo masses, log $({M}_{\mathrm{DM}}/({h}^{-1}{M}_{\odot }))\;=\;$ 12.7 and 13.5, respectively. This result is not inconsistent with the predicted bias for quasars that is estimated by the major merger models.

We analyze potential effects of an extraterrestrial civilization's use of orbiting mirrors to illuminate the dark side of a synchronously rotating planet on planetary transit light curves. Previous efforts to detect civilizations based on side effects of planetary-scale engineering have focused on structures affecting the host star output (e.g., Dyson spheres). However, younger civilizations are likely to be less advanced in their engineering efforts, yet still capable of sending small spacecraft into orbit. Since M dwarfs are the most common type of star in the solar neighborhood, it seems plausible that many of the nearest habitable planets orbit dim, low-mass M stars, and will be in synchronous rotation. Logically, a civilization evolving on such a planet may be inspired to illuminate their planet's dark side by placing a single large mirror at the L2 Lagrangian point, or launching a fleet of small thin mirrors into planetary orbit. We briefly examine the requirements and engineering challenges of such a collection of orbiting mirrors, then explore their impact on transit light curves. We incorporate stellar limb darkening and model a simplistic mirror fleet's effects for transits of Earth-like (R = 0.5 to 2 ${R}_{\mathrm{Earth}}$) planets which would be synchronously rotating for orbits within the habitable zone of their host star. Although such an installation is undetectable in Kepler data, the James Webb Space Telescope will provide the sensitivity necessary to detect a fleet of mirrors orbiting Earth-like habitable planets around nearby stars.

We present spectral and timing analyses of Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) observations of the accreting X-ray pulsar 2RXP J130159.6–635806. The source was serendipitously observed during a campaign focused on the gamma-ray binary PSR B1259–63 and was later targeted for a dedicated observation. The spectrum has a typical shape for accreting X-ray pulsars, consisting of a simple power law with an exponential cutoff starting at ∼7 keV with a folding energy of ${E}_{\mathrm{fold}}\simeq 18$ keV. There is also an indication of the presence of a 6.4 keV iron line in the spectrum at the $\sim 3\sigma$ significance level. NuSTAR measurements of the pulsation period reveal that the pulsar has undergone a strong and steady spin-up for the last 20 years. The pulsed fraction is estimated to be $\sim 80\%$, and is constant with energy up to 40 keV. The power density spectrum shows a break toward higher frequencies relative to the current spin period. This, together with steady persistent luminosity, points to a long-term mass accretion rate high enough to bring the pulsar out of spin equilibrium.

We present Hubble Space Telescope observations of the upper part (${T}_{\mathrm{eff}}\gt {10}^{4}$ K) of the white dwarf cooling sequence in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae and measure a luminosity function of hot white dwarfs. Comparison with previous determinations from large-scale field surveys indicates that the previously determined plateau at high effective temperatures is likely a selection effect, as no such feature is seen in this sample. Comparison with theoretical models suggests that the current estimates of white dwarf neutrino emission (primarily by the plasmon channel) are accurate, and variations are restricted to no more than a factor of two globally, at 95% confidence. We use these constraints to place limits on various proposed exotic emission mechanisms, including a nonzero neutrino magnetic moment, formation of axions, and emission of Kaluza–Klein modes into extra dimensions.

We show that by appealing to a Quark-Nova (QN) (the explosive transition of a neutron star (NS) to a quark star (QS)) occurring in a helium-high-mass X-ray binary (He-HMXB) system we can account for the lightcurve of the first superluminous SN, DES13S2cmm, discovered by the Dark-energy Survey. The NS's explosive conversion is triggered as a result of accretion during the He-HMXB's second common envelope (CE) phase. The dense, relativistic, QN ejecta in turn energizes the extended He-rich CE in an inside-out shock heating process. We find an excellent fit (reduced χ² of 1.09) to the bolometric light curve of SN DES13S2cmm including the late time emission, which we attribute to black hole accretion following the conversion of the QS to a black hole.

We present a metallicity analysis of 83 late-type giants within the central 1 pc of the Milky Way. K-band spectroscopy of these stars was obtained with the medium spectral resolution integral-field spectrograph NIFS on Gemini North using laser-guided star adaptive optics. Using spectral template fitting with the MARCS synthetic spectral grid, we find that there is a large variation in the metallicity, with stars ranging from [M/H] < −1.0 to above solar metallicity. About 6% of the stars have [M/H] < −0.5. This result is in contrast to previous observations with smaller samples that show stars at the Galactic center having approximately solar metallicity with only small variations. Our current measurement uncertainties are dominated by systematics in the model, especially at [M/H] > 0, where there are stellar lines not represented in the model. However, the conclusion that there are low-metallicity stars, as well as large variations in metallicity, is robust. The metallicity may be an indicator of the origin of these stars. The low-metallicity population is consistent with that of globular clusters in the Milky Way, but their small fraction likely means that globular cluster infall is not the dominant mechanism for forming the Milky Way nuclear star cluster. The majority of stars are at or above solar metallicity, which suggests they were formed closer to the Galactic center or from the disk. In addition, our results indicate that it will be important for star formation history analyses using red giants at the Galactic center to consider the effect of varying metallicity.

We characterize the radial density, metallicity, and flattening profile of the Milky Way's stellar halo, based on the large sample of spectroscopically confirmed giant stars from SDSS/SEGUE-2, spanning galactocentric radii 10 kpc ≤ r_GC ≤ 80 kpc. After excising stars that were algorithmically attributed to apparent halo substructure (including the Sagittarius stream), the sample has 1757 K giants, with a typical metallicity precision of 0.2 dex and a mean distance accuracy of 16%. Compared to blue horizontal branch stars or RR Lyrae variables, giants are more readily understood tracers of the overall halo star population, with less bias in age or metallicity. The well-characterized selection function of the sample enables forward modeling of those data, based on ellipsoidal stellar density models, ν_*(R, z), with Einasto profiles and (broken) power laws for their radial dependence, combined with a model for the metallicity gradient and the flattening profile. Among models with constant flattening, these data are reasonably well fit by an Einasto profile of n = 3.1 ± 0.5 with an effective radius ${r}_{\mathrm{eff}}=15\pm 2\;\mathrm{kpc}$ and a flattening of q = 0.7 ± 0.02, or comparably well by an equally flattened broken power law, with radial slopes of α_in = 2.1 ± 0.3 and α_out = 3.8 ± 0.1, with a break radius of r_break = 18 ± 1 kpc; this is largely consistent with earlier work. We find a modest but significant metallicity gradient within the "outer" stellar halo, [Fe/H] decreasing outward. If we allow for a variable flattening $q=f({r}_{\mathrm{GC}})$, we find the distribution of halo giants to be considerably more flattened at small radii, q(10 kpc) = 0.55 ± 0.02, compared to q(>30 kpc) = 0.8 ± 0.03. Remarkably, the data are then very well fit by a single power law with index of 4.2 ± 0.1 on the variable ${r}_{q}\equiv \sqrt{{R}^{2}+{(z/q(r))}^{2}}$. In this simple and better-fitting model, there is a break in flattening at ∼20 kpc, instead of a break in the radial density function. While different parameterizations of the radial profile vary in their parameters, their implied density gradient, $\partial \mathrm{ln}{\nu }_{*}/\partial \mathrm{ln}r$, is stable along a direction intermediate between major and minor axis; this gradient is crucial in any dynamical modeling that uses halo stars as tracers.

We use about 200,000 FGK-type main-sequence stars from the LAMOST DR1 data to map the local stellar kinematics. With the velocity deprojection technique, we are able to derive the averaged three-dimensional velocity and velocity ellipsoids using only the line-of-sight velocity for the stars with various effective temperatures within $100\lt | z| \lt 500$ pc. Using the mean velocities of the cool stars, we derive the solar motion of (${U}_{\odot }$, ${V}_{\odot }$, ${W}_{\odot }$) = (9.58 ± 2.39, 10.52 ± 1.96, 7.01 ± 1.67)$\;\mathrm{km}\;{{\rm{s}}}^{-1}$ with respect to the local standard of rest. Moreover, we find that the stars with ${T}_{\mathrm{eff}}$$\;\gt \;6000$ K show a net asymmetric motion of ∼3 $\;\mathrm{km}\;{{\rm{s}}}^{-1}$ in $\langle W\rangle$ compared to the stars with ${T}_{\mathrm{eff}}$$\;\lt \;6000$ K. And their azimuthal velocity increases when $| z|$ increases. This peculiar motion in the warmer stars is likely because they are young and not completely relaxed, although other reasons, such as the resonance induced by the central rotating bar or the spiral structures and the perturbation of the merging dwarf galaxies, cannot be ruled out. The derived velocity dispersions and cross-terms for the data are approximately consistent with previous studies. We also find that the vertical gradients of ${\sigma }_{U}$ and ${\sigma }_{V}$ are larger than that of ${\sigma }_{W}$. And the vertical gradient of ${\sigma }_{U}$ shows a clear correlation with ${T}_{\mathrm{eff}}$, while the other two do not. Finally, our sample shows a vertex deviation of about $11^\circ$ at $300\lt | z| \lt 500$ pc, but roughly zero at $100\lt | z| \lt 300$ pc.

