Search

δ Scuti variables are found at the intersection of the classical instability strip and the main sequence on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. With space-based photometry providing millions of light curves of A-F type stars, we can now probe the occurrence rate of δ Scuti pulsations in detail. Using the 30 minutes cadence light curves from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite's first 26 sectors, we identify variability in 103,810 stars within 5–24 cycles per day down to a magnitude of T = 11.25. We fit the period–luminosity relation of the fundamental radial mode for δ Scuti stars in the Gaia G band, allowing us to distinguish classical pulsators from contaminants for a subset of 39,367 stars. Out of this subset, over 15,918 are found on or above the expected period–luminosity relation. We derive an empirical red edge to the classical instability strip using Gaia photometry. The center where the pulsator fraction peaks at 50%–70%, combined with the red edge, agrees well with previous work in the Kepler field. While many variable sources are found below the period–luminosity relation, over 85% of sources inside of the classical instability strip derived in this work are consistent with being δ Scuti stars. The remaining 15% of variables within the instability strip are likely hybrid or γ Doradus pulsators. Finally, we discover strong evidence for a correlation between pulsator fraction and spectral line broadening from the Radial Velocity Spectrometer on board the Gaia spacecraft, confirming that rotation has a role in driving pulsations in δ Scuti stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new clustering accuracy measure is proposed to determine the unknown number of clusters and to assess the quality of clustering of a data set given in any dimensional space. Our validity index applies the classical nonparametric univariate kernel density estimation method to the interpoint distances computed between the members of data. Being based on interpoint distances, it is free of the curse of dimensionality and therefore efficiently computable for high-dimensional situations where the number of study variables can be larger than the sample size. The proposed measure is compatible with any clustering algorithm and with every kind of data set where the interpoint distance measure can be defined to have a density function. Our conducted simulation study proves its superiority over widely used cluster validity indices like the average silhouette width and the Dunn index, whereas its applicability is shown with respect to a high-dimensional Biostatistical study of Alon data set and a large Astrostatistical application of time series with light curves of new variable stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dipper is a novel class of young stellar object associated with large drops in flux on the order of 10–50 per cent lasting for hours to days. Too significant to arise from intrinsic stellar variability, these flux drops are currently attributed to disc warps, accretion streams, and/or transiting circumstellar dust. Dippers have been previously studied in young star-forming regions, including the Orion Complex. Using Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS) data, we identified variable stars from their light curves. We then applied a machine learning random forest classifier for the identification of new dipper stars in Orion using previous variable classifications as a training set. We discover 120 new dippers, of which 83 are known members of the Complex. We also investigated the occurrence rate of discs in our targets, again using a machine learning approach. We find that all dippers have discs, and most of these are full discs. We use dipper periodicity and model-derived stellar masses to identify the orbital distance to the inner disc edge for dipper objects, confirming that dipper stars exhibit strongly extended sublimation radii, adding weight to arguments that the inner disc edge is further out than predicted by simple models. Finally, we determine a dipper fraction (the fraction of stars with discs which are dippers) for known members of 27.8 ± 2.9 per cent. Our findings represent the largest population of dippers identified in a single cluster to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the results of the analysis of Type II and anomalous Cepheids using the data from the Kepler K2 mission. The precise light curves of these pulsating variable stars are the key to study the details of their pulsation, such as the period-doubling effect or the presence of additional modes. We applied the Automated Extended Aperture Photometry (autoEAP) to obtain the light curves of the targeted variable stars which were observed. The light curves were Fourier analysed. We investigated 12 stars observed by the K2 mission, seven Type II, and five anomalous Cepheids. Among the Type II Cepheids, EPIC 210622262 shows period-doubling, and four stars have modulation present in their light curves which are different from the period-doubling effect. We calculated the high-order Fourier parameters for the short-period Cepheids. We also determined physical parameters by fitting model atmospheres to the spectral energy distributions. The determined distances using the parallaxes measured by the Gaia space telescope have limited precision below 16 mag for these types of pulsating stars, regardless if the inverse method is used or the statistical method to calculate the distances. The BaSTI evolutionary models were compared to the luminosities and effective temperatures. Most of the Type II Cepheids are modelled with low metallicity models, but for a few of them solar-like metallicity ([Fe/H] = 0.06) model is required. The anomalous Cepheids are compared to low-metallicity single stellar models. We do not see signs of binarity among our sample stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying anomalies, especially weak anomalies in constantly changing targets, is more difficult than in stable targets. In this article, we borrow the dynamics metrics and propose the concept of dynamics signature (DS) in multi‐dimensional feature space to efficiently distinguish the abnormal event from the normal behaviors of a variable star. The corresponding dynamics criterion is proposed to check whether a star's current state is an anomaly. Based on the proposed concept of DS, we develop a highly optimized DS algorithm that can automatically detect anomalies from millions of stars' high cadence sky survey data in real‐time. Microlensing, which is a typical anomaly in astronomical observation, is used to evaluate the proposed DS algorithm. Two datasets, parameterized sinusoidal dataset containing 262,440 light curves and real variable stars based dataset containing 462,996 light curves are used to evaluate the practical performance of the proposed DS algorithm. Experimental results show that our DS algorithm is highly accurate, sensitive to detecting weak microlensing events at very early stages, and fast enough to process 176,000 stars in less than 1 s on a commodity computer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The properties of the Milky Way's nuclear stellar disc give crucial information on the epoch of bar formation. Mira variables are promising bright candidates to study the nuclear stellar disc, and through their period–age relation dissect its star formation history. We report on a sample of 1782 Mira variable candidates across the central |$3\times 3\, \mathrm{deg}^2$| of the Galaxy using the multi-epoch infrared VISTA Variables in Via Lactea (VVV) survey. We describe the algorithms employed to select candidate variable stars and then model their light curves using periodogram and Gaussian process methods. By combining with WISE, 2MASS, and other archival photometry, we model the multiband light curves to refine the periods and inspect the amplitude variation between different photometric bands. The infrared brightness of the Mira variables means many are too bright and missed by VVV. However, our sample follows a well-defined selection function as expected from artificial star tests. The multiband photometry is modelled using stellar models with circumstellar dust that characterize the mass-loss rates. We demonstrate how ≳90 per cent of our sample is consistent with O-rich chemistry. Comparison to period–luminosity relations demonstrates that the bulk of the short period stars are situated at the Galactic Centre distance. Many of the longer period variables are very dusty, falling significantly under the O-rich Magellanic Cloud and solar neighbourhood period–luminosity relations and exhibit high mass-loss rates of |$\sim 2.5\times 10^{-5}M_\odot \, \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$|⁠. The period distribution appears consistent with the nuclear stellar disc forming |$\gtrsim 8\, \mathrm{Gyr}$| ago, although it is not possible to disentangle the relative contributions of the nuclear stellar disc and the contaminating bulge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant fraction of the stars near the tip of the AGB phase become regular or semi-regular (Mira-type, SRs) pulsators. However, some of these light curves have shown intriguing secondary minima or sharp dips with much longer periods. Although this phenomenon shows some resemblance with the R CrB variables, the light curve is generally symmetric before and after the dip, whereas in R CrB the luminosity recovers slower after its minimum. More recently, high-resolution ALMA CO observations revealed a spiral structure around some of these stars, which suggests the presence of a stellar or sub-stellar companion. In these cases, the long-term light curve minima could be caused by periodic eclipses of the primary by a spiral circumstellar structure, and the long-period would be related to the orbital period. In this paper we discuss the pros and cons of the various proposed scenarios for the long-term minima of pulsating AGB stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the latest advances in technology, telescopes with significant sky coverage will produce millions of astronomical alerts per night that must be classified both rapidly and automatically. Currently, classification consists of supervised machine-learning algorithms whose performance is limited by the number of existing annotations of astronomical objects and their highly imbalanced class distributions. In this work, we propose a data augmentation methodology based on generative adversarial networks (GANs) to generate a variety of synthetic light curves from variable stars. Our novel contributions, consisting of a resampling technique and an evaluation metric, can assess the quality of generative models in unbalanced data sets and identify GAN-overfitting cases that the Fréchet inception distance does not reveal. We applied our proposed model to two data sets taken from the Catalina and Zwicky Transient Facility surveys. The classification accuracy of variable stars is improved significantly when training with synthetic data and testing with real data with respect to the case of using only real data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of synoptic sky surveys has ushered in an era of big data in time-domain astronomy, making data science and machine learning essential tools for studying celestial objects. While tree-based models (e.g. Random Forests) and deep learning models dominate the field, we explore the use of different distance metrics to aid in the classification of astrophysical objects. We developed DistClassiPy, a new distance metric based classifier. The direct use of distance metrics is unexplored in time-domain astronomy, but distance-based methods can help make classification more interpretable and decrease computational costs. In particular, we applied DistClassiPy to classify light curves of variable stars, comparing the distances between objects of different classes. Using 18 distance metrics on a catalog of 6,000 variable stars across 10 classes, we demonstrate classification and dimensionality reduction. Our classifier meets state-of-the-art performance but has lower computational requirements and improved interpretability. Additionally, DistClassiPy can be tailored to specific objects by identifying the most effective distance metric for that classification. To facilitate broader applications within and beyond astronomy, we have made DistClassiPy open-source and available at https://pypi.org/project/distclassipy/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the light curves of pulsating variable stars using a complex network approach to build visibility graphs. We consider various types of variables stars (e.g., Cepheids, δ Scuti, RR Lyrae), build two types of graphs (the normal visibility graph (VG) and the horizontal visibility graph (HVG)), and calculate various metrics for the resulting networks. We find that all networks have a power-law degree distribution for the VG and an exponential distribution for the HVG, suggesting that it is a universal feature, regardless of the pulsation features. Metrics such as the average degree, the clustering coefficient and the transitivity coefficient, can distinguish between some star types. We also observe that the results are not strongly affected by the presence of observation gaps in the light curves. These findings suggest that the visibility graph algorithm may be a useful technique to study variability in stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present Cyclic-Permutation Invariant Neural Networks, a novel class of neural networks (NNs) designed to be invariant to phase shifts of period-folded periodic sequences by means of 'symmetry padding'. In the context of periodic variable star light curves, initial phases are exogenous to the physical origin of the variability and should thus be immaterial to the downstream inference application. Although previous work utilizing NNs commonly operated on period-folded light curves, no approach to date has taken advantage of such a symmetry. Across three different data sets of variable star light curves, we show that two implementations of Cyclic-Permutation Invariant Networks—iTCN and iResNet—consistently outperform state-of-the-art non-invariant baselines and reduce overall error rates by between 4 to 22 per cent. Over a 10-class OGLE-III sample, the iTCN/iResNet achieves an average per-class accuracy of 93.4 per cent/93.3 per cent, compared to recurrent NN/random forest accuracies of 70.5 per cent/89.5 per cent in a recent study using the same data. Finding improvement on a non-astronomy benchmark, we suggest that the methodology introduced here should also be applicable to a wide range of science domains where periodic data abounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first analysis of results from the SuperWASP variable stars Zooniverse project, which is aiming to classify 1.6 million phase-folded light curves of candidate stellar