Table of contents

Post-starburst (or "E+A") galaxies are characterized by low Hα emission and strong Balmer absorption, suggesting a recent starburst, but little current star formation. Although many of these galaxies show evidence of recent mergers, the mechanism for ending the starburst is not yet understood. To study the fate of the molecular gas, we search for CO(1–0) and (2–1) emission with the IRAM 30 m and SMT 10 m telescopes in 32 nearby (0.01  <  z  <  0.12) post-starburst galaxies drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We detect CO in 17 (53%). Using CO as a tracer for molecular hydrogen, and a Galactic conversion factor, we obtain molecular gas masses of M(H₂) = 10^8.6–10^9.8 M_☉ and molecular gas mass to stellar mass fractions of ∼10⁻²–10^−0.5, comparable to those of star-forming galaxies. The large amounts of molecular gas rule out complete gas consumption, expulsion, or starvation as the primary mechanism that ends the starburst in these galaxies. The upper limits on M(H₂) for the 15 undetected galaxies range from 10^7.7 M_☉ to 10^9.7 M_☉, with the median more consistent with early-type galaxies than with star-forming galaxies. Upper limits on the post-starburst star formation rates (SFRs) are lower by ∼10 × than for star-forming galaxies with the same M(H₂). We also compare the molecular gas surface densities ($\Sigma _{\rm H_2}$) to upper limits on the SFR surface densities (Σ_SFR), finding a significant offset, with lower Σ_SFR for a given $\Sigma _{\rm H_2}$ than is typical for star-forming galaxies. This offset from the Kennicutt–Schmidt relation suggests that post-starburst galaxies have lower star formation efficiency, a low CO-to-H₂ conversion factor characteristic of ultraluminous infrared galaxies, and/or a bottom-heavy initial mass function, although uncertainties in the rate and distribution of current star formation remain.

When and how galaxy morphology, such as the disk and bulge seen in the present-day universe, emerged is still not clear. In the universe at z ≳ 2, galaxies with various morphologies are seen, and star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 2 show the intrinsic shape of bar-like structures. Then, when did the round disk structure form? Here we take a simple and straightforward approach to see the epoch when a round disk galaxy population emerged by constraining the intrinsic shape statistically based on the apparent axial ratio distribution of galaxies. We derived the distributions of the apparent axial ratios in the rest-frame optical light (∼5000 Å) of star-forming main-sequence galaxies at 2.5 > z > 1.4, 1.4 > z > 0.85, and 0.85 > z > 0.5, and found that their apparent axial ratios show peaky distributions at z ≳ 0.85, while a rather flat distribution at the lower redshift. By using a tri-axial model (A > B > C) for the intrinsic shape, we found that the best-fit models give the peaks of the B/A distribution of 0.81 ± 0.04, 0.84 ± 0.04, and 0.92 ± 0.05 at 2.5 > z > 1.4, 1.4 > z > 0.85, and 0.85 > z > 0.5, respectively. The last value is close to the local value of 0.95. Thickness (C/A) is ∼0.25 at all the redshifts and is close to the local value (0.21). The results indicate that the shape of the star-forming galaxies in the main sequence changes gradually, and that the round disk is established at around z ∼ 0.9. The establishment of the round disk may be due to the cessation of a violent interaction between galaxies or the growth of a bulge and/or a supermassive black hole residing at the center of a galaxy that dissolves the bar structure.

The observed amplitude of the rotational photometric modulation of a star with spots should depend on the inclination of its rotational axis relative to our line of sight. Therefore, the distribution of observed rotational amplitudes of a large sample of stars depends on the distribution of their projected axes of rotation. Thus, comparison of the stellar rotational amplitudes of the Kepler objects of interest (KOIs) with those of Kepler single stars can provide a measure to indirectly infer the properties of the spin–orbit obliquity of Kepler planets. We apply this technique to the large samples of 993 KOIs and 33,614 single Kepler stars in temperature range of 3500–6500 K. We find with high significance that the amplitudes of cool KOIs are larger, on the order of 10%, than those of the single stars. In contrast, the amplitudes of hot KOIs are systematically lower. After correcting for an observational bias, we estimate that the amplitudes of the hot KOIs are smaller than the single stars by about the same factor of 10%. The border line between the relatively larger and smaller amplitudes, relative to the amplitudes of the single stars, occurs at about 6000 K. Our results suggest that the cool stars have their planets aligned with their stellar rotation, while the planets around hot stars have large obliquities, consistent with the findings of Winn et al. and Albrecht et al. We show that the low obliquity of the planets around cool stars extends up to at least 50 days, a feature that is not expected in the framework of a model that assumes the low obliquity is due to planet–star tidal realignment.

We used the Magellan adaptive optics system and its VisAO CCD camera to image the young low mass brown dwarf companion CT Chamaeleontis B for the first time at visible wavelengths. We detect it at r', i', z', and Y_S. With our new photometry and T_eff  ∼  2500 K derived from the shape of its K-band spectrum, we find that CT Cha B has A_V = 3.4  ±  1.1 mag, and a mass of 14–24 M_J according to the DUSTY evolutionary tracks and its 1–5 Myr age. The overluminosity of our r' detection indicates that the companion has significant Hα emission and a mass accretion rate ∼6 × 10⁻¹⁰ M_☉ yr⁻¹, similar to some substellar companions. Proper motion analysis shows that another point source within 2'' of CT Cha A is not physical. This paper demonstrates how visible wavelength adaptive optics photometry (r', i', z', Y_S) allows for a better estimate of extinction, luminosity, and mass accretion rate of young substellar companions.

Galactic cosmic ray (GCR) flux is modulated by both particle drift patterns and solar wind structures on a range of timescales. Over solar cycles, GCR flux varies as a function of the total open solar magnetic flux and the latitudinal extent of the heliospheric current sheet. Over hours, drops of a few percent in near-Earth GCR flux (Forbush decreases, FDs) are well known to be associated with the near-Earth passage of solar wind structures resulting from corotating interaction regions (CIRs) and transient coronal mass ejections (CMEs). We report on four FDs seen at ground-based neutron monitors which cannot be immediately associated with significant structures in the local solar wind. Similarly, there are significant near-Earth structures which do not produce any corresponding GCR variation. Three of the FDs are during the STEREO era, enabling in situ and remote observations from three well-separated heliospheric locations. Extremely large CMEs passed the STEREO-A spacecraft, which was behind the West limb of the Sun, approximately 2–3 days before each near-Earth FD. Solar wind simulations suggest that the CMEs combined with pre-existing CIRs, enhancing the pre-existing barriers to GCR propagation. Thus these observations provide strong evidence for the modulation of GCR flux by remote solar wind structures.

We present an analysis of the diverse spectral profiles observed for the λ6614 diffuse interstellar band (DIB). This includes the anomalous Herschel 36 profile, exhibiting a prominent, broad red tail, and the typically observed narrow profiles, exhibiting much narrower, but noticeable red tails. This study was motivated by the inability of previous rotational contour modeling work to account for the narrow and broad red tails. We show that the full profiles, for all the observations, can consistently be modeled as a superposition of two overlapping DIBs, with peaks at 6613.6 and 6614.2 Å. Each DIB is plausibly fit using a prolate, parallel band, symmetric top spectral contour model. For λ6613.6, there are small differences in the rotational constants, less than 1%, between the upper and lower transition states; whereas, for λ6614.2, the differences are much larger, ∼ −5%. These results are consistent with λ6614.2 being the source of the narrow and broad red tails. The fit residuals are shown to be consistent with contributions from overlapping spectra, attributed to closely spaced vibrational sequences, originating from low frequency vibrations. We suggest that such sequences may be the source of the anomalous broadening needed to obtain good spectral fits to narrow DIB profiles. We discuss how λ6614.2 and the other Herschel 36 extended red tail DIBs help bridge the association gap between the narrow, absorption DIBs and the even broader and more redshifted emission features observed for the Red Rectangle. Finally, the broader implications of this study, in the context of identifying DIB molecular carriers, are discussed.

The Type IIn supernova SN 2010jl was relatively nearby and luminous, allowing detailed studies of the near-infrared (NIR) emission. We present 1–2.4 μm spectroscopy over the age range of 36–565 days from the earliest detection of the supernova. On day 36, the H lines show an unresolved narrow emission component along with a symmetric broad component that can be modeled as the result of electron scattering by a thermal distribution of electrons. Over the next hundreds of days, the broad components of the H lines shift to the blue by 700 km s⁻¹, as is also observed in optical lines. The narrow lines do not show a shift, indicating they originate in a different region. He i λ10830 and λ20587 lines both show an asymmetric broad emission component, with a shoulder on the blue side that varies in prominence and velocity from −5500 km s⁻¹ on day 108 to −4000 km s⁻¹ on day 219. This component may be associated with the higher velocity flow indicated by X-ray observations of the supernova. The absence of the feature in the H lines suggests that this is from a He-rich ejecta flow. The He i λ10830 feature has a narrow P Cygni line, with absorption extending to ∼100 km s⁻¹ and strengthening over the first 200 days, and an emission component which weakens with time. At day 403, the continuum emission becomes dominated by a blackbody spectrum with a temperature of ∼1900 K, suggestive of dust emission.

We investigate and quantify the observed scatter in the empirical relationship between the broad line region size R and the luminosity of the active galactic nucleus, in order to better understand its origin. This study is motivated by the indispensable role of this relationship in the mass estimation of cosmologically distant black holes, but may also be relevant to the recently proposed application of this relationship for measuring cosmic distances. We study six nearby reverberation-mapped active galactic nuclei (AGNs) for which simultaneous UV and optical monitoring data exist. We also examine the long-term optical luminosity variations of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548 and employ Monte Carlo simulations to study the effects of the intrinsic variability of individual objects on the scatter in the global relationship for a sample of ∼40 AGNs. We find the scatter in this relationship has a correctable dependence on color. For individual AGNs, the size of the Hβ emitting region has a steeper dependence on the nuclear optical luminosity than on the UV luminosity, which can introduce a scatter of ∼0.08 dex into the global relationship, due the nonlinear relationship between the variations in the ionizing continuum and those in the optical continuum. Also, our analysis highlights the importance of understanding and minimizing the scatter in the relationship traced by the intrinsic variability of individual AGNs since it propagates directly into the global relationship. We find that using the UV luminosity as a substitute for the ionizing luminosity can reduce a sizable fraction of the current observed scatter of ∼0.13 dex.

