Sazuna/UAT_keywords huggingface dataset:
A Practical Guide to the Partition Function of Atoms and Ions. The partition function, U, the number of available states in an atom or molecules, is crucial for understanding the physical state of any astrophysical system in thermodynamic equilibrium. There are surprisingly few useful discussions of the partition function's numerical value. Textbooks often define U; some give tables of representative values, while others do a deep dive into the theory of dense plasma. Most say that it depends on temperature, atomic structure, density, and that it diverges, that is, it goes to infinity, at high temperatures, but few give practical examples. We aim to rectify this. We show that there are two limits, one- and two-electron (or closed-shell) systems like H or He, and species with a complicated electronic structure like C, N, O, and Fe. The high-temperature divergence does not occur for one- and two-electron systems in practical situations because, at high temperatures, species are collisionally ionized to higher-ionization stages and are not abundant. The partition function is then close to the statistical weight of the ground state. There is no such simplification for many-electron species. U is temperature sensitive across the range of temperatures where an ion is abundant but remains finite at even the highest practical temperatures. The actual value depends on highly uncertain truncation theories in high-density plasmas. We show that there are various theories for continuum lowering but that they are not in good agreement. This remains a long-standing unsolved problem.

Keywords: Emission nebulae, Interstellar atomic gas, Atomic physics
Optical Observations of the Nearby Type Ia Supernova 2021hpr. We present the optical photometric and spectroscopic observations of the nearby Type Ia supernova (SN) 2021hpr. The observations covered the phase of -14.37 to +63.68 days relative to its maximum luminosity in the B band. The evolution of multiband light/color curves of SN 2021hpr is similar to that of normal Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) with the exception of some phases, especially a plateau phase that appeared in the V - R color curve before peak luminosity, which resembles that of SN 2017cbv. The first spectrum we observed at t ~ -14.4 days shows a higher velocity for the Si II λ6355 feature (~21,000 km s-1) than that of other normal velocity (NV) SNe Ia at the same phase. Based on the Si II λ6355 velocity of ~12,420 km s-1 around maximum light, we deduce that SN 2021hpr is a transitional object between high velocity (HV) and NV SNe Ia. Meanwhile, the Si II λ6355 feature shows a high velocity gradient (HVG) of about 800 km s-1 day-1 from roughly -14.37 to -4.31 days relative to the B-band maximum, which indicates that SN 2021hpr can also be classified as an HVG SN Ia. Despite SN 2021hpr having a higher velocity for the Si II λ6355 and Ca II near-IR (NIR) triplet features in its spectra, its evolution is similar to that of SN 2011fe. Including SN 2021hpr, there have been six supernovae observed in the host galaxy NGC 3147; the supernovae explosion rate in the last 50 yr is slightly higher for SNe Ia, while for SNe Ibc and SNe II it is lower than expected rate from the radio data. Inspecting the spectra, we find that SN 2021hpr has a metal-rich (12 + log(O/H) ≈ 8.648) circumstellar environment, where HV SNe tend to reside. Based on the decline rate of SN 2021hpr in the B band, we determine the distance modulus of the host galaxy NGC 3147 using the Phillips relation to be 33.46 ± 0.21 mag, which is close to that found by previous works.

Keywords: Type Ia supernovae, Supernovae, Galaxies
The Visual Survey Group: A Decade of Hunting Exoplanets and Unusual Stellar Events with Space-based Telescopes. This article presents the history of the Visual Survey Group (VSG)-a Professional-Amateur (Pro-Am) collaboration within the field of astronomy working on data from several space missions (Kepler, K2 and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite). This paper covers the formation of the VSG, its survey-methods including the most common tools used and its discoveries made over the past decade. So far, the group has visually surveyed nearly 10 million light curves and authored 69 peer-reviewed papers which mainly focus on exoplanets and discoveries involving multistellar systems. The preferred manual search-method carried out by the VSG has revealed its strength by detecting numerous objects which were overlooked or discarded by automated search programs, uncovering some of the most rare stars in our galaxy, and leading to several serendipitous discoveries of unprecedented astrophysical phenomena. The main purpose of the VSG is to assist in the exploration of our local universe, and we therefore advocate continued crowd-sourced examination of time-domain data sets, and invite other research teams to reach out in order to establish collaborating projects.

