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At least 649 records · Page 36

Finding Multiply Lensed and Binary Quasars in the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys

The time delay between multiple images of strongly lensed quasars is a powerful tool for measuring the Hubble constant ( H 0 ). To achieve H 0 measurements with higher precision and accuracy using the time delay, it is crucial to expand the sample of lensed quasars. We conduct a search for strongly lensed quasars in the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Legacy Imaging Surveys. The DESI Legacy Surveys comprise 19,000 deg 2 of the extragalactic sky observed in three optical bands ( g , r , and z ), making it well suited for the discovery of new strongly lensed quasars. We apply an autocorrelation algorithm to ~5 million objects classified as quasars in the DESI Quasar Sample. These systems are visually inspected and ranked. Here, we present 436 new multiply lensed and binary quasar candidates, 65 of which have redshifts from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 16. We provide redshifts for an additional 18 candidates from the SuperNova Integral Field Spectrograph.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Binary Millisecond Pulsar Discovery via Gamma-Ray Pulsations

We present that millisecond pulsars, old neutron stars spun up by accreting matter from a companion star, can reach high rotation rates of hundreds of revolutions per second. Until now, all such “recycled” rotation-powered pulsars have been detected by their spin-modulated radio emission. In a computing-intensive blind search of gamma-ray data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (with partial constraints from optical data), we detected a 2.5-millisecond pulsar, PSR J1311-3430. This unambiguously explains a formerly unidentified gamma-ray source that had been a decade-long enigma, confirming previous conjectures. Lastly, the pulsar is in a circular orbit with an orbital period of only 93 minutes, the shortest of any spin-powered pulsar binary ever found.

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THE NATURE OF TRANSITION CIRCUMSTELLAR DISKS. III. PERSEUS, TAURUS, AND AURIGA

As part of an ongoing program aiming to characterize a large number of Spitzer-selected transition disks (disks with reduced levels of near-IR and/or mid-IR excess emission), we have obtained (sub)millimeter wavelength photometry, high-resolution optical spectroscopy, and adaptive optics near-infrared imaging for a sample of 31 transition objects located in the Perseus, Taurus, and Auriga molecular clouds. We use these ground-based data to estimate disk masses, multiplicity, and accretion rates in order to investigate the mechanisms potentially responsible for their inner holes. Following our previous studies in other regions, we combine disk masses, accretion rates, and multiplicity data with other information, such as spectral energy distribution morphology and fractional disk luminosity, to classify the disks as strong candidates for the following categories: grain-growth-dominated disks (seven objects), giant planet-forming disks (six objects), photoevaporating disks (seven objects), debris disks (11 objects), and cicumbinary disks (one object, which was also classified as a photoevaporating disk). Combining our sample of 31 transition disks with those from our previous studies results in a sample of 74 transition objects that have been selected, characterized, and classified in a homogenous way. We discuss this combined high-quality sample in the context of the current paradigm of the evolution and dissipation of protoplanetary disks and use its properties to constrain different aspects of the key processes driving their evolution. We find that the age distribution of disks that are likely to harbor recently formed giant planets favors core accretion as the main planet formation mechanism and a {approx}2-3 Myr formation timescale.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DYNAMICAL K EDGE AND LINE VARIATIONS IN THE X-RAY SPECTRUM OF THE ULTRA-COMPACT BINARY 4U 0614+091

We observed the ultra-compact binary candidate 4U 0614+091 for a total of 200 ks with the high-energy transmission gratings on board the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The source is found at various intensity levels with spectral variations present. X-ray luminosities vary between 2.0 x 10{sup 36} erg s{sup -1} and 3.5 x 10{sup 36} erg s{sup -1}. Continuum variations are present at all times and spectra can be fit well with a power-law component, a high kT blackbody component, and a broad line component near oxygen. The spectra require adjustments to the Ne K edge and in some occasions also to the Mg K edge. Once further resolved, the Ne K edge region appears variable in terms of optical depths and morphology. The edge vicinity reveals an average velocity smear of {approx}3500 km s{sup -1} implying a characteristic radius of the order of <10{sup 9} cm consistent with an ultra-compact binary nature. The variability proves that the excess is intrinsic to the source. The data seem to indicate excess column densities of up to several 10{sup 18} cm{sup -2}. However, there are some serious problems with an Ne I interpretation in ultra-compact disks and we need to consider alternative interpretations, which include a variable O VIII ionization edge, as likely candidates. We test such possibilities with existing observations. The prominent soft emission line complex near the O VIII Ly{sub {alpha}} position appears extremely broad and relativistic effects from near the innermost disk have to be included. Gravitationally broadened line fits also provide nearly edge-on angles of inclination consistent with the observed high dynamics near the Ne K edge. The emissions appear consistent with an ionized disk with ionization parameters of the order of 10{sup 4} at radii of a few 10{sup 7} cm. The line wavelengths with respect to O VIII Ly{sub {alpha}} are found variably blueshifted indicating more complex inner disk dynamics.

