adsabs/SciX_UAT_keywords huggingface dataset:
Investigating Mass Segregation of the Binary Stars in the Open Cluster NGC 6819

We search for mass segregation in the intermediate-aged open cluster NGC 6819 within a carefully identified sample of probable cluster members. Using photometry from Gaia, Pan-STARRS, and the Two Micron All Sky Survey as inputs for a Bayesian statistics software suite, BASE-9, we identify a rich population of (photometric) binaries and derive posterior distributions for the cluster age, distance, metallicity, and reddening, as well as star-by-star photometric membership probabilities, masses, and mass ratios (for binaries). Within our entire sample, we identify 2632 cluster members and 777 binaries. We then select a main-sequence "primary sample" with 14.85 <G < 19.5, containing 1342 cluster members and 250 binaries with mass ratios q > 0.5, to investigate mass segregation. Within this primary sample, we find the binary radial distribution is significantly shifted toward the cluster center as compared to the single stars, resulting in a binary fraction that increases significantly toward the cluster core. Furthermore, we find that within the binary sample, more massive binaries have more centrally concentrated radial distributions than less massive binaries. The same is true for the single stars. We verify the expectation of mass segregation for this stellar sample in NGC 6819 through both relaxation time arguments and by investigating a sophisticated N-body model of the cluster. Importantly, this is the first study to investigate mass segregation of the binaries in the open cluster NGC 6819.

Keywords: binary stars; open star clusters; relaxation time; bayesian statistics; n-body simulations
Three-dimensional General-relativistic Simulations of Neutrino-driven Winds from Rotating Proto-neutron Stars

We explore the effects of rapid rotation on the properties of neutrino-heated winds from proto-neutron stars (PNS) formed in core-collapse supernovae or neutron-star mergers by means of three-dimensional general-relativistic hydrodynamical simulations with M0 neutrino transport. We focus on conditions characteristic of a few seconds into the PNS cooling evolution when the neutrino luminosities obey ${L}_{{\nu }_{e}}+{L}_{{\bar{\nu }}_{e}}\approx 7\times {10}^{51}$ erg s-1, and over which most of the wind mass loss will occur. After an initial transient phase, all of our models reach approximately steady-state outflow solutions with positive energies and sonic surfaces captured on the computational grid. Our nonrotating and slower rotating models (angular velocity relative to Keplerian Ω/ΩK ≲ 0.4; spin period P ≳ 2 ms) generate approximately spherically symmetric outflows with properties in good agreement with previous PNS wind studies. By contrast, our most rapidly spinning PNS solutions (Ω/ΩK ≳ 0.75; P ≈ 1 ms) generate outflows focused in the rotational equatorial plane with much higher mass-loss rates (by over an order of magnitude), lower velocities, lower entropy, and lower asymptotic electron fractions, than otherwise similar nonrotating wind solutions. Although such rapidly spinning PNS are likely rare in nature, their atypical nucleosynthetic composition and outsized mass yields could render them important contributors of light neutron-rich nuclei compared to more common slowly rotating PNS birth. Our calculations pave the way to including the combined effects of rotation and a dynamically important large-scale magnetic field on the wind properties within a three-dimensional GRMHD framework.

Keywords: stellar winds; neutron stars; supernova remnants; r-process; general relativity; high energy astrophysics
Detection of Cosmological 21 cm Emission with the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment

