Table of contents

We report observations of the binary microlensing event OGLE-2018-BLG-0022, provided by the Robotic Observations of Microlensing Events (ROME)/Reactive Event Assessment (REA) Survey, which indicate that the lens is a low-mass binary star consisting of M3 (0.375 ± 0.020 M_⊙) and M7 (0.098 ± 0.005 M_⊙) components. The lens is unusually close, at 0.998 ± 0.047 kpc, compared with the majority of microlensing events, and despite its intrinsically low luminosity, it is likely that adaptive optics observations in the near future will be able to provide an independent confirmation of the lens masses.

We present results of the largest, most comprehensive study ever done of the stellar multiplicity of the most common stars in the Galaxy, the red dwarfs. We have conducted an all-sky volume-limited survey for stellar companions to 1120 M dwarf primaries known to lie within 25 pc of the Sun via trigonometric parallaxes. In addition to a comprehensive literature search, stars were explored in new surveys for companions at separations of 2''–300''. A reconnaissance of wide companions to separations of 300'' was done via blinking archival images. I-band images were used to search our sample for companions at separations of 2''–180''. Various astrometric and photometric methods were used to probe the inner 2'' to reveal close companions. We report the discovery of 20 new companions and identify 56 candidate multiple systems. We find a stellar multiplicity rate of 26.8 ± 1.4% and a stellar companion rate of 32.4 ± 1.4% for M dwarfs. There is a broad peak in the separation distribution of the companions at 4–20 au, with a weak trend of smaller projected linear separations for lower mass primaries. A hint that M-dwarf multiplicity may be a function of tangential velocity is found, with faster moving, presumably older, stars found to be multiple somewhat less often. We calculate that stellar companions make up at least 17% of mass attributed to M dwarfs in the solar neighborhood, with roughly 11% of M-dwarf mass hidden as unresolved companions. Finally, when considering all M-dwarf primaries and companions, we find that the mass distribution for M dwarfs increases to the end of the stellar main sequence.

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) recently observed 18 transits of the hot Jupiter WASP-4b. The sequence of transits occurred 81.6 ± 11.7 s earlier than had been predicted, based on data stretching back to 2007. This is unlikely to be the result of a clock error, because TESS observations of other hot Jupiters (WASP-6b, 18b, and 46b) are compatible with a constant period, ruling out an 81.6 s offset at the 6.4σ level. The 1.3 day orbital period of WASP-4b appears to be decreasing at a rate of $\dot{P}=-12.6\pm 1.2$ ms per year. The apparent period change might be caused by tidal orbital decay or apsidal precession, although both interpretations have shortcomings. The gravitational influence of a third body is another possibility, though at present there is minimal evidence for such a body. Further observations are needed to confirm and understand the timing variation.

We present a comprehensive catalog of cool (period P ≳ 2 yr) transiting planet candidates in the 4 yr light curves from the prime Kepler mission. Most of the candidates show only one or two transits and have largely been missed in the original Kepler Object of Interest catalog. Our catalog is based on all known such candidates in the literature, as well as new candidates from the search in this paper, and provides a resource to explore the planet population near the snow line of Sun-like stars. We homogeneously performed pixel-level vetting, stellar characterization with Gaia parallax and archival/Subaru spectroscopy, and light-curve modeling to derive planet parameters and to eliminate stellar binaries. The resulting clean sample consists of 67 planet candidates whose radii are typically constrained to 5%, in which 23 are newly reported. The number of Jupiter-sized candidates (29 with radius $r\gt 8\,{R}_{\oplus }$) in the sample is consistent with the Doppler occurrence. The smaller candidates are more prevalent (23 with $4\lt r/{R}_{\oplus }\lt 8$, 15 with $r/{R}_{\oplus }\lt 4$) and suggest that long-period Neptune-sized planets are at least as common as the Jupiter-sized ones, although our sample is yet to be corrected for detection completeness. If the sample is assumed to be complete, these numbers imply the occurrence rate of 0.39 ± 0.07 planets with $4\lt r/{R}_{\oplus }\lt 14$ and $2\lt P/\mathrm{yr}\lt 20$ per FGK dwarf. The stars hosting candidates with $r\gt 4\,{R}_{\oplus }$ have systematically higher [Fe/H] than do the Kepler field stars, providing evidence that giant planet–metallicity correlation extends to $P\gt 2\,\mathrm{yr}$.

We present the first radio/submillimeter detection of monodeuterated methane (CH₃D) in Titan's atmosphere, using archival data from of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The J_K = 2₁−1₁ and J_K = 2₀−1₀ transitions at 465.235 and 465.250 GHz (∼0.644 mm) were measured at significance levels of 4.6σ and 5.7σ, respectively. These two lines were modeled using the Non-linear optimal Estimator for MultivariatE spectral analySIS (NEMESIS) radiative transfer code to determine the disk-averaged CH₃D volume mixing ratio = 6.157 × 10⁻⁶ in Titan's stratosphere (at altitudes >130 km). By comparison with the CH₄ vertical abundance profile measured by Cassini–Huygens mass spectrometry, the resulting value for D/H in CH₄ is (1.033 ± 0.081) × 10⁻⁴. This is consistent with previous ground-based and in situ measurements from the Cassini–Huygens mission, though slightly lower than the average of the previous values. Additional CH₃D observations at higher spatial resolution will be required to determine a value truly comparable with the Cassini–Huygens CH₄ measurements, by measuring CH₃D with ALMA close to Titan's equator. In the post-Cassini era, spatially resolved observations of CH₃D with ALMA will enable the latitudinal distribution of methane to be determined, making this an important molecule for further studies.

