Search

Context. The Medium Resolution Spectrometer (MRS) is one of the four observing modes of JWST/MIRI. Using JWST in-flight data of unresolved (point) sources, we can derive the MRS absolute spectral response function (ASRF) starting from raw data. Spectral fringing, caused by coherent reflections inside the detector arrays, plays a critical role in the derivation and interpretation of the MRS ASRF. The fringe corrections implemented in the current pipeline are not optimal for non-extended sources, and a high density of molecular features particularly inhibits an accurate correction. Aims. In this paper, we present an alternative way to calibrate the MIRI/MRS data. Firstly, we derive a fringe correction that accounts for the dependence of the fringe properties on the MIRI/MRS pupil illumination and detector pixel sampling of the point spread function. Secondly, we derive the MRS ASRF using an absolute flux calibrator observed across the full 5- 28 µm wavelength range of the MRS. Thirdly, we apply the new ASRF to the spectrum of a G dwarf and compare it with the output of the JWST/MIRI default data reduction pipeline. Finally, we examine the impact of the different fringe corrections on the detectability of molecular features in the G dwarf and K giant. Methods. The absolute flux calibrator HD 163466 (A-star) was used to derive tailored point source fringe flats at each of the default dither locations of the MRS. The fringe-corrected point source integrated spectrum of HD 163466 was used to derive the MRS ASRF using a theoretical model for the stellar continuum. A cross-correlation was run to quantify the uncertainty on the detection of CO, SiO, and OH in the K giant and CO in the G dwarf for different fringe corrections. Results. The point-source-tailored fringe correction and ASRF are found to perform at the same level as the current corrections, beating down the fringe contrast to the sub-percent level in the G dwarf in the longer wavelengths, whilst mitigating the alteration of real molecular features. The same tailored solutions can be applied to other MRS unresolved targets. Target acquisition is required to ensure the pointing is accurate enough to apply this method. A pointing repeatability issue in the MRS limits the effectiveness of the tailored fringe flats is at short wavelengths. Finally, resulting spectra require no scaling to make the sub-bands match, and a dichroic spectral leak at 12.2 µm is removed., Astronomy & Astrophysics, 673, ISSN:0004-6361, ISSN:1432-0746

We report the discovery of a candidate galaxy with a photo -z of z similar to 12 in the first epoch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey. Following conservative selection criteria, we identify a source with a robust zphot = 11.8(+0.3) (-0.2) (1 sigma uncertainty) with m(F200W) = 27.3 and > 7 sigma detections in five filters. The source is not detected at lambda < 1.4 mu m in deep imaging from both Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and JWST and has faint similar to 3 sigma detections in JWST F150W and HST F160W, which signal a Ly alpha break near the red edge of both filters, implying z similar to 12. This object (Maisie's Galaxy) exhibits F115W - F200W > 1.9 mag (2 sigma lower limit) with a blue continuum slope, resulting in 99.6% of the photo-z probability distribution function favoring z > 11. All data-quality images show no artifacts at the candidate's position, and independent analyses consistently find a strong preference for z > 11. Its colors are inconsistent with Galactic stars, and it is resolved (r(h) = 340 +/- 14 pc). Maisie's Galaxy has log M-*/M-?similar to 8.5 and is highly star-forming (log sSFR similar to -8.2 yr(-1)), with a blue rest-UV color (beta similar to -2.5) indicating little dust, though not extremely low metallicity. While the presence of this source is in tension with most predictions, it agrees with empirical extrapolations assuming UV luminosity functions that smoothly decline with increasing redshift. Should follow-up spectroscopy validate this redshift, our universe was already aglow with galaxies less than 400 Myr after the Big Bang.

We present the data release and data reduction process for the Epoch 1 NIRCam observations for the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS). These data consist of NIRCam imaging in six broadband filters (F115W, F150W, F200W, F277W, F356W and F444W) and one medium band filter (F410M) over four pointings, obtained in parallel with primary CEERS MIRI observations (Yang et al. in prep). We reduced the NIRCam imaging with the JWST Calibration Pipeline, with custom modifications and reduction steps designed to address additional features and challenges with the data. Here we provide a detailed description of each step in our reduction and a discussion of future expected improvements. Our reduction process includes corrections for known pre-launch issues such as 1/f noise, as well as in-flight issues including snowballs, wisps, and astrometric alignment. Many of our custom reduction processes were first developed with pre-launch simulated NIRCam imaging over the full 10 CEERS NIRCam pointings. We present a description of the creation and reduction of this simulated dataset in the Appendix. We provide mosaics of the real images in a public release, as well as our reduction scripts with detailed explanations to allow users to reproduce our final data products. These represent one of the first official public datasets released from the Directors Discretionary Early Release Science (DD-ERS) program., 27 pages, 14 figures, submitted to ApJ. Accompanying CEERS public Data Release 0.5 available at ceers.github.io/releases.html