We present a detection of 21 cm emission from large-scale structure (LSS) between redshift 0.78 and 1.43 made with the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment. Radio observations acquired over 102 nights are used to construct maps that are foreground filtered and stacked on the angular and spectral locations of luminous red galaxies (LRGs), emission-line galaxies (ELGs), and quasars (QSOs) from the eBOSS clustering catalogs. We find decisive evidence for a detection when stacking on all three tracers of LSS, with the logarithm of the Bayes factor equal to 18.9 (LRG), 10.8 (ELG), and 56.3 (QSO). An alternative frequentist interpretation, based on the likelihood ratio test, yields a detection significance of 7.1σ (LRG), 5.7σ (ELG), and 11.1σ (QSO). These are the first 21 cm intensity mapping measurements made with an interferometer. We constrain the effective clustering amplitude of neutral hydrogen (H I), defined as ${{ \mathcal A }}_{{\rm{H}}\,{\rm\small{I}}}\equiv {10}^{3}\,{{\rm{\Omega }}}_{{\rm{H}}\,{\rm\small{I}}}\left({b}_{{\rm{H}}\,{\rm\small{I}}}+\langle \,f{\mu }^{2}\rangle \right)$ , where ΩH I is the cosmic abundance of H I, b H I is the linear bias of H I, and <f μ 2> = 0.552 encodes the effect of redshift-space distortions at linear order. We find ${{ \mathcal A }}_{{\rm{H}}\,{\rm\small{I}}}={1.51}_{-0.97}^{+3.60}$ for LRGs (z = 0.84), ${{ \mathcal A }}_{{\rm{H}}\,{\rm\small{I}}}={6.76}_{-3.79}^{+9.04}$ for ELGs (z = 0.96), and ${{ \mathcal A }}_{{\rm{H}}\,{\rm\small{I}}}={1.68}_{-0.67}^{+1.10}$ for QSOs (z = 1.20), with constraints limited by modeling uncertainties at nonlinear scales. We are also sensitive to bias in the spectroscopic redshifts of each tracer, and we find a nonzero bias Δ v = - 66 ± 20 km s-1 for the QSOs. We split the QSO catalog into three redshift bins and have a decisive detection in each, with the upper bin at z = 1.30 producing the highest-redshift 21 cm intensity mapping measurement thus far.

Keywords: cosmology; large-scale structure of the universe; h i line emission; quasars; emission line galaxies
Halted-pendulum Relaxation: Application to White Dwarf Binary Initial Data

Studying compact-star binaries and their mergers is integral to determining progenitors for observable transients. Today, compact-star mergers are typically studied via state-of-the-art computational fluid dynamics codes. One such numerical technique, smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), is frequently chosen for its excellent mass, energy, and momentum conservation. The natural treatment of vacuum and the ability to represent highly irregular morphologies make SPH an excellent tool for the study of compact-star binaries and mergers. For many scenarios, including binary systems, the outcome of simulations is only as accurate as the initial conditions. For SPH, it is essential to ensure that the particles are distributed regularly, representing the initial density profile but without long-range correlations. Particle noise in the form of high-frequency local motion and low-frequency global dynamics must be damped out. Damping the latter can be as computationally intensive as the actual simulation. We discuss a new and straightforward relaxation method, halted-pendulum relaxation (HPR), to remove global oscillation modes of SPH particle configurations. In combination with effective external potentials representing gravitational and orbital forces, we show that HPR has an excellent performance in efficiently relaxing SPH particles to the desired density distribution and removing global oscillation modes. We compare the method to frequently used relaxation approaches and test it on a white dwarf binary model at its Roche-lobe overflow limit. We highlight the importance of our method in achieving accurate initial conditions and its effect on achieving circular orbits and realistic accretion rates when compared with other general relaxation methods.

Keywords: hydrodynamical simulations; astronomical simulations; white dwarf stars; compact binary stars
Varstrometry for Off-nucleus and Dual Subkiloparsec AGN (VODKA): Methodology and Initial Results with Gaia DR2

Gaia’s precision astrometry allows systematic identification of optically selected subkiloparsec dual active galactic nuclei (AGNs), off-nucleus AGNs, and small-scale lensed quasars by “varstrometry”—where variability-induced astrometric jitter, I.e., temporal displacements of photocenter in unresolved sources, can be reasonably well detected or constrained. This approach extends systematic searches for small-scale (≳mas) dual and off-nucleus AGNs to the poorly explored regime between ∼10 pc and ∼1 kpc, with Gaia’s full sky coverage and depth to G ∼ 21. We outline the general principles of this method and calculate the expected astrometric signals from the full time series of photocenter measurements and light curves. We demonstrate the feasibility of varstrometry by using Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2) data on a sample of variable pre-main-sequence stars with known close companions. We find that extended host galaxies have a significant impact on the accuracy of astrometric and photometric variability in Gaia DR2, a situation to be improved in future Gaia releases. Using spectroscopically confirmed Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasars, we present several examples of candidate subkiloparsec off-nucleus or dual AGNs selected from Gaia DR2. We discuss the merits and limitations of this method and a follow-up strategy for promising candidates. We highlight Gaia’s potential of systematically discovering and characterizing the subkiloparsec off-nucleus and dual AGN population in the entire optical sky.

