Table of contents

We present a local but fully nonlinear model of the solar tachocline, using three-dimensional direct numerical simulations. The tachocline forms naturally as a statistically steady balance between Coriolis, pressure, buoyancy, and Lorentz forces beneath a turbulent convection zone. Uniform rotation is maintained in the radiation zone by a primordial magnetic field, which is confined by meridional flows in the tachocline and convection zone. Such balanced dynamics has previously been found in idealized laminar models, but never in fully self-consistent numerical simulations.

We present the first results of an ensemble and systematic survey of oscillation mode variability in pulsating hot B subdwarf (sdB) and white dwarf stars observed with the original Kepler mission. The satellite provides uninterrupted high-quality photometric data with a time baseline that can reach up to 4 yr collected on pulsating stars. This is a unique opportunity to characterize long-term behaviors of oscillation modes. A mode modulation in amplitude and frequency can be independently inferred by its fine structure in the Fourier spectrum, from the sLSP, or with prewhitening methods applied to various parts of the light curve. We apply all these techniques to the sdB star KIC 3527751, a long-period-dominated hybrid pulsator. We find that all the detected modes with sufficiently large amplitudes to be thoroughly studied show amplitude and/or frequency variations. Components of three identified quintuplets around 92, 114, and 253 μHz show signatures that can be linked to nonlinear interactions according to the resonant mode coupling theory. This interpretation is further supported by the fact that many oscillation modes are found to have amplitudes and frequencies showing correlated or anticorrelated variations, a behavior that can be linked to the amplitude equation formalism, where nonlinear frequency corrections are determined by their amplitude variations. Our results suggest that oscillation modes varying with diverse patterns are a very common phenomenon in pulsating sdB stars. Close structures around main frequencies therefore need to be carefully interpreted in light of this finding to secure a robust identification of real eigenfrequencies, which is crucial for seismic modeling. The various modulation patterns uncovered should encourage further developments in the field of nonlinear stellar oscillation theory. It also raises a warning to any long-term project aiming at measuring the rate of period change of pulsations caused by stellar evolution, or at discovering stellar (planetary) companions around pulsating stars using timing methods, as both require very stable pulsation modes.

The LkHα 101 cluster takes its name from its more massive member, the LkHα 101 star, which is an ∼15 M_⊙ star whose true nature is still unknown. The distance to the LkHα 101 cluster has been controversial for the last few decades, with estimated values ranging from 160 to 800 pc. We have observed members and candidate members of the LkHα 101 cluster with signs of magnetic activity, using the Very Long Baseline Array, in order to measure their trigonometric parallax and, thus, obtain a direct measurement of their distances. A young star member, LkHα 101 VLA J043001.15+351724.6, was detected at four epochs as a single radio source. The best fit to its displacement on the plane of the sky yields a distance of 535 ± 29 pc. We argue that this is the distance to the LkHα 101 cluster.

We present high-resolution (∼1''), 1.5 GHz continuum observations of the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) of 13 CLASH (Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble) clusters at $0.18\lt z\lt 0.69$ with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA). Radio emission is clearly detected and characterized for 11 BCGs, while for two of them we obtain only upper limits to their radio flux ($\lt 0.1$ mJy at 5σ confidence level). We also consider five additional clusters whose BCG is detected in FIRST or NVSS. We find radio powers in the range from $2\times {10}^{23}$ to $\sim {10}^{26}\,{\rm{W}}\,{\mathrm{Hz}}^{-1}$ and radio spectral indices ${\alpha }_{1.5}^{30}$ (defined as the slope between 1.5 and 30 GHz) distributed from $\sim -1$ to −0.25 around the central value $\langle \alpha \rangle =-0.68$. The radio emission from the BCGs is resolved in three cases (Abell 383, MACS J1931, and RX J2129), and unresolved or marginally resolved in the remaining eight cases observed with JVLA. In all the cases the BCGs are consistent with being powered by active galactic nuclei. The radio power shows a positive correlation with the BCG star formation rate, and a negative correlation with the central entropy of the surrounding intracluster medium (ICM) except in two cases (MACS J1206 and CL J1226). Finally, over the restricted range in radio power sampled by the CLASH BCGs, we observe a significant scatter between the radio power and the average mechanical power stored in the ICM cavities.

Alfvénic waves have been proposed as an important energy transport mechanism in coronal loops, capable of delivering energy to both the corona and chromosphere and giving rise to many observed features of flaring and quiescent regions. In previous work, we established that resistive dissipation of waves (ambipolar diffusion) can drive strong chromospheric heating and evaporation, capable of producing flaring signatures. However, that model was based on a simplified assumption that the waves propagate instantly to the chromosphere, an assumption that the current work removes. Via a ray-tracing method, we have implemented traveling waves in a field-aligned hydrodynamic simulation that dissipate locally as they propagate along the field line. We compare this method to and validate against the magnetohydrodynamics code Lare3D. We then examine the importance of travel times to the dynamics of the loop evolution, finding that (1) the ionization level of the plasma plays a critical role in determining the location and rate at which waves dissipate; (2) long duration waves effectively bore a hole into the chromosphere, allowing subsequent waves to penetrate deeper than previously expected, unlike an electron beam whose energy deposition rises in height as evaporation reduces the mean-free paths of the electrons; and (3) the dissipation of these waves drives a pressure front that propagates to deeper depths, unlike energy deposition by an electron beam.

The astronomical gas-phase detection of simple species and small organic molecules in cold pre-stellar cores, with abundances as high as ∼10⁻⁸–10⁻⁹n_H, contradicts the generally accepted idea that at 10 K, such species should be fully frozen out on grain surfaces. A physical or chemical mechanism that results in a net transfer from solid-state species into the gas phase offers a possible explanation. Reactive desorption, i.e., desorption following the exothermic formation of a species, is one of the options that has been proposed. In astronomical models, the fraction of molecules desorbed through this process is handled as a free parameter, as experimental studies quantifying the impact of exothermicity on desorption efficiencies are largely lacking. In this work, we present a detailed laboratory study with the goal of deriving an upper limit for the reactive desorption efficiency of species involved in the CO–H₂CO–CH₃OH solid-state hydrogenation reaction chain. The limit for the overall reactive desorption fraction is derived by precisely investigating the solid-state elemental carbon budget, using reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy and the calibrated solid-state band-strength values for CO, H₂CO and CH₃OH. We find that for temperatures in the range of 10 to 14 K, an upper limit of 0.24 ± 0.02 for the overall elemental carbon loss upon CO conversion into CH₃OH. This corresponds with an effective reaction desorption fraction of ≤0.07 per hydrogenation step, or ≤0.02 per H-atom induced reaction, assuming that H-atom addition and abstraction reactions equally contribute to the overall reactive desorption fraction along the hydrogenation sequence. The astronomical relevance of this finding is discussed.

Using white-light observations from the COR1 coronagraph during 2008–2013, we have identified ∼50 eruptive events in which a narrow streamer structure appears to rotate about its radial axis as it rises into the field of view beyond $r\sim 1.4\,{R}_{\odot }$. Extreme-ultraviolet images and potential-field extrapolations suggest that most of these eruptions involve one arcade of a double-lobed pseudostreamer, which is surrounded by open flux of a single polarity. The "twisting" is manifested by the cavity of the erupting lobe, which evolves from a circular to a narrowing oval structure as it is ejected nonradially in the direction of the original X-point. At the same time, the loop legs on the trailing side of the rising cavity/flux rope expand and straighten out, starting at the outer edge of the lobe and progressing inward; this asymmetric opening-up contributes to the impression of a three-dimensional structure twisting away from the observer. On the leading side of the lobe, collapsing cusps are sometimes detected, suggesting the presence of a current sheet where the cavity loops reconnect with the oppositely directed open flux from the adjacent coronal hole. In some events, the inner loops of the cavity/flux rope may continue to expand outward without undergoing interchange reconnection. The transfer of material to open field lines, as well as the lateral confinement of the pseudostreamer by the surrounding coronal holes, acts to produce a relatively narrow, fan-like ejection that differs fundamentally from the large, bubble-shaped ejections associated with helmet streamers.

We present a new study of the spatial distribution and ages of the star clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). To detect and estimate the ages of the star clusters we rely on the new fully automated method developed by Bitsakis et al. Our code detects 1319 star clusters in the central 18 deg² of the SMC we surveyed (1108 of which have never been reported before). The age distribution of those clusters suggests enhanced cluster formation around 240 Myr ago. It also implies significant differences in the cluster distribution of the bar with respect to the rest of the galaxy, with the younger clusters being predominantly located in the bar. Having used the same setup, and data from the same surveys as for our previous study of the LMC, we are able to robustly compare the cluster properties between the two galaxies. Our results suggest that the bulk of the clusters in both galaxies were formed approximately 300 Myr ago, probably during a direct collision between the two galaxies. On the other hand, the locations of the young (≤50 Myr) clusters in both Magellanic Clouds, found where their bars join the H i arms, suggest that cluster formation in those regions is a result of internal dynamical processes. Finally, we discuss the potential causes of the apparent outside-in quenching of cluster formation that we observe in the SMC. Our findings are consistent with an evolutionary scheme where the interactions between the Magellanic Clouds constitute the major mechanism driving their overall evolution.

We investigated how the magnetic field in solar active regions (ARs) controls flare activity, i.e., whether a confined or eruptive flare occurs. We analyzed 44 flares of GOES class M5.0 and larger that occurred during 2011–2015. We used 3D potential magnetic field models to study their location (using the flare distance from the flux-weighted AR center d_FC) and the strength of the magnetic field in the corona above (via decay index n and flux ratio). We also present a first systematic study of the orientation of the coronal magnetic field, using the orientation φ of the flare-relevant polarity inversion line as a measure. We analyzed all quantities with respect to the size of the underlying dipole field, characterized by the distance between the opposite-polarity centers, d_PC. Flares originating from underneath the AR dipole (d_FC/d_PC < 0.5) tend to be eruptive if launched from compact ARs (d_PC ≤ 60 Mm) and confined if launched from extended ARs. Flares ejected from the periphery of ARs (d_FC/d_PC > 0.5) are predominantly eruptive. In confined events, the flare-relevant field adjusts its orientation quickly to that of the underlying dipole with height (Δφ ≳ 40° until the apex of the dipole field), in contrast to eruptive events where it changes more slowly with height. The critical height for torus instability, h_crit = h(n = 1.5), discriminates best between confined (h_crit ≳ 40 Mm) and eruptive flares (h_crit ≲ 40 Mm). It discriminates better than Δφ, implying that the decay of the confining field plays a stronger role than its orientation at different heights.

We report the analysis result of UV/X-ray emission from AR Scorpii, which is an intermediate polar (IP) composed of a magnetic white dwarf and an M-type star, with the XMM-Newton data. The X-ray/UV emission clearly shows a large variation over the orbit, and their intensity maximum (or minimum) is located at the superior conjunction (or inferior conjunction) of the M star orbit. The hardness ratio of the X-ray emission shows a small variation over the orbital phase and shows no indication of the absorption by an accretion column. These properties are naturally explained by the emission from the M star surface rather than that from the accretion column on the white dwarf's (WD) star, which is similar to usual IPs. Additionally, the observed X-ray emission also modulates with the WD's spin with a pulse fraction of ∼14%. The peak position is aligned in the optical/UV/X-ray band. This supports the hypothesis that the electrons in AR Scorpii are accelerated to a relativistic speed and emit non-thermal photons via the synchrotron radiation. In the X-ray bands, evidence of the power-law spectrum is found in the pulsed component, although the observed emission is dominated by the optically thin thermal plasma emissions with several different temperatures. It is considered that the magnetic dissipation/reconnection process on the M star surface heats up the plasma to a temperature of several keV and also accelerates the electrons to the relativistic speed. The relativistic electrons are trapped in the WD's closed magnetic field lines by the magnetic mirror effect. In this model, the observed pulsed component is explained by the emissions from the first magnetic mirror point.

A numerical model is presented for interpreting the chemical pathways that lead to the experimental mass spectra acquired in the Titan Haze Simulation (THS) laboratory experiments and for comparing the electron density and temperature of the THS plasma to observations made at Titan by the Cassini spacecraft. The THS plasma is a pulsed glow-discharge experiment designed to simulate the reaction of N₂/CH₄-dominated gas in Titan's upper atmosphere. The transient, one-dimensional model of THS chemistry tracks the evolution of more than 120 species in the direction of the plasma flow. As the minor species C₂H₂ and C₂H₄ are added to the N₂/CH₄-based mixture, the model correctly predicts the emergence of reaction products with up to five carbon atoms in relative abundances that agree well with measured mass spectra. Chemical growth in Titan's upper atmosphere transpires through ion–neutral and neutral–neutral chemistry, and the main reactions involving a series of known atmospheric species are retrieved from the calculation. The model indicates that the electron density and chemistry are steady during more than 99% of the 300 μs long discharge pulse. The model also suggests that the THS ionization fraction and electron temperature are comparable to those measured in Titan's upper atmosphere. These findings reaffirm that the THS plasma is a controlled analog environment for studying the first and intermediate steps of chemistry in Titan's upper atmosphere.

Studying giant star-forming clumps in distant galaxies is important to understand galaxy formation and evolution. At present, however, observers and theorists have not reached a consensus on whether the observed "clumps" in distant galaxies are the same phenomenon that is seen in simulations. In this paper, as a step to establish a benchmark of direct comparisons between observations and theories, we publish a sample of clumps constructed to represent the commonly observed "clumps" in the literature. This sample contains 3193 clumps detected from 1270 galaxies at $0.5\leqslant z\lt 3.0$. The clumps are detected from rest-frame UV images, as described in our previous paper. Their physical properties (e.g., rest-frame color, stellar mass (${M}_{* }$), star formation rate (SFR), age, and dust extinction) are measured by fitting the spectral energy distribution (SED) to synthetic stellar population models. We carefully test the procedures of measuring clump properties, especially the method of subtracting background fluxes from the diffuse component of galaxies. With our fiducial background subtraction, we find a radial clump U − V color variation, where clumps close to galactic centers are redder than those in outskirts. The slope of the color gradient (clump color as a function of their galactocentric distance scaled by the semimajor axis of galaxies) changes with redshift and ${M}_{* }$ of the host galaxies: at a fixed ${M}_{* }$, the slope becomes steeper toward low redshift, and at a fixed redshift, it becomes slightly steeper with ${M}_{* }$. Based on our SED fitting, this observed color gradient can be explained by a combination of a negative age gradient, a negative E(B − V) gradient, and a positive specific SFR gradient of the clumps. We also find that the color gradients of clumps are steeper than those of intra-clump regions. Correspondingly, the radial gradients of the derived physical properties of clumps are different from those of the diffuse component or intra-clump regions.

We investigate the response of self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) halos to the growth of galaxy potentials using idealized simulations, with each run in tandem with collisionless cold dark matter (CDM). We find that if the stellar potential strongly dominates in the central parts of a galaxy, then SIDM halos can be as dense as CDM halos on observable scales. For extreme cases, core collapse can occur, leading to SIDM halos that are denser and cuspier than their CDM counterparts. If the stellar potential is not dominant, then SIDM halos retain isothermal cores with densities far below CDM predictions. When a disk is present, the inner SIDM halo becomes more flattened in the disk plane than the CDM halo. These results are in excellent quantitative agreement with the predictions of Kaplinghat et al. We also simulated a cluster halo with a central stellar distribution similar to the brightest central galaxy of the cluster A2667. An SIDM halo simulated with the cross-section over mass $\sigma /m=0.1\ {\mathrm{cm}}^{2}\,{{\rm{g}}}^{-1}$ provides a good match to the measured dark matter (DM) density profile, while an adiabatically contracted CDM halo is denser and cuspier. The profile of the same halo simulated with $\sigma /m=0.5\ {\mathrm{cm}}^{2}\,{{\rm{g}}}^{-1}$ is not dense enough. Our findings are in agreement with previous results that $\sigma /m\gtrsim 0.1\,{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}\,{{\rm{g}}}^{-1}$ is disfavored for DM collision velocities above about 1500 km s⁻¹. More generally, the interaction between baryonic potentials and SIDM densities offers new directions for constraining SIDM cross-sections in galaxies where baryons are dynamically important.