variables observed by the SuperWASP all sky survey with periods detected in the SuperWASP periodicity catalogue. The resultant data set currently contains >1 million classifications corresponding to >500 000 object–period combinations, provided by citizen–scientist volunteers. Volunteer-classified light curves have ∼89 per cent accuracy for detached and semidetached eclipsing binaries, but only ∼9 per cent accuracy for rotationally modulated variables, based on known objects. We demonstrate that this Zooniverse project will be valuable for both population studies of individual variable types and the identification of stellar variables for follow-up. We present preliminary findings on various unique and extreme variables in this analysis, including long-period contact binaries and binaries near the short-period cut-off, and we identify 301 previously unknown binaries and pulsators. We are now in the process of developing a web portal to enable other researchers to access the outputs of the SuperWASP variable stars project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young associations in star-forming regions are stellar systems that allow us to understand the mechanisms that characterize the stars in their early life and what happens around them. In particular, the analysis of the discs and of the exoplanets around young stars allows us to know the key processes that prevail in their evolution and understand the properties of the exoplanets orbiting older stars. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission is giving us the opportunity to extract and analyse the light curves of association members with high accuracy, but the crowding that affects these regions makes difficult the light curve extraction. In the PATHOS project, cutting-edge tools are used to extract high-precision light curves and identify variable stars and transiting exoplanets in open clusters and associations. In this work, I analysed the light curves of stars in five young (≲10 Myr) associations, searching for variables and candidate exoplanets. Using the rotational periods of the association members, I constrained the ages of the five stellar systems (∼2–10 Myr). I searched for dippers , and I investigated the properties of the dust that forms the circumstellar discs. Finally, I searched for transiting signals, finding six strong candidate exoplanets. No candidates with radius R P ≲ 0.9  RJ have been detected, in agreement with the expectations. The frequency of giant planets resulted to be ∼2–3 per cent, higher than that expected for field stars (≲ 1 per cent); the low statistic makes this conclusion not strong, and new investigations on young objects are mandatory to confirm this result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reduction of all the available photometry for the Cepheid CC Lyr has allowed its diagram spanning a time interval of 124 years to be constructed. The data obtained provide evidence for the existence of large random fluctuations in the period (). A formal fitting of the residuals has made it possible to estimate the rate of secular increase in the period, s yr . The pulsation stability test proposed by Lombard and Koen (1993) has confirmed that the increase in the period is real. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes k-medoids clustering method to reveal the distinct groups of 1318 variable stars in the Galaxy based on their light curves, where each light curve represents the graph of brightness of the star against time. To overcome the deficiencies of subjective traditional classification, we separate the stars more scientifically according to their geometrical configuration and show that our approach outperforms the existing classification schemes in astronomy. It results in two optimum groups of eclipsing binaries corresponding to bright, massive systems and fainter, less massive systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonetheless, it was on JLG's watch as head of Caltech astronomy[8] that the seven of us arrived at the graduate program, in a tight temporal cluster (see the short bios below), apparently the first women to do so, with no others receiving Caltech advanced astronomy degrees until 1990. Teaching physics might have been a sore point; at least one of us was told to get an MS degree that included physics because the only jobs available would probably be as the token astronomer in a small, four-year physics department, perhaps at a women's college. Second year might be two years of physics (at least one with a course number larger than 200[14]), three kinds of astronomy, and, at some point, a language had to be tucked in for anyone who didn't arrive reading two at the level required to stumble through a couple of pages of text in some subfield of astronomy. This era ended suddenly in 1972, with the Apollo program being cancelled after launch 17, just as many Ph.D. programs sent forth almost as many astronomy Ph.D. recipients as their departments had promised in the 1964 Whitford report, [National Research Council (NRC), Ground-based Astronomy: A Ten-Year Program (National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., 1964)]. [Extracted from the article]

Nonetheless, it was on JLG's watch as head of Caltech astronomy[8] that the seven of us arrived at the graduate program, in a tight temporal cluster (see the short bios below), apparently the first women to do so, with no others receiving Caltech advanced astronomy degrees until 1990. Teaching physics might have been a sore point; at least one of us was told to get an MS degree that included physics because the only jobs available would probably be as the token astronomer in a small, four-year physics department, perhaps at a women's college. Second year might be two years of physics (at least one with a course number larger than 200[14]), three kinds of astronomy, and, at some point, a language had to be tucked in for anyone who didn't arrive reading two at the level required to stumble through a couple of pages of text in some subfield of astronomy. This era ended suddenly in 1972, with the Apollo program being cancelled after launch 17, just as many Ph.D. programs sent forth almost as many astronomy Ph.D. recipients as their departments had promised in the 1964 Whitford report, [National Research Council (NRC), Ground-based Astronomy: A Ten-Year Program (National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., 1964)]. [Extracted from the article]