We study the baryon content of low-mass galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS DR8), focusing on galaxies in isolated environments where the complicating physics of galaxy–galaxy interactions are minimized. We measure neutral hydrogen (HI) gas masses and line widths for 148 isolated galaxies with stellar mass between 10⁷ and ${10}^{9.5}{M}_{\odot }$. We compare isolated low-mass galaxies to more massive galaxies and galaxies in denser environments by remeasuring HI emission lines from the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA survey 40% data release. All isolated low-mass galaxies either have large atomic gas fractions or large atomic gas fractions cannot be ruled out via their upper limits. We measure a median atomic gas fraction of ${f}_{\mathrm{gas}}=0.81\pm 0.13$ for our isolated low-mass sample with no systems below 0.30. At all stellar masses, the correlations between galaxy radius, baryonic mass, and velocity width are not significantly affected by environment. Finally, we estimate a median baryon to total dynamical mass fraction of ${f}_{\mathrm{baryon},\mathrm{disk}}=0.15\pm 0.17$. We also estimate two different median baryon to halo mass fractions using the results of semi-analytic models $({f}_{\mathrm{baryon},\mathrm{halo}}=0.04\pm 0.06)$ and abundance matching $({f}_{\mathrm{baryon},\mathrm{halo}}=0.04\pm 0.02)$. Baryon fractions estimated directly using HI observations appear independent of environment and maximum circular velocity, while baryon fractions estimated using abundance matching show a significant depletion of baryons at low maximum circular velocities.

Using ultraviolet absorption lines, we analyze the systematic properties of the warm ionized phase of starburst-driven winds in a sample of 39 low-redshift objects that spans broad ranges in starburst and galaxy properties. Total column densities for the outflows are ∼10²¹ cm⁻². The outflow velocity (v_out) correlates only weakly with the galaxy stellar mass (${M}_{*}$), or circular velocity (v_cir), but strongly with both SFR and SFR/area. The normalized outflow velocity (${v}_{\mathrm{out}}/{v}_{\mathrm{cir}}$) correlates well with both SFR/area and SFR/${M}_{*}$. The estimated outflow rates of warm ionized gas ($\dot{M}$) are ∼1–4 times the SFR, and the ratio $\dot{M}/\mathrm{SFR}$ does not correlate with v_out. We show that a model of a population of clouds accelerated by the combined forces of gravity and the momentum flux from the starburst matches the data. We find a threshold value for the ratio of the momentum flux supplied by the starburst to the critical momentum flux needed for the wind to overcome gravity acting on the clouds (R_crit). For ${R}_{\mathrm{crit}}\;\gt$ 10 (strong-outflows) the outflow's momentum flux is similar to the total momentum flux from the starburst and the outflow velocity exceeds the galaxy escape velocity. Neither of these is the case for the weak outflows (${R}_{\mathrm{crit}}\;\lt$ 10). For the weak-outflows, the data severely disagree with many prescriptions in numerical simulations or semi-analytic models of galaxy evolution. The agreement is better for the strong outflows, and we advocate the use of R_crit to guide future prescriptions.

We present an extended grid of mean three-dimensional (3D) spectra for low-mass, pure-hydrogen atmosphere DA white dwarfs (WDs). We use CO5BOLD radiation-hydrodynamics 3D simulations covering T_eff = 6000–11,500 K and log g = 5–6.5 (g in cm s⁻²) to derive analytical functions to convert spectroscopically determined 1D temperatures and surface gravities to 3D atmospheric parameters. Along with the previously published 3D models, the 1D to 3D corrections are now available for essentially all known convective DA WDs (i.e., log g = 5–9). For low-mass WDs, the correction in temperature is relatively small (a few percent at the most), but the surface gravities measured from the 3D models are lower by as much as 0.35 dex. We revisit the spectroscopic analysis of the extremely low-mass (ELM) WDs, and demonstrate that the 3D models largely resolve the discrepancies seen in the radius and mass measurements for relatively cool ELM WDs in eclipsing double WD and WD + millisecond pulsar binary systems. We also use the 3D corrections to revise the boundaries of the ZZ Ceti instability strip, including the recently found ELM pulsators.

The 3D MHD Anelastic Spherical Harmonic code, using slope-limited diffusion, is employed to capture convective and dynamo processes achieved in a global-scale stellar convection simulation for a model solar-mass star rotating at three times the solar rate. The dynamo-generated magnetic fields possesses many timescales, with a prominent polarity cycle occurring roughly every 6.2 years. The magnetic field forms large-scale toroidal wreaths, whose formation is tied to the low Rossby number of the convection in this simulation. The polarity reversals are linked to the weakened differential rotation and a resistive collapse of the large-scale magnetic field. An equatorial migration of the magnetic field is seen, which is due to the strong modulation of the differential rotation rather than a dynamo wave. A poleward migration of magnetic flux from the equator eventually leads to the reversal of the polarity of the high-latitude magnetic field. This simulation also enters an interval with reduced magnetic energy at low latitudes lasting roughly 16 years (about 2.5 polarity cycles), during which the polarity cycles are disrupted and after which the dynamo recovers its regular polarity cycles. An analysis of this grand minimum reveals that it likely arises through the interplay of symmetric and antisymmetric dynamo families. This intermittent dynamo state potentially results from the simulation's relatively low magnetic Prandtl number. A mean-field-based analysis of this dynamo simulation demonstrates that it is of the α-Ω type. The timescales that appear to be relevant to the magnetic polarity reversal are also identified.

Solar magnetic fields are responsible for most of the activities on the Sun. Many theories predict  that it is generated by a dynamo near the base of the convection zone (BCZ), located at $0.71{R}_{\odot }$. In this study, we use the solar-cycle variations of the meridional flow to probe magnetic field variations near the BCZ. A helioseismic time-distance method is used to measure the travel-time difference between opposite directions in meridional planes, which reflects the meridional flow at different depths. Two systematic effects, the surface magnetic effect and the center-to-limb effect, are removed. Using Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/Michelson Doppler Imager data, we measure the latitudinal distribution of travel-time difference for different travel distances, corresponding to meridional flow signals in the solar interior down to $0.54{R}_{\odot }$, over 15 years, including two solar minima and one maximum. The travel-time differences at the maximum and the minimum behave differently in three different depth ranges. The travel-time difference at the maximum is greater than that at the minimum above the BCZ, while it is smaller around the BCZ; both are close to zero below the BCZ. The difference in the travel-time difference between the maximum and the minimum changes about 0.1 s from the region above the BCZ to the region around the BCZ, corresponding to a change in flow velocity of about 10 m s⁻¹ around the BCZ. We tend to attribute this change in the meridional flow to the variation in the magnetic field from the minimum to the maximum near the BCZ.

We present both coronal and chromospheric observations of large-scale disturbances associated with a major solar eruption on 2005 September 7. In the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites/Solar X-ray Imager (SXI), arclike coronal brightenings are recorded propagating in the southern hemisphere. The SXI front shows an initially constant speed of 730 km s⁻¹ and decelerates later on, and its center is near the central position angle of the associated coronal mass ejection (CME) but away from the flare site. Chromospheric signatures of the disturbances are observed in both Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO)/Polarimeter for Inner Coronal Studies Hα and MLSO/Chromospheric Helium I Imaging Photometer He i λ10830 and can be divided into two parts. The southern signatures occur in regions where the SXI front sweeps over, with the Hα bright front coincident with the SXI front, while the He i dark front lags the SXI front but shows a similar kinematics. Ahead of the path of the southern signatures, oscillations of a filament are observed. The northern signatures occur near the equator, with the Hα and He i fronts coincident with each other. They first propagate westward and then deflect to the north at the boundary of an equatorial coronal hole. Based on these observational facts, we suggest that the global disturbances are associated with the CME lift-off and show a hybrid nature: a mainly non-wave CME flank nature for the SXI signatures and the corresponding southern chromospheric signatures, and a shocked fast-mode coronal MHD wave nature for the northern chromospheric signatures.