I tentatively compile the formal uncertainties in the secular rates of change of the orbital elements a, e, I, Ω, and ϖ of the planets of the solar system from the recently released formal errors in a and the nonsingular elements h, k, p, and q estimated for the same bodies with the EPM2017 ephemerides by E. V. Pitjeva and N. P. Pitjev. The highest accuracies occur for the inner planets and Saturn in view of the extensive use of radiotechnical data collected over the last decades. For the inclination I, node Ω and perihelion ϖ of Mercury and Mars, I obtain accuracies ${\sigma }_{\dot{I}},\,{\sigma }_{\dot{{\rm{\Omega }}}},\,{\sigma }_{\dot{\varpi }}\simeq 1\mbox{--}10\,\mu \mathrm{as}\ {\mathrm{cty}}^{-1}$, while for Saturn they are ${\sigma }_{\dot{I}},\,{\sigma }_{\dot{{\rm{\Omega }}}},\,{\sigma }_{\dot{\varpi }}\simeq 10\,\mu {\rm{a}}{\rm{s}}\,{{\rm{c}}{\rm{t}}{\rm{y}}}^{-1}-1\,{\rm{m}}{\rm{a}}{\rm{s}}\,{{\rm{c}}{\rm{t}}{\rm{y}}}^{-1}$. As far as the semimajor axis a is concerned, its rates for the inner planets are accurate to the ${\sigma }_{\dot{a}}\simeq 1\mbox{--}100\,\mathrm{mm}\ {\mathrm{cty}}^{-1}$ level, while for Saturn I obtain ${\sigma }_{\dot{a}}\simeq 17\,{\rm{m}}\ {\mathrm{cty}}^{-1}$. In terms of the parameterized post-Newtonian (PPN) parameters β and γ, a formal error as little as $8\,\mu \mathrm{as}\ {\mathrm{cty}}^{-1}$ for the Hermean apsidal rate corresponds to a ≃2 × 10⁻⁷ bias in the combination $\left(1+2\gamma -\beta \right)/3$ parameterizing the Schwarzschild-type periehlion precession of Mercury. The realistic uncertainties of the planetary precessions may be up to one order of magnitude larger. I discuss their potential multiple uses in fundamental physics, astronomy, and planetology.

The near-infrared is populated by numerous emission lines radiated from the Earth's atmosphere, and these emission lines are often several orders of magnitude brighter in intensity than the typical astrophysical science target. The subtraction of these emission lines, sky subtraction, can create large systematic errors in ground-based astronomical spectra effectively limiting the number of usable resolution elements. A more effective sky subtraction, and the reduction of the systematic errors due to the sky subtraction process, is a major hurdle which ground-based astronomy must overcome to increase the amount of usable spectrum, and to be able to observe fainter scientific targets. Large high-quality data sets such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in themselves present opportunities for a reduction of the systematic sky subtraction errors through self-calibration. The sky residual correction method of Wild & Hewett is one such self-calibration technique which uses principal component analysis to reduce the systematic sky residual errors present in SDSS spectra. We apply sky residual corrections to the SDSS, Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, and Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment data sets to optimize the number of subtraction components, and to quantify the reduction of the systematic errors in the science spectra. Finally as a proof of concept we use the sky-residual-corrected SDSS luminous red galaxy spectra to search for gravitationally lensed emission line Galaxies.

Astrometric ground-based catalogs usually suffer from varied systematic errors. These systematic errors were hard to detect because there was no independent reference catalog complete to very faint limiting magnitudes (∼20 mag). This situation has changed since the second data release of the Gaia mission (Gaia DR2). We aim to investigate positions and the proper-motion (PM) system of two ground-based catalogs, the UCAC5 and PPMXL, referring to the Gaia DR2. The individual position in the Gaia DR2 is transferred by its PM to the epoch of other catalogs for comparison. Systematic errors that depend on the magnitude, color, and sky regions in the UCAC5 and PPMXL could be clearly seen. A different behavior between the northern and southern sky is found in the PPMXL, which is possibly inherited from the imperfect calibration of the PM system. Besides, we perform a quantitative analysis of global differences for positions and PMs by the vector spherical harmonics method in terms of 3 rotation angles, 3 glide parameters, and 10 quadrupole parameters. We find a large glide component of ∼8 mas along Z-axis and a rotation angle of ∼5 mas about Z-axis for positional offsets between the PPMXL and Gaia DR2. These terms are found to be insignificant between the UCAC5 and Gaia DR2. We show that the position and PM system of the UCAC5, a new reduction of ground-based observations in the frame of the Gaia reference system, has been largely improved. This indicates that systematic errors in positions and PMs obtained from ground-based observations are mostly impacted by a relatively poor reference catalog. But these observations can be reconstructed in the frame of a space-based reference catalog. In this sense, our results justify the tradition of space-calibrated ground-based astrometric catalogs.

We present a new eclipsing binary (EB) showing multiperiodic oscillations using the first three sectors of Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) photometry. The eclipse and pulsation light curves of TIC 309658221 were modeled using an iterative method to obtain a consistent photometric solution. The TESS target is a circular-orbit, detached binary system with a mass ratio of 0.349, an inclination angle of 8042, and a temperature difference of 847 K between the components. The primary component of the system lies near the red edge of the δ Sct instability region on the main-sequence band in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. Multiple frequency analyses were applied to the eclipse-subtracted residuals after removing the binary effects in the observed data. These resulted in the detection of 26 frequencies, of which ${f}_{1}-{f}_{6}$ were independent pulsation frequencies. The 20 other frequencies could be mainly caused by orbital harmonics (f₈ and f₁₁) or combination frequencies. The period ratios and pulsation constants of the ${f}_{1}-{f}_{6}$ frequencies are in the ranges of ${P}_{\mathrm{pul}}/{P}_{\mathrm{orb}}=0.010\mbox{--}0.013$ and Q =0.027–0.036 days, respectively, which are typical of δ Sct type. The results reveal that TIC 309658221 is an eclipsing δ Sct star with an orbital period of 7.5952 days and pulsation frequencies of 9.94–13.01 day⁻¹. This work demonstrates that the two-minute cadence observations of TESS are very useful for the study of pulsating EBs with multiple frequencies and low amplitudes.

In this paper we present three new extrasolar planets from the Qatar Exoplanet Survey. Qatar-8b is a hot Saturn, with M_P = 0.37 M_J and R_P = 1.3 R_J, orbiting a solar-like star every P_orb = 3.7 days. Qatar-9b is a hot Jupiter with a mass of M_P = 1.2 M_J and a radius of R_P = 1 R_J, in an orbit of P_orb = 1.5 days around a low mass, M_⋆ = 0.7 M_⊙, mid-K main-sequence star. Finally, Qatar-10b is a hot, T_eq ∼ 2000 K, sub-Jupiter mass planet, M_P = 0.7 M_J, with a radius of R_P = 1.54 R_J and an orbital period of P_orb = 1.6 days, placing it on the edge of the sub-Jupiter desert.

