Search

The discovery of two ultraviolet (UV)-bright galaxy candidates at z ∼ 13, HD1 and HD2, laid the foundation for a new race to study the early Universe. Previous investigations suggested that they are powered either by a supermassive black hole or by an extreme, transient burst of star formation. Given their uncertain nature, we investigate whether these sources could be lensed by a hitherto undetected, faint foreground galaxy. We find that at the current limiting magnitude with which HD1 and HD2 were imaged, there is only a $7.39{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ probability they are strongly lensed by spherical deflectors and that the hypothetical lensing galaxy was too faint to be detected. Meanwhile, with the limiting magnitudes of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and JWST, the theoretical probability would drop precipitously to 0.058 and $0.0012{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$, respectively. We further find it unlikely that the luminosities of both sources can be accounted for by lensing that produces a single, resolved image with sufficiently high magnification. Alternatively, in the unlikely event that their brightness results from lensing by an elliptical isothermal galaxy, there is a $30.9 {{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ probability that the lensing galaxy is too faint to be observable at the current limiting magnitude. Future HST (JWST) imaging will drop this probability to $0.245 {{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ ($0.0025 {{\ \rm per\ cent}}$). In summary, while deep imaging with HST and JWST is required to discard the lensing hypothesis entirely, it is unlikely that the exceptional luminosity of the two z ∼ 13 sources can be accounted for by gravitational lensing.

(Abridged) Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) have resisted explanation and have received little formal scientific attention for 75 years. A primary objective of the Galileo Project is to build an integrated software and instrumentation system designed to conduct a multimodal census of aerial phenomena and to recognize anomalies. Here we present key motivations for the study of UAP and address historical objections to this research. We describe an approach for highlighting outlier events in the high-dimensional parameter space of our census measurements. We provide a detailed roadmap for deciding measurement requirements, as well as a science traceability matrix (STM) for connecting sought-after physical parameters to observables and instrument requirements. We also discuss potential strategies for deciding where to locate instruments for development, testing, and final deployment. Our instrument package is multimodal and multispectral, consisting of (1) wide-field cameras in multiple bands for targeting and tracking of aerial objects and deriving their positions and kinematics using triangulation; (2) narrow-field instruments including cameras for characterizing morphology, spectra, polarimetry, and photometry; (3) passive multistatic arrays of antennas and receivers for radar-derived range and kinematics; (4) radio spectrum analyzers to measure radio and microwave emissions; (5) microphones for sampling acoustic emissions in the infrasonic through ultrasonic frequency bands; and (6) environmental sensors for characterizing ambient conditions (temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind velocity), as well as quasistatic electric and magnetic fields, and energetic particles. The use of multispectral instruments and multiple sensor modalities will help to ensure that artifacts are recognized and that true detections are corroborated and verifiable., This paper is published in the Journal of Astronomical Instrumentation, 12(1), 2340006 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1142/S2251171723400068

Planets with short orbital periods (roughly under 10 days) are common around stars like the Sun. Stars expand as they evolve and thus we expect their close planetary companions to be engulfed, possibly powering luminous mass ejections from the host star. However, this phase has never been directly observed. Here we report observations of ZTF SLRN-2020, a short-lived optical outburst in the Galactic disk accompanied by bright and long-lived infrared emission. The resulting light curve and spectra share striking similarities with those of red novae—a class of eruptions now confirmed to arise from mergers of binary stars. Its exceptionally low optical luminosity (approximately 1035 erg s⁻¹) and radiated energy (approximately 6.5 × 10⁴¹ erg) point to the engulfment of a planet of fewer than roughly ten Jupiter masses by its Sun-like host star. We estimate the Galactic rate of such subluminous red novae to be roughly between 0.1 and several per year. Future Galactic plane surveys should routinely identify these, showing the demographics of planetary engulfment and the ultimate fate of planets in the inner Solar System.