The 2011 outburst of Swift J1822.3–1606 was extraordinary; periodic modulations at the spin period of the underlying neutron star were clearly visible, remarkably similar to what is observed during the decaying tail of magnetar giant flares. We investigated the temporal characteristics of X-ray emission during the early phases of the outburst. We performed a periodicity search with the spectral hardness ratio (HR) and found a coherent signal near the spin period of the neutron star, but with a lag of about 3 radians. Therefore, the HR is strongly anti-correlated with the X-ray intensity, which is also seen in the giant flares. We studied the time evolution of the pulse profile and found that it evolves from a complex morphology to a much simpler shape within about a month. Pulse profile simplification also takes place during the giant flares, but on a much shorter timescale of about a few minutes. We found that the amount of energy emitted during the first 25 days of the outburst is comparable to what was detected in minutes during the decaying tail of giant flares. Based on these similarities, we suggest that the triggering mechanisms of the giant flares and the magnetar outbursts are likely the same. We propose that the trapped fireball that develops in the magnetosphere at the onset of the outburst radiates away efficiently in minutes in magnetars exhibiting giant flares, while in other magnetars, such as Swift J1822.3–1606, the efficiency of radiation of the fireball is not as high and, therefore, lasts much longer.

This paper introduces and describes the data cubes from GHIGLS, deep Green Bank Telescope (GBT) surveys of the 21 cm line emission of H i in 37 targeted fields at intermediate Galactic latitude. The GHIGLS fields together cover over 1000 deg² at $9\buildrel{\,\prime}\over{.} 55$ spatial resolution. The H i spectra have an effective velocity resolution of about 1.0 km s⁻¹ and cover at least $-450\lt {v}_{\mathrm{LSR}}\lt +250$ km s⁻¹, extending to ${v}_{\mathrm{LSR}}\lt +450$ km s⁻¹ for most fields. As illustrated with various visualizations of the H i data cubes, GHIGLS highlights that even at intermediate Galactic latitude the interstellar medium is very complex. Spatial structure of the H i is quantified through power spectra of maps of the integrated line emission or column density, ${N}_{{\rm{H}}\;{\rm{I}}}$. For our featured representative field, centered on the north ecliptic pole, the scaling exponents in power-law representations of the power spectra of ${N}_{{\rm{H}}\;{\rm{I}}}$ maps for low-, intermediate-, and high-velocity gas components (LVC, IVC, and HVC) are $-2.86\pm 0.04$, $-2.69\pm 0.04$, and $-2.59\pm 0.07$, respectively. After Gaussian decomposition of the line profiles, ${N}_{{\rm{H}}\;{\rm{I}}}$ maps were also made corresponding to the narrow-line and broad-line components in the LVC range; for the narrow-line map the exponent is $-1.9\pm 0.1$, reflecting more small-scale structure in the cold neutral medium (CNM). There is evidence that filamentary structure in the H i CNM is oriented parallel to the Galactic magnetic field. The power spectrum analysis also offers insight into the various contributions to uncertainty in the data, yielding values close to those obtained using diagnostics developed in our earlier independent analysis. The effect of 21 cm line opacity on the GHIGLS ${N}_{{\rm{H}}\;{\rm{I}}}$ maps is estimated. Comparisons of the GBT data in a few of the GHIGLS fields with data from the EBHIS and GASS surveys explore potential issues in data reduction and calibration and reveal good agreement. The high quality of the GHIGLS data enables a variety of studies in directions of low Galactic column density, as already demonstrated by the Planck Collaboration. Fully reduced GHIGLS H i data cubes and other data products are available at www.cita.utoronto.ca/GHIGLS.

We study giant molecular cloud (GMC) environments surrounding 10 infrared dark clouds (IRDCs), using ${}^{13}\mathrm{CO}(1-0)$ emission from the Galactic Ring Survey. We measure physical properties of these IRDCs/GMCs on a range of scales extending to radii, R, of 30 pc. By comparing different methods for defining cloud boundaries and for deriving mass surface densities and velocity dispersions, we settle on a preferred "CE,τ,G" method of "Connected Extraction" in position–velocity space plus Gaussian fitting to opacity-corrected line profiles for velocity dispersion and mass estimation. We examine how cloud definition affects measurements of the magnitude and direction of line-of-sight velocity gradients and velocity dispersions, including associated dependencies on size scale. CE,τ,G-defined GMCs show velocity dispersion versus size relations σ ∝ s^1/2, which are consistent with the large-scale gradients being caused by turbulence. However, IRDCs have velocity dispersions that are moderately enhanced above those predicted by this scaling relation. We examine the dynamical state of the clouds, finding mean virial parameters ${\bar{\alpha }}_{\mathrm{vir}}\simeq 1.0$ for GMCs and 1.6 for IRDCs, broadly consistent with models of magnetized virialized pressure-confined polytropic clouds, but potentially indicating that IRDCs have more disturbed kinematics. CE,τ, G-defined clouds exhibit a tight correlation of $\sigma /{R}^{1/2}\propto {{\rm{\Sigma }}}^{n}$, with n ≃ 0.7 for GMCs and 1.3 for IRDCs (cf. a value of 0.5 expected for a population of virialized clouds). We conclude that while GMCs show evidence for virialization over a range of scales, IRDCs may be moderately supervirial. Alternatively, IRDCs could be virialized but have systematically different ${}^{13}\mathrm{CO}$ gas-phase abundances, i.e., owing to freeze-out, affecting mass estimations.

Measurements of solar wind turbulence reveal the ubiquity of discontinuities. In this study we investigate how the discontinuities, especially rotational discontinuities (RDs), are formed in MHD turbulence. In a simulation of the decaying compressive three-dimensional (3D) MHD turbulence with an imposed uniform background magnetic field, we detect RDs with sharp field rotations and little variations of magnetic field intensity, as well as mass density. At the same time, in the de Hoffman–Teller frame, the plasma velocity is nearly in agreement with the Alfvén speed, and is field-aligned on both sides of the discontinuity. We take one of the identified RDs to analyze its 3D structure and temporal evolution in detail. By checking the magnetic field and plasma parameters, we find that the identified RD evolves from the steepening of the Alfvén wave with moderate amplitude, and that steepening is caused by the nonuniformity of the Alfvén speed in the ambient turbulence.

On 2007 January 12, comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) passed its perihelion at 0.17 AU. Abundant remote observations offer plenty of information on the neutral composition and neutral velocities within 1 million kilometers of the comet nucleus. In early February, the Ulysses spacecraft made an in situ measurement of the ion composition, plasma velocity, and magnetic field when passing through the distant ion tail and the ambient solar wind. The measurement by Ulysses was made when the comet was at around 0.8 AU. With the constraints provided by remote and in situ observations, we simulated the plasma environment of Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) using a multi-species comet MHD model over a wide range of heliocentric distances from 0.17 to 1.75 AU. The solar wind interaction of the comet at various locations is characterized and typical subsolar standoff distances of the bow shock and contact surface are presented and compared to analytic solutions. We find the variation in the bow shock standoff distances at different heliocentric distances is smaller than the contact surface. In addition, we modified the multi-species model for the case when the comet was at 0.7 AU and achieved comparable water group ion abundances, proton densities, plasma velocities, and plasma temperatures to the Ulysses/SWICS and SWOOPS observations. We discuss the dominating chemical reactions throughout the comet-solar wind interaction region and demonstrate the link between the ion composition near the comet and in the distant tail as measured by Ulysses.

The previous calculations of the Solar Spectral Irradiance (SSI) by the Solar Radiation Physical Modeling, version 2 system, are updated in this work by including new molecular photodissociation cross-sections of important species, and many more levels and lines in its treatment of non-LTE radiative transfer. The current calculations including the new molecular photodissociation opacities produce a reduced over-ionizaton of heavy elements in the lower chromosphere and solve the problems with prior studies of the UV SSI in the wavelength range 160–400 nm and now reproduce the available observations with much greater accuracy. Calculations and observations of the near-UV at 0.1 nm resolution and higher are compared. The current set of physical models includes four quiet-Sun and five active-region components, from which radiance is computed for ten observing angles. These radiances are combined with images of the solar disk to obtain the SSI and Total Solar Irradiance and their variations. The computed SSI is compared with measurements from space at several nm resolution and agreement is found within the accuracy level of these measurements. An important result is that the near-UV SSI increase with solar activity is significant for the photodissociation of ozone in the terrestrial atmosphere because a number of highly variable upper chromospheric lines overlap the ozone Hartley band.