We present multiband photometric observations of nine Centaurs. Five of the targets are known active Centaurs (167P/CINEOS, 174P/Echeclus, P/2008 CL94, P/2011 S1, and C/2012 Q1), and the other four are inactive Centaurs belonging to the redder of the two known color subpopulations (83982 Crantor, 121725 Aphidas, 250112 2002 KY14, and 281371 2008 FC76). We measure the optical colors of eight targets and carry out a search for cometary activity. In addition to the four inactive Centaurs, three of the five active Centaurs showed no signs of activity at the time of observation, yielding the first published color measurements of the bare nuclei of 167P and P/2008 CL94 without possible coma contamination. Activity was detected on P/2011 S1 and C/2012 Q1, yielding relatively high estimated mass loss rates of 140 ± 20 and 250 ± 40 kg s⁻¹, respectively. The colors of the dormant nuclei are consistent with the previously published colors, indicating that any effect of non-geometric scattering from Centaur dust or blanketing debris on the measured colors is minimal. The results of our observations are discussed in the context of the cause of Centaur activity and the color distributions of active and inactive Centaurs. We suggest that the relative paucity of red Centaurs with low-perihelion orbits may not be directly due to the blanketing of the surface by unweathered particulates, but could instead be a result of the higher levels of thermal processing on low-perihelion Centaurs in general.

Using a global network of small telescopes, we have obtained light curves of Proxima Centauri at 329 observation epochs from 2006 to 2017. The planet Proxima b discovered by Anglada-Escudé et al. with an orbital period of 11.186 days has an a priori transit probability of ∼1.5%; if it transits, the predicted transit depth is about 5 mmag. In Blank et al., we analyzed 96 of our light curves that overlapped with predicted transit ephemerides from previously published tentative transit detections and found no evidence in our data that would corroborate claims of transits with a period of 11.186 days. Here we broaden our analysis, using 262 high-quality light curves from our data set to search for any periodic transit-like events over a range of periods from 1 to 30 days. We also inject a series of simulated planet transits and find that our data are sufficiently sensitive to have detected transits of 5 mmag depth, with recoverability ranging from ∼100% for an orbital period of 1 day to ∼20% for an orbital period of 20 days for the parameter spaces tested. Specifically, at the 11.186-day period and 5 mmag transit depth, we rule out transits in our data with high confidence. We are able to rule out virtually all transits of other planets at periods shorter than 5 days and depths greater than 3 mmag; however, we cannot confidently rule out transits at the period of Proxima b due to incomplete orbital phase coverage and a lack of sensitivity to transits shallower than 4 mmag.

We report the discovery of 11 newly found quasars behind the stellar disks of the spiral galaxies M31 and M33 in the fields covered by the Local Group Galaxy Survey. Their redshifts range from 0.37 to 2.15. Most are X-ray, ultraviolet, and infrared sources. We also report the discovery of five normal background galaxies. Most of these objects were observed owing to their anomalous colors, as part of a program (reported elsewhere) to confirm spectroscopically candidate red supergiant plus B-star binaries; others were discovered as part of our identification of early-type massive stars based upon their optical colors. There are 15 previously known quasars in the same fields, for a grand total of 26, 15 behind M31 and 11 behind M33. Of these, only eight were discovered as part of surveys for quasars; the rest were found accidentally. The quasars are well distributed in the M31 and M33 fields, except for the inner regions, and have the potential for being good probes of the interstellar medium in these stellar disks, as well as serving as zero-point calibrators for Gaia parallaxes.

We present a survey of the rotational and physical properties of the dynamically low inclination Cold Classical (CC) trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). The CCs are primordial planetesimals and contain information about our solar system and planet formation over the first 100 million years after the Sun's formation. We obtained partial/complete light curves for 42 CCs. We use statistical tests to derive general properties about the shape and rotational frequency distributions of the CCs and infer that they have slower rotations and are more elongated/deformed than the other TNOs. On the basis of the full light curves, the mean rotational period of the CCs is 9.48 ± 1.53 hr compared to 8.45 ± 0.58 hr for the rest of the TNOs. About 65% of the TNOs have a light-curve amplitude below 0.2 mag compared to the 36% of CCs with small amplitude. We present the full light curve of one likely contact binary, 2004 VC₁₃₁, with a potential density of 1 g cm⁻³ for a mass ratio of 0.4. We have hints that 2004 MU₈ and 2004 VU₇₅ are perhaps potential contact binaries, on the basis of their sparse light curves, but more data are needed to confirm this finding. Assuming equal-sized binaries, we find that ∼10%–25% of the CCs could be contact binaries, suggesting a deficit of contact binaries in this population compared to previous estimates and to the (∼40%–50%) possible contact binaries in the Plutino population. These estimates are lower limits and may increase if nonequal-sized contact binaries are considered. Finally, we put in context the results of the New Horizons flyby of 2014 MU₆₉.

The collections of spectral energy distributions (SEDs) in the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) CALSPEC database are augmented by 19 infrared (IR) SEDs from Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) IR grism spectra. Together, the two IR grisms, G102 and G141, cover the 0.8–1.7 μm range with resolutions of R = 200 and 150, respectively. These new WFC3 SEDs overlap existing CALSPEC Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) standard star flux distributions at 0.8–1 μm with agreement to ≲1%. Some CALSPEC standards already have near-IR camera and multi-object spectrogragh (NICMOS) SEDs; but in their overlap region at 0.8–1.7 μm, the WFC3 data have better wavelength accuracy, better spectral resolution, better repeatability, and, consequently, better flux distributions of ∼1% accuracy in our CALSPEC absolute flux SEDs versus ∼2% for NICMOS. With the improved SEDs in the WFC3 range, the modeled extrapolations to 32 μm for the James Webb Space Telescope flux standards begin to lose precision longward of the 1.7 μm WFC3 limit, instead of at the 1.0-μm-long wavelength limit for STIS. For example, the extrapolated IR flux longward of 1.7 μm for 1808347 increases by ∼1% for the model fit to the data with WFC3, instead of just to the STIS SED alone.