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THE WIDEST-SEPARATION SUBSTELLAR COMPANION CANDIDATE TO A BINARY T TAURI STAR

The results of near-infrared imaging and spectroscopy of a substellar companion (SR12 C), with a possible planetary mass, of a binary T Tauri star (SR12 AB) in the {rho} Ophiuchi star-forming region are presented. The object is separated by {approx}8.''7, corresponding to {approx}1100 AU at 125 pc, and has an H-band brightness of 15.2 mag and infrared spectra suggesting a spectral type of M9.0 {+-} 0.5. It is confirmed that SR12 C is physically related to the {rho} Ophiuchi star-forming region from its common proper motion with SR12 AB and its youth is confirmed by a gravity-sensitive spectral feature. Furthermore, based on the number of known members of the {rho} Ophiuchi star-forming region in the area in which SR12 AB exists, the probability of a chance alignment is {approx}1% and it is therefore likely that SR12 C is physically associated with SR12 AB. The mass of SR12 C is estimated by comparing its estimated luminosity and assumed age with the theoretical age-luminosity relation. SR12 C is identified as an extremely low-mass (0.013 {+-} 0.007 M{sub sun}) object, but its separation from its parent star is the widest among planetary-mass companion (PMC) candidates imaged to date. In addition, SR12 C is the first PMC candidate directly imaged around a binary star. This discovery suggests that PMCs form via multiple star formation processes including disk gravitational instability and cloud core fragmentation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A NEW SAMPLE OF VERY MASSIVE STAR FORMING COMPLEXES IN THE SPITZER GLIMPSE SURVEY

We examine the 13 most luminous sources in the WMAP free-free map using the Spitzer GLIMPSE and Midcourse Space Experiment surveys to identify massive star formation complexes, emitting one-third of the Galactic free-free luminosity. We identify star-forming complexes (SFCs) by a combination of bubble morphology in 8 {mu}m emission and radio recombination line radial velocities. We find 40 SFCs associated with our WMAP sources and determine unique distances up to 31. We interpret the bubbles as evidence for radial expansion. The radial velocity distribution for each source allows us to measure the intrinsic speed of a complex's expansion. This speed is consistent with the size and age of the bubbles. The high free-free luminosities, combined with negligible synchrotron emission, demonstrate that the bubbles are not driven by supernovae. The kinetic energy of the largest bubbles is a substantial fraction of that measured in the older superbubbles found by Heiles. We find that the energy injected into the interstellar medium by our bubbles is similar to that required to maintain turbulent motion in the gas disk inside 8 kpc. We report a number of new SFCs powered by massive (M{sub *} > 10{sup 4} M{sub sun}) star clusters. We measure the scale height of the Galactic O stars to be h{sub *} = 35 {+-} 5 pc. We determine an empirical relationship between the 8 {mu}m and free-free emission of the form F {sub 8{mu}m} {proportional_to} F {sup 2}{sub ff}. Finally, we find that the bubble geometry is more consistent with a spherical shell rather than a flattened disk.

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THERMAL STABILITY OF MAGNETIZED, OPTICALLY THIN, RADIATIVE COOLING-DOMINATED ACCRETION DISKS

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

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

HIGH-RESOLUTION CO OBSERVATION OF THE CARBON STAR CIT 6 REVEALING THE SPIRAL STRUCTURE AND A NASCENT BIPOLAR OUTFLOW

CIT 6 is a carbon star in the transitional phase from the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) to the protoplanetary nebulae (pPNs). Observational evidences of two point sources in the optical, circumstellar arc segments in an HC{sub 3}N line emission, and a bipolar nebula in near-infrared provide strong support for the presence of a binary companion. Hence, CIT 6 is very attractive for studying the role of companions in the AGB–pPN transition. We have carried out high-resolution {sup 12}CO J = 2–1 and {sup 13}CO J = 2–1 observations of CIT 6 with the Submillimeter Array combined with the Submillimeter Telescope (single-dish) data. The {sup 12}CO channel maps reveal a spiral-shell pattern connecting the HC{sub 3}N segments in a continuous form and an asymmetric outflow corresponding to the near-infrared bipolar nebula. Rotation of the {sup 12}CO channel peak position may be related to the inner spiral winding and/or the bipolar outflow. An eccentric orbit binary is suggested for the presence of an anisotropic mass loss to the west and a double spiral pattern. The lack of interarm emission to the west may indicate a feature corresponding to the periastron passage of a highly eccentric orbit of the binary. Spatially averaged radial and spectral profiles of {sup 12}CO J = 2–1 and {sup 13}CO J = 2–1 are compared with simple spherical radiative transfer models, suggesting a change of {sup 12}CO/{sup 13}CO abundance ratio from ∼30 to ∼50 inward in the CSE of CIT 6. The millimeter continuum emission is decomposed into extended dust thermal emission (spectral index ∼ −2.4) and compact emission from radio photosphere (spectral index ∼ −2.0)