We examine the consistency of the 9 yr WMAP data and the first-release Planck data. We specifically compare sky maps, power spectra, and the inferred Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmological parameters. Residual dipoles are seen in the WMAP and Planck sky map differences, but their amplitudes are consistent within the quoted uncertainties, and they are not large enough to explain the widely noted differences in angular power spectra at higher l. We remove the residual dipoles and use templates to remove residual Galactic foregrounds; after doing so, the residual difference maps exhibit a quadrupole and other large-scale systematic structure. We identify this structure as possibly originating from Planck's beam sidelobe pick-up, but note that it appears to have insignificant cosmological impact. We develop an extension of the internal linear combination technique to find the minimum-variance difference between the WMAP and Planck sky maps; again we find features that plausibly originate in the Planck data. Lacking access to the Planck time-ordered data we cannot further assess these features. We examine ΛCDM model fits to the angular power spectra and conclude that the ∼2.5% difference in the spectra at multipoles greater than $l\sim 100$ is significant at the 3–5σ level, depending on how beam uncertainties are handled in the data. We revisit the analysis of WMAP's beam data to address the power spectrum differences and conclude that previously derived uncertainties are robust and cannot explain the power spectrum differences. In fact, any remaining WMAP errors are most likely to exacerbate the difference. Finally, we examine the consistency of the ΛCDM parameters inferred from each data set taking into account the fact that both experiments observe the same sky, but cover different multipole ranges, apply different sky masks, and have different noise. We find that, while individual parameter values agree within the uncertainties, the six parameters taken together are discrepant at the ∼6σ level, with ${{\chi }^{2}}=56$ for 6 degrees of freedom (probability to exceed, PTE = $3\times {{10}^{-10}})$. The nature of this discrepancy is explored: of the six parameters, ${{\chi }^{2}}$ is best improved by marginalizing over ${{{\Omega}}_{c}}{{h}^{2}}$, giving ${{\chi }^{2}}=5.2$ for 5 degrees of freedom. As an exercise, we find that perturbing the WMAP window function by its dominant beam error profile has little effect on ${{{\Omega}}_{c}}{{h}^{2}}$, while perturbing the Planck window function by its corresponding error profile has a much greater effect on ${{{\Omega}}_{c}}{{h}^{2}}$.

Tracking the spectral evolution of transiently accreting neutron stars between outburst and quiescence probes relatively poorly understood accretion regimes. Such studies are challenging because they require frequent monitoring of sources with luminosities below the thresholds of current all-sky X-ray monitors. We present the analysis of over 30 observations of the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary SAX J1750.8-2900 taken across four years with the X-ray telescope aboard Swift. We find spectral softening with decreasing luminosity both on long (∼1 yr) and short (∼days to week) timescales. As the luminosity decreases from 4 × 10³⁶ erg s⁻¹ to $\sim 1\times {{10}^{35}}$ erg s⁻¹ (0.5–10 keV), the power law photon index increases from 1.4 to 2.9. Although not statistically required, our spectral fits allow an additional soft component that displays a decreasing temperature as the luminosity decreases from 4 × 10³⁶ to 6 × 10³⁴ erg s⁻¹. Spectral softening exhibited by SAX J1750.8-2900 is consistent both with accretion emission whose spectral shape steepens with decreasing luminosity and also with being dominated by a changing soft component, possibly associated with accretion onto the neutron star surface, as the luminosity declines.

We have constructed two types of analytical models for an isothermal filamentary cloud supported mainly by magnetic tension. The first one describes an isolated cloud while the second considers filamentary clouds spaced periodically. Both models assume that the filamentary clouds are highly flattened. The former is proved to be the asymptotic limit of the latter in which each filamentary cloud is much thinner than the distance to the neighboring filaments. We show that these models reproduce the main features of the 2D equilibrium model of Tomisaka for a filamentary cloud threaded by a perpendicular magnetic field. It is also shown that the critical mass to flux ratio is $M/{\Phi}={{(2\pi \sqrt{G})}^{-1}}$, where M, Φ and G denote the cloud mass, the total magnetic flux of the cloud, and the gravitational constant, respectively. This upper bound coincides with that for an axisymmetric cloud supported by poloidal magnetic fields. We apply the variational principle for studying the Jeans instability of the first model. Our model cloud is unstable against fragmentation as well as the filamentary clouds threaded by a longitudinal magnetic field. The fastest growing mode has a wavelength several times longer than the cloud diameter. The second model describes quasi-static evolution of a filamentary molecular cloud by ambipolar diffusion.

We utilize the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble observations of 25 clusters to search for extreme emission-line galaxies (EELGs). The selections are carried out in two central bands: F105W (Y₁₀₅) and F125W (J₁₂₅), as the flux of the central bands could be enhanced by the presence of [O iii] λλ4959, 5007 at redshifts of ∼0.93–1.14 and 1.57–1.79, respectively. The multiband observations help to constrain the equivalent widths (EWs) of emission lines. Thanks to cluster lensing, we are able to identify 52 candidates down to an intrinsic limiting magnitude of 28.5 and to a rest-frame [O iii] λλ4959, 5007 EW of ≃ 3700 Å. Our samples include a number of EELGs at lower luminosities that are missed in other surveys, and the extremely high EW can only be found in such faint galaxies. These EELGs can mimic a dropout feature similar to that of high-redshift galaxies and contaminate the color–color selection of high-redshift galaxies when the signal-to-noise ratio is limited or the band coverage is incomplete.

We study the dissipation process of magnetic fields in the metallicity range 0–1 Z_☉ for contracting prestellar cloud cores. By solving non-equilibrium chemistry for important charged species, including charged grains, we evaluate the drift velocity of the magnetic-field lines with respect to the gas. We find that the magnetic flux dissipates in the density range 10¹² cm⁻³ ≲ n_H ≲ 10¹⁷ cm⁻³ for the solar-metallicity case at the scale of the core, which is assumed to be the Jeans scale. The dissipation density range becomes narrower for lower metallicity. The magnetic field is always frozen to the gas below metallicity ≲ 10⁻⁷–10⁻⁶ Z_☉, depending on the ionization rate by cosmic rays and/or radioactivity. With the same metallicity, the dissipation density range becomes wider for lower ionization rates. The presence of such a dissipative regime is expected to cause various dynamical phenomena in protostellar evolution such as the suppression of jet/outflow launching and the fragmentation of circumstellar disks depending on the metallicity.

We simulate deep images from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) using semi-empirical models of galaxy formation with only a few basic assumptions and parameters. We project our simulations all the way to the observational domain, adding cosmological and instrumental effects to the images, and analyze them in the same way as real HST images ("forward modeling"). This is a powerful tool for testing and comparing galaxy evolution models, since it allows us to make unbiased comparisons between the predicted and observed distributions of galaxy properties, while automatically taking into account all relevant selection effects. Our semi-empirical models populate each dark matter halo with a galaxy of determined stellar mass and scale radius. We compute the luminosity and spectrum of each simulated galaxy from its evolving stellar mass using stellar population synthesis models. We calculate the intrinsic scatter in the stellar mass–halo mass relation that naturally results from enforcing a monotonically increasing stellar mass along the merger history of each halo. The simulated galaxy images are drawn from cutouts of real galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, with sizes and fluxes rescaled to match those of the model galaxies. The distributions of galaxy luminosities, sizes, and surface brightnesses depend on the adjustable parameters in the models, and they agree well with observations for reasonable values of those parameters. Measured galaxy magnitudes and sizes have significant magnitude-dependent biases, with both being underestimated near the magnitude detection limit. The fraction of galaxies detected and fraction of light detected also depend sensitively on the details of the model.

We study the efficiency of forming large bodies, starting from a sea of equal-sized planetesimals. This is likely one of the earlier steps of planet formation and relevant for the formation of the asteroid belt, the Kuiper Belt, and extrasolar debris disks. Here we consider the case that the seed planetesimals do not collide frequently enough for collisions to be dynamically important (the collisionless limit), using a newly constructed conglomeration code, and by carefully comparing numerical results with analytical scalings. In the absence of collisional cooling, as large bodies grow by accreting small bodies, the velocity dispersion of the small bodies (u) is increasingly excited. Growth passes from the well-known runaway stage (when u is higher than the big bodies' hill velocity) to the newly discovered trans-hill stage (when u and big bodies both grow, but u remains at the big bodies' hill velocity). We find, concurring with the analytical understandings developed by Lithwick, as well as previous numerical studies, that a size spectrum $dn/dR\propto {{R}^{-4}}$ results, and that the formation efficiency, defined as the mass fraction in bodies much larger than the initial size, is $\sim \;{\rm a}\;{\rm few}\times {{R}_{\odot }}/a$, or $\sim {{10}^{-3}}$ at the distance of the Kuiper Belt. We argue that this extreme inefficiency invalidates the conventional conglomeration model for the formation of both our Kuiper Belt and extrasolar debris disks. New theories, possibly involving direct gravitational collapse, or strong collisional cooling of small planetesimals, are required.

This paper presents a synthetic tomography of the quiet solar chromosphere formed by spatial maps of scattering polarization. It has been calculated for the Ca ii 8498, 8542, and 3934 Å lines by solving the non-LTE radiative transfer problem of the second kind in a three-dimensional atmosphere model obtained from realistic magneto-hydrodynamical simulations. Our investigation focuses on the linear polarization signals induced by kinematics, radiation field anisotropy, and the Hanle effect in forward-scattering geometry. Thus, instead of considering slit profiles at the limb as normally done in the study of the second solar spectrum, we synthesize and analyze spatial maps of polarization at the disk center. This allows us to understand the spatial signatures of dynamics and magnetic field in the linear polarization in order to discriminate them observationally. Our results suggest some ideas for chromospheric diagnosis that will be developed throughout a series of papers. In particular, Hanle polarity inversion lines and dynamic Hanle diagrams are two concepts introduced in the present work. We find that chromospheric dynamics and magnetic field topology create spatial polarization fingerprints that trace the dynamic situation of the plasma and the magnetic field. This allows us to reconstruct the magnetic field intensity in the middle chromosphere using Stokes V along grooves of null linear polarization. We finally address the problems of diagnosing Hanle saturation and kinematic amplification of scattering signals using Hanle diagrams.

