Table of contents

We present GalMC, a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm designed to fit the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies to infer physical properties such as age, stellar mass, dust reddening, metallicity, redshift, and star formation rate. We describe the features of the code and the extensive tests conducted to ensure that our procedure leads to unbiased parameter estimation and accurate evaluation of uncertainties. We compare its performance to grid-based algorithms, showing that the efficiency in CPU time is ∼100 times better for MCMC for a three-dimensional parameter space and increasing with the number of dimensions. We use GalMC to fit the stacked SEDs of two samples of Lyman alpha emitters (LAEs) at redshift z = 3.1. Our fit reveals that the typical LAE detected in the IRAC 3.6 μm band has age = 0.67 [0.37–1.81] Gyr and stellar mass = 3.2 [2.5–4.2] × 10⁹ M_☉, while the typical LAE not detected at 3.6 μm has age = 0.06 [0.01–0.2] Gyr and stellar mass = 2 [1.1–3.4] × 10⁸ M_☉. The SEDs of both stacks are consistent with the absence of dust. The data do not significantly prefer exponential with respect to constant star formation history. The stellar populations of these two samples are consistent with the previous study by Lai et al., with some differences due to the improved modeling of the stellar populations. A constraint on the metallicity of z = 3.1 LAEs from broadband photometry, requiring Z < Z_☉ at 95% confidence, is found here for the first time.

We report on the most prominent example of an above-the-loop hard X-ray source in the extensive solar flare database of RHESSI. The limb flare of 2003 October 22 around 20 UT resembles the famous Masuda flare, except that only one of the footpoint sources is visible with the other one occulted. However, even for this very prominent event, the above-the-loop source is only visible during one of the four hard X-ray peaks, highlighting the rare occurrence of above-the-loop sources that are equally bright as footpoint sources. The relative timing between the above-the-loop and footpoint sources shows that the coronal source peaks about 10 s before the footpoint source and decays during the time the footpoint source is most prominent. Furthermore, the derived number of non-thermal electrons within the above-the-loop source is large enough to provide the needed number of precipitating electrons to account for the footpoint emission over the duration of the hard X-ray peak. Hence, these observations support the simple scenario where bulk energization is accelerating all electrons within the above-the-loop source and precipitating electrons are emptying out of the above-the-loop source to produce the footpoint emissions.

Motivated by suggestions that binaries with almost equal-mass components ("twins") play an important role in the formation of double neutron stars and may be rather abundant among binaries, we study the stability of synchronized close and contact binaries with identical components in circular orbits. In particular, we investigate the dependency of the innermost stable circular orbit on the core mass, and we study the coalescence of the binary that occurs at smaller separations. For twin binaries composed of convective main-sequence stars, subgiants, or giants with low-mass cores (M_c ≲ 0.15M, where M is the mass of a component), a secular instability is reached during the contact phase, accompanied by a dynamical mass transfer instability at the same or at a slightly smaller orbital separation. Binaries that come inside this instability limit transfer mass gradually from one component to the other and then coalesce quickly as mass is lost through the outer Lagrangian points. For twin giant binaries with moderate to massive cores (M_c ≳ 0.15M), we find that stable contact configurations exist at all separations down to the Roche limit, when mass shedding through the outer Lagrangian points triggers a coalescence of the envelopes and leaves the cores orbiting in a central tight binary. In addition to the formation of binary neutron stars, we also discuss the implications of our results for the production of planetary nebulae with double degenerate central binaries.

In this paper, we examine whether the properties of central black holes in galactic nuclei correlate with their host dark matter halos. We analyze the entire sample of galaxies where black hole mass, velocity dispersion σ, and asymptotic circular velocity V_c have all been measured. We fit M_BH–σ and M_BH–V_c to a power law, and find that in both relationships the scatter and slope are similar. This model-independent analysis suggests that although the black hole masses are not uniquely determined by dark matter halo mass, when considered for the current sample as a whole, the M_BH–V_c correlation may be as strong (or as weak) as M_BH–σ. Although the data are sparse, there appears to be more scatter in the correlation for both σ and V_c at the low-mass end. This is not unexpected given our current understanding of galaxy and black hole assembly. In fact, there are several compelling reasons that account for this: (1) supermassive black hole (SMBH) formation is likely less efficient in low-mass galaxies with large angular momentum content, (2) SMBH growth is less efficient in low-mass disk galaxies that have not experienced major mergers, and (3) dynamical effects, such as gravitational recoil, increase scatter preferentially at the low-mass end. Therefore, the recent observational claim of the absence of central SMBHs in bulgeless, low-mass galaxies, or deviations from the correlations defined by high-mass black holes in large galaxies today is, in fact, predicated by current models of black hole growth. We show how this arises as a direct consequence of the coupling between dark matter halos and central black holes at the earliest epochs.

We report the results of XMM-Newton observations of HD 49798/RX J0648.0–4418, the only known X-ray binary consisting of a hot sub-dwarf and a white dwarf. The white dwarf rotates very rapidly (P = 13.2 s) and has a dynamically measured mass of 1.28 ± 0.05 M_☉. Its X-ray emission consists of a strongly pulsed, soft component, well fit by a blackbody with kT_BB ∼ 40 eV, accounting for most of the luminosity, and a fainter hard power-law component (photon index ∼1.6). A luminosity of ∼10³² erg s⁻¹ is produced by accretion onto the white dwarf of the helium-rich matter from the wind of the companion, which is one of the few hot sub-dwarfs showing evidence of mass loss. A search for optical pulsations at the South African Astronomical Observatory 1.9 m telescope gave negative results. X-rays were also detected during the white dwarf eclipse. This emission, with luminosity 2 × 10³⁰ erg s⁻¹, can be attributed to HD 49798 and represents the first detection of a hot sub-dwarf star in the X-ray band. HD 49798/RX J0648.0–4418 is a post-common-envelope binary which most likely originated from a pair of stars with masses ∼8–10 M_☉. After the current He-burning phase, HD 49798 will expand and reach the Roche lobe, causing a higher accretion rate onto the white dwarf which can reach the Chandrasekhar limit. Considering the fast spin of the white dwarf, this could lead to the formation of a millisecond pulsar. Alternatively, this system could be a Type Ia supernova progenitor with the appealing characteristic of a short time delay, being the descendent of relatively massive stars.

Analysis of observations from the Hinode/Solar Optical Telescope spectropolarimeter (SP) yields results that are consistent with the operation of a small-scale turbulent dynamo in the upper solar convection zone. Examination of 45 Hinode data sets obtained in 2007 reveals only a very small correlation of the net polarity imbalance of the regions of the quiet Sun having very weak flux, relative to the polarity imbalance averaged over each data set. Further, there is no correlation of the average net unsigned flux of those regions of weakest flux with the average unsigned flux of each region studied. Positive correlations, especially of the net unsigned flux, should exist if the internetwork fields were to arise from dispersal of flux from active regions, so the absence of significant correlations supports the small-scale dynamo (SSD) scenario. Considering only regions of weakest flux, the net longitudinal flux increases slightly toward the limb, probably as the result of the dominance of horizontal fields higher in the photosphere. Inferred distributions of magnetic field strength as derived from inversions of Stokes profiles indicate that the magnetic energy of the quiet Sun observed at the resolution of the Hinode SP is dominated by the small fraction of field elements having kilo-Gauss strengths. Because these strong-field elements carry most of the imbalance of magnetic flux measured in each region, they likely arise primarily from dispersal of flux from active regions, rather than from an SSD.

We investigate the near-Earth observation of interplanetary protons and electrons that result from the in-flight beta decay of low-energy (1–10 MeV) solar neutrons. We use in situ measurements throughout solar cycle 23 of 1–11 MeV protons and 50–400 keV electrons by the 3DP experiment on board the Wind spacecraft. We select a sample of isolated large (X-class) eastern hemisphere flares occurring during quiescent interplanetary conditions with the goal of discriminating neutron-decay particles from primary solar energetic particles. Unfortunately, all major flares of solar cycle 23 have to be excluded, with the largest flare in our sample being a X3.6 flare. For these relatively small event sizes, no in situ events due to the decay of solar flare neutrons are observed by Wind. From the one event with simultaneous γ-ray observations, we estimate the expected signal of neutron-decay protons in the Wind/3DP detectors. We use theoretical calculations of the spectrum of escaping neutrons at the Sun combined with an interplanetary propagation model to predict the neutron-decay proton spectrum expected near the Earth. We find that the expected spectrum is indeed well below the background intensities. However, using the estimates derived from the largest solar event of cycle 23 (2003 October 28) and assuming the flare would have occurred isolated in the eastern hemisphere, a clear signal above 5 MeV is expected to be seen.

