Table of contents

Recently an improved nonlinear theory for the transport of energetic particles across a mean magnetic field has been developed. The latter theory is called the field line–particle decorrelation theory and is the first analytical theory that agrees with test-particle simulations without the need of a correction parameter, nor does the theory contain any other free parameter. In the current paper we derive analytical forms for the ratio of perpendicular and parallel spatial diffusion coefficients κ_⊥/κ_∥ of low-energy particles. In the considered limit the latter ratio is constant meaning that it does not depend on particle energy or rigidity. It is shown that the ratio always has the form ${\kappa }_{\perp }/{\kappa }_{\parallel }={a}^{2}\delta {B}_{x}^{2}/{B}_{0}^{2}$ if a two-dimensional turbulence model is employed. Furthermore, the parameter a² depends only on the shape of the turbulence spectrum but not on the magnetic fields. The obtained results can be important for a variety of applications such as studies of solar modulation and diffusive shock acceleration.

The photometric transit method has been the most effective method to detect and characterize exoplanets as several ground based as well as space based survey missions have discovered thousands of exoplanets using this method. With the advent of the upcoming next generation large telescopes, the detection of exomoons in a few of these exoplanetary systems is very plausible. In this paper, we present a comprehensive analytical formalism in order to model the transit light curves for such moon-hosting exoplanets. In order to achieve analytical formalism, we have considered circular orbit of the exomoon around the host planet, which is indeed the case for tidally locked moons. The formalism uses the radius and orbital properties of both the host planet and its moon as model parameters. The coalignment or noncoalignment of the orbits of the planet and the moon are parameterized using two angular parameters and thus can be used to model all the possible orbital alignments for a star–planet–moon system. This formalism also provides unique and direct solutions to every possible star–planet–moon three circular body alignment. Using the formula derived, a few representative light curves are also presented.

We present the results of a broadband (0.5–78 keV) X-ray spectral study of the persistent Galactic black hole X-ray binary GRS 1758–258 observed simultaneously by Swift and NuSTAR. Fitting with an absorbed power-law model revealed a broad Fe line and reflection hump in the spectrum. We used different flavors of the relativistic reflection model for the spectral analysis. All models indicate the spin of the black hole in GRS 1758–258 is >0.92. The source was in the low hard state during the observation, with the hot electron temperature of the corona estimated to be kT_e ∼ 140 keV. The black hole is found to be accreting at ∼1.5% of the Eddington limit during the observation, assuming the black hole mass of 10 M_⊙ and distance of 8 kpc.

We investigate the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE, hereafter NLTE) analysis for Cu i lines with the updated model atom that includes quantum-mechanical rate coefficients of Cu + H and Cu⁺ + H⁻ inelastic collisions from the recent study of Belyaev et al. The influence of these data on NLTE abundance determinations has been performed for six metal-poor stars in a metallicity range of −2.59 dex ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ −0.95 dex. For Cu i lines, the application of accurate atomic data leads to a decrease in the departure from LTE and lower copper abundances compared to that obtained with Drawin's theoretical approximation. To verify our adopted copper atomic model, we also derived the LTE copper abundances of Cu ii lines for the sample stars. A consistent copper abundance from the Cu i (NLTE) and Cu ii (LTE) lines has been obtained, which indicates the reliability of our copper atomic model. It is noted that the [Cu/Fe] ratios increase with increasing metallicity when ∼−2.0 dex < [Fe/H] < ∼−1.0 dex, favoring a secondary (metallicity-dependent) copper production.

We present the first results from our ongoing project to study extremely low-mass (ELM) white dwarfs (WDs) (M ≤ 0.3M_☉) with the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) spectra. Based on the LAMOST DR8 spectral database, we analyzed 136 ELM WD candidates selected from Gaia DR2 data and 12 known objects previously identified by the ELM Survey. The atmospheric parameters and radial velocities of these stars were obtained by fitting the LAMOST low-resolution spectra. After comparing the atmospheric parameters of the 12 known objects from this work to the results reported by the ELM Survey, we demonstrated the potential of LAMOST spectra in probing into the nature of ELM WDs. Based on the atmospheric parameters and Gaia EDR3 data, we identified 21 new high-probability ELM WDs with masses M ≤ 0.3M_☉ and parallax estimates that agree to within a factor of 3. Two of them, J0338+4134 and J1129+4715, show significant radial velocity variability and are very likely to be binary systems containing at least one ELM WD.

Reacting astrophysical flows can be challenging to model, because of the difficulty in accurately coupling hydrodynamics and reactions. This can be particularly acute during explosive burning or at high temperatures where nuclear statistical equilibrium is established. We develop a new approach, based on the ideas of spectral deferred corrections (SDC) coupling of explicit hydrodynamics and stiff reaction sources as an alternative to operator splitting, that is simpler than the more comprehensive SDC approach we demonstrated previously. We apply the new method to a double-detonation problem with a moderately sized astrophysical nuclear reaction network and explore the time step size and reaction network tolerances, to show that the simplified-SDC approach provides improved coupling with decreased computational expense compared to traditional Strang operator splitting. This is all done in the framework of the Castro hydrodynamics code, and all algorithm implementations are freely available.

Wave emissions at frequencies near electron gyrofrequency harmonics are observed at small heliocentric distances below about 40 R_☉ and are known to occur in regions with quiescent magnetic fields. We show the close connection of these waves to the large-scale properties of the magnetic field. Near electron gyrofrequency harmonic emissions occur only when the ambient magnetic field points to a narrow range of directions bounded by polar and azimuthal angular ranges in the RTN coordinate system of correspondingly 80° ≲ θ_B ≲ 100° and 10° ≲ ϕ_B ≲ 30°. We show that the amplitudes of wave emissions are highest when both angles are close to the center of their respective angular interval favorable to wave emissions. The intensity of wave emissions correlates with the magnetic field angular changes at both large and small timescales. Wave emissions intervals correlate with intervals of decreases in the amplitudes of broadband magnetic fluctuations at low frequencies of 10–100 Hz. We discuss possible generation mechanisms of the waves.

One of the primary challenges facing upcoming cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiments aiming to measure the inflationary B-mode signal is the removal of polarized foregrounds. The thermal dust foreground is often modeled as a single modified blackbody; however, overly simplistic foreground models can bias measurements of the tensor-to-scalar ratio r. As CMB polarization experiments become increasingly sensitive, thermal dust emission models must account for greater complexity in the dust foreground while making minimal assumptions about the underlying distribution of dust properties within a beam. We use Planck dust temperature data to estimate the typical variation in dust properties along the line of sight and examine the impact of these variations on the bias in r if a single modified blackbody model is assumed. We then assess the ability of the moment method to capture the effects of spatial averaging and to reduce bias in the tensor-to-scalar ratio for different possible toy models of dust emission. We find that the expected bias due to temperature variations along the line of sight is significant compared to the target sensitivities of future CMB experiments, and that the use of the moment method could reduce bias as well as shed light into the distribution of dust physical parameters.

Dynamical models for 673 galaxies at z = 0.6–1.0 with spatially resolved (long-slit) stellar kinematic data from LEGA-C are used to calibrate virial mass estimates defined as ${M}_{\mathrm{vir}}=K\sigma {{\prime} }_{\star ,\mathrm{int}}^{2}R$, with K a scaling factor, $\sigma {{\prime} }_{\star ,\mathrm{int}}$ the spatially integrated stellar velocity second moment from the LEGA-C survey, and R the effective radius measured from a Sérsic profile fit to Hubble Space Telescope imaging. The sample is representative for M_⋆ > 3 × 10¹⁰M_⊙ and includes all types of galaxies, irrespective of morphology and color. We demonstrate that using R = R_sma (the semimajor axis length of the ellipse that encloses 50% of the light) in combination with an inclination correction on $\sigma {{\prime} }_{\star ,\mathrm{int}}$ produces an unbiased M_vir. We confirm the importance of projection effects on $\sigma {{\prime} }_{\star ,\mathrm{int}}$ by showing the existence of a similar residual trend between virial mass estimates and inclination for the nearby early-type galaxies in the ATLAS^3D survey. Also, as previously shown, when using a Sérsic profile-based R estimate, a Sérsic index-dependent correction to account for nonhomology in the radial profiles is required. With respect to analogous dynamical models for low-redshift galaxies from the ATLAS^3D survey we find a systematic offset of 0.1 dex in the calibrated virial constant for LEGA-C, which may be due to physical differences between the galaxy samples or an unknown systematic error. Either way, with our work we establish a common mass scale for galaxies across 8 Gyr of cosmic time with a systematic uncertainty of at most 0.1 dex.

We present multifrequency observations of the radio source 3CR 403.1, a nearby (z = 0.055), extended (∼0.5 Mpc) radio galaxy hosted in a small galaxy group. Using new high-frequency radio observations from the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT), augmented with archival low-frequency radio observations, we investigated radio spectral and polarimetric properties of 3CR 403.1. From the MHz-to-GHz spectral analysis, we computed the equipartition magnetic field in the lobes to be B_eq = 2.4 μG and the age of the source to be ∼100 Myr. From the spectral analysis of the diffuse X-ray emission we measured the temperature and density of the intracluster medium (ICM). From the SRT observations, we discovered two regions where the radio flux density is below the background value. We computed the Comptonization parameter both from the radio and from the X-ray observations to test whether the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect is occurring here and found a significant tension between the two estimates. If the negative signal is considered as real, then we speculate that the discrepancy between the two values could be partially caused by the presence of a nonthermal bath of mildly relativistic ghost electrons. From the polarimetric radio images, we find a net asymmetry of the Faraday rotation between the two prominent extended structures of 3CR 403.1 and constrain the magnetic field strength in the ICM to be 1.8–3.5 μG. The position of 3CR 403.1 in the magnetic field–gas density plane is consistent with the trend reported in the literature between central magnetic field and central gas density.

Using reconstructed initial conditions in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) survey volume, we carry out constrained hydrodynamic simulations in three regions representing different types of the cosmic web: the Coma cluster of galaxies; the SDSS Great Wall; and a large low-density region at z ∼ 0.05. These simulations, which include star formation and stellar feedback but no active galactic nucleus formation and feedback, are used to investigate the properties and evolution of intergalactic and intracluster media. About half of the warm-hot intergalactic gas is associated with filaments in the local cosmic web. Gas in the outskirts of massive filaments and halos can be heated significantly by accretion shocks generated by mergers of filaments and halos, respectively, and there is a tight correlation between the gas temperature and the strength of the local tidal field. The simulations also predict some discontinuities associated with shock fronts and contact edges, which can be tested using observations of the thermal Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect and X-rays. A large fraction of the sky is covered by Lyα and O vi absorption systems, and most of the O vi systems and low-column-density H i systems are associated with filaments in the cosmic web. The constrained simulations, which follow the formation and heating history of the observed cosmic web, provide an important avenue to interpret observational data. With full information about the origin and location of the cosmic gas to be observed, such simulations can also be used to develop observational strategies.

The Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI) on board AstroSat has been regularly detecting gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) since its launch in 2015. Its sensitivity to polarization measurements at energies above 100 keV allows CZTI to attempt spectropolarimetric studies of GRBs. Here, we present the first catalog of GRB polarization measurements made by CZTI during its first five years of operation. This includes the time-integrated polarization measurements of the prompt emission of 20 GRBs in the energy range 100–600 keV. The sample includes the bright GRBs that were detected within an angle range of 0°–60° and 120°–180° where the instrument has useful polarization sensitivity and is less prone to systematics. We implement a few new modifications in the analysis to enhance the polarimetric sensitivity of the instrument. The majority of the GRBs in the sample are found to possess less/null polarization across the total bursts' duration in contrast to a small fraction of five GRBs that exhibit high polarization. The low polarization across the bursts might be due either to the burst being intrinsically weakly polarized or to a varying polarization angle within the burst even when it is highly polarized. In comparison to POLAR measurements, CZTI has detected a larger number of cases with high polarization. This may be a consequence of the higher energy window of CZTI observations, which results in the sampling of a shorter duration of burst emissions than POLAR, thereby probing emissions with less temporal variation in polarization properties.

The Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer (CRIS) on the Advanced Composition Explorer spacecraft has been operating successfully in a halo orbit about the L1 Lagrange point since late 1997. We report here the isotopic composition of the Galactic cosmic ray (GCR) elements with 29 ≤ Z ≤ 38 derived from more than 20 years of CRIS data. Using a model of cosmic-ray transport in the Galaxy and the solar system (SS), we have derived from these observations the isotopic composition of the accelerated material at the GCR source (GCRS). Comparison of the isotopic fractions of these elements in the GCRS with corresponding fractions in the solar system gives no indication of GCRS enrichment in r-process isotopes. Since a large fraction of core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) occur in OB associations, the fact that GCRs do not contain enhanced abundances of r-process nuclides indicates that CCSNe are not the principal source of lighter (Z ≤ 38) r-process nuclides in the solar system. This conclusion supports recent work that points to binary neutron-star mergers, rather than supernovae, as the principal source of galactic r-process isotopes.

