adsabs/SciX_UAT_keywords huggingface dataset:
Compound Eruptions of Twin Flux Ropes in a Solar Active Region

Compound eruptions represent that multiple closely spaced magnetic structures erupt consecutively within a short interval, and then lead to a single flare and a single coronal mass ejection (CME). However, it is still subtle for the links between multiple eruptions and the associated single flare or/and single CME. In this Letter, we report the compound eruptions of twin close flux ropes (FR1 and FR2), which took place within a few minutes of each other, that resulted in a flare with a single soft X-ray peak and a CME with two cores. The successive groups of expanding loops and double peaks of intensity flux in Atmospheric Imaging Assembly cool wavelengths indicate two episodes of internal magnetic reconnections during the compound eruptions. Following the eruption of FR2, the erupting FR1 was accelerated, and then the expanding loops overlying FR2 were deflected. Moreover, the eruption of FR2 likely involved the external magnetic reconnection between the bottom of the overlying stretching field lines and the rebounding loops that were previously pushed by the eruption of FR1, which was evidenced by a pair of groups of newly formed loops. All results suggest that the compound eruptions involved both internal and external magnetic reconnections, and two erupting structures of twin FRs interacted at the initial stage. We propose that two episodes of internal magnetic reconnections were likely united within a few minutes to form the continuous impulsive phase of the single peaked flare, and the two separated cores of the CME were possibly caused because the latter core was too slow to merge with the former one.

Keywords: solar activity; solar corona; solar coronal mass ejections
Astro-animation and Informal STEM Learning

For several years we have been running an "astro-animation" class (AstroAnimation.org) at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore where students work in tandem with research scientists from NASA Goddard and elsewhere to create animations. These combine results of cutting-edge research with an artist's eye to create novel presentations of scientific results. The animations have been used for scientific outreach and educational purposes, including presentations at museums, and art, STEAM, and science fiction festivals. Astronomy has broad public interest with a "wow" factor related to black holes, dark matter, life in the universe and more. Animation is an ideal medium since it combines creative approaches, is highly popular, and the films produced are readily available for distribution.

Keywords: astronomy education; interdisciplinary astronomy
Compact Object Modeling in the Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae

The globular cluster 47 Tucanae (47 Tuc) is one of the most massive star clusters in the Milky Way and is exceptionally rich in exotic stellar populations. For several decades it has been a favorite target of observers, and yet it is computationally very challenging to model because of its large number of stars (N ≳ 106) and high density. Here we present detailed and self-consistent 47 Tuc models computed with the Cluster Monte Carlo code (CMC). The models include all relevant dynamical interactions coupled to stellar and binary evolution, and reproduce various observations, including the surface brightness and velocity dispersion profiles, pulsar accelerations, and numbers of compact objects. We show that the present properties of 47 Tuc are best reproduced by adopting an initial stellar mass function that is both bottom-heavy and top-light relative to standard assumptions (as in, e.g., Kroupa 2001), and an initial Elson profile (Elson et al. 1987) that is overfilling the cluster's tidal radius. We include new prescriptions in CMC for the formation of binaries through giant star collisions and tidal captures, and we show that these mechanisms play a crucial role in the formation of neutron star binaries and millisecond pulsars in 47 Tuc; our best-fit model contains ~50 millisecond pulsars, 70% of which are formed through giant collisions and tidal captures. Our models also suggest that 47 Tuc presently contains up to ~200 stellar-mass black holes, ~5 binary black holes, ~15 low-mass X-ray binaries, and ~300 cataclysmic variables.