We present a 70 ks Chandra observation of the radio galaxy 3C 293. This galaxy belongs to the class of molecular hydrogen emission galaxies (MOHEGs) that have very luminous emission from warm molecular hydrogen. In radio galaxies, the molecular gas appears to be heated by jet-driven shocks, but exactly how this mechanism works is still poorly understood. With Chandra, we observe X-ray emission from the jets within the host galaxy and along the 100 kpc radio jets. We model the X-ray spectra of the nucleus, the inner jets, and the X-ray features along the extended radio jets. Both the nucleus and the inner jets show evidence of 10⁷ K shock-heated gas. The kinetic power of the jets is more than sufficient to heat the X-ray emitting gas within the host galaxy. The thermal X-ray and warm H₂ luminosities of 3C 293 are similar, indicating similar masses of X-ray hot gas and warm molecular gas. This is consistent with a picture where both derive from a multiphase, shocked interstellar medium (ISM). We find that radio-loud MOHEGs that are not brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs), like 3C 293, typically have $L_{{\rm H}_{2}}/L_{X}\sim 1$ and $M_{{\rm H}_{2}}/M_{X}\sim 1$, whereas MOHEGs that are BCGs have $L_{{\rm H}_{2}}/L_{X}\sim 0.01$ and $M_{{\rm H}_{2}}/M_{X}\sim 0.01$. The more massive, virialized, hot atmosphere in BCGs overwhelms any direct X-ray emission from current jet–ISM interaction. On the other hand, $L_{{\rm H}_{2}}/L_{X}\sim 1$ in the Spiderweb BCG at z = 2, which resides in an unvirialized protocluster and hosts a powerful radio source. Over time, jet–ISM interaction may contribute to the establishment of a hot atmosphere in BCGs and other massive elliptical galaxies.

We confirm and characterize the exoplanetary systems Kepler-445 and Kepler-446: two mid-M dwarf stars, each with multiple, small, short-period transiting planets. Kepler-445 is a metal-rich ([Fe/H] = +0.25 ± 0.10) M4 dwarf with three transiting planets, and Kepler-446 is a metal-poor ([Fe/H] = −0.30 ± 0.10) M4 dwarf also with three transiting planets. Kepler-445c is similar to GJ 1214b: both in planetary radius and the properties of the host star. The Kepler-446 system is similar to the Kepler-42 system: both are metal-poor with large galactic space velocities and three short-period, likely rocky transiting planets that were initially assigned erroneously large planet-to-star radius ratios. We independently determined stellar parameters from spectroscopy and searched for and fitted the transit light curves for the planets, imposing a strict prior on stellar density in order to remove correlations between the fitted impact parameter and planet-to-star radius ratio for short-duration transits. Combining Kepler-445, Kepler-446, and Kepler-42, and isolating all mid-M dwarf stars observed by Kepler with the precision necessary to detect similar systems, we calculate that 21$^{+7}_{-5}$% of mid-M dwarf stars host compact multiples (multiple planets with periods of less than 10 days) for a wide range of metallicities. We suggest that the inferred planet masses for these systems support highly efficient accretion of protoplanetary disk metals by mid-M dwarf protoplanets.

We formulate within a generalized distributional approach the treatment of the stability against radial perturbations for both neutral and charged stratified stars in Newtonian and Einstein's gravity. We obtain from this approach the boundary conditions connecting any two phases within a star and underline its relevance for realistic models of compact stars with phase transitions, owing to the modification of the star's set of eigenmodes with respect to the continuous case.

We present a proof-of-concept analysis of photometric redshifts with Bayesian priors on physical properties of galaxies. This concept is particularly suited for upcoming/on-going large imaging surveys, in which only several broadband filters are available and it is hard to break some of the degeneracies in the multi-color space. We construct model templates of galaxies using a stellar population synthesis code and apply Bayesian priors on physical properties such as stellar mass and star formation rate. These priors are a function of redshift and they effectively evolve the templates with time in an observationally motivated way. We demonstrate that the priors help reduce the degeneracy and deliver significantly improved photometric redshifts. Furthermore, we show that a template error function, which corrects for systematic flux errors in the model templates as a function of rest-frame wavelength, delivers further improvements. One great advantage of our technique is that we simultaneously measure redshifts and physical properties of galaxies in a fully self-consistent manner, unlike the two-step measurements with different templates often performed in the literature. One may rightly worry that the physical priors bias the inferred galaxy properties, but we show that the bias is smaller than systematic uncertainties inherent in physical properties inferred from the spectral energy distribution fitting and hence is not a major issue. We will extensively test and tune the priors in the on-going Hyper Suprime-Cam survey and will make the code publicly available in the future.

The polarization of an X-ray beam that produces electrons with velocity components perpendicular to the beam generates an azimuthal distribution of the ejected electrons. We present methods for simulating and for analyzing the angular dependence of electron detections which enable us to derive simple analytical expressions for useful statistical properties of observable data. The derivations are verified by simulations. While we confirm the results of previous work on this topic, we provide an extension needed for analytical treatment of the full range of possible polarization amplitudes.

Using an MHD generalization of a two-layer hydrostatic but non-geostrophic model, we show that a toroidal field tends to stabilize baroclinically unstable modes in the solar tachocline. In the hydrodynamic (HD) case, baroclinic instability occurs at almost all latitudes in both the radiative and overshoot tachoclines. The toroidal field creates stable bands of latitude near where the vertical rotation gradient changes sign, as well as near the equator and pole, which widen with increasing field until, by ∼2.25 kG, all latitudes are stable. The stable bands center on where the local latitudinal entropy gradient is smallest. This result is independent of how subadiabatic the local stratification is, provided it is not so subadiabatic that baroclinic instability is absent in the HD case. Growth rates and most unstable longitudinal wavenumbers remain close to their HD values until the toroidal field gets within $\sim 20\%$ of the value that totally suppresses the instability. The results are similar to those found in the 1960s from an MHD geostrophic model, but apply to a much wider range of latitudes and subadiabatic stratifications. Where tachocline toroidal fields are weak enough to allow baroclinic instability, magnetic patterns in longitude should be produced that could be transmitted through the convection zone to be seen in the photosphere. The results also show it should be possible to construct a baroclinic wave dynamo for the solar tachocline.

This work investigates the effect of transverse density structuring in coronal slab-like waveguides on the properties of fast waves. We generalized previous results obtained for the exponential and Epstein profiles to the case of an arbitrary transverse density distribution. The criteria are given to determine the possible (trapped or leaky) wave regime, depending on the type of density profile function. In particular, there are plasma slabs with transverse density structuring that support pure trapped fast waves for all wavelengths. Their phase speed is nearly equal to the external Alfvén speed for the typical parameters of coronal loops. Our findings are obtained on the basis of Kneser's oscillation theorem. To confirm the results, we analytically solved the wave equation evaluated at the cutoff point and the original wave equation for particular cases of transverse density distribution. We also used the WKB method and obtained approximate solutions of the wave equation at the cutoff point for an arbitrary transverse density profile. The analytic results were supplemented by numerical solutions of the obtained dispersion relations. The observed high-quality quasi-periodic pulsations of flaring loops are interpreted in terms of the trapped fundamental fast-sausage mode in a slab-like coronal waveguide.

We apply a bidirectional model with both outward-directed photons and inward-directed photons to understand the complex radio polarization data of J1057-5226 (B1055-52). J1057-5226 radio polarization data matches well to this model when one of the components of the polarization sweep is associated with inward-directed photon emission. Additionally, we discuss previous studies of J1057-5226 in relation to our current study and past applications of models with inward-directed photons. We apply γ-ray models restricted by best fit parameters from the radio modeling. Although possible solutions exist, results do suggest we have not fully identified the location of the emission within the magnetosphere with the simplest γ-ray modeling assumptions.

We use ALMA observations to derive mass, length, and time scales associated with NGC 253's nuclear starburst. This region forms ∼2 M_☉ yr⁻¹ of stars and resembles other starbursts in ratios of gas, dense gas, and star formation tracers, with star formation consuming the gas reservoir at a normalized rate 10 times higher than in normal galaxy disks. We present new ∼35 pc resolution observations of bulk gas tracers (CO), high critical density transitions (HCN, HCO⁺, and CS), and their isotopologues. The starburst is fueled by a highly inclined distribution of dense gas with vertical extent <100 pc and radius ∼250 pc. Within this region, we identify 10 starburst giant molecular clouds (GMCs) that appear as both peaks in the dense gas tracer cubes and the HCN-to-CO ratio map. These are massive (∼10⁷ M_☉) structures with sizes (∼30 pc) similar to GMCs in other systems, but compared to GMCs in normal galaxy disks, they have high line widths (σ ∼ 20–40 km s⁻¹, Mach number $\mathcal {M} \sim 90$) and high surface and volume densities (Σ_mol ∼ 6000 M_☉ pc⁻², n_H2 ∼ 2000 cm⁻³). The self gravity from such high densities can explain the high line widths and the short free fall time τ_ff ∼ 0.7 Myr in the clouds helps explain the more efficient star formation in NGC 253. Though the high inclination obscures the geometry somewhat, we show that simple models suggest a compact, clumpy region of high gas density embedded in a more extended, non-axisymmetric, bar-like distribution. Over the starburst, the surface density still exceeds that of a typical disk galaxy GMC and, as in the clouds, timescales in the disk as a whole are short compared to those in normal galaxy disks. The orbital time (∼10 Myr), disk free fall time (≲ 3 Myr), and disk crossing time (≲ 3 Myr) are each an order of magnitude shorter than in a normal galaxy disk. Finally, the CO-to-H₂ conversion factor implied by our cloud calculations is approximately Galactic, contrasting with results showing a low value for the whole starburst region. The contrast provides resolved support for the idea of mixed molecular ISM phases in starburst galaxies.