Extreme radiative phenomena, where the radiation energy density and flux strongly influence the medium, are common in the universe. Nevertheless, because of limited or nonexistent observational and experimental data, the validity of theoretical and numerical models for some of these radiation-dominated regimes remains to be assessed. Here, we present the theoretical framework of a new class of laboratory astrophysics experiments that can take advantage of existing high-power laser facilities to study supersonic radiation-dominated waves. Based on an extension of Lie symmetry theory we show that the stringent constraints imposed on the experiments by current scaling theories can in fact be relaxed, and that astrophysical phenomena can be studied in the laboratory even if the ratio of radiation energy density to thermal energy and systems' microphysics are different. The validity of this approach holds until the hydrodynamic response of the studied system starts to play a role. These equivalence symmetries concepts are demonstrated using a combination of simulations for conditions relevant to Type I X-ray burst and of equivalent laboratory experiments. These results constitute the starting point of a new general approach expanding the catalog of astrophysical systems that can be studied in the laboratory.

Metallicity distributions (MDs) of globular clusters (GCs) provide crucial clues for the assembly and star formation history of their host galaxies. GC colors, when GCs are old, have been used as a proxy of GC metallicities. Bimodal GC color distributions (CDs) observed in most early-type galaxies have been interpreted as bimodal MDs for decades, suggesting the presence of merely two GC subpopulations within single galaxies. However, the conventional view has been challenged by a new theory that nonlinear metallicity-to-color conversion can cause bimodal CDs from unimodal MDs. The unimodal MDs seem natural given that MDs involved many thousand protogalaxies. The new theory has been tested and corroborated by various observational and theoretical studies. Here we examine the nonlinear nature of GC color−metallicity relations (CMRs) using photometric and spectroscopic GC data of NGC 5128 (Centaurus A) and NGC 4594 (Sombrero), in comparison with stellar population simulations. We find that, with a slight offset in color, the overall shapes of observed and modeled CMRs agree well for all available colors. Diverse color-depending morphologies of GC CDs of the two galaxies are well reproduced based on their observed spectroscopic MDs via our CMR models. The results corroborate the nonlinear CMR interpretation of the GC color bimodality, shedding further light on theories of galaxy formation.

Theoretical models of protoplanetary disks including stellar irradiation often show a spontaneous amplification of scale height perturbations, produced by the enhanced absorption of starlight in enlarged regions. In turn, such regions cast shadows on adjacent zones that consequently cool down and shrink, eventually leading to an alternating pattern of overheated and shadowed regions. Previous investigations have proposed this to be a real self-sustained process, the so-called self-shadowing or thermal wave instability, which could naturally form frequently observed disk structures such as rings and gaps, and even potentially enhance the formation of planetesimals. All of these, however, have assumed in one way or another vertical hydrostatic equilibrium and instantaneous radiative diffusion throughout the disk. In this work we present the first study of the stability of accretion disks to self-shadowing that relaxes these assumptions, relying instead on radiation hydrodynamical simulations. We first construct hydrostatic disk configurations by means of an iterative procedure and show that the formation of a pattern of enlarged and shadowed regions is a direct consequence of assuming instantaneous radiative diffusion. We then let these solutions evolve in time, which leads to a fast damping of the initial shadowing features in layers close to the disk surface. These thermally relaxed layers grow toward the midplane until all temperature extrema in the radial direction are erased in the entire disk. Our results suggest that radiative cooling and gas advection at the disk surface prevent a self-shadowing instability from forming, by damping temperature perturbations before these reach lower, optically thick regions.

Analyses of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) are important to understanding the dynamic behavior in many astrophysical objects during transient events like gamma-ray bursts, solar flares, magnetar flares, and fast radio bursts. Astrophysicists often search for QPOs with frequency-domain methods such as (Lomb–Scargle) periodograms, which generally assume power-law models plus some excess around the QPO frequency. Time-series data can alternatively be investigated directly in the time domain using Gaussian process (GP) regression. While GP regression is computationally expensive in the general case, the properties of astrophysical data and models allow fast likelihood strategies. Heteroscedasticity and nonstationarity in data have been shown to cause bias in periodogram-based analyses. GPs can take account of these properties. Using GPs, we model QPOs as a stochastic process on top of a deterministic flare shape. Using Bayesian inference, we demonstrate how to infer GP hyperparameters and assign them physical meaning, such as the QPO frequency. We also perform model selection between QPOs and alternative models such as red noise and show that this can be used to reliably find QPOs. This method is easily applicable to a variety of different astrophysical data sets. We demonstrate the use of this method on a range of short transients: a gamma-ray burst, a magnetar flare, a magnetar giant flare, and simulated solar flare data.

The bright supergiant, Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis, HD 39801), underwent a historic optical dimming during 2020 January 27–February 13. Many imaging and spectroscopic observations across the electromagnetic spectrum were obtained prior to, during, and subsequent to this dimming event. These observations of Betelgeuse reveal that a substantial surface mass ejection (SME) occurred and moved out through the extended atmosphere of the supergiant. A photospheric shock occurred in 2019 January–March, progressed through the extended atmosphere of the star during the following 11 months and led to dust production in the atmosphere. Resulting from the substantial mass outflow, the stellar photosphere was left with lower temperatures and the chromosphere with a lower density. The mass ejected could represent a significant fraction of the total annual mass-loss rate from the star suggesting that episodic mass-loss events can contribute an amount comparable to that of the stellar wind. Following the SME, Betelgeuse was left with a cooler average photosphere, an unusual short photometric oscillation, reduced velocity excursions, and the disappearance of the ∼400 day pulsation in the optical and radial velocity for more than two years following the Great Dimming.

We present a novel global 3D coronal MHD model called COCONUT, polytropic in its first stage and based on a time-implicit backward Euler scheme. Our model boosts run-time performance in comparison with contemporary MHD-solvers based on explicit schemes, which is particularly important when later employed in an operational setting for space-weather forecasting. It is data-driven in the sense that we use synoptic maps as inner boundary inputs for our potential-field initialization as well as an inner boundary condition in the further MHD time evolution. The coronal model is developed as part of the EUropean Heliospheric FORecasting Information Asset (EUHFORIA) and will replace the currently employed, more simplistic, empirical Wang–Sheeley–Arge (WSA) model. At 21.5 R_⊙ where the solar wind is already supersonic, it is coupled to EUHFORIA's heliospheric model. We validate and benchmark our coronal simulation results with the explicit-scheme Wind-Predict model and find good agreement for idealized limit cases as well as real magnetograms, while obtaining a computational time reduction of up to a factor 3 for simple idealized cases, and up to 35 for realistic configurations, and we demonstrate that the time gained increases with the spatial resolution of the input synoptic map. We also use observations to constrain the model and show that it recovers relevant features such as the position and shape of the streamers (by comparison with eclipse white-light images), the coronal holes (by comparison with EUV images), and the current sheet (by comparison with WSA model at 0.1 au).

We perform a direct search for an isotropic stochastic gravitational-wave background (SGWB) produced by cosmic strings in the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA) Data Release 2 (DR2). We find no evidence for such an SGWB, and therefore place a 95% confidence level upper limit on the cosmic string tension, Gμ, as a function of the reconnection probability, p, which can be less than 1 in the string-theory-inspired models or pure Yang–Mills theory. The upper bound on the cosmic string tension is Gμ ≲ 5.1 × 10⁻¹⁰ for p = 1, which is about five orders of magnitude tighter than the bound derived from the null search of individual gravitational-wave bursts from cosmic string cusps in the PPTA DR2, and comparable to previous bounds derived from the null search of the SGWB from cosmic strings.

The L–σ relation of H ii galaxies (HIIGx) calibrated by a distance indicator is a reliable standard candle for measuring the Hubble constant H₀. The most straightforward calibration technique anchors them with the first tier of distance ladders from the same galaxies. Recently another promising method that uses the cosmological model–independent cosmic chronometers as a calibrator has been proposed. We promote this technique by removing the assumptions about the cosmic flatness and using a nonparametric artificial neural network for the data reconstruction process. We observe a correlation between the cosmic curvature density parameter and the slope of the L–σ relation, thereby improving the reliability of the calibration. Using the calibrated HIIGx Hubble diagram, we obtain a Type Ia supernovae Hubble diagram free of the conventional assumption about H₀. Finally we get a value of ${H}_{0}={65.9}_{-2.9}^{+3.0}\,\mathrm{km}\,{{\rm{s}}}^{-1}\,{\mathrm{Mpc}}^{-1}$, which is compatible with the latest Planck 18 measurement.

Based on 16,283 early-type galaxies (ETGs) in 0.025 ≤ z_spec < 0.055 from Sloan Digital Sky Survey data, we show that the fundamental plane (FP) of ETGs is not a plane in the strict sense but is a curved surface with a twisted shape whose orthogonal direction to the surface is shifted as the central velocity dispersion (σ₀) or mean surface brightness within the half-light radius (μ_e) changes. When ETGs are divided into subsamples according to σ₀, the coefficient of μ_e of the FP increases, whereas the zero-point of the FP decreases at higher σ₀. Taking the z band as an example, the coefficient of μ_e rises from 0.28 to 0.36 as σ₀ increases from ∼100 to ∼300 km s⁻¹. At the same time, the zero-point of the FP falls from −7.5 to −9.0 in the same σ₀ range. The consistent picture on the curved nature of the FP is also reached by inspecting changes in the FP coefficients for ETG subsamples with different μ_e. By examining scaling relations that are projections of the FP, we suggest that the warped nature of the FP may originate from dry merger effects that are imprinted more prominently in ETGs with higher masses.

Identifying the young optically visible population in a star-forming region is essential for fully understanding the star formation event. In this paper, we identify 211 candidate members of the Perseus molecular cloud based on Gaia astrometry. We use LAMOST spectra to confirm that 51 of these candidates are new members, bringing the total census of known members to 856. The newly confirmed members are less extincted than previously known members. Two new stellar aggregates are identified in our updated census. With the updated member list, we obtain a statistically significant distance gradient of 4.84 pc deg⁻¹ from west to east. Distances and extinction corrected color–magnitude diagrams indicate that NGC 1333 is significantly younger than IC 348 and the remaining cloud regions. The disk fraction in NGC 1333 is higher than elsewhere, consistent with its youngest age. The star formation scenario in the Perseus molecular cloud is investigated and the bulk motion of the distributed population is consistent with the cloud being swept away by the Per-Tau Shell.

Polarized Galactic synchrotron emission is an undesirable foreground for cosmic microwave background experiments observing at frequencies <150 GHz. We perform a combined analysis of observational data at 1.4, 2.3, 23, 30, and 33 GHz to quantify the spatial variation of the polarized synchrotron spectral index, β^pol, on ∼35 scales. We compare results from different data combinations to address limitations and inconsistencies present in these public data, and form a composite map of β^pol. Data quality masking leaves 44% sky coverage (73% for ∣b∣ > 45°). Generally −3.2 < β^pol ≲ −3 in the inner Galactic plane and spurs, but the Fan Region in the outer galaxy has a flatter index. We find a clear spectral index steepening with increasing latitude south of the Galactic plane with Δβ^pol = 0.4, and a smaller steepening of 0.25 in the north. Near the south Galactic pole the polarized synchrotron spectral index is β^pol ≈ −3.4. Longitudinal spectral index variations of Δβ^pol ∼ 0.1 about the latitudinal mean are also detected. Within the BICEP2/Keck survey footprint, we find consistency with a constant value, β^pol = −3.25 ± 0.04 (statistical) ±0.02 (systematic). We compute a map of the frequency at which synchrotron and thermal dust emission contribute equally to the total polarized foreground. The limitations and inconsistencies among data sets encountered in this work make clear the value of additional independent surveys at multiple frequencies, especially between 10 and 20 GHz, provided these surveys have sufficient sensitivity and control of instrumental systematic errors.

Using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Legacy Survey, we study the alignment of luminous galaxies with spectroscopic data with the surrounding larger-scale structure as defined by galaxies with only photometric data. We find that galaxies from the red sequence have a statistically significant tendency for their apparent long axes to align parallel to the projected surrounding structure. Red galaxies more luminous than the median of our sample (M_r < −21.78) have a mean alignment angle 〈Φ〉 < 45°, indicating preferred parallel alignment, at a significance level >4.5σ on projected scales 0.1 Mpc < r_p ≤ 7.5 Mpc. Fainter red galaxies have 〈Φ〉 < 45° at a significance level >4.3σ at scales 1 Mpc < r_p < 3 Mpc. At a projected scale r_p = 3.0 Mpc, the mean alignment angle decreases steadily with increasing luminosity for red galaxies with M_r ≲ −22.5, reaching 〈Φ〉 = 4049 ± 056 for the most luminous 1% (M_r ∼ −23.57). Galaxies from the blue sequence show no statistically significant tendency for their axes to align with larger-scale structure, regardless of galaxy luminosity. Galaxies in higher-density regions do not show a statistically significant difference in the mean alignment angle from galaxies in lower-density regions; this holds true for the faint blue, luminous blue, faint red, and luminous red subsets.

The contribution of galactic supernova remnants (SNRs) to the origin of cosmic rays (CRs) is an important open question in modern astrophysics. Broadband nonthermal emission is a useful proxy for probing the energy budget and production history of CRs in SNRs. We conduct hydrodynamic simulations to model the long-term SNR evolution from explosion all the way to the radiative phase (or 3 × 10⁵ yr at maximum) and compute the time evolution of the broadband nonthermal spectrum to explore its potential applications on constraining the surrounding environments, as well as the natures and mass-loss histories, of the SNR progenitors. A parametric survey is performed on the ambient environments separated into two main groups, namely, a homogeneous medium with a uniform gas density and one with the presence of a circumstellar structure created by the stellar wind of a massive red supergiant progenitor star. Our results reveal a highly diverse evolution history of the nonthermal emission closely correlated to the environmental characteristics of an SNR. Up to the radiative phase, the roles of CR reacceleration and ion−neutral wave damping on the spectral evolution are investigated. Finally, we make an assessment of the future prospect of SNR observations by the next-generation hard X-ray space observatory FORCE and predict what we can learn from their comparison with our evolution models.