Keywords: star clusters; brown dwarfs; n-body simulations; compact objects
A Kinematic View of NGC 1261: Structural Parameters, Internal Dispersion, Absolute Proper Motion, and Blue Straggler Stars

We constructed a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) astrophotometric catalog of the central region of the Galactic globular cluster NGC 1261. This catalog, complemented with Gaia DR2 data sampling the external regions, has been used to estimate the structural parameters of the system (I.e., core, half-mass, tidal radii, and concentration) from its resolved star density profile. We computed high-precision proper motions thanks to multi-epoch HST data and derived the cluster velocity dispersion profile in the plane of the sky for the innermost region, finding that the system is isotropic. The combination with the line-of-sight information collected from spectroscopy in the external regions provided us with the cluster velocity dispersion profile along the entire radial extension. We also measured the absolute proper motion of NGC 1261 using a few background galaxies as a reference. The radial distribution of the Blue Straggler Star population shows that the cluster is in a low/intermediate phase of dynamical evolution.

Keywords: globular star clusters; proper motions; stellar dynamics; stellar kinematics; photometry; stellar photometry; star clusters; stellar astronomy
Fierce Feedback in an Obscured, Sub-Eddington State of the Seyfert 1.2 Markarian 817

Mrk 817 is a bright and variable Seyfert 1.2 active galactic nucleus (AGN). X-ray monitoring of Mrk 817 with the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in 2022 revealed that the source flux had declined to a lower level than recorded at any prior point in the then 19 yr mission. We present an analysis of deep XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations obtained in this low flux state. The spectra reveal a complex X-ray wind consisting of neutral and ionized absorption zones. Three separate velocity components are detected as part of a structured ultrafast outflow (UFO), with $v/c={0.043}_{-0.003}^{+0.007}$ , $v/c={0.079}_{-0.0008}^{+0.003}$ , and $v/c={0.074}_{-0.005}^{+0.004}$ . These projected velocities suggest that the wind likely arises at radii that are much smaller than the optical broad-line region. In order for each component of the outflow to contribute significant feedback, the volume filling factors must be greater than f ≃ 0.009, f ≃ 0.003, and f ≃ 0.3, respectively. For plausible, data-driven volume filling factors, these limits are passed, and the total outflow likely delivers the fierce feedback required to reshape its host environment, despite a modest radiative Eddington fraction of λ ≃ 0.008–0.016 (this range reflects plausible masses). UFOs are often detected at or above the Eddington limit; this result signals that black hole accretion has the potential to shape host galaxies even at modest Eddington fractions and over a larger fraction of a typical AGN lifetime. We discuss our findings in terms of models for disk winds and black hole feedback in this and other AGN.

Keywords: black holes
The Platinum Abundance of ι CrB A

The analysis of six high resolution SOPHIE spectra obtained over three consecutive nights in 2007 March reveals the presence of a strong Pt II line at 4514.14 Å. Over the spectral range 4400 up to 4600 Å, the lines do not vary either in reduced intensity nor in radial velocity. Spectrum synthesis of this spectral range using updated atomic data yields abundances for helium (0.10 solar), magnesium (2 solar), titanium (2.20 solar), chromium (2.20 solar), manganese (28 solar), iron (1.2 solar), zirconium (80 solar), barium (15 solar) and platinum (2500 solar), which confirm the HgMn status for this star.

Keywords: chemically peculiar stars; chemical abundances
Investigation of [KSF2015] 1381-19L, a WC9-type Star in the High-extinction Galactic Region

We report on a multiwavelength study of the Wolf–Rayet star [KSF2015] 1381-19L, which is located in the solar metallicity region (Z = 0.014) of the Milky Way, strongly obscured by interstellar dust. We perform a detailed characterization of the stellar atmosphere by fitting the spectral emission lines observed in the optical and near-infrared (NIR) bands, using CMFGEN. The best-fitted spectroscopic model indicates a highly luminous (105.89 L ⊙) star with a large radius (15 R ⊙) and effective temperature, wind terminal velocity, and chemical composition similar to those of Galactic WC9-dusty (WC9d)-type stars. The atmospheric ionization structure shows coexisting ionization states of different elements, simultaneously affecting the opacity and thermal electron balance. Fitting of the spectral energy data reveals high interstellar optical extinction (A V = 8.87), while the IR extinction is found to be comparatively lower ( ). We do not detect any excess emission at NIR wavelengths due to dust. Upon comparison of our results with the GENEVA single-star evolutionary models (Z = 0.014), we identify the best possible progenitors (a rotating star of 67 M ⊙ and a nonrotating star of 90 M ⊙).

