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At least 667 records · Page 37
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DOE OSTI2015

EXPLORING ANTICORRELATIONS AND LIGHT ELEMENT VARIATIONS IN NORTHERN GLOBULAR CLUSTERS OBSERVED BY THE APOGEE SURVEY

We investigate the light-element behavior of red giant stars in northern globular clusters (GCs) observed by the SDSS-III Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment. We derive abundances of 9 elements (Fe, C, N, O, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, and Ti) for 428 red giant stars in 10 GCs. The intrinsic abundance range relative to measurement errors is examined, and the well-known C–N and Mg–Al anticorrelations are explored using an extreme-deconvolution code for the first time in a consistent way. We find that Mg and Al drive the population membership in most clusters, except in M107 and M71, the two most metal-rich clusters in our study, where the grouping is most sensitive to N. We also find a diversity in the abundance distributions, with some clusters exhibiting clear abundance bimodalities (for example M3 and M53) while others show extended distributions. The spread of Al abundances increases significantly as cluster average metallicity decreases as previously found by other works, which we take as evidence that low metallicity, intermediate mass AGB polluters were more common in the more metal-poor clusters. The statistically significant correlation of [Al/Fe] with [Si/Fe] in M15 suggests that {sup 28}Si leakage has occurred in this cluster. We also present C, N, and O abundances for stars cooler than 4500 K and examine the behavior of A(C+N+O) in each cluster as a function of temperature and [Al/Fe]. The scatter of A(C+N+O) is close to its estimated uncertainty in all clusters and independent of stellar temperature. A(C+N+O) exhibits small correlations and anticorrelations with [Al/Fe] in M3 and M13, but we cannot be certain about these relations given the size of our abundance uncertainties. Star-to-star variations of α-element (Si, Ca, Ti) abundances are comparable to our estimated errors in all clusters.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

SPECKLE INTERFEROMETRY AT SOAR IN 2014

The results of speckle interferometric observations at the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR) telescope in 2014 are given. A total of 1641 observations were taken, yielding 1636 measurements of 1218 resolved binary and multiple stars and 577 non-resolutions of 441 targets. We resolved for the first time 56 pairs, including some nearby astrometric or spectroscopic binaries and ten new subsystems in previously known visual binaries. The calibration of the data is checked by linear fits to the positions of 41 wide binaries observed at SOAR over several seasons. The typical calibration accuracy is 0.°1 in angle and 0.3% in pixel scale, while the measurement errors are on the order of 3 mas. The new data are used here to compute 194 binary star orbits, 148 of which are improvements on previous orbital solutions and 46 are first-time orbits.

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DOE OSTI2011

STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF THE GLOBULAR CLUSTER PALOMAR 13

We present Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopy and Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/MegaCam photometry for the Milky Way globular cluster Palomar 13. We triple the number of spectroscopically confirmed members, including many repeat velocity measurements. Palomar 13 is the only known globular cluster with possible evidence for dark matter, based on a Keck/High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer 21 star velocity dispersion of {sigma} = 2.2 {+-} 0.4 km s{sup -1}. We reproduce this measurement, but demonstrate that it is inflated by unresolved binary stars. For our sample of 61 stars, the velocity dispersion is {sigma} = 0.7{sup +0.6}{sub -0.5} km s{sup -1}. Combining our DEIMOS data with literature values, our final velocity dispersion is {sigma} = 0.4{sup +0.4}{sub -0.3} km s{sup -1}. We determine a spectroscopic metallicity of [Fe/H] = -1.6 {+-} 0.1 dex, placing a 1{sigma} upper limit of {sigma}{sub [Fe/H]} {approx} 0.2 dex on any internal metallicity spread. We determine Palomar 13's total luminosity to be M{sub V} = -2.8 {+-} 0.4, making it among the least luminous known globular clusters. The photometric isophotes are regular out to the half-light radius and mildly irregular outside this radius. The outer surface brightness profile slope is shallower than typical globular clusters ({Sigma}{proportional_to}r{sup {eta}}, {eta} = -2.8 {+-} 0.3). Thus at large radius, tidal debris is likely affecting the appearance of Palomar 13. Combining our luminosity with the intrinsic velocity dispersion, we find a dynamical mass of M{sub 1/2} = 1.3{sup +2:7}{sub -1.3} Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 3} M{sub Sun} and a mass-to-light ratio of M/L{sub V} = 2.4{sup +5.0}{sub -2.4} M{sub Sun }/L{sub Sun }. Within our measurement errors, the mass-to-light ratio agrees with the theoretical predictions for a single stellar population. We conclude that, while there is some evidence for tidal stripping at large radius, the dynamical mass of Palomar 13 is consistent with its stellar mass and neither significant dark matter, nor extreme tidal heating, is required to explain the cluster dynamics.