Keywords: Amateur astronomy, Multiple stars, Exoplanets, Stellar phenomena, History of astronomy, Young stellar objects, Eclipsing binary stars, Exoplanet detection methods, Transit photometry, Astronomy data visualization
Short-exposure Image Reconstruction with The Power Spectrum Extended (PSE) Method. We analyze, in the framework of high angular resolution imaging, a novel image reconstruction method denoted as PSE (which stands for power spectrum extended). It works in the Fourier space, combining the information from both the average power spectrum of the images and a phase estimation from an ad-hoc shift-and-add process. PSE allows to perform image reconstruction up to the diffraction limit of the telescope from a series of short-exposure frames, with a refined lucky-imaging selection process. The method is well adapted to partially corrected adaptive-optics images, in particular in case of low Strehl corrections, and/or small diameter telescopes. In this paper we analyze the PSE technique by means of Monte-Carlo simulations and compare it with the ISFAS lucky-imaging method. Comparative performances were investigated using three metrics: Strehl ratio for reconstructed point-like sources, intensity ratio for binary stars, and least-square distance between images for a simulated artificial satellite. We found that PSE provides an improvement of a factor ~2 over ISFAS on the Strehl ratio in the case of faint point sources. It seems also to give better images reconstruction on some kinds of extended objects (planets or binary stars with small magnitude difference). PSE has also the advantage to be very fast and well adapted to real-time image reconstruction.

Keywords: Artificial satellites, Astronomical methods, Astronomy software
First Implementation of Pulsed Sodium Guidestars Constellation for Large-aperture Multi-conjugate Adaptive Optics Telescopes. Multiple synthetic beacons are required for atmospheric-turbulence compensation in an extended-field-of-view multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) telescope. In this paper, we report on the first successful implementation of a microsecond-pulse sodium guidestars constellation laser system, based on a small angle precise polarized combining and splitting technology. At Lijiang Observatory of China, four-ways ~20 W yellow laser beam with kHz repetition-rate and hundred-μs pulse width were projected into the sky through one small-aperture launching telescope, and generated a distinctive four-point grouping on a field of view of 40″ with variable configurations of linear, parallelogram, rhomboid and square. The sodium return signal could easily avoid Rayleigh light interference by the pulse synchro controlling technology delivering a higher spatial resolution. Moreover, the increase in return photons for alternated circularly and alternated linearly polarized light has been investigated. We believe that the above results could serve as a future reference for the MCAO system on large-aperture telescopes worldwide.

Keywords: Ground telescopes, Optical observation, Optical telescopes, Laser guide stars
Wavelength-dependent Image Quality Predictions and Other Considerations for Site Selection and Instrument Design. Stellar image motion measured differentially with small telescopes can be converted to image quality predictions for large telescopes at the same site. To demonstrate this methodology, multi-wavelength seeing distributions are predicted for Las Campanas Observatory based on the Differential Image Motion Monitor (DIMM) results from the Giant Magellan Telescope site survey. The observed seeing distribution at 0.5 μm is used to compute a family of predicted seeing distributions from 0.32 to 4.7 μm. Tokovinin's formula is used to transform the DIMM seeing distributions (based on Kolmogorov theory) to the large telescope image sizes expected in the von Karman theory. The latter framework includes an outer scale, or largest size, for the turbulent eddies above a telescope. The impact of seeing distributions on site selection and on telescope and instrument design are discussed. Other considerations in selecting an excellent site are also listed and explained.

Keywords: Observatories, Astronomical seeing, Astronomical instrumentation
Stellar Obliquities in Exoplanetary Systems. The rotation of a star and the revolutions of its planets are not necessarily aligned. This article reviews the measurement techniques, key findings, and theoretical interpretations related to the obliquities (spin-orbit angles) of planet-hosting stars. The best measurements are for stars with short-period giant planets, which have been found on prograde, polar, and retrograde orbits. It seems likely that dynamical processes such as planet-planet scattering and secular perturbations are responsible for tilting the orbits of close-in giant planets, just as those processes are implicated in exciting orbital eccentricities. The observed dependence of the obliquity on orbital separation, planet mass, and stellar structure suggests that in some cases, tidal dissipation damps a star's obliquity within its main-sequence lifetime. The situation is not as clear for stars with smaller or wider-orbiting planets. Although the earliest measurements of such systems tended to find low obliquities, some glaring exceptions are now known in which the star's rotation is misaligned with respect to the coplanar orbits of multiple planets. In addition, statistical analyses based on projected rotation velocities and photometric variability have found a broad range of obliquities for F-type stars hosting compact multiple-planet systems. The results suggest it is unsafe to assume that stars and their protoplanetary disks are aligned. Primordial misalignments might be produced by neighboring stars or more complex events that occur during the epoch of planet formation.

