adsabs/SciX_UAT_keywords huggingface dataset:
Sulfur Implantation into Water Ice with Propane: Implications for Organic Chemistry on the Surface of Europa

We performed experiments of implantation of energetic sulfur ions (105 keV) into 2:1 water:propane ices at 80 K and analyzed the resulting refractory organic matter with ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry. Our goal was to characterize the organic matter processed in the surface conditions of Europa, where it would receive a heavy flux of energetic particles, including sulfur ions, and determine whether organosulfurs could be formed in these conditions, using the simplest alkane that can exist in solid form on Europa's surface. We find that the produced organic matter contains a large variety of both aliphatic and aromatic compounds (several thousand unique formulae), including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), with masses up to 900 amu. A large number of aromatic hydrocarbons is found along with oxygenated, mostly aliphatic, compounds. Organosulfurs are found in both CHS and CHOS form, demonstrating they can be formed from any organic compound through sulfur implantation. These organosulfurs' properties (aromaticity, mass) appear similar to the rest of the organic matter, albeit their low quantity does not allow for a thorough comparison. Our results have implications for the type of refractory organic matter that could be observed by the JUICE and Europa Clipper space missions and how the surface of Europa could generate complex organics, including PAHs and organosulfurs, that could then enrich the subsurface ocean. In particular, they indicate that a large diversity of organic matter, including organosulfurs, can be formed from simple precursors in a geologically short time frame under the ion flux that reaches Europa.

Keywords: astrochemistry; radiation interactions (ice); europa; galilean satellites
Review and Revision of the Lunar Cratering Chronology-Lunar Timescale Part 2

Times and rates of planetary surface-modifying processes are crucial for the sequence and correlation of events on planetary bodies. For most planetary surfaces, superposition principles and crater densities are commonly used methods to collect relative age information. Lunar-based cratering-chronology models, which pair crater densities and sample ages from several lunar landing and sampling sites, calibrate the relative age information in absolute time. Here, we propose calibration pairs based on new crater statistics and spectrally supported sample-age assignments for the lunar cratering-chronology model. The resulting model reflects modern high-precision, radiometric ages, compositional and spectral information, and an up-to-date crater-production function. This revision supports a crater-forming projectile flux with monotonic decay, similar to previous standard models, but of distinctively lower flux. This originates from lower crater densities identified in spectrally and morphologically defined reference units, and from assigning more precise sample ages accounting for spectral resemblance between reference unit and sample. The observed maximal values for crater densities and ages provide the oldest and most densely cratered calibration pair. Because of the nature of highland samples, age constraints for the Luna 20 and Apollo 16 sampling sites remain challenging, which restricts the confidence in times for individual basin-formation events older than Orientale Basin. The new cratering-chronology model, when transferred to other planetary bodies, would cause aging of the surfaces, because of the lower overall flux.

Keywords: selenology; lunar science; lunar impacts; lunar surface; lunar geochronology
Wandering Massive Black Holes or Analogs of the First Repeating Fast Radio Burst?

The discovery of a persistent radio source coincident with the first repeating fast radio burst, FRB 121102, and offset from the center of its dwarf host galaxy has been used as evidence for a link with young millisecond magnetars born in superluminous supernovae or long-duration gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs). A prediction of this scenario is that compact radio sources offset from the centers of dwarf galaxies may serve as signposts for at least some FRBs. Recently, Reines et al. presented the discovery of 20 such radio sources in nearby (z ≲ 0.055) dwarf galaxies, and argued that these cannot be explained by emission from H II regions, normal supernova remnants, or normal radio supernovae. Instead, they attribute the emission to accreting wandering massive black holes. Here, we explore the alternative possibility that these sources are analogs of FRB 121102. We compare their properties—radio luminosities, spectral energy distributions, light curves, ratios of radio-to-optical flux, and spatial offsets—to FRB 121102, a few other well-localized FRBs, and potentially related systems, and find that these are all consistent as arising from the same population. We further compare their properties to the magnetar nebula model used to explain FRB 121102, as well as to theoretical off-axis LGRB light curves, and find overall consistency. Finally, we find a consistent occurrence rate relative to repeating FRBs and LGRBs. We outline key follow-up observations to further test these possible connections.