We perform a high-resolution, 2D, fully kinetic numerical simulation of a turbulent plasma system with observation-driven conditions, in order to investigate the interplay between turbulence, magnetic reconnection, and particle heating from ion to subelectron scales in the near-Sun solar wind. We find that the power spectra of the turbulent plasma and electromagnetic fluctuations show multiple power-law intervals down to scales smaller than the electron gyroradius. Magnetic reconnection is observed to occur in correspondence of current sheets with a thickness of the order of the electron inertial length, which form and shrink owing to interacting ion-scale vortices. In some cases, both ion and electron outflows are observed (the classic reconnection scenario), while in others—typically for the shortest current sheets—only electron jets are present ("electron-only reconnection"). At the onset of reconnection, the electron temperature starts to increase and a strong parallel temperature anisotropy develops. This suggests that in strong turbulence electron-scale coherent structures may play a significant role for electron heating, as impulsive and localized phenomena such as magnetic reconnection can efficiently transfer energy from the electromagnetic fields to particles.

Eruptive mass loss likely produces the energetic outbursts observed from some massive stars before they become core-collapse supernovae (SNe). The resulting dense circumstellar medium may also cause the subsequent SNe to be observed as Type IIn events. The leading hypothesis of the cause of these outbursts is the response of the envelope of the red supergiant (RSG) progenitor to energy deposition in the months to years prior to collapse. Early theoretical studies of this phenomenon were limited to 1D, leaving the 3D convective RSG structure unaddressed. Using FLASH's hydrodynamic capabilities, we explore the 3D outcomes by constructing convective RSG envelope models and depositing energies less than the envelope binding energies on timescales shorter than the envelope dynamical time deep within them. We confirm the 1D prediction of an outward-moving acoustic pulse steepening into a shock, unbinding the outermost parts of the envelope. However, we find that the initial 2–4 km s⁻¹ convective motions seed the intrinsic convective instability associated with the high-entropy material deep in the envelope, enabling gas from deep within the envelope to escape and increasing the amount of ejected mass compared to an initially "quiescent" envelope. The 3D models reveal a rich density structure, with column densities varying by ≈10× along different lines of sight. Our work highlights that the 3D convective nature of RSG envelopes impacts our ability to reliably predict the outburst dynamics, the amount, and the spatial distribution of the ejected mass associated with deep energy deposition.

The canonical theory of star formation in a magnetized environment predicts the formation of hourglass-shaped magnetic fields during the prestellar collapse phase. In protostellar cores, recent observations reveal complex and strongly distorted magnetic fields in the inner regions that are sculpted by rotation and outflows. We conduct resistive, nonideal magnetohydrodynamic simulations of a protostellar core and employ the radiative transfer code POLARIS to produce synthetic polarization segment maps. A comparison of our mock-polarization maps based on the toroidal-dominated magnetic field in the outflow zone with the observed polarization vectors of SiO lines in Orion Source I shows a reasonable agreement when the magnetic axis is tilted at an angle θ = 15° with respect to the plane of the sky and if the SiO lines have a net polarization parallel to the local magnetic field. Although the observed polarization is from SiO lines and our synthetic maps are due to polarized dust emission, a comparison is useful and allows us to resolve the ambiguity of whether the line polarization is parallel or perpendicular to the local magnetic field direction.

Polluted white dwarfs (WDs) offer a unique way to study the bulk compositions of exoplanetary material, but it is not always clear if this material originates from comets, asteroids, moons, or planets. We combine N-body simulations with an analytical model to assess the prevalence of extrasolar moons as WD polluters. Using a sample of observed polluted WDs, we find that the extrapolated parent body masses of the polluters are often more consistent with those of many solar system moons, rather than solar-like asteroids. We provide a framework for estimating the fraction of WDs currently undergoing observable moon accretion based on results from simulated WD planetary and moon systems. Focusing on a three-planet WD system of super-Earth to Neptune-mass bodies, we find that we could expect about one percent of such systems to be currently undergoing moon accretions as opposed to asteroid accretion.

We present the discovery of the simultaneous flux variation of a massive young stellar object (MYSO) G036.70+00.09 (G036.70) both in the maser emission and mid-infrared (MIR; λ = 3–5 μm) bands. Using the ALLWISE and NEOWISE archival databases that cover a long time span of approximately 10 yr with a cadence of 6 months, we confirm that G036.70 indicates a stochastic year-long MIR variability with no signs of a WISE band color change of W1 (3.4 μm) −W2 (4.6 μm). Cross-matching the MIR data set with the high-cadence 6.7 GHz class II methanol maser flux using the Hitachi 32 m radio telescope that discovered its periodicity in the methanol maser of 53.0–53.2 days, we also determine the flux correlations between the two bands at two different timescales, year-long and day-long, both of which have never been reported in MYSOs, except when they are in the accretion burst phase. The results of our study support the scenario that a class II methanol maser is pumped up by infrared emission from accreting disks of MYSOs. We also discuss the possible origins of MIR and maser variability. To explain the two observed phenomena, a stochastic year-long MIR variability with no signs of significant color change and maser-MIR variability correlation or a change in mass accretion rate and line-of-sight extinction because of the nonaxisymmetric dust density distribution in a rotating accretion disk are possible origins. Observations through spectroscopic monitoring of accretion-related emission lines are essential for determining the origin of the observed variability in G036.70.

We investigated a wealth of X-ray and gamma-ray spectral energy distribution (SED) and multiband light-curve (LC) data of the gamma-ray binary HESS J0632+057 using a phenomenological intrabinary shock (IBS) model. Our baseline model assumes that the IBS is formed by colliding winds from a putative pulsar and its Be companion and that particles accelerated in the IBS emit broadband radiation via synchrotron (SY) and inverse Compton upscattering (ICS) processes. Adopting the latest orbital solution and system geometry, we reproduced the global X-ray and TeV LC features, two broad bumps at ϕ ∼ 0.3 and ∼0.7, with the SY and ICS model components. We found that these TeV LC peaks originate from ICS emission caused by the enhanced seed photon density near periastron and superior conjunction or Doppler-beamed emission of bulk-accelerated particles in the IBS at inferior conjunction. While our IBS model successfully explained most of the observed SED and LC data, we found that phase-resolved SED data in the TeV band require an additional component associated with ICS emission from preshock particles (produced by the pulsar wind). This finding indicates a possibility of delineating the IBS emission components and determining the bulk Lorentz factors of the pulsar wind at certain orbital phases.

We report a single-lined white dwarf–main-sequence binary system, LAMOST J172900.17+652952.8, which is discovered by the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST)'s medium-resolution time-domain surveys. The radial-velocity semi-amplitude and orbital period of the optical visible star are measured by using follow-up observations with the Palomar 200 inch telescope and light curves from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Thus the mass function of the invisible candidate white dwarf is derived, f(M₂) = 0.120 ± 0.003 M_⊙. The mass of the visible star is measured based on a spectral energy distribution fitting, M₁ = ${0.81}_{-0.06}^{+0.07}\,{M}_{\odot }$. Hence, the mass of its invisible companion is M₂ ≳ 0.63 M_⊙. The companion ought to be a compact object rather than a main-sequence star owing to the mass ratio q = M₂/M₁ ≳ 0.78 and the single-lined spectra. The compact object is likely to be a white dwarf if the inclination angle is not small, i ≳ 40°. By using the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) near-UV flux, the effective temperature of the white dwarf candidate is constrained as ${T}_{\mathrm{eff}}^{\mathrm{WD}}$ ≲ 12,000–13,500 K. It is difficult to detect white dwarfs which are outshone by their bright companions via single-epoch optical spectroscopic surveys. Therefore, optical time-domain surveys can play an important role in unveiling invisible white dwarfs and other compact objects in binaries.

A long-outstanding issue in fundamental plasma physics is how magnetic energy is finally dissipated in kinetic scale in the turbulent plasma. Based on the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission data in the plasma turbulence driven by magnetotail reconnection, we establish the quantitative relation between energy conversion (J•E; J is current density and E is electric field) and current density (J). The results show that the magnetic energy is primarily released in the perpendicular directions (up to 90%), in the region with current density less than 2.3 J_rms, where J_rms is the rms value of the total current density ∣ J∣. In the relatively weak current region (<1.0 J_rms), the ions get most of the released energy while the largely negative energy conversion rate of the electrons means a dynamo action. In the strong currents (>1.0 J_rms), the ion energization was negligible and the electrons are significantly energized. Moreover, a linearly increasing relationship was established between ∣J•E∣ and $\left|{\boldsymbol{J}}\right|$. The observations indicate that ions overall dominate energy conversion in turbulence, but the electron dynamics are crucial for energy conversion in intense currents and the turbulence evolution.

We report on our investigation of the evolution of a system of spark discharges in the inner acceleration region (IAR) above the pulsar polar cap. The surface of the polar cap is heated to temperatures of around 10⁶ K and forms a partially screened gap (PSG), due to thermionic emission of positively charged ions from the stellar surface. The spark lags behind corotation speed during their lifetimes due to variable E × B drift. In a PSG, spark discharges arise in locations where the surface temperatures go below the critical level (T_i) for ions to freely flow from the surface. The spark commences due to the large drop in potential developing along the magnetic field lines in these lower temperature regions and subsequently back-streaming particles heat the surface to T_i. Regulation of the temperature requires the polar cap to be tightly filled with sparks and a continuous presence of sparks is required around its boundary since no heating is possible from the closed field line region. We estimate the time evolution of the spark system in the IAR, which shows a gradual shift in the spark formation along two distinct directions resembling clockwise and anticlockwise motions in two halves of the polar cap. Due to the differential shift of the spark pattern in the two halves, a central spark develops representing the core emission. The temporal evolution of the spark process was simulated for different orientations of a non-dipolar polar cap and reproduced the diverse observational features associated with subpulse drifting.

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are generally considered the scaled-up counterparts of X-ray binaries (XRBs). It is known that the power spectral density (PSD) of the X-ray emission of XRBs shows significant evolution with spectral state. It is not clear whether AGN follow a similar evolutionary trend, however, though their X-ray emission and the PSD are both variable. In this work, we study a sample of nine AGN with multiple long observations with XMM-Newton, which exhibit significant X-ray spectral variation. We perform Bayesian PSD analysis to measure the PSD shape and variation. We find that a large change in the X-ray energy spectrum (mainly the change in flux state) is often accompanied by a large change in the PSD shape. The emergence of a high-frequency break in the PSD also depends on the spectral state. Among the four sources with significant high-frequency PSD breaks detected, three show the break only in the high-flux state, while the remaining one shows it only in the low-flux state. Moreover, the X-ray rms variability in different spectral states of an AGN is found to vary by as much as 1.0 dex. These results suggest that the different variability properties observed are likely caused by different physical processes dominating different spectral states. Our results also indicate that the intrinsic PSD variation can introduce a significant fraction of the dispersion as reported for the correlations between various X-ray variability properties and the black hole mass.

The relationship between the continuum intensities and magnetic fields for stable and decaying sunspots is analyzed using the scattered-light-corrected data from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager. From our analysis, the main differences between stable and decaying sunspots are as follows. In the continuum intensity range from 0.35I_qs to 0.65I_qs, where I_qs is the continuum intensity of the quiet solar surface, the relationship between continuum intensity and transverse magnetic field and the relationship between continuum intensity and inclination display a much higher scatter during the decaying phase of the sunspots. During and after the formation of the light bridge, the scatter plots show a bifurcation that indicates that the two umbrae separated by the light bridge have different thermodynamic properties. The continuum intensity of the umbra in a decaying sunspot is brighter than that of the stable sunspot, indicating that the temperatures in the umbra of decaying sunspots are higher. Furthermore, our results show that the mean continuum intensity of the umbra gradually increases during the decay of the sunspot, but the mean continuum intensity of the penumbra remains constant. Simultaneously, the vertical and transverse magnetic field strengths in the umbra gradually decrease, and the vertical magnetic field strengths in the penumbra gradually increase. The changes in the umbra occur earlier than the changes in the penumbra of the decaying sunspot, suggesting that the umbral and penumbral decay may be an interdependent process during the decay of the sunspot.

We present a new observation of satellite galaxies around seven Milky Way (MW)–like galaxies located outside of the Local Group (LG) using Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam imaging data to statistically address the missing satellite problem. We select satellite galaxy candidates using magnitude, surface brightness, Sérsic index, axial ratio, FWHM, and surface brightness fluctuation cuts, followed by visual screening of false positives such as optical ghosts of bright stars. We identify 51 secure dwarf satellite galaxies within the virial radius of nine host galaxies, two of which are drawn from the pilot observation presented in Paper I. We find that the average luminosity function of the satellite galaxies is consistent with that of the MW satellites, although the luminosity function of each host galaxy varies significantly. We observe an indication that more massive hosts tend to have a larger number of satellites. Physical properties of the satellites such as the size–luminosity relation are also consistent with the MW satellites. However, the spatial distribution is different; we find that the satellite galaxies outside of the LG show no sign of concentration or alignment, while that of the MW satellites is more concentrated around the host and exhibits a significant alignment. As we focus on relatively massive satellites with M_V < −10, we do not expect that the observational incompleteness can be responsible here. This trend might represent a peculiarity of the MW satellites, and further work is needed to understand its origin.