We investigate the potential of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) to observe substructures in nearby young disks which are due to the gravitational interaction between disk material and planets close to the central star. We simulate the gas and dust dynamics in the disk using the LA-COMPASS hydrodynamical code. We generate synthetic images for the dust continuum emission at submillimeter to centimeter wavelengths and simulate ALMA and ngVLA observations. We explore the parameter space of some of the main disk and planet properties that would produce substructures that can be visible with ALMA and the ngVLA. We find that ngVLA observations with an angular resolution of 5 milliarcsec at 3 mm can reveal and characterize gaps and azimuthal asymmetries in disks hosting planets with masses down to $\approx 5\,{M}_{\oplus }\approx 1\mbox{--}5\,\mathrm{au}$ from a solar-like star in the closest star-forming regions, whereas ALMA can detect gaps down to planetary masses of $\approx 20\,{M}_{\oplus }$ at 5 au. Gaps opened by super-Earth planets with masses $\approx 5\mbox{--}10\,{M}_{\oplus }$ are detectable by the ngVLA in the case of disks with low viscosity ($\alpha \sim {10}^{-5}$) and low pressure scale height (h ≈ 0.025 au at 5 au). The ngVLA can measure the proper motion of azimuthal asymmetric structures associated with the disk–planet interaction as well as possible circumplanetary disks on timescales as short as one to a few weeks for planets at 1–5 au from the star.

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) provides the only laboratory to study the structure of molecular gas at high resolution and low metallicity. We present results from the Herschel Spectroscopic Survey of the SMC (HS³), which mapped the key far-IR cooling lines [C ii], [O i], [N ii], and [O iii] in five star-forming regions, and new ALMA 7 m array maps of ${}^{12}\mathrm{CO}$ and ${}^{13}\mathrm{CO}$$(2-1)$ with coverage overlapping four of the five HS³ regions. We detect [C ii] and [O i] throughout all of the regions mapped. The data allow us to compare the structure of the molecular clouds and surrounding photodissociation regions using ${}^{13}\mathrm{CO}$, ${}^{12}\mathrm{CO}$, [C ii], and [O i] emission at $\lesssim 10^{\prime\prime}$ ($\lt 3$ pc) scales. We estimate ${A}_{V}$ using far-IR thermal continuum emission from dust and find that the CO/[C ii] ratios reach the Milky Way value at high ${A}_{V}$ in the centers of the clouds and fall to $\sim 1/5\mbox{--}1/10\times$ the Milky Way value in the outskirts, indicating the presence of translucent molecular gas not traced by bright ${}^{12}\mathrm{CO}$ emission. We estimate the amount of molecular gas traced by bright [C ii] emission at low ${A}_{V}$ and bright ${}^{12}\mathrm{CO}$ emission at high ${A}_{V}$. We find that most of the molecular gas is at low ${A}_{V}$ and traced by bright [C ii] emission, but that faint ${}^{12}\mathrm{CO}$ emission appears to extend to where we estimate that the ${{\rm{H}}}_{2}$-to-H i transition occurs. By converting our ${{\rm{H}}}_{2}$ gas estimates to a CO-to-${{\rm{H}}}_{2}$ conversion factor (X_CO), we show that X_CO is primarily a function of ${A}_{V}$, consistent with simulations and models of low-metallicity molecular clouds.

The evolution of protoplanetary disks is believed to be driven largely by angular momentum transport resulting from magnetized disk winds and turbulent viscosity. The ionization of the disk that is essential for these processes has been thought to be due to host star coronal X-rays but could also arise from energetic particles produced by coronal flares, or traveling shock waves, and advected by the stellar wind. We have performed test-particle numerical simulations of energetic protons propagating into a realistic T Tauri stellar wind, including a superposed small-scale magnetostatic turbulence. The isotropic (Kolmogorov power spectrum) turbulent component is synthesized along the individual particle trajectories. We have investigated the energy range [0.1–10] GeV, consistent with expectations from Chandra X-ray observations of large flares on T Tauri stars and recent indications by the HerschelSpace Observatory of a significant contribution of energetic particles to the disk ionization of young stars. In contrast with a previous theoretical study finding a dominance of energetic particles over X-rays in the ionization throughout the disk, we find that the disk ionization is likely dominated by X-rays over much of its area, except within narrow regions where particles are channeled onto the disk by the strongly tangled and turbulent magnetic field. The radial thickness of such regions is 5 stellar radii close to the star and broadens with increasing radial distance. This likely continues out to large distances from the star (10 au or greater), where particles can be copiously advected and diffused by the turbulent wind.

The accurate measurement of temperature in protoplanetary disks is critical to understanding many key features of disk evolution and planet formation, from disk chemistry and dynamics, to planetesimal formation. This paper explores the techniques available to determine temperatures from observations of single, optically thick molecular emission lines. Specific attention is given to issues such as the inclusion of optically thin emission, problems resulting from continuum subtraction, and complications of real observations. Effort is also made to detail the exact nature and morphology of the region emitting a given line. To properly study and quantify these effects, this paper considers a range of disk models, from simple pedagogical models to very detailed models including full radiative transfer. Finally, we show how the use of the wrong methods can lead to potentially severe misinterpretations of data, leading to incorrect measurements of disk temperature profiles. We show that the best way to estimate the temperature of emitting gas is to analyze the line peak emission map without subtracting continuum emission. Continuum subtraction, which is commonly applied to observations of line emission, systematically leads to underestimation of the gas temperature. We further show that once observational effects such as beam dilution and noise are accounted for, the line brightness temperature derived from the peak emission is reliably within 10%–15% of the physical temperature of the emitting region, assuming optically thick emission. The methodology described in this paper will be applied in future works to constrain the temperature, and related physical quantities, in protoplanetary disks observed with ALMA.

We have measured vertical and radial stellar population gradients in NGC 891. We compare these gradients to those known for the Milky Way from studies of resolved stars. Optical spectroscopic measurements extend spatially from the disk midplane up to $2.6\,\mathrm{kpc}$ in height and out to a radius of $12\,\mathrm{kpc}$ on both sides of the galaxy. Data were acquired with ∇Pak, a variable-pitch fiber integral field unit (IFU) on the WIYN telescope. We describe the laboratory and on-sky performance of ∇Pak, as well as modifications to the standard observational and analysis procedures necessary to calibrate data taken with this unique IFU. ∇Pak has a mean throughput of 80% at $5500\,\mathring{\rm A}$. To achieve an estimated precision of 10% in light-weighted mean age and metallicity, we define a set of spatial apertures in radius and height in which spectra are binned to achieve a signal-to-noise ratio of ∼20 Å⁻¹. We use spectral indices to measure age, metallicity, and abundance, indicating that NGC 891's stellar populations have $0.2\lt Z/{Z}_{\odot }\lt 1$ and $+0.2$ dex α-enhancement on average. We find a clear transition from young ($\lt 3-5\,\mathrm{Gyr}$) to old ($\gt 7\,\mathrm{Gyr}$) stellar populations at $0.4\,\mathrm{kpc}$, roughly the scale height of the thin disk. We also find a slight trend toward younger populations at larger radii, consistent with flaring in an inside-out disk formation scenario. The vertical age gradient in NGC 891 is in remarkable qualitative agreement with a model for disk heating tuned to studies of the Milk Way's solar cylinder.

Most ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are thought to be supercritical accreting compact objects, where massive outflows are inevitable. Using the long-term monitoring data with the Swift X-ray Telescope, we identified a common feature in bright, hard ULXs: they display a quasi-periodic modulation in their hard X-ray band but not in their soft band. As a result, some sources show a bimodal distribution on the hardness intensity map. We argue that these model-independent results can be well interpreted in a picture that involves supercritical accretion with precession, where the hard X-ray emission from the central funnel is more or less beamed, while the soft X-rays may arise from the photosphere of the massive outflow and be nearly isotropic. It implies that precession may be ubiquitous in supercritical systems, such as the Galactic microquasar SS 433. How the hard X-rays are modulated can be used to constrain the angular distribution of the hard X-ray emission and the geometry of the accretion flow. We also find that two ULX pulsars (NGC 5907 ULX-1 and NGC 7793 P13) show similar behaviors but no bimodal distribution, which may imply that they have a different beaming shape or mechanism.

We modified the broadband photometric reverberation mapping (PRM) code, JAVELIN, and tested the availability to get broad-line region time delays that are consistent with the spectroscopic reverberation mapping (SRM) project SDSS-RM. The broadband light curves of SDSS-RM quasars produced by convolution with the system transmission curves were used in the test. We found that under similar sampling conditions (evenly and frequently sampled), the key factor determining whether the broadband PRM code can yield lags consistent with the SRM project is the flux ratio of the broad emission line to the reference continuum, which is in line with the previous findings. We further found a critical line-to-continuum flux ratio, about 6%, above which the mean of the ratios between the lags from PRM and SRM becomes closer to unity, and the scatter is pronouncedly reduced. We also tested our code on a subset of SDSS Stripe 82 quasars, and found that our program tends to give biased lag estimations due to the observation gaps when the R-L relation prior in Markov Chain Monte Carlo is discarded. The performance of the damped random walk (DRW) model and the power-law (PL) structure function model on broadband PRM were compared. We found that given both SDSS-RM-like or Stripe 82-like light curves, the DRW model performs better in carrying out broadband PRM than the PL model.

Field-aligned diffusion of energetic ions in the Earth's foreshock is investigated by using the quasi-linear theory (QLT) and test particle simulation. Non-propagating MHD turbulence in the solar wind rest frame is assumed to be purely transverse with respect to the background field. We use a turbulence model based on a multi-power-law spectrum including an intense peak that corresponds to upstream ULF waves resonantly generated by the field-aligned beam (FAB). The presence of the ULF peak produces a concave shape of the diffusion coefficient when it is plotted versus the ion energy. The QLT including the effect of the ULF wave explains the simulation result well, when the energy density of the turbulent magnetic field is 1% of that of the background magnetic field and the power-law index of the wave spectrum is less than 2. The numerically obtained e-folding distances from 10 to 32 keV ions match with the observational values in the event discussed in the companion paper, which contains an intense ULF peak in the spectra generated by the FAB. Evolution of the power spectrum of the ULF waves when approaching the shock significantly affects the energy dependence of the e-folding distance.

The origin of Phobos and Deimos in a giant impact-generated disk is gaining larger attention. Although this scenario has been the subject of many studies, an evaluation of the chemical composition of the Mars's moons in this framework is missing. The chemical composition of Phobos and Deimos is unconstrained. The large uncertainties about the origin of the mid-infrared features; the lack of absorption bands in the visible and near-infrared spectra; and the effects of secondary processes on the moons' surfaces make the determination of their composition very difficult using remote sensing data. Simulations suggest a formation of a disk made of gas and melt with their composition linked to the nature of the impactor and Mars. Using thermodynamic equilibrium, we investigate the composition of dust (condensates from gas) and solids (from a cooling melt) that result from different types of Mars impactors (Mars-, CI-, CV-, EH-, and comet-like). Our calculations show a wide range of possible chemical compositions and noticeable differences between dust and solids, depending on the considered impactors. Assuming that Phobos and Deimos resulted from the accretion and mixing of dust and solids, we find that the derived assemblage (dust-rich in metallic iron, sulfides and/or carbon, and quenched solids rich in silicates) can be compatible with the observations. The JAXA's Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission will investigate the physical and chemical properties of Phobos and Deimos, especially sampling from Phobos, before returning to Earth. Our results could be then used to disentangle the origin and chemical composition of the pristine body that hit Mars and suggest guidelines for helping in the analysis of the returned samples.

We examine the impact of baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) scale measurements on the discrepancy between the value of the Hubble constant (H₀) inferred from the local distance ladder and that from Planck cosmic microwave background (CMB) data. While the BAO data alone cannot constrain H₀, we show that combining the latest BAO results with WMAP, Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), or South Pole Telescope (SPT) CMB data produces values of H₀ that are $2.4\mbox{--}3.1\sigma$ lower than the distance ladder, independent of Planck, and that this downward pull was less apparent in some earlier analyses that used only angle-averaged BAO scale constraints rather than full anisotropic information. At the same time, the combination of BAO and CMB data also disfavors the lower values of H₀ preferred by the Planck high-multipole temperature power spectrum. Combining galaxy and Lyα forest BAO with a precise estimate of the primordial deuterium abundance produces ${H}_{0}=66.98\pm 1.18$ km s⁻¹ Mpc⁻¹ for the flat ${\rm{\Lambda }}\mathrm{CDM}$ model. This value is completely independent of CMB anisotropy constraints and is $3.0\sigma$ lower than the latest distance ladder constraint, although $2.4\sigma$ tension also exists between the galaxy BAO and Lyα BAO. These results show that it is not possible to explain the H₀ disagreement solely with a systematic error specific to the Planck data. The fact that tensions remain even after the removal of any single data set makes this intriguing puzzle all the more challenging to resolve.

At 60 pc, TW Hydra (TW Hya) is the closest example of a star with a gas-rich protoplanetary disk, though TW Hya may be relatively old (3–15 Myr). As such, TW Hya is especially appealing for testing our understanding of the interplay between stellar and disk evolution. We present a high-resolution near-infrared spectrum of TW Hya obtained with the Immersion GRating INfrared Spectrometer (IGRINS) to re-evaluate the stellar parameters of TW Hya. We compare these data to synthetic spectra of magnetic stars produced by MoogStokes, and use sensitive spectral line profiles to probe the effective temperature, surface gravity, and magnetic field. A model with ${T}_{\mathrm{eff}}=3800$ K, $\mathrm{log}\,g=4.2$, and $B=3.0$ kG best fits the near-infrared spectrum of TW Hya. These results correspond to a spectral type of M0.5 and an age of 8 Myr, which is well past the median life of gaseous disks.

Poorly understood "baryonic physics" impacts our ability to predict the power spectrum of the kinetic Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect. We study this in a sample high-resolution simulation of galaxy formation and feedback, Illustris. The high resolution of Illustris allows us to probe the kSZ power spectrum on multipoles ${\ell }={10}^{3}\mbox{--}3\times {10}^{4}$. Strong AGN feedback in Illustris nearly wipes out gas fluctuations at $k\gtrsim 1\,h\,{\mathrm{Mpc}}^{-1}$ and at late times, likely somewhat underpredicting the kSZ power generated at $z\lesssim 1$. The post-reionization kSZ power spectrum for Illustris is well-fit by ${{ \mathcal D }}_{{\ell }}^{z\lt 6}=1.38{[{\ell }/3000]}^{0.21}\,\mu {{\rm{K}}}^{2}$ over $3000\lesssim {\ell }\,\lesssim$ 10,000, somewhat lower than most other reported values but consistent with the analysis of Shaw et al. Our analysis of the bias of free electrons reveals subtle effects associated with the multi-phase gas physics and stellar fractions that affect even linear scales. In particular, there are fewer electrons in biased galaxies, due to gas-cooling and star formation, and this leads to an electron bias of less than one, even at low wavenumbers. The combination of bias and electron fraction that determines the overall suppression is relatively constant, ${f}_{e}^{2}{b}_{e0}^{2}\sim 0.7$, but more simulations are needed to see if this is Illustris-specific. By separating the kSZ power into different terms, we find that at least 6% (10%) of the signal at ℓ = 3000 (10,000) comes from non-Gaussian connected four-point density and velocity correlations, ${\langle \delta v\delta v\rangle }_{c}$, even without correcting for the Illustris simulation box-size. A challenge going forward will be accurately modeling long-wave velocity modes simultaneously with Illustris-like high resolution to capture the complexities of galaxy formation and its correlations with large-scale flows.