X-ray emission from about 10 protostellar jets has been discovered and it appears as a feature common to the most energetic jets. Although X-ray emission seems to originate from shocks internal to jets, the mechanism forming these shocks remains controversial. One of the best-studied X-ray jets is HH 154, which has been observed by Chandra over a time base of about 10 years. We analyze the Chandra observations of HH 154 by investigating the evolution of its X-ray source. We show that the X-ray emission consists of a bright stationary component and a faint elongated component. We interpret the observations by developing a hydrodynamic model describing a protostellar jet originating from a nozzle and compare the X-ray emission synthesized from the model with the X-ray observations. The model takes into account the thermal conduction and radiative losses and shows that the jet/nozzle leads to the formation of a diamond shock at the nozzle exit. The shock is stationary over the period covered by our simulations and generates an X-ray source with luminosity and spectral characteristics in excellent agreement with the observations. We conclude that the X-ray emission from HH 154 is consistent with a diamond shock originating from a nozzle through which the jet is launched into the ambient medium. We suggest that the physical origin of the nozzle could be related to the dense gas in which the HH 154 driving source is embedded and/or to the magnetic field at the jet launching/collimation region.

Spontaneous rapid growth of strong magnetic fields is rather ubiquitous in high-energy density environments ranging from astrophysical sources (e.g., gamma-ray bursts and relativistic shocks), to reconnection, to laser–plasma interaction laboratory experiments, where they are produced by kinetic streaming instabilities of the Weibel type. Relativistic electrons propagating through these sub-Larmor-scale magnetic fields radiate in the jitter regime, in which the anisotropy of the magnetic fields and the particle distribution have a strong effect on the produced radiation. Here we develop the general theory of jitter radiation, which (1) includes anisotropic magnetic fields and electron velocity distributions, (2) accounts for the effects of trapped electrons, and (3) extends the description to large deflection angles of radiating particles thus establishing a cross-over between the classical jitter and synchrotron regimes. Our results are in remarkable agreement with the radiation spectra obtained from particle-in-cell simulations of the classical Weibel instability. Particularly interesting is the onset of the field growth, when the transient hard synchrotron-violating spectra are common as a result of the dominant role of the trapped population. This effect can serve as a distinct observational signature of the violent field growth in astrophysical sources and lab experiments. It is also interesting that a system with small-scale fields tends to evolve toward the small-angle jitter regime, which can, under certain conditions, dominate the overall emission of a source.

We present the results of CO (J = 3–2) and HCO⁺ (J = 4–3) mapping observations toward a nearby embedded cluster, Serpens South, using the ASTE 10 m telescope. Our CO (J = 3–2) map reveals that many outflows are crowded in the dense cluster-forming clump that can be recognized as an HCO⁺ clump with a size of ∼0.2 pc and mass of ∼80 M_☉. The clump contains several subfragments with sizes of ∼0.05 pc. By comparing the CO (J = 3–2) map with the 1.1 mm dust continuum image taken by AzTEC on ASTE, we find that the spatial extents of the outflow lobes are sometimes anti-correlated with the distribution of the dense gas, and some of the outflow lobes apparently collide with the dense gas. The total outflow mass, momentum, and energy are estimated to be 0.6 M_☉, 8 M_☉ km s⁻¹, and 64 M_☉ km² s⁻², respectively. The energy injection rate due to the outflows is comparable to the turbulence dissipation rate in the clump, implying that the protostellar outflows can maintain the supersonic turbulence in this region. The total outflow energy seems only about 10% of the clump gravitational energy. We conclude that the current outflow activity is not enough to destroy the whole cluster-forming clump, and therefore star formation is likely to continue for several or many local dynamical times.

We have imaged the circumstellar environments of 17 Herbig Ae/Be stars at 12 and 18 μm using MICHELLE on Gemini North and T-ReCS on Gemini South. Our sample contained eight Group I sources, those having large rising near- to far-infrared (IR) fluxes, and nine Group II sources, those having more modest mid-IR fluxes relative to their near-IR flux (in the classification of Meeus et al.). We have resolved extended emission from all Group I sources in our target list. The majority of these sources have radially symmetric mid-IR emission extending from a radius of 10 AU to hundreds of AU. Only one of the nine Group II sources is resolved at the FWHM level, with another two Group II sources resolved at fainter levels. Models by Dullemond et al. explain the observed spectral energy distribution of Group II sources using self-shadowed cold disks. If this is the case for all the Group II sources, we do not expect to detect extended emission with this study, since the IR emission measured should arise from a region only a few AU in size, which is smaller than our resolution. The fact that we do resolve some of the Group II sources implies that their disks are not completely flat, and might represent an intermediate stage. We also find that none of the more massive (>3 M_☉) Herbig Ae/Be stars in our sample belongs to Group I, which may point to a relationship between stellar mass and circumstellar dust evolution. Disks around more massive stars might evolve faster so that stars are surrounded by a more evolved flat disk by the time they become optically visible, or they might follow a different evolutionary path altogether.

Of the hundreds of exoplanets discovered using the radial velocity (RV) technique, many are orbiting close to their host stars with periods less than 10 days. One of these, HD 63454, is a young active K dwarf which hosts a Jovian planet in a 2.82 day period orbit. The planet has a 14% transit probability and a predicted transit depth of 1.2%. Here we provide a re-analysis of the RV data to produce an accurate transit ephemeris. We further analyze 8 nights of time series data to search for stellar activity both intrinsic to the star and induced by possible interactions of the exoplanet with the stellar magnetospheres. We establish the photometric stability of the star at the 3 mmag level despite strong Ca ii emission in the spectrum. Finally, we rule out photometric signatures of both star–planet magnetosphere interactions and planetary transit signatures. From this we are able to place constraints on both the orbital and physical properties of the planet.

We present weak gravitational lensing analysis of 22 high-redshift (z ≳ 1) clusters based on Hubble Space Telescope images. Most clusters in our sample provide significant lensing signals and are well detected in their reconstructed two-dimensional mass maps. Combining the current results and our previous weak-lensing studies of five other high-z clusters, we compare gravitational lensing masses of these clusters with other observables. We revisit the question whether the presence of the most massive clusters in our sample is in tension with the current ΛCDM structure formation paradigm. We find that the lensing masses are tightly correlated with the gas temperatures and establish, for the first time, the lensing mass–temperature relation at z ≳ 1. For the power-law slope of the M–T_X relation (M∝T^α), we obtain α = 1.54 ± 0.23. This is consistent with the theoretical self-similar prediction α = 3/2 and with the results previously reported in the literature for much lower redshift samples. However, our normalization is lower than the previous results by 20%–30%, indicating that the normalization in the M–T_X relation might evolve. After correcting for Eddington bias and updating the discovery area with a more conservative choice, we find that the existence of the most massive clusters in our sample still provides a tension with the current ΛCDM model. The combined probability of finding the four most massive clusters in this sample after the marginalization over cosmological parameters is less than 1%.

The destruction of CH⁺ ions in collisions with H atoms has been studied in a temperature-variable 22 pole ion trap (22PT) combined with a cold effusive H-atom beam. The stored ions are relaxed to temperatures of T_22PT ⩾ 12 K. The hydrogen atoms, produced in a radio frequency discharge, are slowed down to various temperatures of T_ACC ⩾ 7 K. They are formed into an effusive beam. The effective density of the hydrogen atoms in the trap as well as the H₂ background are determined in situ using chemical probing with CO₂⁺. The experimental arrangement allows us not only to measure thermal rate coefficients (T_22PT = T_ACC), but also to extract state-specific rate coefficients k(J,T_t) at selected translational temperatures T_t and for the CH⁺ rotational states J = 0, 1, and 2. The measured thermal rate coefficients have a maximum at 60 K, k = (1.2 ± 0.5)×10⁻⁹ cm³ s⁻¹. Toward higher temperatures, they fall off in accordance with previous measurements and the trend predicted by phase space theory. Toward lower temperatures, the rate coefficients decrease significantly, especially if the rotation of the ions is cooled. At the coldest conditions achieved (beam: 7.3 K; trap: 12.2 K), a value as low as (5 ± 4) × 10⁻¹¹ cm³ s⁻¹ has been measured. This leads to the conclusion that non-rotating CH⁺ is protected against attacks of H atoms. This surprising result is not yet understood. It is most probably due to quantum-dynamical effects already occurring at large distances.

We report on 23 clusters detected blindly as Sunyaev–ZEL'DOVICH (SZ) decrements in a 148 GHz, 455 deg² map of the southern sky made with data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope 2008 observing season. All SZ detections announced in this work have confirmed optical counterparts. Ten of the clusters are new discoveries. One newly discovered cluster, ACT-CL J0102−4915, with a redshift of 0.75 (photometric), has an SZ decrement comparable to the most massive systems at lower redshifts. Simulations of the cluster recovery method reproduce the sample purity measured by optical follow-up. In particular, for clusters detected with a signal-to-noise ratio greater than six, simulations are consistent with optical follow-up that demonstrated this subsample is 100% pure. The simulations further imply that the total sample is 80% complete for clusters with mass in excess of 6 × 10¹⁴ solar masses referenced to the cluster volume characterized by 500 times the critical density. The Compton y–X-ray luminosity mass comparison for the 11 best-detected clusters visually agrees with both self-similar and non-adiabatic, simulation-derived scaling laws.