Keywords: wolf-rayet stars; wc stars; stellar winds; late stellar evolution
Statistical Study of GOES X-Ray Quasi-periodic Pulsations in Solar Flares

Small-amplitude quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs) detected in soft X-ray emission are commonplace in many flares. To date, the underpinning processes resulting in the QPPs are unknown. In this paper, we attempt to constrain the prevalence of stationary QPPs in the largest statistical study to date, including a study of the relationship of QPP periods to the properties of the flaring active region, flare ribbons, and coronal mass ejection (CME) affiliation. We build upon the work of Inglis et al. and use a model comparison test to search for significant power in the Fourier spectra of lightcurves of the GOES 1-8 Å channel. We analyze all X-, M- and C-class flares of the past solar cycle, a total of 5519 flares, and search for periodicity in the 6-300 s timescale range. Approximately 46% of X-class, 29% of M-class, and 7% of C-class flares show evidence of stationary QPPs, with periods that follow a log-normal distribution peaked at 20 s. The QPP periods were found to be independent of flare magnitude; however, a positive correlation was found between QPP period and flare duration. No dependence of the QPP periods on the global active region properties was identified. A positive correlation was found between QPPs and ribbon properties, including unsigned magnetic flux, ribbon area, and ribbon separation distance. We found that both flares with and without an associated CME can host QPPs. Furthermore, we demonstrate that for X- and M-class flares, decay-phase QPPs have statistically longer periods than impulsive-phase QPPs.

Keywords: solar flares; solar x-ray flares; solar oscillations; solar coronal mass ejections
Compact Elliptical Galaxies Hosting Active Galactic Nuclei in Isolated Environments

We present the discovery of rare active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in nearby (z < 0.05) compact elliptical galaxies (cEs) located in isolated environments. Using spectroscopic data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 12, four AGNs were identified based on the optical emission-line diagnostic diagram. SDSS optical spectra of AGNs show the presence of distinct narrow-line emissions. Utilizing the black hole (BH) mass-stellar velocity dispersion scaling relation and the correlation between the narrow L([O III])/L(Hβ) line ratio and the width of the broad Hα emission line, we estimated the BH masses of the cEs to be in the range of 7 × 105-8 × 107 M⊙. The observed surface brightness profiles of the cEs were fitted with a double Sérsic function using the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey r-band imaging data. Assuming the inner component as the bulge, the K-band bulge luminosity was also estimated from the corresponding Two Micron All Sky Survey images. We found that our cEs follow the observed BH mass-stellar velocity dispersion and BH mass-bulge luminosity scaling relations, albeit there was a large uncertainty in the derived BH mass of one cE. In view of the observational properties of BHs and those of the stellar populations of cEs, we discuss the proposition that cEs in isolated environments are bona fide low-mass early-type galaxies (i.e., a nature origin).

Keywords: elliptical galaxies; black holes; active galactic nuclei; compact galaxies; galaxy formation; galaxy evolution
thornado-hydro: A Discontinuous Galerkin Method for Supernova Hydrodynamics with Nuclear Equations of State