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SUPERNOVA CONSTRAINTS AND SYSTEMATIC UNCERTAINTIES FROM THE FIRST THREE YEARS OF THE SUPERNOVA LEGACY SURVEY

We combine high-redshift Type Ia supernovae from the first three years of the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) with other supernova (SN) samples, primarily at lower redshifts, to form a high-quality joint sample of 472 SNe (123 low-z, 93 SDSS, 242 SNLS, and 14 Hubble Space Telescope). SN data alone require cosmic acceleration at >99.999% confidence, including systematic effects. For the dark energy equation of state parameter (assumed constant out to at least z = 1.4) in a flat universe, we find w = -0.91{sup +0.16} {sub -0.20}(stat){sup +0.07} {sub -0.14}(sys) from SNe only, consistent with a cosmological constant. Our fits include a correction for the recently discovered relationship between host-galaxy mass and SN absolute brightness. We pay particular attention to systematic uncertainties, characterizing them using a systematic covariance matrix that incorporates the redshift dependence of these effects, as well as the shape-luminosity and color-luminosity relationships. Unlike previous work, we include the effects of systematic terms on the empirical light-curve models. The total systematic uncertainty is dominated by calibration terms. We describe how the systematic uncertainties can be reduced with soon to be available improved nearby and intermediate-redshift samples, particularly those calibrated onto USNO/SDSS-like systems.

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A CHANDRA ACIS STUDY OF THE YOUNG STAR CLUSTER TRUMPLER 15 IN CARINA AND CORRELATION WITH NEAR-INFRARED SOURCES

Using the highest-resolution X-ray observation of the Trumpler 15 star cluster taken by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, we estimate the total size of its stellar population by comparing the X-ray luminosity function (XLF) of the detected sources to a calibrator cluster and identify for the first time a significant fraction ({approx}14%) of its individual members. The highest-resolution near-IR observation of Trumpler 15 (taken by the HAWK-I instrument on the Very Large Telescope) was found to detect most of our X-ray selected sample of cluster members, with a K-excess disk frequency of 3.8% {+-} 0.7%. The near-IR data, XLF, and published spectral types of the brightest members support a cluster age estimate (5-10 Myr) that is older than those for the nearby Trumpler 14 and Trumpler 16 clusters, and suggest that high-mass members may have already exploded as supernovae. The morphology of the inner {approx}0.7 pc core of the cluster is found to be spherical. However, the outer regions (beyond {approx}2 pc) are elongated, forming an 'envelope' of stars that, in projection, appears to connect Trumpler 15 to Trumpler 14; this morphology supports the view that these clusters are physically associated. Clear evidence of mass segregation is seen. This study appears in this special issue devoted to the Chandra Carina Complex Project, a 1.42 deg{sup 2} Chandra X-ray survey of the Great Nebula in Carina.

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ARE LOW-LUMINOSITY GAMMA-RAY BURSTS GENERATED BY RELATIVISTIC JETS?

Low-luminosity gamma-ray bursts (ll-GRBs) constitute a subclass of GRBs that play a central role in the GRB-supernova connection. While ll-GRBs differ from typical long GRBs (LGRBs) in many aspects, they also share some common features. Therefore, the question whether the gamma-ray emission of ll-GRBs and LGRBs has a common origin is of great interest. Here we address this question by testing whether ll-GRBs, like LGRBs according to the Collapsar model, can be generated by relativistic jets that punch holes in the envelopes of their progenitor stars. The Collapsar model predicts that the durations of most observed bursts will be comparable to, or longer than, the time it takes the jets to break out of the star. We calculate the jet breakout times of ll-GRBs and compare them to the observed durations. We find that there is a significant excess of ll-GRBs with durations that are much shorter than the jet breakout time and that these are inconsistent with the Collapsar model. We conclude that the processes that dominate the gamma-ray emission of ll-GRBs and of LGRBs are most likely fundamentally different.

