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The Gemini High-resolution Optical SpecTrograph (GHOST) is the newest high-resolution spectrograph to be developed for a large-aperture telescope, recently deployed and commissioned at the Gemini-South telescope. In this paper, we present the first science results from the GHOST spectrograph taking during its commissioning runs. We have observed the bright metal-poor benchmark star HD 122563, along with two stars in the ultrafaint dwarf galaxy Reticulum II (Ret ii), one of which was previously identified as a candidate member, but did not have a previous detailed chemical abundance analysis. We find that this candidate (GDR3 0928) to be a bona fide member of Ret ii, and from a spectral synthesis analysis it is also revealed to be a CEMP- r star, with significant enhancements in several light elements (C, N, O, Na, Mg, and Si), in addition to featuring an r -process enhancement like many other Ret ii stars. The light-element enhancements in this star resemble the abundance patterns seen in the CEMP-no stars of other ultrafaint dwarf galaxies, and are thought to have been produced by an independent source from the r -process. These unusual abundance patterns are thought to be produced by faint supernovae, which may be produced by some of the earliest generations of stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one paper in a series reporting on a large reverberation mapping campaign of super-Eddington accreting massive black holes (SEAMBHs) in active galactic nuclei (AGNs), we present the results of 10 SEAMBHs monitored spectroscopically during 2015–2017. Six of them are observed for the first time, and have generally higher 5100 Å luminosities than the SEAMBHs monitored in our campaign from 2012 to 2015; the remaining four are repeat observations to check if their previous lags change. Similar to the previous SEAMBHs, the Hβ time lags of the newly observed objects are shorter than the values predicted by the canonical RHβ–L5100 relation of sub-Eddington AGNs, by factors of ∼2–6, depending on the accretion rate. The four previously observed objects have lags consistent with previous measurements. We provide linear regressions for the RHβ–L5100 relation, solely for the SEAMBH sample and for low-accretion AGNs. We find that the relative strength of Fe ii and the profile of the Hβ emission line can be used as proxies of accretion rate, showing that the shortening of Hβ lags depends on accretion rates. The recent SDSS-RM discovery of shortened Hβ lags in AGNs with low accretion rates provides compelling evidence for retrograde accretion onto the black hole. These evidences show that the canonical RHβ–L5100 relation holds only in AGNs with moderate accretion rates. At low accretion rates, it should be revised to include the effects of black hole spin, whereas the accretion rate itself becomes a key factor in the regime of high accretion rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the effects of a dark matter (DM) spike on the neighborhood of Sgr A*, the black hole (BH) in the center of the Milky Way. Our main goal is to investigate whether current and future astronomical observations of Sgr A* could detect the presence of such a DM spike. At first, we construct the spacetime metric around a static and spherically symmetric BH with a DM spike, and later, this solution is generalized for a rotating BH using the Newman–Janis–Azreg-Aďnou algorithm. For the static BH metric, we use the data of the S2 star orbiting Sgr A* to determine and analyze the constraints on the two free parameters characterizing the density and innermost boundary of the DM halo surrounding the BH. Furthermore, by making use of the available observational data for the DM spike density ρsp and the DM spike radius Rsp in the Milky Way, we consider a geometrically thick accretion disk model around the Sgr A* BH and demonstrate that the effect of DM distribution on the shadow radius and the image of the BH is considerably weak for realistic DM densities, becoming significant only when the DM density is of the order ρsp ∼ (10−19–10−20) g cm−3 near the BH. We further analyze the possibility of observing this effect with radio interferometry, simulating observations with an EHT-like array, and find that it is unlikely to be detectable in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The detection of gravitational waves (GWs) from a binary neutron star (BNS) has opened a new window on gravitational wave astronomy. With current sensitivities, detectable signals coming from compact objects like neutron stars turn out to be a crucial ingredient for probing their structure, composition, and evolution. Moreover, astronomical observations on pulsars and their mass–radius relations place important constraints on the dense matter equation of state. In this paper, we consider a homogeneous and unpaired charge-neutral three-flavor interacting quark matter with corrections that account for the moderately heavy strange quark instead of the naive MIT bag model. We perform a detailed analysis of strange quark stars in the context of the recently proposed 4D Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet (EGB) theory of gravity. However, this theory does not have standard 4D equations. Thus, we show that the equivalence of the actions in the regularized 4D EGB theory and in the original one is satisfied for a spherically symmetric spacetime. We pay particular attention to the possible existence of neutron stars of mass compatible with. Our findings suggest that the fourth-order correction parameter (a4) of the quantum chromodynamic perturbation and coupling constant α of the GB term play an important role in the mass–radius relation as well as the stability of the quark star. Finally, we compare the results with the well-measured limits of pulsars and their mass and radius extracted from the spectra of several X-ray compact sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Image coaddition is one of the most basic operations that astronomers perform. In Paper I, we presented the optimal ways to coadd images in order to detect faint sources and to perform flux measurements under the assumption that the noise is approximately Gaussian. Here, we build on these results and derive from first principles a coaddition technique that is optimal for any hypothesis testing and measurement (e.g., source detection, flux or shape measurements, and star/galaxy separation), in the background-noise-dominated case. This method has several important properties. The pixels of the resulting coadded image are uncorrelated. This image preserves all the information (from the original individual images) on all spatial frequencies. Any hypothesis testing or measurement that can be done on all the individual images simultaneously, can be done on the coadded image without any loss of information. The PSF of this image is typically as narrow, or narrower than the PSF of the best image in the ensemble. Moreover, this image is practically indistinguishable from a regular single image, meaning that any code that measures any property on a regular astronomical image can be applied to it unchanged. In particular, the optimal source detection statistic derived in Paper I is reproduced by matched filtering this image with its own PSF. This coaddition process, which we call proper coaddition, can be understood as the maximum signal-to-noise ratio measurement of the Fourier transform of the image, weighted in such a way that the noise in the entire Fourier domain is of equal variance. This method has important implications for multi-epoch seeing-limited deep surveys, weak lensing galaxy shape measurements, and diffraction-limited imaging via speckle observations. The last topic will be covered in depth in future papers. We provide an implementation of this algorithm in MATLAB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time-resolved X-ray spectroscopy of thermonuclear bursts observed from low-mass X-ray binaries offer a unique tool to measure neutron-star masses and radii. In this paper, we continue our systematic analysis of all the X-ray bursts observed with Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer from X-ray binaries. We determine the events that show clear evidence for photospheric radius expansion and measure the Eddington limits for these accreting neutron stars using the bolometric fluxes attained at the touchdown moments of each X-ray burst. We employ a Bayesian technique to investigate the degree to which the Eddington limit for each source remains constant between bursts. We find that for sources with a large number of radius expansion bursts, systematic uncertainties are at a 5%-10% level. Moreover, in six sources with only pairs of Eddington-limited bursts, the distribution of fluxes is consistent with a ~10% fractional dispersion. This indicates that the spectroscopic measurements of neutron-star masses and radii