We have computed obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN) redshifts using the XZ method, adopting a broad treatment in which we employed a wide-ranging data set and worked primarily at the XZ counts sensitivity threshold, culminating with a redshift catalog containing 121 sources that lack documented redshifts. We considered 363 obscured AGN from the Chandra Source Catalog Release 2.0, 59 of which were selected using multiwavelength criteria while 304 were X-ray selected. One third of the data set had crossmatched spectroscopic or photometric redshifts. These sources, dominated by low-z and low-N_H AGN, were supplemented by 1000 simulations to form a data set for testing the XZ method. We used a multilayer perceptron neural network to examine and predict cases in which XZ fails to reproduce the known redshift, yielding a classifier that can identify and discard poor redshift estimates. This classifier demonstrated a statistically significant ∼3σ improvement over the existing XZ redshift information gain filter. We applied the machine-learning model to sources with no documented redshifts, resulting in the 121 source new redshift catalog, all of which were X-ray selected. Our neural network's performance suggests that nearly 90% of these redshift estimates are consistent with hypothetical spectroscopic or photometric measurements, strengthening the notion that redshifts can be reliably estimated using only X-rays, which is valuable to current and future missions such as Athena. We have also identified a possible Compton-thick candidate that warrants further investigation.

Formation of the first planetesimals remains an unsolved problem. Growth by sticking must initiate the process, but multiple studies have revealed a series of barriers that can slow or stall growth, most of them due to nebula turbulence. In a companion paper, we study the influence of these barriers on models of fractal aggregate and solid, compact particle growth in a viscously evolving solar-like nebula for a range of turbulent intensities α_t = 10⁻⁵–10⁻². Here, we examine how the disk composition in these same models changes with time. We find that advection and diffusion of small grains and vapor, and radial inward drift for larger compact particles and fractal aggregates, naturally lead to diverse outcomes for planetesimal composition. Larger particles can undergo substantial inward radial migration due to gas drag before being collisionally fragmented or partially evaporating at various temperatures. This leads to enhancement of the associated volatile in both vapor inside, and solids outside, their respective evaporation fronts, or snowlines. In cases of lower α_t, we see narrow belts of volatile or supervolatile material develop in the outer nebula, which could be connected to the bands of pebbles seen by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. Volatile bands, which migrate inwards as the disk cools, can persist over long timescales as their gas phase continues to advect or diffuse outward across its evaporation front. These belts could be sites where supervolatile-rich planetesimals form, such as the rare CO-rich and water-poor comets; giant planets formed just outside the H₂O snowline may be enhanced in water.

In this work, we conduct an extensive study of the conditions that allow the mass-gap object in the GW190814 event to be faced as a degenerate star instead of a black hole. We begin by revisiting some parameterizations of quantum hadrodynamics and then study under which conditions hyperons are present in such a massive star. Afterward, using a vector MIT-based model, we study whether self-bound quark stars, satisfying the Bodmer–Witten conjecture, fulfill all the observational constraints. Finally, we study hybrid stars within a Maxwell construction and check for what values of the bag, as well as the vector interaction, a quark core star with only nucleons, and with nucleons admixed with hyperons can reach at least 2.50 M_⊙. We conclude that, depending on the choice of parameters, none of the possibilities can be completely ruled out, i.e., the mass-gap object can be a hadronic (either nucleonic or hyperonic), a quark, or a hybrid star, although some cases are more probable than others.

Incremental particle growth in turbulent protoplanetary nebulae is limited by a combination of barriers that can slow or stall growth. Moreover, particles that grow massive enough to decouple from the gas are subject to inward radial drift, which could lead to the depletion of most disk solids before planetesimals can form. Compact particle growth is probably not realistic. Rather, it is more likely that grains grow as fractal aggregates, which may overcome this so-called radial drift barrier because they remain more coupled to the gas than compact particles of equal mass. We model fractal aggregate growth and compaction in a viscously evolving solar-like nebula for a range of turbulent intensities α_t = 10⁻⁵–10⁻². We do find that radial drift is less influential for porous aggregates over much of their growth phase; however, outside the water snowline fractal aggregates can grow to much larger masses with larger Stokes numbers more quickly than compact particles, leading to rapid inward radial drift. As a result, disk solids outside the snowline out to ∼10–20 au are depleted earlier than in compact growth models, but outside ∼20 au material is retained much longer because aggregate Stokes numbers there remain lower initially. Nevertheless, we conclude even fractal models will lose most disk solids without the intervention of some leapfrog planetesimal forming mechanism such as the streaming instability (SI), though conditions for the SI are generally never satisfied, except for a brief period at the snowline for α_t = 10⁻⁵.

The closest perihelion pass of Parker Solar Probe (PSP), so far, occurred between 2021 November 16 and 26 and reached ∼13.29 R_☉ from Sun center. This pass resulted in very unique observations of the solar corona by the Wide-field Instrument for Solar PRobe (WISPR). WISPR observed at least 10 coronal mass ejections (CMEs), some of which were so close that the structures appear distorted. All of the CMEs appeared to have a magnetic flux rope (MFR) structure, and most were oriented such that the view was along the axis orientation, revealing very complex interiors. Two CMEs had a small MFR develop in the interior, with a bright circular boundary surrounding a very dark interior. Trailing the larger CMEs were substantial outflows of small blobs and flux-rope-like structures within striated ribbons, lasting for many hours. When the heliospheric plasma sheet was inclined, as it was during the days around perihelion on 2021 November 21, the outflow was over a very wide latitude range. One CME was overtaken by a faster one, with a resultant compression of the rear of the leading CME and an unusual expansion in the trailing CME. The small Thomson surface creates brightness variations of structures as they pass through the field of view. In addition to this dynamic activity, a brightness band from excess dust along the orbit of asteroid/comet 3200 Phaethon is also seen for several days.

The spectra of brown dwarfs are key to exploring the chemistry and physics that take place in their atmospheres. Late-T dwarf spectra are particularly diagnostic, due to their relatively cloud-free atmospheres and deep molecular bands. With the use of powerful atmospheric retrieval tools applied to the spectra of these objects, direct constraints on molecular/atomic abundances, gravity, and vertical thermal profiles can be obtained, enabling a broad exploration of the chemical/physical mechanisms operating in their atmospheres. We present a uniform retrieval analysis on low-resolution Infrared Telescope Facility SpeX near-infrared spectra for a sample of 50 T dwarfs, including new observations as part of a recent volume-limited survey. This analysis more than quadruples the sample of T dwarfs with retrieved temperature profiles and abundances (H₂O, CH₄, NH₃, K, and subsequent C/O and metallicities). We are generally able to constrain the effective temperatures to within 50 K, the volume mixing ratios for major species to within 0.25 dex, the atmospheric metallicities [M/H] to within 0.2, and the C/O ratios to within 0.2. We compare our retrieved constraints on the thermal structures, chemistry, and gravities of these objects with predictions from self-consistent radiative-convective equilibrium models and find, in general, though with substantial scatter, consistency with solar composition chemistry and the thermal profiles of the neighboring stellar FGK population. Objects with notable discrepancies between the two modeling techniques and potential mechanisms for their differences, be they related to the modeling approach or physically motivated, are discussed more thoroughly in the text.

The semianalytical model a-sloth (Ancient Stars and Local Observables by Tracing Halos) is the first public code that connects the formation of the first stars and galaxies to observables. After several successful projects with this model, we publish the source code (https://gitlab.com/thartwig/asloth) and describe the public version in this paper. The model is based on dark matter merger trees that can either be generated based on Extended Press–Schechter theory or be imported from dark matter simulations. On top of these merger trees, a-sloth applies analytical recipes for baryonic physics to model the formation of both metal-free and metal-poor stars and the transition between them with unprecedented precision and fidelity. a-sloth samples individual stars and includes radiative, chemical, and mechanical feedback. It is calibrated based on six observables, such as the optical depth to Thomson scattering, the stellar mass of the Milky Way and its satellite galaxies, the number of extremely metal-poor stars, and the cosmic star formation rate density at high redshift. a-sloth has versatile applications with moderate computational requirements. It can be used to constrain the properties of the first stars and high-z galaxies based on local observables, predicts properties of the oldest and most metal-poor stars in the Milky Way, can serve as a subgrid model for larger cosmological simulations, and predicts next-generation observables of the early universe, such as supernova rates or gravitational wave events.

A Type I burst could influence the accretion process through radiation pressure and Comptonization both for the accretion disk and the corona/boundary layer of an X-ray binary, and vice versa. We investigate the temporal evolution of a bright photospheric radius expansion (PRE) burst of 4U 1608–52 detected by Insight-HXMT in 1–50 keV, with the aim to study the interplay between the burst and persistent emission. Apart from the emission from the neutron star (NS) surface, we find residuals in both the soft (<3 keV) and hard (>10 keV) X-ray bands. Time-resolved spectroscopy reveals that the excess can be attributed to either an enhanced preburst/persistent emission or the Comptonization of the burst emission by the corona/boundary layer. The Comptonization model is a convolution thermal-Comptonization model (thcomp in XSPEC), and the Comptonization parameters are fixed at the values derived from the persistent emission. We find, during the PRE phase, after the enhanced preburst/persistent emission or the Comptonization of the burst emission is removed, the NS surface emission shows a plateau and then a rise until the photosphere touches down on the NS surface, resulting in a flux peak at that moment. We speculate that the findings above correspond to the lower part of the NS surface that is obscured by the disk being exposed to the line of sight due to the evaporation of inner disk by the burst emission. The consistency between the f_a model and convolution thermal-Comptonization model indicates the interplay between thermonuclear bursts and accretion environments. These phenomena do not usually show up in conventional blackbody model fittings, which may be due to the low count rate and narrow energy coverage in previous observations.

To investigate the effects of environment in the quenching phase, we study the empirical relations for green valley (GV) galaxies between overdensity and other physical properties (i.e., effective radius r_e, Sérsic indices n, and specific star formation rate (sSFR)). Based on five 3D-HST/CANDELS fields, we construct a large sample of 2126 massive (M_⋆ > 10¹⁰ M_☉) GV galaxies at 0.5 < z < 2.5 and split it into the higher overdensity quarter and the lower overdensity quarter. The results shows that GV galaxies in denser environments have higher n values and lower sSFR at 0.5 < z < 1, while there is no discernible distinction at 1 < z < 2.5. No significant enlarging or shrinking is found for GV galaxies in different environments within the same redshift bin. This suggests that a dense environment would promote the growth of bulges and suppress star formation activity of GV galaxies at 0.5 < z < 1.5 but would not affect the galaxy size. We also study the dependence of the fraction of three populations (blue cloud, GV, and red sequence) on both environments and M_⋆. At a given M_⋆, blue cloud fraction goes down with increasing environment density, while red sequence fraction is opposite. For the most massive GV galaxies, a sharp drop appears in the denser environment. Coupled with the mass dependence of three fractions in different redshift bins, our result implies that stellar mass and environments jointly promote the quenching process. Such a dual effect is also confirmed by recalculating the new effective GV fraction as the number of GV galaxies over the number of nonquiescent galaxies.

We investigate the pulsating behavior of KIC 2857323 using high-precision observations from the Kepler mission. Fourier analysis of 4 yr time-series data reveals five independent frequencies for the light variation. Among them, two strong frequencies f₁ and f₃ with a period ratio of 0.774 identify this star as a double-mode (i.e., the fundamental mode F0 and first overtone mode F1) high-amplitude δ Scuti star (HADS). Seismic modeling using the two radial modes F0 and F1 indicates that KIC 2857323 is a main-sequence star with mass M = 1.78 ± 0.02 M_⊙ and metallicity Z from 0.009 to 0.012. We analyze the phase and amplitude variations of F0 and F1 using the phase modulation method and find that the first overtone mode F1 shows a slow decline in amplitude. We discuss several possible causes for the amplitude variation and speculate that the amplitude decline in this star may be due to pulsation energy loss. We note that KIC 2857323 is the first double-mode HADS to show amplitude decline and warrants further study to ascertain its nature.

We demonstrate that for weak flares the dependence of their frequency occurrence on spottedness can be rather weak. The fact is that such flares can occur in both small and large active regions. At the same time, powerful large flares of classes M and X occur much more often in large active regions. In energy estimates, the mean magnetic field in starspots can also be assumed to be equal to the mean field in the sunspot umbra. So the effective mean magnetic field is 900 Mx cm⁻² in sunspots and 2000 Mx cm⁻² in starspots. Moreover, the height of the energy storage cannot be strictly proportional to A^1/2. For stars, the fitting factor is an order of magnitude smaller. The analysis of the occurrence rate of powerful solar X-ray flares of class M and X and superflares on stars shows that, with allowance for the difference in the spottedness and compactness of active regions, both sets can be described by a single model. Thus, the problem of superflares on stars and their absence on the Sun is reduced to the problem of the difference in the effectiveness of the dynamo mechanisms.