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DOE OSTI2011

A STUDY OF CEPHEIDS IN M81 WITH THE LARGE BINOCULAR TELESCOPE (EFFICIENTLY CALIBRATED WITH HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE)

We identify and phase a sample of 107 Cepheids with 10 days < P < 100 days in M81 using the Large Binocular Telescope and calibrate their B, V, and I mean magnitudes with archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data. The use of a ground-based telescope to identify and phase the Cepheids and HST only for the final calibration reduces the demand on this highly oversubscribed spacecraft by nearly an order of magnitude and yields period-luminosity (PL) relations with dispersions comparable to the best LMC samples. We fit the sample using the OGLE-II LMC PL relations and are unable to find a self-consistent distance for different band combinations or radial locations within M81. We can do so after adding a radial dependence to the PL zero point that corresponds to a luminosity dependence on metallicity of {gamma}{sub {mu}} = -0.56 {+-} 0.36 mag dex{sup -1}. We find marginal evidence for a shift in color as a function of metallicity, distinguishable from the effects of extinction, of {gamma}{sub 2} = +0.07 {+-} 0.03 mag dex{sup -1}. We find a distance modulus for M81, relative to the LMC, of {mu}{sub M81} - {mu}{sub LMC} = 9.39 {+-} 0.14 mag, including uncertainties due to the metallicity corrections. This corresponds to a distance to M81 of 3.6 {+-} 0.2 Mpc, assuming an LMC distance modulus of 18.41 mag. We carry out a joint analysis of M81 and NGC 4258 Cepheids and simultaneously solve for the distance of M81 relative to NGC 4258 and the metallicity corrections. Given the current data, the uncertainties of such joint fits are dominated by the relative metallicities and the abundance gradients rather than by measurement errors of the Cepheid magnitudes or colors. We find {mu}{sub M81} - {mu}{sub LMC} = 9.40{sup +0.15}{sub -0.11} mag, {mu}{sub N4258} - {mu}{sub LMC} = 11.08{sup +0.21}{sub -0.17} mag, and {mu}{sub N4258} - {mu}{sub M81} = 1.68 {+-} 0.08 mag and metallicity effects on luminosity and color of {gamma}{sub {mu}} = -0.62{sup +0.31}{sub -0.35} mag dex{sup -1} and {gamma}{sub 2} = 0.01 {+-} 0.01 mag dex{sup -1}. Quantitative analyses of Cepheid distances must take into account both the metallicity dependencies of the Cepheids and the uncertainties in the abundance estimates.