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Possibility of anisotropic curvature in cosmology

In addition to shear and vorticity a homogeneous background may also exhibit anisotropic curvature. Here a class of spacetimes is shown to exist where the anisotropy is solely of the latter type, and the shear-free condition is supported by a canonical, massless 2-form field. Such spacetimes possess a preferred direction in the sky and at the same time a CMB which is isotropic at the background level. A distortion of the luminosity distances is derived and used to test the model against the CMB and supernovae (using the Union catalog), and it is concluded that the latter exhibit a higher-than-expected dependence on angular position. It is shown that future surveys could detect a possible preferred direction by observing {approx}20/({Omega}{sub k0}{sup 2}) supernovae over the whole sky.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

THE BLACK HOLE MASS DISTRIBUTION IN THE GALAXY

We use dynamical mass measurements of 16 black holes in transient low-mass X-ray binaries to infer the stellar black hole mass distribution in the parent population. We find that the observations are best described by a narrow mass distribution at 7.8 {+-} 1.2 M{sub sun}. We identify a selection effect related to the choice of targets for optical follow-ups that results in a flux-limited sample. We demonstrate, however, that this selection effect does not introduce a bias in the observed distribution and cannot explain the absence of black holes in the 2-5 M{sub sun} mass range. On the high-mass end, we argue that the rapid decline in the inferred distribution may be the result of the particular evolutionary channel followed by low-mass X-ray binaries. This is consistent with the presence of high-mass black holes in the persistent, high-mass X-ray binary sources. If the paucity of low-mass black holes is caused by a sudden decrease of the supernova explosion energy with increasing progenitor mass, this would have observable implications for ongoing transient surveys that target core-collapse supernovae. Our results also have significant implications for the calculation of event rates from the coalescence of black hole binaries for gravitational wave detectors.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Light Curves and Spectra from a Unimodal Core-collapse Supernova

To assess the effectiveness of optical emission as a probe of spatial asymmetry in core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe), we apply in this paper the radiative transfer software SuperNu to a unimodal CCSN model. The SNSPH radiation hydrodynamics software was used to simulate an asymmetric explosion of a 16 ${M}_{\odot }$ zero-age main-sequence binary star. The ejecta has 3.36 ${M}_{\odot }$ with 0.024 ${M}_{\odot }$ of radioactive 56 Ni, with unipolar asymmetry along the z-axis. For 96 discrete angular views, we find a ratio between maximum and minimum peak total luminosities of ~1.36. The brightest light curves emerge from views orthogonal to the z-axis. Multigroup spectra from UV to IR are obtained. We find a shift in wavelength with viewing angle in a near-IR Ca ii emission feature, consistent with Ca being mostly in the unimode. We compare emission from the gray gamma-ray transfer in SuperNu and from the detailed gamma-ray transfer code Maverick. Relative to the optical light curves, the brightness of the gamma-ray emission is more monotonic with respect to viewing angle. UBVRI broadband light curves are also calculated. Parallel with the unimode, the U and B bands have excess luminosity at $\gtrsim 10$ days post-explosion, due to 56 Ni on the unimode. Finally, we compare our CCSN model with SN 2002ap, which is thought to have a similar ejecta morphology.

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EXPLORING THE VARIABLE SKY WITH LINEAR. III. CLASSIFICATION OF PERIODIC LIGHT CURVES

We describe the construction of a highly reliable sample of ∼7000 optically faint periodic variable stars with light curves obtained by the asteroid survey LINEAR across 10,000 deg{sup 2} of the northern sky. The majority of these variables have not been cataloged yet. The sample flux limit is several magnitudes fainter than most other wide-angle surveys; the photometric errors range from ∼0.03 mag at r = 15 to ∼0.20 mag at r = 18. Light curves include on average 250 data points, collected over about a decade. Using Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) based photometric recalibration of the LINEAR data for about 25 million objects, we selected ∼200,000 most probable candidate variables with r < 17 and visually confirmed and classified ∼7000 periodic variables using phased light curves. The reliability and uniformity of visual classification across eight human classifiers was calibrated and tested using a catalog of variable stars from the SDSS Stripe 82 region and verified using an unsupervised machine learning approach. The resulting sample of periodic LINEAR variables is dominated by 3900 RR Lyrae stars and 2700 eclipsing binary stars of all subtypes and includes small fractions of relatively rare populations such as asymptotic giant branch stars and SX Phoenicis stars. We discuss the distribution of these mostly uncataloged variables in various diagrams constructed with optical-to-infrared SDSS, Two Micron All Sky Survey, and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer photometry, and with LINEAR light-curve features. We find that the combination of light-curve features and colors enables classification schemes much more powerful than when colors or light curves are each used separately. An interesting side result is a robust and precise quantitative description of a strong correlation between the light-curve period and color/spectral type for close and contact eclipsing binary stars (β Lyrae and W UMa): as the color-based spectral type varies from K4 to F5, the median period increases from 5.9 hr to 8.8 hr. These large samples of robustly classified variable stars will enable detailed statistical studies of the Galactic structure and physics of binary and other stars and we make these samples publicly available.

