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Studies on the circumstellar structures around evolved stars provide vital information on the evolution of the parent star and the properties of the local interstellar medium. In this work, we present the discovery and characterization of an optical cocoon tail behind the star HD 185806. The cocoon apex emission is puzzling, as it is detected in the infrared but shows no signal in the optical wavelength. The H-alpha and [OIII] fluxes of the nebular structure vary from 2.7 to 8.5x10^{-12} erg s^{-1} cm^ {-2} and from 0.9 to 7.0x10^{-13} erg s^{-1} cm^{-2}, respectively. Through high-resolution spectroscopy, we derive the spectral type of the star, construct the position-velocity diagrams of the cocoon tail for the H-alpha, [OIII] and [NII] emission lines, and determine its velocity in the range of -100 to 40 km s ^{-1} . Furthermore, we use SED fitting and MESA evolutionary models adopting a distance of 900 pc, and classify HD 185806 as a 1.3 M star, in the transition phase between the RGB and early AGB stages. Finally, we study the morpho-kinematic structure of the cocoon tail using the astronomical software SHAPE. An ellipsoidal structure, with an inclination of 19 degrees with respect to the plane of sky is found to better reproduce the observed cocoon tail of HD 185806., Comment: Accepted 2022 June 29. Received 2022 June 24; in original form 2022 May 26, 14 pages. Dedicated to V.G. who passed away on 2 Sept. 2021

A characteristic feature that is frequently met in nearby supernova remnants (SNRs) is the existence of two antisymmetric, local protrusions that are projected as two "ears" in the morphology of the nebula. In this work, we present a novel scenario for the "ear" formation process according to which the two lobes are formed through the interaction of the SNR with a bipolar circumstellar medium (CSM) that was surrounding the explosion center. We conduct two dimensional hydrodynamic simulations and we show that the SNR shock breakout from the bipolar CSM triggers the inflation of two opposite protrusions at the equator of the remnant that retain their size and shape for several hundreds up to a few thousand years of the SNR evolution. We run a set of models by varying the supernova (SN) and CSM properties and we demonstrate that the extracted results reveal a good agreement with the observables, regarding the "ears" sizes, lifespan, morphology and kinematics. We discuss the plausibility of our model in nature and we suggest that the most likely progenitors of the "ear-carrying" SNRs are the Luminous Blue Variables or the Red/Yellow Supergiants for the SNRs resulted by core collapse SN events and the symbiotic binaries or the planetary nebulae for the remnants formed by Type Ia SNe. Finally, we compare our model with other "ear" formation models of the literature and we show that there are distinctive differences among them, concerning the "ears" orientation and the phase in which the "ear" formation process occurs., Comment: 13 pages, 8 Figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Rapid variability before and near the maximum brightness of supernovae has the potential to provide a better understanding of nearly every aspect of supernovae, from the physics of the explosion up to their progenitors and the circumstellar environment. Thanks to modern time-domain optical surveys, which are discovering supernovae in the early stage of their evolution, we have the unique opportunity to capture their intraday behavior before maximum. We present high-cadence photometric monitoring (on the order of seconds-minutes) of the optical light curves of three Type Ia and two Type II SNe over several nights before and near maximum light, using the fast imagers available on the 2.3~m Aristarchos telescope at Helmos Observatory and the 1.2~m telescope at Kryoneri Observatory in Greece. We applied differential aperture photometry techniques using optimal apertures and we present reconstructed light curves after implementing a seeing correction and the Trend Filtering Algorithm(TFA). TFA yielded the best results, achieving a typical precision between 0.01-0.04~mag. We did not detect significant bumps with amplitudes greater than 0.05~mag in any of the SNe targets in the VR-, R-, and I- bands light curves obtained. We measured the intraday slope for each light curve, which ranges between -0.37-0.36 mag/day in broadband VR, -0.19-0.31 mag/day in R band, and -0.13-0.10 mag/day in I band. We used SNe light curve fitting templates for SN 2018gv, SN 2018hgc and SN 2018hhn to photometrically classify the light curves and to calculate the time of maximum. We provide values for the maximum of SN 2018zd after applying a low-order polynomial fit and SN 2018hhn for the first time. We suggest monitoring early supernovae light curves in hotter (bluer) bands with a cadence of hours as a promising way of investigating the post-explosion photometric behavior of the progenitor stars., Comment: 22 pages, 17 figures