The large-scale dynamics of plasmas is well described within the framework of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). However, whenever the ion density of the plasma becomes sufficiently low, the Hall effect is likely to become important. The role of the Hall effect has been studied in several astrophysical plasma processes, such as magnetic reconnection, magnetic dynamo, MHD turbulence, or MHD instabilities. In particular, the development of small-scale instabilities is essential to understand the transport properties in a number of astrophysical plasmas. The magneto-rotational instability (MRI), which takes place in differentially rotating accretion disks embedded in relatively weak magnetic fields, is just one example. The influence of the large-scale velocity flows on small-scale instabilities is often approximated by a linear shear flow. In this paper, we quantitatively study the role of the Hall effect on plasmas embedded in large-scale shear flows. More precisely, we show that an instability develops when the Hall effect is present, which we therefore term as the Hall magneto-shear instability. As a particular case, we recover the so-called MRI and quantitatively assess the role of the Hall effect on its development and evolution.

The initial mass function (IMF) of the first (Population III) stars and Population II (Pop II) stars is poorly known due to a lack of observations of the period between recombination and reionization. In simulations of the formation of the first stars, it has been shown that, due to the limited ability of metal-free primordial gas to cool, the IMF of the first stars is a few orders of magnitude more massive than the current IMF. The transition from a high-mass IMF of the first stars to a lower-mass current IMF is thus important to understand. To study the underlying physics of this transition, we performed several simulations using the cosmological hydrodynamic adaptive mesh refinement code Enzo for metallicities of 10⁻⁴, 10⁻³, 10⁻², and 10⁻¹ Z_☉. In our simulations, we include a star formation prescription that is derived from a metallicity-dependent multi-phase interstellar medium (ISM) structure, an external UV radiation field, and a mechanical feedback algorithm. We also implement cosmic ray heating, photoelectric heating, and gas–dust heating/cooling, and follow the metal enrichment of the ISM. It is found that the interplay between metallicity and UV radiation leads to the coexistence of Pop III and Pop II star formation in non-zero-metallicity (Z/Z_☉ ⩾ 10⁻²) gas. A cold (T < 100 K) and dense (ρ > 10⁻²² g cm⁻³) gas phase is fragile to ambient UV radiation. In a metal-poor (Z/Z_☉ ⩽ 10⁻³) gas, the cold and dense gas phase does not form in the presence of a radiation field of F₀ ∼ 10⁻⁵–10⁻⁴ erg cm⁻² s⁻¹. Therefore, metallicity by itself is not a good indicator of the Pop III–Pop II transition. Metal-rich (Z/Z_☉ ⩾ 10⁻²) gas dynamically evolves two to three orders of magnitude faster than metal-poor gas (Z/Z_☉ ⩽ 10⁻³). The simulations including supernova explosions show that pre-enrichment of the halo does not affect the mixing of metals.

We report the detection of the ¹²CO J = 1–0 emission line in [H89]1821+643, one of the most optically luminous quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) in the local universe, and a template ULIRG-to-QSO transition object, located in a rich, cool-core cluster at z = 0.297. The CO emission is likely to be extended, highly asymmetric with respect to the center of the host elliptical where the QSO resides, and correspond with a molecular gas mass of ∼8.0 × 10⁹ M_☉. The dynamical mass enclosed by the CO emission-line region could amount to ∼1.7 × 10¹² M_☉ (80% of the total mass of the elliptical host). The bulk of the CO emission is located at ∼9 kpc southeast from the nuclei position, close to a faint optical structure, suggesting that the CO emission could either represent a gas-rich companion galaxy merging with the elliptical host or a tail-like structure reminiscent of a previous interaction. We argue that the first scenario is more likely given the large masses implied by the CO source, which would imply a highly asymmetric elliptical host. The close alignment between the CO emission's major axis and the radio plume suggests a possible role in the excitation of the ambient gas reservoir by the latter. The stacking technique was used to search for CO emission and 3-mm continuum emission from galaxies in the surrounding cluster. However, no detection was found toward individual galaxies or the stacked ensemble of galaxies, with a 3σ limit of <1.1 × 10⁹ M_☉ for the molecular gas.

Recent analyses of data sets acquired at the Brookhaven National Laboratory and at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt both show evidence of pronounced annual variations, suggestive of a solar influence. However, the phases of decay-rate maxima do not correspond precisely to the phase of minimum Sun–Earth distance, as might then be expected. We here examine the hypothesis that decay rates are influenced by an unknown solar radiation, but that the intensity of the radiation is influenced not only by the variation in Sun–Earth distance, but also by a possible north–south asymmetry in the solar emission mechanism. We find that this can lead to phases of decay-rate maxima in the range 0–0.183 or 0.683–1 (September 6 to March 8) but that, according to this hypothesis, phases in the range of 0.183–0.683 (March 8 to September 6) are "forbidden." We find that phases of the three data sets analyzed here fall in the allowed range.

Recent radial-velocity surveys for GK clump giants have revealed that planets also exist around ∼1.5–3 M_☉ stars. However, no planets have been found inside 0.6 AU around clump giants, in contrast to solar-type main-sequence stars, many of which harbor short-period planets such as hot Jupiters. In this study, we examine the possibility that planets were engulfed by host stars evolving on the red-giant branch (RGB). We integrate the orbital evolution of planets in the RGB and helium-burning phases of host stars, including the effects of stellar tide and stellar mass loss. Then we derive the critical semimajor axis (or the survival limit) inside which planets are eventually engulfed by their host stars after tidal decay of their orbits. Specifically, we investigate the impact of stellar mass and other stellar parameters on the survival limit in more detail than previous studies. In addition, we make detailed comparisons with measured semimajor axes of planets detected so far, which no previous study has done. We find that the critical semimajor axis is quite sensitive to stellar mass in the range between 1.7 and 2.1 M_☉, which suggests a need for careful comparison between theoretical and observational limits of the existence of planets. Our comparison demonstrates that all planets orbiting GK clump giants that have been detected are beyond the survival limit, which is consistent with the planet-engulfment hypothesis. However, on the high-mass side (>2.1M_☉), the detected planets are orbiting significantly far from the survival limit, which suggests that engulfment by host stars may not be the main reason for the observed lack of short-period giant planets. To confirm our conclusion, the detection of more planets around clump giants, especially with masses ≳ 2.5M_☉, is required.

Using free–free emission measured in the Ka band (26–40 GHz) for 10 star-forming regions in the nearby galaxy NGC 6946, including its starbursting nucleus, we compare a number of star formation rate (SFR) diagnostics that are typically considered to be unaffected by interstellar extinction. These diagnostics include non-thermal radio (i.e., 1.4 GHz), total infrared (IR; 8–1000 μm), and warm dust (i.e., 24 μm) emission, along with hybrid indicators that attempt to account for obscured and unobscured emission from star-forming regions including Hα + 24 μm and UV + IR measurements. The assumption is made that the 33 GHz free–free emission provides the most accurate measure of the current SFR. Among the extranuclear star-forming regions, the 24 μm, Hα + 24 μm, and UV + IR SFR calibrations are in good agreement with the 33 GHz free–free SFRs. However, each of the SFR calibrations relying on some form of dust emission overestimates the nuclear SFR by a factor of ∼2 relative to the 33 GHz free–free SFR. This is more likely the result of excess dust heating through an accumulation of non-ionizing stars associated with an extended episode of star formation in the nucleus rather than increased competition for ionizing photons by dust. SFR calibrations using the non-thermal radio continuum yield values which only agree with the 33 GHz free–free SFRs for the nucleus and underestimate the SFRs from the extranuclear star-forming regions by an average factor of ∼2 and ∼4–5 before and after subtracting local background emission, respectively. This result likely arises from the cosmic-ray (CR) electrons decaying within the starburst region with negligible escape, whereas the transient nature of star formation in the young extranuclear star-forming complexes allows for CR electrons to diffuse significantly further than dust-heating photons, resulting in an underestimate of the true SFR. Finally, we find that the SFRs estimated using the total 33 GHz flux density appear to agree well with those estimated using free–free emission due to the large thermal fractions present at these frequencies even when local diffuse backgrounds are not removed. Thus, rest-frame 33 GHz observations may act as a reliable method to measure the SFRs of galaxies at increasingly high redshift without the need of ancillary radio data to account for the non-thermal emission.

Analytical and numerical solutions are obtained for the equation of radiative transfer in ultrarelativistic opaque jets. The solution describes the initial trapping of radiation, its adiabatic cooling, and the transition to transparency. Two opposite regimes are examined. (1) Matter-dominated outflow. Surprisingly, radiation develops enormous anisotropy in the fluid frame before decoupling from the fluid. The radiation is strongly polarized. (2) Radiation-dominated outflow. The transfer occurs as if radiation propagated in vacuum, preserving the angular distribution and the blackbody shape of the spectrum. The escaping radiation has a blackbody spectrum if (and only if) the outflow energy is dominated by radiation up to the photospheric radius.