Cooling and heating functions describe how radiative processes impact the thermal state of a gas as a function of its temperature and other physical properties. In a most general case the functions depend on the detailed distributions of ionic species and on the radiation spectrum. Hence, these functions may vary on a very wide range of spatial and temporal scales. In this paper, we explore cooling and heating functions between 5 ≤ z ≤ 10 in simulated galaxies from the Cosmic Reionization On Computers project. We compare three functions: (1) the actual cooling and heating rates of hydrodynamic cells as a function of cell temperature, (2) the median cooling and heating functions computed using median interstellar medium (ISM) properties (median ISM), and (3) the median of the cooling and heating functions of all gas cells (instantaneous). We find that the median ISM and instantaneous approaches to finding a median cooling and heating function give identical results within the spread due to cell-to-cell variation. However, the actual cooling (heating) rates experienced by the gas at different temperatures in the simulations do not correspond to either summarized cooling (heating) functions. In other words, the thermodynamics of the gas in the simulations cannot be described by a single set of a cooling plus a heating function with a spatially constant radiation field that could be computed with common tools, such as CLOUDY.

Jets are one of the most common eruptive events in the solar atmosphere, and they are believed to be important in the context of coronal heating and solar wind acceleration. We present an observational study on a sequence of jets with the data acquired with the Solar Dynamics Observatory and the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph. This sequence is peculiar in that an extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) jet, ∼29'' long and with a dome-like base, appears to be a consequence of a series of transition region (TR) microjets that are a few arcsecs in length. We find that the occurrence of any TR microjets is always associated with the change of geometry of microloops at the footpoints of the microjets. A bundle of TR flux ropes is seen to link a TR microjet to the dome-like structure at the base of the EUV jet. This bundle rises as a response to the TR microjets, with the rising motion eventually triggering the EUV jet. We propose a scenario involving a set of magnetic reconnections, in which the series of TR microjets are associated with the processes to remove the constraints to the TR flux ropes and thus allows them to rise and trigger the EUV jet. Our study demonstrates that small-scale dynamics in the lower solar atmosphere are crucial in understanding the energy and mass connection between the corona and the solar lower atmosphere, even though many of them might not pump mass and energy to the corona directly.

It is proposed that the rapid observed homogeneous nucleation of ice dust in a cold, weakly ionized plasma depends on the formation of hydroxide (OH⁻) by fast electrons impacting water molecules. These OH⁻ ions attract neutral water molecules because of the high dipole moment of the water molecules and so hydrates of the form (OH)⁻(H₂O)_n are formed. The hydrates continuously grow in the cold environment to become macroscopic ice grains. These ice grains are negatively charged as a result of electron impact and so continue to attract water molecules. Because hydroxide is a negative ion, unlike positive ions, it does not suffer recombination loss from collision with plasma electrons. Recombination with positive ions is minimal because positive ions are few in number (weak ionization) and slow-moving as result of being in thermal equilibrium with the cold background gas.

We utilize observations from the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) to study the radial evolution of the solar wind in the inner heliosphere. We analyze electron velocity distribution functions observed by the Solar Wind Electrons, Alphas, and Protons suite to estimate the coronal electron temperature and the local electric potential in the solar wind. From the latter value and the local flow speed, we compute the asymptotic solar wind speed. We group the PSP observations by asymptotic speed, and characterize the radial evolution of the wind speed, electron temperature, and electric potential within each group. In agreement with previous work, we find that the electron temperature (both local and coronal) and the electric potential are anticorrelated with wind speed. This implies that the electron thermal pressure and the associated electric field can provide more net acceleration in the slow wind than in the fast wind. We then utilize the inferred coronal temperature and the extrapolated electric + gravitational potential to show that both electric field driven exospheric models and the equivalent thermally driven hydrodynamic models can explain the entire observed speed of the slowest solar wind streams. On the other hand, neither class of model can explain the observed speed of the faster solar wind streams, which thus require additional acceleration mechanisms.

A millisecond magnetar engine has been widely suggested to exist in gamma-ray burst (GRB) phenomena, in view of its substantial influences on the GRB afterglow emission. In this paper, we investigate the effects of the magnetar engine on the supernova (SN) emission, which is associated with long GRBs and, specifically, confront the model with the observational data of SN 2006aj/GRB 060218. SN 2006aj is featured by its remarkable double-peaked ultraviolet-optical (UV-opt) light curves. By fitting these light curves, we demonstrate that the first peak can be well accounted for by the breakout emission of the shock driven by the magnetar wind, while the primary supernova emission is also partly powered by the energy injection from the magnetar. The magnetic field strength of the magnetar is constrained to be ∼10¹⁵ G, which is in good agreement with the common results inferred from the afterglow emission of long GRBs. In more detail, it is further suggested that the UV excess in the late emission of the supernova could also be due to the leakage of the nonthermal emission of the pulsar wind nebula, if some ad hoc conditions can be satisfied. The consistency between the model and the SN 2006aj observation indicates that the magnetar engine is likely to be ubiquitous in the GRB phenomena and even further intensify their connection with the phenomena of superluminous supernovae.

We detail the follow-up and characterization of a transiting exo-Venus identified by TESS, GJ 3929b (TOI-2013b), and its nontransiting companion planet, GJ 3929c (TOI-2013c). GJ 3929b is an Earth-sized exoplanet in its star's Venus zone (P_b = 2.616272 ± 0.000005 days; S_b = ${17.3}_{-0.7}^{+0.8}$S_⊕) orbiting a nearby M dwarf. GJ 3929c is most likely a nontransiting sub-Neptune. Using the new, ultraprecise NEID spectrometer on the WIYN 3.5 m Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, we are able to modify the mass constraints of planet b reported in previous works and consequently improve the significance of the mass measurement to almost 4σ confidence (M_b = 1.75 ± 0.45 M_⊕). We further adjust the orbital period of planet c from its alias at 14.30 ± 0.03 days to the likely true period of 15.04 ± 0.03 days, and we adjust its minimum mass to $m\sin i$ = 5.71 ± 0.92 M_⊕. Using the diffuser-assisted ARCTIC imager on the ARC 3.5 m telescope at Apache Point Observatory, in addition to publicly available TESS and LCOGT photometry, we are able to constrain the radius of planet b to R_p = 1.09 ± 0.04 R_⊕. GJ 3929b is a top candidate for transmission spectroscopy in its size regime (TSM = 14 ± 4), and future atmospheric studies of GJ 3929b stand to shed light on the nature of small planets orbiting M dwarfs.

We describe observations of the white-light structures in the low corona following the X8.2 flare SOL 2017-09-10, as observed in full Stokes parameters by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) of the Solar Dynamics Observatory. These data show both bright loops and a diffuse emission region above them. We interpret the loops as the white-light counterpart of a classical loop-prominence system, intermediate between the hot X-ray loops and coronal rain. The diffuse emission external to the loops is linearly polarized and has a natural interpretation in terms of Thomson scattering from the hot plasma seen prior to its cooling and recombination. The polarimetric data from HMI enable us to distinguish this contribution of scattering from the HMI pseudocontinuum measurement, and to make a direct estimation of the coronal mass in the polarized source. For a snapshot at 16:19 UT, we estimate a mass 8 × 10¹⁴ g. We further conclude that the volumetric filling factor of this source is near unity.

We present an analysis of the kinematics of the Radcliffe Wave, a 2.7 kpc long sinusoidal band of molecular clouds in the solar neighborhood recently detected via 3D dust mapping. With Gaia DR2 astrometry and spectroscopy, we analyze the 3D space velocities of ∼1500 young stars along the Radcliffe Wave in action-angle space, using the motion of the wave's newly born stars as a proxy for its gas motion. We find that the vertical angle of young stars—corresponding to their orbital phase perpendicular to the Galactic plane—varies significantly as a function of position along the structure, in a pattern potentially consistent with a wavelike oscillation. This kind of oscillation is not seen in a control sample of older stars from Gaia occupying the same volume, disfavoring formation channels caused by long-lived physical processes. We use a "wavy midplane" model to try to account for the trend in vertical angles seen in young stars, and find that while the best-fit parameters for the wave's spatial period and amplitude are qualitatively consistent with the existing morphology defined by 3D dust, there is no evidence for additional velocity structure. These results support more recent and/or transitory processes in the formation of the Radcliffe Wave, which would primarily affect the motion of the wave's gaseous material. Comparisons of our results with new and upcoming simulations, in conjunction with new stellar radial velocity measurements in Gaia DR3, should allow us to further discriminate between various competing hypotheses.

Both Galactic and extragalactic studies of star formation suggest that stars form directly from dense molecular gas. To trace such high volume density gas, HCN and HCO⁺J = 1 → 0 have been widely used for their high dipole moments, relatively high abundances, and often being the strongest lines after CO. However, HCN and HCO⁺J = 1 → 0 emission could arguably be dominated by the gas components at low volume densities. The HCN J = 2 → 1 and HCO⁺J = 2 → 1 transitions, with more suitable critical densities (1.6 × 10⁶ and 2.8 × 10⁵ cm⁻³) and excitation requirements, would trace typical dense gas closely related to star formation. Here we report new observations of HCN J = 2 → 1 and HCO⁺J = 2 → 1 toward 17 nearby infrared-bright galaxies with the APEX 12 m telescope. The correlation slopes between the luminosities of HCN J = 2 → 1 and HCO⁺J = 2 → 1 and total infrared emission are 1.03 ± 0.05 and 1.00 ± 0.05, respectively. The correlations of their surface densities, normalized with the area of radio/submillimeter continuum, show even tighter relations (slopes: 0.99 ± 0.03 and 1.02 ± 0.03). The eight active galactic nucleus (AGN)–dominated galaxies show no significant difference from the 11 star-formation–dominated galaxies in the above relations. The average HCN/HCO⁺ ratios are 1.15 ± 0.26 and 0.98 ± 0.42 for AGN- and star-formation–dominated galaxies, respectively, without obvious dependencies on infrared luminosity, dust temperature, or infrared pumping. The Magellanic Clouds roughly follow the same correlations, expanding to 8 orders of magnitude. On the other hand, ultraluminous infrared galaxies with AGNs systematically lie above the correlations, indicating potential biases introduced by AGNs.

Fossil groups (FG) of galaxies still present a puzzle to theories of structure formation. Despite the low number of bright galaxies, they have relatively high velocity dispersions and ICM temperatures often corresponding to cluster-like potential wells. Their measured concentrations are typically high, indicating early formation epochs as expected from the originally proposed scenario for their origin as being older undisturbed systems. This is, however, in contradiction with the typical lack of expected well developed cool cores. Here, we apply a cluster dynamical indicator recently discovered in the intracluster light fraction (ICLf) to a classic FG, RX J1000742.53+380046.6, to assess its dynamical state. We also refine that indicator to use as an independent age estimator. We find negative radial temperature and metal abundance gradients, the abundance achieving supersolar values at the hot core. The X-ray flux concentration is consistent with that of cool core systems. The ICLf analysis provides an independent probe of the system's dynamical state and shows that the system is very relaxed, more than all clusters, where the same analysis has been performed. The specific ICLf is about 6 times higher, than any of the clusters previously analyzed, which is consistent with an older noninteractive galaxy system that had its last merging event within the last ∼5 Gyr. The specific ICLf is predicted to be an important new tool to identify fossil systems and to constrain the relative age of clusters.

The spectrum of eight-times ionized iron, Fe ix, was studied in the 110–200 Å region. A low inductance vacuum spark and a 3 m grazing incidence spectrograph were used for the excitation and recording of the spectrum. Previous analyses of Fe ix have been greatly extended and partly revised. The number of known lines in the 3p⁵3d–3p⁵4f and 3p⁵3d–3p⁴3d² transition arrays is extended to 25 and 81, respectively. Most of the identifications of the Fe ix lines from the 3p⁵3d–3p⁴3d² transition array in the solar spectrum have been confirmed and several new identifications are suggested.

The discovery in deep near-infrared surveys of a population of massive quiescent galaxies at z > 3 has given rise to the question of how they came to be quenched so early in the history of the universe. Measuring their molecular gas properties can distinguish between physical processes where they stop forming stars due to a lack of fuel versus those where the star formation efficiency is reduced and the gas is retained. We conducted Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations of four quiescent galaxies at z = 3.5–4.0 found by the Fourstar Galaxy Evolution Survey and a serendipitous optically dark galaxy at z = 3.71. We aim to investigate the presence of dust-obscured star formation and their gas content by observing the dust continuum emission at Band 7 and the atomic carbon [C i](³P₁–³P₀) line at 492.16 GHz. Among the four quiescent galaxies, only one source is detected in the dust continuum at λ_obs = 870 μm. The submillimeter observations confirm their passive nature, and all of them are located more than four times below the main sequence of star-forming galaxies at z = 3.7. None of the targets are detected in [C i], constraining their gas-mass fractions to be <20%. These gas-mass fractions are more than 3 times lower than the scaling relation for star-forming galaxies at z = 3.7. These results support scenarios where massive galaxies at z = 3.5–4.0 quench by consuming/expelling all the gas rather than by reducing the efficiency of the conversion of their gas into stars.

Interactions of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) accelerated in specific astrophysical environments have been shown to shape the energy production rate of nuclei differently from that of the secondary neutrons escaping from the confinement zone. Here, we aim at testing a generic scenario of in-source interactions through phenomenological modeling of the flux and composition of UHECRs. We fit a model in which nucleons and nuclei follow different particle energy distributions to the all-particle energy spectrum and proton spectrum below the ankle energy and distributions of maximum shower depths above this energy, as inferred at the Pierre Auger Observatory. We obtain that the data can be reproduced using a spatial distribution of sources that follows the density of extragalactic matter on both local and large scales, providing hence a realistic set of constraints for the emission mechanisms in cosmic accelerators, for their energetics, and for the abundances of elements at escape from their environments. While the quasi monoelemental increase of the cosmic-ray mass number observed on Earth from ≃2 EeV up to the highest energies calls for nuclei accelerated with a hard spectral index, the inferred flux of protons down to ≃0.6 EeV is shown to require for this population a spectral index significantly softer than that generally obtained up to now. We demonstrate that modeling UHECR data across the ankle substantiates the conjecture of in-source interactions in a robust statistical framework, although pushing the mechanism to the extreme.