We investigate the Sun–Earth dynamics of a set of eight well observed solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) using data from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory spacecraft. We seek to quantify the extent to which momentum coupling between these CMEs and the ambient solar wind (i.e., the aerodynamic drag) influences their dynamics. To this end, we use results from a 3D flux rope model fit to the CME data. We find that solar wind aerodynamic drag adequately accounts for the dynamics of the fastest CME in our sample. For the relatively slower CMEs, we find that drag-based models initiated below heliocentric distances ranging from 15 to 50 ${R}_{\odot }$ cannot account for the observed CME trajectories. This is at variance with the general perception that the dynamics of slow CMEs are influenced primarily by solar wind drag from a few ${R}_{\odot }$ onwards. Several slow CMEs propagate at roughly constant speeds above 15–50 ${R}_{\odot }$. Drag-based models initiated above these heights therefore require negligible aerodynamic drag to explain their observed trajectories.

To measure the stellar and orbital properties of the metal-poor RS CVn binary o Draconis (o Dra), we directly detect the companion using interferometric observations obtained with the Michigan InfraRed Combiner at Georgia State University's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Array. The H-band flux ratio between the primary and secondary stars is the highest confirmed flux ratio (370 ± 40) observed with long-baseline optical interferometry. These detections are combined with radial velocity data of both the primary and secondary stars, including new data obtained with the Tillinghast Reflector Echelle Spectrograph on the Tillinghast Reflector at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory and the 2 m Tennessee State University Automated Spectroscopic Telescope at Fairborn Observatory. We determine an orbit from which we find model-independent masses and ages of the components (${M}_{A}=1.35\pm 0.05\ {M}_{\odot }$, ${M}_{B}=0.99\pm 0.02\ {M}_{\odot }$, system age $=\ 3.0\mp 0.5$ Gyr). An average of a 23-year light curve of o Dra from the Tennessee State University Automated Photometric Telescope folded over the orbital period newly reveals eclipses and the quasi-sinusoidal signature of ellipsoidal variations. The modeled light curve for our system's stellar and orbital parameters confirm these ellipsoidal variations due to the primary star partially filling its Roche lobe potential, suggesting most of the photometric variations are not due to stellar activity (starspots). Measuring gravity darkening from the average light curve gives a best-fit of $\beta =0.07\pm 0.03$, a value consistent with conventional theory for convective envelope stars. The primary star also exhibits an anomalously short rotation period, which, when taken with other system parameters, suggests the star likely engulfed a low-mass companion that had recently spun-up the star.

It has recently been discovered that some, if not all, classical novae emit GeV gamma-rays during outburst. Despite using an unreliable method to determine its distance, previous work showed that nova V1324 Sco was the most gamma-ray luminous of all gamma-ray-detected novae. We present here a different, more robust, method to determine the reddening and distance to V1324 Sco using high-resolution optical spectroscopy. Using two independent methods, we derived a reddening of $E(B-V)=$$1.16\pm 0.12$ and a distance limit of ${r}_{{\rm{D}}}\gt 6.5\;\mathrm{kpc}$. This distance is $\gt 40\%$ greater than the value used in the gamma-ray analysis, meaning that V1324 Sco has an even higher gamma-ray luminosity than previously calculated. We also use periodic modulations in the brightness, interpreted as the orbital period, in conjunction with pre-outburst photometric limits to show that a main-sequence companion is strongly favored.

Empirical calibrations of the stellar age-rotation–activity relation (ARAR) rely on observations of the co-eval populations of stars in open clusters. We used the ChandraX-ray Observatory to study M37, a 500-Myr-old open cluster that has been extensively surveyed for rotation periods (${P}_{\mathrm{rot}}$). M37 was observed almost continuously for five days, for a total of 440.5 ks, to measure stellar X-ray luminosities (${L}_{{\rm{X}}}$), a proxy for coronal activity, across a wide range of masses. The cluster's membership catalog was revisited to calculate updated membership probabilities from photometric data and each star's distance to the cluster center. The result is a comprehensive sample of 1699 M37 members: 426 with ${P}_{\mathrm{rot}}$, 278 with X-ray detections, and 76 with both. We calculate Rossby numbers, ${R}_{o}=\ {P}_{\mathrm{rot}}/\tau$, where τ is the convective turnover time, and ratios of the X-ray-to-bolometric luminosity, ${L}_{{\rm{X}}}/{L}_{\mathrm{bol}}$, to minimize mass dependencies in our characterization of the rotation-coronal activity relation at 500 Myr. We find that fast rotators, for which ${R}_{o}\lt 0.09\pm 0.01$, show saturated levels of activity, with log(${L}_{{\rm{X}}}/{L}_{\mathrm{bol}}$)$=\;-3.06\pm 0.04$. For ${R}_{o}\geqslant 0.09\pm 0.01$, activity is unsaturated and follows a power law of the form ${R}_{o}^{\beta }$, where β = $-{2.03}_{-0.14}^{+0.17}$. This is the largest sample available for analyzing the dependence of coronal emission on rotation for a single-aged population, covering stellar masses in the range 0.4–1.3 ${M}_{\odot }$, ${P}_{\mathrm{rot}}$ in the range 0.4–12.8 days, and ${L}_{{\rm{X}}}$ in the range ${10}^{28.4-30.5}$$\mathrm{erg}\;{{\rm{s}}}^{-1}$. Our results make M37 a new benchmark open cluster for calibrating the ARAR at ages of $\approx 500$ Myr.

Spectral line survey observations are conducted toward the high-mass protostar candidate NGC 2264 CMM3 in the 4, 3, and 0.8 mm bands with the Nobeyama 45 m telescope and the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ASTE) 10 m telescope. In total, 265 emission lines are detected in the 4 and 3 mm bands, and 74 emission lines in the 0.8 mm band. As a result, 36 molecular species and 30 isotopologues are identified. In addition to the fundamental molecular species, many emission lines of carbon-chain molecules such as HC₅N, C₄H, CCS, and C₃S are detected in the 4 and 3 mm bands. Deuterated molecular species are also detected with relatively strong intensities. On the other hand, emission lines of complex organic molecules such as HCOOCH₃ and CH₃OCH₃ are found to be weak. For the molecules for which multiple transitions are detected, rotation temperatures are derived to be 7–33 K except for CH₃OH. Emission lines with high upper-state energies (E_u > 150 K) are detected for CH₃OH, indicating the existence of a hot core. In comparison with the chemical composition of the Orion KL, carbon-chain molecules and deuterated molecules are found to be abundant in NGC 2264 CMM3, while sulfur-bearing species and complex organic molecules are deficient. These characteristics indicate the chemical youth of NGC 2264 CMM3 in spite of its location at the center of the cluster forming core, NGC 2264 C.

The recent discovery by Cantalupo et al. of the largest (∼500 kpc) luminous (L ≃ 1.43 × 10⁴⁵ erg s⁻¹) Lyα nebula associated with the quasar UM287 (z = 2.279) poses a great challenge to our current understanding of the astrophysics of the halos hosting massive z ∼ 2 galaxies. Either an enormous reservoir of cool gas is required M ≃ 10¹²M_⊙, exceeding the expected baryonic mass available, or one must invoke extreme gas clumping factors not present in high-resolution cosmological simulations. However, observations of Lyα emission alone cannot distinguish between these two scenarios. We have obtained the deepest ever spectroscopic integrations in the He ii λ1640 and C ivλ1549 emission lines with the goal of detecting extended line emission, but detect neither line to a 3σ limiting SB ≃ 10⁻¹⁸ erg s⁻¹ cm⁻² arcsec⁻². We construct simple models of the expected emission spectrum in the highly probable scenario that the nebula is powered by photoionization from the central hyper-luminous quasar. The non-detection of He ii implies that the nebular emission arises from a mass M_c ≲ 6.4 × 10¹⁰M_⊙ of cool gas on ∼200 kpc scales, distributed in a population of remarkably dense (n_H ≳ 3 cm⁻³) and compact (R ≲ 20 pc) clouds, which would clearly be unresolved by current cosmological simulations. Given the large gas motions suggested by the Lyα line (v ≃ 500 km s⁻¹), it is unclear how these clouds survive without being disrupted by hydrodynamic instabilities. Our work serves as a benchmark for future deep integrations with current and planned wide-field IFU spectrographs such as MUSE, KCWI, and KMOS. Our observations and models suggest that a ≃10 hr exposure would likely detect ∼10 rest-frame UV/optical emission lines, opening up the possibility of conducting detailed photoionization modeling to infer the physical state of gas in the circumgalactic medium.