Keywords: quasars; double quasars
Tracing Interstellar Heating: An ALCHEMI Measurement of the HCN Isomers in NGC 253

We analyze HCN and HNC emission in the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253 to investigate its effectiveness in tracing heating processes associated with star formation. This study uses multiple HCN and HNC rotational transitions observed using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array via the ALCHEMI Large Program. To understand the conditions and associated heating mechanisms within NGC 253's dense gas, we employ Bayesian nested sampling techniques applied to chemical and radiative transfer models, which are constrained using our HCN and HNC measurements. We find that the volume density ${n}_{{{\rm{H}}}_{2}}$ and cosmic-ray ionization rate (CRIR) ζ are enhanced by about an order of magnitude in the galaxy's central regions as compared to those further from the nucleus. In NGC 253's central giant molecular clouds (GMCs), where observed HCN/HNC abundance ratios are the lowest, n ~ 105.5 cm-3 and ζ ~ 10-12 s-1 (greater than 104 times the average Galactic rate). We find a positive correlation in the association of both density and CRIR with the number of star formation-related heating sources (supernova remnants, H II regions, and super hot cores) located in each GMC, as well as a correlation between CRIRs and supernova rates. Additionally, we see an anticorrelation between the HCN/HNC ratio and CRIR, indicating that this ratio will be lower in regions where ζ is higher. Though previous studies suggested HCN and HNC may reveal strong mechanical heating processes in NGC 253's CMZ, we find cosmic-ray heating dominates the heating budget, and mechanical heating does not play a significant role in the HCN and HNC chemistry.

Keywords: starburst galaxies; cosmic rays; star formation; star forming regions; active galaxies; astrochemistry; galaxy nuclei; spiral galaxies; interstellar molecules
Fifteen Hypervelocity Stars Whose Gaia G Magnitudes are Less Than 16.0 and Radial Velocities Less Than-600 km per second

From Gaia DR3 data using a simple search criteria fifteen hypervelocity stars (HVS) are detected. These stars have radial velocities less than -600 km s-1, Gaia G magnitudes less than 16.0 and Renormalized Unit Weight Error values less than 1.4. The U, V, W velocities also indicate that these stars are HVS. The effective temperatures of these stars indicate that they are F and G type stars. Gaia DR3 409420157955913856 and Gaia DR3 2198292118993038464 seems to be metal-poor HVS. High resolution spectroscopy of these stars is needed to derive the atmospheric parameters, chemical composition and to understand their evolutionary status and origin. The progenitors of these stars may be close binary systems with white dwarf companions. When the white dwarf companions became Type Ia supernovae and their F-G companion stars have become HVS. Or they may be the result of other unknown processes.

Keywords: hypervelocity stars
Shock Breakout from Stellar Envelopes: The Relativistic Limit

We calculate the observed luminosity and spectrum following the emergence of a relativistic shock wave from a stellar edge. Shock waves propagating at 0.6 < Γsh β sh, where Γsh is the shock Lorentz factor, and β sh is its associated reduced velocity, heat the stellar envelope to temperatures exceeding ~50 keV, allowing for a vigorous production of electron and positron pairs. Pairs significantly increase the electron-scattering optical depth and regulate the temperature through photon generation, producing distinct observational signatures in the escaping emission. Assuming Wien equilibrium, we find analytic expressions for the temperature and pair density profiles in the envelope immediately after shock passage, and compute the emission during the expansion phase. Our analysis shows that, in pair-loaded regions, photons are produced at a roughly uniform rest-frame energy of ~200 keV, and reinforce previous estimates that the shock breakout signal will be detected as a short burst of energetic γ-ray photons, followed by a longer phase of X-ray emission. We test our model on a sample of low-luminosity gamma-ray bursts using a closure relation between the γ-ray burst duration, the radiation temperature, and the γ-ray isotropic equivalent energy, and find that some of the events are consistent with the relativistic shock breakout model. Finally, we apply our results to explosions in white dwarfs and neutron stars, and find that typical type Ia supernovae emit ~1041 erg in the form of ~1 MeV photons.