Modelling the red-blue asymmetries seen in the broad emission lines of core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) is a powerful technique to quantify total dust mass formed in the ejecta at late times ($>5$ years after outburst) when ejecta dust temperatures become too low to be detected by mid-IR instruments. Following our success in using the Monte Carlo radiative transfer code DAMOCLES to measure the dust mass evolution in SN~1987A and other CCSNe, we present the most comprehensive sample of dust mass measurements yet made with DAMOCLES, for CCSNe aged between four and sixty years after outburst. Our sample comprises of multi-epoch late-time optical spectra taken with the Gemini GMOS and VLT X-Shooter spectrographs, supplemented by archival spectra. For the fourteen CCSNe that we have modelled, we confirm a dust mass growth with time that can be fit by a sigmoid curve which is found to saturate beyond an age of $\sim30$ years, at a mass of 0.23$^{+0.17}_{-0.12}$ M$_\odot$. An expanded sample including dust masses found in the literature for a further eleven CCSNe and six CCSN remnants, the dust mass at saturation is found to be 0.42$^{+0.09}_{-0.05}$~M$_\odot$. Uncertainty limits for our dust masses were determined from a Bayesian analysis using the affine invariant Markov Chain Monte Carlo ensemble sampler emcee with DAMOCLES. The best-fitting line profile models for our sample all required grain radii between 0.1 and 0.5 $μ$m. Our results are consistent with CCSNe forming enough dust in their ejecta to significantly contribute to the dust budget of the Universe., Accepted by MNRAS, 32 pages plus Appendices. Author accepted manuscript. Accepted on 08/06/2022. Deposited on 09/06/2022

This is an Open Access article, published by EDP Sciences, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited., Having two “sibling” Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) in the same galaxy offers additional advantages in reducing a variety of systematic errors involved in estimating the Hubble constant, H0. NGC 4414 is a nearby galaxy included in the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project to measure its distance using Cepheid variables. It hosts two sibling SNe Ia: SN 2021J and SN 1974G. This provides the opportunity to improve the precision of the previous estimate of H0, which was based solely on SN 1974G. Here we present new optical BVRI photometry obtained at the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada and complement it with Swift UVOT UBV data, which cover the first 70 days of emission of SN 2021J. A first look at SN 2021J optical spectra obtained with the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) reveals typical SN type Ia features. The main SN luminosity parameters for the two sibling SNe are obtained by using SNooPy, a light curve fitting code based on templates. Using a hierarchical bayesian approach, we build the Hubble diagram with a sample of 96 SNe Ia obtained from the Combined Pantheon Sample in the redshift range z = 0.02 − 0.075, and calibrate the zero point with the two sibling type-Ia SNe in NGC 4414. We report a value of the Hubble constant H0 = 72.19 ± 2.32 (stat.) ±3.42 (syst.) km s−1 Mpc−1. We expect a reduction of the systematic error after a new analysis of the Cepheids period-luminosity relation using the upcoming Gaia DR4 and additional Cepheids from the HST and JWST. © E. Gallego-Cano et al. 2022., The authors acknowledge financial support from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish MICINN through the “Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa” award to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (SEV-2017-0709). EGC thanks the incentive grant by the Ministry of Economic Transformation, Industry, Knowledge and Universities REF. P20_00880, project co-financed by 80% by funds from the operational program FEDER de Andalucía 2014–2020. LI and NK were supported by two grants from VILLUM FONDEN (project number 16599 and 25501). CDT, FP and EP thank the support of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation funding grant PGC2018-101931-B-I00. CDT thanks the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias for the use of its facilities to carry out this work. Based on observations collected at the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada, operated by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC). Partly based on observations made with the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), installed at the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, in the island of La Palma. The authors thank the GTC support staff for performing the observations.

In recent years, significant growth in the amount of data available to astronomers has opened up the possibility to uncover fundamental correlations, linking the dust component of a galaxy to its star formation rate (SFR). In this paper, we re-examine these correlations, investigating the origin of the observed scatter, and the ability of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to explore such relations in the early Universe. We defined a sample of about 800 normal star-forming galaxies with photometries in the range of 0.15 < $\lambda$ < 500 microns and analysed them with different spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting methods. With the SEDs extracted, we investigated the detection rate at different redshifts with the MId-Infrared instruments (MIRI) onboard the JWST. Dust luminosity (L$_d$) and SFR show a strong correlation, but for SFR < 2 M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$, the correlation scatter increases dramatically. We show that selection based on the fraction of ultraviolet (UV) emission absorbed by dust, that is, the UV extinction, greatly reduces the data dispersion. Reproducing the sensitivity of the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS) and classifying galaxies according to their SFR and stellar mass (M$_\ast$), we investigated the MIRI detection rate as a function of the physical properties of the galaxies. Fifty percent of the objects with SFR $\sim$ 1 M$_\odot$yr$^{-1}$ at $z$ = 6 are detected with F770, which decreases to 20% at $z$ = 8. For such galaxies, only 5% of the subsample will be detected at 5$\sigma$ with F770 and F1000 at $z$ = 8, and only 10% with F770, F1000, and F1280 at $z$ = 6. The link between dust and star formation is complex, and many aspects remain to be fully understood. In this context, the JWST will revolutionise the field, allowing investigation of the dust--star interplay well within the epoch of reionisation., Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. Text matching the published version

We present a new prospective analysis of deep multi-band imaging with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). In this work, we investigate the recovery of high-redshift $56$ and redshifts $05$ galaxy samples can be reduced to $, Comment: 25 pages, 23 figures, 5 tables. Submitted to A&A

Using the largest mosaic of Hubble Space Telescope images around a galaxy cluster, we map the distribution of dark matter throughout an ∼6 × 6 Mpc2 area centred on the cluster MS 0451−03 (z = 0.54, $M_{200}=1.65\times 10^{15}\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$). Our joint strong- and weak-lensing analysis shows three possible filaments extending from the cluster, encompassing six group-scale substructures. The dark matter distribution in the cluster core is elongated, consists of two distinct components, and is characterized by a concentration parameter of c200 = 3.79 ± 0.36. By contrast, XMM–Newton observations show the gas distribution to be more spherical, with excess entropy near the core, and a lower concentration of $c_{200}=2.35^{+0.89}_{-0.70}$ (assuming hydrostatic equilibrium). Such a configuration is predicted in simulations of major mergers 2–7 Gyr after the first core passage, when the two dark matter haloes approach second turnaround, and before their gas has relaxed. This post-merger scenario finds further support in optical spectroscopy of the cluster’s member galaxies, which shows that star formation was abruptly quenched 5 Gyr ago. MS 0451−03 will be an ideal target for future studies of the growth of structure along filaments, star formation processes after a major merger, and the late-stage evolution of cluster collisions.