Keywords: radio transient sources; dwarf galaxies; active galactic nuclei; extragalactic radio sources; gamma-ray bursts; magnetars; supernova remnants
Magnetic Fields in the Early Stages of Massive Star Formation as Revealed by ALMA

We present 1.3 mm ALMA dust polarization observations at a resolution of ∼0.02 pc for three massive molecular clumps, MM1, MM4, and MM9, in the infrared dark cloud G28.34+0.06. With these sensitive and high-resolution continuum data, MM1 is resolved into a cluster of condensations. The magnetic field structure in each clump is revealed by the polarized emission. We found a trend of decreasing polarized emission fraction with increasing Stokes I intensities in MM1 and MM4. Using the angular dispersion function method (a modified Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method), the plane-of-sky magnetic field strengths in two massive dense cores, MM1-Core1 and MM4-Core4, are estimated to be ∼1.6 mG and ∼0.32 mG, respectively. The virial parameters in MM1-Core1 and MM4-Core4 are calculated to be ∼0.76 and ∼0.37, respectively, suggesting that massive star formation does not start in equilibrium. Using the polarization-intensity gradient-local gravity method, we found that the local gravity is closely aligned with intensity gradient in the three clumps, and the magnetic field tends to be aligned with the local gravity in MM1 and MM4 except for regions near the emission peak, which suggests that the gravity plays a dominant role in regulating the gas collapse. Half of the outflows in MM4 and MM9 are found to be aligned within 10° of the condensation-scale (<0.05 pc) magnetic field, indicating that the magnetic field could play an important role from condensation to disk scale in the early stage of massive star formation.

Keywords: polarimetry; magnetic fields; star formation; infrared dark clouds
First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. IX. Detection of Near-horizon Circular Polarization

Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations have revealed a bright ring of emission around the supermassive black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy. EHT images in linear polarization have further identified a coherent spiral pattern around the black hole, produced from ordered magnetic fields threading the emitting plasma. Here we present the first analysis of circular polarization using EHT data, acquired in 2017, which can potentially provide additional insights into the magnetic fields and plasma composition near the black hole. Interferometric closure quantities provide convincing evidence for the presence of circularly polarized emission on event-horizon scales. We produce images of the circular polarization using both traditional and newly developed methods. All methods find a moderate level of resolved circular polarization across the image (<∣v∣> < 3.7%), consistent with the low image-integrated circular polarization fraction measured by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (∣v int∣ < 1%). Despite this broad agreement, the methods show substantial variation in the morphology of the circularly polarized emission, indicating that our conclusions are strongly dependent on the imaging assumptions because of the limited baseline coverage, uncertain telescope gain calibration, and weakly polarized signal. We include this upper limit in an updated comparison to general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulation models. This analysis reinforces the previously reported preference for magnetically arrested accretion flow models. We find that most simulations naturally produce a low level of circular polarization consistent with our upper limit and that Faraday conversion is likely the dominant production mechanism for circular polarization at 230 GHz in M87*.

Keywords: polarimetry; galaxies; supermassive black holes; very long baseline interferometry; low-luminosity active galactic nuclei
Neutron Star Mergers as the Main Source of r-process: Natal Kicks and Inside-out Evolution to the Rescue

Binary neutron star mergers (BNSMs) are currently the most promising source of r-process thanks to the detection of GW170817. The estimated occurring frequency and the amount of mass ejected per merger indicate that BNSMs by themselves can account for all the r-process enrichment in the Galaxy. However, the decreasing trend of [Eu/Fe] versus [Fe/H] of disk stars for [Fe/H] ≳ -1 in the solar neighborhood is inconsistent with the flat trend expected from BNSMs with a standard delay time distribution (DTD) ∝ t-1. This has led to the suggestion that either additional sources or modification to the DTD of BNSMs is required to match the observations. We investigate the effects of natal kicks received during the birth of neutron star binaries on the chemical evolution of r-process element Eu in the Milky Way by combining the results from the galactic dynamics code GALPY with a one-zone Galactic chemical evolution model OMEGA. We show that when key inputs from simulations of the inside-out disk evolution are combined with natal kicks, BNSMs can naturally reproduce the observed decreasing trend of [Eu/Fe] with [Fe/H] in the solar neighborhood without the need for modification to the DTD or additional r-process sources.