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DOE OSTI2012

AN OPTICAL SURVEY FOR MILLIMETER-SIZED INTERSTELLAR METEOROIDS

We report high-resolution multi-station observations of meteors by the Canadian Automated Meteor Observatory recorded from 2009 June to 2010 August. Our survey has a limiting detection magnitude of +5 mag in R band, equivalent to a limiting meteoroid mass of {approx}2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -7} kg. The high metric trajectory accuracy (of the order of 30 m perpendicular to the solution and 200 m along track) allows us to determine velocities with average uncertainty of <1.5% in speed and {approx}0.{sup 0}4 in the radiant direction. A total of 1739 meteors had measured orbits. The data have been searched for meteors in hyperbolic orbits, which are potentially of interstellar origin. We found 22 potential hyperbolic meteors among our sample, with only two of them having a speed at least 3{sigma} above the hyperbolic limit. For our one-year survey we find no clear evidence of interstellar meteoroids at millimeter sizes in a weighted time-area product of {approx}10{sup 4} km{sup 2} hr. Backward integrations performed for these 22 potentially hyperbolic meteors to check for close encounters with planets show no considerable changes in their orbits. Detailed examination leads us to conclude that our few identified events are most likely the result of measurement error. We find an upper limit of f{sub ISP} < 2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -4} km{sup -2} hr{sup -1} for the flux of interstellar meteoroids at Earth with a limiting mass of m > 2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -7} kg.

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DOE OSTI2012

PRECISE INFRARED RADIAL VELOCITIES FROM KECK/NIRSPEC AND THE SEARCH FOR YOUNG PLANETS

We present a high-precision infrared radial velocity (RV) study of late-type stars using spectra obtained with NIRSPEC at the W. M. Keck Observatory. RV precisions of 50 m s{sup -1} are achieved for old field mid-M dwarfs using telluric features for wavelength calibration. Using this technique, 20 young stars in the {beta} Pic (age {approx} 12 Myr) and TW Hya (age {approx} 8 Myr) Associations were monitored over several years to search for low-mass companions; we also included the chromospherically active field star GJ 873 (EV Lac) in this survey. Based on comparisons with previous optical observations of these young active stars, RV measurements at infrared wavelengths mitigate the RV noise caused by star spots by a factor of {approx}3. Nevertheless, star spot noise is still the dominant source of measurement error for young stars at 2.3 {mu}m, and limits the precision to {approx}77 m s{sup -1} for the slowest rotating stars (v sin i < 6 km s{sup -1}), increasing to {approx}168 m s{sup -1} for rapidly rotating stars (v sin i > 12 km s{sup -1}). The observations reveal both GJ 3305 and TWA 23 to be single-lined spectroscopic binaries; in the case of GJ 3305, the motion is likely caused by its 0.''09 companion, identified after this survey began. The large amplitude, short-timescale variations of TWA 13A are indicative of a hot Jupiter-like companion, but the available data are insufficient to confirm this. We label it as a candidate RV variable. For the remainder of the sample, these observations exclude the presence of any 'hot' (P < 3 days) companions more massive than 8 M{sub Jup} and any 'warm' (P < 30 days) companions more massive than 17 M{sub Jup}, on average. Assuming an edge-on orbit for the edge-on disk system AU Mic, these observations exclude the presence of any hot Jupiters more massive than 1.8 M{sub Jup} or warm Jupiters more massive than 3.9 M{sub Jup}.

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DOE OSTI2012

A NEW MULTI-BAND RADIAL VELOCITY TECHNIQUE FOR DETECTING EXOPLANETS AROUND ACTIVE STARS

The radial velocity (RV) technique is one of the most efficient ways of detecting exoplanets. However, large RV jitters induced by starspots on an active star can inhibit detection of any exoplanet present or even lead to a false positive detection. This paper presents a new multi-band RV technique capable of substantially reducing starspot-induced RV jitters from stellar RV measurements to allow efficient and accurate extraction of RV signals caused by exoplanets. It takes full advantage of the correlation of RV jitters at different spectral bands and the independence of exoplanet signals at the corresponding bands. Simulations with a single-spot model and a multi-spot model have been conducted to investigate the RV jitter reduction capability of this method. The results show that this method can reduce the RV jitter amplitude by at least an order of magnitude, allowing detection of weaker exoplanet signals without significantly increasing RV observation time and cadence. This method can greatly reduce the observation time required to detect Earth-like planets around solar type stars with {approx}0.1 m s{sup -1} long term Doppler precision if spot-induced jitter is the dominant astrophysical noise source for RV measurements. This method can work efficiently for RV jitter removal if: (1) all the spots on a target star have approximately the same temperature during RV observations; (2) the RV jitter amplitude changes with wavelength, i.e., the RV jitter amplitude ratio, {alpha}, between two different spectral bands is not close to one; (3) the spot-induced RV jitter dominates the RV measurement error.