This work models the effects of gravitational lensing, Doppler boosting, and ellipsoidal variations on eccentric eclipsing binary-system light curves. This is accomplished using a Newtonian orbital-motion code that simulates the orbital velocities and separation of the binary components as a function of time. Improving on previous literature, we examine the effects of orbital eccentricity and period, as well as stellar limb darkening on the expected light curves. Whether lensing, Doppler boosting, or ellipsoidal variation is dominant in the light curves is a function of the separation between the binary components; thus, the combination of all three effects allows for a unique mass-determination method that greatly expands the parameter space for the discovery of compact objects. This suggests the exciting possibility of revealing a large population of nonaccreting compact objects in galactic binary systems. At the same time, the model can be used on systems exhibiting any subset of these effects. In a case study, we fit our model to optical data from the ellipsoidal variable binary system Cygnus X-1, and we compare our determinations with those previously found by different modeling techniques.

Historically, FU Orionis-type stars are low-mass, pre-main-sequence stars. The members of this class experience powerful accretion outbursts and remain in an enhanced accretion state for decades or centuries. V1515 Cyg, a classical FUor, started brightening in the 1940s and reached its peak brightness in the late 1970s. Following a sudden decrease in brightness, it stayed in a minimum state for a few months, then started brightening for several years. We present the results of our ground-based photometric monitoring complemented with optical/near-infrared spectroscopic monitoring. Our light curves show a long-term fading with strong variability on weekly and monthly timescales. The optical spectra show P Cygni profiles and broad blueshifted absorption lines, common properties of FUors. However, V1515 Cyg lacks the P Cygni profile in the Ca ii 8498 Å line, a part of the Ca infrared triplet, formed by an outflowing wind, suggesting that the absorbing gas in the wind is optically thin. The newly obtained near-infrared spectrum shows the strengthening of the CO bandhead and the FeH molecular band, indicating that the disk has become cooler since the last spectroscopic observation in 2015. The current luminosity of the accretion disk dropped from the peak value of 138 L_⊙ to about 45 L_⊙, suggesting that the long-term fading is also partly caused by the dropping of the accretion rate.

We describe the data processing of the Survey on extragALactic magnetiSm with SOFIA (SALSA Legacy Program). This first data release presents 33% (51.34 hr out of 155.7 hr, including overheads) of the total awarded time from 2020 January to 2021 December. Our observations were performed using the newly implemented on-the-fly mapping (OTFMAP) technique in the polarimetric mode. We present the pipeline steps to obtain homogeneously reduced high-level data products of polarimetric maps of galaxies for use in scientific analysis. Our approach has a general design and can be applied to sources smaller than the field of view of the HAWC+ array in any given band. We estimate that the OTFMAP polarimetric mode offers a reduction of observing overheads by a factor 2.34 and an improvement in sensitivity by a factor 1.80 when compared to the same on-source time polarimetric observations using the chopping and nodding mode. The OTFMAP is a significant optimization of the polarimetric mode of HAWC+, as it ultimately reduces the cost of operations of HAWC+/SOFIA by increasing the science collected per hour of observation up to an overall factor of 2.49. The OTFMAP polarimetric mode is the standard observing strategy of SALSA. The results and quantitative analysis of this first data release are presented in Papers IV and V of the series.

We present a study of the narrow Fe Kα line in seven bright, nearby active galactic nuclei (AGN) that have been observed extensively with the Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating (HETG). The HETG data reveal a wider Fe Kα line in the first-order spectrum than in the second- and third-order spectra, which we interpret as the result of spatially extended Fe Kα emission. We utilize these differences in narrow Fe Kα line widths in the multi-order Chandra HETG spectra to determine the spatial extent and intrinsic velocity width of the emitting material in each object. We find that there is modest evidence for spatially extended emission in each object, corresponding to extension of r ∼ 5–100 pc. These distances are significantly larger than those inferred from velocity widths assuming gravitational motions, which give r ∼ 0.01–1 pc. This implies either that the gas is emitting at a range of radii, with smaller radii dominating the velocity width and larger radii dominating the spatial extent, or that the gas is exhibiting nongravitational motions, which we suggest would be outflows due to slight excess redshift in the line and velocities that exceed the freefall velocity. We also use the spatial extent information to estimate the mass of the emitting gas by counting fluorescing iron atoms, finding masses on the order of M_gas ∼ 10⁵–10⁸M_⊙. Future work with observatories like XRISM will be able to extend this study to a larger number of AGN and decrease uncertainties that arise as a result of the low signal-to-noise ratio of the higher-order HETG data.

The CLASP2 (Chromospheric LAyer Spectro-Polarimeter 2) sounding rocket mission was launched on 2019 April 11. CLASP2 measured the four Stokes parameters of the Mg iih and k spectral region around 2800 Å along a 200'' slit at three locations on the solar disk, achieving the first spatially and spectrally resolved observations of the solar polarization in this near-ultraviolet region. The focus of the work presented here is the center-to-limb variation of the linear polarization across these resonance lines, which is produced by the scattering of anisotropic radiation in the solar atmosphere. The linear polarization signals of the Mg iih and k lines are sensitive to the magnetic field from the low to the upper chromosphere through the Hanle and magneto-optical effects. We compare the observations to theoretical predictions from radiative transfer calculations in unmagnetized semiempirical models, arguing that magnetic fields and horizontal inhomogeneities are needed to explain the observed polarization signals and spatial variations. This comparison is an important step in both validating and refining our understanding of the physical origin of these polarization signatures, and also in paving the way toward future space telescopes for probing the magnetic fields of the solar upper atmosphere via ultraviolet spectropolarimetry.

We present a detailed study of the massive star-forming region G35.2-0.74N with Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) 1.3 mm multi-configuration observations. At 02 (440 au) resolution, the continuum emission reveals several dense cores along a filamentary structure, consistent with previous ALMA 0.85 mm observations. At 003 (66 au) resolution, we detect 22 compact sources, most of which are associated with the filament. Four of the sources are associated with compact centimeter continuum emission, and two of these are associated with H30α recombination line emission. The H30α line kinematics shows the ordered motion of the ionized gas, consistent with disk rotation and/or outflow expansion. We construct models of photoionized regions to simultaneously fit the multiwavelength free–free fluxes and the H30α total fluxes. The derived properties suggest the presence of at least three massive young stars with nascent hypercompact H ii regions. Two of these ionized regions are surrounded by a large rotating structure that feeds two individual disks, revealed by dense gas tracers, such as SO₂, H₂CO, and CH₃OH. In particular, the SO₂ emission highlights two spiral structures in one of the disks and probes the faster-rotating inner disks. The ¹²CO emission from the general region reveals a complex outflow structure, with at least four outflows identified. The remaining 18 compact sources are expected to be associated with lower-mass protostars forming in the vicinity of the massive stars. We find potential evidence for disk disruption due to dynamic interactions in the inner region of this protocluster. The spatial distribution of the sources suggests a smooth overall radial density gradient without subclustering, but with tentative evidence of primordial mass segregation.

The distribution of the dark matter (DM) in DM-admixed neutron stars (DANSs) is supposed to result in either a dense dark core or an extended dark halo, subject to the DM fraction of the DANS (f_χ) and the DM properties, such as the mass (m_χ) and the strength of the self-interaction (y). In this paper, we perform an in-depth analysis of the formation criterion for dark cores/dark halos, and point out that the relative distribution of these two components is essentially determined by the ratio of the central enthalpy of the DM component to that of the baryonic matter component inside the DANSs. For the critical case where the radii of the DM and the baryonic matter are the same, we further derive an analytical formula to describe the dependence of ${f}_{\chi }^{\mathrm{crit}}$ on m_χ and y for a given DANS mass. The relative distribution of the two components in DANSs can lead to different observational effects. We here focus on the modification of the pulsar pulse profile, due to the extra light-bending effect in the case of a dark halo existence, and conduct the first investigation into the dark halo effects on the pulse profile. We find that the peak flux deviation is strongly dependent on the ratio of the halo mass to the radius of the DM component. Last, we perform Bayesian parameter estimation on the DM particle properties, based on the recent X-ray observations of PSR J0030+0451 and PSR J0740+6620 by the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer.

The tidal disruption of stars by supermassive black holes (SMBHs) probes relativistic gravity. In the coming decade, the number of observed tidal disruption events (TDEs) will grow by several orders of magnitude, allowing statistical inferences of the properties of the SMBH and stellar populations. Here we analyze the probability distribution functions of the pericenter distances of stars that encounter an SMBH in the Schwarzschild geometry, where the results are completely analytic, and the Kerr metric. From this analysis we calculate the number of observable TDEs, defined to be those that come within the tidal radius r_t but outside the direct capture radius (which is, in general, larger than the horizon radius). We find that relativistic effects result in a steep decline in the number of stars that have pericenter distances r_p ≲ 10 r_g, where r_g = GM/c², and that for maximally spinning SMBHs the distribution function of r_p at such distances scales as ${f}_{{{\rm{r}}}_{{\rm{p}}}}\propto {r}_{{\rm{p}}}^{4/3}$, or in terms of β ≡ r_t/r_p scales as f_β ∝ β^−10/3. We find that spin has little effect on the TDE fraction until the very-high-mass end, where instead of being identically zero the rate is small (≲1% of the expected rate in the absence of relativistic effects). Effectively independent of spin, if the progenitors of TDEs reflect the predominantly low-mass stellar population and thus have masses ≲1M_⊙, we expect a substantial reduction in the rate of TDEs above 10⁷M_⊙.

We present stellar mass fractions and composite luminosity functions (LFs) for a sample of 12 clusters from the Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey (MaDCoWS) in the redshift range 0.951 ≤ z ≤ 1.43. Using spectral energy distribution fitting of optical and deep mid-infrared photometry, we establish the membership of objects along the lines of sight to these clusters and calculate the stellar masses of member galaxies. This allows us to calculate the stellar mass of the clusters much more precisely than in previous works. We find stellar mass fractions for these clusters largely consistent with previous works, and an apparent negative correlation with total cluster mass. We measure a composite 3.6 μm LF down to m* + 2.5 for all 12 clusters. Fitting a Schechter function to the LF, we find a characteristic 3.6 μm magnitude of m* = 19.83 ± 0.12 and faint-end slope of α = −0.81 ± 0.10 for the full sample at a mean redshift of $\bar{z}=1.18$. We also divide the clusters into high- and low-redshift bins at $\bar{z}=1.29$ and $\bar{z}=1.06$, respectively, and measure a composite LF for each bin. We see a small, but statistically significant, evolution in m* and α—consistent with passive evolution—when we study the joint fit to the two parameters, which is probing the evolution of faint cluster galaxies at z ∼ 1. This highlights the importance of deep IR data in studying the evolution of cluster galaxy populations at high redshift.

Surrounding the Milky Way (MW) is the circumgalactic medium (CGM), an extended reservoir of hot gas that has significant implications for the evolution of the MW. We used the HaloSat all-sky survey to study the CGM's soft X-ray emission in order to better define its distribution and structure. We extend a previous HaloSat study of the southern CGM (Galactic latitude b < −30°) to include the northern CGM (b > 30°) and find evidence that at least two hot gas model components at different temperatures are required to produce the observed emission. The cooler component has a typical temperature of kT ∼0.18 keV, while the hotter component has a typical temperature of kT ∼0.7 keV. The emission measure in both the warm and hot components has a wide range (∼0.005–0.03, and ∼0.0005–0.004 cm⁻⁶ pc, respectively), indicating that the CGM is clumpy. A patch of relatively consistent CGM was found in the north, allowing for the CGM spectrum to be studied in finer detail using a stacked spectrum. The stacked spectrum is well described with a model including two hot gas components at temperatures of kT = 0.166 ± 0.005 keV and kT = ${0.69}_{-0.05}^{+0.04}$ keV. As an alternative to adding a hot component, a neon-enhanced single-temperature model of the CGM was also tested and found to have worse fit statistics and poor residuals.

Roughly 10% of quasars are "radio-loud," producing copious radio emission in large jets. The origin of the low-level radio emission seen from the remaining 90% of quasars is unclear. Observing a sample of eight radio-quiet quasars with the Very Long Baseline Array, we discovered that their radio properties depend strongly on their Eddington ratio r_Edd ≡ L_AGN/L_Edd. At lower Eddington ratios r_Edd ≲ 0.3, the total radio emission of the AGN predominately originates from an extremely compact region, possibly as small as the accretion disk. At higher Eddington ratios (r_Edd ≳ 0.3), the relative contribution of this compact region decreases significantly, and though the total radio power remains about the same, the emission now originates from regions ≳100 pc in size. The change in the physical origin of the radio-emitting plasma region with r_Edd is unexpected, as the properties of radio-loud quasars show no dependence with Eddington ratio. Our results suggest that at lower Eddington ratios the magnetized plasma is likely confined by the accretion disk corona and only at higher Eddington ratios escapes to larger scales. Stellar-mass black holes show a similar dependence of their radio properties on the accretion rate, supporting the paradigm that unifies the accretion onto black holes across the mass range.