Most of the radiated power of blazars is produced at GeV energies via inverse Compton scattering at an unknown distance from the central engine. Possible seed photon sources map to different locations along the jet spanning two orders of magnitude in distance from the black hole, ranging from the broad-line region (BLR, ∼0.1 pc), to the molecular torus (MT, $\sim 1-$ few pc), to the very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) radio core zone at ∼10 pc. Here, we apply a diagnostic for identifying the GeV emission zone (GEZ) in blazar PKS 1510–089 using four bright gamma-ray flares detected by Fermi in 2009. As shown by Dotson et al., the flare decay time should be energy-independent for flares in the BLR, but faster at higher energies for flares in the MT. We find that in the two cases where the gamma-ray flare was not accompanied by an optical flare, the decay times show an energy-dependence suggesting a location in the MT. For the two GeV flares accompanied by optical flares, we obtained very fast decay times (≲3 hr) in both low and high energy Fermi bands. For these flares, considering the simultaneous >100 GeV detection by HESS (H.E.S.S. Collaboration et al.) and the ejection of a superluminal component from the VLBI radio core in one case, our results suggest that both flares came from the vicinity of the VLBI core. We thus suggest that the GEZ is spread over a wide range of locations beyond the BLR.

We report on the study of 14 XMM-Newton observations of the magnetar SGR 1806–20 spread over a period of 8 years, starting in 2003 and extending to 2011. We find that in mid 2005, a year and a half after a giant flare (GF), the torques on the star increased to the largest value yet seen, with a long term average rate between 2005 and 2011 of $| \dot{\nu }| \approx 1.35\times {10}^{-11}$ Hz s⁻¹, an order of magnitude larger than its historical level measured in 1995. The pulse morphology of the source is complex in the observations following the GF, while its pulsed-fraction remained constant at about 7% in all observations. Spectrally, the combination of a blackbody (BB) and power-law (PL) components is an excellent fit to all observations. The BB and PL fluxes increased by a factor of 2.5 and 4, respectively, while the spectra hardened, in concordance with the 2004 major outburst that preceded the GF. The fluxes decayed exponentially back to quiescence with a characteristic timescale of $\tau \sim 1.5$ years, although they did not reach a constant value until at least 3.5 years later (2009). The long-term timing and spectral behavior of the source point to a decoupling between the mechanisms responsible for their respective behavior. We argue that low level seismic activity causing small twists in the open field lines can explain the long lasting large torques on the star, while the spectral behavior is due to a twist imparted onto closed field lines after the 2004 large outburst.

Main-sequence disruptions of stars by supermassive black holes result in the production of an extended, geometrically thin debris stream winding repeatedly around the black hole. In the absence of black hole spin, in-plane relativistic precession causes this stream to intersect with itself after a single winding. In this paper we show that relativistic precessions arising from black hole spin can induce deflections out of the original orbital plane that prevent the stream from self-intersecting even after many windings. This naturally leads to a "dark period" in which the flare is not observable for some time, persisting for up to a dozen orbital periods of the most bound material, which translates to years for disruptions around black holes with masses $\sim {10}^{7}{M}_{\odot }$. When the stream eventually self-intersects, the distance from the black hole and the angle at which this collision occurs determine the rate of energy dissipation. We find that more-massive black holes (${M}_{{\rm{h}}}\gtrsim {10}^{7}{M}_{\odot }$) tend to have more violent stream self-intersections, resulting in prompt accretion. For these tidal disruption events (TDEs), the accretion rate onto the black hole should still closely follow the original fallback rate after a fixed delay time ${t}_{\mathrm{delay}}$, ${\dot{M}}_{\mathrm{acc}}(t+{t}_{\mathrm{delay}})={\dot{M}}_{\mathrm{fb}}(t)$. For lower black hole masses (${M}_{{\rm{h}}}\lesssim {10}^{6}$), we find that flares are typically slowed down by about an order of magnitude, resulting in the majority of TDEs being sub-Eddington at peak. This also implies that current searches for TDEs are biased toward prompt flares, with slowed flares likely having been unidentified.

The fundamental rovibrational band of CO near 4.7 μm is a sensitive tracer of the presence and location of molecular gas in the planet-forming region of protoplanetary disks at 0.01–10 AU. We present a new analysis of a high-resolution spectral survey (R ∼ 96,000, or $\sim 3.2\;\mathrm{km}\;{{\rm{s}}}^{-1}$) of CO rovibrational lines from protoplanetary disks spanning a wide range of stellar masses and of evolutionary properties. We find that the CO emission originates in two distinct velocity components. Line widths of both components correlate strongly with disk inclination, as expected for gas in Keplerian rotation. By measuring the line flux ratios between vibrational transitions ${F}_{v=2-1}/{F}_{v=1-0}$, we find that the two velocity components are clearly distinct in excitation. The broad component ($\mathrm{FWHM}=50-200\;\mathrm{km}\;{{\rm{s}}}^{-1}$) probes the disk region near the magnetospheric accretion radius at $\approx 0.05$ AU, where the gas is hot ($800-1500$ K). The narrow component ($\mathrm{FWHM}=10-50\;\mathrm{km}\;{{\rm{s}}}^{-1}$) probes the disk at larger radii of 0.1–10 AU, where the gas is typically colder (200–700 K). CO excitation temperatures and orbital radii define an empirical temperature–radius relation as a power law with index −0.3 ± 0.1 between 0.05 and 3 AU. The broad CO component, co-spatial with the observed orbital distribution of hot Jupiters, is rarely detected in transitional and Herbig Ae disks, providing evidence for an early dissipation of the innermost disk. An inversion in the temperature profile beyond 3 AU is interpreted as a tracer of a regime dominated by UV pumping in largely devoid inner disks, and may be a signature of the last stage before the disk enters the gas-poor debris phase.

We present broadband observations and spectral modeling of PKS B0008-421 and identify it as an extreme gigahertz-peaked spectrum (GPS) source. PKS B0008-421 is characterized by the steepest known spectral slope below the turnover, close to the theoretical limit of synchrotron self-absorption, and the smallest known spectral width of any GPS source. Spectral coverage of the source spans from 0.118 to 22 GHz, which includes data from the Murchison Widefield Array and the wide bandpass receivers on the Australia Telescope Compact Array. We have implemented a Bayesian inference model fitting routine to fit the data with internal free–free absorption (FFA), single- and double-component FFA in an external homogeneous medium, FFA in an external inhomogeneous medium, or single- and double-component synchrotron self-absorption models, all with and without a high-frequency exponential break. We find that without the inclusion of a high-frequency break these models cannot accurately fit the data, with significant deviations above and below the peak in the radio spectrum. The addition of a high-frequency break provides acceptable spectral fits for the inhomogeneous FFA and double-component synchrotron self-absorption models, with the inhomogeneous FFA model statistically favored. The requirement of a high-frequency spectral break implies that the source has ceased injecting fresh particles. Additional support for the inhomogeneous FFA model as being responsible for the turnover in the spectrum is given by the consistency between the physical parameters derived from the model fit and the implications of the exponential spectral break, such as the necessity of the source being surrounded by a dense ambient medium to maintain the peak frequency near the gigahertz region. This implies that PKS B0008-421 should display an internal H i column density greater than 10²⁰ cm⁻². The discovery of PKS B0008-421 suggests that the next generation of low radio frequency surveys could reveal a large population of GPS sources that have ceased activity, and that a portion of the ultra–steep-spectrum source population could be composed of these GPS sources in a relic phase.