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DOE OSTI2012

CHARACTERIZING THE GALACTIC WHITE DWARF BINARY POPULATION WITH SPARSELY SAMPLED RADIAL VELOCITY DATA

We present a method to characterize statistically the parameters of a detached binary sample-binary fraction, separation distribution, and mass-ratio distribution-using noisy radial velocity data with as few as two, randomly spaced, epochs per object. To do this, we analyze the distribution of {Delta}RV{sub max}, the maximum radial velocity difference between any two epochs for the same object. At low values, the core of this distribution is dominated by measurement errors, but for large enough samples there is a high-velocity tail that can effectively constrain the parameters of the binary population. We discuss our approach for the case of a population of detached white dwarf (WD) binaries with separations that are decaying via gravitational wave emission. We derive analytic expressions for the present-day distribution of separations, integrated over the star formation history of the Galaxy, for parameterized initial WD separation distributions at the end of the common-envelope phase. We use Monte Carlo techniques to produce grids of simulated {Delta}RV{sub max} distributions with specific binary population parameters, and the same sampling cadences and radial velocity errors as the observations, and we compare them to the real {Delta}RV{sub max} distribution to constrain the properties of the binary population. We illustrate the sensitivity of the method to both the model and observational parameters. In the particular case of binary WDs, every model population predicts a merger rate per star which can easily be compared to specific Type Ia supernova rates. In a companion paper, we apply the method to a sample of {approx}4000 WDs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The binary fractions and separation distribution parameters allowed by the data indicate a rate of WD-WD mergers per unit stellar mass in the Galactic disk, {approx}1 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -13} mergers yr{sup -1} M{sup -1}{sub Sun }, remarkably similar to the rate per unit mass of Type Ia supernovae in Milky Way like galaxies.

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DOE OSTI2012

HOW DO STAR-FORMING GALAXIES AT z > 3 ASSEMBLE THEIR MASSES?

We investigate how star-forming galaxies typically assemble their masses at high redshift. Taking advantage of the deep multi-wavelength coverage of the GOODS data set, we select two of the largest samples of high-redshift star-forming galaxies based on their UV colors and measure stellar mass of individual galaxies. We use template-fitting photometry to obtain optimal estimates of the fluxes in lower-resolution ground-based and Spitzer images using prior information about galaxy positions, shapes, and orientations. By combining the data and realistic simulations to understand measurement errors and biases, we make a statistically robust determination of stellar mass function (SMF) of the UV-selected star-forming galaxies at z {approx} 4 and 5. We report a broad correlation between stellar mass and UV luminosity, such that more UV-luminous galaxies are, on average, also more massive. However, we show that the correlation has a substantial intrinsic scatter, particularly for UV-faint galaxies, evidenced by the fact there is a non-negligible number of UV faint but massive galaxies. Furthermore, we find that the low-mass end of the SMF does not rise as steeply as the UV luminosity function ({alpha}{sub UVLF} Almost-Equal-To - (1.7-1.8) while {alpha}{sub SMF} Almost-Equal-To - (1.3-1.4)) of the same galaxies. In a smooth and continuous formation scenario where star formation rates (SFRs) are sustained at the observed rates for a long time, these galaxies would have accumulated more stellar mass (by a factor of Almost-Equal-To 3) than observed and therefore the SMF would mirror more closely that of the UV luminosity function. The relatively shallow slope of the SMF is due to the fact that many of the UV-selected galaxies are not massive enough, and therefore are too faint in their rest-frame optical bands, to be detected in the current observations. Our results favor a more episodic formation history in which SFRs of low-mass galaxies vary significantly over cosmic time, a scenario currently favored by galaxy clustering. Our findings for the UV-faint galaxies at high redshift are in contrast with previous studies on more UV-luminous galaxies, which exhibit a tighter SFR-M{sub star} correlation. The discrepancy may suggest that galaxies at different luminosities may have different evolutionary paths. Such a scenario presents a nontrivial test to theoretical models of galaxy formation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