X-ray studies of jellyfish galaxies opened a window into the physics of the interplay between the intracluster medium (ICM) and interstellar medium (ISM). In this paper, we present the study of an archival Chandra observation of the GASP jellyfish galaxy JO194. We observe X-ray emission extending from the stellar disk to the unwinding spiral arms with an average temperature of kT = 0.79 ± 0.03 keV. To investigate the origin of the X-ray emission, we compare the observed X-ray luminosities with those expected from the star formation rates (SFRs) obtained from Hα emission. We estimate an X-ray luminosity excess of a factor ∼2–4 with respect to the SF; therefore, we conclude that SF is not the main event responsible for the extended X-ray emission of JO194. The metallicity in the spiral arms ($Z={0.24}_{-0.12}^{+0.19}\,{Z}_{\odot }$) is consistent with that of the ICM around JO194 (Z = 0.35 ± 0.07); thus, we suggest that ICM radiative cooling dominates the X-ray emission of the arms. We speculate that the X-ray plasma results from the ISM‒ICM interplay, although the nature of this interplay is still mostly unknown. Finally, we observe that the X-ray properties of JO194 are consistent with those of two other GASP galaxies with different stellar mass, phase-space conditions in their hosting clusters, and local ICM conditions. We suggest that the conditions required to induce extended X-ray emission in jellyfish galaxies are established at the beginning of the stripping, and they can persist on long timescales so that galaxies in different clusters and evolutionary stages can present a similar extended X-ray emission.

Changing-look active galactic nucleus NGC 4151, which has attracted a lot of attention, is undergoing the second dramatic outburst stage in its evolutionary history. To investigate the geometry and kinematics of the broad-line region (BLR), and measure the mass of supermassive black hole in NGC 4151, we perform a 7 month photometric and spectroscopic monitoring program in 2020–2021, using the 2.4 m telescope at Lijiang Observatory. We successfully measure the time lags of the responses from broad Hα, Hβ, Hγ, He i, and He ii emission lines to continuum variation, which are ${7.63}_{-2.62}^{+1.85}$, ${6.21}_{-1.13}^{+1.41}$, ${5.67}_{-1.94}^{+1.65}$, ${1.59}_{-1.11}^{+0.86}$, and ${0.46}_{-1.06}^{+1.22}$ days, respectively, following radial stratification. The ratios of time lags among these lines are 1.23: 1.00: 0.91: 0.26: 0.07. We find that the continuum lag between the ultraviolet and optical bands can significantly affect the lag measurements of He i and He ii. Virial and infalling gas motions coexist in this campaign, which is different from previous results, implying the evolutionary kinematics of BLR. Based on our measurements and previous ones in the literature, we confirm that the BLR of NGC 4151 is basically virialized. Finally, we compute the black hole mass through multiple lines, and the measurement from Hβ to be ${3.94}_{-0.72}^{+0.90}\times {10}^{7}{M}_{\odot }$, which is consistent with previous results. The corresponding accretion rate is ${0.02}_{-0.01}^{+0.01}{L}_{\mathrm{Edd}}{c}^{-2}$, implying a sub-Eddington accretor.

We present follow-up results from the first Fundamental Reference AGN Monitoring Experiment (FRAMEx) X-ray/radio snapshot program of a volume-complete sample of local hard X-ray-selected active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Here, we added nine new sources to our previous volume-complete snapshot campaign, two of which are detected in 6 cm Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations. We also obtained deeper VLBA observations for a sample of nine AGNs not detected by our previous snapshot campaign. We recovered three sources with approximately twice the observing sensitivity. In contrast with lower-angular-resolution Very Large Array (VLA) studies, the majority of our sources continue to be undetected with the VLBA. The subparsec radio (6 cm) and X-ray (2–10 keV) emission shows no significant correlation, with L_R/L_X ranging from 10⁻⁸ to 10⁻⁴, and the majority of our sample lies well below the fiducial 10⁻⁵ relationship for coronal synchrotron emission. Additionally, our sources are not aligned with any of the proposed "fundamental" planes of black hole activity, which purport to unify black hole accretion in the M_BH–L_X–L_R parameter space. The new detections in our deeper observations suggest that the radio emission may be produced by the synchrotron radiation of particles accelerated in low-luminosity outflows. Nondetections may be a result of synchrotron self-absorption at 6 cm in the radio core, similar to what has been observed in X-ray binaries transitioning from the radiatively inefficient state to a radiatively efficient state.

We image the spatial extent of a cool galactic outflow with fine-structure Fe ii* emission and resonant Mg ii emission in a gravitationally lensed star-forming galaxy at z = 1.70347. The Fe ii* and Mg ii (continuum-subtracted) emissions span out to radial distances of ∼14.33 and 26.5 kpc, respectively, with maximum spatial extents of ∼21 kpc for Fe ii* emission and ∼30 kpc for Mg ii emission. Mg ii emission is patchy and covers a total area of ∼184 kpc², constraining the minimum area covered by the outflowing gas to be ∼13% of the total area. Mg ii emission is asymmetric and shows ∼21% more extended emission along the decl. direction. We constrain the covering fractions of the Fe ii* and Mg ii emission as a function of radial distance and characterize them with a power-law model. The Mg ii 2803 emission line shows two kinematically distinct emission components and may correspond to two distinct shells of outflowing gas with a velocity separation of Δv ∼ 400 km s⁻¹. By using multiple images with different magnifications of the galaxy in the image plane, we trace the Fe ii* and Mg ii emissions around three individual star-forming regions. In all cases, both the Fe ii* and Mg ii emissions are more spatially extended compared to the star-forming regions traced by the [O ii] emission. These findings provide robust constraints on the spatial extent of the outflowing gas and, combined with outflow velocity and column density measurements, will give stringent constraints on mass-outflow rates of the galaxy.

We have developed a chemodynamical approach to assign 36,010 metal-poor SkyMapper stars to various Galactic stellar populations. Using two independent techniques (velocity and action space behavior), Gaia EDR3 astrometry, and photometric metallicities, we selected stars with the characteristics of the "metal-weak" thick-disk population by minimizing contamination by the canonical thick disk or other Galactic structures. This sample comprises 7127 stars, spans a metallicity range of −3.50 < [Fe/H] < −0.8, and has a systematic rotational velocity of 〈V_ϕ〉 = 154 km s⁻¹ that lags that of the thick disk. Orbital eccentricities have intermediate values between typical thick-disk and halo values. The scale length is ${h}_{R}={2.48}_{-0.05}^{+0.05}$ kpc, and the scale height is ${h}_{Z}={1.68}_{-0.15}^{+0.19}$ kpc. The metallicity distribution function is well fit by an exponential with a slope of ${\rm{\Delta }}\mathrm{log}N/{\rm{\Delta }}[\mathrm{Fe}/{\rm{H}}]=1.13\,\pm \,0.06$. Overall, we find a significant metal-poor component consisting of 261 SkyMapper stars with [Fe/H] < −2.0. While our sample contains only 11 stars with [Fe/H] ≲ −3.0, investigating the JINAbase compilation of metal-poor stars reveals another 18 such stars (five have [Fe/H] < −4.0) that kinematically belong to our sample. These distinct spatial, kinematic, and chemical characteristics strongly suggest that this metal-poor, phase-mixed kinematic sample represents an independent disk component with an accretion origin in which a massive dwarf galaxy radially plunged into the early Galactic disk. Going forward, we propose to call the metal-weak thick-disk population the Atari disk, given its likely accretion origin, and in reference to it sharing space with the Galactic thin and thick disks.

It has become commonplace in astronomy to describe the transverse coarse structure of jets in loosely defined terms such as "sheath" and "spine" based on discussions of parsec scale properties. But, the applicability, dimension, and prominence of these features on sub-light-year scales has previously been unconstrained by observation. The first direct evidence of jet structure near the source in M87 is extreme limb brightening (a double-rail morphology), 0.3–0.6 mas from the source, which is prominent in observations with high resolution and sensitivity. Intensity crosscuts of these images provide three strong, interdependent constraints on the geometry responsible for the double-rail morphology: the rail to rail separation, the peak to trough intensity ratio, and the rail widths. Analyzing these constraints indicates that half or more of the jet volume resides in a thick-walled, tubular, mildly relativistic, protonic jet only ∼0.25 lt-yr (or ∼300 M, where M is the central black hole mass in geometrized units) from the source. By contrast, the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration interprets their observations with the aid of general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations that produce an invisible (by construction) jet with a surrounding luminous, thin sheath. Yet, it is shown that synthetic images of simulated jets are center brightened 0.3–0.6 mas from the source. This serious disconnection with observation occurs in a region previously claimed in the literature to be well represented by the simulations. The limb brightening analysis motivates a discussion of possible simulation modifications to improve conformance with observations.

Studying the physical and chemical properties of cold and dense molecular clouds is crucial for the understanding of how stars form. Under the typical conditions of infrared dark clouds, CO is removed from the gas phase and trapped onto the surface of dust grains by the so-called depletion process. This suggests that the CO-depletion factor (f_D) can be a useful chemical indicator for identifying cold and dense regions (i.e., prestellar cores). We have used the 1.3 mm continuum and C¹⁸O (2–1) data observed at the resolution of ∼5000 au in the ALMA Survey of 70 μm Dark High-mass Clumps in Early Stages (ASHES) to construct averaged maps of f_D in 12 clumps to characterize the earliest stages of the high-mass star formation process. The average f_D determined for 277 of the 294 ASHES cores follows an unexpected increase from the prestellar to the protostellar stage. If we exclude the temperature effect due to the slight variations in the NH₃ kinetic temperature among different cores, we explain this result as a dependence primarily on the average gas density, which increases in cores where protostellar conditions prevail. This shows that f_D determined in high-mass star-forming regions at the core scale is insufficient to distinguish among prestellar and protostellar conditions for the individual cores and should be complemented by information provided by additional tracers. However, we confirm that the clump-averaged f_D values correlate with the luminosity-to-mass ratio of each source, which is known to trace the evolution of the star formation process.

We present an update to the first white-light detections of a dust trail observed closely following the orbit of asteroid (3200) Phaethon, as seen by the Wide-field Imager for the Parker Solar Probe instrument on the NASA Parker Solar Probe mission. Here, we provide a summary and analysis of observations of the dust trail over nine separate mission encounters between 2018 October and 2021 August that saw the spacecraft approach to within 0.0277 au of the orbit of Phaethon. We find the photometric and estimated dust mass properties to be in line with those in the initial publication, with a visual (V) magnitude of V ∼ 16.1 ± 0.3 pixel⁻¹, corresponding to a surface brightness of 26.1 mag arcsec⁻², and an estimated mass of dust within the range 10¹⁰–10¹² kg depending on the assumed dust properties. However, the key finding of this survey is the discovery that the dust trail does not perfectly follow the orbit of Phaethon, with a clear separation noted between them that increases as a function of true anomaly, though the trail may differ from Phaethon's orbit by as little as 1° in periapsis.

We explore the characteristics of actively accreting massive black holes (MBHs) within dwarf galaxies in the Romulus25 cosmological hydrodynamic simulation. We examine the MBH occupation fraction, X-ray active fractions, and active galactic nucleus (AGN) scaling relations within dwarf galaxies of stellar mass 10⁸M_⊙ < M_star < 10¹⁰M_⊙ out to redshift z = 2. In the local universe, the MBH occupation fraction is consistent with observed constraints, dropping below unity at M_star < 3 × 10¹⁰M_⊙, M₂₀₀ < 3 × 10¹¹M_⊙. Local dwarf AGN in Romulus25 follow observed scaling relations between AGN X-ray luminosity, stellar mass, and star formation rate, though they exhibit slightly higher active fractions and number densities than comparable X-ray observations. Since z = 2, the MBH occupation fraction has decreased, the population of dwarf AGN has become overall less luminous, and as a result the overall number density of dwarf AGN has diminished. We predict the existence of a large population of MBHs in the local universe with low X-ray luminosities and high contamination from X-ray binaries and the hot interstellar medium that are undetectable by current X-ray surveys. These hidden MBHs make up 76% of all MBHs in local dwarf galaxies and include many MBHs that are undermassive relative to their host galaxy's stellar mass. Their detection relies on not only greater instrument sensitivity but also better modeling of X-ray contaminants or multiwavelength surveys. Our results indicate that dwarf AGN were substantially more active in the past, despite having low luminosity today, and that future deep X-ray surveys may uncover many hidden MBHs in dwarf galaxies out to at least z = 2.

Elemental composition in the solar wind reflects the fractionation processes at the Sun. In coronal mass ejections (CMEs) measured in the heliosphere, the elemental composition can vary between plasma of high and low ionization states as indicated by the average Fe charge state, 〈Q_Fe〉. It is found that CMEs with higher ionized plasma, 〈Q_Fe〉 greater than 12, are significantly more enriched in low first ionization potential (FIP) elements compared to their less ionized, 〈Q_Fe〉 less than 12, counterparts. In addition, the CME elemental composition has been shown to vary along the solar cycle. However, the processes driving changes in elemental composition in the plasma are not well understood. To gain insight into this variation, this work investigates the effects of gravitational settling in the ejecta to examine how that process can modify signatures of the FIP effect found in CMEs. We examine the absolute abundances of C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, and Fe in CMEs between 1998 and 2011. Results show that the ejecta exhibits some gravitational settling effects in approximately 33% of all CME periods in plasma where the Fe abundance of the ejecta compared to the solar wind (Fe/H_CME:Fe/H_SW) is depleted compared to the C abundance (C/H_CME:C/H_SW). We also find gravitational settling is most prominent in CMEs during solar minimum; however, it occurs throughout the solar cycle. This study indicates that gravitational settling, along with the FIP effect, can become important in governing the compositional makeup of CME source regions.