using thermonuclear X-ray bursts can reach the level of accuracy required to distinguish between different neutron-star equations of state, provided that uncertainties related to the overall flux calibration of X-ray detectors are of comparable magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NASA's WB-57 High Altitude Research Program provides a deployable, mobile, and stratospheric platform for scientific research. Airborne platforms are of particular value for making coronal observations during total solar eclipses because of their ability both to follow the Moon's shadow and to get above most of the atmospheric air mass that can interfere with astronomical observations. We used the 2017 August 21 eclipse as a pathfinding mission for high-altitude airborne solar astronomy, using the existing high-speed visible-light and near/midwave infrared imaging suite mounted in the WB-57 nose cone. In this paper, we describe the aircraft, the instrument, and the 2017 mission; operations and data acquisition; and preliminary analysis of data quality from the existing instrument suite. We describe benefits and technical limitations of this platform for solar and other astronomical observations. We present a preliminary analysis of the visible-light data quality and discuss the limiting factors that must be overcome with future instrumentation. We conclude with a discussion of lessons learned from this pathfinding mission and prospects for future research at upcoming eclipses, as well as an evaluation of the capabilities of the WB-57 platform for future solar astronomy and general astronomical observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present results from a deep (200 ks) Chandra observation of the early-type galaxy NGC 4552 (M89), which is falling into the Virgo cluster. Previous shallower X-ray observations of this galaxy showed a remnant gas core, a tail to the South of the galaxy, and twin “horns” attached to the northern edge of the gas core. In our deeper data, we detect a diffuse, low surface brightness extension to the previously known tail, and measure the temperature structure within the tail. We combine the deep Chandra data with archival XMM-Newton observations to put a strong upper limit on the diffuse emission of the tail out to a large distance (10× the radius of the remnant core) from the galaxy center. In our two previous papers, we presented the results of hydrodynamical simulations of ram pressure stripping specifically for M89 falling into the Virgo cluster and investigated the effect of intracluster medium (ICM) viscosity. In this paper, we compare our deep data with our specifically tailored simulations and conclude that the observed morphology of the stripped tail in NGC 4552 is most similar to the inviscid models. We conclude that, to the extent the transport processes can be simply modeled as a hydrodynamic viscosity, the ICM viscosity is negligible. More generally, any micro-scale description of the transport processes in the high-β plasma of the cluster ICM must be consistent with the efficient mixing observed in the stripped tail on macroscopic scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we describe the spherical harmonic transit telescope through the use of a novel formalism for the analysis of transit radio telescopes. This all-sky approach bypasses the curved-sky complications of traditional interferometry and so is particularly well-suited to the analysis of wide-field radio interferometers. It enables compact and computationally efficient representations of the data and its statistics, which allow new ways of approaching important problems like map-making and foreground removal. In particular, we show how it enables the use of the Karhunen-Loève transform as a highly effective foreground filter, suppressing realistic foreground residuals for our fiducial example by at least a factor 20 below the 21 cm signal, even in highly contaminated regions of the sky. This is despite the presence of the mode-mixing inherent in real-world instruments with frequency-dependent beams. We show, using Fisher forecasting, that foreground cleaning has little effect on power spectrum constraints compared to hypothetical foreground-free measurements. Beyond providing a natural real-world data analysis framework for 21 cm telescopes now under construction and future experiments, this formalism allows accurate power spectrum forecasts to be made that include the interplay of design constraints and realistic experimental systematics with 21st century 21 cm science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distributions of normal matter and of dark matter in the Galaxy are coupled to each other as they both move in the common gravitational potential. In order to fully exploit this interplay and to derive the various properties of dark matter relevant to their direct and indirect detection, we have comprehensively reviewed the astronomical observations of the spatial and velocity distributions of the components of normal matter. We then postulate that the phase-space distribution of dark matter follows a lowered-isothermal form and self-consistently solve Poisson's equation to construct several models for the spatial and velocity distributions of dark matter. In this paper, we compute the total gravitational potential of the normal and dark matter components and investigate their consistency with current observations of the rotation curve of the Galaxy and of the spatial and velocity distributions of blue horizontal-branch and blue straggler stars. Even with this demand of consistency, a large number of models with a range of parameters characterizing the dark matter distribution remain. We find that the best choice of parameters, within the range of allowed values for the surface density of the disk 55 M☼ pc–2, are the following: the dark matter density at the Galactic center ρDM, c ≈ 100-250 GeV cm–3, the local dark matter density ρDM(R0) ≈ 0.56-0.72 GeV cm–3, and the rms speed of dark matter particles km s–1. We also discuss possible astronomical observations that may further limit the range of the allowed models. The predictions of the allowed models for direct and indirect detection will be discussed separately in a companion paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are important diagnostics of both accretion disk physics and their contribution to the metagalactic ionizing UV background. Though the mean AGN spectrum is well characterized with composite spectra at wavelengths greater than 912 Å, the shorter-wavelength extreme-UV (EUV) remains poorly studied. In this third paper in a series on the spectra of AGNs, we combine 11 new spectra taken with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope with archival spectra to characterize the typical EUV spectral slope of AGNs from λrest ∼ 850 Å down to λrest ∼ 425 Å. Parameterizing this slope as a power law, we obtain Fν ∝ ν−0.72±0.26, but we also discuss the limitations and systematic uncertainties of this model. We identify broad emission features in this spectral region, including emission due to ions of O, Ne, Mg, and other species, and we limit the intrinsic He i 504 Å photoelectric absorption edge opacity to τHe i < 0.047. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present results constraining the multiplicity of the very low mass stars and substellar objects in the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC). Our sample covers primary masses 0.012â€"0.1 M ⊙ using archival Hubble Space Telescope data obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys using multiple filters. Studying the binary populations of clusters provides valuable constraints of how the birth environment affects binary formation and evolution. Prior surveys have shown that the binary populations of high-mass, high-density star clusters like the ONC may substantially differ from those in low-mass associations. Very low mass stellar and substellar binaries at wide separations, >20 au, are statistically rare in the Galactic field and have been identified in stellar associations like Taurus-Auriga and Ophiuchus. They also may be susceptible to dynamical interactions, and their formation may be suppressed by feedback from ongoing star formation. We implement a double point-spread function (PSF) fitting algorithm using empirical, position-dependent PSF models to search for binary companions at projected separations >10 au (0.