Table of contents

Despite the great variation in the light curves of gamma-ray burst (GRB) prompt emission, their spectral energy distribution (SED) is generally curved and broadly peaked. In particular, their spectral evolution is well described by the hardness–intensity correlation during a single pulse decay phase, when the SED peak height S_p decreases as its peak energy E_p decreases. We propose an acceleration scenario, based on electrostatic acceleration, to interpret the E_p distribution peak at ∼0.25 MeV. We show that during the decay phase of individual pulses in the long GRB light curve, the adiabatic expansion losses likely dominate the synchrotron cooling effects. The energy loss as due to adiabatic expansion can also be used to describe the spectral evolution observed during their decay phase. The spectral evolution predicted by our scenario is consistent with that observed in single pulses of long BATSE GRBs.

We have conducted a spectroscopic survey of the inner regions of the Sagittarius (Sgr) dwarf galaxy using the AAOmega spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. We determine radial velocities for over 1800 Sgr star members in six fields that cover an area 18.84 deg², with a typical accuracy of ≈2 km s^-1. Motivated by recent numerical models of the Sgr tidal stream that predict a substantial amount of rotation in the dwarf remnant core, we compare the kinematic data against N-body models that simulate the stream progenitor as (1) a pressure-supported, mass-follows-light system and (2) a late-type, rotating disk galaxy embedded in an extended dark matter halo. We find that the models with little or no intrinsic rotation clearly yield a better match to the mean line-of-sight velocity in all surveyed fields, but fail to reproduce the shape of the line-of-sight velocity distribution. This result rules out models wherein the prominent bifurcation observed in the leading tail of the Sgr stream was caused by a transfer from intrinsic angular momentum from the progenitor satellite into the tidal stream. It also implies that the trajectory of the young tidal tails has not been affected by internal rotation in the progenitor system. Our finding indicates that new, more elaborate dynamical models, in which the dark and luminous components are treated independently, are necessary for simultaneously reproducing both the internal kinematics of the Sgr dwarf and the available data for the associated tidal stream.

One of the main evolutionary stages of planet formation is the dynamical evolution of planetesimal disks. These disks are thought to evolve through gravitational encounters and physical collisions between single planetesimals. In recent years, many binary planetesimals (BPs) have been observed in the solar system, indicating that the binarity of planetesimals is high. However, current studies of planetesimal disk formation and evolution do not account for the role of binaries. Here, we point out that gravitational encounters of BPs can have an important role in the evolution of planetesimal disks. BPs catalyze close encounters between planetesimals and can strongly enhance their collision rate. Binaries may also serve as an additional heating source of the planetesimal disk, through the exchange of the binaries gravitational potential energy into the kinetic energy of planetesimals in the disk.

High-energy photons from blazars can initiate electromagnetic pair cascades interacting with the extragalactic photon background. The charged component of such cascades is deflected and delayed by extragalactic magnetic fields (EGMFs), thereby reducing the observed point-like flux and potentially leading to multi-degree images in the GeV energy range. We calculate the fluence of 1ES 0229+200 as seen by Fermi-LAT for different EGMF profiles using a Monte Carlo simulation for the cascade development. The non-observation of 1ES 0229+200 by Fermi-LAT suggests that the EGMF fills at least 60% of space with fields stronger than ${\cal O}(10^{-16}\mbox{ to }10^{-15})$ G for lifetimes of TeV activity of ${\cal O}(10^2\mbox{ to }10^4)$ yr. Thus, the (non-)observation of GeV extensions around TeV blazars probes the EGMF in voids and puts strong constraints on the origin of EGMFs: either EGMFs were generated in a space filling manner (e.g., primordially) or EGMFs produced locally (e.g., by galaxies) have to be efficiently transported to fill a significant volume fraction as, e.g., by galactic outflows.