We compare mid-IR and ALMA far-IR images of 12 nearby Seyferts selected from GATOS. The mid-IR unresolved emission contributes more than 60% of the nuclear emission in most galaxies. By contrast, the ALMA 870micron continuum emission is mostly resolved and typically along the torus equatorial direction (Paper I, Garcia-Burillo et al. 2021). The Eddington ratios and nuclear hydrogen column densities NH of half the sample are favorable to launching polar and/or equatorial dusty winds, according to simulations. Six show mid-IR extended emission in the polar direction as traced by the NLR and perpendicular to the ALMA emission. In a few, the nuclear NH might be too high to uplift large quantities of dusty material along the polar direction. Five galaxies have low NH and/or Eddington ratios and thus polar dusty winds are not likely. We generate new CAT3D-WIND disk-wind model images. At low wind-to-disk cloud ratios the far-IR model images have disk- and ring-like morphologies. The X-shape associated with dusty winds is seen better in the far-IR at intermediate-high inclinations for the extended-wind configurations. In most models, the mid-IR emission comes from the inner part of the disk/cone. Extended bi-conical and one-sided polar mid-IR emission is seen in extended-wind configurations and high wind-to-disk cloud ratios. When convolved to our resolution, the model images reproduce qualitative aspects of the observed morphologies. Low-intermediate wind-to-disk ratios are required to account for the large fractions of unresolved mid-IR emission. This work and Paper I provide observational support for the torus+wind scenario. The wind component is more relevant at high Eddington ratios and/or AGN luminosities, and polar dust emission is predicted at NH of up to $10^{24}$cm$^{-2}$. The torus/disk component, on the other hand, prevails at low luminosities and/or Eddington ratios. (Abridged), 27 pages, 27 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A

We present an analysis of the final data release of the Carnegie Supernova Project I, focusing on the absolute calibration of the luminosity-decline-rate relation for Type Ia supernovae (SNeIa) using new intrinsic color relations with respect to the color-stretch parameter, $s_{BV}$, enabling improved dust extinction corrections. We investigate to what degree the so-called fast-declining SNeIa can be used to determine accurate extragalactic distances. We estimate the intrinsic scatter in the luminosity-decline-rate relation, and find it ranges from $\pm 0.13$ mag to $\pm 0.18$ mag with no obvious dependence on wavelength. Using the Cepheid variable star data from the SH0ES project (Riess et al., 2016), the SNIa distance scale is calibrated and the Hubble constant is estimated using our optical and near-infrared sample, and these results are compared to those determined exclusively from a near-infrared sub-sample. The systematic effect of the supernova's host galaxy mass is investigated as a function of wavelength and is found to decrease toward redder wavelengths, suggesting this effect may be due to dust properties of the host. Using estimates of the dust extinction derived from optical and NIR wavelengths, and applying these to H band, we derive a Hubble constant $H_0 = 73.2 \pm 2.3$ km/s/Mpc, whereas using a simple $B-V$ color-correction applied to B band yields $H_0 = 72.7 \pm 2.1$ km/s/Mpc. Photometry of two calibrating SNeIa from the CSP-II sample, SN2012ht and SN2015F, is presented and used to improve the calibration of the SNIa distance ladder., Comment: Version 2: fixed author list. Originally submitted to ApJ Aug 30, 2018. Re-submitted Sept 12, 2018 following referee's report. 28 pages, 12 figures, 11 tables

CASTAway is a mission concept to explore our Solar System's main asteroid belt. Asteroids and comets provide a window into the formation and evolution of our Solar System and the composition of these objects can be inferred from space-based remote sensing using spectroscopic techniques. Variations in composition across the asteroid populations provide a tracer for the dynamical evolution of the Solar System. The mission combines a long-range (point source) telescopic survey of over 10,000 objects, targeted close encounters with 10 to 20 asteroids and serendipitous searches to constrain the distribution of smaller (e.g. 10 m) size objects into a single concept. With a carefully targeted trajectory that loops through the asteroid belt, CASTAway would provide a comprehensive survey of the main belt at multiple scales. The scientific payload comprises a 50 cm diameter telescope that includes an integrated low-resolution (R = 30 to 100) spectrometer and visible context imager, a thermal (e.g. 6 to 16 microns) imager for use during the flybys, and modified star tracker cameras to detect small (approx. 10 m) asteroids. The CASTAway spacecraft and payload have high levels of technology readiness and are designed to fit within the programmatic and cost caps for a European Space Agency medium class mission, whilst delivering a significant increase in knowledge of our Solar System., 40 pages, accepted by Advances in Space Research October 2017

We present observations of the nearby (D$\sim$100\,pc) Herbig star HD~163296 taken with the vortex coronograph at Keck/NIRC2 in the L' band (3.7~$\mu$m), to search for planetary mass companions in the ringed disc surrounding this pre-main sequence star. The images reveal an arc-like region of scattered light from the disc surface layers that is likely associated with the first bright ring detected with ALMA in the $\lambda$=1.3mm dust continuum at $\sim$65~au. We also detect a point-like source at $\sim$0\farcs5 projected separation in the North-East direction, close to the inner edge of the second gap in the millimetre images. Comparing the point source photometry with the atmospheric emission models of non-accreting giant planets, we obtain a mass of 6--7~M$_J$ for a putative protoplanet, assuming a system age of 5~Myr. Based on the contrast at a 95\% level of completeness calculated on the emission-free regions of our images, we set upper limits for the masses of giant planets of 8--15~M$_J$, 4.5--6.5~M$_J$ and 2.5-4.0~M$_J$ at the locations of the first, second and third gap in the millimetre dust continuum, respectively. Further deep, high resolution thermal IR imaging of the HD~163296 system are warranted, to confirm the presence and nature of the point source and to better understand the structure of the dust disc., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures. Accepted by MNRAS