The dwarf planet (136108) Haumea has an intriguing combination of unique physical properties: near-breakup spin, two regular satellites, and an unexpectedly compact family. While these properties point toward formation by a collision, there is no self-consistent and reasonably probable formation hypothesis that can connect the unusually rapid spin and low relative velocities of Haumea family members ("Haumeans"). We explore and test the proposed formation hypotheses (catastrophic collision, graze-and-merge, and satellite collision) in detail. We flexibly parameterize the properties of the collision (e.g., the collision location) and use simple models for the unique three-dimensional velocity ejection field expected from each model to generate simulated families. These are then compared to the observed Kuiper Belt objects using Bayesian parameter inference, including a mixture model that robustly allows for interlopers from the background population. After testing our methodology, we find that the best match to the observed Haumeans is an essentially isotropic ejection field with a typical velocity of 150 m s⁻¹. The graze-and-merge formation hypothesis—in which Haumeans are shed due to excess angular momentum—is clearly disfavored because the observed Haumeans are not oriented in a plane. The satellite collision model is also disfavored. Including these new constraints, we present a detailed discussion of the formation hypotheses, including variations, some of which are tested. Some new hypotheses are proposed (a cratering collision and a collision where Haumea's upper layers are "missing") and scrutinized. We do not identify a satisfactory formation hypothesis, but we do propose several avenues of additional investigation. In the process of these analyses, we identify many new candidate Haumeans and dynamically confirm seven of them as consistent with the observed family. We also confirm that Haumeans have a shallow size distribution and discuss implications for the discovery and identification of new Haumeans.

We present a sample of 74,216 M and L dwarfs constructed from two existing catalogs of cool dwarfs spectroscopically identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We cross-matched the SDSS catalog with Gaia DR2 to obtain parallaxes and proper motions and modified the quality cuts suggested by the Gaia Collaboration to make them suitable for late-M and L dwarfs. We also provide relations between Gaia colors and absolute magnitudes with spectral type and conclude that (G − ${G}_{\mathrm{RP}}$) has the tightest relation to spectral type for M and L dwarfs. In addition, we study magnetic activity as a function of position on the color–magnitude diagram, finding that Hα magnetically active stars have, on average, redder colors and/or brighter magnitudes than inactive stars. This effect cannot be explained by youth alone and might indicate that active stars are magnetically inflated, binaries, and/or high metallicity. Moreover, we find that vertical velocity and vertical action dispersion are correlated with Hα emission, confirming that these two parameters are age indicators. We also find that stars below the main sequence have high tangential velocity, which is consistent with a low metallicity and old population of stars that belong to the halo or thick disk.

We present the analysis of the microlensing event OGLE-2015-BLG-1670, detected in a high-extinction field very close to the Galactic plane. Due to the dust extinction along the line of sight, this event was too faint to be detected before it reached the peak of magnification. The microlensing light-curve models indicate a high-magnification event with a maximum of A_max ≳ 200, very sensitive to planetary deviations. An anomaly in the light curve has been densely observed by the microlensing surveys MOA, KMTNet, and OGLE. From the light-curve modeling, we find a planetary anomaly characterized by a planet-to-host mass ratio, $q=\left({1.00}_{-0.16}^{+0.18}\right)\times {10}^{-4}$, at the peak recently identified in the mass-ratio function of microlensing planets. Thus, this event is interesting to include in future statistical studies about planet demography. We have explored the possible degeneracies and find two competing planetary models resulting from the $s\leftrightarrow 1/s$ degeneracy. However, because the projected separation is very close to s = 1, the physical implications for the planet for the two solutions are quite similar, except for the value of s. By combining the light-curve parameters with a Galactic model, we have estimated the planet mass M₂ = ${17.9}_{-8.8}^{+9.6}$${M}_{\oplus }$ and the lens distance ${D}_{{\rm{L}}}$ = ${6.7}_{-1.3}^{+1.0}$$\mathrm{kpc}$, corresponding to a Neptune-mass planet close to the Galactic bulge. Such events with a low absolute latitude ($| b| \approx 1\buildrel{\circ}\over{.} 1$) are subject to both high extinction and more uncertain source distances, two factors that may affect the mass measurements in the provisional Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope fields. More events are needed to investigate the potential trade-off between the higher lensing rate and the difficulty in measuring masses in these low-latitude fields.

We present the X-ray properties of 108 Dust-Obscured Galaxies (DOGs; F_{24 μm}/F_R > 1000) in the COSMOS field, all of which are detected in at least three far-infrared bands with the Herschel Observatory. Out of the entire sample, 22 are individually detected in the hard 2–8 keV X-ray band by the Chandra COSMOS Legacy survey, allowing us to classify them as AGN. Six (27%) of them are Compton-thick AGN candidates with column densities N_H > 10²⁴ cm⁻², while 15 are moderately obscured AGNs with 10²² < N_H < 10²⁴ cm⁻². Additionally, we estimate AGN contributions to the IR luminosity (8–1000 μm rest-frame) greater than 20% for 19 DOGs based on SED decomposition using Spitzer/MIPS 24 μm and the five Herschel bands (100–500 μm). Only 7 of these are detected in X-rays individually. We performed an X-ray stacking analysis for the 86 undetected DOGs. We find that the AGN fraction in DOGs increases with 24 μm flux and that it is higher than that of the general 24 μm population. However, no significant difference is found when considering only X-ray detections. This strongly motivates the combined use of X-ray and far-IR surveys to successfully probe a wider population of AGNs, particularly for the most obscured ones.

Young, low-mass stars in the solar neighborhood are vital for completing the mass function for nearby, young coeval groups, establishing a more complete census for evolutionary studies, and providing targets for direct-imaging exoplanet and/or disk studies. We present properties derived from high-resolution optical spectra for 336 candidate young nearby, low-mass stars. These include measurements of radial velocities and age diagnostics such as Hα and Li λ6707 equivalent widths. Combining our radial velocities with astrometry from Gaia DR2, we provide full 3D kinematics for the entire sample. We combine the measured spectroscopic youth information with additional age diagnostics (e.g., X-ray and UV fluxes, color–magnitude diagram positions) and kinematics to evaluate potential membership in nearby, young moving groups and associations. We identify 77 objects in our sample as bona fide members of 10 different moving groups, 14 of which are completely new members or have had their group membership reassigned. We also reject 44 previously proposed candidate moving group members. Furthermore, we have newly identified or confirmed the youth of numerous additional stars that do not belong to any currently known group and find 69 comoving systems using Gaia DR2 astrometry. We also find evidence that the Carina association is younger than previously thought, with an age similar to the β Pictoris moving group (∼22 Myr).

