adsabs/SciX_UAT_keywords huggingface dataset:
Multiphase Gas Interactions on Subarcsec Scales in the Shocked Intergalactic Medium of Stephan's Quintet with JWST and ALMA

We combine James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and Hubble Space Telescope imaging with Atacama Large Millimeter Array CO(2-1) spectroscopy to study the highly turbulent multiphase intergalactic medium (IGM) in Stephan's Quintet on 25-150 pc scales. Previous Spitzer observations revealed luminous H2 line cooling across a 45 kpc-long filament, created by a giant shock wave, following the collision with an intruder galaxy, NGC 7318b. We demonstrate that the Mid-Infrared Instrument/F1000W/F770W filters are dominated by 0-0 S(3) H2 and a combination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and 0-0 S(5) H2 emission. These observations reveal the dissipation of kinetic energy as massive clouds experience collisions, interactions, and likely destruction/recycling within different phases of the IGM. In 1 kpc-scaled structure, warm H2 was seen to form a triangular-shaped head and tail of compressed and stripped gas behind a narrow shell of cold H2. In another region, two cold molecular clumps with very different velocities are connected by an arrow-shaped stream of warm, probably shocked, H2 suggesting a cloud-cloud collision is occurring. In both regions, a high warm-to-cold molecular gas fraction indicates that the cold clouds are being disrupted and converted into warm gas. We also map gas associated with an apparently forming dwarf galaxy. We suggest that the primary mechanism for exciting strong mid-IR H2 lines throughout Stephan's Quintet is through a fog of warm gas created by the shattering of denser cold molecular clouds and mixing/recycling in the post-shocked gas. A full picture of the diverse kinematics and excitation of the warm H2 will require future JWST mid-IR spectroscopy. The current observations reveal the rich variety of ways that different gas phases can interact with one another.

Keywords: intergalactic clouds; intergalactic medium phases; intergalactic medium; galaxy groups; hickson compact group
Multiwavelength Emission of the Gamma-Ray Burst Prompt Phase. I. Time-resolved and Time-integrated Polarizations

The time-integrated polarization degree (PD) in the prompt optical band of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) was predicted to be less than 20%, while the time-resolved one can reach as high as 75% in the photosphere model. Polarizations in the optical band during the GRB prompt phase have not previously been studied in the framework of the magnetic reconnection model. Here, a three-segment power law of the energy spectrum is used to reconstruct the Stokes parameters of the magnetic reconnection model. Multiwavelength light curves and polarization curves from the optical band to MeV gamma rays in the GRB prompt phase are studied. We found that, depending mainly on the jet dynamics, there is a long-lasting high-PD phase in all calculated energy bands for the typical parameter sets. The time-resolved PD could be as high as 50%, while the time-integrated one is roughly 17% in the optical band. The time-resolved PD in X-rays can reach 60% and the time-integrated one is around 30%–40%. The evolution of polarization angle (PA) is random in both optical and gamma-ray bands for the photosphere model, while it is roughly constant in the synchrotron models. Therefore, future time-resolved PA observations in the prompt optical or gamma-ray band could distinguish between the photosphere and synchrotron models.

Keywords: magnetic fields; gamma-ray bursts
Modeling the Free Inclinations of the Classical Kuiper Belt with the von Mises-Fisher Distribution

The orientations of orbital planes of minor planets are directional random variables. Their free inclination is the deviation of the orbit plane from the plane forced by the major planets. We construct a model of the distribution of free inclinations of classical Kuiper Belt objects (CKBOs) based on the von Mises-Fisher (vMF) distribution function, the analog of the normal distribution for directional statistics. The CKBOs are known to have a "cold" component of orbit planes concentrated near the forced plane and a more widely dispersed "hot" component. Adopting a model with a linear combination of two vMF functions, we find that the cold and hot components account for 57% and 43%, characterized by widths of 1.°7 and 12.°9, respectively. This model improves upon previous models based on smaller observational samples and empirical choices of functional forms for inclination distributions.