Keywords: Exoplanet dynamics, Exoplanet migration, Exoplanet formation, Planet hosting stars, Tidal interaction, Stellar rotation
Performance Assessment of the KASI-Deep Rolling Imaging Fast-optics Telescope Pathfinder. In a ΛCDM universe, most galaxies evolve by mergers and accretions, leaving faint and/or diffuse structures, such as tidal streams and stellar halos. Although these structures are a good indicator of galaxies' recent mass assembly history, they have the disadvantage of being difficult to observe due to their low surface brightness (LSB). To recover these LSB features by minimizing the photometric uncertainties introduced by the optical system, we developed a new optimized telescope named K-DRIFT pathfinder, adopting a linear astigmatism free-three mirror system. Thanks to the off-axis design, it is expected to avoid the loss and scattering of light on the optical path within the telescope. To assess the performance of this prototype telescope, we investigate the photometric depth and capability to identify LSB features. We find that the surface brightness limit reaches down to μ  r,1σ  ~ 28.5 mag arcsec-2 in 10″ × 10″ boxes, enabling us to identify a single stellar stream to the east of NGC 5907. We also examine the characteristics of the point-spread function (PSF) and find that the PSF wing reaches a very low level. Still, however, some internal reflections appear within a radius of ~6' from the center of sources. Despite a relatively small aperture (0.3 m) and short integration time (2 hr), this result demonstrates that our telescope is highly efficient in LSB detection.

Keywords: Galaxies, Astronomy data reduction, Multiple mirror telescopes
Constraining the γ-Ray Emission Region for Fermi-detected FSRQs by the Seed Photon Approach. The location of γ-ray-emitting region in blazars has been an open issue for several decades and is still being debated. We use the Paliya et al. sample of 619 γ-ray-loud flat-spectrum radio quasars with available spectral energy distributions and employ a seed photon factor approach to locate the γ-ray production region. This method efficiently sets up a relation between the peak frequencies and luminosities for the synchrotron emission and inverse Compton scattering, together with a combination of the energy density and characteristic energy for the external seed photon field, namely, $\sqrt{{U}_{0}}/{\epsilon }_{0}$ , an indicative factor of seed photons in units of Gauss. By comparing it with canonical values of the broad-line region (BLR) and molecular dusty torus (DT), we principally ascertain that the GeV emission originated far beyond the BLR and close to the DT-farther out at parsec scales from the central black hole, which supports a far-site scenario for γ-ray blazars. We probe the idea that inverse Compton scattering of infrared seed photons is happening in the Thomson regime. This approach and our findings are based on the validity of the external Compton model, which is applicable in understanding the GeV emission mechanism in FSRQs. However, the completeness of this framework has been challenged by reports of neutrino emission from blazars. Thus, we also shed new light on the neutrino production region by using our derived results because blazars are promising neutrino emitters.

Keywords: Gamma-ray sources, Active galaxies, Flat-spectrum radio quasars
Interstellar Extinction and Polarization of Stars in the Open Cluster NGC 6709. We present BVRI polarimetric measurements of 23 stars in the direction of the open cluster NGC 6709. Fifteen stars display wavelength-dependence of polarization which is typically due to selective extinction in the interstellar medium and could be fitted to the Serkwoski equation. Based on these stars, we obtained an average maximum degree of polarization of 0.722 ± 0.022% and an average wavelength at a maximum polarization of 0.615 ± 0.011 μm. The observed low polarization may be due to the alignment of grains along a more longitudinally-directed magnetic field in this region which would cause the aspect ratio of the grains to be reduced. This would have the observational consequence of decreased polarization as well as shifting ${\lambda }_{\max }$ toward longer wavelengths. Using the expression proposed by Whittet &amp; van Breda we calculated the ratio of total-to-selective extinction as ${R}_{V}=(5.6\pm 0.3){\lambda }_{\max }=3.44\pm 0.06$ , higher than the nominal value of 3.1 for the general ISM. The remaining eight sample stars display an unusual wavelength-dependence that is similar to some Be stars. However, there are only two Be stars currently listed in this cluster, yet, based on our data, they both present reliable fits within the Serkowski equation. The overall alignment of the V-band polarization vectors implies polarization by selective extinction due to foreground dust. Using the Planck 353 GHz channel we find there is an agreement between polarization by emission and selective extinction. Since the optical polarization traces a magnetic field, this suggests that the magnetic field in this region is inclined to the Galactic plane, with an overall average Galactic position angle of 104 ± 12 (st. dev.) degrees.

Keywords: Fundamental parameters of stars, Starlight polarization, Stellar associations, Interstellar extinction
The Far Ultra-violet Background. The diffuse far-ultraviolet (FUV) background has received considerable attention from astronomers since the 1970s The initial impetus came from the hope of detecting UV radiation from the hot intergalactic medium. The central importance of the FUV background to the physics (heating and ionization) of the diffuse atomic phases motivated the next generation of experiments. The consensus view is that the diffuse FUV emission at high latitudes has three components: stellar FUV reflected by dust grains (diffuse galactic light or DGL), FUV from other galaxies and the intergalactic medium (extra-galactic background light or EBL) and a component of unknown origin (and referred to as the "offset" component). During the 1980s, there was some discussion that decaying dark matter particles produced FUV radiation. In this paper I investigate production of FUV photons by conventional sources: line emission from Galactic Hot Ionized Medium, two-photon emission from the Galactic Warm Ionized Medium and low-velocity shocks, and Lyman-β fluorescence of hydrogen at several locales in the Solar System (the interplanetary medium, the exosphere and the thermosphere of Earth). I conclude that two thirds and arguably all of the offset component can be explained by the sum of the radiation from the processes listed above.

