Search

We investigate the absolute calibration of the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) using small amplitude red giant stars (SARGs) classified by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE). We show that all stars near the SMC's TRGB are SARGs. Distinguishing older and younger RGs near the tip according to two period–luminosity sequences labeled A and B, we show many similarities among SARG populations of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the SMC, along with notable differences. In particular, SMC SARGs have shorter periods due to lower metallicity and smaller amplitudes due to younger ages than LMC SARGs. We discover two period–color relations near the TRGB that span all A-sequence and B-sequence stars in the OGLE-III footprints of the SMC and LMC, and we investigate using periods instead of color for TRGB standardization. Using variability-derived information only, we trace the SMC's age and metallicity gradients and show the core to be populated by younger, more metal-rich RGs. The B-sequence yields the brightest and most accurate calibration (M F814W,syn = −4.057 ± 0.019(stat.) ± 0.029(syst.) mag), which we use to measure the distance modulus difference between the Clouds and investigate metallicity effects. Distance measurements not informed by variability should employ the SARG-based calibration based on all stars near the tip (M F814W,syn = −4.024 ± 0.041(stat.) ± 0.029(syst.) mag). Our work highlights the impact of RG population diversity on TRGB distance measurements. Further study is needed to unravel these effects and improve TRGB standardization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two main competing theories proposed to explain the formation of massive (>10 M ⊙) stars—competitive accretion and monolithic core collapse—make different observable predictions for the environment of the massive stars during, and immediately after, their formation. Proponents of competitive accretion have long predicted that the most massive stars should have a different spatial distribution to lower-mass stars, through the stars being either mass segregated or being in areas of higher relative densities or sitting deeper in gravitational potential wells. We test these predictions by analyzing a suite of smoothed-particle hydrodynamics simulations where star clusters form massive stars via competitive accretion with and without feedback. We find that the most massive stars have higher relative densities, and sit in deeper potential wells, only in simulations in which feedback is not present. When feedback is included, only half of the simulations have the massive stars residing in deeper potential wells, and there are no other distinguishing signals in their spatial distributions. Intriguingly, in our simple models for monolithic core collapse, the massive stars may also end up in deeper potential wells because if massive cores fragment then the stars that form are also massive, and dominate their local environs. We find no robust diagnostic test in the spatial distributions of massive stars that can distinguish their formation mechanisms, and so other predictions for distinguishing between competitive accretion and monolithic collapse are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With space missions such as Kepler, TESS, and Gaia, we have a wealth of data on pulsating white dwarfs that can be leveraged in white dwarf asteroseismology. We address the question of the proportion of white dwarfs with thin hydrogen layers versus those with thick hydrogen layers. We also provide a mass–radius relation for carbon–oxygen-core, hydrogen-atmosphere white dwarfs. Such a relationship can be used in conjunction with magnitudes and distance measurements to constrain the mass and effective temperature of the white dwarfs. We select nine hydrogen-atmosphere pulsating white dwarfs for their rich pulsation spectra. From such pulsation spectra, we can derive the asymptotic period spacing, which in turn allows us to determine the thickness of the hydrogen and helium envelope of the models, without having to perform period-by-period fitting. We find that the majority of the white dwarfs have thicker hydrogen layers and we determine an upper limit of M r = 1–10−2.2 for the location of the base of the helium layer, in accordance with stellar evolution models. We confirm a finding from earlier studies that used a mass–radius relation and Gaia data to determine the effective temperatures of white dwarfs. The Gaia data systematically point to white dwarfs of lower effective temperature than indicated by the spectroscopy. Our results also support the hypothesis that white dwarfs with thicker hydrogen layers are more common than those with thinner layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of our paper is to investigate the properties of the classical phase-dispersion