Keywords: classical kuiper belt objects; kuiper belt; trans-neptunian objects; small solar system bodies
Systematic Multiepoch Monitoring of LkCa 15: Dynamic Dust Structures on Solar System Scales

We present the highest-angular-resolution infrared monitoring of LkCa 15, a young solar analog hosting a transition disk. This system has been the subject of a number of direct-imaging studies from the millimeter through the optical, which have revealed multiple protoplanetary disk rings as well as three orbiting protoplanet candidates detected in infrared continuum emission (one of which was simultaneously seen at Hα). We use high-angular-resolution infrared imaging from 2014 to 2020 to systematically monitor these infrared signals and determine their physical origin. We find that three self-luminous protoplanets cannot explain the positional evolution of the infrared sources since the longer time baseline images lack the coherent orbital motion that would be expected for companions. However, the data still strongly prefer a time-variable morphology that cannot be reproduced by static scattered-light disk models. The multiepoch observations suggest the presence of complex and dynamic substructures moving through the forward-scattering side of the disk at ~20 au or quickly varying shadowing by closer-in material. We explore whether the previous Hα detection of one candidate would be inconsistent with this scenario and in the process develop an analytical signal-to-noise penalty for Hα excesses detected near forward-scattered light. Under these new noise considerations, the Hα detection is not strongly inconsistent with forward scattering, making the dynamic LkCa 15 disk a natural explanation for both the infrared and Hα data.

Keywords: protoplanetary disks; interferometry; planet formation; infrared astronomy
A Unified Model for Multiepoch Neutrino Events and Broadband Spectral Energy Distribution of TXS 0506+056

The blazar TXS 0506+056 has been proposed as a high-energy neutrino emitter. However, it has been shown that the standard one-zone model cannot produce sufficiently high neutrino flux due to constraints from the X-ray data, implying more complex properties of the radiation zones in the blazar than that described by the standard one-zone model. In this work, we investigate multiepoch high-energy muon-neutrino events associated with the blazar TXS 0506+056 that occurred in 2014–2015, 2017–2018, 2021–2022, and 2022–2023, respectively. We applied the so-called "stochastic dissipation model" to account for the neutrino-blazar associations detected in the four epochs simultaneously. This model describes a scenario in which the emission of the blazar arises from the superimposition of two components: a persistent component related to the quasi-stable state of the blazar and a transient component responsible for the sudden enhancement of the blazar's flux, either in electromagnetic radiation or in neutrino emission. The latter component could form at a random distance along the jet by a strong energy dissipation event. Under such an assumption, the multiepoch broadband spectral energy distribution can be well explained, and the expected number of high-energy neutrino events is statistically realistic. The expected number of neutrino events in half year is around 8.2, 0.07, 0.73, and 0.41, corresponding to the epoch in 2014–2015, 2017–2018, 2021–2022, and 2022–2023, respectively. Hence, our model self-consistently explains the episodic neutrino emission from TXS 0506+056.

Keywords: blazars; spectral energy distribution
MHD Inertial and Energy-containing Range Turbulence Anisotropy in the Young Solar Wind

We study solar wind turbulence anisotropy in the inertial and energy-containing ranges in the inbound and outbound directions during encounters 1–9 by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) for distances between ∼21 and 65 R ⊙. Using the Adhikari et al. approach, we derive theoretical equations to calculate the ratio between the 2D and slab fluctuating magnetic energy, fluctuating kinetic energy, and the outward/inward Elsässer energy in the inertial range. For this, in the energy-containing range, we assume a wavenumber k ‑1 power law. In the inertial range, for the magnetic field fluctuations and the outward/inward Elsässer energy, we consider that (i) both 2D and slab fluctuations follow a power law of k ‑5/3, and (ii) the 2D and slab fluctuations follow the power laws with k ‑5/3 and k ‑3/2, respectively. For the velocity fluctuations, we assume that both the 2D and slab components follow a k ‑3/2 power law. We compare the theoretical results of the variance anisotropy in the inertial range with the derived observational values measured by PSP, and find that the energy density of 2D fluctuations is larger than that of the slab fluctuations. The theoretical variance anisotropy in the inertial range relating to the k ‑5/3 and k ‑3/2 power laws between 2D and slab turbulence exhibits a smaller value in comparison to assuming the same power law k ‑5/3 between 2D and slab turbulence. Finally, the observed turbulence energy measured by PSP in the energy-containing range is found to be similar to the theoretical result of a nearly incompressible/slab turbulence description.