We examine the ability of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to detect and improve our understanding of planetary systems in the Kepler field. By modeling the expected transits of all confirmed and candidate planets detected by Kepler as expected to be observed by TESS, we provide a probabilistic forecast of the detection of each Kepler planet in TESS data. We find that TESS has a greater than 50% chance of detecting 260 of these planets at the 3σ level in one sector of observations and an additional 120 planets in two sectors. Most of these are large planets in short orbits around their host stars, although a small number of rocky planets are expected to be recovered. Most of these systems have only one known transiting planet; in only ∼5% of known multiply transiting systems do we anticipate more than one planet to be recovered. When these planets are recovered, we expect TESS to be a powerful tool to characterize transit timing variations. Using Kepler-88 (KOI-142) as an example, we show that TESS will improve measurements of planet–star mass ratios and orbital parameters, and significantly reduce the transit timing uncertainty in future years. Because TESS will be most sensitive to hot Jupiters, we research whether TESS will be able to detect tidal orbital decay in these systems. We find two confirmed planetary systems (Kepler-2 b and Kepler-13 b) and five candidate systems that will be good candidates to detect tidal decay.

This is the fourth paper in a series of publications aiming at discovering quasars at the epoch of reionization. In this paper, we expand our search for z ∼ 7 quasars to the footprint of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Data Release One (DR1), covering ∼5000 deg² of a new area. We select z ∼ 7 quasar candidates using deep optical, near-infrared (near-IR) and mid-infrared (mid-IR) photometric data from the DES DR1, the VISTA Hemisphere Survey, the VISTA Kilo-degree Infrared Galaxy survey, the UKIRT InfraRed Deep Sky Surveys—Large Area Survey (ULAS), and the unblurred coadds from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explore (WISE) images (unWISE). The inclusion of DES and unWISE photometry allows the search to reach ∼1 mag fainter, comparing to our z ≳ 6.5 quasar survey in the northern sky. We report the initial discovery and spectroscopic confirmation of six new luminous quasars at z > 6.4, including an object at z = 7.02, the fourth quasar yet known at z > 7, from a small fraction of candidates observed thus far. Based on the recent measurement of z ∼ 6.7 quasar luminosity function using the quasar sample from our survey in the northern sky, we estimate that there will be ≳55 quasars at z > 6.5 at M₁₄₅₀ < −24.5 in the full DES footprint.

We analyze the highest-resolution millimeter continuum and near-infrared (NIR) scattered-light images presented to date of the circumbinary disk orbiting V4046 Sgr, a ∼20-Myr-old actively accreting, close binary T Tauri star system located a mere 72.4 pc from Earth. We observed the disk with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) at 870 μm during Cycle 4, and we analyze these data in conjunction with archival NIR (H band) polarimetric images obtained with SPHERE/IRDIS on the ESO Very Large Telescope. At 03 (20 au) resolution, the 870 μm image reveals a marginally resolved ring that peaks at ∼32 au and has an extension of ∼90 au. We infer a lower limit on a dust mass of ∼60.0 M_⊕ within the 870 μm ring, and confirm that the ring is well aligned with the larger -scale gaseous disk. A second, inner dust ring is also tentatively detected in the ALMA observations; its position appears coincident with the inner (∼14 au radius) ring detected in scattered light. Using synthetic 870 μm and H-band images obtained from disk–planet interaction simulations, we attempt to constrain the mass of the putative planet orbiting at 20 au. Our trials suggest that a circumbinary Jovian-mass planet may be responsible for generating the dust ring and gap structures detected within the disk. We discuss the longevity of the gas-rich disk orbiting V4046 Sgr in the context of the binary nature of the system.

Light-curve inversion (LI) is a powerful imaging technique and widely used in stellar surface imaging and starspot reconstruction. It can be used to reconstruct a high-resolution image from a light curve of a star via the conversion from temporal resolution to spatial resolution. However, as an ill-posed problem, accurate resulting spot-to-photosphere brightness ratio (SBR) is hard to achieve because of the limitation of the single regularization of the traditional LI method. To address the existing problems, we propose a new method, namely LI with bipartite regularization (LIBR), to extend the capability of LI. This new method employs adaptive SBR adjustment in each iteration of the fitting process to obtain accurate intensity distribution. As shown in the simulations, the SBR produced by the LIBR method indicates that the model can mimic the actual stellar surface as closely as possible. Therefore, it becomes possible to be used for analyzing starspots from massive high-quality observed data derived from the Kepler Space Telescope and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite.

Phase curves and secondary eclipses of gaseous exoplanets are diagnostic of atmospheric composition and meteorology, and the long observational baseline and high photometric precision from the Kepler mission make its data set well suited for exploring phase curve variability, which provides additional insights into atmospheric dynamics. Observations of the hot Jupiter Kepler-76b span more than 1000 days, providing an ideal data set to search for atmospheric variability. In this study, we find that Kepler-76b's secondary eclipse, with a depth of 87 ± 6 ppm, corresponds to an effective temperature of 2830${}_{-30}^{+50}$ K. Our results also show clear indications of variability in Kepler-76b's atmospheric emission and reflectivity, with the phase curve amplitude typically 50.5 ± 1.3 ppm but varying between 35 and 70 ppm over tens of days. As is common for hot Jupiters, Kepler-76b's phase curve shows a discernible offset of $\left(9\pm 1.3\right)^\circ$ eastward of the substellar point and varying in concert with the amplitude. These variations may arise from the advance and retreat of thermal structures and cloud formations in Kepler-76b's atmosphere; the resulting thermal perturbations may couple with the super-rotation expected to transport aerosols, giving rise to a feedback loop. Looking forward, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission can provide new insight into planetary atmospheres, with good prospects to observe both secondary eclipses and phase curves among targets from the mission. TESS's increased sensitivity in red wavelengths as compared to Kepler means that it will probably probe different aspects of planetary atmospheres.

We present determinations of the meteoroid differential mass index, s, using over a decade of meteor observations from the Southern Argentina Agile MEteor Radar (SAAMER). For this, we employ an autonomous statistical technique to determine this parameter from the measured radar echo amplitudes. Unlike previous studies, we examine the role of the system noise in the determination of this parameter and found that if not taken into account appropriately, the results can yield significant over estimations of the mass index. In general we found that a value of s = 2.0 represents SAAMER's results in general agreement with recent studies performed in the northern hemisphere. We explore both the index interannual and seasonal variability and, unlike previous studies, we found them to be constant, except during the presence of the Southern δ Aquariids meteor shower which is so strong that it dominates the meteor counts when present. Our study suggests that using the maximum echo amplitude for these studies is not ideal as it can be biased by many factors which make the inaccuracies larger than the precision estimated by the fitting routine. A method that results in a more direct estimate of the electron line density would be required which takes into account range, gain pattern, system noise, etc.