(Abridged) Quantitative three-dimensional (3D) position and velocity estimates obtained by passive radar will assist the Galileo Project in the detection and classification of aerial objects by providing critical measurements of range, location, and kinematics. These parameters will be combined with those derived from the Project{\textquoteright}s suite of electromagnetic sensors and used to separate known aerial objects from those exhibiting anomalous kinematics. SkyWatch, a passive multistatic radar system based on commercial broadcast FM radio transmitters of opportunity, is a network of receivers spaced at geographical scales that enables estimation of the 3D position and velocity time series of objects at altitudes up to 80km, horizontal distances up to 150km, and at velocities to {\textpm}2{\textpm}2km/s ({\textpm}6{\textpm}6Mach). The receivers are designed to collect useful data in a variety of environments varying by terrain, transmitter power, relative transmitter distance, adjacent channel strength, etc. In some cases, the direct signal from the transmitter may be large enough to be used as the reference with which the echoes are correlated. In other cases, the direct signal may be weak or absent, in which case a reference is communicated to the receiver from another network node via the internet for echo correlation. Various techniques are discussed specific to the two modes of operation and a hybrid mode. Delay and Doppler data are sent via internet to a central server where triangulation is used to deduce time series of 3D positions and velocities. A multiple receiver (multistatic) radar experiment is undergoing Phase 1 testing, with several receivers placed at various distances around the Harvard{\textendash}Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), to validate full 3D position and velocity recovery., Comment: This paper is published in the Journal of Astronomical Instrumentation, 12(1) (2023) 10.1142/S2251171723400044 The abstract has been updated

We propose possible properties of quantum gravity in de Sitter space, and find that they relate the value of the cosmological constant to parameters of the Standard Model. In de Sitter space we suggest (i) that the most sharply defined observables are obtained by scattering objects from the horizon and back to the horizon and (ii) that black holes of discrete charge are well defined states in the theory. For a black hole of minimal discrete electric charge, we therefore demand that a scattering process involving the black hole and a probe can take place within a Hubble time before evaporating away, so that the state of a discretely charged black hole is well defined. By imposing that the black hole's charge is in principle detectable, which involves appreciably altering the state of a scattered electron, we derive a relation between the Hubble scale, or cosmological constant, and the electron's mass and charge and order one coefficients that describe our ignorance of the full microscopic theory. This gives the prediction $\Lambda \sim 10^{-123 \pm 2} M_{Pl}^4$, which includes the observed value of dark energy. We suggest possible ways to test this proposal., Comment: 4 pages in double column format. 1 figure. V2: Further clarifications added, including a figure. V3: Minor changes. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D. V4: Comment added

The quest for high-redshift quasars has led to a series of record-breaking sources, with the current record holder at $z=7.642$. Here, we show how future detections of $z>8$ quasars impact the constraints on the parameters for black hole growth and seed models. Using broad flat priors on the growth parameters (Eddington ratio $\,f_{\rm Edd}$, duty cycle ${\cal D}$, seed mass $M_{\rm \bullet, seed}$ and radiative efficiency $\epsilon$), we show that the large uncertainties in their determination decrease by a factor $\sim 5$ when a quasar's detection redshift goes from $z=9$ to $z=12$. In this high-redshift regime, $\epsilon$ tends to the lowest value allowed, and the distribution for $M_{\rm \bullet, seed}$ peaks well inside the heavy seed domain. Remarkably, two quasars detected at $z > 7$ with low accretion rates (J1243+0100 and J0313-1806) already tighten the available parameter space, requiring $M_{\rm \bullet, seed} > 10^{3.5} \,{\rm M_\odot}$ and $\epsilon < 0.1$. The radiative efficiency is a crucial unknown, with factor $\sim 2$ changes able to modify the predicted mass by $\sim 3$ orders of magnitude already at $z\sim 9$. The competing roles of inefficient accretion (decreasing $\epsilon$) and black hole spin-up (increasing $\epsilon$) significantly impact growth models. Finally, we suggest that yields currently predicted by upcoming quasar surveys (e.g., Euclid) will be instrumental for determining the most-likely seed mass regime. For example, assuming thin-disk accretion, a detection of a quasar with $M_\bullet \sim 10^{10} \,{\rm M_\odot}$ by $z\sim 9-10$ would exclude the entire parameter space available for light seeds and dramatically reduce the one for heavy seeds., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. This is the final version of the manuscript. 8 pages, 5 figures

Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) have not been detected beyond any reasonable doubt through either dynamical or accretion signatures. Gravitational waves (GWs) represent an unparalleled opportunity to survey the sky and detect mergers of IMBHs, making it possible for the first time to constrain their formation, growth, and merger history across cosmic time. While the current network LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA is significantly limited in detecting mergers of IMBH binaries, the next generation of ground-based observatories and space-based missions promise to shed light on the IMBH population through the detection of several events per year. Here, we asses this possibility by determining the optimal network of next-generation of GW observatories to reconstruct the IMBH merger history across cosmic time. We show that Voyager, the Einstein Telescope, and Cosmic Explorer will be able to constrain the distribution of the primary masses of merging IMBHs up to $\sim 10^3\ M_\odot$ and with mass ratio $\gtrsim 0.1$, while LISA will complementary do so at higher mass and smaller mass ratios. Therefore, a network of next-generation ground-based and space-based observatories will potentially reconstruct the merger history of IMBHs. Moreover, IMBHs with masses $\lesssim 5\times 10^3\ M_\odot$ could be observed in multiband up to a redshift of $z\approx 4$, ushering in a new of era GW astronomy., 9 pages, 6 figures, accepted by ApJ

It is well known that planets with short orbital periods (< 10 days) are common around stars like the Sun. Stars expand as they evolve, and thus we expect their close planetary companions to be engulfed. However, this phase has never been directly observed. Here, we present the discovery of ZTF SLRN-2020, a short-lived optical outburst in the Galactic disk accompanied by bright and long-lived infrared emission. The resulting light curve and spectra share striking similarities with those of red novae -- a class of eruptions now confirmed to arise from mergers of binary stars. Its exceptionally low optical luminosity (10^{35} erg/s) and radiated energy (6.5 X 10^{41} erg) point to the engulfment of a planet (of 1 - 10 Jupiter masses) by its Sun-like host star. We estimate the Galactic rate of such Sub-luminous Red Novae (SLRNe) to be $\sim 0.1 - few per year. Future Galactic plane surveys are well-poised to routinely identify them, revealing the demographics of planetary engulfment and the ultimate fate of planets in the inner Solar System.

The relationship between the location of the Sun in the interstellar medium (ISM) and terrestrial effects has been explored in connection with the filtration of Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) as the heliosphere, the solar system’s protective bubble formed by the solar wind, shrinks or expands as a result of different ISM environments. The connection between GCR and terrestrial climate, however, is still uncertain. So far, the impact of the compact cold clouds that are 4-5 order of magnitude denser than the ISM along the direct path of the Sun, was neglected. There is geological evidence from 60Fe and 244Pu isotopes that Earth was in direct contact with the ISM, about 2-3 million years ago. It is known that the local ISM is home to several nearby cold clouds. Using new modeling of 21-cm data from the HI4PI survey, we derive the velocity field of the Local Ribbon of Cold Clouds (LRCC). We show that the solar system may have passed through the Local Ribbon of Cold Clouds in the constellation Lynx(LxCC). The likelihood of a random encounter with a dense cloud is 1.3%. Using a state-of-the-art simulation of the heliosphere, we show that during the passage the heliosphere had shrunk to a scale of 0.22AU, smaller than the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. As a result, Earth was exposed to a neutral hydrogen density above 3000cm-3. This could have had drastic effects on Earth’s climate, as suggested by records of oxygen isotopes derived from forminifera in the sea floor and potentially on human evolution at that time where Australopithecus afarensis (“Lucy”) went extinct, leading to the emergence of the Homo lineage.

I show that pair production on sunlight introduces a sizable anisotropy in the cosmic background of TeV gamma-rays. The anisotropy amplitude in the direction of the Sun exceeds the cosmic dipole anisotropy from the motion of the Sun relative to the cosmic rest-frame., Submitted to an AAS Journal

I show that non-relativistic objects traveling in intergalactic space at an initial peculiar velocity v will traverse in the future of the LCDM cosmological model a maximum comoving distance of ∼(v/1.7H 0), irrespective of travel time, where H 0 is the Hubble constant. This follows from the future exponential growth of the scale factor. Hypervelocity stars escaping the halo of the Milky Way galaxy will not go beyond a few tens of comoving Mpc, even over the trillions of years that represent the lifetime of low-mass stars. To reach beyond the Virgo cluster of galaxies, requires an initial peculiar speed ≳3 × 103 km s−1, a hundred times faster than the chemical rockets launched to space so far.