One of the key methods for determining the unknown nature of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) is the search for traces of interaction between the SN ejecta and the circumstellar structures at the resulting supernova remnants (SNRs Ia). So far, the observables that we receive from well-studied SNRs Ia cannot be explained self-consistently by any model presented in the literature. In this study, we suggest that the circumstellar medium (CSM) being observed to surround several SNRs Ia was mainly shaped by planetary nebulae (PNe) that originated from one or both progenitor stars. Performing two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations, we show that the ambient medium shaped by PNe can account for several properties of the CSM that have been found to surround SNe Ia and their remnants. Finally, we model Kepler's SNR considering that the SN explosion occurred inside a bipolar PN. Our simulations show good agreement with the observed morphological and kinematic properties of Kepler's SNR. In particular, our model reproduces the current expansion parameter of Kepler's SNR, the partial interaction of the remnant with a dense CSM at its northern region and finally the existence of two opposite protrusions (`ears') at the equatorial plane of the SNR., Comment: Accepted for publication in Galaxies, 7 pages

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has obtained multi-epoch observations providing the opportunity for a comprehensive variability search aiming to uncover new variables. We have therefore undertaken the task of creating a catalog of variable sources based on version 3 of the Hubble Source Catalog (HSC), which relies on publicly available images obtained with the WFPC2, ACS, and WFC3 instruments onboard the HST. We adopted magnitude-dependent thresholding in median absolute deviation (a robust measure of light curve scatter) combined with sophisticated preprocessing techniques and visual quality control to identify and validate variable sources observed by Hubble with the same instrument and filter combination five or more times. The Hubble Catalog of Variables (HCV) includes 84,428 candidate variable sources (out of 3.7 million HSC sources that were searched for variability) with $V \leq 27$ mag; for 11,115 of them the variability is detected in more than one filter. The data points in the light curves of the variables in the HCV catalog range from five to 120 points (typically having less than ten points); the time baseline ranges from under a day to over 15 years; while $\sim$8% of all variables have amplitudes in excess of 1 mag. Visual inspection performed on a subset of the candidate variables suggests that at least 80% of the candidate variables that passed our automated quality control are true variable sources rather than spurious detections resulting from blending, residual cosmic rays, and calibration errors. The HCV is the first, homogeneous catalog of variable sources created from archival HST data and currently is the deepest catalog of variables available. The catalog includes variable stars in our Galaxy and nearby galaxies, as well as transients and variable active galactic nuclei. (abbreviated), Comment: 33 pages, 15 figures, 11 tables; accepted in A&A. The HCV is available from the ESA Hubble Science Archive (eHST) (http://archives.esac.esa.int/ehst) at ESAC, and can be easily explored using the HCV Explorer (http://archives.esac.esa.int/hcv-explorer). The HCV is also hosted at STScI in the form of a High Level Science Product (HLSP) in MAST (https://archive.stsci.edu/hlsp/hcv)

Studies on the massive star population in galaxies beyond the Local Group are the key to understand the link between their numbers and modes of star formation in different environments. We present the analysis of the massive star population of the galaxies NGC 1326A, NGC 1425 and NGC 4548 using archival Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 images in the F555W and F814W filters. Through high precision point spread function fitting photometry for all sources in the three fields we identified 7640 candidate blue supergiants, 2314 candidate yellow supergiants, and 4270 candidate red supergiants. We provide an estimation the ratio of blue to red supergiants for each field as a function of galactocentric radius. Using Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA) at solar metallicity, we defined the luminosity function and estimated the star formation history of each galaxy. We carried out a variability search in the V and I filters using three variability indexes: the median absolute deviation, the interquartile range, and the inverse von-Neumann ratio. This analysis yielded 243 new variable candidates with absolute magnitudes ranging from Mv= -4 to -10 mag. We classified the variable stars based on their absolute magnitude and their position on the color-magnitude diagram using the MESA evolutionary tracks at solar metallicity. Our analysis yielded 8 candidate variable blue supergiants, 12 candidate variable yellow supergiants, 21 candidate variable red supergiants, and 4 candidate periodic variables., Comment: 28 pages, 11 figures, Astronomy & Astrophysics, accepted. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1807.11493