We present the first detailed phase-resolved spectral analysis of a joint Chandra High-Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer and Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer observation of the ρ variability class in the microquasar GRS 1915+105. The ρ cycle displays a high-amplitude, double-peaked flare that recurs roughly every 50 s and is sometimes referred to as the "heartbeat" oscillation. The spectral and timing properties of the oscillation are consistent with the radiation pressure instability and the evolution of a local Eddington limit in the inner disk. We exploit strong variations in the X-ray continuum, iron emission lines, and the accretion disk wind to probe the accretion geometry over nearly six orders of magnitude in distance from the black hole. At small scales (1–10 R_g), we detect a burst of bremsstrahlung emission that appears to occur when a portion of the inner accretion disk evaporates due to radiation pressure. Jet activity, as inferred from the appearance of a short X-ray hard state, seems to be limited to times near minimum luminosity, with a duty cycle of ∼10%. On larger scales (10⁵–10⁶ R_g), we use detailed photoionization arguments to track the relationship between the fast X-ray variability and the accretion disk wind. For the first time, we are able to show that changes in the broadband X-ray spectrum produce changes in the structure and density of the accretion disk wind on timescales as short as 5 s. These results clearly establish a causal link between the X-ray oscillations and the disk wind and therefore support the existence of a disk–jet–wind connection. Furthermore, our analysis shows that the mass-loss rate in the wind may be sufficient to cause long-term oscillations in the accretion rate, leading to state transitions in GRS 1915+105.

We report on the N ii λλ5668–5712 emission and absorption lines in the spectrum of η Carinae. Spectral lines of the stellar wind regions can be classified into four physically distinct categories: (1) low-excitation emission such as H i and Fe ii, (2) higher-excitation He i features, (3) the N ii lines discussed in this paper, and (4) He ii emission. These categories have different combinations of radial velocity behavior, excitation processes, and dependences on the secondary star. The N ii lines are the only known features that originate in "normal" undisturbed zones of the primary wind but depend primarily on the location of the hot secondary star. N ii probably excludes some proposed models, such as those where He i lines originate in the secondary star's wind or in an accretion disk.

We use homogeneous samples of radio-quiet Seyfert 1 galaxies and QSOs selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to investigate the connection between the velocity shift and the equivalent width (EW) of the [O iii] λ5007 emission line, and their correlations with physical parameters of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We find a significant and negative correlation between the EW of the core component, EW(core), and the blueshift of either the core (the peak), the wing, or the total profile of [O iii] emission; it is fairly strong for the blueshift of the total profile in particular. However, both quantities (EW and velocity shift) generally have only weak, if any, correlations with fundamental AGN parameters such as the nuclear continuum luminosity at 5100 Å (L₅₁₀₀), black hole mass (M_BH), and the Eddington ratio (L/L_Edd); these correlations include the classical Baldwin effect of EW(core), an inverse Baldwin effect of EW(wing), and the relationship between velocity shifts and L/L_Edd. Our findings suggest that both the large object-to-object variation in the strength of [O iii] emission and the blueshift–EW(core) connection are not governed primarily by fundamental AGN parameters such as L₅₁₀₀, M_BH, and L/L_Edd. We propose that the interstellar medium conditions of the host galaxies play a major role instead in the diversity of the [O iii] properties in active galaxies. This suggests that the use of [O iii] λ5007 luminosity as a proxy of AGN luminosity does not depend strongly on the above-mentioned fundamental AGN parameters.

We study the connections between the Sun's convection zone and the evolution of the solar wind and corona. We let the magnetic fields generated by a 2.5-dimensional (2.5D) axisymmetric kinematic dynamo code (STELEM) evolve in a 2.5D axisymmetric coronal isothermal magnetohydrodynamic code (DIP). The computations cover an 11 year activity cycle. The solar wind's asymptotic velocity varies in latitude and in time in good agreement with the available observations. The magnetic polarity reversal happens at different paces at different coronal heights. Overall the Sun's mass-loss rate, momentum flux, and magnetic braking torque vary considerably throughout the cycle. This cyclic modulation is determined by the latitudinal distribution of the sources of open flux and solar wind and the geometry of the Alfvén surface. Wind sources and braking torque application zones also vary accordingly.

We derive the extinction curve toward the Galactic center (GC) from 1 to 19 μm. We use hydrogen emission lines of the minispiral observed by ISO-SWS and SINFONI. The extinction-free flux reference is the 2 cm continuum emission observed by the Very Large Array. Toward the inner 14'' × 20'', we find an extinction of A_2.166 μm = 2.62 ± 0.11, with a power-law slope of α = −2.11 ± 0.06 shortward of 2.8 μm, consistent with the average near-infrared slope from the recent literature. At longer wavelengths, however, we find that the extinction is grayer than shortward of 2.8 μm. We find that it is not possible to fit the observed extinction curve with a dust model consisting of pure carbonaceous and silicate grains only, and the addition of composite particles, including ices, is needed to explain the observations. Combining a distance-dependent extinction with our distance-independent extinction, we derive the distance to the GC to be R₀ = 7.94 ± 0.65 kpc. Toward Sgr A* (r < 05), we obtain A_H = 4.21 ± 0.10, A_Ks = 2.42 ± 0.10, and A_L' = 1.09 ± 0.13.

We have measured the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (SZ) effect for a sample of 10 strong lensing selected galaxy clusters using the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich Array (SZA). The SZA is sensitive to structures on spatial scales of a few arcminutes, while the strong lensing mass modeling constrains the mass at small scales (typically <30''). Combining the two provides information about the projected concentrations of the strong lensing clusters. The Einstein radii we measure are twice as large as expected given the masses inferred from SZ scaling relations. A Monte Carlo simulation indicates that a sample randomly drawn from the expected distribution would have a larger median Einstein radius than the observed clusters about 3% of the time. The implied overconcentration has been noted in previous studies and persists for this sample, even when we take into account that we are selecting large Einstein radius systems, suggesting that the theoretical models still do not fully describe the observed properties of strong lensing clusters.

The cosmic dark ages ended a few hundred million years after the big bang, when the first stars began to fill the universe with new light. It has generally been argued that these stars formed in isolation and were extremely massive—perhaps 100 times as massive as the Sun. In a recent study, Clark and collaborators showed that this picture requires revision. They demonstrated that the accretion disks that build up around Population III stars are strongly susceptible to fragmentation and that the first stars should therefore form in clusters rather than in isolation. We here use a series of high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations performed with the moving mesh code AREPO to follow up on this proposal and to study the influence of environmental parameters on the level of fragmentation. We model the collapse of five independent minihalos from cosmological initial conditions, through the runaway condensation of their central gas clouds, to the formation of the first protostar, and beyond for a further 1000 years. During this latter accretion phase, we represent the optically thick regions of protostars by sink particles. Gas accumulates rapidly in the circumstellar disk around the first protostar, fragmenting vigorously to produce a small group of protostars. After an initial burst, gravitational instability recurs periodically, forming additional protostars with masses ranging from ∼0.1 to 10 M_☉. Although the shape, multiplicity, and normalization of the protostellar mass function depend on the details of the sink-particle algorithm, fragmentation into protostars with diverse masses occurs in all cases, confirming earlier reports of Population III stars forming in clusters. Depending on the efficiency of later accretion and merging, Population III stars may enter the main sequence in clusters and with much more diverse masses than are commonly assumed.

SN 1961V, one of Zwicky's defining Type V supernovae (SNe), was a peculiar transient in NGC 1058 that has variously been categorized as either a true core-collapse SN leaving a black hole (BH) or neutron star (NS) remnant, or an eruption of a luminous blue variable star. The former case is suggested by its possible association with a decaying non-thermal radio source, while the latter is suggested by its peculiar transient light curve and its low initial expansion velocities. The crucial difference is that the star survives a transient eruption but not an SN. All stars identified as possible survivors are significantly fainter, L_opt ∼ 10⁵ L_☉, than the L_opt ≃ 3 × 10⁶ L_☉ progenitor star at optical wavelengths. While this can be explained by dust absorption in a shell of material ejected during the transient, the survivor must then be present as an L_IR ≃ 3 × 10⁶ L_☉ mid-infrared source. Using archival Spitzer observations of the region, we show that such a luminous mid-IR source is not present. The brightest source of dust emission is only L_IR ≃ 10⁵ L_☉ and does not correspond to the previously identified candidates for the surviving star. The dust cannot be made sufficiently distant and cold to avoid detection unless the ejection energy, mass, and velocity scales are those of an SN or greater. We conclude that SN 1961V was a peculiar, but real, SN. Its peculiarities are probably due to enhanced mass loss just prior to the SN, followed by the interactions of the SN blast wave with this ejecta. This adds to the evidence that there is a population of SN progenitors that have major mass-loss episodes shortly before core collapse. The progenitor is a low metallicity, ∼1/3 solar, high-mass, M_ZAMS ≳ 80 M_☉, star, which means either that BH formation can be accompanied by an SN or that surprisingly high-mass stars can form an NS. We also report on the mid-IR properties of the two other SNe in NGC 1058, SN 1969L, and SN 2007gr.

We present the results of a 100 ks Chandra observation of the NGC 404 nuclear region. The long exposure and excellent spatial resolution of Chandra have enabled us to critically examine the nuclear environment of NGC 404, which is known to host a nuclear star cluster and potentially an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH; on the order of a few times 10⁵ M_☉). We find two distinct X-ray sources: a hard, central point source coincident with the optical and radio centers of the galaxy, and a soft extended region that is coincident with areas of high Hα emission and likely recent star formation. When we fit the 0.3–8 keV spectra of each region separately, we find the hard nuclear point source to be dominated by a power law (Γ = 1.88), while the soft off-nuclear region is best fit by a thermal plasma model (kT = 0.67 keV). We therefore find evidence for both a power-law component and hot gas in the nuclear region of NGC 404. We estimate the 2–10 keV luminosity to be 1.3^+0.8_−0.5 × 10³⁷ erg s⁻¹. A low level of diffuse X-ray emission was detected out to ∼15'' (∼0.2 kpc) from the nucleus. We compare our results to the observed relationships between power-law photon index and Eddington ratio for both X-ray binaries and low-luminosity active galaxies and find NGC 404 to be consistent with other low-luminosity active galaxies. We therefore favor the conclusion that NGC 404 harbors an IMBH accreting at a very low level.