The large number of exoplanets found to orbit their host stars in very close orbits have significantly advanced our understanding of the planetary formation process. It is now widely accepted that such short-period planets cannot have formed in situ, but rather must have migrated to their current orbits from a formation location much farther from their host star. In the late stages of planetary formation, once the gas in the protoplanetary disk has dissipated and migration has halted, gas giants orbiting in the inner disk regions will excite planetesimals and planetary embryos, resulting in an increased rate of orbital crossings and large impacts. We present the results of dynamical simulations for planetesimal evolution in this later stage of planet formation. We find that a mechanism is revealed by which the collision–merger of planetary embryos can kick terrestrial planets directly into orbits extremely close to their parent stars.

We report on the discovery of a relation between the stellar mass M* of early-type galaxies (hereafter ETGs), their shape, as parameterized by the Sersic index n, and their stellar mass-to-light ratio M*/L. In a three-dimensional log space defined by these variables, the ETGs populate a plane surface with small scatter. This relation tells us that galaxy shape and stellar population are not independent physical variables, a result that must be accounted for by theories of galaxy formation and evolution.

NGC 6791 is an old, metal-rich star cluster normally considered to be a disk open cluster. Its red giant branch is broad in color yet, to date, there is no evidence for a metallicity spread among its stars. The turnoff region of the main sequence is also wider than expected from broadband photometric errors. Analysis of the color–magnitude diagram reveals a color gradient between the core of the cluster and its periphery; we evaluate the potential explanations for this trend. While binarity and photometric errors appear unlikely, reddening variations across the face of the cluster cannot be excluded. We argue that a viable alternative explanation for this color trend is an age spread resulting from a protracted formation time for the cluster; the stars of the inner region of NGC 6791 appear to be older by ∼1 Gyr on average than those of the outer region.

First results of our three-dimensional numerical simulations of thermohaline convection driven by ³He burning in a low-mass red giant branch (RGB) star at the bump luminosity are presented. They confirm our previous conclusion that this convection has a mixing rate that is a factor of 50 lower than the observationally constrained rate of RGB extra-mixing. It is also shown that the large-scale instabilities of the salt-fingering mean field (those of the Boussinesq and advection–diffusion equations averaged over length and timescales of many salt fingers), which have been observed to increase the rate of oceanic thermohaline mixing up to one order of magnitude, do not enhance the RGB thermohaline mixing. We speculate on possible alternative solutions of the problem of RGB extra-mixing, among which the most promising one that is related to thermohaline mixing takes advantage of the shifting of the salt-finger spectrum toward larger diameters by toroidal magnetic field.

Future galaxy surveys hope to distinguish between the dark energy and modified gravity scenarios for the accelerating expansion of the universe using the distortion of clustering in redshift space. The aim is to model the form and size of the distortion to infer the rate at which large-scale structure grows. We test this hypothesis and assess the performance of current theoretical models for the redshift space distortion using large volume N-body simulations of the gravitational instability process. We simulate competing cosmological models which have identical expansion histories—one is a quintessence dark energy model with a scalar field and the other is a modified gravity model with a time-varying gravitational constant—and demonstrate that they do indeed produce different redshift space distortions. This is the first time that this approach has been verified using a technique that can follow the growth of structure at the required level of accuracy. Our comparisons show that theoretical models for the redshift space distortion based on linear perturbation theory give a surprisingly poor description of the simulation results. Furthermore, the application of such models can give rise to catastrophic systematic errors leading to incorrect interpretation of the observations. We show that an improved model is able to extract the correct growth rate. Further enhancements to theoretical models of redshift space distortions, calibrated against simulations, are needed to fully exploit the forthcoming high-precision clustering measurements.

We present a three-dimensional reconstruction of an eruption that occurred on 2010 April 3 using observations from SWAP on board PROBA2 and SECCHI on board STEREO. The event unfolded in two parts: an initial flow of cooler material confined to a height low in the corona, followed by a flux rope eruption higher in the corona. We conclude that mass off-loading from the first part triggered a rise and, subsequently, catastrophic loss of equilibrium of the flux rope.