Highlights • We analyzed the time series of R Sct light curve from 1970 to 2017. • Behavior of the light curve and period evolution were also reviewed and investigated. • We have shown the amplitude variation of two modes as time progresses. • An estimated value of seasonal variations is approximately 10 years, and hence, we suggested a magnetic field cycle for this system. Abstract The observation of R Scuti star has a long history. This unique characteristic of light curve allows us to search for evidence of period evolution. The behavior of R Sct is complex and has not been understood well. In the present work, we reviewed and analyzed the time series of light curve observations to search for period evolution. The irregular behavior of the light curve was investigated by power spectral density (PSD) and fast Fourier transform (FFT) techniques. A time-frequency technique was performed to show frequency evolution. Additionally, we studied the amplitude and frequency variations of the main and the second mode. The characteristics of the amplitude variation of two modes as time progresses are presented. An estimated value of the seasonal variations is approximately 10 years. The results suggest a magnetic field cycle for this system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last decade, a considerable amount of effort has been made to classify variable stars using different machine-learning techniques. Typically, light curves are represented as vectors of statistical descriptors or features that are used to train various algorithms. These features demand high computational power and can last from hours to days, making it impossible to create scalable and efficient ways of classifying variable stars automatically. Also, light curves from different surveys cannot be integrated and analysed together when using features, because of observational differences. For example, having variations in cadence and filters, feature distributions become biased and require expensive data-calibration models. The vast amount of data that will be generated soon makes it necessary to develop scalable machine-learning architectures without expensive integration techniques. Convolutional neural networks have shown impressive results in raw image classification and representation within the machine-learning literature. In this work, we present a novel deep-learning model for light-curve classification, based mainly on convolutional units. Our architecture receives as input the differences between the time and magnitude of light curves. It captures the essential classification patterns, regardless of cadence and filter. In addition, we introduce a novel data augmentation schema for unevenly sampled time series. We tested our method using three different surveys: the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE-III), the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope (VISTA) and Convection, Rotation and planetary Transit (CoRot) which differ in filters, cadence and area of the sky. We show that, besides the benefit of scalability, our model obtains state-of-the-art level accuracy in light-curve classification benchmarks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the work of Menon & Heger, we present the bolometric light curves and spectra of the explosions of blue supergiant progenitors from binary mergers. We study SN 1987A and two other peculiar Type IIP supernovae: SN 1998A and SN 2006V. The progenitor models were produced using the stellar evolution code kepler and then exploded using the 1D radiation hydrodynamic code crab. The explosions of binary merger models exhibit an overall better fit to the light curve of SN 1987A than previous single star models because of their lower helium-core masses, larger envelope masses, and smaller radii. The merger model that best matches the observational constraints of the progenitor of SN 1987A and the light curve is a model with a radius of |$37\, \mathrm{R}_\odot \,$|⁠, an ejecta mass of |$20.6\,\mathrm{M}_\odot \,$|⁠, an explosion energy of |$1.7\times 10^{51}\,$|  erg, a nickel mass of |$0.073\,\mathrm{M}_\odot \,$|⁠, and a nickel mixing velocity of |$3\!000\, {\, \mathrm{km}\, \mathrm{s}^{-1}}\,$|⁠. This model also works for SN 1998A and is comparable with earlier estimates from semi-analytic models. In the case of SN 2006V, however, a model with a radius of |$150\,\mathrm{R}_\odot \,$| and ejecta mass of |$19.1\,\mathrm{M}_\odot \,$| matches the light curve. These parameters are significantly higher than predictions from semi-analytic models for the progenitor of this supernova. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gamma-ray burst (GRB) jets are narrow, and thus typically point away from us. They are initially ultra-relativistic, causing their prompt γ-ray and early afterglow emission to be beamed away from us. However, as the jet gradually decelerates its beaming cone widens and eventually reaches our line of sight and the afterglow emission may be detected. Such orphan afterglows were not clearly detected so far. Nevertheless, they should be detected in upcoming optical or radio surveys, and it would be challenging to clearly distinguish between them and other types of transients. Therefore, we perform detailed, realistic calculations of the expected afterglow emission from GRB jets viewed at different angles from the jet's symmetry axis. The dynamics are calculated using 2D relativistic hydrodynamics simulations of jets propagating into different power-law external density profiles, ρext∝ R − k for |$k=0,\, 1,\, 1.5,\, 2$|⁠, ranging from a uniform ISM-like medium (k = 0) to a stratified steady stellar-wind like profile (k = 2). We calculate radio, optical, and X-ray light curves, and the evolution of the radio afterglow image size, shape, and flux centroid. This may help identify misaligned relativistic jets, whether initially ultra-relativistic and producing a GRB for observers within their beam, or (possibly intrinsically more common) moderately relativistic, in either (i) nearby supernovae Ib/c (some of which are associated with long-duration GRBs), or (ii) in binary neutron star mergers, which may produce short-duration GRBs, and may also be detected in gravitational waves (e.g. GW170817/GRB170817A with a weak prompt γ-ray emission may harbor an off-axis jet). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present TSARDI, an efficient rejection algorithm designed to improve the transit detection efficiency in data collected by large-scale surveys. TSARDI is based on the Machine Learning clustering algorithm DBSCAN, and its purpose is to serve as a robust and adaptable filter aiming to identify unwanted noise points left over from data detrending processes. TSARDI is an unsupervised method, which can treat each light curve individually; there is no need of previous knowledge of any other field light curves. We conduct a simulated transit search by injecting planets on real data obtained by the QES project and show that TSARDI leads to an overall transit detection efficiency increase of ∼11 per cent, compared to results obtained from the same sample, but using a standard sigma-clip algorithm. For the brighter end of our sample (host star magnitude <12), TSARDI achieves a detection efficiency of ∼80 per cent of injected planets. While our algorithm has been developed primarily for the field of exoplanets, it is easily adaptable and extendable for use in any time series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a detailed light-curve analysis of RR Lyrae variables at multiple wavelengths using Fourier decomposition method. The time-series data for RR Lyrae variables in the Galactic bulge and the Magellanic Clouds are taken from the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment survey while the infrared light curves are compiled from the literature. We also analyse the multiband theoretical light curves that are generated from the stellar pulsation models of RR Lyrae stars for a wide range of metal abundances. We find that the theoretical light-curve parameters with different metal abundances are consistent with observed parameters in most period bins at both optical and infrared wavelengths. The theoretical and observed Fourier amplitude parameters decrease with increase in wavelength while the Fourier phase parameters increase with wavelength at a given period. We use absolute magnitudes for a subset of theoretical models that fit the observed optical RR Lyrae light curves in the Large Magellanic Cloud to estimate a distance modulus, μLMC= 18.51 ± 0.07, independent of the metallicity. We also use Fourier analysis to study the period–colour and amplitude–colour relations for RR Lyrae stars in the Magellanic Clouds using optical data and find that the slope of period–colour relation at minimum light is very shallow or flat and becomes increasingly significant at the maximum light for RRab stars. We also find that the metallicity dependence of the period–colour relations increases as we go from minimum to maximum light, suggesting that the mean light results are indeed an average of the various pulsational phases. We summarize that the average variation in these relations is consistent between theory and observations and supports the theory of the interaction of the stellar photosphere and the hydrogen ionization front. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The star KIC 8462852 (Boyajian's Star) displays both fast dips of up to 20 per cent on time-scales of days and long-term secular fading by up to 19 per cent on time-scales from a year to a century. We report on CCD photometry of KIC 8462852 from 2015.75 to 2018.18, with 19 176 images making for 1866 nightly magnitudes in BVRI. Our light curves show a continuing secular decline (by 0.023 ± 0.003 mags in the B band) with three superposed dips with duration 120–180 d. This demonstrates that there is a continuum of dip durations from a day to a century, so the secular fading is seen to be by the same physical mechanism as the short-duration Kepler dips. The BVRI light curves all have the same shape, with the slopes and amplitudes for VRI being systematically smaller than in the B band by factors of 0.77 ± 0.05, 0.50 ± 0.05, and 0.31 ± 0.05. We rule out any hypothesis involving occultation of the primary star by any star, planet, solid body, or optically thick cloud. But these ratios are the same as that expected for ordinary extinction by dust clouds. This chromatic extinction implies dust particle sizes going down to ∼0.1 micron, suggesting that this dust will be rapidly blown away by stellar radiation pressure, so the dust clouds must have formed within months. The modern infrared observations were taken at a time when there was at least 12.4 per cent ±1.3per cent dust coverage (as part of the secular dimming), and this is consistent with dimming originating in circumstellar dust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a suite of 14 core-collapse models during the dynamical first second after bounce, we calculate the detailed neutrino 'light' curves expected in the underground neutrino observatories Super-Kamiokande, DUNE, JUNO, and IceCube. These results are given as a function of neutrino-oscillation modality (normal or inverted hierarchy) and progenitor mass (specifically, post-bounce accretion history), and illuminate the differences between the light curves for 1D (spherical) models that don't explode with the corresponding 2D (axisymmetric) models that do. We are able to identify clear signatures of explosion (or non-explosion), the post-bounce accretion phase, and the accretion of the silicon/oxygen interface. In addition, we are able to estimate the supernova detection ranges for various physical diagnostics and the distances out to which various temporal features embedded in the light curves might be discerned. We find that the progenitor mass density profile and supernova dynamics during the dynamical explosion stage should be identifiable for a supernova throughout most of the Galaxy in all the facilities studied and that detection by any one of them, but in particular more than one in concert, will speak volumes about the internal dynamics of supernovae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Information about the spin state of asteroids is important for our understanding of the dynamical processes affecting them. However, spin properties of asteroids are known for only a small fraction of the whole population. Aims. To enlarge the sample of asteroids with a known rotation state and basic shape properties, we combined sparse-in-time photometry from the Lowell Observatory Database with flux measurements from NASA's WISE satellite. Methods. We applied the light curve inversion method to the combined data. The thermal infrared data from WISE were treated as reflected light because the shapes of thermal and visual light curves are similar enough for our purposes. While sparse data cover a wide range of geometries over many years, WISE data typically cover an interval of tens of hours, which is comparable to the typical rotation period of asteroids. The search for best-fitting models was done in the framework of the Asteroids@home distributed computing project. Results. By processing the data for almost 75 000 asteroids, we derived unique shape models for about 900 of them. Some of them were already available in the DAMIT database and served us as a consistency check of our approach. In total, we derived new models for 662 asteroids, which significantly increased the total number of asteroids for which their rotation state and shape are known. For another 789 asteroids, we were able to determine their sidereal rotation period and estimate the ecliptic latitude of the spin axis direction. We studied the distribution of spins in the asteroid population. Apart from updating the statistics for the dependence of the distribution on asteroid size, we revealed a significant discrepancy between the number of prograde and retrograde rotators for asteroids smaller than about 10 km. Conclusions. Combining optical photometry with thermal infrared light curves is an efficient approach to obtaining new physical models of asteroids. The amount of asteroid photometry is continuously growing and joint inversion of data from different surveys could lead to thousands of new models in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the results of an analysis of the variation of the proper rotation of several destabilized satellites over many-year long time intervals. The cause of the cyclic variations of the proper rotation period of “Midas-7” satellite, which has been orbiting the Earth since 1963 at an altitude of 3700 km, have long been unclear. These variations could not be explained either by the influence of the terrestrial atmosphere and terrestrial magnetic field, or by solar activity. Based on the results of 40-year long observations of “Midas-4,” “Midas-6,”, and “Midas-7” satellites it was established that their proper rotation exhibits not only dissipative braking variations, but also long-period variations with the periods of 477 days (“Midas-4”), 466 days (“Midas-6”), and 346 days (“Midas-7”) with different amplitudes. These variations in the case of the above satellites have well-defined resonance nature. An explanation of the processes found is proposed based on the results of this study and simulations of the observed orbital dynamics of the satellites. Long-period variations of the proper spacecraft rotation arise as a result of the combined effect of the gravitational fields of the Earth, Moon, and Sun depending on the orientation of their orbital planes in space. The amplitudes of such variations is determined by the inclination of satellite orbits to the equator: the closer it is to the pole (i.e., to 90◦), the stronger the effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The LAMOST spectral survey provides a rich databases for studying stellar spectroscopic properties and chromospheric activity. We cross-matched a total of 105,287 periodic variable