Transmission spectra are differential measurements that utilize stellar illumination to probe transiting exoplanet atmospheres. Any spectral difference between the illuminating light source and the disk-integrated stellar spectrum due to starspots and faculae will be imprinted in the observed transmission spectrum. However, few constraints exist for the extent of photospheric heterogeneities in M dwarfs. Here we model spot and faculae covering fractions consistent with observed photometric variabilities for M dwarfs and the associated 0.3–5.5 μm stellar contamination spectra. We find that large ranges of spot and faculae covering fractions are consistent with observations and corrections assuming a linear relation between variability amplitude, and covering fractions generally underestimate the stellar contamination. Using realistic estimates for spot and faculae covering fractions, we find that stellar contamination can be more than 10× larger than the transit depth changes expected for atmospheric features in rocky exoplanets. We also find that stellar spectral contamination can lead to systematic errors in radius and therefore the derived density of small planets. In the case of the TRAPPIST-1 system, we show that TRAPPIST-1's rotational variability is consistent with spot covering fractions ${f}_{\mathrm{spot}}={8}_{-7}^{+18} \%$ and faculae covering fractions ${f}_{\mathrm{fac}}={54}_{-46}^{+16} \%$. The associated stellar contamination signals alter the transit depths of the TRAPPIST-1 planets at wavelengths of interest for planetary atmospheric species by roughly 1–15×  the strength of planetary features, significantly complicating JWST follow-up observations of this system. Similarly, we find that stellar contamination can lead to underestimates of the bulk densities of the TRAPPIST-1 planets of ${\rm{\Delta }}(\rho )=-{8}_{-20}^{+7} \%$, thus leading to overestimates of their volatile contents.

We calculate the electromagnetic signal of a gamma-ray flare coming from the surface of a neutron star shortly before merger with a black hole companion. Using a new version of the Monte Carlo radiation transport code Pandurata that incorporates dynamic spacetimes, we integrate photon geodesics from the neutron star surface until they reach a distant observer or are captured by the black hole. The gamma-ray light curve is modulated by a number of relativistic effects, including Doppler beaming and gravitational lensing. Because the photons originate from the inspiraling neutron star, the light curve closely resembles the corresponding gravitational waveform: a chirp signal characterized by a steadily increasing frequency and amplitude. We propose to search for these electromagnetic chirps using matched filtering algorithms similar to those used in LIGO data analysis.

The abundance of oxygen in galaxies is widely used in furthering our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. Unfortunately, direct measurements of O/H in the neutral gas are extremely difficult to obtain, as the only O i line available within the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) UV wavelength range (1150–3200 Å) is often saturated. As such, proxies for oxygen are needed to indirectly derive O/H via the assumption that solar ratios based on local Milky Way sight lines hold in different environments. In this paper we assess the validity of using two such proxies, P ii and S ii, within more typical star-forming environments. Using HST-Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) far-UV (FUV) spectra of a sample of nearby star-forming galaxies (SFGs) and the oxygen abundances in their ionized gas, we demonstrate that both P and S are mildly depleted with respect to O and follow a trend, log(P ii/S ii) $=\,-1.73\,\pm \,0.18$, in excellent agreement with the solar ratio of $\mathrm{log}{({\rm{P}}/{\rm{S}})}_{\odot }\,=-1.71\,\pm \,0.04$ over the large range of metallicities (0.03–3.2 Z_⊙) and H i column densities ($\mathrm{log}[N$(H i)/cm⁻²] =18.44–21.28) spanned by the sample. From literature data we show evidence that both elements individually trace oxygen according to their respective solar ratios across a wide range of environments. Our findings demonst-rate that the solar ratios of $\mathrm{log}{({\rm{P}}/{\rm{O}})}_{\odot }=-3.28\pm 0.06$ and $\mathrm{log}{({\rm{S}}/{\rm{O}})}_{\odot }=-1.57\pm 0.06$ can both be used to derive reliable O/H abundances in the neutral gas of local and high-redshift SFGs. The difference between O/H in the ionized- and neutral gas phases is studied with respect to metallicity and H i content. The observed trends are consistent with galactic outflows and/or star formation inefficiency affecting the most metal-poor galaxies, with the possibility of primordial gas accretion at all metallicities.

We present ALMA observations of the dwarf starburst galaxy He 2–10 in combination with previous SMA CO observations to probe the molecular environments of natal super star clusters (SSCs). These observations include the HCO⁺(1-0), HCN(1-0), HNC(1-0), and CCH(1-0) molecular lines, as well as 88 GHz continuum with a spatial resolution of $1\buildrel{\prime\prime}\over{.} 7\times 1\buildrel{\prime\prime}\over{.} 6$. After correcting for the contribution from free–free emission to the 88 GHz continuum flux density (∼60% of the 88 GHz emission), we derive a total gas mass for He 2–10 of ${M}_{\mathrm{gas}}=4\mbox{--}6\times {10}^{8}$M_⊙, roughly 5%–20% of the dynamical mass. Based on a principle component analysis, HCO⁺ is found to be the best "general" tracer of molecular emission. The line widths and luminosities of the CO emission suggests that the molecular clouds could either be as small as ∼8 pc, or alternately have enhanced line widths. The CO emission and 88 GHz continuum are anti-correlated, suggesting that either the dust and molecular gas are not cospatial, which could reflect that the 88 GHz continuum is dominated by free–free emission. The CO and CCH emission are also relatively anti-correlated, which is consistent with the CCH being photo-enhanced, and/or the CO being dissociated in the regions near the natal SSCs. The molecular line ratios of regions containing the natal star clusters are different from the line ratios observed for regions elsewhere in the galaxy. In particular, the regions with thermal radio emission all have $\mathrm{CO}(2\mbox{--}1)/{\mathrm{HCO}}^{+}(1-0)\lt 16$, and the HCO⁺/CO ratio appears to be correlated with the evolutionary stage of the clusters.

We present an analysis of 15 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) at redshift $z\gt 1$ (9 at $1.5\lt z\lt 2.3$) recently discovered in the CANDELS and CLASH Multi-Cycle Treasury programs using WFC3 on the Hubble Space Telescope. We combine these SNe Ia with a new compilation of ∼1050 SNe Ia, jointly calibrated and corrected for simulated survey biases to produce accurate distance measurements. We present unbiased constraints on the expansion rate at six redshifts in the range $0.07\lt z\lt 1.5$ based only on this combined SN Ia sample. The added leverage of our new sample at $z\gt 1.5$ leads to a factor of ∼3 improvement in the determination of the expansion rate at z = 1.5, reducing its uncertainty to ∼20%, a measurement of $H(z=1.5)/{H}_{0}\,=\,{2.69}_{-0.52}^{+0.86}$. We then demonstrate that these six derived expansion rate measurements alone provide a nearly identical characterization of dark energy as the full SN sample, making them an efficient compression of the SN Ia data. The new sample of SNe Ia at $z\gt 1.5$ usefully distinguishes between alternative cosmological models and unmodeled evolution of the SN Ia distance indicators, placing empirical limits on the latter. Finally, employing a realistic simulation of a potential Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope SN survey observing strategy, we forecast optimistic future constraints on the expansion rate from SNe Ia.

Polarized Galactic foregrounds are one of the primary sources of systematic error in measurements of the B-mode polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Experiments are becoming increasingly sensitive to complexities in the foreground frequency spectra that are not captured by standard parametric models, potentially affecting our ability to efficiently separate out these components. Employing a suite of dust models encompassing a variety of physical effects, we simulate observations of a future seven-band CMB experiment to assess the impact of these complexities on parametric component separation. We identify configurations of frequency bands that minimize the "model errors" caused by fitting simple parametric models to more complex "true" foreground spectra, which bias the inferred CMB signal. We find that: (a) fits employing a simple two-parameter modified blackbody (MBB) dust model tend to produce significant bias in the recovered polarized CMB signal in the presence of physically realistic dust foregrounds; (b) generalized MBB models with three additional parameters reduce this bias in most cases, but non-negligible biases can remain, and can be hard to detect; (c) line-of-sight effects, which give rise to frequency decorrelation, and the presence of iron grains are the most problematic complexities in the dust emission for recovering the true CMB signal. More sophisticated simulations will be needed to demonstrate that future CMB experiments can successfully mitigate these more physically realistic dust foregrounds.

We analyze the application of star formation rate calibrations using Hα and 22 μm infrared (IR) imaging data in predicting the thermal radio component for a test sample of three edge-on galaxies (NGC 891, NGC 3044, and NGC 4631) in the Continuum Halos in Nearby Galaxies—an EVLA Survey (CHANG-ES). We use a mixture of Hα and 24 μm calibration from Calzetti et al. and a linear 22 μm only calibration from Jarrett et al. on the test sample. We apply these relations on a pixel-to-pixel basis to create thermal prediction maps in the two CHANG-ES bands: L and C band (1.5 GHz and 6.0 GHz, respectively). We analyze the resulting nonthermal spectral index maps, and find a characteristic steepening of the nonthermal spectral index with vertical distance from the disk after application of all methods. We find possible evidence of extinction in the 22 μm data as compared to 70 μm Spitzer Multiband Imaging Photometer imaging in NGC 891. We analyze a larger sample of edge-on and face-on galaxy 25–100 μm flux ratios, and find that the ratios for edge-ons are systematically lower by a factor of 1.36, a result we attribute to excess extinction in the mid-IR in edge-ons. We introduce a new calibration for correcting the Hα luminosity for dust when galaxies are edge-on or very dusty.

We have analyzed the Chandra archival data of NGC 1132, a well-known fossil group, i.e., a system expected to be old and relaxed long after the giant elliptical galaxy assembly. Instead, the Chandra data reveal that the hot gas morphology is disturbed and asymmetrical, with a cold front following a possible bow shock. We discuss possible origins of the disturbed hot halo, including sloshing by a nearby object, merger, ram pressure by external hotter gas, and nuclear outburst. We consider that the first two mechanisms are likely explanations for the disturbed hot halo, with a slight preference for a minor merger with a low impact parameter because of the match with simulations and previous optical observations. In this case, NGC 1132 may be a rare example of unusual late mergers seen in recent simulations. Regardless of the origin of the disturbed hot halo, the paradigm of the fossil system needs to be reconsidered.

The enigmatic star KIC 8462852, informally known as "Boyajian's Star," has exhibited unexplained variability from both short timescale (days) dimming events, and years-long fading in the Kepler mission. No single physical mechanism has successfully explained these observations to date. Here we investigate the ultraviolet variability of KIC 8462852 on a range of timescales using data from the GALEX mission that occurred contemporaneously with the Kepler mission. The wide wavelength baseline between the Kepler and GALEX data provides a unique constraint on the nature of the variability. Using 1600 s of photon-counting data from four GALEX visits spread over 70 days in 2011, we find no coherent NUV variability in the system on 10–100 s or month timescales. Comparing the integrated flux from these 2011 visits to the 2012 NUV flux published in the GALEX-CAUSE Kepler survey, we find a 3% decrease in brightness for KIC 8462852. We find that this level of variability is significant, but not necessarily unusual for stars of similar spectral type in the GALEX data. This decrease coincides with the secular optical fading reported by Montet & Simon. We find that the multi-wavelength variability is somewhat inconsistent with typical interstellar dust absorption, but instead favors a ${R}_{V}=5.0\pm 0.9$ reddening law potentially from circumstellar dust.

We use the deep CANDELS observations in the GOODS North and South fields to revisit the correlations between stellar mass (M_*), star formation rate (SFR) and morphology, and to introduce a fourth dimension, the mass-weighted stellar age, in galaxies at $1.2\lt z\lt 4$. We do this by making new measures of M_*, SFR, and stellar age thanks to an improved SED fitting procedure that allows various star formation history for each galaxy. Like others, we find that the slope of the main sequence (MS) of star formation in the $({M}_{* };\mathrm{SFR})$ plane bends at high mass. We observe clear morphological differences among galaxies across the MS, which also correlate with stellar age. At all redshifts, galaxies that are quenching or quenched, and thus old, have high ${{\rm{\Sigma }}}_{1}$ (the projected density within the central 1 kpc), while younger, star-forming galaxies span a much broader range of ${{\rm{\Sigma }}}_{1}$, which includes the high values observed for quenched galaxies, but also extends to much lower values. As galaxies age and quench, the stellar age and the dispersion of ${{\rm{\Sigma }}}_{1}$ for fixed values of M_* shows two different regimes: one at the low-mass end, where quenching might be driven by causes external to the galaxies; the other at the high-mass end, where quenching is driven by internal causes, very likely the mass given the low scatter of ${{\rm{\Sigma }}}_{1}$ (mass quenching). We suggest that the monotonic increase of central density as galaxies grow is one manifestation of a more general phenomenon of structural transformation that galaxies undergo as they evolve.

We analyze Spitzer/InfraRed Spectrograph (IRS) observations of the OH 35 μm feature in 15 nearby ($z\,\lesssim \,0.06$) (ultra-)luminous infrared galaxies (U/LIRGs). All objects exhibit OH 35 μm purely in absorption, as expected. The small optical depth of this transition makes the strength of this feature a good indicator of the true OH column density. The measured OH 35 μm equivalent widths imply an average OH column density and a 1-σ standard deviation to the mean of ${N}_{\mathrm{OH}}=1.31\pm 0.22\times {10}^{17}$ cm⁻². This number is then compared with the hydrogen column density for a typical optical depth at 35 μm of ∼0.5 and gas-to-dust ratio of 125 to derive an OH-to-H abundance ratio of ${X}_{\mathrm{OH}}=1.01\pm 0.15\times {10}^{-6}$. This abundance ratio is formally a lower limit. It is consistent with the values generally assumed in the literature. The OH 35 μm line profiles predicted from published radiative transfer models constrained by observations of OH 65, 79, 84, and 119 μm in 5 objects (Mrk 231, Mrk 273, IRAS F05189-2524, IRAS F08572+3915, and IRAS F20551-4250) are also found to be consistent with the IRS OH 35 μm spectra.

Because of their intense incident stellar irradiation and likely tidally locked spin states, hot Jupiters are expected to have wind speeds that approach or exceed the speed of sound. In this work, we develop a theory to explain the magnitude of these winds. We model hot Jupiters as planetary heat engines and show that hot Jupiters are always less efficient than an ideal Carnot engine. Next, we demonstrate that our predicted wind speeds match those from three-dimensional numerical simulations over a broad range of parameters. Finally, we use our theory to evaluate how well different drag mechanisms can match the wind speeds observed with Doppler spectroscopy for HD 189733b and HD 209458b. We find that magnetic drag is potentially too weak to match the observations for HD 189733b, but is compatible with the observations for HD 209458b. In contrast, shear instabilities and/or shocks are compatible with both observations. Furthermore, the two mechanisms predict different wind speed trends for hotter and colder planets than currently observed. As a result, we propose that a wider range of Doppler observations could reveal multiple drag mechanisms at play across different hot Jupiters.

We perform a statistical study on the frequency-dependent damping of slow waves propagating along polar plumes and interplumes in the solar corona. Analysis of a large sample of extreme ultraviolet imaging data with high spatial and temporal resolutions obtained from Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA)/Solar Dynamics Observatory suggests an inverse power-law dependence of the damping length on the periodicity of slow waves (i.e., the shorter-period oscillations exhibit longer damping lengths), in agreement with the previous case studies. Similar behavior is observed in both plume and interplume regions studied in AIA 171 Å and AIA 193 Å passbands. It is found that the short-period (2–6 minutes) waves are relatively more abundant than their long-period (7–30 minutes) counterparts, in contrast to the general belief that the polar regions are dominated by the longer-period slow waves. We also derived the slope of the power spectra (α, the power-law index) statistically to better understand the characteristics of turbulence present in the region. It is found that the α values and their distributions are similar in both plume and interplume structures across the two AIA passbands. At the same time, the spread of these distributions also indicates the complexity of the underlying turbulence mechanism.

There has recently been some interest in the prospect of detecting ionized intergalactic baryons by examining the properties of incoherent light from background cosmological sources, namely quasars. Although the paper by Lieu et al. proposed a way forward, it was refuted by the later theoretical work of Hirata & McQuinn and the observational study of Hales et al. In this paper we investigate in detail the manner in which incoherent radiation passes through a dispersive medium both from the frameworks of classical and quantum electrodynamics, leading us to conclude that the premise of Lieu et al. would only work if the pulses involved are genuinely classical ones containing many photons per pulse; unfortunately, each photon must not be treated as a pulse that is susceptible to dispersive broadening. We are nevertheless able to change the tone of the paper at this juncture by pointing out that because current technology allows one to measure the phase of individual modes of radio waves from a distant source, the most reliable way of obtaining irrefutable evidence of dispersion, namely via the detection of its unique signature of a quadratic spectral phase, may well be already accessible. We demonstrate how this technique is only applied to measure the column density of the ionized intergalactic medium.