″025). With this technique, we identify seven very low mass binaries, five of which are new detections, resulting in a binary frequency of 12 âˆ' 3.2 + 6 % over mass ratios of 0.5â€"1.0 and projected separations of 20â€"200 au. We find an excess of very low mass binaries in the ONC compared to the Galactic field, with a probability of 10âˆ'6 that the populations are statistically consistent. The substellar population of the ONC may require further dynamical processing of the lowest binding energy binaries to resemble the field population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The elemental abundances between strontium and silver (Z = 38–47) observed in the atmospheres of very metal-poor stars in the Galaxy may contain the fingerprint of the weak r -process and ν p -process occurring in early core-collapse supernovae explosions. In this work, we combine various astrophysical conditions based on a steady-state model to cover the richness of the supernova ejecta in terms of entropy, expansion timescale, and electron fraction. The calculated abundances based on different combinations of conditions are compared with stellar observations, with the aim of constraining supernova ejecta conditions. We find that some conditions of the neutrino-driven outflows consistently reproduce the observed abundances of our sample. In addition, from the successful combinations, the neutron-rich trajectories better reproduce the observed abundances of Sr–Zr (Z = 38–40), while the proton-rich ones, Mo–Pd (Z = 42–47). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1975 Hawley and Peebles proposed the use of three statistical tests for investigations of galaxy orientations in the large structures. Nowadays, it is considered as the standard method of searching for galactic alignments. In the present paper we analyzed the tests in detail and proposed a few improvements. Based on the improvements, a new method of analysis of the alignment of galaxies in clusters is proposed. The power of this method is demonstrated on the sample of 247 Abell clusters with at least 100 objects in each. The distributions of the position angles for galaxies in each cluster are analyzed using statistical tests: X², Fourier, autocorrelation, and Kolmogorov test. The mean value of analyzed statistics is compared with theoretical predictions as well as with results obtained from numerical simulations. We performed 1000 simulations of 247 fictitious clusters, each with the numbers of galaxies the same as in the real clusters. We found that orientations of galaxies in analyzed clusters are not random, i.e., that there exists an alignment of galaxies in rich Abell galaxy clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of radio pulsars in compact orbits around Sgr A* would allow an unprecedented and detailed investigation of the spacetime of this supermassive black hole. This paper shows that pulsar timing, including that of a single pulsar, has the potential to provide novel tests of general relativity, in particular its cosmic censorship conjecture and no-hair theorem for rotating black holes. These experiments can be performed by timing observations with 100 μs precision, achievable with the Square Kilometre Array for a normal pulsar at frequency above 15 GHz. Based on the standard pulsar timing technique, we develop a method that allows the determination of the mass, spin, and quadrupole moment of Sgr A*, and provides a consistent covariance analysis of the measurement errors. Furthermore, we test this method in detailed mock data simulations. It seems likely that only for orbital periods below ~0.3 yr is there the possibility of having negligible external perturbations. For such orbits, we expect a ~10-3 test of the frame dragging and a ~10-2 test of the no-hair theorem within five years, if Sgr A* is spinning rapidly. Our method is also capable of identifying perturbations caused by distributed mass around Sgr A*, thus providing high confidence in these gravity tests. Our analysis is not affected by uncertainties in our knowledge of the distance to the Galactic center, R0. A combination of pulsar timing with the astrometric results of stellar orbits would greatly improve the measurement precision of R0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-correlation techniques provide a promising avenue for calibrating photometric redshifts and determining redshift distributions using spectroscopy, which is systematically incomplete (e.g., current deep spectroscopic surveys fail to obtain secure redshifts for 30%-50% or more of the galaxies targeted). In this paper, we improve on the redshift distribution reconstruction methods from our previous work by incorporating full covariance information into our correlation function fits. Correlation function measurements are strongly covariant between angular or spatial bins, and accounting for this in fitting can yield substantial reduction in errors. However, frequently the covariance matrices used in these calculations are determined from a relatively small set (dozens rather than hundreds) of subsamples or mock catalogs, resulting in noisy covariance matrices whose inversion is ill-conditioned and numerically unstable. We present here a method of conditioning the covariance matrix known as ridge regression, which results in a better-behaved inversion than other techniques common in large-scale structure studies. We demonstrate that ridge regression significantly improves the determination of correlation function parameters. We then apply these improved techniques to the problem of reconstructing redshift distributions. By incorporating full covariance information, applying ridge regression, and changing the weighting of fields in obtaining average correlation functions, we obtain reductions in the mean redshift distribution reconstruction error of as much as ~40% compared to previous methods. We provide a description of POWERFIT, an IDL code for performing power-law fits to correlation functions with ridge regression conditioning that we are making publicly available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to subtract foreground contamination from low-frequency observations is crucial to reveal the underlying 21 cm signal. The traditional line-of-sight methods can deal with the removal of diffuse emission and unresolved point sources, but not bright point sources. In this paper, we introduce a foreground cleaning technique in Fourier space, which allows us to handle all such foregrounds simultaneously and thus sidestep any special treatments to bright point sources. Its feasibility is tested with a simulated data cube for the 21 CentiMeter Array experiment. This data cube includes more realistic models for the 21 cm signal, continuum foregrounds, detector noise, and frequency-dependent instrumental response. We find that a combination of two weighting schemes can be used to protect the frequency coherence of foregrounds: the uniform weighting in the uv plane and the inverse-variance weighting in the spectral fitting. The visibility spectrum is therefore well approximated by a quartic polynomial along the line of sight. With this method, we demonstrate that the huge foreground contamination can be cleaned out effectively with residuals on the order of ~ 10 mK, while the spectrally smooth component of the cosmological signal is also removed, bringing about a systematic underestimate in the extracted power spectrum primarily on large scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hybrid three-dimensional (3D) MHD model for solar wind study is proposed in the present paper with combined grid systems and solvers. The computational domain from the Sun to Earth space is decomposed into the near-Sun and off-Sun domains, which are respectively constructed with a Yin-Yang overset grid system and a Cartesian adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) grid system and coupled with a domain connection interface in the overlapping region between the near-Sun and off-Sun domains. The space-time conservation element and solution element method is used in the near-Sun domain, while the Harten-Lax-Leer method is employed in the off-Sun domain. The Yin-Yang overset grid can avoid well-known singularity and polar grid convergence problems and its body- fitting property helps achieve high-quality resolution near the solar surface. The block structured AMR Cartesian grid can automatically capture far-field plasma flow features, such as heliospheric current sheets and shock waves, and at the same time, it can save significant computational resources compared to the uniformly structured Cartesian grid. A numerical study of the solar wind structure for Carrington rotation 2069 shows that the newly developed hybrid MHD solar wind model successfully produces many realistic features of the background solar wind, in both the solar corona and interplanetary space, by comparisons with multiple solar and interplanetary observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Galaxy mergers are likely to play a role in triggering active galactic nuclei (AGNs), but the conditions under which this process occurs are poorly understood. In Paper I, we constructed a sample of spatially offset X-ray AGNs that represent galaxy mergers hosting a single AGN. In this paper, we use our offset AGN sample to constrain the parameters that affect AGN observability in galaxy mergers. We also construct dual-AGN samples with similar