stars from several photometric surveys and databases (CSS, LINEAR, Kepler, a recently updated eclipsing star catalogue, ASAS, NSVS, some part of SuperWASP survey, variable stars from the Tsinghua University-NAOC Transient Survey, and other objects from some new references) with four million stellar spectra published in the LAMOST data release 2 (DR2). We found 15,955 spectra for 11,469 stars (including 5398 eclipsing binaries). We calculated their equivalent widths ( EWs ) of their H α , H β , H γ , H δ and Ca ii H lines. Using the H α line EW, we found 447 spectra with emission above continuum for a total of 316 stars (178 eclipsing binaries). We identified 86 active stars (including 44 eclipsing binaries) with repeated LAMOST spectra. A total of 68 stars (including 34 eclipsing binaries) show chromospheric activity variability. We also found LAMOST spectra of 12 cataclysmic variables, five of which show chromospheric activity variability. We also made photometric follow-up studies of three short period targets (DY CVn, HAT-192-0001481, and LAMOST J164933.24+141255.0) using the Xinglong 60-cm telescope and the SARA 90-cm and 1-m telescopes, and obtained new BVRI CCD light curves. We analyzed these light curves and obtained orbital and starspot parameters. We detected the first flare event with a huge brightness increase of more than about 1.5 magnitudes in R filter in LAMOST J164933.24+141255.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the results of our investigation of the geometrical parameters of the W UMa-type binary system VSX J045718.3+405643 (short name VSX J0457) based on new CCD B, V and I c light curves. Our observations were carried out during six nights in November and December 2016 using the 0.25 m telescope of the Stazione Astronomica Betelgeuse in Magnago, Northern Italy. Six new times of minima and light elements have been determined and the observed light curves were analysed using the Wilson–Devinney code. The output model reveals that the system is a contact binary of A-Subtype of the W Ursae Majoris systems with a mass ratio of q  ∼  0.26 and a degree of contact factor f  ∼  32%. The primary component is hotter than the secondary by 95 K, this suggests us that the system is under thermal contact. The high orbital inclination ( i = 82°.2) implies that VSX J0457 is a total eclipsing binary system and the photometric parameters here obtained are quite reliable. The absolute physical parameters of the two components in VSX J0457 are estimated. Based on these estimated parameters the evolutionary state of the system components is investigated and discussed. Combining our photometric solution with the 3-D correlation obtained for contact binaries by Gazeas (2009) we derive the masses and radii of the components of this eclipsing system as M 1 = 1.44M ⊙ , M 2 = 0.38M ⊙ , R 1 = 1.55R ⊙ and R 2 = 0.87R ⊙ . The distance to VSX J0457 was calculated as 147 pc from this analysis, taking into account interstellar extinction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an 80-d long uninterrupted high-cadence K2 light curve of the B1Iab supergiant rho Leo (HD91316), deduced with the method of halo photometry. This light curve reveals a dominant frequency of frot = 0.0373 d-1 and its harmonics. This dominant frequency corresponds with a rotation period of 26.8 d and is subject to amplitude and phase modulation. The K2 photometry additionally reveals multiperiodic low-frequency variability (<1.5 d-1) and is in full agreement with low-cadence high-resolution spectroscopy assembled during 1800 d. The spectroscopy reveals rotational modulation by a dynamic aspherical wind with an amplitude of about 20 km s-1 in the Ha line, as well as photospheric velocity variations of a few kms-1 at frequencies in the range 0.2-0.6 d-1 in the Si III 4567Å line. Given the large macroturbulence needed to explain the spectral line broadening of the star, we interpret the detected photospheric velocity as due to travelling superinertial low-degree large-scale gravity waves with dominant tangential amplitudes and discuss why rho Leo is an excellent target to study how the observed photospheric variability propagates into the wind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discovered the outburst of 2MASS J06422218-0226285. Between end 2012 and early 2014, this object brightened by 3 mag in r and i, and by 3.7 mag in J. Since then, it has stayed at high brightness of about 16 mag in r and 15 mag in i. Possible explanations for this kind of light curve might be a Catalysmic Variable, a Symbiotic Binary or a FUor or EXor type Young Stellar Object. The color properties favor an outbursting Young Stellar Object. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Classical novae are eruptions on the surface of a white dwarf in a binary system. The material ejected from the white dwarf surface generally forms an axisymmetric shell of gas and dust around the system. The three-dimensional structure of these shells is difficult to untangle when viewed on the plane of the sky. In this work a geometrical model is developed to explain new observations of the 2015 nova V5668 Sagittarii. Aims. We aim to better understand the early evolution of classical nova shells in the context of the relationship between polarisation, photometry and spectroscopy in the optical regime. To understand the ionisation structure in terms of the nova shell morphology and estimate the emission distribution directly following the light curve's dust-dip. Methods. High-cadence optical polarimetry and spectroscopy observations of a nova are presented. The ejecta is modelled in terms of morpho-kinematics and photoionisation structure. Results. Initially observational results are presented, including broadband polarimetry and spectroscopy of V5668 Sgr nova during eruption. Variability over these observations provides clues towards the evolving structure of the nova shell. The position angle of the shell is derived from polarimetry, which is attributed to scattering from small dust grains. Shocks in the nova outflow are suggested in the photometry and the e ect of these on the nova shell are illustrated with various physical diagnostics. Changes in density and temperature as the super soft source phase of the nova began are discussed. Gas densities are found to be of the order of 109 cm-3 for the nova in its auroral phase. The blackbody temperature of the central stellar system is estimated to be around 2:2 x 105 K at times coincident with the super soft source turn-on. It was found that the blend around 4640 Å commonly called "nitrogen flaring" is more naturally explained as flaring of the O ii multiplet (V1) from 4638-4696 Å, i.e. "oxygen flaring". Conclusions. V5668 Sgr (2015) was a remarkable nova of the DQ Her class. Changes in absolute polarimetric and spectroscopic multi-epoch observations lead to interpretations of physical characteristics of the nova's evolving outflow. The high densities that were found early-on combined with knowledge of the system's behaviour at other wavelengths and polarimetric measurements strongly suggest that the visual "cusps" are due to radiative shocks between fast and slow ejecta that destroy and create dust seed nuclei cyclically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. We present more than 4 years of Swift X-ray observations of the 2013 superoutburst, subsequent decline and quiescence of the WZ Sge-type dwarf nova SSS J122221.7-311525 (SSS J122222) from 6 days after discovery. Aims. Only a handful of