Modeling the behavior of magnetohydrodynamic waves in a range of magnetic geometries mimicking solar atmospheric waveguides, from photospheric flux tubes to coronal loops, can offer a valuable contribution to the field of solar magneto-seismology. The present study uses an analytical approach to derive the dispersion relation for magneto-acoustic waves in a magnetic slab of homogeneous plasma enclosed on its two sides by semi-infinite plasma of different densities, temperatures, and magnetic field strengths, providing an asymmetric plasma environment. This is a step further in the generalization of the classic magnetic slab model, which is symmetric about the slab, was developed by Roberts, and is an extension of the work by Allcock & Erdélyi where a magnetic slab is sandwiched in an asymmetric nonmagnetic plasma environment. In contrast to the symmetric case, the dispersion relation governing the asymmetric slab cannot be factorized into separate sausage and kink eigenmodes. The solutions obtained resemble these well-known modes; however, their properties are now mixed. Therefore we call these modes quasi-sausage and quasi-kink modes. If conditions on the two sides of the slab do not differ strongly, then a factorization of the dispersion relation can be achieved for the further analytic study of various limiting cases representing a solar environment. In the current paper, we examine the incompressible limit in detail and demonstrate its possible application to photospheric magnetic bright points. After the introduction of a mechanical analogy, we reveal a relationship between the external plasma and magnetic parameters, which allows for the existence of quasi-symmetric modes.

A detailed comparison of the full range of PLANCK and Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe data for small (2° × 2°) areas of sky and the Cosmic Microwave Background Internal Linear Combination (ILC) maps reveals that the structure of foreground dust may be more complex than previously thought. If 857 and 353 GHz emission is dominated by galactic dust at a distance < few hundred light years, then it should not resemble the cosmological ILC structure originating at a distance ∼13 billion light years. In some areas of sky, however, we find strong morphological correlations, forcing us to consider the possibility that the foreground subtraction is not complete. Our data also show that there is no single answer for the question: "to what extent does dust contaminate the cosmologically important 143 GHz data?" In some directions, the contamination appears to be quite strong, but in others, it is less of an issue. This complexity needs to be taken in account in order to derive an accurate foreground mask in the quest to understand the Cosmic Microwave Background small-scale structure. We hope that a continued investigation of these data will lead to a definitive answer to the question above and, possibly, to new scientific insights on interstellar matter, the Cosmic Microwave Background, or both.

We aim to see if the difference between equilibrium and disequilibrium chemistry is observable in the atmospheres of transiting planets by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). We perform a case study comparing the dayside emission spectra of three planets like HD 189733b, WASP-80b, and GJ 436b, in and out of chemical equilibrium at two metallicities each. These three planets were chosen because they span a large range of planetary masses and equilibrium temperatures, from hot and Jupiter-sized to warm and Neptune-sized. We link the one-dimensional disequilibrium chemistry model from Venot et al. (2012), in which thermochemical kinetics, vertical transport, and photochemistry are taken into account, to the one-dimensional, pseudo line-by-line radiative transfer model, Pyrat bay, developed especially for hot Jupiters, and then simulate JWST spectra using PandExo for comparing the effects of temperature, metallicity, and radius. We find the most significant differences from 4 to 5 μm due to disequilibrium from CO and CO₂ abundances, and also H₂O for select cases. Our case study shows a certain "sweet spot" of planetary mass, temperature, and metallicity where the difference between equilibrium and disequilibrium is observable. For a planet similar to WASP-80b, JWST's NIRSpec G395M can detect differences due to disequilibrium chemistry with one eclipse event. For a planet similar to GJ 436b, the observability of differences due to disequilibrium chemistry is possible at low metallicity given five eclipse events, but not possible at the higher metallicity.

We consider six isomeric groups (${\mathrm{CH}}_{3}{\rm{N}},\,{\mathrm{CH}}_{5}{\rm{N}}$, ${{\rm{C}}}_{2}{{\rm{H}}}_{5}{\rm{N}}$, ${{\rm{C}}}_{2}{{\rm{H}}}_{7}{\rm{N}}$,  ${{\rm{C}}}_{3}{{\rm{H}}}_{7}{\rm{N}}$, and ${{\rm{C}}}_{3}{{\rm{H}}}_{9}{\rm{N}}$) to review the presence of amines and aldimines within the interstellar medium (ISM). Each of these groups contains at least one aldimine or amine. Methanimine (${\mathrm{CH}}_{2}\mathrm{NH}$) from ${\mathrm{CH}}_{3}{\rm{N}}$ and methylamine (${\mathrm{CH}}_{3}{\mathrm{NH}}_{2}$) from ${\mathrm{CH}}_{5}{\rm{N}}$ isomeric group were detected a few decades ago. Recently, the presence of ethanimine (${\mathrm{CH}}_{3}\mathrm{CHNH}$) from ${{\rm{C}}}_{2}{{\rm{H}}}_{5}{\rm{N}}$ isomeric group has been discovered in the ISM. This prompted us to investigate the possibility of detecting any aldimine or amine from the very next three isomeric groups in this sequence: ${{\rm{C}}}_{2}{{\rm{H}}}_{7}{\rm{N}}$, ${{\rm{C}}}_{3}{{\rm{H}}}_{7}{\rm{N}}$, and ${{\rm{C}}}_{3}{{\rm{H}}}_{9}{\rm{N}}$. We employ high-level quantum chemical calculations to estimate accurate energies of all the species. According to enthalpies of formation, optimized energies, and expected intensity ratio, we found that ethylamine (precursor of glycine) from ${{\rm{C}}}_{2}{{\rm{H}}}_{7}{\rm{N}}$ isomeric group, (1Z)-1-propanimine from ${{\rm{C}}}_{3}{{\rm{H}}}_{7}{\rm{N}}$ isomeric group, and trimethylamine from ${{\rm{C}}}_{3}{{\rm{H}}}_{9}{\rm{N}}$ isomeric group are the most viable candidates for the future astronomical detection. Based on our quantum chemical calculations and from other approximations (from prevailing similar types of reactions), a complete set of reaction pathways to the synthesis of ethylamine and (1Z)-1-propanimine is prepared. Moreover, a large gas-grain chemical model is employed to study the presence of these species in the ISM. Our modeling results suggest that ethylamine and (1Z)-1-propanimine could efficiently be formed in hot-core regions and could be observed with present astronomical facilities. Radiative transfer modeling is also implemented to additionally aid their discovery in interstellar space.

We present a study of binary–single interactions with energy-loss terms such as tidal dissipation and gravitational-wave (GW) emission added to the equation of motion. The inclusion of such terms leads to the formation of compact binaries that form during the three-body interaction through two-body captures. These binaries predominantly merge relatively promptly at high eccentricity, with several observable and dynamical consequences to follow. Despite their possibility for being observed in both present and upcoming transient surveys, their outcomes are not firmly constrained. In this paper, we present an analytical framework that allows to estimate the cross section of such two-body captures, which permits us to study how the corresponding rates depend on the initial orbital parameters, the mass hierarchy, the type of interacting object, and the energy dissipation mechanism. This formalism is applied here to study the formation of two-body GW captures, for which we estimate absolute and relative rates relevant to Advanced LIGO detections. It is shown that two-body GW captures should have compelling observational implications if a sizable fraction of detected compact binaries are formed via dynamical interactions.

In some galaxies, the stars orbiting the supermassive black hole take the form of an eccentric nuclear disk, in which every star is on a coherent, apsidally aligned orbit. The most famous example of an eccentric nuclear disk is the double nucleus of Andromeda, and there is strong evidence for many more in the local universe. Despite their apparent ubiquity, however, a dynamical explanation for their longevity has remained a mystery: differential precession should wipe out large-scale apsidal-alignment on a short timescale. Here we identify a new dynamical mechanism which stabilizes eccentric nuclear disks, and explain for the first time the negative eccentricity gradient seen in the Andromeda nucleus. The stabilizing mechanism drives oscillations of the eccentricity vectors of individual orbits, both in direction (about the mean body of the disk) and in magnitude. Combined with the negative eccentricity gradient, the eccentricity oscillations push some stars near the inner edge of the disk extremely close to the black hole, potentially leading to tidal disruption events (TDEs). Order of magnitude calculations predict extremely high rates in recently formed eccentric nuclear disks (∼0.1–1 ${\mathrm{yr}}^{-1}\,{\mathrm{gal}}^{-1}$). Unless the stellar disks are replenished, these rates should decrease with time as the disk depletes in mass. If eccentric nuclear disks form during gas-rich major mergers, this may explain the preferential occurrence of TDEs in recently merged and post-merger (E+A/K+A) galaxies.

We examine the generation of kappa distributions in the solar wind plasma near 1 au. Several mechanisms are mentioned in the literature, each characterized by a specific relationship between the solar wind plasma features, the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), and the kappa index—the parameter that governs the kappa distributions. This relationship serves as a signature condition that helps the identification of the mechanism in the plasma. In general, a mechanism that generates kappa distributions involves a single or a series of stochastic or physical processes that induces local correlations among particles. We identify three fundamental solar wind plasma conditions that can generate kappa distributions, noted as (i) Debye shielding, (ii) frozen IMF, and (iii) temperature fluctuations, each one prevailing in different scales of solar wind plasma and magnetic field properties. Moreover, our findings show that the kappa distributions, and thus, their generating mechanisms, vary significantly with solar wind features: (i) the kappa index has different dependence on the solar wind speed for slow and fast modes, i.e., slow wind is characterized by a quasi-constant kappa index, κ ≈ 4.3 ± 0.7, while fast wind exhibits kappa indices that increase with bulk speed; (ii) the dispersion of magnetosonic waves is more effective for lower kappa indices (i.e., further from thermal equilibrium); and (iii) the kappa and polytropic indices are positively correlated, as it was anticipated by the theory.

The evolution of photospheric flow and magnetic fields before and after flares can provide important information regarding the flare triggering and back-reaction processes. However, such studies on the flow field are rare due to the paucity of high-resolution observations covering the entire flaring period. Here we study the structural evolution of penumbra and shear flows associated with the 2015 June 22 M6.5 flare in NOAA AR 12371, using high-resolution imaging observation in the TiO band taken by the 1.6 m Goode Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory, with the aid of the differential affine velocity estimator method for flow tracking. The accompanied photospheric vector magnetic field changes are also analyzed using data from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager. As a result, we found, for a penumbral segment in the negative field adjacent to the magnetic polarity inversion line (PIL), an enhancement of penumbral flows (up to an unusually high value of ∼2 km s⁻¹) and extension of penumbral fibrils after the first peak of the flare hard X-ray emission. We also found an area at the PIL, which is co-spatial with a precursor brightening kernel, that exhibits a gradual increase of shear flow velocity (up to ∼0.9 km s⁻¹) after the flare. The enhancing penumbral and shear flow regions are also accompanied by an increase of horizontal field and decrease of magnetic inclination angle (measured from the solar surface). These results are discussed in the context of the theory of back-reaction of coronal restructuring on the photosphere as a result of flare energy release.

We present a nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic shallow-water model for the solar tachocline (MHD-SWT) that generates quasi-periodic tachocline nonlinear oscillations (TNOs) that can be identified with the recently discovered solar "seasons." We discuss the properties of the hydrodynamic and magnetohydrodynamic Rossby waves that interact with the differential rotation and toroidal fields to sustain these oscillations, which occur due to back-and-forth energy exchanges among potential, kinetic, and magnetic energies. We perform model simulations for a few years, for selected example cases, in both hydrodynamic and magnetohydrodynamic regimes and show that the TNOs are robust features of the MHD-SWT model, occurring with periods of 2–20 months. We find that in certain cases multiple unstable shallow-water modes govern the dynamics, and TNO periods vary with time. In hydrodynamically governed TNOs, the energy exchange mechanism is simple, occurring between the Rossby waves and differential rotation. But in MHD cases, energy exchange becomes much more complex, involving energy flow among six energy reservoirs by means of eight different energy conversion processes. For toroidal magnetic bands of 5 and 35 kG peak amplitudes, both placed at 45° latitude and oppositely directed in north and south hemispheres, we show that the energy transfers responsible for TNO, as well as westward phase propagation, are evident in synoptic maps of the flow, magnetic field, and tachocline top-surface deformations. Nonlinear mode–mode interaction is particularly dramatic in the strong-field case. We also find that the TNO period increases with a decrease in rotation rate, implying that the younger Sun had more frequent seasons.

A new processing method applied to Atmospheric Imaging Assembly/Solar Dynamic Observatory observations reveals continuous propagating faint motions throughout the corona. The amplitudes are small, typically 2% of the background intensity. An hour's data are processed from four AIA channels for a region near disk center, and the motions are characterized using an optical flow method. The motions trace the underlying large-scale magnetic field. The motion vector field describes large-scale coherent regions that tend to converge at narrow corridors. Large-scale vortices can also be seen. The hotter channels have larger-scale regions of coherent motion compared to the cooler channels, interpreted as the typical length of magnetic loops at different heights. Regions of low mean and high time variance in velocity are where the dominant motion component is along the line of sight as a result of a largely vertical magnetic field. The mean apparent magnitude of the optical velocities are a few tens of km s⁻¹, with different distributions in different channels. Over time, the velocities vary smoothly between a few km s⁻¹ to 100 km s⁻¹ or higher, varying on timescales of minutes. A clear bias of a few km s⁻¹ toward positive x-velocities is due to solar rotation and may be used as calibration in future work. All regions of the low corona thus experience a continuous stream of propagating disturbances at the limit of both spatial resolution and signal level. The method provides a powerful new diagnostic tool for tracing the magnetic field, and to probe motions at sub-pixel scales, with important implications for models of heating and of the magnetic field.

We present a uniform broadband X-ray (0.5–100.0 keV) spectral analysis of 12 Swift/Burst Alert Telescope selected Compton-thick ($\mathrm{log}{N}_{{\rm{H}}}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}\geqslant 24$) active galactic nuclei (CTAGNs) observed with Suzaku. The Suzaku data of three objects are published here for the first time. We fit the Suzaku and Swift spectra with models utilizing an analytic reflection code and those utilizing the Monte-Carlo-based model from an AGN torus by Ikeda et al. The main results are as follows: (1) The estimated intrinsic luminosity of a CTAGN strongly depends on the model; applying Compton scattering to the transmitted component in an analytic model may largely overestimate the intrinsic luminosity at large column densities. (2) Unabsorbed reflection components are commonly observed, suggesting that the tori are clumpy. (3) Most of CTAGNs show small scattering fractions (<0.5%), implying a buried AGN nature. (4) Comparison with the results obtained for Compton-thin AGNs suggests that the properties of these CTAGNs can be understood as a smooth extension from Compton-thin AGNs with heavier obscuration; we find no evidence that the bulk of the population of hard-X-ray-selected CTAGNs are different from less obscured objects.

The exocometary origin of CO gas has been confirmed in several extrasolar Kuiper belts, with CO ice abundances consistent with solar system comets. We here present a molecular survey of the β Pictoris belt with the Submillimeter Array (SMA), reporting upper limits for CN, HCN, HCO⁺, N₂H⁺, and H₂CO, as well as for H₂S, CH₃OH, SiO, and DCN from archival ALMA data. Nondetections can be attributed to rapid molecular photodissociation due to the A-star's strong UV flux. CN is the longest lasting and most easily detectable molecule after CO in this environment. We update our nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium excitation model to include UV fluorescence, finding it plays a key role in CO and CN excitation, and we use it to turn the SMA CN/CO flux ratio constraint into an upper limit of $\lt 2.5$% on the HCN/(CO+CO₂) ratio of outgassing rates. This value is consistent with, but at the low end of, the broad range observed in solar system comets. If sublimation dominates outgassing, then this low value may be caused by decreased outgassing for the less volatile molecule HCN compared to CO. If instead UV photodesorption or collisional vaporization of unbound grains dominates outgassing, then this low ratio of rates would imply a low ice abundance ratio, which would in turn indicate a variation in cometary cyanide abundances across planetary systems. To conclude, we make predictions for future molecular surveys and show that CN and HCN should be readily detectable with ALMA around β Pictoris for solar-system-like exocometary compositions.