The FIRST survey, begun over 20 years ago, provides the definitive high-resolution map of the radio sky. This Very Large Telescope (VLA) survey reaches a detection sensitivity of 1 mJy at 20 cm over a final footprint of 10,575 deg² that is largely coincident with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) area. Both the images and a catalog containing 946,432 sources are available through the FIRST  Web site (http://sundog.stsci.edu). We record here the authoritative survey history, including hardware and software changes that affect the catalog's reliability and completeness. In particular, we use recent observations taken with the JVLA to test various aspects of the survey data (astrometry, CLEAN bias, and the flux density scale). We describe a new, sophisticated algorithm for flagging potential sidelobes in this snapshot survey, and show that fewer than 10% of the cataloged objects are likely sidelobes, and that these are heavily concentrated at low flux densities and in the vicinity of bright sources, as expected. We also report a comparison of the survey with the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS), as well as a match of the FIRST catalog to the SDSS and Two Micron Sky Survey (2MASS) sky surveys. The NVSS match shows very good consistency in flux density scale and astrometry between the two surveys. The matches with 2MASS and SDSS indicate a systematic ∼10–20 mas astrometric error with respect to the optical reference frame in all VLA data that has disappeared with the advent of the JVLA. We demonstrate strikingly different behavior between the radio matches to stellar objects and to galaxies in the optical and IR surveys reflecting the different radio populations present over the flux density range 1–1000 mJy. As the radio flux density declines, stellar counterparts (quasars) get redder and fainter, while galaxies get brighter and have colors that initially redden but then turn bluer near the FIRST detection limit. Implications for future radio sky surveys are also briefly discussed. In particular, we show that for radio source identification at faint optical magnitudes, high angular resolution observations are essential, and cannot be sacrificed in exchange for high signal-to-noise data. The value of a JVLA survey as a complement to Square Kilometer Array precursor surveys is briefly discussed.

An enhancement in high-frequency acoustic power is commonly observed in the solar photosphere and chromosphere surrounding magnetic active regions. We perform three-dimensional linear forward wave modeling with a simple wavelet pulse acoustic source to ascertain whether the formation of the acoustic halo is caused by MHD mode conversion through regions of moderate and inclined magnetic fields. This conversion type is most efficient when high frequency waves from below intersect magnetic field lines at a large angle. We find a strong relationship between halo formation and the equipartition surface at which the Alfvén speed a matches the sound speed c, lending support to the theory that photospheric and chromospheric halo enhancement is due to the creation and subsequent reflection of magnetically dominated fast waves from essentially acoustic waves as they cross a = c. In simulations where we have capped a such that waves are not permitted to refract after reaching the a = c height, halos are non-existent, which suggests that the power enhancement is wholly dependent on returning fast waves. We also reproduce some of the observed halo properties, such as a dual 6 and 8 mHz enhancement structure and a spatial spreading of the halo with height.

Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) measurements from 2009–2010 identified a set of possible solutions with very tight coupling between the interstellar He inflow longitude, latitude, speed, and temperature. The center of this allowable parameter space suggested that the heliosphere could be moving more slowly and in a slightly different direction with respect to the interstellar medium than indicated by earlier Ulysses observations. In this study we examine data from 2012–2014 and compare results from an analytic analysis and a detailed computer model. For observations where the IBEX spacecraft pointing is near the ecliptic plane, the latest measurements indicate a different portion of IBEX's four-dimensional tube of possible parameters—one that is more consistent with the Ulysses flow direction and speed, but with a much higher temperature. Together, the current combined IBEX/Ulysses values we obtain are V_ISM∞ ∼ 26 km s⁻¹, λ_ISM∞ ∼ 75°, β_ISM∞ ∼ −5°, and T_He∞ ∼ 7000–9500 K. These indicate that the heliosphere is in a substantially warmer region of the interstellar medium than thought from the earlier Ulysses observations alone, and that this warmer region may be roughly isothermal. However, measurements taken when IBEX was pointing ∼5° south of the ecliptic are inconsistent with this solution and suggest a slower speed, lower temperature, and flow direction similar to IBEX's prior central values. IBEX measures much deeper into the tails of the distributions of the inflowing interstellar material than Ulysses did and these observations indicate that the heliosphere's interstellar interaction is likely far more complex and interesting than previously appreciated.

The multitude of recent multi-point spacecraft observations of solar energetic particle (SEP) events has made it possible to study the longitudinal distribution of SEPs in great detail. SEPs, even those accelerated during impulsive events, show a much wider than expected longitudinal extent, bringing into question the processes responsible for their transport perpendicular to the local magnetic field. In this paper, we examine some aspects of perpendicular transport by including perpendicular diffusion in a numerical SEP transport model that simulates the propagation of impulsively accelerated SEP electrons in the ecliptic plane. We find that (1) the pitch-angle dependence of the perpendicular diffusion coefficient is an important, and currently mainly overlooked, transport parameter. (2) SEP intensities are generally asymmetric in longitude, being enhanced toward the west of the optimal magnetic connection to the acceleration region. (3) The maximum SEP intensity may also be shifted (parameter dependently) away from the longitude of best magnetic connectivity at 1 AU. We also calculate the maximum intensity, the time of maximum intensity, the onset time, and the maximum anisotropy as a function of longitude at Earth's orbit and compare the results, in a qualitative fashion, to recent spacecraft observations.

In the declining phase of the solar cycle (SC), when the new-polarity fields of the solar poles are strengthened by the transport of same-signed magnetic flux from lower latitudes, the polar coronal holes expand and form non-axisymmetric extensions toward the solar equator. These extensions enhance the occurrence of high-speed solar wind (SW) streams (HSS) and related co-rotating interaction regions in the low-latitude heliosphere, and cause moderate, recurrent geomagnetic activity (GA) in the near-Earth space. Here, using a novel definition of GA at high (polar cap) latitudes and the longest record of magnetic observations at a polar cap station, we calculate the annually averaged SW speeds as proxies for the effective annual occurrence of HSS over the whole Grand Modern Maximum (GMM) from 1920s onward. We find that a period of high annual speeds (frequent occurrence of HSS) occurs in the declining phase of each of SCs 16–23. For most cycles the HSS activity clearly reaches a maximum in one year, suggesting that typically only one strong activation leading to a coronal hole extension is responsible for the HSS maximum. We find that the most persistent HSS activity occurred in the declining phase of SC 18. This suggests that cycle 19, which marks the sunspot maximum period of the GMM, was preceded by exceptionally strong polar fields during the previous sunspot minimum. This gives interesting support for the validity of solar dynamo theory during this dramatic period of solar magnetism.

In this paper we investigate the origin of the mid-infrared (IR) hydrogen recombination lines for a sample of 114 disks in different evolutionary stages (full, transitional, and debris disks) collected from the Spitzer archive. We focus on the two brighter H i lines observed in the Spitzer spectra, the H i (7–6) at 12.37 μm and the H i (9–7) at 11.32 μm. We detect the H i (7–6) line in 46 objects, and the H i (9–7) in 11. We compare these lines with the other most common gas line detected in Spitzer spectra, the [Ne ii] at 12.81 μm. We argue that it is unlikely that the H i emission originates from the photoevaporating upper surface layers of the disk, as has been found for the [Ne ii] lines toward low-accreting stars. Using the H i (9–7)/H i (7–6) line ratios we find these gas lines are likely probing gas with hydrogen column densities of 10¹⁰–10¹¹ cm⁻³. The subsample of objects surrounded by full and transitional disks show a positive correlation between the accretion luminosity and the H i line luminosity. These two results suggest that the observed mid-IR H i lines trace gas accreting onto the star in the same way as other hydrogen recombination lines at shorter wavelengths. A pure chromospheric origin of these lines can be excluded for the vast majority of full and transitional disks. We report for the first time the detection of the H i (7–6) line in eight young (<20 Myr) debris disks. A pure chromospheric origin cannot be ruled out in these objects. If the H i (7–6) line traces accretion in these older systems, as in the case of full and transitional disks, the strength of the emission implies accretion rates lower than 10⁻¹⁰ M_☉ yr⁻¹. We discuss some advantages of extending accretion indicators to longer wavelengths, and the next steps required pinning down the origin of mid-IR hydrogen lines.

We analyze binary population models of double-neutron stars and compare results to the accurately measured orbital periods and eccentricities of the eight known such systems in our Galaxy. In contrast to past similar studies, we especially focus on the dominant evolutionary channels (we identify three); for the first time, we use a detailed understanding of the evolutionary history of three double neutron stars as actual constraints on the population models. We find that the evolutionary constraints derived from the double pulsar are particularly tight, and less than half of the examined models survive the full set of constraints. The top-likelihood surviving models yield constraints on the key binary evolution parameters, but most interestingly reveal (1) the need for electron-capture supernovae from relatively low-mass degenerate, progenitor cores, and (2) the most likely evolutionary paths for the rest of the known double neutron stars. In particular, we find that J1913+16 likely went through a phase of Case BB mass transfer, and J1906+0746 and J1756−2251 are consistent with having been formed in electron-capture supernovae.

Stellar feedback, star formation, and gravitational interactions are major controlling forces in the evolution of giant molecular clouds (GMCs). To explore their relative roles, we examine the properties and evolution of GMCs forming in an isolated galactic disk simulation that includes both localized thermal feedback and photoelectric heating. The results are compared with the three previous simulations in this series, which consists of a model with no star formation, star formation but no form of feedback, and star formation with photoelectric heating in a set with steadily increasing physical effects. We find that the addition of localized thermal feedback greatly suppresses star formation but does not destroy the surrounding GMC, giving cloud properties closely resembling the run in which no stellar physics is included. The outflows from the feedback reduce the mass of the cloud but do not destroy it, allowing the cloud to survive its stellar children. This suggests that weak thermal feedback such as the lower bound expected for a supernova may play a relatively minor role in the galactic structure of quiescent Milky-Way-type galaxies, compared to gravitational interactions and disk shear.

The role of aliphatic side groups in the formation of astronomical unidentified infrared emission (UIE) features is investigated by applying the density functional theory to a series of molecules with mixed aliphatic-aromatic structures. The effects of introducing various aliphatic groups to a fixed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) core (ovalene) are studied. Simulated spectra for each molecule are produced by applying a Drude profile at T = 500 K while the molecule is kept at its electronic ground state. The vibrational normal modes are classified using a semi-quantitative method. This allows us to separate the aromatic and aliphatic vibrations, and therefore provides clues to what types of vibrations are responsible for the emissions bands at different wavelengths. We find that many of the UIE bands are not pure aromatic vibrational bands but may represent coupled vibrational modes. The effects of aliphatic groups on the formation of the 8 μm plateau are quantitatively determined. The vibrational motions of methyl (−CH₃) and methylene (−CH₂ −) groups can cause the merging of the vibrational bands of the parent PAH and the forming of broad features. These results suggest that aliphatic structures can play an important role in the UIE phenomenon.