WZ Sge-type dwarf novae have been observed in X-rays, and until recently GW Lib was the only binary of this type with complete coverage of an X-ray light curve throughout a superoutburst. We collected extensive X-ray data of a second such system to understand the extent to which the unexpected properties of GW Lib are common to the WZ Sge class. Methods. We collected 60 Swift-XRT observations of SSS J122222 between 2013 January 6 and 2013 July 1. Four follow-up observations were performed in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. The total exposure time of our observations is 86.6 ks. We analysed the X-ray light curve and compared it with the behaviour of superhumps which were detected in the optical light curve. We also performed spectral analysis of the data. The results were compared with the properties of GW Lib, for which new X-ray observations were also obtained. Results. SSS J122222 was variable and around five times brighter in 0.3-10 keV X-rays during the superoutburst than in quiescence, mainly because of a significant strengthening of a high-energy component of the X-ray spectrum. The post-outburst decline of the X-ray flux lasted at least 500 d. The data show no evidence of the expected optically thick boundary layer in the system during the outburst. SSS J122222 also exhibited a sudden X-ray flux change in the middle of the superoutburst, which occurred exactly at the time of the superhump stage transition. A similar X-ray behaviour was also detected in GW Lib. Conclusions. We show that the X-ray flux exhibits changes at the times of changes in the superhump behaviour of both SSS J122222 and GW Lib. This result demonstrates a relationship between the outer disc and the white dwarf boundary layer for the first time and suggests that models for accretion discs in high mass ratio accreting binaries are currently incomplete. The very long decline to X-ray quiescence is also in strong contrast to the expectation of low viscosity in the disc after outburst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the first time the data on the eight confirmed or candidate carbon (C) stars found mainly from objective-prism plates are presented. By using the Catalina database of lightcurves, we find that all these stars are pulsating, allowing a distance to be estimated through the K-band Period-Luminosity (PL) relation. This relation does not depend on spectral type (M or C) and distances are reliable even for C candidates. Seven stars are more than 10 kpc from the galactic plane, suggesting they do not belong to the galactic disk. We also find one star located at about 180 kpc from the Sun, being one of the most distant star in the Galaxy. Many of these new C stars are relatively blue. Some comments are also provided on seven other known halo carbon stars for which either a pulsation period is obtained, or because they were not included in previous works on halo C stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an analysis of all available time-resolved photometry from the literature and new light curves obtained in 2013-2014 for the old nova RR Pictoris. The well-known hump light curve phased with the orbital period reveals significant variations over the last 42 yr in shape, amplitude and other details which apparently are caused by long-term variations in the disc structure. In addition, we found evidence for the presence of superhumps in 2007, with the same period (~9 per cent longer than the orbital period), as reported earlier by other authors from observations in 2005. Possibly, superhumps arise quickly in RR Pic, but are sporadic events, because in all the other observing runs analysed no significant superhump signal was detected. We also determined an actual version of the Stolz--Schoembs relation between superhump period and orbital period, analysing separately dwarf novae, classical novae and nova-like stars, and conclude that this relation is of general validity for all superhumpers among the cataclysmic variables (CVs), in spite of small but significant differences among the sub-types mentioned above. We emphasize the importance of such a study in context with the still open question of the interrelation between the different sub-classes of CVs, crucial for our understanding of the long-term CV evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New BVRI photometric observations covering seven minima times for the eclipsing binary GSC 3581-1856 were presented. The light curves in BVRI colours were analysed by using PHOEBE code for the system parameters. New minima times were used in revising the light elements. The system is found a W-type contact binary with mass ratio of q = 1.3362 ± 0.0042 and a fill out parameter of f = 16.89 ± 3.17% . The smaller and less massive component was found hotter component ( T 1  ≃  5590 K ). Lower temperature ( T 2 = 5295 K) of the mass accreting more massive component is probably due to a disk or envelope around this star. The original temperature of the more massive secondary component would be at least T 2  ≃  5590 K. The preliminary absolute dimensions ( M 1 = 0.78 ± 0.01 M ⊙ , M 2 = 1.05 ± 0.01 M ⊙ , R 1 = 0.92 ± 0.10 R ⊙ , R 2 = 1.05 ± 0.20 R ⊙ , L 1 =0.86 ± 0.20 L ⊙ and L 2 = 1.00 ± 0.20 L ⊙ ) indicate a relatively young marginal contact binary for GSC 3581-1856 system. The present luminosity of the less massive but hotter component would be not much different from its main sequence luminosity, and thus its original mass was estimated to be slightly more than one solar mass. This means it could be transferred and/or lost about 30% of its original mass which place the system in relatively young system in contact phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We determined the orbits and stellar parameters of three eccentric eclipsing binaries by light curve solutions of their Kepler data. KIC 10992733 and KIC 5632781 undergo total eclipses while KIC 10026136 reveals partial eclipses. The components of the targets are G and K stars. KIC 10992733 exhibited variations which were attributed to variable visibility of spot(s) on asynchronously rotating component. KIC 5632781 and KIC 1002613 reveal tidally-induced features at periastron, i.e. they might be considered as eclipsing heartbeat stars. The characteristics of the periastron features (shape, width and amplitude) confirm the theoretical predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of an effort to better characterize bright cataclysmic variables (CVs) and related systems which have received little attention in the past light curves of four systems (V504 Cen, KT Eri, Ret 1 and CTCV 2056-3014) are analyzed. For some of these stars no time resolved photometry has been published previously. While flickering is observed in all systems except Ret 1, it is particularly strong in V504 Cen and CTCV 2056-3014. In the latter star, a previously observed 15.4 m period, leading to its tentative classification as an intermediate polar, is probably spurious. Variations on time scales of hundredths of days observed in the pre-outburst light curve of the classical nova KT Eri continue after the outburst but appear not to be strictly periodic. Furthermore, the long term post-outburst light curve exhibits modulations with quasi-periods of quite different length. Thus, these variations cannot be due to aspect related variations in a system with a giant component similar to some recurrent novae. Instead, the system possibly exhibits variations with a period of 0.1952 d which may be