Keywords: shocks; supernova dynamics; supernovae; gamma-rays; high energy astrophysics; relativistic fluid dynamics; special relativity
The Coronal Line Spectrum of the Iron Nova V3666 Ophiuchi

Optical and infrared spectroscopy are presented for the classical nova V3666 Ophiuchi (Nova Ophiuchi 2018 No.3) from 11 months after its outburst. At that epoch, V3666 Oph displayed an [Fe X] λ0.6375 emission line stronger than Hα and nearly a factor of 3 larger, relative to Hα, than in any nova observed previously. The [Fe X] feature, with an equivalent width exceeding 1300 Å, was enormously strong relative to the continuum emission as well. V3666 Oph also reached a state of high excitation for an Fe II type nova, displaying coronal lines of [Fe XI], [S IX], and [Ar X], and permitted features that can be identified with the C VI (8-7), (9-8), and (10-9) transitions. In addition to [Fe X] and [Fe XI], V3666 Oph also displayed bright lines of [Fe VII], indicating that the prominent iron features were not confined to a single or narrow range of ionization states. Modeling the emission line spectrum of V3666 Oph with the photoionization code Cloudy indicated that the bulk of the emission line gas was matter-bounded, severely reducing the amount of low ionization gas and resulting in coronal lines that were very strong in comparison to lines such as H I and He I, and the familiar low excitation forbidden lines of nitrogen and oxygen. Such matter-bounded regions are observationally rare in novae since they are both faint and short-lived, offering a plausible explanation for why [Fe X] λ0.6375 had not be seen at this strength previously.

Keywords: classical novae
Discovery of Double-ring Structure in the Supernova Remnant N103B: Evidence for Bipolar Winds from a Type Ia Supernova Progenitor

The geometric structure of supernova remnants (SNR) provides a clue to unveiling the pre-explosion evolution of their progenitors. Here we present an X-ray study of N103B (0509-68.7), a Type Ia SNR in the Large Magellanic Cloud, that is known to be interacting with dense circumstellar matter (CSM). Applying our novel method for feature extraction to deep Chandra observations, we have successfully resolved the CSM, Fe-rich ejecta, and intermediate-mass element (IME) ejecta components, and revealed each of their spatial distributions. Remarkably, the IME ejecta component exhibits a double-ring structure, implying that the SNR expands into an hourglass-shape cavity and thus forms bipolar bubbles of the ejecta. This interpretation is supported by more quantitative spectroscopy that reveals a clear bimodality in the distribution of the ionization state of the IME ejecta. These observational results can be naturally explained if the progenitor binary system had formed a dense CSM torus on the orbital plane prior to the explosion, providing further evidence that the SNR N103B originates from a single-degenerate progenitor.

Keywords: supernova remnants
Metal-enriched Pair-instability Supernovae: Effects of Rotation

In this paper, we revisit metal-enriched rotating pair-instability supernovae (PISNe) models for metallicities consistent with the Small Magellanic Cloud, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), and 0.1Z ⊙. By calculating multiple models, we intend to clarify mass ranges and the ejected 56Ni masses from the PISNe, and mass-loss histories for progenitors. We find that the choice of the Wolf-Rayet (WR) mass-loss rates is important, and we adopt the recently proposed rate of Sander & Vink, which covers the mass ranges for PISNe progenitors. We show that slow rotation lowers the PISN range because the core mass increases by rotational mixing. On the other hand, when we assume a typical rotation speed for observed OB stars, the mass-loss increase becomes more significant, and the final stellar masses are lower than in nonrotating models. As a result, the typical mass range for bright supernovae (SNe), with a 56Ni mass higher than 10M ⊙ for these fast-rotating models is more than 400 and 350M ⊙ for LMC and 0.1Z ⊙ metallicities, respectively. It is interesting that unlike in previous works, we find oxygen-rich progenitors for most cases. This O-rich progenitor may be consistent with the recently identified PISN candidate SN2018ibb. He-rich progenitors are seen only for relatively dim and metal-poor (Z ≲ 0.1Z ⊙) PISNe. We also discuss the black hole mass gap for metal-enriched PISNe, and we show that the upper bound for the gap is lower than in the Population III case.