We present a gravitational lensing and X-ray analysis of a massive galaxy cluster and its surroundings. The core of MACS\,J0717.5+3745 ($M(R, 18 pages, 6 figures, 8 tables, Accepted for publication in MNRAS

This paper describes new deep 3.6 and 4.5 micron imaging of three UltraVISTA near-infrared survey stripes within the COSMOS field. The observations were carried out with Spitzer's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) for the Spitzer Matching Survey of the Ultra-VISTA Deep Stripes (SMUVS). In this work we present our data reduction techniques, and document the resulting mosaics, coverage maps, and catalogs in both IRAC passbands for the three easternmost UltraVISTA survey stripes, covering a combined area of about 0.66 square degrees, of which 0.45 square degrees have at least 20 hr integration time. SMUVS reaches point-source sensitivities of about 25.0 AB mag at both 3.6 and 4.5 microns with a significance of 4-sigma accounting for both survey sensitivity and source confusion. To this limit the SMUVS catalogs contain a total of about 350,000 sources, each of which is detected significantly in at least one IRAC band. Because of its uniform and high sensitivity, relatively large area coverage, and the wide array of ancillary data available in COSMOS, the SMUVS survey will be useful for a large number of cosmological investigations. We will make all images and catalogues described herein publicly available via the Spitzer Science Center., Comment: Accepted for publication by ApJS. The main text has been expanded and some figures have been updated in response to the referee's comments. Except for additions to error flag descriptors, the catalogs and the conclusions are unchanged from previous versions

Estimates of the Hubble constant, $H_0$, from the distance ladder and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) differ at the $\sim$3-$\sigma$ level, indicating a potential issue with the standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmology. Interpreting this tension correctly requires a model comparison calculation depending on not only the traditional `$n$-$\sigma$' mismatch but also the tails of the likelihoods. Determining the form of the tails of the local $H_0$ likelihood is impossible with the standard Gaussian least-squares approximation, as it requires using non-Gaussian distributions to faithfully represent anchor likelihoods and model outliers in the Cepheid and supernova (SN) populations, and simultaneous fitting of the full distance-ladder dataset to correctly propagate uncertainties. We have developed a Bayesian hierarchical model that describes the full distance ladder, from nearby geometric anchors through Cepheids to Hubble-Flow SNe. This model does not rely on any distributions being Gaussian, allowing outliers to be modeled and obviating the need for arbitrary data cuts. Sampling from the $\sim$3000-parameter joint posterior using Hamiltonian Monte Carlo, we find $H_0$ = (72.72 $\pm$ 1.67) ${\rm km\,s^{-1}\,Mpc^{-1}}$ when applied to the outlier-cleaned Riess et al. (2016) data, and ($73.15 \pm 1.78$) ${\rm km\,s^{-1}\,Mpc^{-1}}$ with SN outliers reintroduced. Our high-fidelity sampling of the low-$H_0$ tail of the distance-ladder likelihood allows us to apply Bayesian model comparison to assess the evidence for deviation from $\Lambda$CDM. We set up this comparison to yield a lower limit on the odds of the underlying model being $\Lambda$CDM given the distance-ladder and Planck XIII (2016) CMB data. The odds against $\Lambda$CDM are at worst 10:1 or 7:1, depending on whether the SNe outliers are cut or modeled, or 60:1 if an approximation to the Planck Int. XLVI (2016) likelihood is used., Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures, matches version submitted to MNRAS. The model code used in this analysis is available for download at https://github.com/sfeeney/hh0

Near Earth Objects (NEOs) are small Solar System bodies whose orbits bring them close to the Earth's orbit. We are carrying out a Warm Spitzer Cycle 11 Exploration Science program entitled NEOSurvey --- a fast and efficient flux-limited survey of 597 known NEOs in which we derive diameter and albedo for each target. The vast majority of our targets are too faint to be observed by NEOWISE, though a small sample has been or will be observed by both observatories, which allows for a cross-check of our mutual results. Our primary goal is to create a large and uniform catalog of NEO properties. We present here the first results from this new program: fluxes and derived diameters and albedos for 80 NEOs, together with a description of the overall program and approach, including several updates to our thermal model. The largest source of error in our diameter and albedo solutions, which derive from our single band thermal emission measurements, is uncertainty in eta, the beaming parameter used in our thermal modeling; for albedos, improvements in Solar System absolute magnitudes would also help significantly. All data and derived diameters and albedos from this entire program are being posted on a publicly accessible webpage at nearearthobjects.nau.edu ., AJ in press

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are believed to be one of the main source candidates for the high-energy (TeV-PeV) cosmic neutrino flux recently discovered by the IceCube neutrino observatory. Nevertheless, several correlation studies between AGN and the cosmic neutrinos detected by IceCube show no significance. Therefore, in this article we consider a specific subclass of AGN for which an increased neutrino production is expected. This subclass contains AGN for which their high-energy jet is pointing toward Earth. Furthermore, we impose the condition that the jet is obscured by gas or dust surrounding the AGN. A method is presented to determine the total column density of the obscuring medium, which is probed by determining the relative x-ray attenuation with respect to the radio flux as obtained from the AGN spectrum. The total column density allows us to probe the interaction of the jet with the surrounding matter, which leads to additional neutrino production. Finally, starting from two different source catalogs, this method is applied to specify a sample of low redshift radio galaxies for which an increased neutrino production is expected.