Keywords: interplanetary turbulence; magnetohydrodynamics; solar wind
Burst-Disk Interaction in 4U 1636-536 as Observed by NICER

We present the detection of 51 thermonuclear X-ray bursts observed from 4U 1636-536 by the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) over the course of a 3 yr monitoring campaign. We perform time-resolved spectroscopy for 40 of these bursts and show the existence of a strong soft excess in all the burst spectra. The excess emission can be characterized by the use of a scaling factor (the f a method) to the persistent emission of the source, which is attributed to the increased mass accretion rate onto the neutron star due to Poynting-Robertson drag. The soft excess emission can also be characterized by the use of a model taking into account the reflection of the burst emission off the accretion disk. We also present time-resolved spectral analysis of five X-ray bursts simultaneously observed by NICER and AstroSat, which confirm the main results with even greater precision. Finally, we present evidence for Compton cooling using seven X-ray bursts observed contemporaneously with NuSTAR, by means of a correlated decrease in the hard X-ray lightcurve of 4U 1636-536 as the bursts start.

Keywords: stellar accretion disks; neutron stars; x-ray bursts
A Comparison of Rest-frame Ultraviolet and Optical Emission-line Diagnostics in the Lensed Galaxy SDSS J1723+3411 at Redshift z = 1.3293

For the extremely bright lensed galaxy SDSS J1723+3411 at z = 1.3293, we analyze spatially integrated MMT, Keck, and Hubble Space Telescope spectra that fully cover the rest-frame wavelength range of 1400-7200 Å. We also analyze near-IR spectra from Gemini that cover Hα for a portion of the lensed arc. We report fluxes for 42 detected emission lines, and upper limits for an additional 22. This galaxy has extreme emission-line ratios and high equivalent widths that are characteristic of extreme emission-line galaxies. We compute strong emission-line diagnostics from both the rest-frame optical and rest-frame ultraviolet (UV), to constrain physical conditions and test the spectral diagnostics themselves. We tightly determine the nebular physical conditions using the most reliable diagnostics, and then compare to results from other diagnostics. We find disappointing performance from the UV-only diagnostics: they either are unable to measure the metallicity or dramatically underestimate it; they overestimate the pressure; and the UV diagnostic of ionization parameter has a strong metallicity dependence in this regime. Based on these results, we suggest that upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) spectroscopic surveys of galaxies in the reionization epoch should invest the additional integration time to capture the optical [O II] and [O III] emission lines, and not rely solely on the rest-frame UV emission lines. We make available the spectra; they represent one of the highest-quality emission-line spectral atlases of star-forming galaxies available beyond the local universe, and will aid the planning of observations with JWST.

Keywords: gravitational lensing; galaxy evolution; atomic spectroscopy; spectroscopy; emission line galaxies; starburst galaxies; interstellar medium
Radiative Scale Height and Shadows in Protoplanetary Disks

Planets form in young circumstellar disks called protoplanetary disks. However, it is still difficult to catch planet formation in situ. Nevertheless, from recent ALMA/SPHERE data, encouraging evidence of the direct and indirect presence of embedded planets has been identified in disks around young stars: co-moving point sources, gravitational perturbations, rings, cavities, and emission dips or shadows cast on disks. The interpretation of these observations needs a robust physical framework to deduce the complex disk geometry. In particular, protoplanetary disk models usually assume the gas pressure scale height given by the ratio of the sound speed over the azimuthal velocity H/r = cs/vk. By doing so, radiative pressure fields are often ignored, which could lead to a misinterpretation of the real vertical structure of such disks. We follow the evolution of a gaseous disk with an embedded Jupiter-mass planet through hydrodynamical simulations, computing the disk scale height including radiative pressure, which was derived from a generalization of the stellar atmosphere theory. We focus on the vertical impact of the radiative pressure in the vicinity of circumplanetary disks, where temperatures can reach ≳1000 K for an accreting planet and radiative forces can overcome gravitational forces from the planet. The radiation pressure effects create a vertical, optically thick column of gas and dust at the protoplanet location, casting a shadow in scattered light. This mechanism could explain the peculiar illumination patterns observed in some disks around young stars such as HD 169142 where a moving shadow has been detected or the extremely high aspect ratio H/r ∼ 0.2 observed in systems like AB Aur and CT Cha.

