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Prompted by X-ray detections from multiple surveys, we investigated the A-type star HD 63021 and found that it is a double-lined spectroscopic binary with highly variable emission associated with the primary star. Analysis of our multi-epoch spectroscopic observations, the majority of which were carried out on small aperture telescopes, indicates a very short orbital period of just $2.9$ days, and a mass ratio M$_2$/M$_1$ of $0.23$. The A1 V star is a slow rotator, with a rotational speed of $\sim34$ km/s. Assuming its mass is $2.3$ M$_{\odot}$, the present-day secondary is an evolved star of $\sim0.5$ M$_{\odot}$ that nearly fills its Roche lobe. This secondary star rotates comparatively rapidly at $\sim44$ km/s, and we see evidence that it is chromospherically active. Analysis of a photometric lightcurve from TESS reveals two strong periods, one at the orbital period for the system and another at half the orbital period. These findings suggest that HD 63021 is a close binary system undergoing mass transfer from the secondary star onto the primary star -- in all ways like an Algol eclipsing binary system, except without the eclipse. We discuss the system's mass transfer, which is not steady but seems to run in fits and bursts, and infer the system's basic physical properties from an orbital parameter study, the Roche lobe geometry, and its extant X-ray emission., Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal

In this State of the Profession Consideration, we will discuss the state of hands-on observing within the profession, including: information about professional observing trends; student telescope training, beginning at the undergraduate and graduate levels, as a key to ensuring a base level of technical understanding among astronomers; the role that amateurs can take moving forward; the impact of telescope training on using survey data effectively; and the need for modest investments in new, standard instrumentation at mid-size aperture telescope facilities to ensure their usefulness for the next decade., Comment: Astro 2020 APC White Paper, to be published in BAAS

The SDSS III APOGEE survey recently identified two new $\sigma$ Ori E type candidates, HD 345439 and HD 23478, which are a rare subset of rapidly rotating massive stars whose large (kGauss) magnetic fields confine circumstellar material around these systems. Our analysis of multi-epoch photometric observations of HD 345439 from the KELT, SuperWASP, and ASAS surveys reveals the presence of a $\sim$0.7701 day period in each dataset, suggesting the system is amongst the faster known $\sigma$ Ori E analogs. We also see clear evidence that the strength of H-alpha, H I Brackett series lines, and He I lines also vary on a $\sim$0.7701 day period from our analysis of multi-epoch, multi-wavelength spectroscopic monitoring of the system from the APO 3.5m telescope. We trace the evolution of select emission line profiles in the system, and observe coherent line profile variability in both optical and infrared H I lines, as expected for rigidly rotating magnetosphere stars. We also analyze the evolution of the H I Br-11 line strength and line profile in multi-epoch observations of HD 23478 from the SDSS-III APOGEE instrument. The observed periodic behavior is consistent with that recently reported by Sikora and collaborators in optical spectra., Comment: Accepted in ApJL

The molecular carriers of the ubiquitous absorption features called the diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) have eluded identification for many decades, in part because of the enormous parameter space spanned by the candidates and the limited set of empirical constraints afforded by observations in the diffuse interstellar medium. Detection of these features in circumstellar regions, where the environmental properties are more easily measured, is thus a promising approach to understanding the chemical nature of the carriers themselves. Here, using high resolution spectra from the APOGEE survey, we present an analysis of the unusually asymmetric 1.5272 micron DIB feature along the sightline to the Red Square Nebula and demonstrate the likely circumstellar origin of about half of the DIB absorption in this line of sight. This interpretation is supported both by the velocities of the feature components and by the ratio of foreground to total reddening along the line of sight. The Red Square Nebula sightline offers the unique opportunity to study the behavior of DIB carriers in a constrained environment and thus to shed new light on the carriers themselves., Comment: Accepted to ApJ. 8 pages, 7 figures

We report the detection of oxygen-rich circumstellar envelopes in stars of the nearby (700 kpc) starburst galaxy IC 10. The star formation history and the chemical environment of this galaxy makes it an ideal target to observe dust production by high-mass stars in a low-metallicity environment. The goal of this study is to identify oxygen-rich stars in IC 10 and to constrain their nature between asymptotic giant branch stars (AGBs), red supergiants (RSGs), and other infrared bright sources. We examine the mass-loss rate of the stars and compare to results obtained for the Magellanic Clouds. Our objectives are to (1) assess whether RSGs can be significant dust producers in IC 10, and (2), solve the discrepancy between the star formation history of IC 10 and the relatively low number of RSGs detected in the optical. We search for silicate dust in emission by using the spectral map observed with the Infrared Spectrograph on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. The optical (UBVRI) and infrared (JHK, Spitzer/IRAC and Spitzer/MIPS) photometry is used to assert the membership of the stars to IC 10 and disentangle between AGBs and RSGs. Radiative models are used to infer mass-loss rates and stellar luminosities. The luminosity and colors of at least 9 silicate emission sources are consistent with stars within IC 10. Furthermore, the photometry of 2 of these sources is consistent with RSGs. We derive dust mass-loss rates similar to the values found in the Magellanic Clouds. Accounting for the sample completeness, RSGs are not important contributors to the dust mass budget in IC 10., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A