Identifying Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) through their X-ray emission is efficient, but necessarily biased against X-ray-faint objects. We aim to characterize this bias by comparing X-ray-selected AGNs to the ones identified through optical variability and mid-IR colours. We present a catalogue of AGNs selected through optical variability using all publicly available z-band Hubble Space Telescope images in the GOODS-South field. For all objects in the catalogue, we compute X-ray upper limits or discuss detections in the deepest available 7 Ms Chandra Deep Field South images and present the Spitzer/IRAC mid-IR colours. For the variability study, we consider only sources observed over at least five epochs and over a time baseline of up to ten years. We adopt the elevated median absolute deviation as a variability indicator robust against individual outlier measurements and identify 113 variability-selected AGN candidates. Among these, 26 have an X-ray counterpart and lie within the conventional AGN area in the FX/Fopt diagram. The candidates with X-ray upper limits are on average optically fainter, have higher redshifts compared to the X-ray detected ones and are consistent with low luminosity AGNs. Out of 41 variable optical sources with IR detections, 13 fulfill the IR AGN colour selection criteria. Our work emphasizes the importance of optical variability surveys for constructing complete samples of AGNs including the ones that remain undetected even by the deepest X-ray and IR surveys., Comment: 22 pages, 23 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Gaia16aye was a binary microlensing event discovered in the direction towards the northern Galactic disc and was one of the first microlensing events detected and alerted to by the Gaia space mission. Its light curve exhibited five distinct brightening episodes, reaching up to I=12 mag, and it was covered in great detail with almost 25,000 data points gathered by a network of telescopes. We present the photometric and spectroscopic follow-up covering 500 days of the event evolution. We employed a full Keplerian binary orbit microlensing model combined with the motion of Earth and Gaia around the Sun to reproduce the complex light curve. The photometric data allowed us to solve the microlensing event entirely and to derive the complete and unique set of orbital parameters of the binary lensing system. We also report on the detection of the first-ever microlensing space-parallax between the Earth and Gaia located at L2. The properties of the binary system were derived from microlensing parameters, and we found that the system is composed of two main-sequence stars with masses 0.57$\pm$0.05 $M_\odot$ and 0.36$\pm$0.03 $M_\odot$ at 780 pc, with an orbital period of 2.88 years and an eccentricity of 0.30. We also predict the astrometric microlensing signal for this binary lens as it will be seen by Gaia as well as the radial velocity curve for the binary system. Events such as Gaia16aye indicate the potential for the microlensing method of probing the mass function of dark objects, including black holes, in directions other than that of the Galactic bulge. This case also emphasises the importance of long-term time-domain coordinated observations that can be made with a network of heterogeneous telescopes., Comment: accepted for publication in A&A, 24 pages, 10 figures, tables with the data will be available electronically

We analyzed the massive star population of the Virgo Cluster galaxy NGC 4535 using archival Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 images in filters F555W and F814W, equivalent to Johnson V and Kron-Cousins I. We performed high precision point spread function fitting photometry of 24353 sources including 3762 candidate blue supergiants, 841 candidate yellow supergiants and 370 candidate red supergiants. We estimated the ratio of blue to red supergiants as a decreasing function of galactocentric radius. Using Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics isochrones at solar metallicity, we defined the luminosity function and estimated the star formation history of the galaxy over the last 60 Myrs. We conducted a variability search in the V and I filters using three variability indexes: the median absolute deviation, the interquartile range and the inverse von-Neumann ratio. This analysis yielded 120 new variable candidates with absolute magnitudes ranging from M$_{V}$ = $-$4 to $-$11 mag. We used the MESA evolutionary tracks at solar metallicity, to classify the variables based on their absolute magnitude and their position on the color-magnitude diagram. Among the new candidate variable sources are eight candidate variable red supergiants, three candidate variable yellow supergiants and one candidate luminous blue variable, which we suggest for follow-up observations., Comment: Accepted by A&A, 7 pages, 7 Tables, 53 figures

The Hubble Source Catalog (HSC) combines lists of sources detected on images obtained with the WFPC2, ACS and WFC3 instruments aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) available in the Hubble Legacy Archive. The catalog contains time-domain information with about two million of its sources detected with the same instrument and filter in at least five HST visits. The Hubble Catalog of Variables (HCV) project aims to identify HSC sources showing significant brightness variations. A magnitude-dependent threshold in the median absolute deviation of photometric measurements (an outlier-resistant measure of lightcurve scatter) is adopted as the variability-detection statistic. It is supplemented with a cut in $\chi_{\rm red}^2$ that removes sources with large photometric errors. A pre-processing procedure involving bad image identification, outlier rejection and computation of local magnitude zero-point corrections is applied to HSC lightcurves before computing the variability detection statistic. About 52000 HSC sources are identified as candidate variables, among which 7800 show variability in more than one filter. Visual inspection suggests that $\sim 70\%$ of the candidates detected in multiple filters are true variables while the remaining $\sim 30\%$ are sources with aperture photometry corrupted by blending, imaging artifacts or image processing anomalies. The candidate variables have AB magnitudes in the range 15-27$^{m}$ with the median 22$^{m}$. Among them are the stars in our own and nearby galaxies as well as active galactic nuclei., Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, proceedings of the IAU Symposium 339 Southern Horizons in Time-Domain Astronomy, 13-17 November 2017, Stellenbosch, South Africa