We present a morphological study of the 17 lensed Lyα emitter (LAE) galaxies of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey Emission-Line Lens Survey (BELLS) for the GALaxy-Lyα EmitteR sYstems (BELLS GALLERY) sample. This analysis combines the magnification effect of strong galaxy–galaxy lensing with the high resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope to achieve a physical resolution of ∼80 pc for this 2 < z < 3 LAE sample, allowing a detailed characterization of the LAE rest-frame ultraviolet continuum surface brightness profiles and substructure. We use lens-model reconstructions of the LAEs to identify and model individual clumps, which we subsequently use to constrain the parameters of a generative statistical model of the LAE population. Since the BELLS GALLERY sample is selected primarily on the basis of Lyα emission, the LAEs that we study here are likely to be directly comparable to those selected in wide-field, narrowband LAE surveys, in contrast with the lensed LAEs identified in cluster-lensing fields. We find an LAE clumpiness fraction of approximately 88%, which is significantly higher than that found in previous (non-lensing) studies. We find a well-resolved characteristic clump half-light radii of ∼350 pc, a scale comparable to the largest H ii regions seen in the local universe. This statistical characterization of LAE surface-brightness profiles will be incorporated into future lensing analyses using the BELLS GALLERY sample to constrain the incidence of dark-matter substructure in the foreground lensing galaxies.

We revisit the proposed extended Schmidt law, which posits that the star formation efficiency in galaxies depends on the stellar mass surface density, by investigating spatially resolved star formation rates (SFRs), gas masses, and stellar masses of star formation regions in a vast range of galactic environments, from the outer disks of dwarf galaxies, to spiral disks and to merging galaxies, as well as individual molecular clouds in M33. We find that these regions are distributed in a tight power law as ${{\rm{\Sigma }}}_{\mathrm{SFR}}$ ∝ ${({{\rm{\Sigma }}}_{\mathrm{star}}^{0.5}{{\rm{\Sigma }}}_{\mathrm{gas}})}^{1.09}$, which is also valid for the integrated measurements of disk and merging galaxies at high-z. Interestingly, we show that star formation regions in the outer disks of dwarf galaxies with ${{\rm{\Sigma }}}_{\mathrm{SFR}}$ down to 10⁻⁵${M}_{\odot }$ yr⁻¹ kpc⁻², which are outliers of both the Kennicutt–Schmidt and Silk–Elmegreen laws, also follow the extended Schmidt law. Other outliers in the Kennicutt–Schmidt law, such as extremely metal-poor star formation regions, also show significantly reduced deviation from the extended Schmidt law. These results suggest an important role for existing stars in helping to regulate star formation through the effect of their gravity on the midplane pressure in a wide range of galactic environments.

A recent study of a small sample of X-ray binaries (XRBs) suggests a significant softening of spectra of neutron star (NS) binaries as compared to black hole (BH) binaries in the luminosity range 10³⁴–10³⁷ erg s⁻¹. This softening is quantified as an anticorrelation between the spectral index and the 0.5–10 keV X-ray luminosity. We extend the study to significantly lower luminosities (i.e., ∼a few × 10³⁰ erg s⁻¹) for a larger sample of XRBs. We find evidence for a significant anticorrelation between the spectral index and the luminosity for a group of NS binaries in the luminosity range 10³²–10³³ erg s⁻¹. Our analysis suggests a steep slope for the correlation i.e., −2.12 ± 0.63. In contrast, BH binaries do not exhibit the same behavior. We examine the possible dichotomy between NS and BH binaries in terms of a Comptonization model that assumes a feedback mechanism between an optically thin hot corona and an optically thick cool source of soft photons. We gauge the NS–BH dichotomy by comparing the extracted corona temperatures, Compton-y parameters, and the Comptonization amplification factors: the mean temperature of the NS group is found to be significantly lower than the equivalent temperature for the BH group. The extracted Compton-y parameters and the amplification factors follow the theoretically predicted relation with the spectral index.

This paper presents a spectroscopic investigation of 11 ${\rm{H}}\,{\rm{II}}$ regions in the nearby galaxy NGC 2403. The ${\rm{H}}\,{\rm{II}}$ regions are observed with a long-slit spectrograph mounted on the 2.16 m telescope at XingLong station of National Astronomical Observatories of China. For each of the ${\rm{H}}\,{\rm{II}}$ regions, spectra are extracted at different nebular radii along the slit-coverage. Oxygen abundances are empirically estimated from the strong-line indices R23, $N2O2$, $O3N2$, and N2 for each spectrophotometric unit, with both observation- and model-based calibrations adopted into the derivation. Radial profiles of these diversely estimated abundances are drawn for each nebula. In the results, the oxygen abundances separately estimated with the prescriptions on the basis of observations and models, albeit from the same spectral index, systematically deviate from each other; at the same time, the spectral indices R23 and $N2O2$ are distributed with flat profiles, whereas N2 and $O3N2$ exhibit apparent gradients with the nebular radius. Because our study naturally samples various ionization levels, which inherently decline at larger radii within individual ${\rm{H}}\,{\rm{II}}$ regions, the radial distributions indicate not only the robustness of R23 and $N2O2$ against ionization variations but also the sensitivity of N2 and $O3N2$ to the ionization parameter. The results in this paper provide observational corroboration of the theoretical prediction about the deviation in the empirical abundance diagnostics. Our future work is planned to investigate metal-poor ${\rm{H}}\,{\rm{II}}$ regions with measurable T_e, in an attempt to recalibrate the strong-line indices and consequently disclose the cause of the discrepancies between the empirical oxygen abundances.

Spectral line surveys reveal rich molecular reservoirs in G331.512–0.103, a compact radio source in the center of an energetic molecular outflow. In this first work, we analyze the physical conditions of the source by means of CH₃OH and CH₃CN. The observations were performed with the APEX Telescope. Six different system configurations were defined to cover most of the band within (292–356) GHz; as a consequence, we detected a forest of lines toward the central core. A total of 70 lines of A/E–CH₃OH and A/E–CH₃CN were analyzed, including torsionally excited transitions of CH₃OH (${\nu }_{t}=1$). In a search for all the isotopologues, we identified transitions of ¹³CH₃OH. The physical conditions were derived considering collisional and radiative processes. We found common temperatures for each A and E symmetry of CH₃OH and CH₃CN; the derived column densities indicate an A/E equilibrated ratio for both tracers. The results reveal that CH₃CN and CH₃OH trace a hot and cold component with ${T}_{k}\sim 141$ K and ${T}_{k}\sim 74$ K, respectively. In agreement with previous ALMA observations, the models show that the emission region is compact ($\lesssim 5\buildrel{\prime\prime}\over{.} 5$) with gas density n(H₂) = (0.7–1)×10⁷ cm⁻³. The CH₃OH/CH₃CN abundance ratio and the evidences for prebiotic and complex organic molecules suggest a rich and active chemistry toward G331.512–0.103.

The heating of the solar wind is key to understanding its dynamics and acceleration process. The observed radial decrease of the proton temperature in the solar wind is slow compared to the adiabatic prediction, and it is thought to be caused by turbulent dissipation. To generate the observed 1/R decrease, the dissipation rate has to reach a specific level that varies in turn with temperature, wind speed, and heliocentric distance. We want to prove that MHD turbulent simulations can lead to the 1/R profile. We consider here the slow solar wind, characterized by a quasi-2D spectral anisotropy. We use the expanding box model equations, which incorporate into 3D MHD equations the expansion due to the mean radial wind, allowing us to follow the plasma evolution between 0.2 and 1 au. We vary the initial parameters: Mach number, expansion parameter, plasma β, and properties of the energy spectrum as the spectral range and slope. Assuming turbulence starts at 0.2 au with a Mach number equal to unity, with a 3D spectrum mainly perpendicular to the mean field, we find radial temperature profiles close to 1/R on average. This is done at the price of limiting the initial spectral extent, corresponding to the small number of modes in the inertial range available, due to the modest Reynolds number reachable with high Mach numbers.

The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) gamma-ray observatory is a wide field of view observatory sensitive to 500 GeV–100 TeV gamma-rays and cosmic rays. It can also perform diverse indirect searches for dark matter annihilation and decay. Among the most promising targets for the indirect detection of dark matter are dwarf spheroidal galaxies. These objects are expected to have few astrophysical sources of gamma-rays but high dark matter content, making them ideal candidates for an indirect dark matter detection with gamma-rays. Here we present individual limits on the annihilation cross section and decay lifetime for 15 dwarf spheroidal galaxies within the field of view, as well as their combined limit. These are the first limits on the annihilation cross section and decay lifetime using data collected with HAWC. We also present the HAWC flux upper limits of the 15 dwarf spheroidal galaxies in half-decade energy bins.

Using a novel approach, we study the quenching and bursting of galaxies as a function of stellar mass (M_*), local environment (Σ), and specific star formation rate (sSFR) using a large spectroscopic sample of ∼123,000 GALEX/SDSS and ∼420 GALEX/COSMOS/LEGA-C galaxies to z ∼ 1. We show that out to z ∼ 1 and at fixed sSFR and local density, on average, less massive galaxies are quenching, whereas more massive systems are bursting, with a quenching/bursting transition at $\mathrm{log}({M}_{* }/{M}_{\odot })\sim 10.5\mbox{--}11$ and likely a short quenching/bursting timescale (≲300 Myr). We find that much of the bursting of star formation happens in massive ($\mathrm{log}({M}_{* }/{M}_{\odot })\gtrsim 11$), high-sSFR galaxies (log(sSFR/Gyr⁻¹) ≳ −2), particularly those in the field (log(Σ/Mpc⁻²) ≲0 and, among group galaxies, satellites more than centrals). Most of the quenching of star formation happens in low-mass ($\mathrm{log}({M}_{* }/{M}_{\odot })\lesssim 9$), low-sSFR galaxies (log(sSFR/Gyr⁻¹) ≲ −2), in particular those located in dense environments (log(Σ/Mpc⁻²) ≳1), indicating the combined effects of M_* and Σ in the quenching/bursting of galaxies since z ∼ 1. However, we find that stellar mass has stronger effects than environment on the recent quenching/bursting of galaxies to z ∼ 1. At any given M_*, sSFR, and environment, centrals are quenchier (quenching faster) than satellites in an average sense. We also find evidence for the strength of mass and environmental quenching being stronger at higher redshift. Our preliminary results have potential implications for the physics of quenching/bursting in galaxies across cosmic time.

There is growing evidence that some Be stars were spun up through mass transfer in a close binary system, leaving the former mass donor star as a hot, stripped-down object. There are five known cases of Be stars with hot subdwarf (sdO) companions that were discovered through International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) spectroscopy. Here we expand the search for Be+sdO candidates using archival FUV spectra from IUE. We collected IUE spectra for 264 stars and formed cross-correlation functions with a model spectrum for a hot subdwarf. Twelve new candidate Be+sdO systems were found, and eight of these display radial velocity variations associated with orbital motion. The new plus known Be+sdO systems have Be stars with spectral subtypes of B0–B3, and the lack of later-type systems is surprising given the large number of cooler B-stars in our sample. We discuss explanations for the observed number and spectral type distribution of the Be+sdO systems, and we argue that there are probably many Be systems with stripped companions that are too faint for detection through our analysis.

We present NuSTAR observations of the luminous neutron star low-mass X-ray binary (NS LMXB) and Z source GX 5−1. During our three observations made with separations of roughly two days, the source traced out an almost complete Z track. We extract spectra from the various branches and fit them with a continuum model that has been successfully applied to other Z sources. Surprisingly, and unlike most of the (luminous) NS-LMXBs observed with NuSTAR, we do not find evidence for reflection features in any of the spectra of GX 5−1. We discuss several possible explanations for the absence of reflection features. Based on a comparison with other accreting neutron star systems, and given the high luminosity of GX 5−1 (∼1.6–2.3 times the Eddington luminosity, for a distance of 9 kpc), we consider a highly ionized disk the most likely explanation for the absence of reflection features in GX 5−1.

Spectroscopic observations made by the Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) during the 2012 March 7 X5.4-class flare (SOL2012-03-07T00:07) are analyzed for signatures of the non-Maxwellian κ-distributions. Observed spectra were averaged over 1 minute to increase photon statistics in weaker lines and the pre-flare spectrum was subtracted. Synthetic line intensities for the κ-distributions are calculated using the KAPPA database. We find strong departures (κ ≲ 2) during the early and impulsive phases of the flare, with subsequent thermalization of the flare plasma during the gradual phase. If the temperatures are diagnosed from a single line ratio, the results are strongly dependent on the value of κ. For κ = 2, we find temperatures about a factor of two higher than the commonly used Maxwellian ones. The non-Maxwellian effects could also cause the temperatures diagnosed from line ratios and from the ratio of GOES X-ray channels to be different. Multithermal analysis reveals the plasma to be strongly multithermal at all times with flat DEMs. For lower κ, the ${\mathrm{DEM}}_{\kappa }$ are shifted toward higher temperatures. The only parameter that is nearly independent of κ is electron density, where we find log$({n}_{{\rm{e}}}\,[{\mathrm{cm}}^{-3}])$ ≈ 11.5 almost independently of time. We conclude that the non-Maxwellian effects are important and should be taken into account when analyzing solar flare observations, including spectroscopic and imaging ones.

High-redshift blazars are one of the most powerful sources in the universe and γ-ray variability carries crucial information about their relativistic jets. In this work we present results of the first systematical temporal analysis of Fermi-LAT data of all known seven γ-ray blazars beyond redshift 3. Significant long-term γ-ray variability is found from five sources in monthly γ-ray light curves, in which three of them are reported for the first time. Furthermore, intraday γ-ray variations are detected from NVSS J053954−283956 and NVSS J080518+614423. The doubling variability timescale of the former source is limited as short as ≲1 hr (at the source frame). Together with variability amplitude over one order of magnitude, NVSS J053954−283956 is the most distant γ-ray flaring blazar so far. Meanwhile, intraday optical variability of NVSS J163547+362930 is found based on an archival PTF/iPTF light curve. Benefiting from the multi-wavelength activity of these sources, constraints on their Doppler factors, as well as the locations of the γ-ray radiation region and indications for the SDSS high redshift jetted active galactic nuclei deficit are discussed.

We study the core mass function (CMF) of the massive protocluster G286.21+0.17 with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array via 1.3 mm continuum emission at a resolution of 10 (2500 au). We have mapped a field of 53 × 53 centered on the protocluster clump. We measure the CMF in the central region, exploring various core detection algorithms, which give source numbers ranging from 60 to 125, depending on parameter selection. We estimate completeness corrections due to imperfect flux recovery and core identification via artificial core insertion experiments. For masses M ≳ 1 M_⊙, the fiducial dendrogram-identified CMF can be fit with a power law of the form dN/dlog M ∝ M^−α with α ≃ 1.24 ± 0.17, slightly shallower than, but still consistent with, the index of the Salpeter stellar initial mass function of 1.35. Clumpfind-identified CMFs are significantly shallower with α ≃ 0.64 ± 0.13. While raw CMFs show a peak near 1 M_⊙, completeness-corrected CMFs are consistent with a single power law extending down to ∼0.5 M_⊙, with only a tentative indication of a shallowing of the slope around ∼1 M_⊙. We discuss the implications of these results for star and star cluster formation theories.

Time–distance helioseismology measures acoustic travel times to infer the structure and flow field of the solar interior; however, both the mean travel times and the travel-time shifts suffer systematic center-to-limb variations, which complicate the interpretation and inversions of the time–distance measurements. In particular, the center-to-limb variation in travel-time shifts (CtoL effect) has a significant impact on the inference of the Sun's meridional circulation, and needs to be removed from the helioseismic measurements, although the observational properties and the physical cause of the CtoL effect have yet to be investigated. In this study, we measure the CtoL effect in the frequency domain using Doppler-velocity data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager, and study its properties as a function of disk-centric distance, travel distance, and frequency of acoustic waves. It is found that the CtoL effect has a significant frequency dependence—it reverses sign at a frequency around 5.4 mHz and reaches maximum at around 4.0 mHz before the sign reversal. The tendency of frequency dependence varies with disk-centric distance in a way that both the sign-reversal frequency and the maximum-value frequency decrease closer to the limb. The variation tendency does not change with travel distance, but the variation magnitude is approximately proportional to travel distance. For comparison, the flow-induced travel-time shifts show little frequency dependence. These observational properties provide more clues on the nature of the CtoL effect, and also possibly lead to new ways of effect-removal for a more robust determination of the deep meridional flow.