Keywords: r-process; galaxy chemical evolution; solar neighborhood; compact objects; neutron stars
Fermi Resonance and the Quantum Mechanical Basis of Global Warming

Although the scientific principles of anthropogenic climate change are well-established, existing calculations of the warming effect of carbon dioxide rely on spectral absorption databases, which obscures the physical foundations of the climate problem. Here, we show how CO2 radiative forcing can be expressed via a first-principles description of the molecule's key vibrational-rotational transitions. Our analysis elucidates the dependence of carbon dioxide's effectiveness as a greenhouse gas on the Fermi resonance between the symmetric stretch mode ν 1 and bending mode ν 2. It is remarkable that an apparently accidental quantum resonance in an otherwise ordinary three-atom molecule has had such a large impact on our planet's climate over geologic time, and will also help determine its future warming due to human activity. In addition to providing a simple explanation of CO2 radiative forcing on Earth, our results may have implications for understanding radiation and climate on other planets.

Keywords: earth atmosphere; greenhouse effect; planetary atmospheres; planetary climates
Near-IR Weak-lensing (NIRWL) Measurements in the CANDELS Fields. I. Point-spread Function Modeling and Systematics

We have undertaken a near-IR weak-lensing (NIRWL) analysis of the CANDELS HST/WFC3-IR F160W observations. With the Gaia proper motion–corrected catalog as an astrometric reference, we updated the astrometry of the five CANDELS mosaics and achieved an absolute alignment within 0.″02 ± 0.″02, on average, which is a factor of several superior to existing mosaics. These mosaics are available to download (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1k9WEV3tBOuRKBlcaTJ0-wTZnUCisS__r). We investigated the systematic effects that need to be corrected for weak-lensing measurements. We find that the largest contributing systematic effect is caused by undersampling. We find a subpixel centroid dependence on the PSF shape that causes the PSF ellipticity and size to vary by up to 0.02 and 3%, respectively. Using the UDS as an example field, we show that undersampling induces a multiplicative shear bias of ‑0.025. We find that the brighter-fatter effect causes a 2% increase in the size of the PSF and discover a brighter-rounder effect that changes the ellipticity by 0.006. Based on the small range of slopes in a galaxy's spectral energy distribution (SED) within the WFC3-IR bandpasses, we suggest that the impact of the galaxy SED on the PSF is minor. Finally, we model the PSF of WFC3-IR F160W for weak lensing using a principal component analysis. The PSF models account for temporal and spatial variations of the PSF. The PSF corrections result in residual ellipticities and sizes, ∣de 1∣ < 0.0005 ± 0.0003, ∣de 2∣ < 0.0005 ± 0.0003, and ∣dR∣ < 0.0005 ± 0.0001, that are sufficient for the upcoming NIRWL search for massive overdensities in the five CANDELS fields.

Keywords: weak gravitational lensing; galaxy clusters; astrometry; galaxy groups; hubble space telescope; infrared astronomy
uGMRT Observations of a Fast and Blue Optical Transient—AT 2018cow