Multiple stellar populations are a widespread phenomenon among Galactic globular clusters. Even though the origin of the enriched material from which new generations of stars are produced remains unclear, it is likely that self-enrichment will be feasible only in clusters massive enough to retain this enriched material. We searched for multiple populations in the low mass ($M\sim 1.4\times {10}^{4}$${M}_{\odot }$) globular cluster E3, analyzing SOAR/Goodman multi-object spectroscopy centered on the blue cyanogen (CN) absorption features of 23 red giant branch stars. We find that the CN abundance does not present the typical bimodal behavior seen in clusters hosting multistellar populations, but rather a unimodal distribution that indicates the presence of a genuine single stellar population, or a level of enrichment much lower than in clusters that show evidence for two populations from high-resolution spectroscopy. E3 would be the first bona fide Galactic old globular cluster where no sign of self-enrichment is found.

Making use of a set of detailed potential models for normal spiral galaxies, we analyze disk stellar-orbital dynamics as the structural and dynamical parameters of spiral arms (mass, pattern speed, and pitch angle) are gradually modified. With this comprehensive study of ordered and chaotic behavior, we constructed an assemblage of orbitally supported galactic models and plausible parameters for orbitally self-consistent spiral arm models. We find that to maintain orbital support for the spiral arms, the spiral arm mass, M_sp, must decrease with the increase of the pitch angle, i. If i is smaller than $\sim 10^\circ$, M_sp can be as large as $\sim 7\%$, $\sim 6\%$, or $\sim 5\%$ of the disk mass, for Sa, Sb, and Sc galaxies, respectively. If i increases up to $\sim 25^\circ$, the maximum M_sp is $\sim 1\%$ of the disk mass, independent of morphological type, in this case. For values larger than these limits, spiral arms would likely act as transient features. Regarding the limits posed by extreme chaotic behavior, we find a strong restriction on the maximum plausible values of spiral arm parameters on disk galaxies beyond which chaotic behavior becomes pervasive. We find that for i smaller than $\sim 20^\circ$, $\sim 25^\circ$, or $\sim 30^\circ$, for Sa, Sb, and Sc galaxies, respectively, M_sp can go up to $\sim 10\%$, of the mass of the disk. If the corresponding i is around $\sim 40^\circ$, $\sim 45^\circ$, $\sim 50^\circ$, M_sp is $\sim 1\%$, $\sim 2\%$, $\sim 3\%$ of the mass of the disk. Beyond these values, chaos dominates phase space, destroying the main periodic orbits and the neighboring quasiperiodic orbits.

Here we present a new approach for constraining luminous blazars, incorporating fully time-dependent and self-consistent modeling of bright γ-ray flares of PKS 1510–089, resolved with Fermi-LAT, in the framework of the internal shock scenario. The results of our modeling imply the location of the γ-ray flaring zone to be outside of the broad-line region, namely around $\simeq 0.3$ pc from the core for a free-expanding jet with the opening angle ${\rm{\Gamma }}\;{\theta }_{\mathrm{jet}}\simeq 1$ (where Γ is the jet bulk Lorentz factor), up to $\simeq 3$ pc for a collimated outflow with ${\rm{\Gamma }}\;{\theta }_{\mathrm{jet}}\simeq 0.1$. Moreover, under the ${\rm{\Gamma }}\;{\theta }_{\mathrm{jet}}\simeq 1$ condition, our modeling indicates the maximum efficiency of the jet production during the flares, with the total jet energy flux strongly dominated by protons and exceeding the available accretion power in the source. This is in contrast to the quiescence states of the blazar, characterized by lower jet kinetic power and an approximate energy equipartition between different plasma constituents. We demostrate how strictly simultaneous observations of flaring PKS 1510–089 at optical, X-ray, and GeV photon energies, on hourly timescales, augmented by extensive simulations as presented in this paper, may help to impose further precise constraints on the magnetization and opening angle of the emitting region. In addition, our detailed modeling implies that a non-uniformity of the Doppler factor across the jet, caused by the radial expansion of the outflow, may lead to a pronounced time distortion in the observed γ-ray light curves, resulting, in particular, in asymmetric flux profiles with substantially extended decay phases.

We have observed the Virgo Cluster spiral galaxy, NGC 4845, at 1.6 and 6 GHz using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, as part of the Continuum Halos in Nearby Galaxies—an EVLA Survey (CHANG-ES). The source consists of a bright unresolved core with a surrounding weak central disk (1.8 kpc diameter). The core is variable over the 6 month timescale of the CHANG-ES data and has increased by a factor of ≈6 since 1995. The wide bandwidths of CHANG-ES have allowed us to determine the spectral evolution of this core, which peaks between 1.6 and 6 GHz (it is a Gigahertz-peaked spectrum source). We show that the spectral turnover is dominated by synchrotron self-absorption and that the spectral evolution can be explained by adiabatic expansion (outflow), likely in the form of a jet or cone. The CHANG-ES observations serendipitously overlap in time with the hard X-ray light curve obtained by Nikolajuk & Walter (2013), which they interpret as due to a tidal disruption event (TDE) of a super-Jupiter mass object around a 10⁵M_⊙ black hole. We outline a standard jet model, provide an explanation for the observed circular polarization, and quantitatively suggest a link between the peak radio and peak X-ray emission via inverse Compton upscattering of the photons emitted by the relativistic electrons. We predict that it should be possible to resolve a young radio jet via VLBI as a result of this nearby TDE.

We have discovered an optically rich galaxy cluster at z = 1.7089 with star formation occurring in close proximity to the central galaxy. The system, SpARCS104922.6+564032.5, was detected within the Spitzer Adaptation of the red-sequence Cluster Survey, and confirmed through Keck-MOSFIRE spectroscopy. The rest-frame optical richness of N_gal (500 kpc) = 30 ± 8 implies a total halo mass, within 500 kpc, of ∼3.8 ± 1.2 × 10¹⁴M_⊙, comparable to other clusters at or above this redshift. There is a wealth of ancillary data available, including Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope optical, UKIRT-K, Spitzer-IRAC/MIPS, and Herschel-SPIRE. This work adds submillimeter imaging with the SCUBA2 camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope and near-infrared imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope. The mid/far-infrared (M/FIR) data detect an Ultra-luminous Infrared Galaxy spatially coincident with the central galaxy, with L_IR = 6.2 ± 0.9 × 10¹²L_⊙. The detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at z = 1.7 in a Spitzer-IRS spectrum of the source implies the FIR luminosity is dominated by star formation (an Active Galactic Nucleus contribution of 20%) with a rate of ∼860 ± 130 M_⊙ yr⁻¹. The optical source corresponding to the IR emission is likely a chain of >10 individual clumps arranged as "beads on a string" over a linear scale of 66 kpc. Its morphology and proximity to the Brightest Cluster Galaxy (BCG) imply a gas-rich interaction at the center of the cluster triggered the star formation. This system indicates that wet mergers may be an important process in forming the stellar mass of BCGs at early times.

Fermi-LAT analyses show that the γ-ray photon spectral indices ${{\rm{\Gamma }}}_{\gamma }$ of a large sample of blazars correlate with the $\nu {F}_{\nu }$ peak synchrotron frequency ${\nu }_{s}$ according to the relation ${{\rm{\Gamma }}}_{\gamma }=d-k\mathrm{log}$${\nu }_{s}$. The same function, with different constants d and k, also describes the relationship between ${{\rm{\Gamma }}}_{\gamma }$ and peak Compton frequency ${\nu }_{{\rm{C}}}$. This behavior is derived analytically using an equipartition blazar model with a log-parabola description of the electron energy distribution (EED). In the Thomson regime, $k={k}_{\mathrm{EC}}=3b/4$ for external Compton (EC) processes and $k={k}_{\mathrm{SSC}}=9b/16$ for synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) processes, where b is the log-parabola width parameter of the EED. The BL Lac object Mrk 501 is fit with a synchrotron/SSC model given by the log-parabola EED, and is best fit away from equipartition. Corrections are made to the spectral-index diagrams for a low-energy power-law EED and departures from equipartition, as constrained by absolute jet power. Analytic expressions are compared with numerical values derived from self-Compton and EC scattered γ-ray spectra from Lyα broad-line region and IR target photons. The ${{\rm{\Gamma }}}_{\gamma }$ versus ${\nu }_{s}$ behavior in the model depends strongly on b, with progressively and predictably weaker dependences on γ-ray detection range, variability time, and isotropic γ-ray luminosity. Implications for blazar unification and blazars as ultra-high energy cosmic-ray sources are discussed. Arguments by Ghisellini et al. that the jet power exceeds the accretion luminosity depend on the doubtful assumption that we are viewing at the Doppler angle.