We reconsider the pixel-based, "template" polarized foreground removal method within the context of a next-generation, low-noise, low-resolution (05 FWHM) space-borne experiment measuring the cosmological B-mode polarization signal in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). This method was first applied to polarized data by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) team and further studied by Efstathiou et al. We need at least three frequency channels: one is used for extracting the CMB signal, whereas the other two are used to estimate the spatial distribution of the polarized dust and synchrotron emission. No extra data from non-CMB experiments or models are used. We extract the tensor-to-scalar ratio (r) from simulated sky maps outside the standard polarization mask (P06) of WMAP consisting of CMB, noise (2 μK arcmin), and a foreground model, and find that, even for the simplest three-frequency configuration with 60, 100, and 240 GHz, the residual bias in r is as small as Δr ≈ 0.002. This bias is dominated by the residual synchrotron emission due to spatial variations of the synchrotron spectral index. With an extended mask with f_sky = 0.5, the bias is reduced further down to <0.001.

We present a comprehensive spectral analysis of the high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) pulsar Centaurus X-3 with the Suzaku observatory covering nearly one orbital period. The light curve shows the presence of extended dips which are rarely seen in HMXBs. These dips are seen up to as high as ∼40 keV. The pulsar spectra during the eclipse, out-of-eclipse, and dips are found to be well described by a partial covering power-law model with high-energy cutoff and three Gaussian functions for 6.4 keV, 6.7 keV, and 6.97 keV iron emission lines. The dips in the light curve can be explained by the presence of an additional absorption component with high column density and covering fraction, the values of which are not significant during the rest of the orbital phases. The iron line parameters during the dips and eclipse are significantly different compared to those during the rest of the observation. During the dips, the iron line intensities are found to be lesser by a factor of 2–3 with a significant increase in the line equivalent widths. However, the continuum flux at the corresponding orbital phase is estimated to be lesser by more than an order of magnitude. Similarities in the changes in the iron line flux and equivalent widths during the dips and eclipse segments suggest that the dipping activity in Cen X-3 is caused by an obscuration of the neutron star by dense matter, probably structures in the outer region of the accretion disk, as in the case of dipping low-mass X-ray binaries.

The spectral shapes of the contributions of different classes of unresolved gamma-ray emitters can provide insight into their relative contributions to the extragalactic gamma-ray background (EGB) and the natures of their spectra at GeV energies. We calculate the spectral shapes of the contributions to the EGB arising from BL Lac objects and flat-spectrum radio quasars assuming blazar spectra can be described as broken power laws. We fit the resulting total blazar spectral shape to the Fermi Large Area Telescope measurements of the EGB, finding that the best-fit shape reproduces well the shape of the Fermi EGB for various break scenarios. We conclude that a scenario in which the contribution of blazars is dominant cannot be excluded on spectral grounds alone, even if spectral breaks are shown to be common among Fermi blazars. We also find that while the observation of a featureless (within uncertainties) power-law EGB spectrum by Fermi does not necessarily imply a single class of contributing unresolved sources with featureless individual spectra, such an observation and the collective spectra of the separate contributing populations determine the ratios of their contributions. As such, a comparison with studies including blazar gamma-ray luminosity functions could have profound implications for the blazar contribution to the EGB, blazar evolution, and blazar gamma-ray spectra and emission.

Using archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging data, we report the multiband photometric properties of 13 ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) that have a unique compact optical counterpart. Both magnitude and color variation are detected at timescales of days to years. The optical color, variability, and X-ray to optical flux ratio indicate that the optical emission of most ULXs is dominated by X-ray reprocessing on the disk, similar to that of low-mass X-ray binaries. For most sources, the optical spectrum is a power law, F_ν∝ν^α with α in the range 1.0–2.0 and the optically emitting region has a size on the order of 10¹² cm. Exceptions are NGC 2403 X-1 and M83 IXO 82, which show optical spectra consistent with direct emission from a standard thin disk, M101 ULX-1 and M81 ULS1, which have X-ray to optical flux ratios more similar to high-mass X-ray binaries, and IC 342 X-1, in which the optical light may be dominated by the companion star. Inconsistent extinction between the optical counterpart of NGC 5204 X-1 and the nearby optical nebulae suggests that they may be unrelated.

We use rotation stereoscopy to estimate the height of a steady-state solar feature relative to the photosphere, based on its apparent motion in the image plane recorded over several days of observation. The stereoscopy algorithm is adapted to work with either one- or two-dimensional data (i.e., from images or from observations that record the projected position of the source along an arbitrary axis). The accuracy of the algorithm is tested on simulated data, and then the algorithm is used to estimate the coronal radio source heights associated with the active region NOAA 10956, based on multifrequency imaging data over seven days from the Siberian Solar Radio Telescope near 5.7 GHz, the Nobeyama Radio Heliograph at 17 GHz, as well as one-dimensional scans at multiple frequencies spanning the 5.98–15.95 GHz frequency range from the RATAN-600 instrument. The gyroresonance emission mechanism, which is sensitive to the coronal magnetic field strength, is applied to convert the estimated radio source heights at various frequencies, h(f), to information about magnetic field versus height B(h), and the results are compared to a magnetic field extrapolation derived from photospheric magnetic field observations obtained by Hinode and Michelson Doppler Imager. We found that the gyroresonant emission comes from heights exceeding the location of the third gyrolayer irrespective of the magnetic extrapolation method; implications of this finding for coronal magnetography and coronal plasma physics are discussed.

We present deep 1.2 mm continuum mapping of a 566 arcmin² area within the Lockman Hole North (LHN) field, previously a target of the Spitzer Wide-Area Infrared Extragalactic survey and extremely deep 20 cm mapping with the Very Large Array, which we have obtained using the Max-Planck millimeter bolometer (MAMBO) array on the IRAM 30 m telescope. After filtering, our full map has an rms sensitivity ranging from 0.45 to 1.5 mJy beam⁻¹, with an average of 0.75 mJy beam⁻¹. Using the pixel flux distribution (PFD) in a map made from our best data, we determine the shape, normalization, and approximate flux density cutoff for 1.2 mm number counts well below our nominal sensitivity and confusion limits. After validating our full data set through comparison with this map, we successfully detect 41 1.2 mm sources with signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) > 4.0 and S_1.2 mm ≃ 2–5 mJy. We use the most significant of these detections to directly determine the integral number counts down to 1.8 mJy, which are consistent with the results of the PFD analysis. Ninety-three percent of our 41 individual detections have 20 cm counterparts, 49% have Spitzer/MIPS 24 μm counterparts, and one may have a significant Chandra X-ray counterpart. We resolve ≃ 3% of the cosmic infrared background (CIB) at 1.2 mm into significant detections and directly estimate a 0.05 mJy faint-end cutoff for the counts that is consistent with the full intensity of the 1.2 mm CIB. The median redshift of our 17 detections with spectroscopic or robust photometric redshifts is z_median = 2.3, and rises to z_median = 2.9 when we include redshifts estimated from the radio/far-infrared spectral index. By using a nearest neighbor and angular correlation function analysis, we find evidence that our S/N > 4.0 detections are clustered at the 95% confidence level.

We have calculated the inverse Compton (IC) integrated spectral power within the Thomson limit for a monoenergetic isotropic photon field upscattered off highly relativistic electrons assuming an isotropic power-law distribution of the latter, N(γ) = Cγ^−p, with Lorentz parameter values γ₁ < γ < γ₂. Our interest was essentially focused on the case of a finite energy range (finite γ₂) possibly having realistic applications in high-energy astrophysical sites, mainly relativistic shock regions. To this end, we have defined and derived a dimensionless parametric function, F_p(z₁, η), with variables z₁ = ₁/4γ²₁ and η = γ₂/γ₁. This result was used to derive the IC-integrated spectral power for an upscattered blackbody (BB) photon field using a dimensionless parametric function, W_p(ξ, η), with variable ξ = ₁/4γ²₁kT. Asymptotic forms of this function have been derived for three energy ranges, i.e., ξ ≪ 1, 1 ≪ ξ ≪ η², and ξ ≫ η². Then, a characteristic value, η_c(p, ε) with ε ≪ 1, of parameter η was defined such that the middle range asymptotic form of W_p(ξ, η) could be valid and good when η ≳ η_c(p, ε), by deriving an approximate expression of this particular value for ε = 10⁻³. The resulting spectra featured by a high-energy cutoff in the case of low values of the ratio η can be discussed at least for a population of short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), those best described by the cutoff power-law model with a low-energy spectral index, α ≈ 0. Furthermore, it is suggested that for GRB spectra with α < −1/2 pertaining to the prompt emission phase, the IC is a likely emission mechanism for both monoenergetic and BB photon fields if one assumes that the former photon field could exist specifically in the GRB environment. Various suitable astrophysical applications are presented and discussed.