We identify 814 discrete H i clouds in 40 dwarf irregular galaxies from the LITTLE THINGS survey using an automated cloud-finding algorithm. The cloud masses range from ∼10³ to 10⁷M_⊙, have a surface density averaged over all of the clouds of ∼9.65 M_⊙ pc⁻², and constitute 2%–53% of the total H i mass of the host galaxy. For individual clouds, the mass including He varies with cloud radius as $\mathrm{log}\,{M}_{\mathrm{gas}}=(2.11\pm 0.04)$ × $\mathrm{log}\,{R}_{\mathrm{cl}}\,+(0.78\pm 0.08)$ and the internal velocity dispersion varies as $\mathrm{log}\,{V}_{\mathrm{disp}}=0.5$ × $\mathrm{log}\,{R}_{\mathrm{cl}}-0.57\pm 0.21$. The H i clouds tend to be in the outer regions of the galaxies, with 72% of the galaxies having more than 70% of their clouds outside one disk scale length and 32% of the galaxies having more than 50% of their clouds outside the radius encircling the H ii emission. Thirty-six percent of the clouds are essentially non-self-gravitating from H i alone, with a virial parameter that exceeds α_vir ∼ 10, and 5% have α_vir ≤ 2. We estimate the missing molecular mass, based on the total star formation rate and a typical molecular consumption time of 2 Gyr, as observed in CO-rich galaxies. The resulting molecular fraction has a value averaged over the galaxies of 0.23 and correlates with both the surface density of star formation and the fraction of H i clouds in the outer regions. We conclude that a significant fraction of the inner parts of these dwarf galaxy disks is in the form of dark molecular gas, and that this fraction could be high enough to make the inner disks mildly gravitationally unstable as a precursor to star formation.

Ariel has been selected as ESA's M4 mission for launch in 2028 and is designed for the characterization of a large and diverse population of exoplanetary atmospheres to provide insights into planetary formation and evolution within our Galaxy. Here we present a study of Ariel's capability to observe currently known exoplanets and predicted Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) discoveries. We use the Ariel radiometric model (ArielRad) to simulate the instrument performance and find that ∼2000 of these planets have atmospheric signals which could be characterized by Ariel. This list of potential planets contains a diverse range of planetary and stellar parameters. From these we select an example mission reference sample (MRS), comprised of 1000 diverse planets to be completed within the primary mission life, which is consistent with previous studies. We also explore the mission capability to perform an in-depth survey into the atmospheres of smaller planets, which may be enriched or secondary. Earth-sized planets and super-Earths with atmospheres heavier than H/He will be more challenging to observe spectroscopically. However, by studying the time required to observe ∼110 Earth-sized/super-Earths, we find that Ariel could have substantial capability for providing in-depth observations of smaller planets. Trade-offs between the number and type of planets observed will form a key part of the selection process and this list of planets will continually evolve with new exoplanet discoveries replacing predicted detections. The Ariel target list will be constantly updated and the MRS re-selected to ensure maximum diversity in the population of planets studied during the primary mission life.

Continuum normalization of echelle spectra is an important data analysis step that is difficult to automate. Polynomial fitting requires a reasonably high-order model to follow the steep slope of the blaze function. However, in the presence of deep spectral lines, a high-order polynomial fit can result in ripples in the normalized continuum that increase errors in spectral analysis. Here, we present two algorithms for flattening the spectrum continuum. The Alpha-shape Fitting to Spectrum algorithm is completely data driven, using an alpha shape to obtain an initial estimate of the blaze function. The Alpha-shape and Lab Source Fitting to Spectrum algorithm incorporates a continuum constraint from a laboratory source reference spectrum for the blaze function estimation. These algorithms are tested on a simulated spectrum, where we demonstrate improved normalization compared to polynomial regression for continuum fitting. We show an additional application, using the algorithms for mitigation of spatially correlated quantum efficiency variations and fringing in the charge-coupled device detector of the EXtreme PREcision Spectrometer.

We present 2.9–4.1 μm integral field spectroscopy of the L4+L4 brown dwarf binary HD 130948BC, obtained with the Arizona Lenslets for Exoplanet Spectroscopy (ALES) mode of the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer. The HD 130948 system is a hierarchical triple system, in which the G2V primary is joined by two co-orbiting brown dwarfs. By combining the age of the system with the dynamical masses and luminosities of the substellar companions, we can test evolutionary models of cool brown dwarfs and extrasolar giant planets. Previous near-infrared studies suggest a disagreement between HD 130948BC luminosities and those derived from evolutionary models. We obtained spatially resolved, low-resolution (R ∼ 20) L-band spectra of HD 130948B and C to extend the wavelength coverage into the thermal infrared. Jointly using JHK photometry and ALES L-band spectra for HD 130948BC, we derive atmospheric parameters that are consistent with parameters derived from evolutionary models. We leverage the consistency of these atmospheric quantities to favor a younger age (0.50 ± 0.07 Gyr) of the system compared to the older age (${0.79}_{-0.15}^{+0.22}$ Gyr) determined with gyrochronology in order to address the luminosity discrepancy.

We present the discovery of HD 221416 b, the first transiting planet identified by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) for which asteroseismology of the host star is possible. HD 221416 b (HIP 116158, TOI-197) is a bright (V = 8.2 mag), spectroscopically classified subgiant that oscillates with an average frequency of about 430 μHz and displays a clear signature of mixed modes. The oscillation amplitude confirms that the redder TESS bandpass compared to Kepler has a small effect on the oscillations, supporting the expected yield of thousands of solar-like oscillators with TESS 2 minute cadence observations. Asteroseismic modeling yields a robust determination of the host star radius (R_⋆ = 2.943 ± 0.064 R_⊙), mass (M_⋆ = 1.212 ± 0.074 M_⊙), and age (4.9 ± 1.1 Gyr), and demonstrates that it has just started ascending the red-giant branch. Combining asteroseismology with transit modeling and radial-velocity observations, we show that the planet is a "hot Saturn" (R_p = 9.17 ± 0.33 R_⊕) with an orbital period of ∼14.3 days, irradiance of F = 343 ± 24 F_⊕, and moderate mass (M_p = 60.5 ± 5.7 M_⊕) and density (ρ_p = 0.431 ± 0.062 g cm⁻³). The properties of HD 221416 b show that the host-star metallicity–planet mass correlation found in sub-Saturns (4–8 R_⊕) does not extend to larger radii, indicating that planets in the transition between sub-Saturns and Jupiters follow a relatively narrow range of densities. With a density measured to ∼15%, HD 221416 b is one of the best characterized Saturn-size planets to date, augmenting the small number of known transiting planets around evolved stars and demonstrating the power of TESS to characterize exoplanets and their host stars using asteroseismology.