We present a multi-wavelength analysis of 52 sub-millimeter galaxies (SMGs), identified using ALMA 870$\mu$m continuum imaging in a pilot program to precisely locate bright SCUBA2-selected sub-mm sources in the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey (UDS) field. Using the available deep (especially near-infrared), panoramic imaging of the UDS field at optical-to-radio wavelengths we characterize key properties of the SMG population. The median photometric redshift of the bright ALMA/SCUBA-2 UDS (AS2UDS) SMGs that are detected in a sufficient number of wavebands to derive a robust photometric redshift is $z$=2.65$\pm$0.13. However, similar to previous studies, 27% of the SMGs are too faint at optical-to-near-infrared wavelengths to derive a reliable photometric redshift. Assuming that these SMGs lie at z$\gtrsim$3 raises the median redshift of the full sample to $z$=2.9$\pm$0.2. A subset of 23, unlensed, bright AS2UDS SMGs have sizes measured from resolved imaging of their rest-frame far-infrared emission. We show that the extent and luminosity of the far-infrared emission are consistent with the dust emission arising from regions that are optically thick, on average, at a wavelength of $\lambda_0$$\ge$75$\mu$m (1-$\sigma$ dispersion of 55-90$\mu$m). Using the dust masses derived from our optically-thick spectral energy distribution models we determine that these galaxies have a median hydrogen column density of $N_{H}$=9.8$_{-0.7}^{+1.4}$$\times$10$^{23}$cm$^{-2}$, or a corresponding median $V$-band obscuration of $A_\mathrm{v}$=540$^{+80}_{-40}$mag, averaged along the line of sight to the source of their restframe $\sim$200$\mu$m emission. We discuss the implications of this extreme attenuation by dust for the multiwavelength study of dusty starbursts and reddening-sensitive tracers of star formation., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

We study the nearby lenticular galaxy NGC 3998. This galaxy is known to host a low-power radio AGN with a kpc-size one-sided jet and a large, nearly polar HI disc. It is therefore a good system to study to understand the relation between the availability of cold-gas and the triggering of AGNs in galaxies. Our new WSRT data reveal two faint, S-shaped radio lobes extending out to $\sim$10 kpc from the galaxy centre. Remarkably, we find that the inner HI disc warps back towards the stellar mid-plane in a way that mirrors the warping of the radio lobes. We suggest that the polar HI disc was accreted through a minor merger, and that the torques causing it to warp in the inner regions are also responsible for feeding the AGN. The "S" shape of the radio lobes would then be due to the radio jets adapting to the changing angular momentum of the accreted gas. The extended radio jets are likely poorly collimated, which would explain their quick fading and, therefore, their rarity in galaxies similar to NGC 3998. The fuelling of the central super-massive black hole is likely occurring via "discrete events", suggested by the observed variability of the radio core and the extremely high core dominance, which we attribute to the formation and ejection of a new jet resulting from a recent fuelling event., 10 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

We present a study of the population of bright early-type dwarf galaxies in the multiple-cluster system Abell 901/902. We use data from the STAGES survey and COMBO-17 to investigate the relation between the color and structural properties of the dwarfs and their location in the cluster. The definition of the dwarf sample is based on the central surface brightness and includes galaxies in the luminosity range -16 >= M_B >~-19 mag. Using a fit to the color magnitude relation of the dwarfs, our sample is divided into a red and blue subsample. We find a color-density relation in the projected radial distribution of the dwarf sample: at the same luminosity dwarfs with redder colors are located closer to the cluster centers than their bluer counterparts. Furthermore, the redder dwarfs are on average more compact and rounder than the bluer dwarfs. These findings are consistent with theoretical expectations assuming that bright early-type dwarfs are the remnants of transformed late-type disk galaxies involving processes such as ram pressure stripping and galaxy harassment. This indicates that a considerable fraction of dwarf elliptical galaxies in clusters are the results of transformation processes related to interactions with their host cluster., 12 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in A&A, typo corrected in abstract

Using the Infrared Spectrograph on the Spitzer Space Telescope, we observed the Antennae galaxies obtaining spectral maps of the entire central region and high signal-to-noise 5-38 mu m spectra of the two galactic nuclei and six infrared-luminous regions. The total infrared luminosity of our six IR peaks plus the two nuclei is L-IR = 3.8 x 10(10) L-circle dot, with their derived star formation rates ranging between 0.2 and 2 M-circle dot yr(-1), with a total of 6.6 M-circle dot yr(-1). None of the typical mid-IR tracers of active galactic nucleus activity is detected in either nucleus of the system, excluding the presence of a dust-enshrouded accretion disk. The hardest and most luminous radiation originates from two compact clusters in the southern part of the overlap region, which also have the highest dust temperatures. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission and other tracers of softer radiation are spatially extended throughout and beyond the overlap region, but regions with a harder and more intense radiation field show a reduced PAH strength. The strong H-2 emission is rather confined around the nucleus of NGC 4039, where shocks appear to be the dominant excitation mechanism, and the southern part of the overlap region, where it traces the most recent starburst activity. The luminosity ratio between the warm molecular gas (traced by the H-2 lines) and the total far-IR emission is similar to 1.6 x 10(-4), similar to that found in many starbursts and ultraluminous infrared galaxies. The total mass of warm H-2 in the Antennae is 2.5 x 10(7) M-circle dot, with a fraction of warm to total H-2 gas mass of about 0.35%. The average warm H-2 temperature is 302 +/- 26 K and appears anticorrelated with the radiation field hardness, possibly due to an evolution of the photodissociation region (PDR) morphology. The previously reported tight correlation between the H-2 and PAH emission was not found but higher total PAH emission to continuum ratios were found in PDRs with warmer gas.