We present results from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey on rest-frame optical active galactic nucleus (AGN) identification and completeness at z  ∼  2.3. With our sample of 50 galaxies and 10 X-ray and IR-selected AGNs with measured Hβ, [O iii], Hα, and N ii emission lines, we investigate the location of AGNs in the BPT, MEx (mass-excitation), and CEx (color-excitation) diagrams. We find that th BPT diagram works well to identify AGNs at z  ∼  2.3 and that the z  ∼  0 AGN/star-forming galaxy classifications do not need to shift substantially at z  ∼  2.3 to robustly separate these populations. However, the MEx diagram fails to identify all of the AGN identified in the BPT diagram, and the CEx diagram is substantially contaminated at high redshift. We further show that AGN samples selected using the BPT diagram have selection biases in terms of both host stellar mass and stellar population, in that AGNs in low mass and/or high specific star formation rate galaxies are difficult to identify using the BPT diagram. These selection biases become increasingly severe at high redshift, such that optically selected AGN samples at high redshift will necessarily be incomplete. We also find that the gas in the narrow-line region appears to be more enriched than gas in the host galaxy for at least some MOSDEF AGNs. However, AGNs at z  ∼  2 are generally less enriched than local AGNs with the same host stellar mass.

Solar Active Region NOAA 11158 has hosted a number of strong flares, including one X2.2 event. The complexity of current density and current helicity are studied through cancellation analysis of their sign-singular measure, which features power-law scaling. Spectral analysis is also performed, revealing the presence of two separate scaling ranges with different spectral index. The time evolution of parameters is discussed. Sudden changes of the cancellation exponents at the time of large flares and the presence of correlation with Extreme-Ultra-Violet and X-ray flux suggest that eruption of large flares can be linked to the small-scale properties of the current structures.

An X5.4 class flare occurred in active region NOAA11429 on 2012 March 7. The flare was associated with a very fast coronal mass ejection (CME) with a velocity of over 2500 km s⁻¹. In the images taken with the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory-B/COR1, a dome-like disturbance was seen to detach from an expanding CME bubble and propagated further. A Type-II radio burst was also observed at the same time. On the other hand, in extreme ultraviolet images obtained by the Solar Dynamic Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), the expanding dome-like structure and its footprint propagating to the north were observed. The footprint propagated with an average speed of about 670 km s⁻¹ and hit a prominence located at the north pole and activated it. During the activation, the prominence was strongly brightened. On the basis of some observational evidence, we concluded that the footprint in AIA images and the ones in COR1 images are the same, that is, the MHD fast mode shock front. With the help of a linear theory, the fast mode Mach number of the coronal shock is estimated to be between 1.11 and 1.29 using the initial velocity of the activated prominence. Also, the plasma compression ratio of the shock is enhanced to be between 1.18 and 2.11 in the prominence material, which we consider to be the reason for the strong brightening of the activated prominence. The applicability of linear theory to the shock problem is tested with a nonlinear MHD simulation.

Narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) are arguably one of the key active galactic nucleus (AGN) subclasses in investigating the origin of the black hole mass–stellar velocity dispersion (${{M}_{{\rm BH}}}-{{\sigma }_{*}}$) relation because of their high accretion rate and significantly low ${{M}_{{\rm BH}}}$ . Currently, it is under discussion whether present-day NLS1s offset from the ${{M}_{{\rm BH}}}-{{\sigma }_{*}}$ relation. Using the directly measured stellar velocity dispersion of 93 NLS1s at z < 0.1, and ${{M}_{{\rm BH}}}$ estimates based on the updated mass estimators, we investigate the ${{M}_{{\rm BH}}}-{{\sigma }_{*}}$ relation of NLS1s in comparison with broad-line AGNs. We find no strong evidence that the NLS1s deviates from the ${{M}_{{\rm BH}}}-{{\sigma }_{*}}$ relation, which is defined by reverberation-mapped type 1 AGNs and quiescent galaxies. However, there is a clear trend of the offset with the host galaxy morphology, i.e., galaxies that are more inclined toward the LOS have higher stellar velocity dispersions, suggesting that the rotational broadening plays a role in measuring stellar velocity dispersion based on the single-aperture spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. In addition, we provide the virial factor ${\rm log} f=0.05\pm 0.12$ (f = 1.12), for ${{M}_{{\rm BH}}}$ estimators based on the FWHM of Hβ, by jointly fitting the ${{M}_{{\rm BH}}}-{{\sigma }_{*}}$ relation using quiescent galaxies and reverberation-mapped AGNs.

The mass of a coronal mass ejection (CME) is calculated from the measured brightness and assumed geometry of Thomson scattering. The simplest geometry for mass calculations is to assume that all of the electrons are in the plane of the sky (POS). With additional information like source region or multiviewpoint observations, the mass can be calculated more precisely under the assumption that the entire CME is in a plane defined by its trajectory. Polarization measurements provide information on the average angle of the CME electrons along the line of sight of each CCD pixel from the POS, and this can further improve the mass calculations as discussed here. A CME event initiating on 2012 July 23 at 2:20 UT observed by the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory is employed to validate our method.

In this paper we present a series of models for the deep-water cycle on super-Earths experiencing plate tectonics. The deep-water cycle can be modeled through parameterized convection models coupled with a volatile recycling model. The convection of the silicate mantle is linked to the volatile cycle through the water-dependent viscosity. Important differences in surface water content are found for different parameterizations of convection. Surface oceans are smaller and more persistent for single layer convection, rather than convection by boundary layer instability. Smaller planets have initially larger oceans but also return that water to the mantle more rapidly than larger planets. Super-Earths may therefore be less habitable in their early years than smaller planets, but their habitability (assuming stable surface conditions) will persist much longer.

The Kepler mission, combined with ground-based radial velocity (RV) follow-up and dynamical analyses of transit timing variations, has revolutionized the observational constraints on sub-Neptune-sized planet compositions. The results of an extensive Kepler follow-up program including multiple Doppler measurements for 22 planet-hosting stars more than doubles the population of sub-Neptune-sized transiting planets that have RV mass constraints. This unprecedentedly large and homogeneous sample of planets with both mass and radius constraints opens the possibility of a statistical study of the underlying population of planet compositions. We focus on the intriguing transition between rocky exoplanets (comprised of iron and silicates) and planets with voluminous layers of volatiles (H/He and astrophysical ices). Applying a hierarchical Bayesian statistical approach to the sample of Kepler transiting sub-Neptune planets with Keck RV follow-up, we constrain the fraction of close-in planets (with orbital periods less than ∼50 days) that are sufficiently dense to be rocky, as a function of planet radius. We show that the majority of $1.6\;{{R}_{\oplus }}$ planets have too low density to be comprised of Fe and silicates alone. At larger radii, the constraints on the fraction of rocky planets are even more stringent. These insights into the size demographics of rocky and volatile-rich planets offer empirical constraints to planet formation theories, and guide the range of planet radii to be considered in studies of the occurrence rate of "Earth-like" planets, ${{\eta }_{\oplus }}$.

We present Wide Field Spectrograph integral field spectroscopy and Hubble Space Telescope Faint Object Spectrograph spectroscopy for the low-ionization nuclear emission line region (LINER) galaxy NGC 1052. We infer the presence of a turbulent accretion flow forming a small-scale accretion disk. We find a large-scale outflow and ionization cone along the minor axis of the galaxy. Part of this outflow region is photoionized by the active galactic nucleus and shares properties with the extended narrow-line region of Seyfert galaxies, but the inner ($R\lesssim 1.0$'') accretion disk and the region around the radio jet appear shock excited. The emission-line properties can be modeled by a "double-shock" model in which the accretion flow first passes through an accretion shock in the presence of a hard X-ray radiation, and the accretion disk is then processed through a cocoon shock driven by the overpressure of the radio jets. This model explains the observation of two distinct densities (∼10⁴ and ∼10⁶ cm⁻³) and provides a good fit to the observed emission-line spectrum. We derive estimates for the velocities of the two shock components and their mixing fractions, the black hole mass, and the accretion rate needed to sustain the LINER emission and derive an estimate for the jet power. Our emission-line model is remarkably robust against variation of input parameters and hence offers a generic explanation for the excitation of LINER galaxies, including those of spiral type such as NGC 3031 (M81).

We present a semi-analytical line transfer model, (SALT), to study the absorption and re-emission line profiles from expanding galactic envelopes. The envelopes are described as a superposition of shells with density and velocity varying with the distance from the center. We adopt the Sobolev approximation to describe the interaction between the photons escaping from each shell and the remainder of the envelope. We include the effect of multiple scatterings within each shell, properly accounting for the atomic structure of the scattering ions. We also account for the effect of a finite circular aperture on actual observations. For equal geometries and density distributions, our models reproduce the main features of the profiles generated with more complicated transfer codes. Also, our SALT line profiles nicely reproduce the typical asymmetric resonant absorption line profiles observed in starforming/starburst galaxies whereas these absorption profiles cannot be reproduced with thin shells moving at a fixed outflow velocity. We show that scattered resonant emission fills in the resonant absorption profiles, with a strength that is different for each transition. Observationally, the effect of resonant filling depends on both the outflow geometry and the size of the outflow relative to the spectroscopic aperture. Neglecting these effects will lead to incorrect values of gas covering fraction and column density. When a fluorescent channel is available, the resonant profiles alone cannot be used to infer the presence of scattered re-emission. Conversely, the presence of emission lines of fluorescent transitions reveals that emission filling cannot be neglected.