minimization (PDM), analysis of variance (AOV), string-length (SL), and Lomb–Scargle (LS) power statistics from a statistician's perspective. We confirm that when the data are perturbations of a constant function, i.e. under the null hypothesis of no period in the data, a scaled version of the PDM statistic follows a beta distribution, the AOV statistic follows an F distribution, and the LS power follows a chi-squared distribution with two degrees of freedom. However, the SL statistic does not have a closed-form distribution. We further verify these theoretical distributions through simulations and demonstrate that the extreme values of these statistics (over a range of trial periods), often used for period estimation and determination of the false alarm probability (FAP), follow different distributions than those derived for a single period. We emphasize that multiple-testing considerations are needed to correctly derive FAP bounds. Though, in fact, multiple-testing controls are built into the FAP bound for these extreme-value statistics, e.g. the FAP bound derived specifically for the maximum LS power statistic over a range of trial periods. Additionally, we find that all of these methods are robust to heteroscedastic noise aimed to mimic the degradation or miscalibration of an instrument over time. Finally, we examine the ability of these statistics to detect a non-constant periodic function via simulating data that mimics a well-detached binary system, and we find that the AOV statistic has the most power to detect the correct period, which agrees with what has been observed in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The giant spiral galaxy M101 is host to the nearest recent Type Ia supernova (SN 2011fe) and thus has been extensively monitored in the near-infrared to study the late-time light curve of the SN. Leveraging this existing baseline of observations, we derive the first Mira-based distance to M101 by discovering and classifying a sample of 211 Miras with periods ranging from 240–400 days in the SN field. Combined with new Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFC3/IR channel observations, our data set totals 11 epochs of F110W (HST YJ) and 13 epochs of F160W (HST H) data spanning ∼2900 days. We adopt absolute calibrations of the Mira period–luminosity relation based on geometric distances to the Large Magellanic Cloud and the water megamaser host galaxy NGC 4258, and find μ M101 = 29.10 ± 0.06 mag. This distance is in 1 σ agreement with most other recent Cepheid and tip of the red giant branch distance measurements to M101. Including the previous Mira SN Ia host, NGC 1559, and SN 2005df, we determine the fiducial SN Ia peak luminosity, M B 0 = − 19.27 ± 0.09 mag. With the Hubble diagram of supernovae Ia, we derive H 0 = 72.37 ± 2.97 km s−1 Mpc−1, a 4.1% measurement of H 0 using Miras. We find excellent agreement with recent Cepheid distance ladder measurements of H 0 and confirm previous indications that the local universe value of H 0 is higher than the early universe value at ∼95% confidence. Currently, the Mira-based H 0 measurement is still dominated by the statistical uncertainty in the SN Ia peak magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observations and theories reveal that star-forming regions eject their members during the early evolution of the cluster. We present an initial search for stars ejected from the young cluster IC 348 based on an analysis of Gaia EDR3 astrometry of previously identified members. We identify six candidate walkaway stars with projected velocities of 5–8 km s−1. The candidate with properties most consistent with a walkaway star, V701 Per, was likely ejected from a small group to the west of IC 348. Three candidates are currently located or have proper motions that trace back to the center of IC 348, though their classification as walkaway stars may also be affected by large astrometric errors. Two other candidate walkaway stars were likely born in other subgroups around IC 348 within the Perseus star-forming region. Since our search criteria are restricted to previously identified members of IC 348, we did not identify any stars that were ejected at high velocities and traveled far from the cluster. Our study suggests that ejections have potentially occurred in both the central region of IC 348 and other subgroups in Perseus. Extending the search range will lead to more candidate ejections and constrain the dynamic properties and evolution of IC 348 by comparing with simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stellar companion to the weak-line T Tauri star DI Tau A was first discovered by the lunar occultation technique in 1989 and was subsequently confirmed by a speckle imaging observation in 1991. It has not been detected since, despite being targeted by five different studies that used a variety of methods