We study the electron–proton temperature equilibration behind several shocks of the RCW 86 supernova remnant. To measure the proton temperature, we use published and new optical spectra, all from different locations on the remnant. For each location, we determine the electron temperature from X-ray spectra, and correct for temperature equilibration between the shock front and the location of the X-ray spectrum. We confirm the result of previous studies that the electron and proton temperatures behind shock fronts are consistent with equilibration for slow shocks and deviate for faster shocks. However, we cannot confirm the previously reported trend of T_e/T_p∝1/v²_s.

We have undertaken a spectroscopic search for ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) in the dense core of the dynamically evolved, massive Coma cluster as part of the Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys (HST/ACS) Coma Cluster Treasury Survey. UCD candidates were initially chosen based on color, magnitude, degree of resolution within the ACS images, and the known properties of Fornax and Virgo UCDs. Follow-up spectroscopy with Keck/Low-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer confirmed 27 candidates as members of the Coma cluster, a success rate >60% for targeted objects brighter than M_R = −12. Another 14 candidates may also prove to be Coma members, but low signal-to-noise spectra prevent definitive conclusions. An investigation of the properties and distribution of the Coma UCDs finds these objects to be very similar to UCDs discovered in other environments. The Coma UCDs tend to be clustered around giant galaxies in the cluster core and have colors/metallicity that correlate with the host galaxy. With properties and a distribution similar to that of the Coma cluster globular cluster population, we find strong support for a star cluster origin for the majority of the Coma UCDs. However, a few UCDs appear to have stellar population or structural properties which differentiate them from the old star cluster populations found in the Coma cluster, perhaps indicating that UCDs may form through multiple formation channels.

We report on a new XMM-Newton observation of NGC 247 from 2009 December. The galaxy contains a supersoft, ultraluminous X-ray source whose spectrum consists of a thermal component with a temperature about 0.1 keV and a power-law tail with a photon index around 2.5. The thermal emission is absolutely the dominant component, contributing 96% of the total luminosity in the 0.3–10 keV band. Variability is detected at timescales of 10² s and longer with a ν⁻¹ power spectrum. These properties are consistent with black hole binaries in the thermal state and suggest the presence of an intermediate-mass black hole of at least 600 solar masses. However, the integrated root-mean-square power is much higher than typically found in the thermal state. An alternative explanation of the emission could be a photosphere with a radius about 10⁹ cm. A possible absorption feature around 1 keV is detected, which may be due to absorption of highly ionized winds. X-ray sources within the disk of NGC 247 have a luminosity function consistent with that found in low-mass X-ray binaries. We confirm previous results that X-rays from the quasar PHL 6625 may be absorbed by gas in NGC 247, mainly at energies below 0.3 keV.

Images of the corona have a high dynamic range which is excellent for quantitative photometric analysis. To understand the processes governing the solar corona, it is essential to have information about the absolute brightness as well as the underlying structure. However, due to the steep radial gradient of brightness in the images, and to the fact that structures closer to the solar disk have higher contrast than structures further from the disk, human vision cannot view the intricate structure of the corona in such images. The recently developed normalizing-radial-graded filter (NRGF) is an effective way for revealing the coronal structure. In this work, we present a more adaptive filter inspired by the NRGF, which we call the Fourier normalizing-radial-graded filter (FNRGF). It approximates the local average and the local standard deviation by a finite Fourier series. This method enables the enhancement of finer details, especially in regions of lower contrast. We also show how the influence of additive noise is reduced by a modification to the FNRGF. To illustrate the power of the method, the FNRGF is applied to images of emission from coronal forbidden lines observed during the 2010 July 11 total solar eclipse. It is also successfully applied to space-based observations of the low corona in the extreme ultraviolet and to white light coronagraph observations, thus demonstrating the validity of the FNRGF as a new tool that will help the interpretation of the information embedded in most types of coronal images.

We present the results of a systematic numerical study of the onset of mass transfer in double degenerate binary systems and its impact on the subsequent evolution. All investigated systems belong to the regime of direct impact, unstable mass transfer. In all of the investigated cases, even those considered unstable by conventional stability analysis, we find a long-lived mass transfer phase continuing for as many as several dozen orbital periods. This settles a recent debate sparked by a discrepancy between earlier smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) calculations that showed disruptions after a few orbital periods and newer grid-based studies in which mass transfer continued for tens of orbits. The number of orbits a binary survives sensitively depends on the exact initial conditions. We find that the approximate initial conditions that have been used in most previous SPH calculations have a serious impact on all stages of the evolution from the onset of mass transfer up to the final structure of the remnant. We compare "approximate" initial conditions where spherical stars are placed at an initial separation obtained from an estimate of the Roche lobe size with "accurate" initial conditions that were constructed by carefully driving the binary system to equilibrium by a relaxation scheme. Simulations that use the approximate initial conditions underestimate the initial separation when mass transfer sets in, which yields a binary that only survives for only a few orbits and thus a rapidly fading gravitational wave signal. Conversely, the accurate initial conditions produce a binary system in which the mass transfer phase is extended by almost two orders of magnitude in time, resulting in a gravitational wave signal with amplitude and frequency that remain essentially constant up until merger. As we show that these binaries can survive at small separation for hundreds of orbital periods, their associated gravitational wave signal should be included when calculating the gravitational wave foreground (although expected to be below Laser Interferometer Space Antenna's sensitivity at these high frequencies). We also show that the inclusion of the entropy increase associated with shock heating of the accreted material reduces the number of orbits a binary survives given the same initial conditions, although the effect is not as pronounced when using the appropriate initial conditions. The use of accurate initial conditions and a correct treatment of shock heating allows for a reliable time evolution of the temperature, density, and angular momentum, which are important when considering thermonuclear events that may occur during the mass transfer phase and/or after merger. Our treatment allows us to accurately identify when surface detonations may occur in the lead-up to the merger, as well as the properties of final merger products.

We identify 73 z ∼ 7 and 59 z ∼ 8 candidate galaxies in the reionization epoch, and use this large 26–29.4 AB mag sample of galaxies to derive very deep luminosity functions to < − 18 AB mag and the star formation rate (SFR) density at z ∼ 7 and z ∼ 8 (just 800 Myr and 650 Myr after recombination, respectively). The galaxy sample is derived using a sophisticated Lyman-break technique on the full two-year Wide Field Camera 3/infrared (WFC3/IR) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) data available over the HUDF09 (∼29.4 AB mag, 5σ), two nearby HUDF09 fields (∼29 AB mag, 5σ, 14 arcmin²), and the wider area Early Release Science (∼27.5 AB mag, 5σ, ∼40 arcmin²). The application of strict optical non-detection criteria ensures the contamination fraction is kept low (just ∼7% in the HUDF). This very low value includes a full assessment of the contamination from lower redshift sources, photometric scatter, active galactic nuclei, spurious sources, low-mass stars, and transients (e.g., supernovae). From careful modeling of the selection volumes for each of our search fields, we derive luminosity functions for galaxies at z ∼ 7 and z ∼ 8 to < − 18 AB mag. The faint-end slopes α at z ∼ 7 and z ∼ 8 are uncertain but very steep at α = −2.01 ± 0.21 and α = −1.91 ± 0.32, respectively. Such steep slopes contrast to the local α ≳ −1.4 and may even be steeper than that at z ∼ 4 where α = −1.73 ± 0.05. With such steep slopes (α ≲ −1.7) lower luminosity galaxies dominate the galaxy luminosity density during the epoch of reionization. The SFR densities derived from these new z ∼ 7 and z ∼ 8 luminosity functions are consistent with the trends found at later times (lower redshifts). We find reasonable consistency with the SFR densities implied from reported stellar mass densities being only ∼40% higher at z < 7. This suggests that (1) the stellar mass densities inferred from the Spitzer Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) photometry are reasonably accurate and (2) that the initial mass function at very high redshift may not be very different from that at later times.

We present new results from our study of the X-rayed outflow of the z = 3.91 gravitationally lensed broad absorption line quasar APM 08279+5255. These results are based on spectral fits to all the long exposure observations of APM 08279+5255 using a new quasar-outflow model. This model is based on cloudy³simulations of a near-relativistic quasar outflow. The main conclusions from our multi-epoch spectral re-analysis of Chandra, XMM-Newton, and Suzaku observations of APM 08279+5255 are the following. (1) In every observation, we confirm the presence of two strong features, one at rest-frame energies between 1–4 keV and the other between 7–18 keV. (2) We confirm that the low-energy absorption (1–4 keV rest frame) arises from a low-ionization absorber with $\hbox{log($N_{\rm H}/{\rm cm}^{-2})$}\sim 23$ and the high-energy absorption (7–18 keV rest frame) arises from highly ionized (3 ≲ log ξ ≲ 4, where ξ is the ionization parameter) iron in a near-relativistic outflowing wind. Assuming this interpretation, we find that the velocities on the outflow could get up to ∼0.7c. (3) We confirm a correlation between the maximum outflow velocity and the photon index and find possible trends between the maximum outflow velocity and the X-ray luminosity, and between the total column density and the photon index. We performed calculations of the force multipliers of material illuminated by absorbed power laws and a Mathews–Ferland spectral energy distribution (SED). We found that variations of the X-ray and UV parts of the SEDs and the presence of a moderate absorbing shield will produce important changes in the strength of the radiative driving force. These results support the observed trend found between the outflow velocity and X-ray photon index in APM 08279+5255. If this result is confirmed it will imply that radiation pressure is an important mechanism in producing quasar outflows.