orbital. However, any such conclusion still requires confirmation. The absence of flickering in Ret 1 indicates that the system probably does not contain an accretion disk. Instead, the observation of slow variations supports a previous suspicion of low amplitude variability with a period  >12 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The routinely flaring events from Sgr A⋆ trace dynamic, high-energy processes in the immediate vicinity of the supermassive black hole. We statistically study temporal and spectral properties, as well as fluence and duration distributions, of the flares detected by the Chandra X-ray Observatory from 1999 to 2012. The detection incompleteness and bias are carefully accounted for in determining these distributions. We find that the fluence distribution can be well characterized by a power law with a slope of 1.73+0.20 -0.19, while the durations (τ in seconds) by a lognormal function with a mean log(τ ) = 3.39+0.27 -0.24 and an intrinsic dispersion σ = 0.28+0.08 -0.06. No significant correlation between the fluence and duration is detected. The apparent positive correlation, as reported previously, is mainly due to the detection bias (i.e. weak flares can be detected only when their durations are short). These results indicate that the simple self-organized criticality model has difficulties in explaining these flares. We further find that bright flares usually have asymmetric light curves with no statistically evident difference/preference between the rising and decaying phases in terms of their spectral/timing properties. Our spectral analysis shows that although a power-law model with a photon index of 2.0 ± 0.4 gives a satisfactory fit to the joint spectra of strong and weak flares, there is weak evidence for a softer spectrum of weaker flares. This work demonstrates the potential to use statistical properties of X-ray flares to probe their trigger and emission mechanisms, as well as the radiation propagation around the black hole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quasar microlensing analyses implicitly generate a model of the variability of the source quasar. The implied source variability may be unrealistic yet its likelihood is generally not evaluated. We used the damped random walk (DRW) model for quasar variability to evaluate the likelihood of the source variability and applied the revized algorithm to a microlensing analysis of the lensed quasar RX J1131-1231. We compared estimates of the size of the quasar disc and the average stellar mass of the lens galaxy with and without applying the DRW likelihoods for the source variability model and found no significant effect on the estimated physical parameters. The most likely explanation is that unreliastic source light-curve models are generally associated with poor microlensing fits that already make a negligible contribution to the probability distributions of the derived parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The time delays of gravitationally lensed quasars are generally believed to be unique numbers whose measurement is limited only by the quality of the light curves and the models for the contaminating contribution of gravitational microlensing to the light curves. This belief is incorrect - gravitational microlensing also produces changes in the actual time delays on the ~day(s) light-crossing time-scale of the emission region. This is due to a combination of the inclination of the disc relative to the line of sight and the differential magnification of the temperature fluctuations producing the variability. We demonstrate this both mathematically and with direct calculations using microlensing magnification patterns. Measuring these delay fluctuations can provide a physical scale for microlensing observations, removing the need for priors on either the microlens masses or the component velocities. That time delays in lensed quasars are themselves time variable likely explains why repeated delay measurements of individual lensed quasars appear to vary by more than their estimated uncertainties. This effect is also a new important systematic problem for attempts to use time delays in lensed quasars for cosmology or to detect substructures (satellites) in lens galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we present a uniform analysis of the temperature evolution and bolometric luminosity of a sample of 29 Type II supernovae (SNe), by fitting a blackbody model to their multiband photometry. Our sample includes only SNe with high quality multiband data and relatively well-sampled time coverage. Most of the SNe in our sample were detected less than a week after explosion so their light curves cover the evolution both before and after recombination starts playing a role. We use this sample to study the signature of hydrogen recombination, which is expected to appear once the observed temperature drops to ≈7000 K. Theory predicts that before recombination starts affecting the light curve, both the luminosity and the temperature should drop relatively fast, following a power law in time. Once the recombination front reaches inner parts of the outflow, it sets the observed temperature to be nearly constant, and slows the decline of the luminosity (or even leads to a re-brightening). We compare our data to analytic studies and find strong evidence for the signature of recombination. We also find that the onset of the optical plateau in a given filter, is effectively the time at which the blackbody peak reaches the central wavelength of the filter, as it cools, and it does not correspond to the time at which recombination starts affecting the emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We presentMCDA, a modification of the COnvectionROtation and planetary Transits (CoRoT) detrend algorithm (CDA) suitable to detrend chromatic light curves. By means of robust statistics and better handling of short-term variability, the implementation decreases the systematic light-curve variations and improves the detection of exoplanets when compared with the original algorithm. All CoRoT chromatic light curves (a total of 65 655) were analysed with our algorithm. Dozens of new transit candidates and all previously known CoRoT exoplanets were rediscovered in those light curves using a box- fitting algorithm. For three of the new cases, spectroscopicmeasurements of the candidates' host stars were retrieved from the ESO Science Archive Facility and used to calculate stellar parameters and, in the best cases, radial velocities. In addition to our improved detrend technique, we announce the discovery of a planet that orbits a 0.79-0.09+0.08 R☉ star with a period of 6.718 37 ± 0.000 01 d and has 0.57-0.05+0.06 RJ and 0.15 ± 0.10MJ. We also present the analysis of two cases in which parameters found suggest the existence of possible planetary companions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light curve modeling for the newly discovered super contact low-mass WUMa system 1SWASPJ092328.76+435044 was carried out by using a new BVR complete light curves. A spotted model was applied to treat the asymmetry of the light curves. The output model was obtained by means of Wilson-Devinney code, which reveals that the massive component is hotter than the less massive one with about ΔT ∼ 40 K. A total of six new times of minima were estimated. The evolutionary state of the system components was investigated based on the estimated physical parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]