and spanned more than 20 yr. Here, we report the serendipitous rediscovery of DI Tau B during our Young Exoplanets Spectroscopic Survey (YESS). Using radial velocity data from YESS spanning 17 yr, new adaptive optics observations from Keck II, and a variety of other data from the literature, we derive a preliminary orbital solution for the system that effectively explains the detection and (almost all of the) non-detection history of DI Tau B. We estimate the dynamical masses of both components, finding that the large mass difference (q ∼ 0.17) and long orbital period (≳35 yr) make the DI Tau system a noteworthy and valuable addition to studies of stellar evolution and pre-main-sequence models. With a long orbital period and a small flux ratio (f2/f1) between DI Tau A and B, additional measurements are needed for a better comparison between these observational results and pre-main-sequence models. Finally, we report an average surface magnetic field strength ( B ¯ ) for DI Tau A, of ∼0.55 kG, which is unusually low in the context of young active stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) is a standard candle that can be used to help refine the determination of the Hubble constant. Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3) provides synthetic photometry constructed from low-resolution BP/RP spectra for Milky Way field stars that can be used to directly calibrate the luminosity of the TRGB in the Johnson–Cousins I band, where the TRGB is least sensitive to metallicity. We calibrate the TRGB luminosity using a two-dimensional maximum likelihood algorithm with field stars and Gaia synthetic photometry and parallaxes. For a high-contrast and low-contrast break (characterized by the values of the contrast parameter R or the magnitude of the break β), we find M TRGB I = −4.02 and −3.92 mag respectively, or a midpoint of −3.970 − 0.024 + 0.042 (sys) ± 0.062 (stat) mag. This measurement improves upon the TRGB measurement from Li et al., as the higher precision photometry based on Gaia DR3 allows us to constrain two additional free parameters of the luminosity function. We also investigate the possibility of using Gaia DR3 synthetic photometry to calibrate the TRGB luminosity with ω Centauri, but find evidence of blending within the inner region for cluster member photometry that precludes accurate calibration with Gaia DR3 photometry. We instead provide an updated TRGB measurement of m TRGB I = 9.82 ± 0.04 mag in ω Centauri using ground-based photometry from the most recent version of the database described in Stetson et al., which gives M TRGB I = −3.97 ± 0.04 (stat) ± 0.10 (sys) mag when tied to the Gaia EDR3 parallax distance from the consensus of Vasiliev & Baumgardt, Soltis et al., and Maíz Apellániz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

We report Very Long Baseline Array observations of 22 GHz H2O and 43 GHz SiO masers toward the Mira variable RR Aql. By fitting the SiO maser emission to a circular ring, we estimate the absolute stellar position of RR Aql and find agreement with Gaia astrometry to within the joint uncertainty of ≈1 mas. Using the maser astrometry we measure a stellar parallax of 2.44 ± 0.07 mas, corresponding to a distance of 410 âˆ' 11 + 12 pc. The maser parallax deviates significantly from the Gaia EDR3 parallax of 1.95 ± 0.11 mas, indicating a 3.8 σ tension between radio and optical measurements. This tension is most likely caused by optical photocenter variations limiting the Gaia astrometric accuracy for this Mira variable. Combining infrared magnitudes with parallaxes for RR Aql and other Miras, we fit a periodâ€"luminosity relation using a Bayesian approach with Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling and a strong prior for the slope of âˆ'3.60 ± 0.30 from the Large Magellanic Cloud. We find a K -band zero-point (defined at logP(days) = 2.30) of âˆ'6.79 ± 0.15 mag using very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) parallaxes and âˆ'7.08 ± 0.29 mag using Gaia parallaxes. The Gaia zero-point is statistically consistent with the more accurate VLBI value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the third and final data release of the K2 Galactic Archaeology Program (K2 GAP) for Campaigns C1–C8 and C10–C18. We provide asteroseismic radius and mass coefficients, κR and κM, for ∼19,000 red giant stars, which translate directly to radius and mass given a temperature. As such, K2 GAP DR3 represents the largest asteroseismic sample in the literature to date. K2 GAP DR3 stellar parameters are calibrated to be on an absolute parallactic scale based on Gaia DR2, with red giant branch and red clump evolutionary state classifications provided via a machine-learning approach. Combining these stellar parameters with GALAH DR3 spectroscopy, we determine asteroseismic ages with precisions of ∼20%–30% and compare age-abundance relations