Aquatic biospheres reliant on oxygenic photosynthesis are expected to play an important role on Earth-like planets endowed with large-scale oceans insofar as carbon fixation (i.e., biosynthesis of organic compounds) is concerned. We investigate the properties of aquatic biospheres comprising Earth-like biota for habitable rocky planets orbiting Sun-like stars and late-type M-dwarfs such as TRAPPIST-1. In particular, we estimate how these characteristics evolve with the available flux of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and the ambient ocean temperature ($T_W$), the latter of which constitutes a key environmental variable. We show that many salient properties, such as the depth of the photosynthesis zone and the net primary productivity (i.e., the effective rate of carbon fixation), are sensitive to PAR flux and $T_W$ and decline substantially when the former is decreased or the latter is increased. We conclude by exploring the implications of our analysis for exoplanets around Sun-like stars and M-dwarfs., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 40 pages; 5 pages; 1 table

Without extensive maintenance, Dyson spheres inevitably disintegrate by asteroid impacts over billions of years. The resulting fragments would appear as anomalous interstellar objects, potentially sharing the unusual shape and motion of 1I/Oumuamua or the unusual material strength of the first two interstellar meteors, IM1 and IM2. If the Dyson sphere tiles are light sails, the number of fragments could exceed that of interstellar asteroids because of their reduced escape speed from the star and the increase in stellar luminosity during the red giant phase., Comment: Accepted for publication in an AAS journal; updated version following editorial review and revisions

As the sensitivity of gravitational wave (GW) instruments improves and new networks start operating, hundreds of merging stellar-mass black holes (SBHs) and intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) are expected to be observed in the next few years. The origin and distribution of SBH and IMBH binaries in various dynamical environments is a fundamental scientific question in GW astronomy. In this paper, we discuss ways tidal disruption events (TDEs) may provide a unique electromagnetic window into the assembly and merger of binary SBHs and IMBHs in nuclear star clusters (NSCs). We discuss how the host NSC mass and density and the slope of the black-hole mass function set the orbital properties and the masses of the binaries that undergo a TDE. For typical NSC properties, we predict a TDE rate of $\sim 10^{-6}$--$10^{-7}\ {\rm yr}^{-1}$ per galaxy. The lightcurve of TDEs in NSCs could be interrupted and modulated by the companion black hole on the orbital period of the binary. These should be readily detectable by optical transient surveys such as the Zwicky Transient Facility and LSST., Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, accepted by MNRAS

The gradient of the gravitational redshift in the potential of the Milky-Way induces an apparent spurious radial migration. I show that this effect is simply related to the local acceleration, which was measured recently by Gaia eDR3, implying a spectroscopic shift of $[-2.4x10^{-2}/(r/8kpc)] km/s/kpc. The transverse Doppler effect yields a comparable contribution. The spurious radial velocity from both relativistic effects amounts to crossing a major portion of the Milky-Way disk during the age of the universe, and must be corrected for in any future measurement of the actual radial migration of stars., 3 pages, submitted to an AAS Journal

We suggest that the recently discovered, enigmatic pulsar with a period of 18.18 minutes, GLEAM-X J162759.5-523504.3, is most likely a hot subdwarf (proto white dwarf). A magnetic dipole model explains the observed period and period-derivative for a highly magnetized (∼108 G), hot subdwarf of typical mass ∼0.5M ⊙ and radius ∼0.3R ⊙, and an age of ∼3 × 104 yr. The subdwarf spin is close to its breakup speed and its spindown luminosity is near its Eddington limit, likely as a result of accretion from a companion.

The local detection rate of interstellar objects can allow for estimations of the total number of similar objects bound by the Milky Way thin disk. If interstellar objects of artificial origin are discovered, the estimated total number of objects can be lower by a factor of about $10^{16}$ if they target the habitable zone around the Sun. We propose a model for calculating the quantity of natural or artificial interstellar objects of interest based on the object's velocity and observed density. We then apply the model to the case of chemically propelled rockets from extraterrestrial civilizations. Finally, we apply the model to three previously discovered interstellar objects -- the object 'Oumuamua of unknown origin and the first interstellar meteors CNEOS 2014-01-08 and CNEOS 2017-03-09., Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures; submitted for publication

We illustrate a novel signature of black hole binaries from their effect on the kinematics of water maser emission in their environments. With the help of simulations, we establish the condition for clumps to mase based on their coherence lengths calibrated to those of the known maser galaxy NGC 4258. This is then used to identify masing clumps around a binary black hole system, and quantify the kinematic and spectral differences relative to the single black hole case. For some generic circumstances, blue-shifted masers around a binary black hole are found to preferentially follow the Keplerian rotation curve observed in the single black hole case. The redshifted ones, however, are found to visibly deviate from this relation, and also display more scatter with a tendency towards lower absolute values of the velocity along the line-of-sight. The spectrum of the masers as a function of line-of-sight velocity also shows a double peaked structure, reminiscent of recent observations of systems such as Mrk 1. Our results motivate future prospects for identifying binary black hole candidates with the help of water maser emissions., Comment: 6 pages, 11 figures; accepted for publication in MNRAS