selection properties for comparison. We find that the offset AGN fraction shows no evidence for a dependence on AGN luminosity, while the dual-AGN fractions show stronger evidence for a positive dependence, suggesting that the merger events forming dual AGNs are more efficient at instigating accretion onto supermassive black holes than those forming offset AGNs. We also find that the offset and dual-AGN fractions both have a negative dependence on nuclear separation and are similar in value at small physical scales. This dependence may become stronger when restricted to high AGN luminosities, although a larger sample is needed for confirmation. These results indicate that the probability of AGN triggering increases at later merger stages. This study is the first to systematically probe down to nuclear separations of <1 kpc (∼0.8 kpc) and is consistent with predictions from simulations that AGN observability peaks in this regime. We also find that the offset AGNs are not preferentially obscured compared to the parent AGN sample, suggesting that our selection may be targeting galaxy mergers with relatively dust-free nuclear regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After recent Atmospheric Imaging Assembly observations by Savage, McKenzie, and Reeves, we revisit the scenario proposed by us in previous papers. We have shown that sunward, generally dark plasma features that originated above posteruption flare arcades are consistent with a scenario where plasma voids (which we identify as supra-arcade reconnection outflows, SAROs) generate the bouncing and interfering of shocks and expansion waves upstream of an initial localized deposition of energy that is collimated in the magnetic field direction. In this paper, we analyze the multiple production and interaction of SAROs and their individual structures that make them relatively stable features while moving. We compare our results with observations and with the scenarios proposed by other authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present results from a pilot observation of nearby (∼20 Mpc) galaxies with masses similar to that of the Milky Way (MW) to address the missing satellite problem. This is the first paper from an ongoing project to address the problem with a statistical sample of galaxies outside of the Local Group (LG) without employing an assumption that the LG is a typical halo in the universe. Thanks to the close distances of our targets, dwarf galaxies around them can be identified as extended, diffuse galaxies. By applying a surface brightness cut together with a careful visual screening to remove artifacts and background contamination, we construct a sample of dwarf galaxies. The luminosity function (LF) of one of the targets is broadly consistent with that of the MW, but the other has a more abundant dwarf population. Numerical simulations by Okamoto seem to overpredict the number of dwarfs on average, while more recent predictions from Copernicus Complexio are in better agreement. In both observations and simulations, there is a large diversity in the LFs, demonstrating the importance of addressing the missing satellite problem with a statistically representative sample. We also characterize the projected spatial distributions of the satellites and do not observe strong evidence for alignments around the central galaxies. Based on this successful pilot observation, we are carrying out further observations to increase the sample of nearby galaxies, which we plan to report in our future paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have analyzed the deep Chandra observation (∼155 ks) of the Compton thick active galactic nucleus ESO 428-G014, to study in detail the morphology of the diffuse X-ray emission in the inner ∼500 pc radius region. Comparing different X-ray energy bands we find localized differences in the absorbing column and in the emission processes. Collisional ionization may be prevalent in the area of most intense optical line emission (Hα and [O iii]). There is a good correspondence between optical line, radio continuum, and soft (<3 keV) X-ray features, consistent with simulations of jet–molecular disk interaction. At all energies >3 keV, the extended emission in the central 1.″5 (170 pc) radius circumnuclear region amounts to ∼70%–30% of the contribution of a point source in that area (or ∼40%–25% of the total counts in the region). Within a 5″ radius, the contribution from extended emission overcomes that from a nuclear point source in the 3–4 keV band. This extended emission suggests scattering of nuclear photons by dense molecular clouds in the inner galactic disk of ESO 428-G014. Its presence may adversely bias the torus modeling of spectra from X-ray telescopes with inferior angular resolution compared to that of Chandra, such as NuSTAR and XMM-Newton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report the line-locking phenomenon of the blended narrow absorption lines (NALs) within trough-like broad absorption lines (BALs) in quasar SDSS J021740.96–085447.9 (hereafter J0217–0854). Utilizing the two-epoch spectroscopic observations of J0217–0854 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we find that each of its C iv, Si iv, N v, and Lyα BAL troughs actually contain at least seven NAL systems. By splitting these BAL troughs into multiple NAL systems, we find that the velocity separations between the NAL systems are similar to their doublet splittings, with some of them matching perfectly. Cases like J0217–0854, showing line-locking signatures of NALs within BAL troughs, offer direct observational evidence for the idea that radiative forces play a significant role in driving BAL (at least for Type N BAL) outflows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate measurement of temperature in protoplanetary disks is critical to understanding many key features of disk evolution and planet formation, from disk chemistry and dynamics, to planetesimal formation. This paper explores the techniques available to determine temperatures from observations of single, optically thick molecular emission lines. Specific attention is given to issues such as the inclusion of optically thin emission, problems resulting from continuum subtraction, and complications of real observations. Effort is also made to detail the exact nature and morphology of the region emitting a given line. To properly study and quantify these effects, this paper considers a range of disk models, from simple pedagogical models to very detailed models including full radiative transfer. Finally, we show how the use of the wrong methods can lead to potentially severe misinterpretations of data, leading to incorrect measurements of disk temperature profiles. We show that the best way to estimate the temperature of emitting gas is to analyze the line peak emission map without subtracting continuum emission. Continuum subtraction, which is commonly applied to observations of line emission, systematically leads to underestimation of the gas temperature. We further show that once observational effects such as beam dilution and noise are accounted for, the line brightness temperature derived from the peak emission is reliably within 10%–15% of the physical temperature of the emitting region, assuming optically thick emission. The methodology described in this paper will be applied in future works to constrain the temperature, and related physical quantities, in protoplanetary disks observed with ALMA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern large-scale cosmological simulations model the universe with increasing sophistication and at higher spatial and temporal resolutions. These ongoing enhancements permit increasingly detailed comparisons between the simulation outputs and real observational data. Recent projects such as Illustris are capable of producing simulated images that are designed to be comparable to those obtained from local surveys. This paper tests the degree to which Illustris achieves this goal across a diverse population of galaxies using visual morphologies derived from Galaxy Zoo citizen scientists. Morphological classifications provided by these volunteers for simulated galaxies are compared with similar data for a compatible sample of images drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Legacy Survey. This paper investigates how simple morphological characterization by human volunteers asked to distinguish smooth from featured systems differs between simulated and real galaxy images. Significant differences are identified, which are most likely due to the limited resolution of the simulation, but which could be revealing real differences in the dynamical evolution of populations of galaxies in the real and model universes. Specifically, for stellar masses , a substantially larger proportion of Illustris galaxies that exhibit disk-like morphology or visible substructure, relative to their SDSS counterparts. Toward