EXTREME-ULTRAVIOLET MULTI-WAVELENGTH OBSERVATIONS OF QUASI-PERIODIC PULSATIONS IN A SOLAR POST-FLARE CUSP-SHAPE LOOP WITH SDO/AIA

We present extreme-ultraviolet multi-wavelength observations with the SDO/AIA instruments of quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs) propagating along a cusp-shaped loop formed after an M2.2 flare on the Sun. Our motivation is to detect whether there were slow-mode magnetoacoustic waves propagating along its protruding flux tube. To this end, with fast Fourier transform we extract the short (<3 minutes) and long (>3 minutes) period components of the QPPs from time-space diagrams of the tube slices. We find that velocity differences did exist among the short/long-period components of different wavelengths, but only one event in the long-period ones showed they were greater than the measurement errors (e.g., 65 km s{sup -1}), which were 330 km s{sup -1} detected in 171 A, 590 km s{sup -1} in 211 A, and 180 km s{sup -1} in 304 A. The intensity modulation in all wavelengths is found to be very large, e.g., {approx}60% of the emission trend for an event in the 171 A passband, which would be an order of magnitude higher than the perturbation of the plasma density in the slow-mode magnetoacoustic waves. Moreover, only the QPPs with upward velocities of 50-300 km s{sup -1} are found in the tube, and the downward ones of several tens of kilometers are never unambiguously detected. Therefore, most of the QPP events under study were likely the episodic outflows along the tube, and the one with a supersonic speed of 590 km s{sup -1} may be a kink wave.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

ON THE CLUSTER PHYSICS OF SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH AND X-RAY SURVEYS. II. DECONSTRUCTING THE THERMAL SZ POWER SPECTRUM

Secondary anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background are a treasure-trove of cosmological information. Interpreting current experiments probing them are limited by theoretical uncertainties rather than by measurement errors. Here we focus on the secondary anisotropies resulting from the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect; the amplitude of which depends critically on the average thermal pressure profile of galaxy groups and clusters. To this end, we use a suite of hydrodynamical TreePM-SPH simulations that include radiative cooling, star formation, supernova feedback, and energetic feedback from active galactic nuclei. We examine in detail how the pressure profile depends on cluster radius, mass, and redshift and provide an empirical fitting function. We employ three different approaches for calculating the tSZ power spectrum: an analytical approach that uses our pressure profile fit, a semianalytical method of pasting our pressure fit onto simulated clusters, and a direct numerical integration of our simulated volumes. We demonstrate that the detailed structure of the intracluster medium and cosmic web affect the tSZ power spectrum. In particular, the substructure and asphericity of clusters increase the tSZ power spectrum by 10%-20% at l {approx} 2000-8000, with most of the additional power being contributed by substructures. The contributions to the power spectrum from radii larger than R {sub 500} is {approx}20% at l = 3000, thus clusters interiors (r < R {sub 500}) dominate the power spectrum amplitude at these angular scales.

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DOE OSTI2013

THE FIRST HARD X-RAY POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY FUNCTIONS OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS

We present results of our power spectral density (PSD) analysis of 30 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) using the 58 month light curves from Swift's Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) in the 14-150 keV band. PSDs were fit using a Monte Carlo based algorithm to take into account windowing effects and measurement error. All but one source were found to be fit very well using an unbroken power law with a slope of {approx} - 1, consistent at low frequencies with previous studies in the 2-10 keV band, with no evidence of a break in the PSD. For five of the highest signal-to-noise ratio sources, we tested the energy dependence of the PSD and found no significant difference in the PSD at different energies. Unlike previous studies of X-ray variability in AGNs, we do not find any significant correlations between the hard X-ray variability and different properties of the AGN including luminosity and black hole mass. The lack of break frequencies and correlations seem to indicate that AGNs are similar to the high state of Galactic black holes.