We study zCOSMOS-bright optical spectra for 609 Spitzer MIPS 24 mu m-selected galaxies with S-24 (mu m) > 0: 30 mJy and I 10(11) L-circle dot galaxies at 0.6

CH4 is proposed to be the starting point of a rich organic chemistry. Solid CH4 abundances have previously been determined mostly toward high-mass star-forming regions. Spitzer IRS now provides a unique opportunity to probe solid CH4 toward low-mass star-forming regions as well. Infrared spectra from the Spitzer Space Telescope are presented to determine the solid CH4 abundance toward a large sample of low-mass young stellar objects. A total of 25 out of 52 ice sources in the "Cores to Disks'' (c2d) Legacy program have an absorption feature at 7.7 mu m, attributed to the bending mode of solid CH4. The solid CH4/H2O abundances are 2%-8%, except for three sources with abundances as high as 11%-13%. The latter sources have relatively large uncertainties due to small total ice column densities. Toward sources with H2O column densities above 2 x 10(18) cm(-2), the CH4 abundances (20 out of 25) are nearly constant at 4.7% +/- 1.6%. Correlation plots with solid H2O, CH3OH, CO2, and CO column densities and abundances relative to H2O reveal a closer relationship of solid CH4 with CO2 and H2O than with solid CO and CH3OH. The inferred solid CH4 abundances are consistent with models where CH4 is formed through sequential hydrogenation of C on grain surfaces. Finally, the equal or higher abundances toward low-mass young stellar objects compared with high-mass objects and the correlation studies support this formation pathway as well, but not the two competing theories: formation from CH3OH and formation in gas phase with subsequent freezeout.

Stellar population synthesis models can now reproduce the photometry of old stellar systems (age $>$ 2 Gyr) in the near-infrared (NIR) bands at 3.4 and 4.6$\mu$m (WISE W1 $\&$ W2 or IRAC 1 $\&$ 2). In this paper we derive stellar mass-to-light ratios for these and optical bands, and confirm that the NIR M/L shows dramatically reduced sensitivity to both age and metallicity compared to optical bands, and further, that this behavior leads to significantly more robust stellar masses for quiescent galaxies with [Fe/H] > -0.5 regardless of star formation history (SFH). We then use realistic early-type galaxy SFHs and metallicity distributions from the EAGLE simulations of galaxy formation to investigate two methods to determine the appropriate M/L for a galaxy: 1) We show that the uncertainties introduced by an unknown SFH can be largely removed using a spectroscopically inferred luminosity-weighted age and metallicity for the population to select the appropriate single stellar population (SSP) equivalent M/L. Using this method, the maximum systematic error due to SFH on the M/L of an early-type galaxy is $, Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

In the current state of cosmology, where cosmological parameters are being measured to percent accuracy, it is essential to understand all sources of error to high precision. In this paper we present the results of a study of the local variations in the Hubble constant measured at the distance scale of the Coma Cluster, and test the validity of correcting for the peculiar velocities predicted by gravitational instability theory. The study is based on N-body simulations, and includes models featuring a coupling between dark energy and dark matter, as well as two $\Lambda$CDM simulations with different values of $\sigma_8$. It is found that the variance in the local flows is significantly larger in the coupled models, which increases the uncertainty in the local measurements of the Hubble constant in these scenarios. By comparing the results from the different simulations, it is found that most of the effect is caused by the higher value of $\sigma_8$ in the coupled cosmologies, though this cannot account for all of the additional variance. Given the discrepancy between different estimates of the Hubble constant in the universe today, cosmological models causing a greater cosmic variance is something that we should be aware of., Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures. v2: Minor changes to match content of published version. Results and conclusions unchanged

The quantity of dust in a spiral disk can be estimated using the dust's typical emission or the extinction of a known source. In this paper we compare two techniques, one based on emission and one on absorption, applied to sections of 14 disk galaxies. The two measurements reflect, respectively, the average and apparent optical depth of a disk section. Hence, they depend differently on the average number and optical depth of ISM structures in the disk. The small-scale geometry of the cold ISM is critical for accurate models of the overall energy budget of spiral disks. ISM geometry, relative contributions of different stellar populations, and dust emissivity are all free parameters in galaxy spectral energy distribution ( SED) models; they are also sometimes degenerate, depending on wavelength coverage. Our aim is to constrain the typical ISM geometry. The apparent optical depth measurement comes from the number of distant galaxies seen in Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images through the foreground disk, calibrated with the synthetic field method (SFM). We discuss what can be learned from the SFM measurement alone regarding ISM geometry. We measure the IR flux in images from the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxy Survey in the same section of the disk that was covered by HST. A physical model of the dust is fit to the SED to estimate the dust surface density, mean temperature, and brightness in these disk sections. The surface density is subsequently converted into the average optical depth estimate. The two measurements generally agree, and the SED model finds mostly cold dust ( T

We present the mid-infrared spectrum of the planetary nebula IC 2448. In order to determine the chemical composition of the nebula, we use the infrared line fluxes from the Spitzer spectrum along with optical line fluxes from the literature and ultraviolet line fluxes from archival IUE spectra. We determine an extinction of C H beta = 0. 27 from hydrogen recombination lines and the radio to H beta ratio. Forbidden line ratios give an electron density of 1860 cm (-3) and an average electron temperature of 12,700 K. The use of infrared lines allows us to determine more accurate abundances than previously possible because abundances derived from infrared lines do not vary greatly with the adopted electron temperature and extinction, and additional ionization stages are observed. Elements left mostly unchanged by stellar evolution ( Ar, Ne, S, and O) all have subsolar values in IC 2448, indicating that the progenitor star formed out of moderately metal deficient material. Evidence from the Spitzer spectrum of IC 2448 supports previous claims that IC 2448 is an old nebula formed from a low-mass progenitor star.