Keywords: Ultraviolet astronomy, Interstellar atomic gas, Interstellar radiation field
Variability of Jupiter's Synchrotron Radiation: Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope (GAVRT) Observations -II. Jupiter's decimeter-wavelength flux density is dominated by synchrotron emission from magnetically trapped ~5-50 MeV electrons in the radiation belts. Synchrotron radio emission remains the most useful diagnostic of the radiation belts, and a global picture is provided by ground-based observations. Monitoring of the long-term variations of Jupiter's Synchrotron Radiation (JSR) flux density is crucial to understanding its relationship with the solar wind. The GAVRT (Goldstone-Apple Valley Radio Telescope) program operates two retired Deep Space Network (DSN) antennas, and as part of their K-12 program and Juno support, GAVRT has been collecting data to monitor JSR radio emission at 2280 MHz (13 cm wavelength). We present new results from 2019 August to 2021 December GAVRT monitoring observations. As viewed from Earth the JSR varies systematically (by about 10%) with Jupiter's 9.9 hr rotation period, and our observations were typically much shorter than 9.9 hr. To estimate the daily flux density of JSR, we took advantage of recent progress in modeling the radiation belt, scaling individual observations by the predicted relative variation due to Jupiter's rotation as viewed from Earth. We discuss the JSR variability from 2015 to 2021, combining our results with previous GAVRT data. Our new results show a marked decrease (~1 Jy) in JSR flux density between 2018 and 2021, while earlier observations showed an increase from 2015 to 2018. These results are remarkably consistent with long-term variability shown by the simulations of Han et al. based on models driven by the solar wind ram pressure.

Keywords: Radio astronomy, Jupiter, Radio observatories
Pattern Recognition Using SVM for the Classification of the Size and Distance of Trans-Neptunian Objects Detected by Serendipitous Stellar Occultations. We present a new pipeline based on the Support Vector Machine algorithm to confirm the detection and perform classification of small solar system objects by serendipitous stellar occultations. This pipeline is designed to analyze light curves and to identify the occultation events and the classification of the occulting bodies according to their size, typically from a fraction to a few kilometers, and their distance from the Sun, typically a few tens of astronomical units. The input light curves for this pipeline were obtained from the event simulator for the Trans-Neptunian Automated Occultation Survey (TAOS II). We explore parameters affecting occultation light curves such as spectral type, apparent magnitude and finite angular size of the occulted star, angle from opposition, and readout cadence for the observations; also we assumed a Poisson noise distribution as expected from the TAOS II project. We find that occultation events, especially by trans-Neptunian objects with diameters ≥2 km are detected with 99.99%, 99.53%, and 86% efficiency for stars with a visual apparent magnitude of 12, 14, and 16, respectively at 0.05 s of exposure time. In terms of size and distance classification the overall accuracy is 94%. However, for smaller objects the confirmation and classification depends mostly upon the signal-to-noise ratio.

Keywords: Surveys, Occultation, Astronomy data analysis, Kuiper belt
Dual-target Signal Simulation of Very Long baseline Interferometry for Chang'E-5. Very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) is an important deep-space tracking technology from radio astronomy. A mission that uses VLBI, China's lunar sample-return mission Chang'E-5 (CE-5) collects soil samples on the lunar surface, arrives at a rendezvous point, and docks in the lunar orbit through cooperation of the Orbiter and the Ascender. During rendezvous and docking, the Chinese VLBI network (CVN) used same beam VLBI (SBI) to observe two high-velocity probes simultaneously. However, before the launching of the CE-5, CVN lacked the capability to examine dynamic dual-target tracking ability of SBI mode because there were no similar space probes can be used in tests of upgraded VLBI data-processing system. This study proposes a method to simulate VLBI signals and acquire relevant data from the dual-target probe and calibration quasar signals recorded by each station according to the orbits and beacons of probes, station coordinates, etc. The real-time data-processing capability of the system is verified by processing the simulated data during rendezvous and docking. The consistency between simulation and VLBI data-processing was consistent to better than 0.05 ns. This method is universal and can also be used in VLBI simulation and orbital analysis of other deep-space probes.

Keywords: Interferometric correlation, Lunar probes, Very long baseline interferometers, Astronomical simulations