We present results from a comprehensive lensing analysis in Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data of the complete Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble cluster sample. We identify previously undiscovered multiple images, allowing improved or first constraints on the cluster inner mass distributions and profiles. We combine these strong lensing constraints with weak lensing shape measurements within the HST field of view (FOV) to jointly constrain the mass distributions. The analysis is performed in two different common parameterizations (one adopts light-traces-mass for both galaxies and dark matter while the other adopts an analytical, elliptical Navarro–Frenk–White form for the dark matter) to provide a better assessment of the underlying systematics—which is most important for deep, cluster-lensing surveys, especially when studying magnified high-redshift objects. We find that the typical (median), relative systematic differences throughout the central FOV are ∼40% in the (dimensionless) mass density, κ, and ∼20% in the magnification, μ. We show maps of these differences for each cluster, as well as the mass distributions, critical curves, and two-dimensional (2D)-integrated mass profiles. For the Einstein radii (z_s = 2) we find that all typically agree within 10% between the two models, and Einstein masses agree, typically, within ∼15%. At larger radii, the total projected, 2D-integrated mass profiles of the two models, within r ∼ 2', differ by ∼30%. Stacking the surface-density profiles of the sample from the two methods together, we obtain an average slope of dlog (Σ)/dlog (r) ∼ −0.64 ± 0.1, in the radial range [5350] kpc. Last, we also characterize the behavior of the average magnification, surface density, and shear differences between the two models as a function of both the radius from the center and the best-fit values of these quantities. All mass models and magnification maps are made publicly available for the community.

We explore the practical feasibility of active galactic nucleus (AGN) broadband reverberation mapping and present first results. We lay out and apply a rigorous approach for the stochastic reverberation mapping of unevenly sampled multi-broadband flux measurements, assuming that the broad-line region (BLR) line flux is contributing up to 15% in some bands, and is directly constrained by one spectroscopical epoch. The approach describes variations of the observed flux as the continuum, modeled as a stochastic Gaussian process, and emission line contribution, modeled as a scaled, smoothed, and delayed version of the continuum. This approach can be used not only to interpolate in time between measurements, but also to determine confidence limits on continuum—line emission delays. This approach is applied to Sloan Digital Sky Survey observations in Stripe 82 (S82), providing flux measurements that are precise to 2% at ∼60 epochs over ∼10 yr. The strong annual variations in the epoch sampling prove a serious limitation in practice. In addition, suitable redshift ranges must be identified where strong, broad emission lines contribute to one filter, but not to another. By generating and evaluating problem-specific mock data, we verify that S82-like data can constrain τ_delay for a simple transfer function model. In application to real data, we estimate τ_delay for 323 AGNs with 0.225 < z < 0.846, combining information for different objects through the ensemble-scaling relationships for BLR size and black hole mass. Our analysis tentatively indicates a 1.7 times larger BLR size of Hα and Mg ii compared to Kaspi et al. and Vestergaard, but the seasonal data sampling casts doubt on the robustness of the inference.

Using radiative magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the magnetized solar photosphere and detailed spectro-polarimetric diagnostics with the Fe i 6301.5 Å and 6302.5 Å photospheric lines in the local thermodynamic equilibrium approximation, we model active solar granulation as if it was observed at the solar limb. We analyze general properties of the radiation across the solar limb, such as the continuum and the line core limb darkening and the granulation contrast. We demonstrate the presence of profiles with both emission and absorption features at the simulated solar limb, and pure emission profiles above the limb. These profiles are associated with the regions of strong linear polarization of the emergent radiation, indicating the influence of the intergranular magnetic fields on the line formation. We analyze physical origins of the emission wings in the Stokes profiles at the limb, and demonstrate that these features are produced by localized heating and torsional motions in the intergranular magnetic flux concentrations.

We investigate the thermal stability of optically thin, two-temperature, radiative cooling-dominated accretion disks. Our linear analysis shows that the disk is thermally unstable without magnetic fields, which agrees with previous stability analysis on the Shapiro–Lightman–Eardley disk. By taking into account the effects of magnetic fields, however, we find that the disk can be, or partly be, thermally stable. Our results may be helpful to understand the outflows in optically thin flows. Moreover, such radiative cooling-dominated disks may provide a new explanation of the different behaviors between black hole and neutron star X-ray binaries on the radio/X-ray correlation.

We model the pulse profiles and the phase-resolved spectra of the anomalous X-ray pulsar 1E 1048.1−5937 obtained with XMM-Newton to map its surface temperature distribution during an active and a quiescent epoch. We develop and apply a model that takes into account the relevant physical and geometrical effects on the neutron star surface, magnetosphere, and spacetime. Using this model, we determine the observables at infinity as a function of pulse phase for different numbers and sizes of hot spots on the surface. We show that the pulse profiles extracted from both observations can be modeled with a single hot spot and an antipodal cool component. The size of the hot spot changes from ≈80° in 2007, three months after the onset of a dramatic flux increase, to ≈30° during the quiescent observation in 2011, when the pulsed fraction returned to the pre-outburst ≈65% level. For the 2007 observation, we also find that a model consisting of a single 0.4 keV hot spot with a magnetic field strength of 1.8 × 10¹⁴ G accounts for the spectra obtained at three different pulse phases but underpredicts the flux at the pulse minimum, where the contribution to the emission from the cooler component is non-negligible. The inferred temperature of the spot stays approximately constant between different pulse phases, in agreement with a uniform temperature, single hot spot model. These results suggest that the emitting area grows significantly during outbursts but returns to its persistent and significantly smaller size within a timescale of a few years.

Multi-wavelength analysis of the young massive cluster VVV CL077 is presented for the first time. Our Chandra survey of this region enabled the detection of three X-ray emitting stellar members of the cluster, as well as a possible diffuse X-ray component that extends a few arcseconds from the cluster core with an intrinsic flux of (9  ±  3) × 10⁻¹⁴ erg cm⁻² s⁻¹ in the 0.5–10 keV band. Infrared spectra we obtained for two of these X-ray point sources show absorption lines typical of the atmospheres of massive O stars. The X-ray spectrum from the visible extent of VVV CL077  i.e., a 15'' radius around the cluster, can be modeled with an absorbed power law with N_H = $(6_{-3}^{+4})\times 10^{22}$ cm⁻² and Γ = 2  ±  1. In addition, the X-ray core of VVV CL077 coincides with diffuse emission seen in the infrared band and with a local maximum in the radio continuum map. A possible association with a neighboring H ii region would place VVV CL077 at a distance of around 11 kpc, on the far side of the Norma Arm. At this distance, the cluster is 0.8 pc wide with a mass density of (1–4) × 10³ M_☉ pc⁻³.

Buffer gas cooling with a ⁴He gas is used to perform laser-absorption spectroscopy of the ¹²C₂H₂ (υ₁ + υ₃) band at cryogenic temperatures. Doppler thermometry is first carried out to extract translational temperatures from the recorded spectra. Then, rotational temperatures down to 20 K are retrieved by fitting the Boltzmann distribution to the relative intensities of several ro-vibrational lines. The potential of our setup to tune the thermal equilibrium between translational and rotational degrees of freedom is also demonstrated. This can be used to reproduce in a controlled way the regime of non-local thermal equilibrium typically encountered in the interstellar medium. The underlying helium–acetylene collisional physics, relevant for modeling planetary atmospheres, is also addressed. In particular, the diffusion time of ¹²C₂H₂ in the buffer cell is measured against the ⁴He flux at two separate translational temperatures; the observed behavior is then compared with that predicted by a Monte Carlo simulation, thus providing an estimate for the respective total elastic cross sections: σ_el(100 K) = (4 ± 1) × 10⁻²⁰ m² and σ_el(25 K) = (7 ± 2) × 10⁻²⁰ m².

The epoch of the reionization (EoR) power spectrum is expected to evolve strongly with redshift, and it is this variation with cosmic history that will allow us to begin to place constraints on the physics of reionization. The primary obstacle to the measurement of the EoR power spectrum is bright foreground emission. We present an analysis of observations from the Donald C. Backer Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER) telescope, which place new limits on the H i power spectrum over the redshift range of $7.5\lt z\lt 10.5$, extending previously published single-redshift results to cover the full range accessible to the instrument. To suppress foregrounds, we use filtering techniques that take advantage of the large instrumental bandwidth to isolate and suppress foreground leakage into the interesting regions of k-space. Our 500 hr integration is the longest such yet recorded and demonstrates this method to a dynamic range of 10⁴. Power spectra at different points across the redshift range reveal the variable efficacy of the foreground isolation. Noise-limited measurements of Δ² at k = 0.2 hr Mpc⁻¹ and z = 7.55 reach as low as (48 mK)² (1σ). We demonstrate that the size of the error bars in our power spectrum measurement as generated by a bootstrap method is consistent with the fluctuations due to thermal noise. Relative to this thermal noise, most spectra exhibit an excess of power at a few sigma. The likely sources of this excess include residual foreground leakage, particularly at the highest redshift, unflagged radio frequency interference, and calibration errors. We conclude by discussing data reduction improvements that promise to remove much of this excess.

Lyα emission has played an important role in detecting high-redshift galaxies, including recently distant ones at redshifts $z\gt 7$. It may also contain important information concerning the origin of these galaxies. Here, we investigate the formation of a typical L^* galaxy and its observational signatures at the earliest stage by combining a cosmological hydrodynamic simulation with three-dimensional radiative transfer (RT) calculations using the newly improved ${\rm AR}{{{\rm T}}^{2}}$ code. Our cosmological simulation uses the Aquila initial condition, which zooms in on a Milky-Way-like halo with high resolutions, and our RT couples multi-wavelength continuum, Lyα line, and ionization of hydrogen. We find that the modeled galaxy starts to form at redshift z ∼ 24 through the efficient accretion of cold gas, which produces a strong Lyα line with a luminosity of ${{L}_{{\rm Ly}\alpha }}\sim {{10}^{42}}\;{\rm erg}\;{{{\rm s}}^{-1}}$ as early as z ∼ 14. The Lyα emission appears to trace the cold, dense gas. The lines exhibit asymmetric, single-peak profiles, and are shifted to the blue wing, a characteristic feature of gas inflow. Moreover, the contribution to the total Lyα luminosity from excitation cooling increases with redshift and becomes dominant at z ≳ 6. We predict that L^* galaxies such as the modeled one may be detected at z ≲ 8 by the James Webb Space Telescope and Atacama Large Millimeter Array with a reasonable integration time. Beyond redshift 12, however, the Lyα line may only be observable by spectroscopic surveys. Our results suggest that the Lyα line is one of the most powerful tools to detect the first generation of galaxies and decipher their formation mechanism.