We present low-fRequency radio observations of a fast-rising blue optical transient (FBOT), AT 2018cow, with the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT). Our observations span t = 11-570 days post-explosion and a frequency range of 250-1450 MHz. The uGMRT light curves are best modeled as synchrotron emission from an inhomogeneous radio-emitting region expanding into an ionized medium. However, due to the lack of information on the source covering factor, which is a measure of the degree of inhomogeneity, we derive various parameters assuming the source covering factor to be unity. These parameters, hence, indicate limits on the actual values in an inhomogeneous model. We derive the lower limit of the shock radius to be R ∼ (6.1-14.4) × 1016 cm at t = 138-257 days post-explosion. We find that the fast-moving ejecta from the explosion are moving with velocity v > 0.2c up to t = 257 days post-explosion. The upper limits of the mass-loss rate of the progenitor are $\dot{M}$ ∼ (4.1-1.7) × 10-6 M⊙ yr-1 at (19.3-45.7) years before the explosion for a wind velocity vw = 1000 km s-1. These $\dot{M}$ values are ∼ 100 times smaller than the previously reported mass-loss rate 2.2 years before the explosion, indicating an enhanced phase of the mass-loss event close to the end-of-life of the progenitor. Our results are in line with the speculation of the presence of a dense circumstellar shell in the vicinity of AT 2018cow from previous radio, ultra-violet, and optical observations.

Keywords: radio transient sources; circumstellar matter; non-thermal radiation sources
Small, Low-energy, Dispersive Solar Energetic Particle Events Observed by Parker Solar Probe

The Energetic Particle Instrument-Low Energy (EPI-Lo) experiment has detected several weak, low-energy (∼30-300 keV nucleon-1) solar energetic particle (SEP) events during its first two closest approaches to the Sun, providing a unique opportunity to explore the sources of low-energy particle acceleration. As part of the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun (IS⊙IS) suite, EPI-Lo was designed to investigate the physics of energetic particles; however, in the special lowest-energy "time-of-flight only" product used in this study, it also responds to solar photons in a subset of approximately sunward-looking apertures lacking special light-attenuating foils. During the first three perihelia, in a frame rotating with the Sun, PSP undergoes retrograde motion, covering a 17° heliographic longitudinal range three times during the course of the ∼11-day perihelion passes, permitting a unique spatial and temporal study into the location, correlation, and persistence of previously unmeasurable SEPs. We examine the signatures of these SEPs (during the first PSP perihelion pass only) and the connection to possible solar sources using remote observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO), and the ground-based Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG). The orientation of the Sun relative to STEREO, SDO, and GONG makes such identifications challenging, but we do have several candidates, including an equatorial coronal hole at a Carrington longitude of ∼335°. To analyze observations from EPI-Lo, which is a new type of particle instrument, we examine instrumental effects and provide a preliminary separation of the ion signal from the photon background.

Keywords: the sun; interplanetary particle acceleration; solar energetic particles; space vehicle instruments; solar flares; michelson interferometers; solar extreme ultraviolet emission; solar filament eruptions; quiet sun; solar telescopes; solar coronal mass ejections; space probes
Selection Effects in Periodic X-Ray Data from Maximizing Detection Statistics

The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) records exceptional data on pulsars' energy-dependent X-ray pulse profiles. However, in searching for evidence of pulsations, Guillot et al. (2019) introduce a procedure to select an ordered subset of data that maximizes a detection statistic (the H-test). I show that this can degrade subsequent analyses using an idealized model with stationary expected count rates from both noise and signal. Specifically, the data-selection procedure biases the inferred mean count rate to be too low and the inferred pulsation amplitude to be too high, and the size of these biases scales strongly with the amount of data that is rejected and the true signal amplitude. The procedure also alters the H-test's null distribution, rendering nominal significance estimates overly optimistic. While the idealized model does not capture all the complexities of real NICER data, it suggests that these biases could be important for NICER's observations of J0740+6620 and other faint pulsars (observations of J0030+0451 are likely less affected). I estimate that these effects may introduce a bias of ${ \mathcal O }(10 \% )$ on average in the inferred modulation depth of lightcurves like J0740+6620's, and may be as large as ${ \mathcal O }(50 \% )$ for fainter pulsars. However, the change for a single data set like J0740+6620 is expected to be a shift between -5% and +20%. This could imply that the lower limit on J0740+6620's radius is slightly larger than it should be, although preliminary investigations suggest the radius constraints shift to larger radii by ${ \mathcal O }(1 \% )$ with the same overall statistical precision using real J0740+6620 data.