We investigate the luminosity-dependent clustering of rest-frame UV-selected galaxies at z ∼ 4, 3, 2.2, and 1.7 in the Keck Deep Fields, which are complete to $\mathcal {R}$ = 27 and cover 169 arcmin². We find that at z ∼ 4 and 3, UV-bright galaxies cluster more strongly than UV-faint ones, but at z ∼ 2.2 and 1.7, the UV-bright galaxies are no longer the most strongly clustered. We derive mass estimates for objects in our sample by comparing our measurements to the predicted clustering of dark matter halos in the Millennium Simulation. From these estimates, we infer relationships between halo mass and star formation rate (SFR), and find that the most massive dark matter halos in our sample host galaxies with high SFRs (M₁₇₀₀ < −20, or >50 M_☉ yr⁻¹) at z ∼ 3 and 4, moderate SFRs (−20 < M₁₇₀₀ < −19, or ∼20 M_☉ yr⁻¹) at z ∼ 2.2, and lower SFRs (−19 < M₁₇₀₀ < −18, or ∼2 M_☉ yr⁻¹) at z ∼ 1.7. We believe our measurements may provide a new line of evidence for galaxy downsizing by extending that concept from stellar to halo mass. We also find that the objects with blue UV colors in our sample are much more strongly clustered than those with red UV colors, and we propose that this may be due to the presence of the 2175 Å dust absorption bump in more massive halos, which contain the older stellar populations and dust needed to produce the feature. The relatively small area covered by the survey means that the absolute values of the correlation lengths and halo masses we derive are heavily dependent on the "integral constraint" correction, but the uniformly deep coverage across a large-redshift interval allows us to detect several important trends that are independent of this correction.

We present direct upper limits on continuous gravitational wave emission from the Vela pulsar using data from the Virgo detector's second science run. These upper limits have been obtained using three independent methods that assume the gravitational wave emission follows the radio timing. Two of the methods produce frequentist upper limits for an assumed known orientation of the star's spin axis and value of the wave polarization angle of, respectively, 1.9 × 10⁻²⁴ and 2.2 × 10⁻²⁴, with 95% confidence. The third method, under the same hypothesis, produces a Bayesian upper limit of 2.1 × 10⁻²⁴, with 95% degree of belief. These limits are below the indirect spin-down limit of 3.3  ×  10⁻²⁴ for the Vela pulsar, defined by the energy loss rate inferred from observed decrease in Vela's spin frequency, and correspond to a limit on the star ellipticity of ∼10⁻³. Slightly less stringent results, but still well below the spin-down limit, are obtained assuming the star's spin axis inclination and the wave polarization angles are unknown.

We calculate the advection/diffusion of the large-scale magnetic field threading an advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF) and find that the magnetic field can be dragged inward by the accretion flow efficiently if the magnetic Prandtl number $\mathscr{P}_{\rm m}=\eta /\nu \sim 1$. This is due to the large radial velocity of the ADAF. It is found that the magnetic pressure can be as high as ∼50% of the gas pressure in the inner region of the ADAF close to the black hole horizon, even if the external imposed homogeneous vertical field strength is ≲ 5% of the gas pressure at the outer radius of the ADAF, which is caused by the gas in the ADAF plunging rapidly to the black hole within the marginal stable circular orbit. In the inner region of the ADAF, the accretion flow is significantly pressured in the vertical direction by the magnetic fields, and therefore its gas pressure can be two orders of magnitude higher than that in the ADAF without magnetic fields. This means that the magnetic field strength near the black hole is underestimated by assuming equipartition between magnetic and gas pressure with the conventional ADAF model. Our results show that the magnetic field strength of the flow near the black hole horizon can be more than one order of magnitude higher than that in the ADAF at ∼3R_g (R_g = 2GM/c²), which implies that the Blandford–Znajek mechanism could be more important than the Blandford–Payne mechanism for ADAFs. We find that the accretion flow is decelerated near the black hole by the magnetic field when the external imposed field is strong enough or the gas pressure of the flow is low at the outer radius, or both. This corresponds to a critical accretion rate, below which the accretion flow will be arrested by the magnetic field near the black hole for a given external imposed field. In this case, the gas may accrete as magnetically confined blobs diffusing through field lines in the region very close to the black hole horizon, similar to those in compact stars. Our calculations are also valid for the case that the inner ADAF connects to the outer cold thin disk at a certain radius. In this case, the advection of the external fields is quite inefficient in the outer thin disk due to its low radial velocity, and the field lines thread the disk almost vertically, while these field lines can be efficiently dragged inward by the radial motion of the inner ADAF.

Coherent scattering of limb-darkened radiation is responsible for the generation of the linearly polarized spectrum of the Sun (the Second Solar Spectrum). This Second Solar Spectrum is usually observed near the limb of the Sun, where the polarization amplitudes are largest. At the center of the solar disk the linear polarization is zero for an axially symmetric atmosphere. Any mechanism that breaks the axial symmetry (like the presence of an oriented magnetic field, or resolved inhomogeneities in the atmosphere) can generate a non-zero linear polarization. In the present paper we study the linear polarization near the disk center in a weakly magnetized region, where the axisymmetry is broken. We present polarimetric (I, Q/I, U/I, and V/I) observations of the Ca i 4227 Å line recorded around μ = cos θ = 0.9 (where θ is the heliocentric angle) and a modeling of these observations. The high sensitivity of the instrument (ZIMPOL-3) makes it possible to measure the weak polarimetric signals with great accuracy. The modeling of these high-quality observations requires the solution of the polarized radiative transfer equation in the presence of a magnetic field. For this we use standard one-dimensional model atmospheres. We show that the linear polarization is mainly produced by the Hanle effect (rather than by the transverse Zeeman effect), while the circular polarization is due to the longitudinal Zeeman effect. A unique determination of the full $\bm {B}$ vector may be achieved when both effects are accounted for. The field strengths required for the simultaneous fitting of Q/I, U/I, and V/I are in the range 10–50 G. The shapes and signs of the Q/I and U/I profiles are highly sensitive to the orientation of the magnetic field.

We report observations of three rotational transitions of molecular oxygen (O₂) in emission from the H₂ Peak 1 position of vibrationally excited molecular hydrogen in Orion. We observed the 487 GHz, 774 GHz, and 1121 GHz lines using the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared on the Herschel Space Observatory, having velocities of 11 km s⁻¹ to 12 km s⁻¹ and widths of 3 km s⁻¹. The beam-averaged column density is N(O₂) = 6.5 × 10¹⁶ cm⁻², and assuming that the source has an equal beam-filling factor for all transitions (beam widths 44, 28, and 19''), the relative line intensities imply a kinetic temperature between 65 K and 120 K. The fractional abundance of O₂ relative to H₂ is (0.3–7.3) × 10⁻⁶. The unusual velocity suggests an association with a ∼5'' diameter source, denoted Peak A, the Western Clump, or MF4. The mass of this source is ∼10 M_☉ and the dust temperature is ⩾150 K. Our preferred explanation of the enhanced O₂ abundance is that dust grains in this region are sufficiently warm (T ⩾ 100 K) to desorb water ice and thus keep a significant fraction of elemental oxygen in the gas phase, with a significant fraction as O₂. For this small source, the line ratios require a temperature ⩾180 K. The inferred O₂ column density ≃5 × 10¹⁸ cm⁻² can be produced in Peak A, having N(H₂) ≃ 4 × 10²⁴ cm⁻². An alternative mechanism is a low-velocity (10–15 km s⁻¹) C-shock, which can produce N(O₂) up to 10¹⁷ cm⁻².

We present new measurements of the redshift-space three-point correlation function (3PCF) of Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Using the largest data set to date, the Data Release 7 LRGs, and an improved binning scheme compared to previous measurements, we measure the LRG 3PCF on large scales up to ∼90 h⁻¹ Mpc, from the mildly nonlinear to quasi-linear regimes. Comparing the LRG correlations to the dark matter two- and three-point correlation functions, obtained from N-body simulations we infer linear and nonlinear bias parameters. As expected, LRGs are highly biased tracers of large-scale structure, with a linear bias b₁ ∼ 2; the LRGs also have a large positive nonlinear bias parameter, in agreement with predictions of galaxy population models. The use of the 3PCF to estimate biasing helps to also make estimates of the cosmological parameter σ₈, as well as to infer best-fit parameters of the halo occupation distribution parameters for LRGs. We also use a large suite of public mock catalogs to characterize the error covariance matrix for the 3PCF and compare the variance among simulation results with jackknife error estimates.