to Galactic chemical evolution models among both low- and high-α populations for α, light, iron-peak, and neutron-capture elements. We confirm recent indications in the literature of both increased Ba production at late Galactic times as well as significant contributions to r-process enrichment from prompt sources associated with, e.g., core-collapse supernovae. With an eye toward other Galactic archeology applications, we characterize K2 GAP DR3 uncertainties and completeness using injection tests, suggesting that K2 GAP DR3 is largely unbiased in mass/age, with uncertainties of 2.9% (stat.) ± 0.1% (syst.) and 6.7% (stat.) ± 0.3% (syst.) in κR and κM for red giant branch stars and 4.7% (stat.) ± 0.3% (syst.) and 11% (stat.) ± 0.9% (syst.) for red clump stars. We also identify percent-level asteroseismic systematics, which are likely related to the time baseline of the underlying data, and which therefore should be considered in TESS asteroseismic analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a novel approach to the riddle of star cluster multiple populations. Stars form from molecular cores. But not all cores form stars. Following their initial compression, such "failed" cores re-expand, rather than collapsing. We propose that their formation and subsequent dispersal regulate the gas density of cluster-forming clumps and, therefore, their core and star formation rates. Clumps for which failed cores are the dominant core type experience star formation histories with peaks and troughs (i.e., discrete star formation episodes). In contrast, too few failed cores results in smoothly decreasing star formation rates. We identify three main parameters shaping the star formation history of a clump: the star and core formation efficiencies per free-fall time, and the timescale on which failed cores return to the clump gas. The clump mass acts as a scaling factor. We use our model to constrain the density and mass of the Orion Nebula Cluster progenitor clump, and to caution that the star formation histories of starburst clusters may contain close-by peaks concealed by stellar age uncertainties. Our model generates a great variety of star formation histories. Intriguingly, the chromosome maps and O–Na anticorrelations of old globular clusters also present diverse morphologies. This prompts us to discuss our model in the context of globular cluster multiple stellar populations. More massive globular clusters exhibit stronger multiple stellar population patterns, which our model can explain if the formation of the polluting stars requires a given stellar mass threshold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We construct a dynamical model of the Milky Way disk from a data set that combines Gaia EDR3 and APOGEE data throughout galactocentric radii in the range 5.0 kpc ≤ R ≤ 19.5 kpc. We make use of the spherically aligned Jeans anisotropic method to model the stellar velocities and their velocity dispersions. Building upon our previous work, our model is now fitted to kinematic maps that have been extended to larger galactocentric radii due to the expansion of our data set, probing the outer regions of the Galactic disk. Our best-fitting dynamical model suggests a logarithmic density slope of αDM = −1.602 ± 0.079syst for the dark matter halo and a dark matter density of ρDM(R⊙) = (8.92 ± 0.56syst) × 10−3M⊙ pc−3 (0.339 ± 0.022syst GeV cm3). We estimate a circular velocity at the solar radius of vcirc = (234.7 ± 1.7syst) km s−1 with a decline toward larger radii. The total mass density is ρtot(R⊙) = (0.0672 ± 0.0015syst) M⊙ pc−3 with a slope of αtot = −2.367 ± 0.047syst for 5 kpc ≤ R ≤ 19.5 kpc, and the total surface density is Σ(R⊙, ∣z∣ ≤ 1.1 kpc) = (55.5 ± 1.7syst) M⊙ pc−2. While the statistical errors are small, the error budget of the derived quantities is dominated by the three to seven times larger systematic uncertainties. These values are consistent with our previous determination, but the systematic uncertainties are reduced due to the extended data set covering a larger spatial extent of the Milky Way disk. Furthermore, we test the influence of nonaxisymmetric features on our resulting model and analyze how a flaring disk model would change our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given their location on the Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram, thoroughly characterized subgiant stars can place stringent constraints on a wide range of astrophysical problems. Accordingly, they are prime asteroseismic targets for the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission. In this work, we infer stellar properties for a sample of 347 subgiants located in the TESS Continuous Viewing Zones, which we select based on their likelihood of showing asteroseismic oscillations. We investigate how well they can be characterized using classical constraints (photometry, astrometry) and