Solar wind observations and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations are used to probe the nature of turbulence heating. In particular, the electron heat flux, electron temperature, and ion temperature in the solar wind are studied using ACE and Wind data. These heating diagnostics are also compared with MHD simulation estimates of the local dissipation density. Coherent structures, which are sources of inhomogeneity and intermittency in MHD turbulence, are found to be associated with enhancements in every heating-related diagnostic. This supports the hypothesis that significant inhomogeneous heating occurs in the solar wind, connected with current sheets that are dynamically generated by MHD turbulence. Indeed, a subset of these coherent current sheets might be candidates for magnetic reconnection. However, the specific kinetic mechanisms that heat and accelerate particles within these structures require further study.

A star formation efficiency per free-fall time that evolves over the lifetime of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) may have important implications for models of supersonic turbulence in molecular clouds or for the relation between the star formation rate and H₂ surface density. We discuss observational data that could be interpreted as evidence of such a time variability. In particular, we investigate a recent claim based on measurements of H₂ and stellar masses in individual GMCs. We show that this claim depends crucially on the assumption that H₂ masses do not evolve over the lifetimes of GMCs. We exemplify our findings with a simple toy model that uses a constant star formation efficiency and, yet, is able to explain the observational data.

One of the most interesting discoveries from Hinode is the presence of persistent high-temperature high-speed outflows from the edges of active regions (ARs). EUV imaging spectrometer (EIS) measurements indicate that the outflows reach velocities of 50 km s⁻¹ with spectral line asymmetries approaching 200 km s⁻¹. It has been suggested that these outflows may lie on open field lines that connect to the heliosphere, and that they could potentially be a significant source of the slow speed solar wind. A direct link has been difficult to establish, however. We use EIS measurements of spectral line intensities that are sensitive to changes in the relative abundance of Si and S as a result of the first ionization potential (FIP) effect, to measure the chemical composition in the outflow regions of AR 10978 over a 5 day period in 2007 December. We find that Si is always enhanced over S by a factor of 3–4. This is generally consistent with the enhancement factor of low FIP elements measured in situ in the slow solar wind by non-spectroscopic methods. Plasma with a slow wind-like composition was therefore flowing from the edge of the AR for at least 5 days. Furthermore, on December 10 and 11, when the outflow from the western side was favorably oriented in the Earth direction, the Si/S ratio was found to match the value measured a few days later by the Advanced Composition Explorer/Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer. These results provide strong observational evidence for a direct connection between the solar wind, and the coronal plasma in the outflow regions.

We develop a technique to investigate the possibility that some of the recently discovered ultra-faint dwarf satellites of the Milky Way might be cusp caustics rather than gravitationally self-bound systems. Such cusps can form when a stream of stars folds, creating a region where the projected two-dimensional surface density is enhanced. In this work, we construct a Poisson maximum likelihood test to compare the cusp and exponential models of any substructure on an equal footing. We apply the test to the Hercules dwarf (d ∼ 113 kpc, M_V ∼ −6.2, e ∼ 0.67). The flattened exponential model is strongly favored over the cusp model in the case of Hercules, ruling out at high confidence that Hercules is a cusp catastrophe. This test can be applied to any of the Milky Way dwarfs, and more generally to the entire stellar halo population, to search for the cusp catastrophes that might be expected in an accreted stellar halo.

We present near-infrared (NIR) IRTF/SpeX spectra of the intermediate-age galaxy M32 and the post-starburst galaxy NGC 5102. We show that features from thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) and main-sequence turnoff (MSTO) stars yield similar ages to those derived from optical spectra. The TP-AGB can dominate the NIR flux of a coeval stellar population between ∼0.1 and ∼2 Gyr, and the strong features of (especially C-rich) TP-AGB stars are useful chronometers in integrated light studies. Likewise, the Paschen series in MSTO stars is strongly dependent on age and is an indicator of a young stellar component in integrated spectra. We define four NIR spectroscopic indices to measure the strength of absorption features from both C-rich TP-AGB stars and hydrogen features in main-sequence stars, in a preliminary effort to construct a robust chronometer that probes the contributions from stars in different evolutionary phases. By comparing the values of the indices measured in M32 and NGC 5102 to those in the Maraston stellar population synthesis models for various ages and metallicities, we show that model predictions for the ages of the nuclei of M32 and NGC 5102 agree with previous results obtained from integrated optical spectroscopy and color–magnitude diagram analysis of the giant branches. The indices discriminate between an intermediate-age population of ∼3–4 Gyr, a younger population of ≲1 Gyr, and can also detect the signatures of very young ≲100 Myr populations.