higher masses, the visual morphologies for simulated and observed galaxies converge and exhibit similar distributions. The stellar mass threshold indicated by this divergent behavior confirms recent works using parametric measures of morphology from Illustris simulated images. When , the Illustris data set contains substantially fewer galaxies that classifiers regard as unambiguously featured. In combination, these results suggest that comparison between the detailed properties of observed and simulated galaxies, even when limited to reasonably massive systems, may be misleading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maximum Entropy is an image reconstruction method conceived to image a sparsely occupied field of view, therefore it is particularly effective at achieving super-resolution effects. Although widely used in image deconvolution, this method has been formulated in radio astronomy for the analysis of observations in the spatial frequency domain, and an Interactive Data Language code has been implemented for image reconstruction from solar X-ray Fourier data. However, this code relies on a non-convex formulation of the constrained optimization problem addressed by the Maximum Entropy approach, and this sometimes results in unreliable reconstructions characterized by unphysical shrinking effects. This paper introduces a new approach to Maximum Entropy based on the constrained minimization of a convex functional. In the case of observations recorded by the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI), the resulting code provides the same super-resolution effects of the previous algorithm, while also working properly when that code produces unphysical reconstructions. We also obtain results via testing the algorithm with synthetic data simulating observations of the Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) in Solar Orbiter. The new code is available in the HESSI folder of the Solar SoftWare (SSW) tree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An electron-positron cascade in the magnetospheres of Kerr black holes (BHs) is a fundamental ingredient to fueling the relativistic γ -ray jets seen at the polar regions of galactic supermassive BHs (SMBHs). This leptonic cascade occurs in the spark gap region of a BH magnetosphere where the unscreened electric field parallel to the magnetic field is present; hence, it is affected by the magnetic field structure. A previous study explored the case of a thin accretion disk, representative of active galactic nuclei. Here we explore the case of a quasi-spherical gas distribution, as is expected to be present around the SMBH Sgr A* in the center of our Milky Way galaxy, for example. The properties and efficiency of the leptonic cascade are studied. The findings of our study and the implications for SMBH systems in various spectral and accretion states are discussed. The relationships and scalings derived from varying the mass of the BH and background photon spectra are further used to analyze the leptonic cascade process to power jets seen in astronomical observations. In particular, one finds the efficiency of the cascade in a quasi-spherical gas distribution peaks at the jet axis. Observationally, this should lead to a more prominent jet core, in contrast to the thin disk accretion case, where it peaks around the jet–disk interface. One also finds the spectrum of the background photons plays a key role. The cascade efficiency is maximum for a spectral index of 2, while harder and softer spectra lead to a less efficient cascade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present the results of observations of 17 H II regions in thirteen galaxies from the SIGRID sample of isolated gas-rich irregular dwarf galaxies. The spectra of all but one of the galaxies exhibit the auroral [O III] 4363 Å line, from which we calculate the electron temperature, Te, and gas-phase oxygen abundance. Five of the objects are blue compact dwarf galaxies, of which four have not previously been analyzed spectroscopically. We include one unusual galaxy which exhibits no evidence of the [N II] λλ 6548,6584 Å lines, suggesting a particularly low metallicity (< Z☼/30). We compare the electron temperature based abundances with those derived using eight of the new strong-line diagnostics presented by Dopita et al. Using a method derived from first principles for calculating total oxygen abundance, we show that the discrepancy between the Te-based and strong-line gas-phase abundances have now been reduced to within ∼0.07 dex. The chemical abundances are consistent with what is expected from the luminosity-metallicity relation. We derive estimates of the electron densities and find them to be between ∼5 and ∼100 cm–3. We find no evidence for a nitrogen plateau for objects in this sample with metallicities 0.5 > Z☼ > 0.15. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyze the strong unidentified emission near 3.28 μm in Titan's upper daytime atmosphere recently discovered by Dinelli et al. We have studied it by using the NASA Ames PAH IR Spectroscopic Database. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), after absorbing UV solar radiation, are able to emit strongly near 3.3 μm. By using current models for the redistribution of the absorbed UV energy, we have explained the observed spectral feature and have derived the vertical distribution of PAH abundances in Titan's upper atmosphere. PAHs have been found to be present in large concentrations, about (2-3) × 104 particles cm-3. The identified PAHs have 9-96 carbons, with a concentration-weighted average of 34 carbons. The mean mass is ~430 u; the mean area is about 0.53 nm2; they are formed by 10-11 rings on average, and about one-third of them contain nitrogen atoms. Recently, benzene together with light aromatic species as well as small concentrations of heavy positive and negative ions have been detected in Titan's upper atmosphere. We suggest that the large concentrations of PAHs found here are the neutral counterpart of those positive and negative ions, which hence supports the theory that the origin of Titan main haze layer is located in the upper atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rings are the most frequently revealed substructure in Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) dust observations of protoplanetary disks, but their origin is still hotly debated. In this paper, we identify dust substructures in 12 disks and measure their properties to investigate how they form. This subsample of disks is selected from a high-resolution (∼0.″12) ALMA 1.33 mm survey of 32 disks in the Taurus star-forming region, which was designed to cover a wide range of brightness and to be unbiased to previously known substructures. While axisymmetric rings and gaps are common within our sample, spiral patterns and high-contrast azimuthal asymmetries are not detected. Fits of disk models to the visibilities lead to estimates of the location and shape of gaps and rings, the flux in each disk component, and the size of the disk. The dust substructures occur across a wide range of stellar mass and disk brightness. Disks with multiple rings tend to be more massive and more extended. The correlation between gap locations and widths, the intensity contrast between rings and gaps, and the separations of rings and gaps could all be explained if most gaps are opened by low-mass planets (super-Earths and Neptunes) in the condition of low disk turbulence (α = 10−4). The gap locations are not well correlated with the expected locations of CO and N2 ice lines, so condensation fronts are unlikely to be a universal mechanism to create gaps and rings, though they may play a role in some cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2D power spectrum is a cornerstone of the modern toolkit for analysis of the low-frequency radio interferometric observations of the 21 cm signal arising from the early universe. Its familiar form disentangles a great deal of systematic information concerning both the sky and telescope and is displayed as a foreground-dominated “brick” and “wedge” on large line-of-sight scales and a complementary “window” on smaller scales. This paper builds on many previous works in the literature that seek to elucidate the varied instrumental and foreground factors that contribute to these familiar structures in the 2D power spectrum. In particular, we consider the effects of uv sampling on the emergence of the wedge. Our results verify the expectation that arbitrarily dense instrument layouts in principle restore the missing information that leads to mode mixing and can therefore mitigate the wedge feature. We derive rule-of-thumb estimates for the required baseline density for complete wedge mitigation, showing that these will be unachievable in practice. We also discuss the optimal shape of the layout, showing that logarithmic regularity in the radial separation of baselines