Extant chemical evolution models underestimate the galactic production of Sr, Y, and Zr as well as the solar system abundances of s-only isotopes with 90 $\lt$ A $\lt$ 130. To solve this problem, an additional (unknown) process has been invoked, the so-called light element primary process (LEPP). In this paper we investigate possible alternative solutions. Based on Full Network Stellar evolutionary calculations, we investigate the effects on the solar system s-only distribution induced by the inclusion of some commonly ignored physical processes (e.g., rotation) or by the variation of the treatment of convective overshoot, mass loss, and the efficiency of nuclear processes. Our main findings are (1) at the epoch of the formation of the solar system, our reference model produces supersolar abundances for the whole s-only distribution, even in the range 90 $\lt$ A $\lt$ 130, (2) within errors, the s-only distribution relative to ¹⁵⁰Sm is flat, (3) the s-process contribution of the less massive AGB stars (M$\lt$ 1.5 M$_{\odot }$) as well as of the more massive ones (M$\gt$ 4.0 M$_{\odot }$) are negligible, (4) the inclusion of rotation implies a downward shift of the whole distribution with a higher efficiency for the heavy s-only isotopes, leading to a flatter s-only distribution, (5) different prescriptions on convection or mass loss produce nearly rigid shifts of the whole distribution. In summary, a variation of the standard paradigm of AGB nucleosynthesis would allow reconciliation of model predictions with solar system s-only abundances. Nonetheless, the LEPP cannot be definitely ruled out because of the uncertainties still affecting stellar and galactic chemical evolution models.

We present an analysis of the nature of the rapidly rotating, apparently single giant based on rotational and radial velocity measurements carried out by the CORAVEL spectrometers. From the analyzed sample, composed of 2010 spectroscopic, apparently single, evolved stars of luminosity classes IV, III, II, and Ib with spectral types G and K, we classified 30 stars that presented unusual, moderate to rapid rotation. This work reports, for the first time, the presence of these abnormal rotators among subgiant, bright giant, and Ib supergiant stars. To date, this class of stars was reported only among giant stars of luminosity class III. Most of these abnormal rotators present an IRAS infrared excess, which, in principle, can be related to dust around these stars.

Jets powered by high-mass X-ray binaries must traverse the powerful wind of the companion star. We present the first global three-dimensional simulations of jet–wind interaction in high-mass X-ray binaries. We show that the wind momentum flux intercepted by the jet can lead to significant bending of the jet and that jets propagating through a spherical wind will be bent to an asymptotic angle ${{\psi }_{\infty }}$. We derive simple expressions for ${{\psi }_{\infty }}$ as a function of jet power and wind thrust. For known wind parameters, measurements of ${{\psi }_{\infty }}$ can be used to constrain the jet power. In the case of Cygnus X-1, the lack of jet precession as a function of orbital phase observed by the Very Long Baseline Array can be used to put a lower limit on the jet power of ${{L}_{{\rm jet}}}\gtrsim {{10}^{36}}\;{\rm ergs}\;{{{\rm s}}^{-1}}$. We further discuss the case where the initial jet is inclined relative to the binary orbital axis. We also analyze the case of Cygnus X-3 and show that jet bending is likely negligible unless the jet is significantly less powerful or much wider than currently thought. Our numerical investigation is limited to isotropic stellar winds. We discuss the possible effects of wind clumping on jet–wind interaction, which are likely significant, but argue that our limits on jet power for Cygnus X-1 are likely unaffected by clumping unless the global wind mass-loss rate is orders of magnitude below the commonly assumed range for Cyg X-1.

General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) flows along magnetic fields threading a black hole can be divided into inflow and outflow parts, according to the result of the competition between the black hole gravity and magneto-centrifugal forces along the field line. Here we present the first self-consistent, semi-analytical solution for a cold, Poynting flux–dominated (PFD) GRMHD flow, which passes all four critical (inner and outer, Alfvén, and fast magnetosonic) points along a parabolic streamline. By assuming that the dominating (electromagnetic) component of the energy flux per flux tube is conserved at the surface where the inflow and outflow are separated, the outflow part of the solution can be constrained by the inflow part. The semi-analytical method can provide fiducial and complementary solutions for GRMHD simulations around the rotating black hole, given that the black hole spin, global streamline, and magnetizaion (i.e., a mass loading at the inflow/outflow separation) are prescribed. For reference, we demonstrate a self-consistent result with the work by McKinney in a quantitative level.

Prompt γ-ray and early X-ray afterglow emissions in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are characterized by a bursty behavior and are often interspersed with long quiescent times. There is compelling evidence that X-ray flares are linked to prompt γ-rays. However, the physical mechanism that leads to the complex temporal distribution of γ-ray pulses and X-ray flares is not understood. Here we show that the waiting time distribution (WTD) of pulses and flares exhibits a power-law tail extending over four decades with an index of about two and can be the manifestation of a common time-dependent Poisson process. This result is robust and is obtained on different catalogs. Surprisingly, GRBs with many ($\geqslant 8$) γ-ray pulses are very unlikely to be accompanied by X-ray flares after the end of the prompt emission (3.1σ Gaussian confidence). These results are consistent with a simple interpretation: a hyperaccreting disk breaks up into one or a few groups of fragments, each of which is independently accreted with the same probability per unit time. Prompt γ-rays and late X-ray flares are nothing but different fragments being accreted at the beginning and at the end, respectively, following the very same stochastic process and likely the same mechanism.

We study the angular distribution of the solar wind magnetic field vector at 1 AU and its solar cycle dependence using ACE observations. A total of twelve 27.27 day (the duration of a solar rotation) intervals during the solar maximum, the solar minimum, as well as the ascending and descending phases of solar cycle 23 are examined. For all selected intervals, we obtain the angular distribution function ${{f}_{\tau }}(\alpha ),$ where α is the angle between the instantaneous solar wind magnetic field vector and the average background magnetic field vector, and τ is the period length for the averaging. Our results show that in all periods ${{f}_{\tau }}(\alpha )$ has two populations, one at small angles and one at large angles. We suggest that the second population is due to the presence of current sheets in the solar wind. The solar-cycle dependence of ${{f}_{\tau }}(\alpha )$ and a τ-scaling property of the second population of ${{f}_{\tau }}(\alpha )$ are discussed. The τ scaling shows a clear dependence on the solar wind type. The implication of ${{f}_{\tau }}(\alpha )$ for particle acceleration at interplanetary shocks driven by coronal mass ejections, such as those in solar energetic particle events, is also discussed.

We have used the Submillimeter Array (SMA) to make 1.3 mm observations of the debris disk surrounding HD 15115, an F-type star with a putative membership in the β Pictoris moving group. This nearly edge-on debris disk shows an extreme asymmetry in optical scattered light, with an extent almost two times larger to the west of the star than to the east (originally dubbed the "Blue Needle"). The SMA observations reveal resolved emission that we model as a circumstellar belt of thermal dust emission. This belt extends to a radius of ∼110 AU, coincident with the break in the scattered light profile convincingly seen on the western side of the disk. This outer edge location is consistent with the presence of an underlying population of dust-producing planetesimals undergoing a collisional cascade, as hypothesized in "birth ring" theory. In addition, the millimeter emission shows a $\sim 3\sigma$ feature aligned with the asymmetric western extension of the scattered light disk. If this millimeter extension is real, then mechanisms for asymmetry that affect only small grains, such as interactions with interstellar gas, are disfavored. This tentative feature might be explained by secular perturbations to grain orbits introduced by neutral gas drag, as previously invoked to explain asymmetric morphologies of other, similar debris disks.

In a recent paper we found evidence for an increase in the accretion rate during photospheric radius expansion bursts, quantified by a variable normalization factor f_a on the preburst persistent emission. Here we follow this result up on a much larger sample of 1759 type I X-ray bursts from 56 sources. We show that the variable persistent flux method provides improvements in the quality of spectral fits for type I bursts, whether or not they reach the Eddington luminosity. The new approach has an estimated Bayes factor of 64 improvement over the standard method, and we recommend that the procedure be adopted as standard for analyzing type I bursts. We show evidence that the remaining discrepancies to a formally consistent spectral model are due to the burst component deviating significantly from a blackbody, rather than variations in the spectral shape of the persistent emission component. In bursts that do not show radius expansion, the persistent emission enhancement does not exceed 37% of the Eddington flux. We use this observation to constrain the Eddington flux of sources for which ${{F}_{{\rm Edd}}}$ has not been directly measured.

The journey of the Sun through space carries the solar system through a dynamic interstellar environment that is presently characterized by a Mach ∼1 motion between the heliosphere and the surrounding warm partially ionized interstellar cloud. The interaction between the heliosphere and interstellar medium is an evolving process due to variable solar wind properties and the turbulent nature of the interstellar cloud that surrounds the heliosphere. Frisch et al. presented a meta-analysis of the historical data on the interstellar wind flowing through the heliosphere and concluded that temporal changes in the ecliptic longitude of the flow direction with time were statistically indicated by the data available in the refereed literature at the time of that writing. Lallement & Bertaux disagree with this result, and suggested, for instance, that a key instrumental response function of IBEX-Lo was incorrect and that the STEREO pickup ion data are unsuitable for diagnosing the flow of interstellar neutrals through the heliosphere. In this paper we first show that temporal variations in the interstellar wind through the heliosphere are consistent with our knowledge of the very local interstellar medium. The statistical analysis of the helium wind data is revisited, and a recent correction of a typographical error in the literature is incorporated into the new fits. With this correction, and including no newer IBEX results, these combined data still indicate that a change in the longitude of the interstellar neutral wind of λ = 56 ± 24 over the past forty years remains statistically likely, but an constant flow longitude is now statistically possible. Other scenarios for the selection of subsets of these data used in the fitting process produce similar conclusions. We show that the speculations made by Lallement & Bertin about the IBEX instrumental response function are incorrect, and that their other objections to the data used in the meta-analysis are either incorrect or unproven. Further investigations of the historical interstellar wind data and continuing analysis of additional IBEX data may provide a more definitive result on the stability of the flow of interstellar gas through the heliosphere.