We searched for radio pulsars in 25 of the non-variable, unassociated sources in the Fermi LAT Bright Source List with the Green Bank Telescope at 820 MHz. We report the discovery of three radio and γ-ray millisecond pulsars (MSPs) from a high Galactic latitude subset of these sources. All of the pulsars are in binary systems, which would have made them virtually impossible to detect in blind γ-ray pulsation searches. They seem to be relatively normal, nearby (⩽2 kpc) MSPs. These observations, in combination with the Fermi detection of γ-rays from other known radio MSPs, imply that most, if not all, radio MSPs are efficient γ-ray producers. The γ-ray spectra of the pulsars are power law in nature with exponential cutoffs at a few GeV, as has been found with most other pulsars. The MSPs have all been detected as X-ray point sources. Their soft X-ray luminosities of ∼10³⁰–10³¹ erg s⁻¹ are typical of the rare radio MSPs seen in X-rays.

We present XMM-Newton observations of the dusty Wolf-Rayet (W-R) star WR 48a. This is the first detection of this object in X-rays. The XMM-Newton EPIC spectra are heavily absorbed and the presence of numerous strong emission lines indicates a thermal origin of the WR 48a X-ray emission, with dominant temperature components at kT_cool ≈ 1 keV and kT_hot ≈ 3 keV, the hotter component dominating the observed flux. No significant X-ray variability was detected on timescales ⩽1 day. Although the distance to WR 48a is uncertain, if it is physically associated with the open clusters Danks 1 and 2 at d ∼4 kpc, then the resultant X-ray luminosity L_X∼ 10³⁵ erg s⁻¹ makes it the most X-ray luminous W-R star in the Galaxy detected so far, after the black hole candidate Cyg X-3. We assume the following scenarios as the most likely explanation for the X-ray properties of WR 48a: (1) colliding stellar winds in a wide WR+O binary system, or in a hierarchical triple system with non-degenerate stellar components and (2) accretion shocks from the WR 48a wind onto a close companion (possibly a neutron star). More specific information about WR 48a and its wind properties will be needed to distinguish between the above possibilities.

We report on the discovery and the timing analysis of the first eclipsing accretion-powered millisecond X-ray pulsar (AMXP): SWIFT J1749.4–2807. The neutron star rotates at a frequency of ∼517.9 Hz and is in a binary system with an orbital period of 8.8 hr and a projected semimajor axis of ∼1.90 lt-s. Assuming a neutron star between 0.8 and 2.2 M_☉ and using the mass function of the system and the eclipse half-angle, we constrain the mass of the companion and the inclination of the system to be in the ∼0.46–0.81 M_☉ and ∼ 744–773 range, respectively. To date, this is the tightest constraint on the orbital inclination of any AMXP. As in other AMXPs, the pulse profile shows harmonic content up to the third overtone. However, this is the first AMXP to show a first overtone with rms amplitudes between ∼6% and ∼23%, which is the strongest ever seen and which can be more than two times stronger than the fundamental. The fact that SWIFT J1749.4–2807 is an eclipsing system that shows uncommonly strong harmonic content suggests that it might be the best source to date to set constraints on neutron star properties including compactness and geometry.

It has been a long-standing question in solar physics how magnetic field structure changes with eruptive events (e.g., flares and coronal mass ejections). In this Letter, we present the eruption-associated changes in the magnetic inclination angle, the horizontal component of magnetic field vectors, and the Lorentz force. The analysis is based on the observation of the X3.4 flare on 2006 December 13 and in comparison to the numerical simulation of Fan. Both observation and simulation show that (1) the magnetic inclination angle in the decayed peripheral penumbra increases, while that in the central area close to the flaring polarity inversion line (PIL) deceases after the flare; (2) the horizontal component of magnetic field increases at the lower altitude near the flaring PIL after the flare. The result suggests that the field lines at the flaring neutral line turn to more horizontal near the surface, that is in agreement with the prediction of Hudson et al.