This paper describes algorithms for nonrelativistic hydrodynamics in the toolkit for high-order neutrino radiation hydrodynamics (thornado), which is being developed for multiphysics simulations of core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) and related problems with Runge-Kutta discontinuous Galerkin (RKDG) methods. More specifically, thornado employs a spectral-type nodal collocation approximation, and we have extended limiters—a slope limiter to prevent nonphysical oscillations and a bound-enforcing limiter to prevent nonphysical states—from the standard RKDG framework to be able to accommodate a tabulated nuclear equation of state (EoS). To demonstrate the efficacy of the algorithms with a nuclear EoS, we first present numerical results from basic test problems in idealized settings in one and two spatial dimensions, employing Cartesian, spherical-polar, and cylindrical coordinates. Then, we apply the RKDG method to the problem of adiabatic collapse, shock formation, and shock propagation in spherical symmetry, initiated with a 15 M⊙ progenitor. We find that the extended limiters improve the fidelity and robustness of the RKDG method in idealized settings. The bound-enforcing limiter improves the robustness of the RKDG method in the adiabatic collapse application, while we find that slope limiting in characteristic fields is vulnerable to structures in the EoS—more specifically, in the phase transition from nuclei and nucleons to bulk nuclear matter. The success of these applications marks an important step toward applying RKDG methods to more realistic CCSN simulations with thornado in the future. * This manuscript has been authored in part by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan).

Keywords: computational methods; core-collapse supernovae; hydrodynamical simulations; nuclear astrophysics
The Breakthrough Listen Search for Intelligent Life: Detection and Characterization of Anomalous Transits in Kepler Lightcurves

Never before has the detection and characterization of exoplanets via transit photometry been as promising and feasible as it is now, due to the increasing breadth and sensitivity of time domain optical surveys. Past works have made use of phase-folded stellar lightcurves in order to study the properties of exoplanet transits because this provides the highest signal that a transit is present at a given period and ephemeris. Characterizing transits on an individual, rather than phase-folded, basis is much more challenging due to the often low signal-to-noise ratio of lightcurves, missing data, and low sampling rates. However, by phase folding a lightcurve we implicitly assume that all transits have the same expected properties, and lose all information about the nature and variability of the transits. We miss the natural variability in transit shapes, or even the deliberate or inadvertent modification of transit signals by an extraterrestrial civilization (for example, via laser emission or orbiting megastructures). In this work, we develop an algorithm to search stellar lightcurves for individual anomalous (in timing or depth) transits, and we report the results of that search for 218 confirmed transiting exoplanet systems from Kepler.

Keywords: exoplanet astronomy; exoplanet catalogs; exoplanet detection methods; transit photometry; transits; search for extraterrestrial intelligence; light curves
Joint r-process Enrichment by Supernovae with a Metallicity Threshold and Neutron Star Mergers

The enrichment history of r-process elements has been imprinted on the stellar abundances that change in accordance with increasing metallicity in galaxies. Close examination of the [Eu/Fe] feature caused by stars in nearby galaxies, including the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), shows its perplexity. The decreasing trend of the [Eu/Fe] feature is followed by a nearly constant value; this trend is generally attributed to an onset of the delayed Fe release from Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), which is the same interpretation of the [α/Fe] feature. However, this feature appears in the LMC at [Fe/H] of approximately ‑0.7, which is significantly higher than that for the [α/Fe] case (≈‑2). This result potentially indicates the presence of an overlooked property of the r-process site that remains unseen in the study of the Milky Way. Here, we propose that this [Eu/Fe]-knee feature is created by a fade-out of core-collapse SNe producing r-process elements; these elements along with neutron star mergers (NSMs) promote the r-process enrichment under the condition for this specific SNe such that their occurrence is limited to a low-metallicity environment. This metallicity threshold for the occurrence rate of r-process SNe at a subsolar is nearly identical to that for long gamma-ray bursts whose origin may be connected to fast-rotating massive stars. Moreover, we reason that the contribution of Eu from NSMs is crucial to maintain a high [Eu/Fe] at an early stage in dwarf galaxies by a balance with Fe from SNe Ia; both enrichments via NSMs and SNe Ia proceed with similar delay time distributions.