Keywords: supernovae; stellar abundances; stellar rotation; nucleosynthesis
Nonlinear Reconnection in Magnetized Turbulence

Recent analytical works on strong magnetized plasma turbulence have hypothesized the existence of a range of scales where the tearing instability may govern the energy cascade. In this paper, we estimate the conditions under which such tearing may give rise to full nonlinear magnetic reconnection in the turbulent eddies. When those conditions are met, a new turbulence regime is accessed where reconnection-driven energy dissipation becomes common, rather than the rare feature that it must be when they are not. We conclude that while such conditions are very stringent for fluid-scale eddies, they are easily met for kinetic-scale eddies; in particular, we suggest that our arguments may help explain recent Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) observations of (so-called) electron-only reconnection and of energy dissipation via electron Landau damping in the Earth's magnetosheath.

Keywords: plasma astrophysics; space plasmas; plasma physics; interplanetary turbulence; magnetic fields
A New Method for Aerosol Measurement Using Wide-field Photometry

We present a new method to measure the vertical aerosol optical depth (VAOD) during clear nights using a wide-field imager—a CCD camera with a photographic lens on an equatorial mount. A series of 30 s exposures taken at different altitudes above the horizon can be used to measure the VAOD with a precision better than 0.008 optical depths within a few minutes. Such a measurement does not produce any light and is thus suitable for use at sites where other astronomical instruments are located. The precision of the VAOD measurement depends on the laboratory calibration of spectral properties of the system and of the response of the camera electronics to varying illumination levels, as well as careful considerations of the details of stellar photometry and modeling of the dependence of the measured stellar flux, the star color, and the position within the field of view. The results obtained with robotic setups at the future sites of the Cerenkov Telescope Array show good internal consistency and agreement with simultaneous measurements from a Sun/Moon photometer located at the same sites.

Keywords: ccd photometry; atmospheric extinction
Slow Star Formation in the Milky Way: Theory Meets Observations

The observed star formation rate of the Milky Way can be explained by applying a metallicity-dependent factor to convert CO luminosity to molecular gas mass and a star formation efficiency per freefall time that depends on the virial parameter of a molecular cloud. These procedures also predict the trend of star formation rate surface density with Galactocentric radius. The efficiency per freefall time variation with virial parameter plays a major role in bringing theory into agreement with observations for the total star formation rate, while the metallicity dependence of the CO luminosity-to-mass conversion is most notable in the variation with Galactocentric radius. Application of these changes resolves a factor of over 100 discrepancy between observed and theoretical star formation rates that has been known for nearly 50 yr.

Keywords: molecular clouds; star formation
EXPRES. I. HD 3651 as an Ideal RV Benchmark

The next generation of exoplanet-hunting spectrographs should deliver up to an order of magnitude improvement in radial velocity (RV) precision over the standard 1 ${\rm{m}}\ {{\rm{s}}}^{-1}$ state-of-the-art spectrographs. This advance is critical for enabling the detection of Earth-mass planets around Sun-like stars. New calibration techniques such as laser frequency combs and stabilized etalons ensure that the instrumental stability is well characterized. However, additional sources of error include stellar noise, undetected short-period planets, and telluric contamination. To understand and ultimately mitigate error sources, the contributing terms in the error budget must be isolated to the greatest extent possible. Here, we introduce a new high-cadence RV program, the Extreme Precision Spectrograph (EXPRES) 100 Earths Survey, which aims to identify rocky planets around bright, nearby G and K dwarfs. We also present a benchmark case: the 62 day orbit of a Saturn-mass planet orbiting the chromospherically quiet star, HD 3651. The combination of high eccentricity (0.6) and a moderately long orbital period ensures significant dynamical clearing of any inner planets. Our Keplerian model for this planetary orbit has a residual rms of 58 cm s-1 over a ∼6 month time baseline. By eliminating significant contributors to the RV error budget, HD 3651 serves as a standard for evaluating the long-term precision of extreme precision RV programs.

Keywords: planet hosting stars; radial velocity; exoplanet dynamics; exoplanet astronomy