We present and describe the astro-photometric catalog of more than 800,000 sources found in the Hubble Tarantula Treasury Project (HTTP). HTTP is a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Treasury program designed to image the entire 30 Doradus region down to the sub-solar (~0.5 solar masses) mass regime using the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). We observed 30 Doradus in the near ultraviolet (F275W, F336W), optical (F555W, F658N, F775W), and near infrared (F110W, F160W) wavelengths. The stellar photometry was measured using point-spread function (PSF) fitting across all the bands simultaneously. The relative astrometric accuracy of the catalog is 0.4 mas. The astro-photometric catalog, results from artificial star experiments and the mosaics for all the filters are available for download. Color-magnitude diagrams are presented showing the spatial distributions and ages of stars within 30 Dor as well as in the surrounding fields. HTTP provides the first rich and statistically significant sample of intermediate and low mass pre-main sequence candidates and allows us to trace how star formation has been developing through the region. The depth and high spatial resolution of our analysis highlight the dual role of stellar feedback in quenching and triggering star formation on the giant HII region scale. Our results are consistent with stellar sub-clustering in a partially filled gaseous nebula that is offset towards our side of the Large Magellanic Cloud., 20 pages, 22 Figures, 3 Tables, Photometric Catalogs and Mosaiced images will be available for download upon publication, accepted for publication on ApJS

The formation of planets is directly linked to the evolution of the circumstellar (CS) disk from which they are born. The dissipation timescales of CS disks are therefore of direct astrophysical importance in evaluating the time available for planet formation. We employ Spitzer Space Telescope spectra to complete the CS disk census for the late-type members of the similar or equal to 8 Myr old eta Chamaeleontis star cluster. Of the 15 K- and M-type members, eight show excess emission. We find that the presence of a CS disk is anticorrelated with binarity, with all but one disk associated with single stars. With nine single stars in total, about 80% retain a CS disk. Of the six known or suspected close binaries, the only CS disk is associated with the primary of RECX 9. No circumbinary disks have been detected. We also find that stars with disks are slow rotators with surface values of specific angular momentum j= 2-15 j(circle dot). All high specific angular momentum systems with j=20-30j(circle dot) are confined to the primary stars of binaries. This provides novel empirical evidence for rotational disk locking and again demonstrates the much shorter disk lifetimes in close binary systems compared to single-star systems. We estimate the characteristic mean disk dissipation timescale to be similar to 5 and approximate to 9 Myr for the binary and single-star systems, respectively.

The formation of planets is directly linked to the evolution of the circumstellar (CS) disk from which they are born. The dissipation timescales of CS disks are therefore of direct astrophysical importance in evaluating the time available for planet formation. We employ Spitzer Space Telescope spectra to complete the CS disk census for the late-type members of the similar or equal to 8 Myr old eta Chamaeleontis star cluster. Of the 15 K- and M-type members, eight show excess emission. We find that the presence of a CS disk is anticorrelated with binarity, with all but one disk associated with single stars. With nine single stars in total, about 80% retain a CS disk. Of the six known or suspected close binaries, the only CS disk is associated with the primary of RECX 9. No circumbinary disks have been detected. We also find that stars with disks are slow rotators with surface values of specific angular momentum j= 2-15 j(circle dot). All high specific angular momentum systems with j=20-30j(circle dot) are confined to the primary stars of binaries. This provides novel empirical evidence for rotational disk locking and again demonstrates the much shorter disk lifetimes in close binary systems compared to single-star systems. We estimate the characteristic mean disk dissipation timescale to be similar to 5 and approximate to 9 Myr for the binary and single-star systems, respectively.

Color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) are presented for the Spitzer SAGE (Surveying the Agents of a Galaxy's Evolution) survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). IRAC and MIPS 24 mu m epoch 1 data are presented. These data represent the deepest, widest mid-infrared CMDs of their kind ever produced in the LMC. Combined with the Two Micron All Sky Survey, the diagrams are used to delineate the evolved stellar populations in the LMC, as well as Galactic foreground and extragalactic background populations. Some 32,000 evolved stars brighter than the tip of the red giant branch are identified. Of these, approximately 17,500 are classified as oxygen-rich, 7000 as carbon-rich, and another 1200 as "extreme'' asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. Brighter members of the latter group have been called "obscured'' AGB stars in the literature owing to their dusty circumstellar envelopes. A large number (1200) of luminous oxygen-rich AGB stars/M supergiants are also identified. Finally, there is strong evidence from the 24 mu m MIPS channel that previously unexplored, lower luminosity oxygen-rich AGB stars contribute significantly to the mass-loss budget of the LMC (1200 such sources are identified).