Keywords: protoplanetary disks; hydrodynamical simulations; planetary-disk interactions; radiative transfer simulations
Efficiency of Magnetohydrodynamic Wave Generation in Weakly Ionized Atmospheres

The generation of Alfvén and slow magnetoacoustic waves in weakly ionized atmospheres by excitation of the charges-only component of the two-fluid (charge and neutral) plasma is shown to be more or less efficient depending on the energy fraction initially allocated to the three stationary flow differential modes, which characterize the inter-species drift. This is explained via detailed analysis of the full 10-dimensional spectral description of two-fluid linear magnetohydrodynamics. Excitation via the velocity of the charges only is found to be very inefficient, in accord with previous results, while excitation via the magnetic field perturbation alone is highly efficient. All 10 eigenvalues and eigenvectors are presented analytically in the high collision frequency regime.

Keywords: quiet sun; solar physics; solar oscillations; magnetohydrodynamics; alfven waves; plasma astrophysics; solar photosphere
On the Physical Association of Fermi-LAT Blazars with Their Low-energy Counterparts

Associating γ-ray sources to their low-energy counterparts is one of the major challenges of modern γ-ray astronomy. In the context of the Fourth Fermi Large Area Telescope Source Catalog (4FGL), the associations rely mainly on parameters such as apparent magnitude, integrated flux, and angular separation between the γ-ray source and its low-energy candidate counterpart. In this work, we propose a new use of the likelihood ratio (LR) and a complementary supervised learning technique to associate γ-ray blazars in 4FGL, based only on spectral parameters such as the γ-ray photon index, mid-infrared colors, and radio-loudness. In the LR approach, we crossmatch the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer Blazar-Like Radio-Loud Sources catalog with 4FGL and compare the resulting candidate counterparts with the sources listed in the γ-ray blazar locus to compute an association probability (AP) for 1138 counterparts. In the supervised learning approach, we train a random forest algorithm with 869 high-confidence blazar associations and 711 fake associations and then compute an AP for 1311 candidate counterparts. A list with all 4FGL blazar candidates of uncertain type associated by our method is provided to guide future optical spectroscopic follow-up observations.

Keywords: gamma-ray astronomy; active galactic nuclei; astronomical methods
From Formation to Disruption: Observing the Multiphase Evolution of a Solar Flare Current Sheet

A current sheet, where magnetic energy is liberated through reconnection and converted to other forms, is thought to play the central role in solar flares, the most intense explosions in the heliosphere. However, the evolution of a current sheet and its subsequent role in flare-related phenomena such as particle acceleration is poorly understood. Here we report observations obtained with NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory that reveal a multiphase evolution of a current sheet in the early stages of a solar flare, from its formation to quasi-stable evolution and disruption. Our observations have implications for the understanding of the onset and evolution of reconnection in the early stages of eruptive solar flares.

Keywords: solar flares; solar magnetic reconnection; solar corona
The Ancient Globular Clusters of NGC 1291

We present a new catalog of 81 ancient globular clusters (GCs) in the early-type spiral (SB0/a) galaxy NGC 1291. Candidates have been selected from B, V, and I band images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, which also reveal 17 younger (τ ≲ few × 100 Myr) clusters. The luminosity function shows a peaked shape similar to that found for GC systems in other spiral and elliptical galaxies. The ancient clusters have a bimodal color distribution, with approximately 65% (35%) of the population having blue (red) colors. The red, presumably metal-rich, GCs are more centrally concentrated, as expected for a bulge population; while the blue, presumably metal-poor, GCs are more broadly distributed, consistent with expectations of a halo population. The specific frequency of GCs in NGC 1291 is higher than found previously in most spiral galaxies. However, if we consider just the blue subpopulation, we find S N,blue = 0.50 ± 0.06, quite similar to that found for other spirals. This result supports the hypothesis of a universal population of halo GCs in spirals. The fraction of red GCs in NGC 1291, when compared with those found in other galaxies, suggests that these correlate with host galaxy type rather than with host galaxy luminosity.