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DOE OSTI2013

PLANET HUNTERS. V. A CONFIRMED JUPITER-SIZE PLANET IN THE HABITABLE ZONE AND 42 PLANET CANDIDATES FROM THE KEPLER ARCHIVE DATA

We report the latest Planet Hunter results, including PH2 b, a Jupiter-size (R{sub PL} = 10.12 ± 0.56 R{sub ⊕}) planet orbiting in the habitable zone of a solar-type star. PH2 b was elevated from candidate status when a series of false-positive tests yielded a 99.9% confidence level that transit events detected around the star KIC 12735740 had a planetary origin. Planet Hunter volunteers have also discovered 42 new planet candidates in the Kepler public archive data, of which 33 have at least 3 transits recorded. Most of these transit candidates have orbital periods longer than 100 days and 20 are potentially located in the habitable zones of their host stars. Nine candidates were detected with only two transit events and the prospective periods are longer than 400 days. The photometric models suggest that these objects have radii that range between those of Neptune and Jupiter. These detections nearly double the number of gas-giant planet candidates orbiting at habitable-zone distances. We conducted spectroscopic observations for nine of the brighter targets to improve the stellar parameters and we obtained adaptive optics imaging for four of the stars to search for blended background or foreground stars that could confuse our photometric modeling. We present an iterative analysis method to derive the stellar and planet properties and uncertainties by combining the available spectroscopic parameters, stellar evolution models, and transiting light curve parameters, weighted by the measurement errors. Planet Hunters is a citizen science project that crowd sources the assessment of NASA Kepler light curves. The discovery of these 43 planet candidates demonstrates the success of citizen scientists at identifying planet candidates, even in longer period orbits with only two or three transit events.

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DOE OSTI2013

The neutron star mass distribution

In recent years, the number of pulsars with secure mass measurements has increased to a level that allows us to probe the underlying neutron star (NS) mass distribution in detail. We critically review the radio pulsar mass measurements. For the first time, we are able to analyze a sizable population of NSs with a flexible modeling approach that can effectively accommodate a skewed underlying distribution and asymmetric measurement errors. We find that NSs that have evolved through different evolutionary paths reflect distinctive signatures through dissimilar distribution peak and mass cutoff values. NSs in double NS and NS-white dwarf (WD) systems show consistent respective peaks at 1.33 M {sub ☉} and 1.55 M {sub ☉}, suggesting significant mass accretion (Δm ≈ 0.22 M {sub ☉}) has occurred during the spin-up phase. The width of the mass distribution implied by double NS systems is indicative of a tight initial mass function while the inferred mass range is significantly wider for NSs that have gone through recycling. We find a mass cutoff at ∼2.1 M {sub ☉} for NSs with WD companions, which establishes a firm lower bound for the maximum NS mass. This rules out the majority of strange quark and soft equation of state models as viable configurations for NS matter. The lack of truncation close to the maximum mass cutoff along with the skewed nature of the inferred mass distribution both enforce the suggestion that the 2.1 M {sub ☉} limit is set by evolutionary constraints rather than nuclear physics or general relativity, and the existence of rare supermassive NSs is possible.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

A maximum likelihood approach to estimating correlation functions

We define a maximum likelihood (ML for short) estimator for the correlation function, ξ, that uses the same pair counting observables (D, R, DD, DR, RR) as the standard Landy and Szalay (LS for short) estimator. The ML estimator outperforms the LS estimator in that it results in smaller measurement errors at any fixed random point density. Put another way, the ML estimator can reach the same precision as the LS estimator with a significantly smaller random point catalog. Moreover, these gains are achieved without significantly increasing the computational requirements for estimating ξ. We quantify the relative improvement of the ML estimator over the LS estimator and discuss the regimes under which these improvements are most significant. We present a short guide on how to implement the ML estimator and emphasize that the code alterations required to switch from an LS to an ML estimator are minimal.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