We have looked for bulk motions of galaxy clusters in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) seven-year data. We isolate the kinetic Sunyaev–Zeldovich (SZ) signal by filtering the WMAPQ-, V-, and W-band maps with multi-frequency matched filters that utilize the spatial properties of the kinetic SZ signal to optimize detection. We try two filters: a filter that has no spectral dependence, and a filter that utilizes the spectral properties of the kinetic and thermal SZ signals to remove the thermal SZ bias. We measure the monopole and dipole spherical harmonic coefficients of the kinetic SZ signal, as well as the ℓ = 2–5 modes, at the locations of 736 ROSAT observed galaxy clusters. We find no significant power in the kinetic SZ signal at these multipoles with either filter, consistent with the ΛCDM prediction. Our limits are a factor of ∼3 more sensitive than the claimed bulk flow detection of Kashlinsky et al. Using simulations we estimate that in maps filtered by our matched filter with no spectral dependence there is a thermal SZ dipole that would be mistakenly measured as a bulk motion of ∼2000–4000 km s⁻¹. For the WMAP data, the signal-to-noise ratio obtained with the unbiased filter is almost an order of magnitude lower.

We present the first results from a very deep (∼650 ks) Chandra X-ray observation of A2052, as well as archival Very Large Array radio observations. The data reveal detailed structure in the inner parts of the cluster, including bubbles evacuated by radio lobes of the active galactic nucleus (AGN), compressed bubble rims, filaments, and loops. Two concentric shocks are seen, and a temperature rise is measured for the innermost one. On larger scales, we report the first detection of an excess surface brightness spiral feature. The spiral has cooler temperatures, lower entropies, and higher abundances than its surroundings, and is likely the result of sloshing gas initiated by a previous cluster–cluster or sub-cluster merger. Initial evidence for previously unseen bubbles at larger radii related to earlier outbursts from the AGN is presented.

We study the evolution of the interstellar and circumstellar media around massive stars (M ⩾ 40 M_☉) from the main sequence (MS) through to the Wolf-Rayet (WR) stage by means of radiation-hydrodynamic simulations. We use publicly available stellar evolution models to investigate the different possible structures that can form in the stellar wind bubbles around WR stars. We find significant differences between models with and without stellar rotation, and between models from different authors. More specifically, we find that the main ingredients in the formation of structures in the WR wind bubbles are the duration of the red supergiant (or luminous blue variable) phase, the amount of mass lost, and the wind velocity during this phase, in agreement with previous authors. Thermal conduction is also included in our models. We find that MS bubbles with thermal conduction are slightly smaller, due to extra cooling which reduces the pressure in the hot, shocked bubble, but that thermal conduction does not appear to significantly influence the formation of structures in post-MS bubbles. Finally, we study the predicted X-ray emission from the models and compare our results with observations of the WR bubbles S 308, NGC 6888, and RCW 58. We find that bubbles composed primarily of clumps have reduced X-ray luminosity and very soft spectra, while bubbles with shells correspond more closely to observations.

Galaxy–galaxy mergers and close interactions have long been regarded as a viable mechanism for channeling gas toward the central supermassive black holes (SMBHs) of galaxies which are triggered as active galactic nuclei (AGNs). AGN pairs, in which the central SMBHs of a galaxy merger are both active, are expected to be common from such events. We conduct a systematic study of 1286 AGN pairs at $\bar{z} \sim 0.1$ with line-of-sight velocity offsets Δv < 600 km s⁻¹ and projected separations r_p < 100 h⁻¹₇₀ kpc, selected from the Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). This AGN pair sample was drawn from 138,070 AGNs optically identified based on diagnostic emission line ratios and/or line widths. The fraction of AGN pairs with 5 h⁻¹₇₀ kpc ≲ r_p < 100 h⁻¹₇₀ kpc among all spectroscopically selected AGNs at 0.02 < z < 0.16 is 3.6% after correcting for SDSS spectroscopic incompleteness; ∼30% of these pairs show morphological tidal features in their SDSS images, and the fraction becomes ≳ 80% for pairs with the brightest nuclei. Our sample increases the number of known AGN pairs on these scales by more than an order of magnitude. We study their AGN and host-galaxy star formation properties in a companion paper.

We present observational constraints on the nature of dark energy using the Supernova Legacy Survey three-year sample (SNLS3) of Guy et al. and Conley et al. We use the 472 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) in this sample, accounting for recently discovered correlations between SN Ia luminosity and host galaxy properties, and include the effects of all identified systematic uncertainties directly in the cosmological fits. Combining the SNLS3 data with the full WMAP7 power spectrum, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey luminous red galaxy power spectrum, and a prior on the Hubble constant H₀ from SHOES, in a flat universe we find Ω_m = 0.269 ± 0.015 and w = −1.061^+0.069_{− 0.068} (where the uncertainties include all statistical and SN Ia systematic errors)—a 6.5% measure of the dark energy equation-of-state parameter w. The statistical and systematic uncertainties are approximately equal, with the systematic uncertainties dominated by the photometric calibration of the SN Ia fluxes—without these calibration effects, systematics contribute only a ∼2% error in w. When relaxing the assumption of flatness, we find Ω_m = 0.271 ± 0.015, Ω_k = −0.002 ± 0.006, and w = −1.069^+0.091_{− 0.092}. Parameterizing the time evolution of w as w(a) = w₀ + w_a(1 − a) gives w₀ = −0.905 ± 0.196, w_a = −0.984^+1.094_{− 1.097} in a flat universe. All of our results are consistent with a flat, w = −1 universe. The size of the SNLS3 sample allows various tests to be performed with the SNe segregated according to their light curve and host galaxy properties. We find that the cosmological constraints derived from these different subsamples are consistent. There is evidence that the coefficient, β, relating SN Ia luminosity and color, varies with host parameters at >4σ significance (in addition to the known SN luminosity–host relation); however, this has only a small effect on the cosmological results and is currently a subdominant systematic.

We present measurements of dust reddening using the colors of stars with spectra in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We measure reddening as the difference between the measured and predicted colors of a star, as derived from stellar parameters from the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration Stellar Parameter Pipeline. We achieve uncertainties of 56, 34, 25, and 29 mmag in the colors u − g, g − r, r − i, and i − z, per star, though the uncertainty varies depending on the stellar type and the magnitude of the star. The spectrum-based reddening measurements confirm our earlier "blue tip" reddening measurements, finding reddening coefficients different by −3%, 1%, 1%, and 2% in u − g, g − r, r − i, and i − z from those found by the blue tip method, after removing a 4% normalization difference. These results prefer an R_V = 3.1 Fitzpatrick reddening law to O'Donnell or Cardelli et al. reddening laws. We provide a table of conversion coefficients from the Schlegel et al. (SFD) maps of E(B − V) to extinction in 88 bandpasses for four values of R_V, using this reddening law and the 14% recalibration of SFD first reported by Schlafly et al. and confirmed in this work.

We have used multi-epoch long-baseline radio interferometry to determine the proper motion and orbital elements of Algol and UX Arietis, two radio-bright, close binary stellar systems with distant tertiary components. For Algol, we refine the proper motion and outer orbit solutions, confirming the recent result of Zavala et al. that the inner orbit is retrograde. The radio centroid closely tracks the motion of the KIV secondary. In addition, the radio morphology varies from double-lobed at low flux level to crescent-shaped during active periods. These results are most easily interpreted as synchrotron emission from a large, co-rotating meridional loop centered on the K star. If this is correct, it provides a radio–optical frame tie candidate with an uncertainty ±0.5 mas. For UX Arietis, we find an outer orbit solution that accounts for previous very long baseline interferometry observations of an acceleration term in the proper motion fit. The outer orbit solution is also consistent with previously published radial velocity curves and speckle observations of a third body. The derived tertiary mass, 0.75 solar masses, is consistent with the K1 main-sequence star detected spectroscopically. The inner orbit solution favors radio emission from the active K0IV primary only. The radio morphology, consisting of a single, partially resolved emission region, may be associated with the persistent polar spot observed using Doppler imaging.

According to recent models, the accretion disk and black hole in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are surrounded by a clumpy torus. We investigate the NIR flux variation of the torus in response to a UV flash for various geometries. Anisotropic illumination by the disk and the torus self-occultation contrast our study with earlier works. Both the waning effect of each clump and the torus self-occultation selectively reduce the emission from the region with a short delay. Therefore, the NIR delay depends on the viewing angle (where a more inclined angle leads to a longer delay), and the time response shows an asymmetric profile with negative skewness, opposing the results for optically thin tori. The range of the computed delay coincides with the observed one, suggesting that the viewing angle is primarily responsible for the scatter of the observed delay. We also propose that the red NIR-to-optical color of type 1.8/1.9 objects is caused not only by the dust extinction but also the intrinsically red color. Compared with the modest torus thickness, both a thick and a thin tori display weaker NIR emission. A selection bias is thus expected such that NIR-selected AGNs tend to possess moderately thick tori. A thicker torus shows a narrower and more heavily skewed time profile, while a thin torus produces a rapid response. A super-Eddington accretion rate leads to much weaker NIR emission due to the disk self-occultation and the disk truncation by self-gravity. A long delay is expected from an optically thin and/or a largely misaligned torus. Very weak NIR emission, such as in hot-dust-poor active nuclei, can arise from a geometrically thin torus, a super-Eddington accretion rate, or a slightly misaligned torus.