The Physics of the Accelerating Universe (PAU) Survey goal is to obtain photometric redshifts (photo-z) and spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of astronomical objects with a resolution roughly one order of magnitude better than current broadband (BB) photometric surveys. To accomplish this, a new large field-of-view (FoV) camera (PAUCam) has been designed, built, and commissioned and is now operated at the William Herschel Telescope (WHT). With the current WHT prime focus corrector, the camera covers an ∼1° diameter FoV, of which only the inner ∼40' diameter is unvignetted. The focal plane consists of a mosaic of 18 2k × 4k Hamamatsu fully depleted CCDs, with high quantum efficiency up to 1 μm in wavelength. To maximize the detector coverage within the FoV, filters are placed in front of the CCDs inside the camera cryostat (made out of carbon fiber) using a challenging movable tray system. The camera uses a set of 40 narrowband filters ranging from ∼4500 to ∼8500 Å complemented with six standard BB filters, ugrizY. The PAU Survey aims to cover roughly 100 deg² over fields with existing deep photometry and galaxy shapes to obtain accurate photometric redshifts for galaxies down to i_AB ∼ 22.5, also detecting galaxies down to i_AB ∼ 24 with less precision in redshift. With this data set, we will be able to measure intrinsic alignments and galaxy clustering and perform galaxy evolution studies in a new range of densities and redshifts. Here we describe the PAU camera, its first commissioning results, and its performance.

We present new radial velocity (RV) measurements for 11 candidate young very-low-mass stars and brown dwarfs, with spectral types from M7 to L7. Candidate young objects were identified by features indicative of low surface gravity in their optical and/or near-infrared spectra. RV measurements are derived from high-resolution (R =λ/Δλ = 20,000) J-band spectra taken with NIRSPEC at the Keck Observatory. We combine RVs with proper motions and trigonometric distances to calculate three-dimensional space positions and motions and to evaluate membership probabilities for nearby young moving groups (NYMGs). We propose 2MASS J00452143+1634446 (L2β, J = 13.06) as an RV standard given the precision and stability of measurements from three different studies. We test the precision and accuracy of our RV measurements as a function of spectral type of the comparison object, finding that RV results are essentially indistinguishable even with differences of ±5 spectral subtypes. We also investigate the strengths of gravity-sensitive K i lines at 1.24–1.25 μm and evaluate their consistency with other age indicators. We confirm or reconfirm four brown dwarf members of NYMGs—2MASS J00452143+1634446, WISE J00470038+6803543, 2MASS J011747483403258, and 2MASS J193555952846343—and their previous age estimates. We identify one new brown dwarf member of the Carina-Near moving group, 2M2154−10. The remaining objects do not appear to be members of any known NYMGs, despite their spectral signatures of youth. These results add to the growing number of very-low-mass objects exhibiting signatures of youth that lack likely membership in a known NYMG, thereby compounding the mystery regarding local, low-density star formation.

Currently, we have only limited means to probe the presence of planets at large orbital separations. Foreman-Mackey et al. searched for long-period transiting planets in the Kepler light curves using an automated pipeline. Here, we apply their pipeline, with minor modifications, to a larger sample and use updated stellar parameters from Gaia DR2. The latter boosts the stellar radii for most of the planet candidates found by FM16, invalidating a number of them as false positives. We identify 15 candidates, including two new ones. All have sizes from 0.3 to 1 R_J, and all but two have periods from 2 to 10 yr. We report two main findings based on this sample. First, the planet occurrence rate for the above size and period ranges is ${0.70}_{-0.20}^{+0.40}$ planets per Sun-like star, with the frequency of cold Jupiters agreeing with that from radial velocity surveys. Planet occurrence rises with decreasing planet size, roughly describable as ${dN}/d\mathrm{log}R\propto {R}^{\alpha }$ with $\alpha =-{1.6}_{-0.9}^{+1.0}$, i.e., Neptune-sized planets are some four times more common than Jupiter-sized ones. Second, five out of our 15 candidates orbit stars with known transiting planets at shorter periods, including one with five inner planets. We interpret this high incidence rate to mean: (1) almost all our candidates should be genuine; (2) across a large orbital range (from ∼0.05 to a few astronomical units), mutual inclinations in these systems are at most a few degrees; and (3) large outer planets exist almost exclusively in systems with small inner planets.

The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) contains a 10-hole non-redundant mask (NRM), enabling interferometric resolution in complement to its coronagraphic capabilities. The NRM operates both in spectroscopic (integral field spectrograph, henceforth IFS) and polarimetric configurations. NRM observations were taken between 2013 and 2016 to characterize its performance. Most observations were taken in spectroscopic mode, with the goal of obtaining precise astrometry and spectroscopy of faint companions to bright stars. We find a clear correlation between residual wavefront error measured by the adaptive optic system and the contrast sensitivity by comparing phase errors in observations of the same source, taken on different dates. We find a typical 5σ contrast sensitivity of (2–3) × 10⁻³ at ∼λ/D. We explore the accuracy of spectral extraction of secondary components of binary systems by recovering the signal from a simulated source injected into several data sets. We outline data reduction procedures unique to GPI's IFS and describe a newly public data pipeline used for the presented analyses. We demonstrate recovery of astrometry and spectroscopy of two known companions to HR 2690 and HD 142527. NRM+polarimetry observations achieve differential visibility precision of σ ∼ 0.4% in the best case. We discuss its limitations on Gemini-S/GPI for resolving inner regions of protoplanetary disks and prospects for future upgrades. We summarize lessons learned in observing with NRM in spectroscopic and polarimetric modes.

Wide-field small aperture telescopes are the workhorses of fast sky surveying. Transient discovery is one of their main tasks. Classification of candidate transient images between real sources and artifacts with high accuracy is an important step for transient discovery. In this paper, we propose two transient classification methods based on neural networks. The first method uses the convolutional neural network without pooling layers to classify transient images with a low sampling rate. The second method assumes transient images as one-dimensional signals and is based on recurrent neural networks with long short-term memory and a leaky ReLu activation function in each detection layer. Testing real observation data, we find that although these two methods can both achieve more than 94% classification accuracy, they have different classification properties for different targets. Based on this result, we propose to use the ensemble learning method to increase the classification accuracy further, to more than 97%.