validate our results using spectroscopic values. We derive luminosities, effective temperatures, and radii with mean 1σ random (systematic) uncertainties of 4.5% (2%), 33 K (60 K), and 2.2% (2%), as well as more model-dependent quantities such as surface gravities, masses, and ages. We use our sample to demonstrate that subgiants are ideal targets for mass and age determination based on H-R diagram location alone, discuss the advantages of stellar parameters derived from a detailed characterization over widely available catalogs, show that the generally used 3D extinction maps tend to overestimate the extinction for nearby stars (distance ≲500 pc), and find a correlation that supports the rotation–activity connection in post-main-sequence stars. The complementary roles played by classical and asteroseismic data sets will open a window to unprecedented astrophysical studies using subgiant stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a chemodynamical analysis of low-resolution (R ∼ 1300) spectroscopy of ∼50,000 stars from the AAOmega Evolution of Galactic Structure survey, focusing on two key populations of (in total) 650 carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars within the disk system of the Milky Way: a mildly prograde population (Lz < 1000 kpc km s−1) and a strongly prograde population (Lz > 1000 kpc km s−1). Based on their chemical and kinematic characteristics, and on comparisons with similar populations found in the recent literature, we tentatively associate the former with an ex situ inner-halo population originating from either the Gaia Sausage or Gaia–Enceladus. The latter population is linked to the metal-weak thick disk. We discuss their implications in the context of the formation history of the Milky Way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a novel method to detect variable astrophysical objects and transient phenomena using anomalous excess scatter in repeated measurements from public catalogs of Gaia DR2 and Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) DR3 photometry. We first provide a generalized, all-sky proxy for variability using only Gaia DR2 photometry, calibrated to white dwarf stars. To ensure more robust candidate detection, we further employ a method combining Gaia with ZTF photometry and alerts. To demonstrate its efficacy, we apply this latter technique to a sample of roughly 12,100 white dwarfs within 200 pc centered on the ZZ Ceti instability strip, where hydrogen-atmosphere white dwarfs are known to pulsate. By inspecting the top 1% of the samples ranked by these methods, we demonstrate that both the Gaia-only and ZTF-informed techniques are highly effective at identifying known and new variable white dwarfs, which we verify using follow-up, high-speed photometry. We confirm variability in all 33 out of 33 (100%) observed white dwarfs within our top 1% highest-ranked candidates, both inside and outside the ZZ Ceti instability strip. In addition to dozens of new pulsating white dwarfs, we also identify five white dwarfs highly likely to show transiting planetary debris; if confirmed, these systems would more than triple the number of white dwarfs known to host transiting debris. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we collect a sample of stars observed both in LAMOST and Gaia, which have colors implying a temperature hotter than 7000 K. We train a machine-learning algorithm on LAMOST spectroscopic data which has been tagged with stellar classifications and metallicities, and use this machine to construct a catalog of blue horizontal branch stars (BHBs), together with metallicity information. Another machine is trained using Gaia parallaxes to predict absolute magnitudes for these stars. The final catalog of 13,693 BHBs is thought to be about 86% pure, with σ[Fe/H] ∼ 0.35 dex, and σG ∼ 0.31 mag. These values are confirmed via comparison to globular clusters, although a covariance error seems to affect our magnitude and abundance estimates. We analyze a subset of this catalog in the Galactic Halo. We find that BHB populations in the outer halo appear redder, which could imply a younger population, and that the metallicity gradient is relatively flat around [Fe/H] = −1.9 dex over our sample footprint. We find that our metal-rich BHB stars are on more radial velocity dispersion-dominated orbits (β ∼ 0.70) at all radii than our metal-poor BHB stars (β ∼ 0.62). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By combining the Large Sky Area Multi-object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope and Gaia data, we investigate the vertical phase mixing across the Galactic disk. Our results confirm the existence of phase space snail shells (or phase spirals) from 6–12 kpc. We find that grouping stars by the guiding radius (Rg), instead of the present radius (R), further enhances the snail shell signal in the following aspects: (1) clarity of the snail shell shape is increased; (2) more wraps of the snail shell can be seen; (3) the phase spaces are less affected by the lack of stars closer to the disk midplane due to extinction; and (4) the phase space snail shell is amplified in greater radial ranges. Compared to the R-based snail shell, the quantitatively measured shapes are similar, except that the Rg-based snail shells show more wraps with a better contrast. These lines of evidence lead to the conclusion that the guiding radius (angular momentum) is a fundamental parameter tracing the phase space snail shell across the Galactic disk. Results of our test particle simulations with impulse approximation verify that particles grouped according to Rg reveal well-defined and sharper snail shell features. By comparing the radial profiles of the snail shell pitch angle between the observation and simulation, the external perturbation can be constrained to ∼500−700 Myr ago. For future vertical phase mixing study, it is recommended to use the guiding radius with additional constraints on orbital hotness (ellipticity) to improve the clarity of the phase snail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current tension between the direct and the early-universe measurements of the Hubble constant, H0, requires detailed scrutiny of all the data and methods used in the studies on both sides of the debate. The Cepheids in the Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) host galaxy NGC 5584 played a key role in the local measurement of H0. The SH0ES project used the observations of this galaxy to derive a relation between the Cepheids' periods and ratios of their amplitudes in different optical bands of the Hubble Space Telescope and used these relations to analyze the light curves of the Cepheids in around half of the current sample of local SN Ia host galaxies. In this work, we present an independent detailed analysis of the Cepheids in NGC 5584. We employ different tools for our photometric analysis and a completely different method for our light-curve analysis, and we do not find a systematic difference between our period and mean magnitude measurements compared to those reported by SH0ES. By adopting a period–luminosity relation calibrated by the Cepheids in the Milky Way, we measure a distance modulus μ = 31.810 ± 0.047 (mag), which is in agreement with μ = 31.786 ± 0.046 (mag) measured by SH0ES. In addition, the relations we find between the periods and amplitude ratios of the Cepheids in NGC 5584 are significantly tighter than those of SH0ES, and their potential impact on the direct H0 measurement will be investigated in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The zero point of the reddening toward the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) has been the subject of some dispute. Its uncertainty propagates as a systematic error for methods that measure the extragalactic distance scale through knowledge of the absolute extinction of LMC stars. In an effort to resolve this issue, we used three different methods to calibrate the most widely used metric to predict LMC extinction, the intrinsic color of the red clump, (V − I)RC,0, for the inner ∼3° of that galaxy. The first approach was to empirically calibrate the color zero points of the BaSTI isochrones over a wide metallicity range of Δ[Fe/H] ≈ 1.10 using measurements of red clump stars in 47 Tuc, the solar neighborhood, and NGC 6791. From these efforts, we also measure these properties of the solar neighborhood red clump, (V − I, GBP − Ks, G − Ks, GRP − Ks, J − Ks, H − Ks, MI, MKs)RC,0 = (1.02, 2.75, 2.18, 1.52, 0.64, 0.15, −0.23, −1.63). The second and third methods were to compare the observed colors of the red clump to those of Cepheids and RR Lyrae in the LMC. With these three methods, we estimated the intrinsic color of the red clump of the LMC to be (V − I)RC,0,LMC = {≈ 0.93 , 0.91 ± 0.02, 0.89 ± 0.02}, respectively, and similarly, using the first and third methods, we estimated (V − I)RC,0,SMC = {≈ 0.85 , 0.84 ± 0.02}, respectively, for the Small Magellanic Cloud. We estimate the luminosities to be MI,RC,LMC = −0.26 and MI,RC,SMC = −0.37. We show that this has important implications for recent calibrations of the tip of the red giant branch in the Magellanic Clouds used to measure H0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gaia is undertaking a deep synoptic survey of the Galaxy, but photometry from individual epochs has, as of yet, only been released for a minimal number of sources. We show that it is possible to identify variable stars in Gaia Data Release 2 by selecting stars with unexpectedly large photometric uncertainties given their brightness and number of observations. By comparing our results to existing catalogs of variables, we show that information on the amplitude of variability is also implicitly