We use deep adaptive mesh refinement simulations of isothermal self-gravitating supersonic turbulence to study the imprints of gravity on the mass density distribution in molecular clouds. The simulations show that the density distribution in self-gravitating clouds develops an extended power-law tail at high densities on top of the usual lognormal. We associate the origin of the tail with self-similar collapse solutions and predict the power index values in the range from −7/4 to −3/2 that agree with both simulations and observations of star-forming molecular clouds.

We examine the relation between the density variance and the mean-square Mach number in supersonic, isothermal turbulence, assumed in several recent analytic models of the star formation process. From a series of calculations of supersonic, hydrodynamic turbulence driven using purely solenoidal Fourier modes, we find that the "standard" relationship between the variance in the log of density and the Mach number squared, i.e., $\sigma _{\ln \rho /\bar{\rho }}^{2}=\ln \left(1+b^{2}\mathcal {M}^{2}\right)$, with b = 1/3, is a good fit to the numerical results in the supersonic regime up to at least Mach 20, similar to previous determinations at lower Mach numbers. While direct measurements of the variance in linear density are found to be severely underestimated by finite resolution effects, it is possible to infer the linear density variance via the assumption of log-normality in the probability distribution function. The inferred relationship with Mach number, consistent with $\sigma _{\rho /\bar{\rho }}\approx b\mathcal {M}$ with b = 1/3, is, however, significantly shallower than observational determinations of the relationship in the Taurus Molecular Cloud and IC5146 (both consistent with b ≈ 0.5), implying that additional physics such as gravity is important in these clouds and/or that turbulent driving in the interstellar medium contains a significant compressive component. Magnetic fields are not found to change this picture significantly, in general reducing the measured variances and thus worsening the discrepancy with observations.

The rotation period of classical T Tauri stars (CTTS) represents a longstanding puzzle. While young low-mass stars show a wide range of rotation periods, many CTTS are slow rotators, spinning at a small fraction of breakup, and their rotation period does not seem to shorten, despite the fact that they are actively accreting and contracting. Matt & Pudritz proposed that the spin-down torque of a stellar wind powered by a fraction of the accretion energy would be strong enough to balance the spin-up torque due to accretion. Since this model establishes a direct relation between accretion and ejection, the observable stellar parameters (mass, radius, rotation period, magnetic field) and the accretion diagnostics (accretion shock luminosity) can be used to constrain the wind characteristics. In particular, since the accretion energy powers both the stellar wind and the shock emission, we show in this Letter how the accretion shock luminosity L_UV can provide upper limits to the spin-down efficiency of the stellar wind. It is found that luminous sources with L_UV ⩾ 0.1 L_☉ and typical dipolar field components <1 kG do not allow spin equilibrium solutions. Lower luminosity stars (L_UV ≪ 0.1 L_☉) are compatible with a zero-torque condition, but the corresponding stellar winds are still very demanding in terms of mass and energy flux. We therefore conclude that accretion powered stellar winds are unlikely to be the sole mechanism to provide an efficient spin-down torque for accreting CTTS.

The turbulent magnetic diffusivity in the solar convection zone is one of the most poorly constrained ingredients of mean-field dynamo models. This lack of constraint has previously led to controversy regarding the most appropriate set of parameters, as different assumptions on the value of turbulent diffusivity lead to radically different solar cycle predictions. Typically, the dynamo community uses double-step diffusivity profiles characterized by low values of diffusivity in the bulk of the convection zone. However, these low diffusivity values are not consistent with theoretical estimates based on mixing-length theory, which suggest much higher values for turbulent diffusivity. To make matters worse, kinematic dynamo simulations cannot yield sustainable magnetic cycles using these theoretical estimates. In this work, we show that magnetic cycles become viable if we combine the theoretically estimated diffusivity profile with magnetic quenching of the diffusivity. Furthermore, we find that the main features of this solution can be reproduced by a dynamo simulation using a prescribed (kinematic) diffusivity profile that is based on the spatiotemporal geometric average of the dynamically quenched diffusivity. This bridges the gap between dynamically quenched and kinematic dynamo models, supporting their usage as viable tools for understanding the solar magnetic cycle.