Keywords: x-ray astronomy; neutron stars; compact objects; nuclear astrophysics; pulsars
Introducing a Real-time Interactive GUI Tool for Visualization of Galaxy Spectra

To aid the understanding of the nonlinear relationship between galaxy properties and predicted spectral energy distributions (SED), we present a new interactive graphical user interface tool pipes_vis based on BAGPIPES. It allows for real-time manipulation of a model galaxy's star formation history, dust and other relevant properties through sliders and text boxes, with each change's effect on the predicted SED reflected instantaneously. We hope the tool will assist in building intuition about what affects the SED of galaxies, potentially helping to speed up fitting stages such as prior construction, and aid in undergraduate and graduate teaching. pipes_vis is available online (pipes_vis is maintained and documented online at https://github.com/HinLeung622/pipes_vis, or version 0.4.1 is archived in Zenodo (Leung 2021) and also available for installation through pip install pipes_vis).

Keywords: galaxy evolution; spectral energy distribution; astronomy data visualization
Rotationally Driven Ultraviolet Emission of Red Giant Stars

Main-sequence stars exhibit a clear rotation-activity relationship, in which rapidly rotating stars drive strong chromospheric/coronal ultraviolet and X-ray emission. While the vast majority of red giant stars are inactive, a few percent exhibit strong ultraviolet emission. Here we use a sample of 133 red giant stars observed by Sloan Digital Sky Survey APOGEE and Galaxy Evolution Explorer to demonstrate an empirical relationship between near-UV (NUV) excess and rotational velocity ( $v\ \sin \ i$ ). Beyond this simple relationship, we find that NUV excess also correlates with rotation period and with Rossby number in a manner that shares broadly similar trends to those found in M dwarfs, including activity saturation among rapid rotators. Our data also suggest that the most extremely rapidly rotating giants may exhibit so-called supersaturation, which could be caused by centrifugal stripping of these stars rotating at a high fraction of breakup speed. As an example application of our empirical rotation-activity relation, we demonstrate that the NUV emission observed from a recently reported system comprising a red giant with a black hole companion is fully consistent with arising from the rapidly rotating red giant in that system. Most fundamentally, our findings suggest a common origin of chromospheric activity in rotation and convection for cool stars from main sequence to red giant stages of evolution.

Keywords: red giant branch; giant branch; stellar activity; evolved stars; spectroscopy; ultraviolet photometry; stellar rotation
Phase Mixing of Kink MHD Waves in the Solar Corona: Viscous Dissipation and Heating

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) kink waves have been observed frequently in solar coronal flux tubes, which makes them a great tool for seismology of the solar corona. Here, the effect of viscosity is studied on the evolution of kink waves. To this aim, we solve the initial value problem for the incompressible linearized viscous MHD equations in a radially inhomogeneous flux tube in the limit of long wavelengths. Using a modal expansion technique the spatio-temporal behavior of the perturbations is obtained. We confirm that for large Reynolds numbers representative of the coronal plasma the decrement in the amplitude of the kink oscillations is due to the resonant absorption mechanism that converts the global transverse oscillation to rotational motions in the inhomogeneous layer of the flux tube. We show that viscosity suppresses the rate of phase mixing of the perturbations in the inhomogeneous region of the flux tube and prevents the continuous building up of small scales in the system once a sufficiently small scale is reached. The viscous dissipation function is calculated to investigate plasma heating by viscosity in the inhomogeneous layer of the flux tube. For Reynolds numbers of the order of 106-108, the energy of the kink wave is transformed into heat in two to eight periods of the kink oscillation. For larger and more realistic Reynolds numbers, heating happens, predominantly, after the global kink oscillation is damped, and no significant heating occurs during the observable transverse motion of the flux tube.

Keywords: the sun; solar physics; magnetohydrodynamics; magnetohydrodynamical simulations; astrophysical fluid dynamics