We present spatially resolved millimeter maps of Neptune between 95 and 242 GHz taken with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in 2016–2017. The millimeter weighting functions peak between 1 and 10 bar on Neptune, lying in between the altitudes probed at visible/infrared and centimeter wavelengths. Thus, these observations provide important constraints on the atmospheric structure and dynamics of Neptune. We identify seven well-resolved latitudinal bands of discrete brightness temperature variations, on the order of 0.5–3 K in all three observed ALMA spectral bands. We model Neptune's brightness temperature using the radiative-transfer code Radio-BEAR and compare how various H₂S, CH₄, and ortho-/para-H₂ abundance profiles can fit the observed temperature variations across the disk. We find that observed variations in brightness temperature with latitude can be explained by variations in the H₂S profile that range from sub- to supersaturations at altitudes above the 10 bar pressure level, while variations in CH₄ improve the quality of fit near the equator. At the south polar cap, our best-fit model has a depleted deep atmospheric abundance of H₂S from 30 to only 1.5 times the protosolar value, while simultaneously depleting the CH₄ abundance. This pattern of enhancement and depletion of condensible species is consistent with a global circulation structure where enriched air rises at the midlatitudes (32°–12°S) and north of the equator (2°–20°N), and dry air descends at the poles (90°–66°S) and just south of the equator (12°S–2°N). Our analysis finds more complex structure near the equator than accounted for in previous circulation models.

The sensitivities of radial velocity (RV) surveys for exoplanet detection are extending to increasingly longer orbital periods, where companions with periods of several years are now being regularly discovered. Companions with orbital periods that exceed the duration of the survey manifest in the data as an incomplete orbit or linear trend, a feature that can either present as the sole detectable companion to the host star, or as an additional signal overlain on the signatures of previously discovered companion(s). A diagnostic that can confirm or constrain scenarios in which the trend is caused by an unseen stellar rather than planetary companion is the use of high-contrast imaging observations. Here, we present RV data from the Anglo-Australian Planet Search (AAPS) for 20 stars that show evidence of orbiting companions. Of these, six companions have resolved orbits, with three that lie in the planetary regime. Two of these (HD 92987b and HD 221420b) are new discoveries. Follow-up observations using the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument (DSSI) on the Gemini South telescope revealed that 5 of the 20 monitored companions are likely stellar in nature. We use the sensitivity of the AAPS and DSSI data to place constraints on the mass of the companions for the remaining systems. Our analysis shows that a planetary-mass companion provides the most likely self-consistent explanation of the data for many of the remaining systems.

The migration of Neptune's resonances through the proto–Kuiper Belt has been imprinted in the distribution of small bodies in the outer solar system. Here we analyze five published Neptune migration models in detail, focusing on the high pericenter distance (high-q) trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) near Neptune's 5:2 and 3:1 mean-motion resonances because they have large resonant populations, are outside the main classical belt, and are relatively isolated from other strong resonances. We compare the observationally biased output from these dynamical models with the detected TNOs from the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS) via its Survey Simulator. All four of the new OSSOS detections of high-q nonresonant TNOs are on the sunward side of the 5:2 and 3:1 resonances. We show that even after accounting for observation biases, this asymmetric distribution cannot be drawn from a uniform distribution of TNOs at 2σ confidence. As shown by previous work, our analysis here tentatively confirms that the dynamical model that uses grainy slow Neptune migration provides the best match to the real high-q TNO orbital data. However, due to extreme observational biases, we have very few high-q TNO discoveries with which to statistically constrain the models. Thus, this analysis provides a framework for future comparison between the output from detailed, dynamically classified Neptune migration simulations and the TNO discoveries from future well-characterized surveys. We show that a deeper survey (to a limiting r-magnitude of 26.0) with a similar survey area to OSSOS could statistically distinguish between these five Neptune migration models.

We demonstrate that the Discrete Persistent Source Extractor (DisPerSE) can be used with spectroscopic redshifts to define the cosmic web and its distance to galaxies in small-area deep fields. Here we analyze the use of DisPerSE to identify structure in observational data. We apply DisPerSE to the distribution of galaxies in the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field and find the best parameters to identify filaments. We compile a catalog of 11,500 spectroscopic redshifts from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) G10 data release. We analyze two-dimensional slices, extract filaments, and calculate the distance for each galaxy to its nearest filament. We find that redder and more massive galaxies are closer to filaments. To study the growth of galaxies across cosmic time, and environment, we are carrying out an H i survey covering redshifts of z = 0–0.45, the COSMOS H i Large Extragalactic Survey (CHILES). In addition we present the predicted H i mass fraction as a function of distance to filaments for the spectroscopically known galaxies in CHILES. Lastly we discuss the cold gas morphology of a few individual galaxies and their positions with respect to the cosmic web. The identification of the cosmic web, and the ability of CHILES to study the resolved neutral hydrogen morphologies and kinematics of galaxies, will allow future studies of the properties of neutral hydrogen in different cosmic web environments across the redshift range of z = 0.1–0.45.

WD 1145+017 is a unique white dwarf system that has a heavily polluted atmosphere, an infrared excess from a dust disk, numerous broad absorption lines from circumstellar gas, and changing transit features, likely from fragments of an actively disintegrating asteroid. Here, we present results from a large photometric and spectroscopic campaign with Hubble Space Telescope, Keck, Very Large Telescope (VLT), Spitzer, and many other smaller telescopes from 2015 to 2018. Somewhat surprisingly the ultraviolet (UV) transit depths are always shallower than those in the optical. We develop a model that can quantitatively explain the observed "bluing" and confirm the previous finding that: (1) the transiting objects, circumstellar gas, and white dwarf are all aligned along our line of sight; (2) the transiting object is blocking a larger fraction of the circumstellar gas than of the white dwarf itself. Because most circumstellar lines are concentrated in the UV, the UV flux appears to be less blocked compared to the optical during a transit, leading to a shallower UV transit. This scenario is further supported by the strong anticorrelation between optical transit depth and circumstellar line strength. We have yet to detect any wavelength-dependent transits caused by the transiting material around WD 1145+017.