is favorable. While complete suppression of foreground leakage into the wedge is practically unachievable, we find that designing layouts that promote radial density and regularity is able to reduce the amplitude of foreground power by one to three orders of magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to relate the observed evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function and the luminosity function of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), we explore a coevolution scenario in which AGNs are associated only with the very last phases of the star-forming life of a galaxy. We derive analytically the connections between the parameters of the observed quasar luminosity functions and galaxy mass functions. The (mbh/m*)Qing associated with quenching is given by the ratio of the global black hole accretion rate density (BHARD) and star formation rate density (SFRD) at the epoch in question. Observational data on the SFRD and BHARD suggest (mbh/m*)Qing ∝ (1 + z)1.5 below redshift 2. This evolution reproduces the observed mass–luminosity plane of Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasars, as well as the local mbh/m* relation in passive galaxies. The characteristic Eddington ratio, λ*, is derived from both the BHARD/SFRD ratio and the evolving L* of the AGN population. This increases up to z ∼ 2 as λ* ∝ (1 + z)2.5, but at higher redshifts, λ* stabilizes at the physically interesting Eddington limit, λ* ∼ 1. The new model may be thought of as an opposite extreme to our earlier coevolution scenario in Caplar et al. The main observable difference between the two coevolution scenarios, presented here and in Caplar et al. is in the active fraction of low-mass star-forming galaxies. We compare the predictions with the data from deep multiwavelength surveys and find that the “quenching” scenario developed in the current paper is preferred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pan-STARRS1 survey is collecting multi-epoch, multi-color observations of the sky north of declination -30° to unprecedented depths. These data are being photometrically and astrometrically calibrated and will serve as a reference for many other purposes. In this paper, we present our determination of the Pan-STARRS1 photometric system: gP1, rP1, iP1, zP1, yP1, and wP1. The Pan-STARRS1 photometric systemis fundamentally based on theHubble Space Telescope Calspec spectrophotometric observations, which in turn are fundamentally based on models of white dwarf atmospheres. We define the Pan-STARRS1 magnitude system and describe in detail our measurement of the system passbands, including both the instrumental sensitivity and atmospheric transmission functions. By-products, including transformations to other photometric systems, Galactic extinction, and stellar locus, are also provided. We close with a discussion of remaining systematic errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have conducted a long-term, wide-field, high-cadence photometric monitoring survey of ~50,000 stars in the Lagoon Nebula H II region. This first paper presents rotation periods for 290 low-mass stars in NGC 6530, the young cluster illuminating the nebula, and for which we assemble a catalog of infrared and spectroscopic disk indicators, estimated masses and ages, and X-ray luminosities. The distribution of rotation periods we measure is broadly uniform for 0.5 days < P < 10 days; the short-period cutoff corresponds to breakup. We observe no obvious bimodality in the period distribution, but we do find that stars with disk signatures rotate more slowly on average. The stars' X-ray luminosities are roughly flat with rotation period, at the saturation level (log LX/Lbol ≈ -3.3). However, we find a significant positive correlation between LX/Lbol and corotation radius, suggesting that the observed X-ray luminosities are regulated by centrifugal stripping of the stellar coronae. The period--mass relationship in NGC 6530 is broadly similar to that of the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC), but the slope of the relationship among the slowest rotators differs from that in the ONC and other young clusters. We show that the slope of the period--mass relationship for the slowest rotators can be used as a proxy for the age of a young cluster, and we argue that NGC 6530 may be slightly younger than the ONC, making it a particularly important touchstone for models of angular momentum evolution in young, low-mass stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the discovery and orbital solutions for two new OB binaries in the Cygnus OB2 Association, MT311 (B2V + B3V) and MT605 (B0.5V + B2.5:V). We also identify the system MT429 as a probable triple system consisting of a tight eclipsing 2.97 day B3V+B6V pair and a B0V at a projected separation of 138 AU. We further provide the first spectroscopic orbital solutions to the eclipsing, double-lined, O-star binary MT696 (O9.5V + B1:V), the double-lined, early B binary MT720 (B0-1V + B1-2V), and the double-lined, O-star binary MT771 (O7V + O9V). These systems exhibit orbital periods between 1.5 days and 12.3 days, with the majority having P <6 days. The two new binary discoveries and six spectroscopic solutions bring the total number of known massive binaries in the central region of the Cygnus OB2 Association to 20, with all but two having full orbital solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Challenges have arisen to diffusive shock acceleration as the primary means to accelerate galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) in the interstellar medium. Diffusive shock acceleration is also under challenge in the heliosphere, where at least the simple application of diffusive shock acceleration cannot account for observations. In the heliosphere, a new acceleration mechanism has been invented--a pump mechanism, driven by ambient turbulence, in which particles are pumped up in energy out of a low-energy core particle population through a series of adiabatic compressions and expansions--that can account for observations not only at shocks but in quiet conditions in the solar wind and throughout the heliosheath. In this paper, the pump mechanism is applied to the acceleration of GCRs in the interstellar medium. With relatively straightforward assumptions about the magnetic field in the interstellar medium, and how GCRs propagate in this field, the pump mechanism yields (1) the overall shape of the GCR spectrum, a power law in particle kinetic energy, with a break at the so-called knee in the GCR spectrum to a slightly steeper power-law spectrum. (2) The rigidity dependence of the H/He ratio observed from the PAMELA satellite instrument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accretion from disks onto young stars is thought to follow magnetic field lines from the inner disk edge to the stellar surface. The accretion flow thus depends on the geometry of the magnetic field. This paper extends previous work by constructing a collection of orthogonal coordinate systems, including the corresponding differential operators, where one coordinate traces the magnetic field lines. This formalism allows for an (essentially) analytic description of the geometry and the conditions required for the flow to pass through sonic points. Using this approach, we revisit the problem of magnetically controlled accretion flow in a dipole geometry, and then generalize the treatment to consider magnetic fields with multiple components, including dipole, octupole, and split monopole contributions. This approach can be generalized further to consider more complex magnetic field configurations. Observations indicate that accreting young stars have substantial dipole and octupole components, and that accretion flow is transonic. If the effective equation of state for the fluid is too stiff, however, the flow cannot pass smoothly through the sonic points in steady state. For a multipole field of order ℓ, we derive a general constraint on the polytropic index, n > ℓ + 3/2, required for steady transonic flow to reach free-fall velocities. For octupole fields, inferred on surfaces of T Tauri stars, the index n > 9/2, so that the flow must be close to isothermal. The inclusion of octupole field components produces higher densities at the stellar surface and smaller areas for the hot spots, which occur at higher latitudes; the magnetic truncation radius is smaller (larger) for octupole components that are aligned (anti-aligned) with the stellar dipole. This contribution thus increases our understanding of magnetically controlled accretion for young stellar objects and can be applied to a variety of additional astrophysical problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a next-generation ground-based observatory for gamma-ray astronomy at very high energies. The Large-Sized Telescope prototype (LST-1) is located at the CTA-North site, on the Canary Island of La Palma. LSTs are designed to provide optimal performance in the lowest part of the energy range covered by CTA, down to ≃20 GeV. LST-1 started performing astronomical observations in 2019 November, during its commissioning phase, and it has been taking data ever since. We present the first LST-1 observations of the Crab Nebula, the standard candle of very-high-energy gamma-ray astronomy, and use them, together with simulations, to assess the performance of the telescope. LST-1 has reached the expected performance during its commissioning period—only a minor adjustment of the preexisting simulations was needed to match the telescope's behavior. The energy threshold at trigger level is around 20 GeV, rising to ≃30 GeV after data analysis. Performance parameters depend strongly on energy, and on the strength of the gamma-ray selection cuts in the analysis: angular resolution ranges from 0.