The intrinsic quasar luminosity function: Accounting for accretion disk anisotropy

Quasar luminosity functions are a fundamental probe of the growth and evolution of supermassive black holes. Measuring the intrinsic luminosity function is difficult in practice, due to a multitude of observational and systematic effects. As sample sizes increase and measurement errors drop, characterizing the systematic effects is becoming more important. It is well known that the continuum emission from the accretion disk of quasars is anisotropic—in part due to its disk-like structure—but current luminosity function calculations effectively assume isotropy over the range of unobscured lines of sight. Here, we provide the first steps in characterizing the effect of random quasar orientations and simple models of anisotropy on observed luminosity functions. We find that the effect of orientation is not insignificant and exceeds other potential corrections such as those from gravitational lensing of foreground structures. We argue that current observational constraints may overestimate the intrinsic luminosity function by as much as a factor of ∼2 on the bright end. This has implications for models of quasars and their role in the universe, such as quasars' contribution to cosmological backgrounds.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Tidally distorted exoplanets: Density corrections for short-period hot-Jupiters based solely on observable parameters

The close proximity of short-period hot-Jupiters to their parent star means they are subject to extreme tidal forces. This has a profound effect on their structure and, as a result, density measurements that assume that the planet is spherical can be incorrect. We have simulated the tidally distorted surface for 34 known short-period hot-Jupiters, assuming surfaces of constant gravitational equipotential for the planet, and the resulting densities have been calculated based only on observed parameters of the exoplanet systems. Comparing these results to the density values, assuming the planets are spherical, shows that there is an appreciable change in the measured density for planets with very short periods (typically less than two days). For one of the shortest-period systems, WASP-19b, we determine a decrease in bulk density of 12% from the spherical case and, for the majority of systems in this study, this value is in the range of 1%-5%. On the other hand, we also find cases where the distortion is negligible (relative to the measurement errors on the planetary parameters) even in the cases of some very short period systems, depending on the mass ratio and planetary radius. For high-density gas planets requiring apparently anomalously large core masses, density corrections due to tidal deformation could become important for the shortest-period systems.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

A COMPREHENSIVE STATISTICAL ASSESSMENT OF STAR-PLANET INTERACTION

We investigate whether magnetic interaction between close-in giant planets and their host stars produce observable statistical enhancements in stellar coronal or chromospheric activity. New Chandra observations of 12 nearby (d < 60 pc) planet-hosting solar analogs are combined with archival Chandra, XMM-Newton, and ROSAT coverage of 11 similar stars to construct a sample inoculated against inherent stellar class and planet-detection biases. Survival analysis and Bayesian regression methods (incorporating both measurements errors and X-ray upper limits; 13/23 stars have secure detections) are used to test whether ''hot Jupiter'' hosts are systematically more X-ray luminous than comparable stars with more distant or smaller planets. No significant correlations are present between common proxies for interaction strength (M {sub P}/a {sup 2} or 1/a) versus coronal activity (L {sub X} or L {sub X}/L {sub bol}). In contrast, a sample of 198 FGK main-sequence stars does show a significant (∼99% confidence) increase in X-ray luminosity with M {sub P}/a {sup 2}. While selection biases are incontrovertibly present within the main-sequence sample, we demonstrate that the effect is primarily driven by a handful of extreme hot-Jupiter systems with M {sub P}/a {sup 2} > 450 M {sub Jup} AU{sup –2}, which here are all X-ray luminous but to a degree commensurate with their Ca II H and K activity, in contrast to presented magnetic star-planet interaction scenarios that predict enhancements relatively larger in L {sub X}. We discuss these results in the context of cumulative tidal spin-up of stars hosting close-in gas giants (potentially followed by planetary infall and destruction). We also test our main-sequence sample for correlations between planetary properties and UV luminosity or Ca II H and K emission, and find no significant dependence.

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