present in the Gaia photometric uncertainties. We present a catalog of about 9.3 million candidate variable stars, and discuss its limitations and prospects for future tests and extensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We derive dynamical parameters for a large sample of 446 r-process-enhanced (RPE) metal-poor stars in the halo and disk systems of the Milky Way, based on data releases from the R-Process Alliance, supplemented by additional literature samples. This sample represents more than a 10-fold increase in size relative to that previously considered by Roederer et al. and, by design, covers a larger range of r-process-element enrichment levels. We test a number of clustering analysis methods on the derived orbital energies and other dynamical parameters for this sample, ultimately deciding on application of the HDBSCAN algorithm, which obtains 30 individual chemodynamically tagged groups (CDTGs); 21 contain between 3 and 5 stars, and 9 contain between 6 and 12 stars. Even though the clustering was performed solely on the basis of their dynamical properties, the stars in these CDTGs exhibit statistically significant similarities in their metallicity ([Fe/H]), carbonicity ([C/Fe]), and neutron-capture element ratios ([Sr/Fe], [Ba/Fe], and [Eu/Fe]). These results demonstrate that the RPE stars in these CDTGs have likely experienced common chemical-evolution histories, presumably in their parent satellite galaxies or globular clusters, prior to being disrupted into the Milky Way's halo. We also confirm the previous claim that the orbits of the RPE stars preferentially exhibit pericentric distances that are substantially lower than the present distances of surviving ultrafaint dwarf and canonical dwarf spheroidal galaxies, consistent with the disruption hypothesis. The derived dynamical parameters for several of our CDTGs indicate their association with previously known substructures, dynamically tagged groups, and RPE groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cepheids in multiple systems provide information on the outcome of the formation of massive stars. They can also lead to exotic end-stage objects. This study concludes our survey of 70 galactic Cepheids using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) with images at two wavelengths to identify companions closer than 5″. In the entire WFC3 survey we identify 16 probable companions for 13 Cepheids. The 7 Cepheids having resolved candidate companions within 2″ all have the surprising property of themselves being spectroscopic binaries (as compared with a 29% incidence of spectroscopic binaries in the general Cepheid population). This is a strong suggestion that an inner binary is linked to the scenario of a third companion within a few hundred astronomical units. This characteristic is continued for more widely separated companions. Under a model where the outer companion is formed first, it is unlikely that it can anticipate a subsequent inner binary. Rather, it is more likely that a triple system has undergone dynamical interaction, resulting in one star moving outward to its current location. Chandra and Gaia data as well as radial velocities and HST/STIS and IUE spectra are used to derive properties of the components of the Cepheid systems. The colors of the companion candidates show a change in distribution at approximately 2000 au separations, from a range including both hot and cool colors for closer companions, to only low-mass companions for wider separations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent discovery of a spiral feature in the Z − VZ phase plane in the solar neighborhood implies that the galactic disk has been remarkably affected by a dwarf galaxy passing through it some hundreds of millions of years ago. Using 429,500 Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope K giants stars, we show that the spiral feature exists not only in the solar vicinity but it also extends to about 15 kpc from the Galactic center and then disappears beyond this radius. Moreover, we find that when the spiral features in a plot of Vϕ as a function of position in the Z − VZ plane at various galactocentric radii are remapped to the R − Z plane, the spiral can explain well the observed asymmetric velocity substructures. This is evidence that the phase spiral features are the same as the bulk motions found in previous work as well as this work. Test particle simulations and N-body simulations show that an encounter with a dwarf galaxy a few hundred million years ago will induce a perturbation in the galactic disk. In addition, we find that the last impact of Sgr dSph can also contribute to the flare. As a consequence of the encounter, the distribution function of disk stars at a large range of radii is imprinted by the gravitational perturbation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]