°12–0.°40, and energy resolution from 15%–50%. Flux sensitivity is around 1.1% of the Crab Nebula flux above 250 GeV for a 50 hr observation (12% for 30 minutes). The spectral energy distribution (in the 0.03–30 TeV range) and the light curve obtained for the Crab Nebula agree with previous measurements, considering statistical and systematic uncertainties. A clear periodic signal is also detected from the pulsar at the center of the Nebula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantifying the connection between galaxies and their host dark matter halos has been key for testing cosmological models on various scales. Below M ⋆ ∼ 109 M ⊙, such studies have primarily relied on the satellite galaxy population orbiting the Milky Way (MW). Here we present new constraints on the connection between satellite galaxies and their host dark matter subhalos using the largest sample of satellite galaxies in the Local Volume (D ≲ 12 Mpc) to date. We use 250 confirmed and 71 candidate dwarf satellites around 27 MW-like hosts from the Exploration of Local VolumE Satellites (ELVES) Survey and use the semianalytical SatGen model for predicting the population of dark matter subhalos expected in the same volume. Through a Bayesian model comparison of the observed and the forward-modeled satellite stellar mass functions (SSMFs), we infer the satellite stellar-to-halo mass relation. We find that the observed SSMF is best reproduced when subhalos at the low-mass end are populated by a relation of the form M ⋆ ∝ M peak α , with a moderate slope of α const = 2.10 ± 0.01 and a low scatter, constant as a function of the peak halo mass, of σ const = 0.06 − 0.05 + 0.07 . A model with a steeper slope (α grow = 2.39 ± 0.06) and a scatter that grows with decreasing M peak is also consistent with the observed SSMF but is not required. Our new model for the satellite–subhalo connection, based on hundreds of Local Volume satellite galaxies, is in line with what was previously derived using only MW satellites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a previous paper, one of us (C. Bambi) described a code to compute the thermal spectrum of geometrically thin and optically thick accretion disks around generic stationary and axisymmetric black holes, which are not necessarily of the Kerr type. As the structure of the accretion disk and the propagation of electromagnetic radiation from the disk to the distant observer depend on the background metric, the analysis of the thermal spectrum of thin disks can be used to test the actual nature of black hole candidates. In this paper, we consider the 10 stellar-mass black hole candidates for which the spin parameter has already been estimated from the analysis of the disk's thermal spectrum under the assumption of the Kerr background, and we translate the measurements reported in the literature into constraints on the spin parameter-deformation parameter plane. The analysis of the disk's thermal spectrum can be used to estimate only one parameter of the geometry close to the compact object; therefore, it is not possible to get independent measurements of both the spin and the deformation parameters. The constraints obtained here will be used in combination with other measurements in future work with the final goal of breaking the degeneracy between the spin and possible deviations from the Kerr solution and thus test the Kerr black hole hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observations of solar coronal loops have identified several common loop characteristics, including that loops appear to cool and have higher than expected densities. Two potential heating scenarios have been suggested to explain these observations. One scenario is that the loops are formed by many strands, each heated independently by a series of small-scale impulsive heating events, or nanoflares. Another hypothesis is that the heating is quasi-steady and highly stratified, i.e., “footpoint heating”; such heating can drive thermal nonequilibrium in some structures depending on the scale height and magnitude of the energy deposition, and the geometry of the structure. Studies of both types of heating have found that they can qualitatively reproduce the observed loop properties. The goal of this paper is to identify observables that can be used to differentiate between these two heating scenarios. To do this, we use a single loop geometry. For footpoint heating, we vary the heating magnitude and stratification, for impulsive heating, we vary the heating magnitude. We use one-dimensional hydrodynamic codes to calculate the resulting temperature and density evolution. We convolve the temperature and density with the response functions of four EUV channels of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly and one filter channel of Hinode's X-ray Telescope. We consider two principal diagnostics: the time lag between the appearance of the loop in two different channels, and the ratio of the peak intensities of the loop in the two channels. Based on this limited data set, we find (1) that footpoint heating can predict longer time lags than impulsive heating in some channel pairs, (2) that footpoint heating can predict zero or negative time lags in some channel pairs, (3) that the intensity ratio expected from impulsive heating is confined to a narrow range, while footpoint heating predicts a wider range of intensity ratios, and (4) that the range of temperatures expected in impulsive heating is broader than the range of temperatures expected in footpoint heating. This preliminary study identifies observables that may be useful in discriminating between heating models in future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this companion paper, we describe low-frequency magnetic waves observed in 637 intervals of Voyager1 and 2 data from launch late in 1977 through 1990. By the end of 1990 the Voyager1 spacecraft reached 43.5 au, while the Voyager2 spacecraft reaches 33.6 au. The waves are attributed to newborn interstellar pickup He+ and H+. In this analysis we follow the idea put forward by Cannon et al. and followed by Fisher et al. and Aggarwal et al. wherein the necessary condition for the observation of the waves is that the wave growth rate exceeds the background turbulence rate. We explore this idea and build on the conclusion in our companion paper that the waves are typically observed in rarefaction regions where the turbulence level is low and noise-dominated signals sometimes distort the computed background turbulence spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report ALMA Cycle 3 observations in CO isotopes toward a dense core, MC27/L1521F in Taurus, which is considered to be at an early stage of multiple star formation in a turbulent environment. Although most of the high-density parts of this core are considered to be as cold as ∼10 K, high-angular resolution (∼20 au) observations in 12CO (J = 3–2) revealed complex warm (>15–60 K) filamentary/clumpy structures with the sizes from a few tens of astronomical units to ∼1000 au. The interferometric observations of 13CO and C18O show that the densest part with arc-like morphologies associated with the previously identified protostar and condensations are slightly redshifted from the systemic velocity of the core. We suggest that the warm CO clouds may be consequences of shock heating induced by interactions among the different density/velocity components that originated from the turbulent motions in the core. However, such a small-scale and fast turbulent motion does not correspond to a simple extension of the line–width–size relation (i.e., Larson's law), and thus the actual origin remains to be studied. The high-angular resolution CO observations are expected to be essential in detecting small-scale turbulent motions in dense cores and to investigate protostar formation therein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We reprise the analysis of Stassun & Torres, comparing the parallaxes of the eclipsing binaries reported in that paper to the parallaxes