Keywords: spiral galaxies; globular star clusters
Narrowing the Mass Range of Fuzzy Dark Matter with Ultrafaint Dwarfs

Fuzzy dark matter (FDM) is an attractive dark matter candidate motivated by small-scale problems in astrophysics and with a rich phenomenology on those scales. We scrutinize the FDM model, more specifically the mass of the FDM particle, through a dynamical analysis for the Galactic ultrafaint dwarf (UFD) galaxies. We use a sample of 18 UFDs to place the strongest constraints to date on the mass of the FDM particle, updating on previous bounds using a subset of the sample used here. We find that most of the sample UFDs prefer an FDM particle mass heavier than 10-21 eV. In particular, Segue 1 provides the strongest constraint, with ${m}_{\psi }={1.1}_{-0.7}^{+8.3}\times {10}^{-19}\,\mathrm{eV}$ . The constraints found here are the first that are compatible with various other independent cosmological and astrophysical bounds found in the literature, in particular with the latest bounds using the Lyα forest. We also find that the constraints obtained in this work are not compatible with the bounds from luminous dwarf galaxies, as already pointed out in the previous work using UFDs. This could indicate that although a viable dark matter model, it might be challenging for the FDM model to solve the small-scale problems.

Keywords: dark matter; galaxy dynamics; dwarf spheroidal galaxies
Infrared Excess of a Large OB Star Sample

The infrared (IR) excess from OB stars is commonly considered to be a contribution from ionized stellar wind or circumstellar dust. With the newly published Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopy Telescope (LAMOST)-OB catalog and Galactic O-Star Spectroscopic Survey data, this work steps further on understanding the IR excess of OB stars. Based on a forward-modeling approach comparing the spectral slope of observational spectral energy distributions and photospheric models, 1147 stars are found to have IR excess out of 7818 stars with good-quality photometric data. After removing the objects in the sightline of dark clouds, 532 (~7%) B-type stars and 118 (~23%) O-type stars are identified to be true OB stars with circumstellar IR excess emission. The ionized stellar wind model and the circumstellar dust model are adopted to explain the IR excess, and Bayes factors are computed to quantitatively compare the two. It is shown that the IR excess can be accounted for by the stellar wind for about 65% cases, of which 33% by free-free emission and 32% by synchrotron radiation. Other 30% sources could have and 4% should have a dust component or other mechanisms to explain the sharp increase in flux at λ > 10 μm. The parameters of the dust model indicate a large-scale circumstellar halo structure, which implies the origin of the dust from the birthplace of the OB stars. A statistical study suggests that the proportion with IR excess in OB stars increases with the stellar effective temperature and luminosity, and that there is no systematic change in the mechanism for IR emission with stellar parameters.

Keywords: ob stars; infrared excess; extinction; circumstellar matter; circumstellar dust
Aluminium-26 from Massive Binary Stars. III. Binary Stars up to Core Collapse and Their Impact on the Early Solar System

Many of the short-lived radioactive nuclei that were present in the early solar system can be produced in massive stars. In the first paper in this series, we focused on the production of 26Al in massive binaries. In our second paper, we considered rotating single stars; two more short-lived radioactive nuclei, 36Cl and 41Ca; and the comparison to the early solar system data. In this work, we update our previous conclusions by further considering the impact of binary interactions. We used the MESA stellar evolution code with an extended nuclear network to compute massive (10-80 M ⊙), binary stars at various initial periods and solar metallicity (Z = 0.014), up to the onset of core collapse. The early solar system abundances of 26Al and 41Ca can be matched self-consistently by models with initial masses ≥25 M ⊙, while models with initial primary masses ≥35 M ⊙ can also match 36Cl. Almost none of the models provide positive net yields for 19F, while for 22Ne the net yields are positive from 30 M ⊙ and higher. This leads to an increase by a factor of approximately 4 in the amount of 22Ne produced by a stellar population of binary stars, relative to single stars. In addition, besides the impact on the stellar yields, our 10 M ⊙ primary star undergoing Case A mass transfer ends its life as a white dwarf instead of as a core-collapse supernova. This demonstrates that binary interactions can also strongly impact the evolution of stars close to the supernova boundary.

Keywords: stellar evolution; stellar nucleosynthesis; stellar winds; binary stars; stellar evolutionary models