We present: 1) a kinematic and morphological study of the giant Lya nebula associated with the radio galaxy MRC2104-242 (z = 2.49) based on integral field spectroscopic VIMOS data from VLT; 2) a photometric study of the host (proto?) galaxy based on Spitzer Space Telescope data. The galaxy appears to be embedded in a giant (>120 kpc) gas reservoir that surrounds it completely. The kinematic properties of the nebula suggest that it is a rotating structure, which would imply a lower limit to the dynamical mass of ~3 x 1e11 Msun. An alternate scenario is that the gas is infalling. Such a process would be able to initiate and sustain significant central starburst activity, although it is likely to contribute with less than 10% of the total stellar mass of the galaxy. The near- to mid-IR spectral energy distribution of the radio galaxy suggests the existence of a reddened, E(B-V)=0.4(+/-)0 .1$, evolved stellar population of age >~ 1.8 Gyr and mass 5(+/-)2 x 1e11 Msun. The implied formation redshift is z_f >~ 6. This stellar mass is similar to the stellar masses found for massive early-type galaxies at z~2 in deep, near-infrared surveys., 6 pages, 4 figures and 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters

We present deep K-s 83 mu Jy ( the similar to 80% completeness limit of the Spitzer/GTO 24 mu m catalog); 36% of our galaxies have spectroscopic redshifts ( mostly at z 10(12) L-circle dot) at redshifts z less than or similar to 2-3. Massive star-forming galaxies at redshifts 2 less than or similar to z less than or similar to 3 are characterized by very high star formation rates (SFR > 500 M-circle dot yr(-1)), and some of them are able to construct a mass of approximate to 10(10) - 10(11) M-circle dot in a single burst lifetime ( similar to 0.01 - 0.1 Gyr). At lower redshifts z less than or similar to 2, massive star-forming galaxies are also present but appear to be building their stars on long timescales, either quiescently or in multiple modest burstlike episodes. At redshifts z similar to 1 2, the ability of the burstlike mode to produce entire galaxies in a single event is limited to some lower ( M less than or similar to 7; 10(10) M-circle dot) mass systems, and it is basically negligible at z less than or similar to 1. Our results support a scenario in which star formation activity is differential with assembled stellar mass and redshift, and where the relative importance of the burstlike mode proceeds in a downsizing way from high to low redshifts.

The formation of planets is directly linked to the evolution of the circumstellar (CS) disk from which they are born. The dissipation timescales of CS disks are, therefore, of direct astrophysical importance in evaluating the time available for planet formation. We employ Spitzer Space Telescope spectra to complete the CS disk census for the late-type members of the ~8 Myr-old eta Chamaeleontis star cluster. Of the 15 K- and M-type members, eight show excess emission. We find that the presence of a CS disk is anti-correlated with binarity, with all but one disk associated with single stars. With nine single stars in total, about 80% retain a CS disk. Of the six known or suspected close binaries the only CS disk is associated with the primary of RECX 9. No circumbinary disks have been detected. We also find that stars with disks are slow rotators with surface values of specific angular momentum j = 2-15 j_sun. All high specific angular momentum systems with j = 20-30 j_sun are confined to the primary stars of binaries. This provides novel empirical evidence for rotational disk locking and again demonstrates the much shorter disk lifetimes in close binary systems compared to single star systems. We estimate the characteristic mean disk dissipation timescale to be ~5 Myr and ~9 Myr for the binary and single star systems, respectively., Accepted by ApJL

著者人数: 22名, Accepted: 2017-11-19, 資料番号: SA1170264000

We report on the study of interstellar extinction across the Tarantula nebula (30 Doradus), in the Large Magellanic Cloud, using observations from the Hubble Tarantula Treasury Project in the 0.3 - 1.6 micron range. The considerable and patchy extinction inside the nebula causes about 3500 red clump stars to be scattered along the reddening vector in the colour-magnitude diagrams, thereby allowing an accurate determination of the reddening slope in all bands. The measured slope of the reddening vector is remarkably steeper in all bands than in the the Galactic diffuse interstellar medium. At optical wavelengths, the larger ratio of total-to-selective extinction, namely Rv = 4.5 +/- 0.2, implies the presence of a grey component in the extinction law, due to a larger fraction of large grains. The extra large grains are most likely ices from supernova ejecta and will significantly alter the extinction properties of the region until they sublimate in 50 - 100 Myr. We discuss the implications of this extinction law for the Tarantula nebula and in general for regions of massive star formation in galaxies. Our results suggest that fluxes of strongly star forming regions are likely to be underestimated by a factor of about 2 in the optical., Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS; Updated references, corrected typos in Table 3

The mid-infrared is an optimal window to trace stellar mass in nearby galaxies and the 3.6 mm IRAC band has been exploited to this effect, but such mass estimates can be biased by dust emission. We present our pipeline to reveal the old stellar flux at 3.6 mu m and obtain stellar mass maps for more than 1600 galaxies available from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S(4)G). This survey consists of images in two infrared bands (3.6 and 4.5 mu m), and we use the Independent Component Analysis (ICA) method presented in Meidt et al. to separate the dominant light from old stars and the dust emission that can significantly contribute to the observed 3.6 mm flux. We exclude from our ICA analysis galaxies with low signal-to-noise ratio (S/N < 10) and those with original [3.6]-[4.5] colors compatible with an old stellar population, indicative of little dust emission (mostly early Hubble types, which can directly provide good mass maps). For the remaining 1251 galaxies to which ICA was successfully applied, we find that as much as 10%-30% of the total light at 3.6 mu m typically originates from dust, and locally it can reach even higher values. This contamination fraction shows a correlation with specific star formation rates, confirming that the dust emission that we detect is related to star formation. Additionally, we have used our large sample of mass estimates to calibrate a relationship of effective mass-to-light ratio (M/L) as a function of observed [3.6]-[4.5] color: log(M/L) = -0.339(+/- 0.057) x ([3.6]-[4.5])-0.336(+/- 0.002). Our final pipeline products have been made public through IRSA, providing the astronomical community with an unprecedentedly large set of stellar mass maps ready to use for scientific applications.