We present new observational benchmarks of rapid neutron-capture process (r-process) nucleosynthesis for elements at and between the first (A ∼ 80) and second (A ∼ 130) peaks. Our analysis is based on archival ultraviolet and optical spectroscopy of eight metal-poor stars with Se (Z = 34) or Te (Z = 52) detections, whose r-process enhancement varies by more than a factor of 30 (−0.22 ≤ [Eu/Fe] ≤ +1.32). We calculate ratios among the abundances of Se, Sr through Mo (38 ≤ Z ≤ 42), and Te. These benchmarks may offer a new empirical alternative to the predicted solar system r-process residual pattern. The Te abundances in these stars correlate more closely with the lighter r-process elements than the heavier ones, contradicting and superseding previous findings. The small star-to-star dispersion among the abundances of Se, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, and Te (≤0.13 dex, or 26%) matches that observed among the abundances of the lanthanides and third r-process-peak elements. The concept of r-process universality that is recognized among the lanthanide and third-peak elements in r-process-enhanced stars may also apply to Se, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, and Te, provided the overall abundances of the lighter r-process elements are scaled independently of the heavier ones. The abundance behavior of the elements Ru through Sn (44 ≤ Z ≤ 50) requires further study. Our results suggest that at least one relatively common source in the early Universe produced a consistent abundance pattern among some elements spanning the first and second r-process peaks.

We studied an X1.6 solar flare produced by NOAA Active Region 12602 on 2014 October 22. The entirety of this event was covered by RHESSI, IRIS, and Hinode/EIS, allowing analysis of the chromospheric response to a nonthermal electron driver. We derived the energy contained in nonthermal electrons via RHESSI spectral fitting and linked the time-dependent parameters of this call to the response in Doppler velocity, density, and nonthermal width across a broad temperature range. The total energy injected was 4.8 × 10³⁰ erg and lasted 352 s. This energy drove explosive chromospheric evaporation, with a delineation in both Doppler and nonthermal velocities at the flow reversal temperature, between 1.35 and 1.82 MK. The time of peak electron injection (14:06 UT) corresponded to the time of highest velocities. At this time, we found 200 km s⁻¹ blueshifts in the core of Fe xxiv, which is typically assumed to be at rest. Shortly before this time, the nonthermal electron population had the shallowest spectral index (≈6), corresponding to the peak nonthermal velocity in Si iv and Fe xxi. Nonthermal velocities in Fe xiv, formed near the flow reversal temperature, were low and not correlated with density or Doppler velocity. Nonthermal velocities in ions with similar temperatures were observed to increase and correlate with Doppler velocities, implying unresolved flows surrounding the flow reversal point. This study provides a comprehensive, time-resolved set of chromospheric diagnostics for a large X-class flare, along with a time-resolved energy injection profile, ideal for further modeling studies.

Modeling of frequency-dependent effects, contributed by the turbulence in the free electron density of interstellar plasma, is required to enable the detection of the expected imprints from the stochastic gravitational-wave (GW) background in pulsar timing data. In this work, we present an investigation of temporal variations of interstellar medium for a set of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) with the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) aided by large fractional bandwidth at lower observing frequencies. Contrary to the conventional narrowband analysis using a frequency-invariant template profile, we applied PulsePortraiture-based wide-band timing analysis while correcting for the evolution of the pulsar profile with frequency. Implementation of the PulsePortraiture-based wide-band timing method for the GMRT-discovered MSPs to probe the dispersion measure (DM) variations resulted in a DM precision of 10⁻⁴ pc cm⁻³. In general, we achieve similar DM and timing precision from wide-band timing compared to the narrowband timing with matching temporal variations of DMs. This wide-band timing study of newly discovered MSPs over a wide frequency range highlights the effectiveness of profile modeling at low frequencies and probes the potential of using them in a pulsar timing array.

Quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs) with various periods that originate in the underlying magnetohydrodynamic processes of flaring structures are detected repeatedly in solar flare emissions. We apply a 2D cellular automaton (CA) avalanche model to simulate QPPs as a result of a repetitive load/unload mechanism. We show that the frequent occurrence of magnetic reconnections in a flaring loop could induce quasi-periodic patterns in the detected emissions. We find that among 21,070 simulated flares, 813 events last over 50 s, scaled with the temporal resolution of the Yohkoh Hard X-ray Telescope, and about 70% of these rather long-lasting events exhibit QPPs. We also illustrate that the applied CA model provides a wide range of periodicities for QPPs. Furthermore, we observe the presence of multiple periods in nearly 50% of the cases by applying the Lomb–Scargle periodogram. A lognormal distribution is fitted to the unimodal distribution of the periods as a manifestation of an underlying multiplicative mechanism that typifies the effect of the system's independently varying parameters. The global maximum of the periods' lognormal distribution is located at 29.29 ± 0.67 s. We compare statistics of the simulated QPPs with parameters of the host flares and discuss the impacts of flare properties on the periods of QPPs. Considering the intrinsic characteristic of CA models, namely the repetitive load/unload mechanism, and the obtained pieces of evidence, we suggest that CA models may generate QPPs. We also examine the applicability of autoregressive integrated moving average models to describe the simulated and observed QPPs.

We present integral field spectroscopic observations of NGC 5972 obtained with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer at the Very Large Telescope. NGC 5972 is a nearby galaxy containing both an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and an extended emission-line region (EELR) reaching out to ∼17 kpc from the nucleus. We analyze the physical conditions of the EELR using spatially resolved spectra, focusing on the radial dependence of ionization state together with the light-travel time distance to probe the variability of the AGN on ≳10⁴ yr timescales. The kinematic analysis suggests multiple components: (a) a faint component following the rotation of the large-scale disk, (b) a component associated with the EELR suggestive of extraplanar gas connected to tidal tails, and (c) a kinematically decoupled nuclear disk. Both the kinematics and the observed tidal tails suggest a major past interaction event. Emission-line diagnostics along the EELR arms typically evidence Seyfert-like emission, implying that the EELR was primarily ionized by the AGN. We generate a set of photoionization models and fit these to different regions along the EELR. This allows us to estimate the bolometric luminosity required at different radii to excite the gas to the observed state. Our results suggest that NGC 5972 is a fading quasar, showing a steady gradual decrease in intrinsic AGN luminosity, and hence the accretion rate onto the SMBH, by a factor ∼100 over the past 5 × 10⁴ yr.

Supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) are an inevitable consequence of galaxy mergers. At sub-parsec separations, they are practically impossible to resolve, and the most promising technique is to search for quasars with periodic variability. However, searches for quasar periodicity in time-domain data are challenging due to the stochastic variability of quasars. In this paper, we used Bayesian methods to disentangle periodic SMBHB signals from intrinsic damped random walk (DRW) variability in active galactic nuclei light curves. We simulated a wide variety of realistic DRW and DRW+sine light curves. Their observed properties are modeled after the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey (CRTS) and expected properties of the upcoming Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. Through a careful analysis of parameter estimation and Bayesian model selection, we investigated the range of parameter space for which binary systems can be detected. We also examined which DRW signals can mimic periodicity and be falsely classified as binary candidates. We found that periodic signals are more easily detectable if the period is short or the amplitude of the signal is large compared to the contribution of the DRW noise. We saw similar detection rates both in the CRTS and LSST-like simulations, while the false-detection rate depends on the quality of the data and is minimal in LSST. Our idealized simulations provide an excellent way to uncover the intrinsic limitations in quasar periodicity searches and set the stage for future searches for SMBHBs.

One of the brightest X-ray pulsars in the Small Magellanic Cloud is SMC X-2. During its most recent major outburst in 2015, this transient pulsar displayed significant changes in both its accretion state and magnetosphere, particularly when it entered the low-luminosity regime of subcritical accretion. Polestar is a pulse-profile modeling code that helps in delineating the geometry of the emission as the source evolves past outburst and toward lower-luminosity states. Applying Polestar to XMM-Newton and NuSTAR pulse profiles, we constrained the most likely inclination of the spin axis of the pulsar to be i = 87° ± 4°. As the X-ray luminosity declined, an increase in the pulsed fraction was detected from Swift observations, which suggests a transition from fan- to pencil-beam emission during the later stages of the outburst. Additionally, we also performed analysis of the OGLE IV light curves, which showed strong modulation in the optical profiles during the outburst.

An analytical model for diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) at one-dimensional stationary planar shocks in the lower corona is presented. The model introduces an upstream escape boundary through which a constant flux of protons streaming upstream out of the system is allowed. The nonvanishing flux of streaming protons out of the system limits the maximum attainable energy of DSA and produces a rollover in the high-energy spectra of the shock-accelerated protons. The condition for the rollover energy derived from the model can account for the approximately linear relation between the natural logarithm of event-integrated fluences and the natural logarithm of rollover energies as demonstrated in Bruno et al. Solar energetic particle (SEP) events with higher integrated fluences in principle exhibit higher rollover energies since proton-excited hydromagnetic waves in the turbulent sheath reduce the proton diffusion coefficient and throttle the upstream streaming of protons. The consistency between the observation and the theory of DSA at shocks in the lower corona serves as evidence for the shock origin of protons of the highest energies in large SEP events.

We present the first data release of the Survey on extragALactic magnetiSm with SOFIA (SALSA Legacy Program) with a set of 14 nearby (<20 Mpc) galaxies with resolved imaging polarimetric observations using HAWC+ from 53 to 214 μm at a resolution of 5''–18'' (90 pc–1 kpc). We introduce the definitions of and background on extragalactic magnetism and present the scientific motivation and sample selection of the program. Here we focus on the general trends in the emissive polarization fraction. Far-infrared polarimetric observations trace the thermal polarized emission of magnetically aligned dust grains across the galaxy disks with polarization fractions of P = 0%–15% in the cold, T_d = [19, 48] K, and dense, ${\mathrm{log}}_{10}({N}_{{\rm{H}}{\rm\small{I}}+{{\rm{H}}}_{2}}[{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}])=[19.96,22.91]$, interstellar medium. The spiral galaxies show a median 〈P_{154 μm}〉 = 3.3% ± 0.9% across the disks. We report the first polarized spectrum of starburst galaxies showing a minimum within 89–154 μm. The falling 53–154 μm polarized spectrum may be due to a decrease in the dust grain alignment efficiency produced by variations in dust temperatures along the line of sight in the galactic outflow. We find that the starburst galaxies and the star-forming regions within normal galaxies have the lowest polarization fractions. We find that 50% (seven out of 14) of the galaxies require a broken power law in the P − ${N}_{{\rm{H}}{\rm\small{I}}+{{\rm{H}}}_{2}}$ and P − T_d relations with three different trends. Group 1 has a relative increase of anisotropic random B-fields produced by compression or shear of B-fields in the galactic outflows, starburst rings, and inner bars of galaxies, and groups 2 and 3 have a relative increase of isotropic random B-fields driven by star-forming regions in the spiral arms and/or an increase of dust grain alignment efficiency caused by shock-driven regions or evolutionary stages of a galaxy.

Planet-induced substructures, like annular gaps, observed in dust emission from protoplanetary disks, provide a unique probe for characterizing unseen young planets. While deep-learning-based models have an edge in characterizing a planet's properties over traditional methods, such as customized simulations and empirical relations, they lacks the ability to quantify the uncertainties associated with their predictions. In this paper, we introduce a Bayesian deep-learning network, "DPNNet-Bayesian," which can predict planet mass from disk gaps and also provides the uncertainties associated with the prediction. A unique feature of our approach is that it is able to distinguish between the uncertainty associated with the deep-learning architecture and the uncertainty inherent in the input data due to measurement noise. The model is trained on a data set generated from disk–planet simulations using the fargo3d hydrodynamics code, with a newly implemented fixed grain size module and improved initial conditions. The Bayesian framework enables the estimation of a gauge/confidence interval over the validity of the prediction, when applied to unknown observations. As a proof of concept, we apply DPNNet-Bayesian to the dust gaps observed in HL Tau. The network predicts masses of 86.0 ± 5.5 M_⊕, 43.8 ± 3.3 M_⊕, and 92.2 ± 5.1 M_⊕, respectively, which are comparable to those from other studies based on specialized simulations.

This article presents results that challenge the paradigms that (1) the convection zone is the source of the radial magnetic field in the photosphere and (2) that coronal currents are neutralized from the perspective of the photosphere. We demonstrate, using a new analysis tool applied to simulations and observations, that bare or partially dressed current channels are supported by the solar corona and that fingerprints of these coronal current systems can be detected in the photosphere. These coronal current channels can be a significant source of the radial component of the magnetic field in the photosphere. The roots of these coronal current channels in the photosphere are the source of the magnetic field component parallel to the polarity inversion line in active region NOAA 12673. These analyses and observations transform our theoretical understanding of coronal evolution and argue for a reexamination of the present paradigm in which the convection zone is the sole source of the photospheric magnetic field.