The Hubble Catalog of Variables (HCV) project aims to identify the variable sources in the Hubble Source Catalog (HSC), which includes about 92 million objects with over 300 million measurements detected by the WFPC2, ACS and WFC3 cameras on board of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), by using an automated pipeline containing a set of detection and validation algorithms. All the HSC sources with more than a predefined number of measurements in a single filter/instrument combination are pre-processed to correct systematic effect and to remove the bad measurements. The corrected data are used to compute a number of variability indexes to determine the variability status of each source. The final variable source catalog will contain variables stars, active galactic nuclei (AGNs), supernovae (SNs) or even new types of variables, reaching an unprecedented depth (V$\leq$27 mag). At the end of the project, the first release of the HCV will be available at the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) and the ESA Hubble Science Archives. The HCV pipeline will be deployed at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) so that an updated HCV may be generated following future releases of HSC., Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the proceeding of "Stellar Populations and the Distance Scale", Joseph Jensen (eds), ASPCS

We aim to construct an exceptionally deep (V ~< 27) catalog of variable objects in selected Galactic and extragalactic fields visited multiple times by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). While HST observations of some of these fields were searched for specific types of variables before (most notably, the extragalactic Cepheids), we attempt a systematic study of the population of variable objects of all types at the magnitude range not easily accessible with ground-based telescopes. The variability timescales that can be probed range from hours to years depending on how often a particular field has been visited. For source extraction and cross-matching of sources between visits we rely on the Hubble Source Catalog which includes 10^7 objects detected with WFPC2, ACS, and WFC3 HST instruments. The lightcurves extracted from the HSC are corrected for systematic effects by applying local zero-point corrections and are screened for bad measurements. For each lightcurve we compute variability indices sensitive to a broad range of variability types. The indices characterize the overall lightcurve scatter and smoothness. Candidate variables are selected as having variability index values significantly higher than expected for objects of similar brightness in the given set of observations. The Hubble Catalog of Variables will be released in 2018., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, proceedings of the 22nd Los Alamos Stellar Pulsation Conference "Wide-field variability surveys: a 21st-century perspective" held in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, Nov. 28-Dec. 2, 2016

The Hubble Catalog of Variables (HCV) is a 3 year ESA funded project that aims to develop a set of algorithms to identify variables among the sources included in the Hubble Source Catalog (HSC) and produce the HCV. We will process all HSC sources with more than a predefined number of measurements in a single filter/instrument combination and compute a range of lightcurve features to determine the variability status of each source. At the end of the project, the first release of the Hubble Catalog of Variables will be made available at the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) and the ESA Science Archives. The variability detection pipeline will be implemented at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) so that updated versions of the HCV may be created following the future releases of the HSC., Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, To appear in the conference proceedings of the IAU Symposium 325 AstroInformatics (2016 October 20-24, Sorrento, Italy)

Photometric measurements are prone to systematic errors presenting a challenge to low-amplitude variability detection. In search for a general-purpose variability detection technique able to recover a broad range of variability types including currently unknown ones, we test 18 statistical characteristics quantifying scatter and/or correlation between brightness measurements. We compare their performance in identifying variable objects in seven time series data sets obtained with telescopes ranging in size from a telephoto lens to 1m-class and probing variability on time-scales from minutes to decades. The test data sets together include lightcurves of 127539 objects, among them 1251 variable stars of various types and represent a range of observing conditions often found in ground-based variability surveys. The real data are complemented by simulations. We propose a combination of two indices that together recover a broad range of variability types from photometric data characterized by a wide variety of sampling patterns, photometric accuracies, and percentages of outlier measurements. The first index is the interquartile range (IQR) of magnitude measurements, sensitive to variability irrespective of a time-scale and resistant to outliers. It can be complemented by the ratio of the lightcurve variance to the mean square successive difference, 1/h, which is efficient in detecting variability on time-scales longer than the typical time interval between observations. Variable objects have larger 1/h and/or IQR values than non-variable objects of similar brightness. Another approach to variability detection is to combine many variability indices using principal component analysis. We present 124 previously unknown variable stars found in the test data., Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures, 7 tables; accepted to MNRAS; for additional plots, see http://scan.sai.msu.ru/~kirx/var_idx_paper/