We investigate the emission properties of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in various metallicity environments with the Infrared Spectrograph on board Spitzer. Local giant HII regions are used as references as they enable access to the distinct interstellar medium components that contribute to the mid-infrared spectrum of star-forming galaxies: photodissociation regions (PDRs), photoionized gas, stellar clusters, and embedded regions. Three objects are considered, NGC3603 in the Milky Way, 30Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and N66 in the Small Magellanic Cloud. From the variations of the PAH/14um ratio, we find that PAHs are destroyed in the ionized gas for a radiation field such that [NeIII]/[NeII]>3. From the variations of the PAH/Hu-alpha ratio, we find that the PAH emission sources in the giant HII regions follow the same photodestruction law regardless of metallicity. We then compare these results with observations of starburst galaxies, HII galaxies, and blue compact dwarf galaxies (BCDs). While the integrated mid-infrared spectra of BCDs are reminiscent of a warm dusty ionized gas, we observe a significant contribution to the PAH emission in starburst galaxies that is not arising from PDRs., Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

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 um 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 = 3.8x10^10 L_o, with their derived star formation rates ranging between 0.2 and 2 M_o/yr, with a total of 6.6 M_o/yr. 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. PAH emission and other tracers of softer radiation are spatially extended throughout and beyond the overlap region, but regions with harder and intenser 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 ~1.6x10^-4, similar to that found in many starburst and ULIRGs. The total mass of warm H_2 in the Antennae is 2.5x10^7 M_o, 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 anti-correlated with the radiation field hardness, possibly due to an evolution of the 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., Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures, accepted by ApJ, full resolution version at http://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/~brandl/ngc4038_brandl.pdf

We investigate the chemical abundances of NGC3603 in the Milky Way, of 30Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and of N66 in the Small Magellanic Cloud. Mid-infrared observations with the Infrared Spectrograph onboard the Spitzer Space Telescope allow us to probe the properties of distinct physical regions within each object: the central ionizing cluster, the surrounding ionized gas, photodissociation regions, and buried stellar clusters. We detect [SIII], [SIV], [ArIII], [NeII], [NeIII], [FeII], and [FeIII] lines and derive the ionic abundances. Based on the ionic abundance ratio (NeIII/H)/(SIII/H), we find that the gas observed in the MIR is characterized by a higher degree of ionization than the gas observed in the optical spectra. We compute the elemental abundances of Ne, S, Ar, and Fe. We find that the alpha-elements Ne, S, and Ar scale with each other. Our determinations agree well with the abundances derived from the optical. The Ne/S ratio is higher than the solar value in the three giant HII regions and points toward a moderate depletion of sulfur on dust grains. We find that the neon and sulfur abundances display a remarkably small dispersion (0.11dex in 15 positions in 30Doradus), suggesting a relatively homogeneous ISM, even though small-scale mixing cannot be ruled out., Comment: Accepted for submission to ApJ. The present version replaces the submitted one. Changes: new title, new figure, the text was modified in the discussion

We present photometric and spectroscopic data of the interacting starburst galaxy NGC 6052 obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope. The mid-infrared (MIR) spectra of the three brightest spatially resolved regions in the galaxy are remarkably similar and are consistent with dust emission from young nearly coeval stellar populations. Analysis of the brightest infrared region of the system, which contributes ~18.5 % of the total 16\micron flux, indicates that unlike similar off-nuclear infrared-bright regions found in Arp 299 or NGC 4038/9, its MIR spectrum is inconsistent with an enshrouded hot dust (T > 300K) component. Instead, the three brightest MIR regions all display dust continua of temperatures less than ~ 200K. These low dust temperatures indicate the dust is likely in the form of a patchy screen of relatively cold material situated along the line of sight. We also find that emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the forbidden atomic lines is very similar for each region. We conclude that the ionization regions are self-similar and come from young (about 6 Myr) stellar populations. A fourth region, for which we have no MIR spectra, exhibits MIR emission similar to tidal tail features in other interacting galaxies., Comment: 20 pages in preprint form, estimated 7 pages in ApJ Aeptember 10, 2007, v666n 2 issue, six encapsulated postscript figures