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Electromagnetic Signals Following Stellar-mass Black Hole Mergers

It is often assumed that gravitational-wave (GW) events resulting from the merger of stellar-mass black holes are unlikely to produce electromagnetic (EM) counterparts. We point out that the progenitor binary has probably shed a mass ≳10 M {sub ⊙} during its prior evolution. If even a tiny fraction of this gas is retained in a circumbinary disk, the sudden mass loss and recoil of the merged black hole shocks and heats it within hours of the GW event. Whether the resulting EM signal is detectable is uncertain. The optical depth through the disk is likely to be high enough that the prompt emission consists only of photons from its optically thin skin, while the majority may take years to emerge. However, if some mechanism can release more photons in a time comparable to the few-hour energy production time, the peak luminosity of the EM signal could be detectable. For a disk retaining only ∼10{sup −3} of the mass shed in the earlier binary evolution, medium-energy X-rays to infrared emission would be observable hours after the GW event for source distances of ∼500 Mpc. Events like this may already have been observed, but ascribed to unidentified active galactic nuclei. Improved sky localization should eventually allow identification based on spatial coincidence. A detection would provide unique constraints on formation scenarios and potentially offer tests of strong-field general relativity. Accordingly, we argue that the high scientific payoff of an EM detection fully justifies search campaigns.

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A decam search for an optical counterpart to the LIGO gravitational-wave event GW151226

We report the results of a Dark Energy Camera optical follow-up of the gravitational-wave (GW) event GW151226, discovered by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory detectors. Our observations cover 28.8 deg{sup 2} of the localization region in the i and z bands (containing 3% of the BAYESTAR localization probability), starting 10 hr after the event was announced and spanning four epochs at 2–24 days after the GW detection. We achieve 5σ point-source limiting magnitudes of i≈21.7 and z≈21.5, with a scatter of 0.4 mag, in our difference images. Given the two-day delay, we search this area for a rapidly declining optical counterpart with ≳3σ significance steady decline between the first and final observations. We recover four sources that pass our selection criteria, of which three are cataloged active galactic nuclei. The fourth source is offset by 5.8 arcsec from the center of a galaxy at a distance of 187 Mpc, exhibits a rapid decline by 0.5 mag over 4 days, and has a red color of i−z≈0.3 mag. These properties could satisfy a set of cuts designed to identify kilonovae. However, this source was detected several times, starting 94 days prior to GW151226, in the Pan-STARRS Survey for Transients (dubbed as PS15cdi) and is therefore unrelated to the GW event. Given its long-term behavior, PS15cdi is likely a Type IIP supernova that transitioned out of its plateau phase during our observations, mimicking a kilonova-like behavior. We comment on the implications of this detection for contamination in future optical follow-up observations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A PHYSICAL LINK BETWEEN JET FORMATION AND HOT PLASMA IN ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

Recent observations suggest that in black hole X-ray binaries jet/outflow formation is related to the hot plasma in the vicinity of the black hole, either in the form of an advection-dominated accretion flow at low accretion rates or in a disk corona at high accretion rates. We test the viability of this scenario for supermassive black holes using two samples of active galactic nuclei distinguished by the presence (radio-strong) and absence (radio-weak) of well-collimated, relativistic jets. Each is centered on a narrow range of black hole mass but spans a very broad range of Eddington ratios, effectively simulating in a statistical manner the behavior of a single black hole evolving across a wide spread in accretion states. Unlike the relationship between the radio and optical luminosity, which shows an abrupt break between high- and low-luminosity sources at an Eddington ratio of {approx}1%, the radio emission-a measure of the jet power-varies continuously with the hard X-ray (2-10 keV) luminosity, roughly as L{sub R} {proportional_to} L{sub X}{sup 0.6-0.75}. This relation, which holds for both radio-weak and radio-strong active galaxies, is similar to the one seen in X-ray binaries. Jet/outflow formation appears to be closely linked to the conditions that give rise to the hot, optically thin coronal emission associated with accretion flows, both in the regime of low and high accretion rates.

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