We present Karl Jansky Very Large Array observations of the CO $J=1-0$ transition in a sample of four $z\sim 2$ main-sequence galaxies. These galaxies are in the blue sequence of star-forming galaxies at their redshift, and are part of the IRAM Plateau de Bure HIgh-z Blue Sequence Survey which imaged them in CO $J=3-2$. Two galaxies are imaged here at high signal-to-noise, allowing determinations of their disk sizes, line profiles, molecular surface densities, and excitation. Using these and published measurements, we show that the CO and optical disks have similar sizes in main-sequence galaxies, and in the galaxy where we can compare CO $J=1-0$ and $J=3-2$ sizes we find these are also very similar. Assuming a Galactic CO-to-H₂ conversion, we measure surface densities of ${{\rm{\Sigma }}}_{\mathrm{mol}}\sim 1200$${M}_{\odot }$ pc⁻² in projection and estimate ${{\rm{\Sigma }}}_{\mathrm{mol}}$∼ 500–900 ${M}_{\odot }$ pc⁻² deprojected. Finally, our data yields velocity-integrated Rayleigh–Jeans brightness temperature line ratios r₃₁ that are approximately at unity. In addition to the similar disk sizes, the very similar line profiles in $J=1-0$ and $J=3-2$ indicate that both transitions sample the same kinematics, implying that their emission is coextensive. We conclude that in these two main-sequence galaxies there is no evidence for significant excitation gradients or a large molecular reservoir that is diffuse or cold and not involved in active star formation. We suggest that r₃₁ in very actively star-forming galaxies is likely an indicator of how well-mixed the star formation activity and the molecular reservoir are.

Langmuir turbulence excited by electron flows in solar wind plasmas is studied on the basis of numerical simulations. In particular, nonlinear wave decay processes involving ion-sound (IS) waves are considered in order to understand their dependence on external long-wavelength plasma density fluctuations. In the presence of inhomogeneities, it is shown that the decay processes are localized in space and, due to the differences between the group velocities of Langmuir and IS waves, their duration is limited so that a full nonlinear saturation cannot be achieved. The reflection and the scattering of Langmuir wave packets on the ambient and randomly varying density fluctuations lead to crucial effects impacting the development of the IS wave spectrum. Notably, beatings between forward propagating Langmuir waves and reflected ones result in the parametric generation of waves of noticeable amplitudes and in the amplification of IS waves. These processes, repeated at different space locations, form a series of cascades of wave energy transfer, similar to those studied in the frame of weak turbulence theory. The dynamics of such a cascading mechanism and its influence on the acceleration of the most energetic part of the electron beam are studied. Finally, the role of the decay processes in the shaping of the profiles of the Langmuir wave packets is discussed, and the waveforms calculated are compared with those observed recently on board the spacecraft Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory and WIND.

In this work, a gradual solar energetic particle (SEP) event observed by multi-spacecraft has been simulated. The time profiles of SEP fluxes accelerated by an interplanetary shock in the three-dimensional interplanetary space are obtained by solving numerically the Fokker–Planck focused transport equation. The interplanetary shock is modeled as a moving source of energetic particles. By fitting the 1979 March 01 SEP fluxes observed by Helios 1, Helios 2, and IMP 8 with our simulations, we obtain the best parameters for the shock acceleration efficiency model. And we also find that the particle perpendicular diffusion coefficient with the level of ∼1%–3% of parallel diffusion coefficient at 1 AU should be included. The reservoir phenomenon is reproduced in the simulations, and the longitudinal gradient of SEP fluxes in the decay phase, which is observed by three spacecraft at different locations, is more sensitive to the shock acceleration efficiency parameters than that is to the perpendicular diffusion coefficient.

We demonstrate that a nonthermal distribution of particles described by a kappa distribution can be accurately approximated by a weighted sum of Maxwell–Boltzmann distributions. We apply this method to modeling collision processes in kappa-distribution plasmas, with a particular focus on atomic processes important for solar physics. The relevant collision process rate coefficients are generated by summing appropriately weighted Maxwellian rate coefficients. This method reproduces the rate coefficients for a kappa distribution to an estimated accuracy of better than 3%. This is equal to or better than the accuracy of rate coefficients generated using "reverse-engineering" methods, which attempt to extract the needed cross sections from the published Maxwellian rate coefficient data and then reconvolve the extracted cross sections with the desired kappa distribution. Our approach of summing Maxwellian rate coefficients is easy to implement using existing spectral analysis software. Moreover, the weights in the sum of the Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution rate coefficients can be found for any value of the parameter κ, thereby enabling one to model plasmas with a time-varying κ. Tabulated Maxwellian fitting parameters are given for specific values of κ from 1.7 to 100. We also provide polynomial fits to these parameters over this entire range. Several applications of our technique are presented, including the plasma equilibrium charge state distribution (CSD), predicting line ratios, modeling the influence of electron impact multiple ionization on the equilibrium CSD of kappa-distribution plasmas, and calculating the time-varying CSD of plasmas during a solar flare.

The Euphrosyne asteroid family is uniquely situated at high inclination in the outer Main Belt, bisected by the ${\nu }_{6}$ secular resonance. This large, low albedo family may thus be an important contributor to specific subpopulations of the near-Earth objects. We present simulations of the orbital evolution of Euphrosyne family members from the time of breakup to the present day, focusing on those members that move into near-Earth orbits. We find that family members typically evolve into a specific region of orbital element-space, with semimajor axes near $\sim 3$ AU, high inclinations, very large eccentricities, and Tisserand parameters similar to Jupiter family comets. Filtering all known Near-Earth objects (NEOs) with our derived orbital element limits, we find that the population of candidate objects is significantly lower in albedo than the overall NEO population, although many of our candidates are also darker than the Euphrosyne family, and may have properties more similar to comet nuclei. Followup characterization of these candidates will enable us to compare them to known family properties, and confirm which ones originated with the breakup of (31) Euphrosyne.

The origin of ubiquitous nucleosynthetic isotope anomalies in meteorites may represent spatial and/or temporal heterogeneity in the sources that supplied material to the nascent solar nebula, or enhancement by chemical processing. For elements beyond the Fe peak, deficits in s-process isotopes have been reported in some (e.g., Mo, Ru, W) but not all refractory elements studied (e.g., Os) that, among the iron meteorites, are most pronounced in IVB iron meteorites. Palladium is a non-refractory element in the same mass region as Mo and Ru. In this study, we report the first precise Pd isotopic abundances from IVB irons to test the mechanisms proposed for the origin of isotope anomalies. First, this study determined the existence of a cosmogenic neutron dosimeter from the reaction ¹⁰³Rh(n, β⁻)¹⁰⁴Pd in the form of excess ¹⁰⁴Pd, correlated with excess ¹⁹²Pt, in IVB irons. Second, all IVB irons show a deficit of the s-process only isotope ¹⁰⁴Pd ($\varepsilon$¹⁰⁴Pd = −0.48 ± 0.24), an excess of the r-only isotope ¹¹⁰Pd ($\varepsilon$¹¹⁰Pd = +0.46 ± 0.12), and no resolvable anomaly in the p-process ¹⁰²Pd ($\varepsilon$¹⁰²Pd = +1 ± 1). The magnitude of the Pd isotope anomaly is about half that predicted from a uniform depletion of the s-process yields from the correlated isotope anomalies of refractory Mo and Ru. The discrepancy is best understood as the result of nebular processing of the less refractory Pd, implying that all the observed nucleosynthetic anomalies in meteorites are likely to be isotopic relicts. The Mo–Ru–Pd isotope systematics do not support enhanced rates of the ²²Ne(α,n)²⁵Mg neutron source for the solar system s-process.

We present pre-perihelion infrared 8–31 μm spectrophotometric and imaging observations of comet C/2012 K1 (Pan-STARRS), a dynamically new Oort Cloud comet, conducted with NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy facility (+FORCAST) in 2014 June. As a "new" comet (first inner solar system passage), the coma grain population may be extremely pristine, unencumbered by a rime and insufficiently irradiated by the Sun to carbonize its surface organics. The comet exhibited a weak 10 μm silicate feature ≃1.18 ± 0.03 above the underlying best-fit 215.32 ± 0.95 K continuum blackbody. Thermal modeling of the observed spectral energy distribution indicates that the coma grains are fractally solid with a porosity factor D = 3 and the peak in the grain size distribution, a_peak = 0.6 μm, large. The sub-micron coma grains are dominated by amorphous carbon, with a silicate-to-carbon ratio of ${0.80}_{-0.20}^{+0.25}$. The silicate crystalline mass fraction is ${0.20}_{-0.10}^{+0.30}$, similar to with other dynamically new comets exhibiting weak 10 μm silicate features. The bolometric dust albedo of the coma dust is 0.14 ± 0.01 at a phase angle of 3476, and the average dust production rate, corrected to zero phase, at the epoch of our observations was Afρ ≃ 5340 cm.