newly reported in the Gaia second data release (DR2). We find evidence for a systematic offset of −82 ± 33 μas, in the sense of the Gaia parallaxes being too small, for brightnesses (G ≲ 12) and for distances (0.03–3 kpc) in the ranges spanned by the eclipsing binary sample. The offset does not appear to depend strongly on distance within this range, though there is marginal evidence that the offset increases (becomes slightly more negative) for distances ≳1 kpc, up to the 3 kpc distances probed by the test sample. The offset reported here is consistent with the expectation that global systematics in the Gaia DR2 parallaxes are below 100 μas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A composite flare consisting of an impulsive flare SOL2015-06-21T01:42 (GOES class M2.0) and a more gradual, long-duration flare SOL2015-06-21T02:36 (M2.6) from NOAA Active Region 12371, is studied using observations with the Nobeyama Radioheliograph (NoRH) and the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). While composite flares are defined by their characteristic time profiles, in this paper we present imaging observations that demonstrate the spatial relationship of the two flares and allow us to address the nature of the evolution of a composite event. The NoRH maps show that the first flare is confined not only in time, but also in space, as evidenced by the stagnation of ribbon separation and the stationarity of the microwave source. The NoRH also detected another microwave source during the second flare, emerging from a different location where thermal plasma is so depleted that accelerated electrons could survive longer against Coulomb collisional loss. The AIA 131 Å images show that a sigmoidal EUV hot channel developed after the first flare and erupted before the second flare. We suggest that this eruption removed the high-lying flux to let the separatrix dome underneath reconnect with neighboring flux and the second microwave burst follow. This scenario explains how the first microwave burst is related to the much-delayed second microwave burst in this composite event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has recently been some interest in the prospect of detecting ionized intergalactic baryons by examining the properties of incoherent light from background cosmological sources, namely quasars. Although the paper by Lieu et al. proposed a way forward, it was refuted by the later theoretical work of Hirata & McQuinn and the observational study of Hales et al. In this paper we investigate in detail the manner in which incoherent radiation passes through a dispersive medium both from the frameworks of classical and quantum electrodynamics, leading us to conclude that the premise of Lieu et al. would only work if the pulses involved are genuinely classical ones containing many photons per pulse; unfortunately, each photon must not be treated as a pulse that is susceptible to dispersive broadening. We are nevertheless able to change the tone of the paper at this juncture by pointing out that because current technology allows one to measure the phase of individual modes of radio waves from a distant source, the most reliable way of obtaining irrefutable evidence of dispersion, namely via the detection of its unique signature of a quadratic spectral phase, may well be already accessible. We demonstrate how this technique is only applied to measure the column density of the ionized intergalactic medium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) is introduced in the calculations of photon propagation in the universe. LIV is considered in the photon sector, and the mean-free path of the interaction is calculated. The corresponding photon horizon, including LIV effects, is used to predict major changes in the propagation of photons with energy above 1018 eV. The flux of GZK photons on Earth, considering LIV, is calculated for several source models of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). The predicted flux of GZK gamma-rays is compared to the new upper limits on the photon flux obtained by the Pierre Auger Observatory in order to impose upper limits on the LIV coefficients of order n = 0, 1, and 2. The limits on the LIV coefficients derived here are more realistic than previous works and in some cases more restrictive. The analysis resulted in LIV upper limits in the photon sector of , , and in the astrophysical scenario, which best describes UHECR data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first rest-frame optical spectrum of a high-redshift quasar observed with JWST/NIRCam in Wide Field Slitless mode. The observed quasar, J0100+2802, is the most luminous quasar known at z > 6. We measure the mass of the central supermassive black hole (SMBH) by means of the rest-frame optical H β emission line, and find consistent mass measurements of the quasar's SMBH of M • ≈ 1010 M ☉ when compared to the estimates based on the properties of rest-frame UV emission lines C iv and Mg ii, which are accessible from ground-based observatories. To this end, we also present a newly reduced rest-frame UV spectrum of the quasar observed with X-Shooter/Very Large Telescope (VLT) and FIRE/Magellan for a total of 16.8 hr. We readdress the question whether this ultraluminous quasar could be effected by strong gravitational lensing making use of the diffraction limited NIRCam images in three different wide band filters (F115W, F200W, F356W), which improves the achieved spatial resolution compared to previous images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope by a factor of 2. We do not find any evidence for a foreground deflecting galaxy, nor for multiple images of the quasar, and determine the probability for magnification due to strong gravitational lensing with image separations below the diffraction limit of Δ θ ≲ 0.″05 to be ≲2.2 × 10−3. Our observations therefore confirm that this quasar hosts a 10 billion solar mass black hole less than 1 Gyr after the Big Bang, which is challenging to explain with current black hole formation models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the second installment of an X-ray monitoring project of seven luminous radio-quiet quasars (RQQs). New Chandra observations of four of these, at , yield a total of six X-ray epochs per source, with temporal baselines of days in the rest frame. These data provide the best X-ray light curves for RQQs at to date, enabling qualitative investigations of the X-ray variability behavior of such sources for the first time. On average, these sources follow the trend of decreasing variability amplitude with increasing luminosity, and there is no evidence for X-ray variability increasing toward higher redshifts, in contrast with earlier predictions of potential evolutionary scenarios. An ensemble variability structure function reveals that their variability level remains relatively flat across days in the rest frame and it is generally lower than that of three similarly luminous RQQs at over the same temporal range. We discuss possible explanations for the increased variability of the lower-redshift subsample and, in particular, whether higher accretion rates play a leading role. Near-simultaneous optical monitoring of the sources at indicates that none is variable on day timescales, although flux variations of up to ∼25% are observed on day timescales, typical of RQQs at similar redshifts. Significant optical-X-ray spectral slope variations observed in two of these sources are consistent with the levels observed in luminous RQQs and are dominated by X-ray variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

X-ray observations show that galaxy clusters have a very large range of morphologies. The most disturbed systems, which are good to study how clusters form and grow and to test physical models, may potentially complicate cosmological studies because the cluster mass determination becomes more challenging. Thus, we need to understand the cluster properties of our samples to reduce possible biases. This is complicated by the fact that different experiments may detect different cluster populations. For example, Sunyaev–Zeldovich (SZ) selected cluster samples have been found to include a greater fraction of disturbed systems than X-ray selected samples. In this paper we determine eight morphological parameters for the Planck Early Sunyaev–Zeldovich (ESZ) objects observed with XMM-Newton. We found that two parameters, concentration and centroid shift, are the best to distinguish between relaxed and disturbed systems. For each parameter we provide the values that allow selecting the most relaxed or most disturbed objects from a sample. We found that there is no mass dependence on the cluster dynamical state. By comparing our results with what was obtained with REXCESS clusters, we also confirm that the ESZ clusters indeed tend to be more disturbed, as found by previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]