We report the results of a comprehensive reanalysis of Ulysses observations of interstellar He atoms flowing through the solar system, the goal being to reassess the interstellar He flow vector and to search for evidence of variability in this vector. We find no evidence that the He beam seen by Ulysses changes at all from 1994–2007. The direction of flow changes by no more than ∼03 and the speed by no more than ∼0.3 km s⁻¹. A global fit to all acceptable He beam maps from 1994–2007 yields the following He flow parameters: V_ISM = 26.08 ± 0.21 km s⁻¹, λ = 75.54 ± 019, β = −5.44 ± 024, and T = 7260 ± 270 K; where λ and β are the ecliptic longitude and latitude direction in J2000 coordinates. The flow vector is consistent with the original analysis of the Ulysses team, but our temperature is significantly higher. The higher temperature somewhat mitigates a discrepancy that exists in the He flow parameters measured by Ulysses and the Interstellar Boundary Explorer, but does not resolve it entirely. Using a novel technique to infer photoionization loss rates directly from Ulysses data, we estimate a density of n_He = 0.0196 ± 0.0033 cm⁻³ in the interstellar medium.

We present spatially resolved (∼50 pc) imaging of molecular gas species in the central kiloparsec of the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253, based on observations taken with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. A total of 50 molecular lines are detected over a 13 GHz bandwidth imaged in the 3 mm band. Unambiguous identifications are assigned for 27 lines. Based on the measured high CO/C¹⁷O isotopic line ratio (≳350), we show that ¹²CO(1–0) has moderate optical depths. A comparison of the HCN and HCO⁺ with their ¹³C-substituted isotopologues shows that the HCN(1–0) and HCO⁺(1–0) lines have optical depths at least comparable to CO(1–0). H¹³CN/H¹³CO⁺ (and H¹³CN/HN¹³C) line ratios provide tighter constraints on dense gas properties in this starburst. SiO has elevated abundances across the nucleus. HNCO has the most distinctive morphology of all the bright lines, with its global luminosity dominated by the outer parts of the central region. The dramatic variation seen in the HNCO/SiO line ratio suggests that some of the chemical signatures of shocked gas are being erased in the presence of dominating central radiation fields (traced by C₂H and CN). High density molecular gas tracers (including HCN, HCO⁺, and CN) are detected at the base of the molecular outflow. We also detect hydrogen β recombination lines that, like their α counterparts, show compact, centrally peaked morphologies, distinct from the molecular gas tracers. A number of sulfur based species are mapped (CS, SO, NS, C₂S, H₂CS, and CH₃SH) and have morphologies similar to SiO.

We show that the low-velocity ⁵⁶Ni decay lines detected earlier than expected in the type Ia SN 2014J find an explanation in the quark-nova Ia model, which involves the thermonuclear explosion of a tidally disrupted sub-Chandrasekhar white dwarf (WD) in a tight neutron-star–WD binary system. The explosion is triggered by impact from the quark-nova (QN) ejecta on the WD material; the QN is the explosive transition of the neutron star to a quark star (QS) triggered by accretion from a CO torus (the circularized WD material). The presence of a compact remnant (the QS) provides: (1) an additional energy source (spin-down power) which allows us to fit the observed light-curve including the steep early rise; (2) a central gravitational potential which slows down some of the ⁵⁶Ni produced to velocities of a few 10³ km s⁻¹. In our model, the ⁵⁶Ni decay lines become optically visible at ∼20 days from explosion time in agreement with observations. We list predictions that can provide important tests for our model.

The M31 globular cluster X-ray binary XB158 (a.k.a. Bo 158) exhibits intensity dips on a 2.78 hr period in some observations, but not others. The short period suggests a low mass ratio, and an asymmetric, precessing disk due to additional tidal torques from the donor star since the disk crosses the 3:1 resonance. Previous theoretical three-dimensional smoothed particle hydrodynamical modeling suggested a super-orbital disk precession period 29 ± 1 times the orbital period, i.e., ∼81 ± 3 hr. We conducted a Swift monitoring campaign of 30 observations over ∼1 month in order to search for evidence of such a super-orbital period. Fitting the 0.3–10 keV Swift X-Ray Telescope luminosity light curve with a sinusoid yielded a period of 5.65 ± 0.05 days, and a >5σ improvement in χ² over the best fit constant intensity model. A Lomb–Scargle periodogram revealed that periods of 5.4–5.8 days were detected at a >3σ level, with a peak at 5.6 days. We consider this strong evidence for a 5.65 day super-orbital period, ∼70% longer than the predicted period. The 0.3–10 keV luminosity varied by a factor of ∼5, consistent with variations seen in long-term monitoring from Chandra. We conclude that other X-ray binaries exhibiting similar long-term behavior are likely to also be X-ray binaries with low mass ratios and super-orbital periods.

We present broadband (3–78 keV) NuSTAR X-ray imaging and spectroscopy of the Crab nebula and pulsar. We show that while the phase-averaged and spatially integrated nebula + pulsar spectrum is a power law in this energy band, spatially resolved spectroscopy of the nebula finds a break at ∼9 keV in the spectral photon index of the torus structure with a steepening characterized by ΔΓ ∼ 0.25. We also confirm a previously reported steepening in the pulsed spectrum, and quantify it with a broken power law with break energy at ∼12 keV and ΔΓ ∼ 0.27. We present spectral maps of the inner 100'' of the remnant and measure the size of the nebula as a function of energy in seven bands. These results find that the rate of shrinkage with energy of the torus size can be fitted by a power law with an index of γ = 0.094 ± 0.018, consistent with the predictions of Kennel and Coroniti. The change in size is more rapid in the NW direction, coinciding with the counter-jet where we find the index to be a factor of two larger. NuSTAR observed the Crab during the latter part of a γ-ray flare, but found no increase in flux in the 3–78 keV energy band.

Two separated sequences of blue straggler stars (BSSs) have been revealed by Ferraro et al. in the color–magnitude diagram (CMD) of the Milky Way globular cluster M30. Their presence has been suggested to be related to the two BSS formation channels (namely, collisions and mass transfer in close binaries) operating within the same stellar system. The blue sequence was indeed found to be well reproduced by collisional BSS models. In contrast, no specific models for mass-transfer BSSs were available for an old stellar system like M30. Here we present binary evolution models, including case-B mass transfer and binary merging, specifically calculated for this cluster. We discuss in detail the evolutionary track of a 0.9 + 0.5 M_☉ binary, which spends approximately 4 Gyr in the BSS region of the CMD of a 13 Gyr old cluster. We also run Monte Carlo simulations to study the distribution of mass-transfer BSSs in the CMD and to compare it with the observational data. Our results show that (1) the color and magnitude distribution of synthetic mass-transfer BSSs defines a strip in the CMD that nicely matches the observed red-BSS sequence, thus providing strong support to the mass-transfer origin for these stars; (2) the CMD distribution of synthetic BSSs never attains the observed location of the blue-BSS sequence, thus reinforcing the hypothesis that the latter formed through a different channel (likely collisions); (3) most (∼60%) of the synthetic BSSs are produced by mass-transfer models, while the remaining <40% requires the contribution from merger models.

We derive [K/Fe] abundance ratios for 119 stars in the globular cluster NGC 2808, all of them having O, Na, Mg, and Al abundances homogeneously measured in previous works. We detect an intrinsic star-to-star spread in the potassium abundance. Moreover [K/Fe] abundance ratios display statistically significant correlations with [Na/Fe] and [Al/Fe], and anti-correlations with [O/Fe] and [Mg/Fe]. All the four Mg deficient stars ([Mg/Fe] < 0.0) discovered so far in NGC 2808 are enriched in K by ∼0.3 dex with respect to those with normal [Mg/Fe]. NGC 2808 is the second globular cluster, after NGC 2419, where a clear Mg–K anti-correlation is detected, albeit of weaker amplitude. The simultaneous correlation/anti-correlation of [K/Fe] with all the light elements usually involved in the chemical anomalies observed in globular cluster stars strongly support the idea that these abundance patterns are due to the same self-enrichment mechanism that produces Na–O and Mg–Al anti-correlations. This finding suggests that detectable spreads in K abundances may be typical in the massive globular clusters where the self-enrichment processes are observed to produce their most extreme manifestations.

NGC 3201 is a globular cluster suspected to have an intrinsic spread in the iron content. We re-analyzed a sample of 21 cluster stars observed with UVES–FLAMES at the Very Large Telescope and for which Simmerer et al. found a 0.4 dex wide [Fe/H] distribution with a metal-poor tail. We confirmed that when spectroscopic gravities are adopted, the derived [Fe/H] distribution spans ∼0.4 dex. On the other hand, when photometric gravities are used, the metallicity distribution from Fe i lines remains large, while that derived from Fe ii lines is narrow and compatible with no iron spread. We demonstrate that the metal-poor component claimed by Simmerer et al. is composed by asymptotic giant branch stars that could be affected by non-local thermodynamical equilibrium effects driven by iron overionization. This leads to a decrease of the Fe i abundance, while leaving the Fe ii abundance unaltered. A similar finding has been already found in asymptotic giant branch stars of the globular clusters M5 and 47 Tucanae. We conclude that NGC 3201 is a normal cluster, with no evidence of intrinsic iron spread.

The symmetric peak observed in linear polarization in the core of the solar sodium D₁ line at 5896 Å has remained enigmatic since its discovery nearly two decades ago. One reason is that the theory of polarized scattering has not been experimentally tested for multi-level atomic systems in the relevant parameter domains, although the theory is continually being used for the interpretation of astrophysical observations. A laboratory experiment that was set up a decade ago to find out whether the D₁ enigma is a problem of solar physics or quantum physics revealed that the D₁ system has a rich polarization structure in situations where standard scattering theory predicts zero polarization, even when optical pumping of the m state populations of the hyperfine-split ground state is accounted for. Here we show that the laboratory results can be modeled in great quantitative detail if the theory is extended to include the coherences in both the initial and final states of the scattering process. Radiative couplings between the allowed dipole transitions generate coherences in the initial state. Corresponding coherences in the final state are then demanded by a phase closure selection rule. The experimental results for the well understood D₂ line are used to constrain the two free parameters of the experiment, collision rate and optical depth, to suppress the need for free parameters when fitting the D₁ results.