The idea of ultralight scalar (axion) dark matter is theoretically appealing and may resolve some small-scale problems of cold dark matter; so it deserves careful attention. In this work we carefully analyze tunneling of the scalar field in dwarf satellites due to the tidal gravitational force from the host halo. The tidal force is far from spherically symmetric; causing tunneling along the axis from the halo center to the dwarf, while confining in the orthogonal plane. We decompose the wave function into a spherical term plus higher harmonics, integrate out angles, and then numerically solve a residual radial Schr\"odinger-Poisson system. By demanding that the core of the Fornax dwarf halo can survive for at least the age of the universe places a bound on the dark matter particle mass $2\times 10^{-22}\,\mbox{eV}\lesssim m\lesssim 6\times 10^{-22}\,$eV. Interestingly, we show that if another very low density halo is seen, then it rules out the ultralight scalar as core proposal completely. Furthermore, the non-condensed particles likely impose an even sharper lower bound. We also determine how the residual satellites could be distributed as a function of radius., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, in double column format. V2: Updated towards version published in JCAP

In this paper, we review some of the extant literature on the study of interstellar objects (ISOs). With the forthcoming Vera C. Rubin Telescope and Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), we find that $0.38 - 84$ `Oumuamua-like interstellar objects are expected to be detected in the next 10 years, with 95\% confidence. The feasibility of a rendezvous trajectory has been demonstrated in previous work. In this paper, we investigate the requirements for a rendezvous mission with the primary objective of producing a resolved image of an interstellar object. We outline the rendezvous distances necessary as a function of resolution elements and object size. We expand upon current population synthesis models to account for the size dependency on the detection rates for reachable interstellar objects. We assess the trade-off between object diameter and occurrence rate, and conclude that objects with the size range between a third of the size and the size of `Oumuamua will be optimal targets for an imaging rendezvous. We also discuss expectations for surface properties and spectral features of interstellar objects, as well as the benefits of various spacecraft storage locations., Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures; accepted for publication in Journal of Astronomical Instrumentation

The detection of two $z\sim 13$ galaxy candidates has opened a new window on galaxy formation at an era only $330$ Myr after the Big Bang. Here, we investigate the physical nature of these sources: are we witnessing star forming galaxies or quasars at such early epochs? If powered by star formation, the observed ultraviolet (UV) luminosities and number densities can be jointly explained if: (i) these galaxies are extreme star-formers with star formation rates $5-24\times$ higher than those expected from extrapolations of average lower-redshift relations; (ii) the star formation efficiency increases with halo mass and is countered by increasing dust attenuation from $z \sim 10-5$; (iii) they form stars with an extremely top-heavy initial mass function. The quasar hypothesis is also plausible, with the UV luminosity produced by black holes of $\sim 10^8 \, \mathrm{M_{\odot}}$ accreting at or slightly above the Eddington rate ($f_{\rm Edd}\sim 1.0$). This black hole mass at $z\sim13$ would require very challenging, but not implausible, growth parameters. If spectroscopically confirmed, these two sources will represent a remarkable laboratory to study the Universe at previously inaccessible redshifts., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters. This is the final version of the manuscript. 6 pages, 3 figures

Recent debates around the testability of the inflationary paradigm raise the question of how to model-independently discriminate it from competing scenarios. We argue that a detection of the Cosmic Graviton Background (CGB), the relic radiation from gravitons decoupling around the Planck time, would rule out the inflationary paradigm, as realistic inflationary models would dilute the CGB to an unobservable level. The CGB contribution to the effective number of relativistic species, $\Delta N_{{\rm eff},g} \approx 0.054$, is well within the reach of next-generation cosmological probes. We argue that detecting the high-frequency stochastic gravitational wave background associated to the CGB will be challenging but potentially feasible. We briefly discuss expectations within alternatives to inflation, focusing on bouncing cosmologies and emergent scenarios., Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure. v2: added further discussions on underlying assumptions, added references, matches version accepted for publication in ApJ Letters