We present Atacama Large Millimeter Array observations at an angular resolution of 01–02 of the disk surrounding the young Herbig Ae star MWC 758. The data consist of images of the dust continuum emission recorded at 0.88 millimeter, as well as images of the ¹³CO and C¹⁸O J = 3–2 emission lines. The dust continuum emission is characterized by a large cavity of roughly 40 au in radius which might contain a mildly inner warped disk. The outer disk features two bright emission clumps at radii of ∼47 and 82 au that present azimuthal extensions and form a double-ring structure. The comparison with radiative transfer models indicates that these two maxima of emission correspond to local increases in the dust surface density of about a factor 2.5 and 6.5 for the south and north clumps, respectively. The optically thick ¹³CO peak emission, which traces the temperature, and the dust continuum emission, which probes the disk midplane, additionally reveal two spirals previously detected in near-IR at the disk surface. The spirals seen in the dust continuum emission present, however, a slight shift of a few au toward larger radii and one of the spirals crosses the south dust clump. Finally, we present different scenarios to explain the complex structure of the disk.

We use an end-to-end model of planet formation, thermodynamic evolution, and atmospheric escape to investigate how the statistical imprints of evaporation depend on the bulk composition of planetary cores (rocky versus icy). We find that the population-wide imprints like the location of the "evaporation valley" in the distance–radius plane and the corresponding bimodal radius distribution clearly differ depending on the bulk composition of the cores. Comparison with the observed position of the valley suggests that close-in low-mass Kepler planets have a predominantly Earth-like rocky composition. Combined with the excess of period ratios outside of MMR, this suggests that low-mass Kepler planets formed inside of the water iceline but were still undergoing orbital migration. The core radius becomes visible for planets losing all primordial H/He. For planets in this "triangle of evaporation" in the distance–radius plane, the degeneracy in composition is reduced. In the observed planetary mass–mean density diagram, we identify a trend to more volatile-rich compositions with an increasing radius (R/R_⊕ ≲ 1.6 rocky; 1.6–3.0 ices, and/or H/He; ≳3: H/He). The mass–density diagram contains important information about formation and evolution. Its characteristic broken V-shape reveals the transitions from solid planets to low-mass core-dominated planets with H/He and finally to gas-dominated giants. Evaporation causes the density and orbital distance to be anticorrelated for low-mass planets in contrast to giants, where closer-in planets are less dense, likely due to inflation. The temporal evolution of the statistical properties reported here will be of interest for the PLATO 2.0 mission, which will observe the temporal dimension.

We report on the first detection of a global change in the X-ray emitting properties of a wind–wind collision, thanks to XMM-Newton observations of the massive Small Magellenic Cloud (SMC) system HD 5980. While its light curve had remained unchanged between 2000 and 2005, the X-ray flux has now increased by a factor of ∼2.5, and slightly hardened. The new observations also extend the observational coverage over the entire orbit, pinpointing the light-curve shape. It has not varied much despite the large overall brightening, and a tight correlation of fluxes with orbital separation is found without any hysteresis effect. Moreover, the absence of eclipses and of absorption effects related to orientation suggests a large size for the X-ray emitting region. Simple analytical models of the wind–wind collision, considering the varying wind properties of the eruptive component in HD 5980, are able to reproduce the recent hardening and the flux-separation relationship, at least qualitatively, but they predict a hardening at apastron and little change in mean flux, contrary to observations. The brightness change could then possibly be related to a recently theorized phenomenon linked to the varying strength of thin-shell instabilities in shocked wind regions.

We present a detailed X-ray spectral study of the quasar PG 1211+143 based on Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer (HETGS) observations collected in a multi-wavelength campaign with UV data using the Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (HST-COS) and radio bands using the Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). We constructed a multi-wavelength ionizing spectral energy distribution using these observations and archival infrared data to create xstar photoionization models specific to the PG 1211+143 flux behavior during the epoch of our observations. Our analysis of the Chandra-HETGS spectra yields complex absorption lines from H-like and He-like ions of Ne, Mg, and Si, which confirm the presence of an ultra-fast outflow (UFO) with a velocity of approximately −17,300 km s⁻¹ (outflow redshift z_out ∼ −0.0561) in the rest frame of PG 1211+143. This absorber is well described by an ionization parameter $\mathrm{log}\xi \sim 2.9\,\mathrm{erg}\,{{\rm{s}}}^{-1}\,\mathrm{cm}$ and column density $\mathrm{log}{N}_{{\rm{H}}}\sim 21.5\,{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}$. This corresponds to a stable region of the absorber's thermal stability curve, and furthermore its implied neutral hydrogen column is broadly consistent with a broad Lyα absorption line at a mean outflow velocity of approximately −16,980 km s⁻¹ detected by our HST-COS observations. Our findings represent the first simultaneous detection of a UFO in both X-ray and UV observations. Our VLA observations provide evidence for an active jet in PG 1211+143, which may be connected to the X-ray and UV outflows; this possibility can be evaluated using very-long-baseline interferometric observations.

We observed the quasar PG 1211+143 using the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope in 2015 April as part of a joint campaign with the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Jansky Very Large Array. Our ultraviolet spectra cover the wavelength range 912–2100 Å. We find a broad absorption feature ($\sim 1080\,\mathrm{km}\,{{\rm{s}}}^{-1}$) at an observed wavelength of 1240 Å. Interpreting this as H i Lyα, in the rest frame of PG 1211+143 (z = 0.0809), this corresponds to an outflow velocity of −16,980 $\mathrm{km}\,{{\rm{s}}}^{-1}$ (outflow redshift ${z}_{\mathrm{out}}\sim -0.0551$), matching the moderate ionization X-ray absorption system detected in our Chandra observation and reported previously by Pounds et al. With a minimum H i column density of $\mathrm{log}\,{N}_{{\rm{H}}{\rm{I}}}\gt 14.5$, and no absorption in other UV resonance lines, this Lyα absorber is consistent with arising in the same ultrafast outflow as the X-ray absorbing gas. The Lyα feature is weak or absent in archival ultraviolet spectra of PG 1211+143, strongly suggesting that this absorption is transient, and intrinsic to PG 1211+143. Such a simultaneous detection in two independent wavebands for the first time gives strong confirmation of the reality of an ultrafast outflow in an active galactic nucleus.

We present the discovery of strong Balmer line absorption in Hα to Hγ in two luminous low-ionization broad absorption line quasars at $z\sim 1.5$, with black hole masses around ${10}^{10}\ {M}_{\odot }$ from near-IR spectroscopy. There are only two previously known quasars at $z\gt 1.0$ showing Balmer line absorption. SDSS J1019+0225 shows blueshifted absorption by ∼1400 km s⁻¹ with an Hα rest-frame equivalent width of 13 Å. In SDSS J0859+4239, we find redshifted absorption by ∼500 km s⁻¹ with an Hα rest-frame equivalent width of 7 Å. The redshifted absorption could indicate an inflow of high-density gas onto the black hole, though we cannot rule out alternative interpretations. The Balmer line absorption in both objects appears to be saturated, indicating partial coverage of the background source by the absorber. We estimate the covering fractions and optical depth of the absorber and derive neutral hydrogen column densities, N_{H i} ∼ 1.3 × 10¹⁸ cm⁻² for SDSS J1019+0225 and N_{H i} ∼ 9 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻² for SDSS J0859+4239. In addition, the optical spectra reveal also absorption troughs in He i* $\lambda 3889$ and $\lambda 3189$ in both objects.

M2–9, or the "Minkowski's Butterfly," is one of the most iconic outflow sources from an evolved star. In this paper we present a hydrodynamic model of M2–9 in which the nebula is formed and shaped by a steady, low-density ("light"), mildly collimated "spray" of gas injected at 200 km s⁻¹ that interacts with a far denser, intrinsically simple pre-existing AGB wind that has slowly formed all of the complex features within M2–9's lobes (including the knot pairs N3/S3 and N4/S4 at their respective leading edges, and the radial gradient of Doppler shifts within 20'' of the nucleus). We emphasize that the knot pairs are not ejected from the star but formed in situ. In addition, the observed radial speed of the knots is only indirectly related to the speed of the gas injected by the star. The model allows us to probe the early history of the wind geometry and lobe formation. We also formulate a new estimate of the nebular distance D = 1.3 kpc. The physical mechanism that accounts for the linear radial speed gradient in M2–9 applies generally to many other pre-planetary nebulae whose hollow lobes exhibit similar gradients along their edges.

We present H¹³CO⁺ (J = 1–0) and HNC (J = 1–0) maps of regions in Serpens South, Serpens Main, and NGC 1333 containing filaments. We also observe the Serpens regions using H¹³CN (J = 1–0). These dense gas tracer molecular line observations carried out with CARMA have an angular resolution of ∼7'', a spectral resolution of ∼0.16 km s⁻¹, and a sensitivity of 50–100 mJy beam⁻¹. Although the large-scale structure compares well with the Herschel dust continuum maps, we resolve finer structure within the filaments identified by Herschel. The H¹³CO⁺ emission distribution agrees with the existing CARMA N₂H⁺ (J = 1–0) maps, so they trace the same morphology and kinematics of the filaments. The H¹³CO⁺ maps additionally reveal that many regions have multiple structures partially overlapping in the line of sight. In two regions, the velocity differences are as high as 1.4 km s⁻¹. We identify eight filamentary structures having typical widths of 0.03–0.08 pc in these tracers. At least 50% of the filamentary structures have distinct velocity gradients perpendicular to their major axis, with average values in the range of 4–10 km s⁻¹ pc⁻¹. These findings are in support of the theoretical models of filament formation by 2D inflow in the shock layer created by colliding turbulent cells. We also find evidence of velocity gradients along the length of two filamentary structures; the gradients suggest that these filaments are inflowing toward the cloud core.

The accurate description of neutrino opacities is central to both the core-collapse supernova (CCSN) phenomenon and the validity of the explosion mechanism itself. In this work, we study in a systematic fashion the role of a variety of well-selected neutrino opacities in CCSN simulations where the multi-energy, three-flavor neutrino transport is solved using the isotropic diffusion source approximation (IDSA) scheme. To verify our code, we first present results from one-dimensional (1D) simulations following the core collapse, bounce, and ∼250 ms postbounce of a $15\,{M}_{\odot }$ star using a standard set of neutrino opacities by Bruenn. A detailed comparison with published results supports the reliability of our three-flavor IDSA scheme using the standard opacity set. We then investigate in 1D simulations how individual opacity updates lead to differences with the baseline run with the standard opacity set. Through detailed comparisons with previous work, we check the validity of our implementation of each update in a step-by-step manner. Individual neutrino opacities with the largest impact on the overall evolution in 1D simulations are selected for systematic comparisons in our two-dimensional (2D) simulations. Special attention is given to the criterion of explodability in the 2D models. We discuss the implications of these results as well as its limitations and the requirements for future, more elaborate CCSN modeling.

We report ALMA observations with resolution ≈05 at 3 mm of the extended Sgr B2 cloud in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ). We detect 271 compact sources, most of which are smaller than 5000 au. By ruling out alternative possibilities, we conclude that these sources consist of a mix of hypercompact H ii regions and young stellar objects (YSOs). Most of the newly detected sources are YSOs with gas envelopes that, based on their luminosities, must contain objects with stellar masses ${M}_{* }\gtrsim 8\,{M}_{\odot }$. Their spatial distribution spread over a ∼12 × 3 pc region demonstrates that Sgr B2 is experiencing an extended star formation event, not just an isolated "starburst" within the protocluster regions. Using this new sample, we examine star formation thresholds and surface density relations in Sgr B2. While all of the YSOs reside in regions of high column density ($N({{\rm{H}}}_{2})\gtrsim 2\times {10}^{23}\,{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}$), not all regions of high column density contain YSOs. The observed column density threshold for star formation is substantially higher than that in solar vicinity clouds, implying either that high-mass star formation requires a higher column density or that any star formation threshold in the CMZ must be higher than in nearby clouds. The relation between the surface density of gas and stars is incompatible with extrapolations from local clouds, and instead stellar densities in Sgr B2 follow a linear ${{\rm{\Sigma }}}_{* }\mbox{--}{{\rm{\Sigma }}}_{\mathrm{gas}}$ relation, shallower than that observed in local clouds. Together, these points suggest that a higher volume density threshold is required to explain star formation in CMZ clouds.

We present a new technique to measure multi-wavelength "super-deblended" photometry from highly confused images, which we apply to Herschel and ground-based far-infrared (FIR) and (sub-)millimeter (mm) data in the northern field of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey. There are two key novelties. First, starting with a large database of deep Spitzer 24 μm and VLA 20 cm detections that are used to define prior positions for fitting the FIR/submm data, we perform an active selection of useful priors independently at each frequency band, moving from less to more confused bands. Exploiting knowledge of redshift and all available photometry, we identify hopelessly faint priors that we remove from the fitting pool. This approach significantly reduces blending degeneracies and allows reliable photometry to be obtained for galaxies in FIR+mm bands. Second, we obtain well-behaved, nearly Gaussian flux density uncertainties, individually tailored to all fitted priors for each band. This is done by exploiting extensive simulations that allow us to calibrate the conversion of formal fitting uncertainties to realistic uncertainties, depending on directly measurable quantities. We achieve deeper detection limits with high fidelity measurements and uncertainties at FIR+mm bands. As an illustration of the utility of these measurements, we identify 70 galaxies with $z\geqslant 3$ and reliable FIR+mm detections. We present new constraints on the cosmic star formation rate density at $3\lt z\lt 6$, finding a significant contribution from $z\geqslant 3$ dusty galaxies that are missed by optical-to-near-infrared color selection. Photometric measurements for 3306 priors, including more than 1000 FIR+mm detections, are released publicly with our catalog.

Gas blown away from galactic disks by supernova (SN) feedback plays a key role in galaxy evolution. We investigate outflows utilizing the solar neighborhood model of our high-resolution, local galactic disk simulation suite, TIGRESS. In our numerical implementation, star formation and SN feedback are self-consistently treated and well resolved in the multiphase, turbulent, magnetized interstellar medium. Bursts of star formation produce spatially and temporally correlated SNe that drive strong outflows, consisting of hot ($T\gt 5\times {10}^{5}\,{\rm{K}}$) winds and warm ($5050\,{\rm{K}}\lt T\lt 2\times {10}^{4}\,{\rm{K}}$) fountains. The hot gas at distance $d\gt 1\,\mathrm{kpc}$ from the midplane has mass and energy fluxes nearly constant with d. The hot flow escapes our local Cartesian box barely affected by gravity, and is expected to accelerate up to terminal velocity of ${v}_{\mathrm{wind}}\sim 350\mbox{--}500\,\mathrm{km}\ {{\rm{s}}}^{-1}$. The mean mass and energy loading factors of the hot wind are 0.1 and 0.02, respectively. For warm gas, the mean outward mass flux through $d=1\,\mathrm{kpc}$ is comparable to the mean star formation rate, but only a small fraction of this gas is at velocity $\gt 50\,\mathrm{km}\ {{\rm{s}}}^{-1}$. Thus, the warm outflows eventually fall back as inflows. The warm fountain flows are created by expanding hot superbubbles at $d\lt 1\,\mathrm{kpc};$ at larger d neither ram pressure acceleration nor cooling transfers significant momentum or energy flux from the hot wind to the warm outflow. The velocity distribution at launching near $d\sim 1\,\mathrm{kpc}$ is a better representation of warm outflows than a single mass loading factor, potentially enabling development of subgrid models for warm galactic winds in arbitrary large-scale galactic potentials.