Keywords: core-collapse supernovae; galaxy chemical evolution; large magellanic cloud; r-process; stellar abundances
SDSS-IV MaNGA: How Galaxy Interactions Influence Active Galactic Nuclei

We present a comparative study of active galactic nuclei (AGN) between galaxy pairs and isolated galaxies with the final data release of the MaNGA integral field spectroscopic survey. We build a sample of 391 kinematic galaxy pairs within the footprint of the survey and select AGN using the survey's spectra. We use the comoving volume densities of the AGN samples to quantify the effects that tidal interactions have on the triggering of nuclear accretion. Our hypothesis is that the pair sample contains AGN that are triggered by not only stochastic accretion but also tidally induced accretion and correlated accretion. With the level of stochastically triggered AGN fixed by the control sample, we model the strength of tidally induced accretion and correlated accretion as a function of projected separation (r p ) and compare the model expectations with the observed volume densities of dual AGN and offset AGN (single AGN in a pair). At r p ~ 10 kpc, we find that tidal interactions induce ~30% more AGN than stochastic fueling and cause ~12% of the offset AGN to become dual AGN because of correlations. The strength of both these effects decreases with increasing r p . We also find that the [O III] luminosities of the AGN in galaxy pairs are consistent with those found in isolated galaxies, likely because stochastically fed AGN dominate even among close pairs. Our results illustrate that while we can detect tidally induced effects statistically, it is challenging to separate tidally induced AGN and stochastically triggered AGN in interacting galaxies.

Keywords: galaxy mergers; galaxy nuclei; galaxy pairs
Orbital and Mass Constraints of the Young Binary System IRAS 16293-2422 A

We present 3 mm ALMA continuum and line observations at resolutions of 6.5 au and 13 au, respectively, toward the Class 0 system IRAS 16293-2422 A. The continuum observations reveal two compact sources toward IRAS 16293-2422 A, coinciding with compact ionized gas emission previously observed at radio wavelengths (A1 and A2), confirming the long-known radio sources as protostellar. The emission toward A2 is resolved and traces a dust disk with an FWHM size of ∼12 au, while the emission toward A1 sets a limit to the FWHM size of the dust disk of ∼4 au. We also detect spatially resolved molecular kinematic tracers near the protostellar disks. Several lines of the J = 5-4 rotational transition of HNCO, NH2CHO, and t-HCOOH are detected, with which we derived individual line-of-sight velocities. Using these together with the CS (J = 2-1), we fit Keplerian profiles toward the individual compact sources and derive masses of the central protostars. The kinematic analysis indicates that A1 and A2 are a bound binary system. Using this new context for the previous 30 yr of Very Large Array observations, we fit orbital parameters to the relative motion between A1 and A2 and find that the combined protostellar mass derived from the orbit is consistent with the masses derived from the gas kinematics. Both estimations indicate masses consistently higher (0.5 ≲ M1 ≲ M2 ≲ 2 ${M}_{\odot }$ ) than previous estimations using lower-resolution observations of the gas kinematics. The ALMA high-resolution data provides a unique insight into the gas kinematics and masses of a young deeply embedded bound binary system.

Keywords: circumstellar gas; star formation; circumstellar dust; close binary stars; protostars
Machine-learning Inference of the Interior Structure of Low-mass Exoplanets

We explore the application of machine-learning based on mixture density neural networks (MDNs) to the interior characterization of low-mass exoplanets up to 25 Earth masses constrained by mass, radius, and fluid Love number, k2. We create a data set of 900,000 synthetic planets, consisting of an iron-rich core, a silicate mantle, a high-pressure ice shell, and a gaseous H/He envelope, to train a MDN using planetary mass and radius as inputs to the network. For this layered structure, we show that the MDN is able to infer the distribution of possible thicknesses of each planetary layer from mass and radius of the planet. This approach obviates the time-consuming task of calculating such distributions with a dedicated set of forward models for each individual planet. While gas-rich planets may be characterized by compositional gradients rather than distinct layers, the method presented here can be easily extended to any interior structure model. The fluid Love number k2 bears constraints on the mass distribution in the planets' interiors and will be measured for an increasing number of exoplanets in the future. Adding k2 as an input to the MDN significantly decreases the degeneracy of the possible interior structures. In an open repository, we provide the trained MDN to be used through a Python Notebook.

Keywords: exoplanet structure; exoplanets; neural networks; planetary interior; computational methods; planetary theory