Gravitational microlensing events are powerful tools for the study of stellar populations. In particular, they can be used to discover and study a variety of binary systems. A large number of binary lenses have already been found through microlensing surveys and a few of these systems show strong evidence of orbital motion on the timescale of the lensing event. We expect that more binary lenses of this kind will be detected in the future. For binaries whose orbital period is comparable to the event duration, the orbital motion can cause the lensing signal to deviate drastically from that of a static binary lens. The most striking property of such light curves is the presence of quasi-periodic features, which are produced as the source traverses the same regions in the rotating lens plane. These repeating features contain information about the orbital period of the lens. If this period can be extracted, then much can be learned about the lensing system even without performing time-consuming, detailed light-curve modeling. However, the relative transverse motion between the source and the lens significantly complicates the problem of period extraction. To resolve this difficulty, we present a modification of the standard Lomb–Scargle periodogram analysis. We test our method for four representative binary lens systems and demonstrate its efficiency in correctly extracting binary orbital periods.

"Star G," near the center of the supernova remnant of Tycho's SN 1572, has been claimed to be the ex-companion star of the exploding white dwarf, thus pointing to the progenitor being like a recurrent nova. This claim has been controversial, but there have been no confident proofs or disproofs. Previously, no one has seriously addressed the question as to the exact explosion site in 1572. We now provide accurate measures of the supernova position by two radically different methods. Our first method is to use the 42 measured angular distances between the supernova in 1572 and bright nearby stars, with individual measures being as good as 84 arcsec, and all resulting in a position with a 1σ error radius of 39 arcsec (including systematic uncertainties). Our second method is to use a detailed and state-of-the-art one-dimensional expansion model for 19 positions around the edge of the remnant, where the swept-up material has measured densities, and we determine the center of expansion with a chi-square fit to the 19 measured radii and velocities. This method has a 1σ error radius of 7.5 arcsec. Both measures are substantially offset from the geometric center, and both agree closely, proving that neither has any significant systematic errors. Our final combined position for the site of the 1572 explosion is J2000 α = 0^h25^m1536, $\delta =64^\circ 8^{\prime} 40\buildrel{\prime\prime}\over{.} 2$, with a 7.3 arcsec 1σ uncertainty. Star G is rejected at the 8.2σ confidence level. Our new position lies mostly outside the region previously searched for ex-companion stars.

We present a new theoretical estimate for the birthrate of R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars that is in agreement with recent observational data. We find the current Galactic birthrate of RCB stars to be ≈25% of the Galactic rate of Type Ia supernovae, assuming that RCB stars are formed through the merger of carbon–oxygen and helium-rich white dwarfs. Our new RCB birthrate (1.8 × 10⁻³ yr⁻¹) is a factor of 10 lower than previous theoretical estimates. This results in roughly 180–540 RCB stars in the Galaxy, depending on the RCB lifetime. From the theoretical and observational estimates, we calculate the total dust production from RCB stars and compare this rate to dust production from novae and born-again asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. We find that the amount of dust produced by RCB stars is comparable to the amounts produced by novae or born-again post-AGB stars, indicating that these merger objects are a viable source of carbonaceous pre-solar grains in the Galaxy. There are graphite grains with carbon and oxygen isotopic ratios consistent with the observed composition of RCB stars, adding weight to the suggestion that these rare objects are a source of stardust grains.

We present high resolution (9'') imaging of the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich Effect (SZE) toward two massive galaxy clusters, MACS J0647.7+7015 (z = 0.591) and MACS J1206.2–0847 (z = 0.439). We compare these 90 GHz measurements, taken with the Multiplexed Squid/TES Array at Ninety Gigahertz (MUSTANG ) receiver on the Green Bank Telescope, with generalized Navarro–Frenk–White (gNFW) models derived from Bolocam 140 GHz SZE data as well as maps of the thermal gas derived from Chandra X-ray observations. We adopt a serial-fitting approach, in which gNFW models are first fit to the Bolocam data and then compared to the MUSTANG data to determine an overall best-fit model. For MACS J0647.7+7015, we find a gNFW profile with core slope parameter γ = 0.9 fits the MUSTANG image with ${\chi }_{\mathrm{red}}^{2}=1.005$ and probability to exceed (PTE) = 0.34. For MACS J1206.2–0847, we find $\gamma =0.7$, ${\chi }_{\mathrm{red}}^{2}=0.993$, and PTE = 0.70. In addition, we find a significant (>3σ) residual SZE feature in MACS J1206.2–0847 coincident with a group of galaxies identified in Very Large Telescope data and filamentary structure found in a weak-lensing mass reconstruction. We suggest the detected sub-structure may be the SZE decrement from a low mass foreground group or an infalling group. Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope measurements at 610 MHz reveal diffuse extended radio emission to the west, which we posit is either an active galactic nucleus-driven radio lobe, a bubble expanding away from disturbed gas associated with the SZE signal, or a bubble detached and perhaps re-accelerated by sloshing within the cluster. Using the spectroscopic redshifts available, we find evidence for a foreground (z = 0.423) or infalling group, coincident with the residual SZE feature.

In order to understand certain observed features of arc-like giant radio relics such as the rareness, uniform surface brightness, and curved integrated spectra, we explore a diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) model for radio relics in which a spherical shock impinges on a magnetized cloud containing fossil relativistic electrons. Toward this end, we perform DSA simulations of spherical shocks with the parameters relevant for the Sausage radio relic in cluster CIZA J2242.8+5301, and calculate the ensuing radio synchrotron emission from re-accelerated electrons. Three types of fossil electron populations are considered: a delta-function like population with the shock injection momentum, a power-law distribution, and a power law with an exponential cutoff. The surface brightness profile of the radio-emitting postshock region and the volume-integrated radio spectrum are calculated and compared with observations. We find that the observed width of the Sausage relic can be explained reasonably well by shocks with speed ${u}_{{\rm{s}}}\sim 3\times {10}^{3}\;\mathrm{km}\;{{\rm{s}}}^{-1}$ and sonic Mach number ${M}_{{\rm{s}}}\sim 3$. These shocks produce curved radio spectra that steepen gradually over (0.1–10)${\nu }_{\mathrm{br}}$ with a break frequency ${\nu }_{\mathrm{br}}\sim 1$ GHz if the duration of electron acceleration is ∼60–80 Myr. However, the abrupt increase in the spectral index above ∼1.5 GHz observed in the Sausage relic seems to indicate that additional physical processes, other than radiative losses, operate for electrons with ${\gamma }_{{\rm{e}}}\gtrsim {10}^{4}$.

Radiation feedback from young star clusters embedded in giant molecular clouds (GMCs) is believed to be important to the control of star formation. For the most massive and dense clouds, including those in which super star clusters (SSCs) are born, pressure from reprocessed radiation exerted on dust grains may disperse a significant portion of the cloud mass back into the interstellar medium. Using our radiation hydrodynamics code, Hyperion, we conduct a series of numerical simulations to test this idea. Our models follow the evolution of self-gravitating, strongly turbulent clouds in which collapsing regions are replaced by radiating sink particles representing stellar clusters. We evaluate the dependence of the star formation efficiency (SFE) on the size and mass of the cloud and κ, the opacity of the gas to infrared (IR) radiation. We find that the single most important parameter determining the evolutionary outcome is κ, with $\kappa \gtrsim 15\;{{\rm{cm}}}^{2}\;{{\rm{g}}}^{-1}$ needed to disrupt clouds. For $\kappa =20-40\;{{\rm{cm}}}^{2}\;{{\rm{g}}}^{-1}$, the resulting SFE $=\ 50\%-70\%$ is similar to empirical estimates for some SSC-forming clouds. The opacities required for GMC disruption likely apply only in dust-enriched environments. We find that the subgrid model approach of boosting the direct radiation force $L/c$ by a "trapping factor" equal to a cloud's mean IR optical depth can overestimate the true radiation force by factors of $\sim 4-5$. We conclude that feedback from reprocessed IR radiation alone is unlikely to significantly reduce star formation within GMCs unless their dust abundances or cluster light-to-mass ratios are enhanced.