Magnetic turbulence in accretion disks under ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) conditions is expected to be driven by the magneto-rotational instability (MRI) followed by secondary parasitic instabilities. We develop a three-dimensional ideal MHD code that can accurately resolve turbulent structures, and carry out simulations with a net vertical magnetic field in a local shearing box disk model to investigate the role of parasitic instabilities in the formation process of magnetic turbulence. Our simulations reveal that a highly anisotropic Kelvin–Helmholtz (K–H) mode parasitic instability evolves just before the first peak in turbulent stress and then breaks large-scale shear flows created by MRI. The wavenumber of the enhanced parasitic instability is larger than the theoretical estimate, because the shear flow layers sometimes become thinner than those assumed in the linear analysis. We also find that interaction between antiparallel vortices caused by the K–H mode parasitic instability induces small-scale waves that break the shear flows. On the other hand, at repeated peaks in the nonlinear phase, anisotropic wavenumber spectra are observed only in the small wavenumber region and isotropic waves dominate at large wavenumbers unlike for the first peak. Restructured channel flows due to MRI at the peaks in nonlinear phase seem to be collapsed by the advection of small-scale shear structures into the restructured flow and resultant mixing.

We present the molecular cloud properties of N55 in the Large Magellanic Cloud using ¹²CO(1–0) and ¹³CO(1–0) observations obtained with Atacama Large Millimeter Array. We have done a detailed study of molecular gas properties, to understand how the cloud properties of N55 differ from Galactic clouds. Most CO emission appears clumpy in N55, and molecular cores that have young stellar objects (YSOs) show larger linewidths and masses. The massive clumps are associated with high and intermediate mass YSOs. The clump masses are determined by local thermodynamic equilibrium and virial analysis of the ¹²CO and ¹³CO emissions. These mass estimates lead to the conclusion that (a) the clumps are in self-gravitational virial equilibrium, and (b) the ¹²CO(1–0)-to-H₂ conversion factor, ${X}_{\mathrm{CO}}$, is 6.5 × 10²⁰ cm⁻² (K km s⁻¹)⁻¹. This CO-to-H₂ conversion factor for N55 clumps is measured at a spatial scale of ∼0.67 pc, which is about two times higher than the ${X}_{\mathrm{CO}}$ value of the Orion cloud at a similar spatial scale. The core mass function of N55 clearly show a turnover below 200 ${M}_{\odot }$, separating the low-mass end from the high-mass end. The low-mass end of the ¹²CO mass spectrum is fitted with a power law of index 0.5 ± 0.1, while for ¹³CO it is fitted with a power law index 0.6 ± 0.2. In the high-mass end, the core mass spectrum is fitted with a power index of 2.0 ± 0.3 for ¹²CO, and with 2.5 ± 0.4 for ¹³CO. This power law behavior of the core mass function in N55 is consistent with many Galactic clouds.

We report on the discovery of periodic coronal rain in an off-limb sequence of Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly images. The showers are co-spatial and in phase with periodic (6.6 hr) intensity pulsations of coronal loops of the sort described by Auchère et al. and Froment et al. These new observations make possible a unified description of both phenomena. Coronal rain and periodic intensity pulsations of loops are two manifestations of the same physical process: evaporation/condensation cycles resulting from a state of thermal nonequilibrium. The fluctuations around coronal temperatures produce the intensity pulsations of loops, and rain falls along their legs if thermal runaway cools the periodic condensations down and below transition-region temperatures. This scenario is in line with the predictions of numerical models of quasi-steadily and footpoint heated loops. The presence of coronal rain—albeit non-periodic—in several other structures within the studied field of view implies that this type of heating is at play on a large scale.

We present an analysis of 55 central galaxies in clusters and groups with molecular gas masses and star formation rates lying between ${10}^{8}\,\mathrm{and}\,{10}^{11}\ {M}_{\odot }$ and 0.5 and 270 ${M}_{\odot }\ {\mathrm{yr}}^{-1}$, respectively. Molecular gas mass is correlated with star formation rate, Hα line luminosity, and central atmospheric gas density. Molecular gas is detected only when the central cooling time or entropy index of the hot atmosphere falls below ∼1 Gyr or ∼35 keV cm², respectively, at a (resolved) radius of 10 kpc. These correlations indicate that the molecular gas condensed from hot atmospheres surrounding the central galaxies. We explore the origins of thermally unstable cooling by evaluating whether molecular gas becomes prevalent when the minimum of the cooling to free-fall time ratio (${t}_{\mathrm{cool}}/{t}_{\mathrm{ff}}$) falls below ∼10. We find that (1) molecular gas-rich systems instead lie between $10\lt \min ({t}_{\mathrm{cool}}/{t}_{\mathrm{ff}})\lt 25$, where ${t}_{\mathrm{cool}}/{t}_{\mathrm{ff}}=25$ corresponds approximately to cooling time and entropy thresholds of 1 Gyr and $35\,\mathrm{keV}\,{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$, respectively; (2) $\min ({t}_{\mathrm{cool}}/{t}_{\mathrm{ff}}$) is uncorrelated with molecular gas mass and jet power; and (3) the narrow range $10\lt \min ({t}_{\mathrm{cool}}/{t}_{\mathrm{ff}})\lt 25$ can be explained by an observational selection effect, although a real physical effect cannot be excluded. These results and the absence of isentropic cores in cluster atmospheres are in tension with models that assume thermal instability ensues from linear density perturbations in hot atmospheres when ${t}_{\mathrm{cool}}/{t}_{\mathrm{ff}}\lesssim 10$. Some of the molecular gas may instead have condensed from atmospheric gas lifted outward by buoyantly rising X-ray bubbles or by dynamically induced uplift (e.g., mergers, sloshing).

We analyze solar elemental abundances in coronal post-flare loops of an X8.3 flare (SOL2017-09-10T16:06) observed on the west limb on 2017 September 10 near 18 UT using spectra recorded by the Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on the Hinode spacecraft. The abundances in the corona can differ from photospheric abundances due to the first ionization potential (FIP) effect. In some loops of this flare, we find that the abundances appear to be coronal at the loop apices or cusps, but steadily transform from coronal to photospheric as the loop footpoint is approached. This result is found from the intensity ratio of a low-FIP ion spectral line (Ca xiv) to a high-FIP ion spectral line (Ar xiv) formed at about the same temperature (4–5 MK). Both lines are observed close in wavelength. Temperature, which could alter the interpretation, does not appear to be a factor based on intensity ratios of Ca xv lines to a Ca xiv line. We discuss the abundance result in terms of the Laming model of the FIP effect, which is explained by the action of the ponderomotive force in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves in coronal loops and in the underlying chromosphere.

This paper provides an update of our previous scaling relations between galaxy-integrated molecular gas masses, stellar masses, and star formation rates (SFRs), in the framework of the star formation main sequence (MS), with the main goal of testing for possible systematic effects. For this purpose our new study combines three independent methods of determining molecular gas masses from CO line fluxes, far-infrared dust spectral energy distributions, and ∼1 mm dust photometry, in a large sample of 1444 star-forming galaxies between z = 0 and 4. The sample covers the stellar mass range log(M_*/M_⊙) = 9.0–11.8, and SFRs relative to that on the MS, δMS = SFR/SFR(MS), from 10^−1.3 to 10^2.2. Our most important finding is that all data sets, despite the different techniques and analysis methods used, follow the same scaling trends, once method-to-method zero-point offsets are minimized and uncertainties are properly taken into account. The molecular gas depletion time t_depl, defined as the ratio of molecular gas mass to SFR, scales as (1 + z)^−0.6 × (δMS)^−0.44 and is only weakly dependent on stellar mass. The ratio of molecular to stellar mass μ_gas depends on ($1+z{)}^{2.5}\times {(\delta \mathrm{MS})}^{0.52}\times {({M}_{* })}^{-0.36}$, which tracks the evolution of the specific SFR. The redshift dependence of μ_gas requires a curvature term, as may the mass dependences of t_depl and μ_gas. We find no or only weak correlations of t_depl and μ_gas with optical size R or surface density once one removes the above scalings, but we caution that optical sizes may not be appropriate for the high gas and dust columns at high z.

Hitomi made the first direct measurements of galaxy cluster gas motions in the Perseus cluster, which implied that its core is fairly "quiescent," with velocities less than ∼200 km s⁻¹, despite the presence of an active galactic nucleus and sloshing cold fronts. Building on previous work, we use synthetic Hitomi/X-ray Spectrometer (SXS) observations of the hot plasma of a simulated cluster with sloshing gas motions and varying viscosity to analyze its velocity structure in a similar fashion. We find that sloshing motions can produce line shifts and widths similar to those measured by Hitomi. We find these measurements are unaffected by the value of the gas viscosity, since its effects are only manifested clearly on angular scales smaller than the SXS ∼1' PSF. The PSF biases the line shift of regions near the core as much as ∼40–50 km s⁻¹, so it is crucial to model this effect carefully. We also infer that if sloshing motions dominate the observed velocity gradient, Perseus must be observed from a line of sight that is somewhat inclined from the plane of these motions, but one that still allows the spiral pattern to be visible. Finally, we find that assuming isotropy of motions can underestimate the total velocity and kinetic energy of the core in our simulation by as much as ∼60%. However, the total kinetic energy in our simulated cluster core is still less than 10% of the thermal energy in the core, in agreement with the Hitomi observations.

Optical fiber modal noise is a limiting factor for high precision spectroscopy signal-to-noise in the near-infrared and visible. Unabated, especially when using highly coherent light sources for wavelength calibration, modal noise can induce radial velocity (RV) errors that hinder the discovery of low-mass (and potentially Earth-like) planets. Previous research in this field has found sufficient modal noise mitigation through the use of an integrating sphere, but this requires extremely bright light sources, a luxury not necessarily afforded by the next generation of high-resolution optical spectrographs. Otherwise, mechanical agitation, which "mixes" the fiber's modal patterns and allows the noise to be averaged over minutes-long exposures, provides some noise reduction but the exact mechanism behind improvement in signal-to-noise and RV drift has not been fully explored or optimized by the community. Therefore, we have filled out the parameter space of modal noise agitation techniques in order to better understand agitation's contribution to mitigating modal noise and to discover a better method for agitating fibers. We find that modal noise is best suppressed by the quasi-chaotic motion of two high-amplitude agitators oscillating with varying phase for fibers with large core diameters and low azimuthal symmetry. This work has subsequently influenced the design of a fiber agitator, to be installed with the EXtreme PREcision Spectrograph, that we estimate will reduce modal-noise-induced RV error to less than 3.2 cm s⁻¹.

The mean white dwarf (WD) mass in the Galactic bulge cataclysmic variables (CVs) was measured by applying the shock temperature-WD mass correlation of magnetic cataclysmic variables (mCVs) to the Galactic bulge X-ray emission (GBXE) spectra. However, the resulting mean WD mass is lower than that of the local CVs. This discrepancy could be explained by the dominating sources in the GBXE, which are non-mCVs instead of mCVs. In this work, we conduct a thorough investigation of the X-ray spectra of local DNe from the Suzaku archives and derive semi-empirical correlations between the shock temperature T_max, the flux ratio of Fe xxvi–Lyα to Fe xxv–Heα lines, and WD mass for quiescent, nonmagnetic CVs. By applying these correlations to the GBXE, we derive the average WD mass of CVs in the Galactic bulge to be 0.81 ± 0.07M_⊙. This value is consistent with previous optical measurements of WD mass in local CVs.

The high-precision data available from the Kepler satellite allows us to study the complex outer convective envelopes of solar-type stars. We use a seismic diagnostic, specialized for investigating the outer layers of solar-type stars, to infer the impact of the ionization processes on the oscillation spectrum, for a sample of Kepler stars. These stars, of spectral type F, cover all of the observational seismic domain of the acoustic oscillation spectrum in solar-type stars. They also cover the range between a cool F-dwarf (∼6000 K) and a hotter F-star (∼6400 K). Our study reveals the existence of two relevant ionization regions. One of these regions, which is located closer to the surface of the star, is commonly associated with the second ionization of helium, although other chemical species also contribute to ionization. The second region, located deeper in the envelope, is linked with the ionization of heavy elements. Specifically, in this study, we analyze the elements carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, neon, and iron. Both regions can be related to the K electronic shell. We show that, while for cooler stars like the Sun, the influence of this second region on the oscillation frequencies is small; in hotter stars, its influence becomes comparable to the influence of the region of the second ionization of helium. This can guide us in the study of the outer layers of F-stars, specifically with the understanding of phenomena related to rotation and magnetic activity in these stars.

Non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects may play a significant role in determining the dynamics, thermal properties, and observational signatures of radiatively inefficient accretion flows onto black holes. In particular, particle acceleration during magnetic reconnection events may influence black hole spectra and flaring properties. We use representative general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations of black hole accretion flows to identify and explore the structures and properties of current sheets as potential sites of magnetic reconnection. In the case of standard and normal evolution (SANE) disks, we find that in the reconnection sites, the plasma beta ranges from 0.1 to 1000, the magnetization ranges from 10⁻⁴ to 1, and the guide fields are weak compared with the reconnecting fields. In magnetically arrested (MAD) disks, we find typical values for plasma beta from 10⁻² to 10³, magnetizations from 10⁻³ to 10, and typically stronger guide fields, with strengths comparable to or greater than the reconnecting fields. These are critical parameters that govern the electron energy distribution resulting from magnetic reconnection and can be used in the context of plasma simulations to provide microphysics inputs to global simulations. We also find that ample magnetic energy is available in the reconnection regions to power the fluence of bright X-ray flares observed from the black hole in the center of the Milky Way.

Using a large sample of emission line galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we investigate the kinematics of the neutral gas in the interstellar medium (ISM) based on the Na iλλ5890,5896 (Na D) doublet absorption line. By removing the Na D contribution from stellar atmospheres, we isolate the line profile of the Na D excess, which represents the neutral gas in the ISM. The kinematics traced by the Na D excess show high velocity and velocity dispersion for a fraction of galaxies, indicating the presence of neutral gas outflows. We find that the kinematics measured from the Na D excess are similar between AGNs and star-forming galaxies. Moreover, by comparing the kinematics traced by the Na D excess and those by the [O iii] λ5007 line taken from Woo et al., which traces ionized outflows driven by AGNs, we find no correlation between them. These results demonstrate that the neutral gas in the ISM traced by the Na D excess and the ionized gas traced by [O iii] are kinematically independent, and AGNs have no impact on the neutral gas outflows. In contrast to [O iii], we find that the measured line-of-sight velocity shift and velocity dispersion of the Na D excess increase for more face-on galaxies due to the projection effect, supporting that Na D outflows are radially driven (i.e., perpendicular to the major axis of galaxies), presumably due to star formation.

We have analyzed multi-passband photometric observations, obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope, of the massive (1.8 × 10⁵M_⊙), intermediate-age (1.8 Gyr-old) Large Magellanic Cloud star cluster NGC 1783. The morphology of the cluster's red giant branch does not exhibit a clear broadening beyond its intrinsic width; the observed width is consistent with that owing to photometric uncertainties alone and independent of the photometric selection boundaries we applied to obtain our sample of red giant stars. The color dispersion of the cluster's red giant stars around the best-fitting ridgeline is 0.062 ± 0.009 mag, which is equivalent to the width of 0.080 ± 0.001 mag derived from artificial simple stellar population tests, that is, tests based on single-age, single-metallicity stellar populations. NGC 1783 is comparably as massive as other star clusters that show clear evidence of multiple stellar populations. After incorporating mass-loss recipes from its current age of 1.8 Gyr to an age of 6 Gyr, NGC 1783 is expected to remain as massive as some other clusters that host clear multiple populations at these intermediate ages. If we were to assume that mass is an important driver of multiple population formation, then NGC 1783 should have exhibited clear evidence of chemical abundance variations. However, our results support the absence of any chemical abundance variations in NGC 1783.