Active galactic nuclei have been observed to vary stochastically with 10%–20% rms amplitudes over a range of optical wavelengths where the emission arises in an accretion disk. Since the accretion disk is unlikely to vary coherently, local fluctuations may be significantly larger than the global rms variability. We investigate toy models of quasar accretion disks consisting of a number of regions, n, whose temperatures vary independently with an amplitude of σ_T in dex. Models with large fluctuations (σ_T = 0.35–0.50) in 10²–10³ independently fluctuating zones for every factor of two in radius can explain the observed discrepancy between thin accretion disk sizes inferred from microlensing events and optical luminosity while matching the observed optical variability. For the same range of σ_T, inhomogeneous disk spectra provide excellent fits to the Hubble Space Telescope quasar composite without invoking global Compton scattering atmospheres to explain the high levels of observed UV emission. Simulated microlensing light curves for the Einstein cross from our time-varying toy models are well fit using a time-steady power-law temperature disk and produce magnification light curves that are consistent with current microlensing observations. Deviations due to the inhomogeneous, time-dependent disk structure should occur above the 1% level in the light curves, detectable in future microlensing observations with millimagnitude sensitivity.

We present a new radio-selected cluster of galaxies, 0217+70, using observations from the Very Large Array and archival optical and X-ray data. The new cluster is one of only seven known that has candidate double peripheral radio relics, and the second of those with a giant radio halo (GRH), as well. It also contains unusual diffuse radio filaments interior to the peripheral relics and a clumpy, elongated X-ray structure. All of these indicate a very actively evolving system, with ongoing accretion and merger activity, illuminating a network of shocks, such as those first seen in numerical simulations. The peripheral relics are most easily understood as outgoing spherical merger shocks with large variations in brightness along them, likely reflecting the inhomogeneities in the shocks' magnetic fields. The interior filaments could be projections of substructures from the sheet-like peripheral shocks or they might be separate structures due to multiple accretion events. ROSAT images show large-scale diffuse X-ray emission coincident with the GRH and additional patchy diffuse emission that suggests a recent merger event. This uniquely rich set of radio shocks and halo offer the possibility, with deeper X-ray and optical data and higher resolution radio observations, of testing the models of how shocks and turbulence couple to the relativistic plasma. The cluster 0217+70 is also overluminous in the radio compared with the empirical radio–X-ray correlation for clusters—the third example of such a system. This new population of diffuse radio emission opens up the possibility of probing low-mass cluster mergers with upcoming deep radio continuum surveys.

We measure the redshift distribution of a sample of 28 giant arcs discovered as a part of the Sloan Giant Arcs Survey. Gemini/GMOS-North spectroscopy provides precise redshifts for 24 arcs, and "redshift desert" constrains for the remaining 4 arcs. This is a direct measurement of the redshift distribution of a uniformly selected sample of bright giant arcs, which is an observable that can be used to inform efforts to predict giant arc statistics. Our primary giant arc sample has a median redshift z = 1.821 and nearly two-thirds of the arcs, 64%, are sources at z ≳ 1.4, indicating that the population of background sources that are strongly lensed into bright giant arcs resides primarily at high redshift. We also analyze the distribution of redshifts for 19 secondary strongly lensed background sources that are not visually apparent in Sloan Digital Sky Survey imaging, but were identified in deeper follow-up imaging of the lensing cluster fields. Our redshift sample for the secondary sources is not spectroscopically complete, but combining it with our primary giant arc sample suggests that a large fraction of all background galaxies that are strongly lensed by foreground clusters reside at z ≳ 1.4. Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests indicate that our well-selected, spectroscopically complete primary giant arc redshift sample can be reproduced with a model distribution that is constructed from a combination of results from studies of strong-lensing clusters in numerical simulations and observational constraints on the galaxy luminosity function.