The sky-averaged (global) highly redshifted 21 cm spectrum from neutral hydrogen is expected to appear in the VHF range of ∼20–200 MHz and its spectral shape and strength are determined by the heating properties of the first stars and black holes, by the nature and duration of reionization, and by the presence or absence of exotic physics. Measurements of the global signal would therefore provide us with a wealth of astrophysical and cosmological knowledge. However, the signal has not yet been detected because it must be seen through strong foregrounds weighted by a large beam, instrumental calibration errors, and ionospheric, ground, and radio-frequency-interference effects, which we collectively refer to as "systematics." Here, we present a signal extraction method for global signal experiments which uses Singular Value Decomposition of "training sets" to produce systematics basis functions specifically suited to each observation. Instead of requiring precise absolute knowledge of the systematics, our method effectively requires precise knowledge of how the systematics can vary. After calculating eigenmodes for the signal and systematics, we perform a weighted least square fit of the corresponding coefficients and select the number of modes to include by minimizing an information criterion. We compare the performance of the signal extraction when minimizing various information criteria and find that minimizing the Deviance Information Criterion most consistently yields unbiased fits. The methods used here are built into our widely applicable, publicly available Python package, pylinex, which analytically calculates constraints on signals and systematics from given data, errors, and training sets.

We investigate the power-law, intermediate, and logamediate inflationary models in the framework of DBI non-canonical scalar field with constant sound speed. In the DBI setting, we first represent the power spectrum of both scalar density and tensor gravitational perturbations. Then, we derive different inflationary observables including the scalar spectral index n_s, the running of the scalar spectral index ${{dn}}_{s}/d\mathrm{ln}k$, and the tensor-to-scalar ratio r. We show that the 95% CL constraint of the Planck 2015 T + E data on the non-Gaussianity parameter ${f}_{\mathrm{NL}}^{\mathrm{DBI}}$ leads to the sound speed bound ${c}_{s}\geqslant 0.087$ in the DBI inflation. Moreover, our results imply that, although the predictions of the power-law, intermediate, and logamediate inflations in the standard canonical framework (c_s = 1) are not consistent with the Planck 2015 data, in the DBI scenario with constant sound speed ${c}_{s}\lt 1$, the result of the $r-{n}_{s}$ diagram for these models can lie inside the 68% CL region favored by Planck 2015 TT,TE,EE+lowP data. We also specify the parameter space of the power-law, intermediate, and logamediate inflations for which our models are compatible with the 68% or 95% CL regions of the Planck 2015 TT,TE,EE+lowP data. Using the allowed ranges of the parameter space of the intermediate and logamediate inflationary models, we estimate the running of the scalar spectral index and find that it is compatible with the 95% CL constraint from the Planck 2015 TT,TE,EE+lowP data.

We investigate in detail the magnetic cause of minifilament eruptions that drive coronal-hole jets. We study 13 random on-disk coronal-hole jet eruptions, using high-resolution X-ray images from the Hinode/X-ray telescope(XRT), EUV images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), and magnetograms from the SDO/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI). For all 13 events, we track the evolution of the jet-base region and find that a minifilament of cool (transition-region-temperature) plasma is present prior to each jet eruption. HMI magnetograms show that the minifilaments reside along a magnetic neutral line between majority-polarity and minority-polarity magnetic flux patches. These patches converge and cancel with each other, with an average cancelation rate of ∼0.6 × 10¹⁸ Mx hr⁻¹ for all 13 jets. Persistent flux cancelation at the neutral line eventually destabilizes the minifilament field, which erupts outward and produces the jet spire. Thus, we find that all 13 coronal-hole-jet-driving minifilament eruptions are triggered by flux cancelation at the neutral line. These results are in agreement with our recent findings for quiet-region jets, where flux cancelation at the underlying neutral line triggers the minifilament eruption that drives each jet. Thus, from that study of quiet-Sun jets and this study of coronal-hole jets, we conclude that flux cancelation is the main candidate for triggering quiet-region and coronal-hole jets.

We propose a novel one-dimensional model that includes both shock and turbulence heating and qualify how these processes contribute to heating the corona and driving the solar wind. Compressible MHD simulations allow us to automatically consider shock formation and dissipation, while turbulent dissipation is modeled via a one-point closure based on Alfvén wave turbulence. Numerical simulations were conducted with different photospheric perpendicular correlation lengths ${\lambda }_{0}$, which is a critical parameter of Alfvén wave turbulence, and different root-mean-square photospheric transverse-wave amplitudes $\delta {v}_{0}$. For the various ${\lambda }_{0}$, we obtain a low-temperature chromosphere, high-temperature corona, and supersonic solar wind. Our analysis shows that turbulence heating is always dominant when ${\lambda }_{0}\lesssim 1\ \mathrm{Mm}$. This result does not mean that we can ignore the compressibility because the analysis indicates that the compressible waves and their associated density fluctuations enhance the Alfvén wave reflection and therefore the turbulence heating. The density fluctuation and the cross-helicity are strongly affected by ${\lambda }_{0}$, while the coronal temperature and mass-loss rate depend weakly on ${\lambda }_{0}$.

We present observations of escaping Lyman Continuum (LyC) radiation from 34 massive star-forming galaxies (SFGs) and 12 weak AGN with reliably measured spectroscopic redshifts at $z\simeq 2.3\mbox{--}4.1$. We analyzed Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) mosaics of the Early Release Science (ERS) field in three UVIS filters to sample the rest-frame LyC over this redshift range. With our best current assessment of the WFC3 systematics, we provide $1\sigma$ upper limits for the average LyC emission of galaxies at $\langle z\rangle$ = 2.35, 2.75, and 3.60 to ∼28.5, 28.1, and 30.7 mag in image stacks of 11–15 galaxies in the WFC3/UVIS F225W, F275W, and F336W, respectively. The LyC flux of weak AGN at $\langle z\rangle$ = 2.62 and 3.32 are detected at 28.3 and 27.4 mag with S/Ns of ∼2.7 and 2.5 in F275W and F336W for stacks of 7 and 3 AGN, respectively, while AGN at $\langle z\rangle$ = 2.37 are constrained to ≳27.9 mag at $1\sigma$ in a stack of 2 AGN. The stacked AGN LyC light profiles are flatter than their corresponding non-ionizing UV continuum profiles out to radii of $r\lesssim 0\buildrel{\prime\prime}\over{.} 9$, which may indicate a radial dependence of porosity in the ISM. With synthetic stellar SEDs fit to UV continuum measurements longward of ${\rm{Ly}}\alpha$ and IGM transmission models, we constrain the absolute LyC escape fractions to ${f}_{\mathrm{esc}}^{\mathrm{abs}}\simeq {22}_{-22}^{+44}$% at $\langle z\rangle$ = 2.35 and ≲55% at $\langle z\rangle$ = 2.75 and 3.60, respectively. All available data for galaxies, including published work, suggests a more sudden increase of ${f}_{\mathrm{esc}}$ with redshift at $z\simeq 2$. Dust accumulating in (massive) galaxies over cosmic time correlates with increased H i column density, which may lead to reducing ${f}_{\mathrm{esc}}$ more suddenly at $z\lesssim 2$. This may suggest that SFGs collectively contributed to maintaining cosmic reionization at redshifts $z\gtrsim 2\mbox{--}4$, while AGN likely dominated reionization at $z\lesssim 2$.

The physical properties of brown dwarf companions found to orbit nearby, solar-type stars can be benchmarked against independent measures of their mass, age, chemical composition, and other parameters, offering insights into the evolution of substellar objects. The TRENDS high-contrast imaging survey has recently discovered a (mass/age/metallicity) benchmark brown dwarf orbiting the nearby (d = 18.69 ± 0.19 pc), G8V/K0V star HD 4747. We have acquired follow-up spectroscopic measurements of HD 4747 B using the Gemini Planet Imager to study its spectral type, effective temperature, surface gravity, and cloud properties. Observations obtained in the H-band and K₁-band recover the companion and reveal that it is near the L/T transition (T1 ± 2). Fitting atmospheric models to the companion spectrum, we find strong evidence for the presence of clouds. However, spectral models cannot satisfactorily fit the complete data set: while the shape of the spectrum can be well-matched in individual filters, a joint fit across the full passband results in discrepancies that are a consequence of the inherent color of the brown dwarf. We also find a 2σ tension in the companion mass, age, and surface gravity when comparing to evolutionary models. These results highlight the importance of using benchmark objects to study "secondary effects" such as metallicity, non-equilibrium chemistry, cloud parameters, electron conduction, non-adiabatic cooling, and other subtleties affecting emergent spectra. As a new L/T transition benchmark, HD 4747 B warrants further investigation into the modeling of cloud physics using higher resolution spectroscopy across a broader range of wavelengths, polarimetric observations, and continued Doppler radial velocity and astrometric monitoring.

In the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy 1H 0707-495, recently a transient quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) signal with a frequency of $\sim 2.6\times {10}^{-4}$ Hz has been detected at a high statistical significance. Here, we reanalyze the same set of XMM-Newton data observed on 2008 February 4 with the weighted-wavelet Z-transform method. In addition to confirming the previous findings, we also find another QPO signal with a frequency of $\sim 1.2\times {10}^{-4}$ Hz in a separated X-ray emission phase at the significance level of $\sim 3.7\sigma$. The signal is also found fitting an autoregressive model though at a lower significance. The frequency ratio between these two signals is $\sim 2:1$. The analysis of other XMM-Newton measurements of 1H 0707-495 also reveals the presence of the $\sim 2.6\times {10}^{-4}$ Hz ($\sim 1.2\times {10}^{-4}$ Hz) QPO signal on 2007 May 14 (2010 September 17) at the significance level of $\sim 4.2\sigma$ ($\sim 3.5\sigma$). The QPO frequency found in this work follows the ${f}_{\mathrm{QPO}}-{M}_{\mathrm{BH}}$ relation reported in previous works spanning from stellar mass to supermassive black holes. This is the first observation of two separated transient X-ray QPO signals in active galactic nuclei, which sheds a new light on the physics of accreting supermassive black holes.

Modern large-scale cosmological simulations model the universe with increasing sophistication and at higher spatial and temporal resolutions. These ongoing enhancements permit increasingly detailed comparisons between the simulation outputs and real observational data. Recent projects such as Illustris are capable of producing simulated images that are designed to be comparable to those obtained from local surveys. This paper tests the degree to which Illustris achieves this goal across a diverse population of galaxies using visual morphologies derived from Galaxy Zoo citizen scientists. Morphological classifications provided by these volunteers for simulated galaxies are compared with similar data for a compatible sample of images drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Legacy Survey. This paper investigates how simple morphological characterization by human volunteers asked to distinguish smooth from featured systems differs between simulated and real galaxy images. Significant differences are identified, which are most likely due to the limited resolution of the simulation, but which could be revealing real differences in the dynamical evolution of populations of galaxies in the real and model universes. Specifically, for stellar masses ${M}_{\star }\lesssim {10}^{11}\,{M}_{\odot }$, a substantially larger proportion of Illustris galaxies that exhibit disk-like morphology or visible substructure, relative to their SDSS counterparts. Toward higher masses, the visual morphologies for simulated and observed galaxies converge and exhibit similar distributions. The stellar mass threshold indicated by this divergent behavior confirms recent works using parametric measures of morphology from Illustris simulated images. When ${M}_{\star }\gtrsim {10}^{11}\,{M}_{\odot }$, the Illustris data set contains substantially fewer galaxies that classifiers regard as unambiguously featured. In combination, these results suggest that comparison between the detailed properties of observed and simulated galaxies, even when limited to reasonably massive systems, may be misleading.

We present new Herschel observations of four massive, Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect–selected clusters at $0.3\leqslant z\leqslant 1.1$, two of which have also been observed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). We detect 19 Herschel/Photoconductor Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) counterparts to spectroscopically confirmed cluster members, five of which have redshifts determined via CO (4–3) and [C i] (${}^{3}{P}_{1}\mbox{--}{}^{3}{P}_{0}$) lines. The mean [C i]/CO line ratio is 0.19 ± 0.07 in brightness temperature units, consistent with previous results for field samples. We do not detect significant stacked ALMA dust continuum or spectral-line emission, implying upper limits on mean interstellar medium (H₂ + H i) and molecular gas masses. An apparent anticorrelation of ${L}_{\mathrm{IR}}$ with clustercentric radius is driven by the tight relation between star formation rate and stellar mass. We find an average specific star formation rate of log(sSFR/yr⁻¹) = −10.36, which is below the $\mathrm{SFR}\mbox{--}{M}_{* }$ correlation measured for field galaxies at similar redshifts. The fraction of infrared-bright galaxies (IRBGs; $\mathrm{log}({L}_{\mathrm{IR}}/{L}_{\odot })\gt 10.6$) per cluster and average sSFR rise significantly with redshift. For CO detections, we find ${f}_{\mathrm{gas}}\sim 0.2$, comparable to those of field galaxies, and gas depletion timescales of about 2 Gyr. We use radio observations to distinguish active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from star-forming galaxies. At least four of our 19 Herschel cluster members have ${q}_{\mathrm{IR}}\lt 1.8$, implying an AGN fraction ${f}_{\mathrm{AGN}}\gtrsim 0.2$ for our PACS-selected sample.

The velocity anisotropy parameter, β, is a measure of the kinematic state of orbits in the stellar halo, which holds promise for constraining the merger history of the Milky Way (MW). We determine global trends for β as a function of radius from three suites of simulations, including accretion-only and cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. We find that the two types of simulations are consistent and predict strong radial anisotropy ($\langle \beta \rangle \sim 0.7$) for Galactocentric radii greater than 10 kpc. Previous observations of β for the MW's stellar halo claim a detection of an isotropic or tangential "dip" at r ∼ 20 kpc. Using the N-body+SPH simulations, we investigate the temporal persistence, population origin, and severity of "dips" in β. We find that dips in the in situ stellar halo are long-lived, while dips in the accreted stellar halo are short-lived and tied to the recent accretion of satellite material. We also find that a major merger as early as z ∼ 1 can result in a present-day low (isotropic to tangential) value of β over a broad range of radii and angles. While all of these mechanisms are plausible drivers for the β dip observed in the MW, each mechanism in the simulations has a unique metallicity signature associated with it, implying that future spectroscopic surveys could distinguish between them. Since an accurate knowledge of β(r) is required for measuring the mass of the MW halo, we note that significant transient dips in β could cause an overestimate of the halo's mass when using spherical Jeans equation modeling.

One of the important open questions in solar irradiance studies is whether long-term variability (i.e., on timescales of years and beyond) can be reconstructed by means of models that describe short-term variability (i.e., days) using solar proxies as inputs. Preminger & Walton showed that the relationship between spectral solar irradiance and proxies of magnetic-flux emergence, such as the daily sunspot area, can be described in the framework of linear system theory by means of the impulse response. We significantly refine that empirical model by removing spurious solar-rotational effects and by including an additional term that captures long-term variations. Our results show that long-term variability cannot be reconstructed from the short-term response of the spectral irradiance, which questions the extension of solar proxy models to these timescales. In addition, we find that the solar response is nonlinear in a way that cannot be corrected simply by applying a rescaling to a sunspot area.

We explore to what extent stars within Galactic disk open clusters resemble each other in the high-dimensional space of their photospheric element abundances and contrast this with pairs of field stars. Our analysis is based on abundances for 20 elements, homogeneously derived from APOGEE spectra (with carefully quantified uncertainties of typically 0.03 dex). We consider 90 red giant stars in seven open clusters and find that most stars within a cluster have abundances in most elements that are indistinguishable (in a ${\chi }^{2}$-sense) from those of the other members, as expected for stellar birth siblings. An analogous analysis among pairs of $\gt 1000$ field stars shows that highly significant abundance differences in the 20 dimensional space can be established for the vast majority of these pairs, and that the APOGEE-based abundance measurements have high discriminating power. However, pairs of field stars whose abundances are indistinguishable even at 0.03 dex precision exist: ∼0.3% of all field star pairs and ∼1.0% of field star pairs at the same (solar) metallicity [Fe/H] = 0 ± 0.02. Most of these pairs are presumably not birth siblings from the same cluster, but rather doppelgängers. Our analysis implies that "chemical tagging" in the strict sense, identifying birth siblings for typical disk stars through their abundance similarity alone, will not work with such data. However, our approach shows that abundances have extremely valuable information for probabilistic chemo-orbital modeling, and combined with velocities, we have identified new cluster members from the field.