adsabs/SciX_UAT_keywords huggingface dataset:
Morphological and Spectral Study of 4FGL J1115.1-6118 in the Region of the Young Massive Stellar Cluster NGC 3603

We report a detailed study of an unidentified gamma-ray source located in the region of the compact stellar cluster NGC 3603. This is a star-forming region (SFR) powered by a massive cluster of OB stars. A dedicated analysis of about 10 yr of data from 10 GeV to 1 TeV, provided by the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, yields the detection of a pointlike source at a significance of 9σ. The source photon spectrum can be described by a power-law model with a best-fit spectral index of 2.35 ± 0.03. In addition, the analysis of a deep Chandra image in the 0.5-7 keV band reliably rules out an extragalactic origin for the gamma-rays. We also conclude that the broadband spectral energy distribution of the point source can be explained well with both leptonic and hadronic models. No firm evidence of association with any other classes of known gamma-ray emitters is found; therefore, we speculate that 4FGL J1115.1-6118 is a gamma-ray-emitting SFR.

Keywords: gamma-ray astronomy; high energy astrophysics; gamma-ray sources; non-thermal radiation sources; star forming regions; galactic cosmic rays; young massive clusters; x-ray sources; gamma-rays; star clusters; space telescopes
Existence of the Closed Magnetic Field Lines Crossing the Coronal Hole Boundaries

Coronal holes (CHs) are regions with unbalanced magnetic flux and have been associated with open magnetic field (OMF) structures. However, it has been reported that some CHs do not intersect with OMF regions. To investigate the inconsistency, we apply a potential-field (PF) model to construct the magnetic fields of the CHs. As a comparison, we also use a thermodynamic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model to synthesize coronal images and identify CHs from the synthetic images. The results from both the potential-field CHs and synthetic MHD CHs reveal that there is a significant percentage of closed field lines extending beyond the CH boundaries and more than 50% (17%) of PF (MHD) CHs do not contain OMF lines. The boundary-crossing field lines are more likely to be found in the lower latitudes during active times. While they tend to be located slightly closer than the non-boundary-crossing ones to the CH boundaries, nearly 40% (20%) of them in PF (MHD) CHs are not located in the boundary regions. The CHs without open field lines are often smaller and less unipolar than those with open field lines. The MHD model indicates higher temperature variations along the boundary-crossing field lines than the non-boundary-crossing ones. The main difference between the results of the two models is that the dominant field lines in the PF and MHD CHs are closed and open field lines, respectively.

Keywords: solar corona; solar coronal holes; magnetohydrodynamics; solar magnetic fields; fast solar wind
How Do the Galaxy Stellar Spins Acquire a Peculiar Tidal Connection?

We explore how the galaxy stellar spins acquire a peculiar tendency of being aligned with the major principal axes of the local tidal fields, in contrast to their dark matter (DM) counterparts, which tend to be perpendicular to them, regardless of their masses. Analyzing the halo and subhalo catalogs from IllustrisTNG 300 hydrodynamic simulations at z ≤ 1, we determine the cosines of the alignment angles, $\cos \alpha $ , between the galaxy stellar and DM spins. Creating four $\cos \alpha $ -selected samples of the galaxies and then controlling them to share the same density and mass distributions, we determine the average strengths of the alignments between the galaxy stellar spins and the tidal tensor major axes over each sample. It is clearly shown that at z ≤ 0.5 the more severely the galaxy stellar spin directions deviate from the DM counterparts, the stronger the peculiar tidal alignments become. Taking the ensemble averages of such galaxy properties as central black hole-to-stellar mass ratio, specific star formation rate, formation epoch, stellar-to-total mass ratio, velocity dispersions, average metallicity, and degree of the cosmic web anisotropy over each sample, we also find that all of these properties exhibit either strong correlations or anticorrelations with $\cos \alpha $ . Our results imply that the peculiar tidal alignments of the galaxy stellar spins may be caused by anisotropic occurrence of some baryonic process responsible for discharging stellar materials from the galaxies along the tidal major directions at z < 1.

Keywords: large-scale structure of the universe
Measurements of Effective Optical Depth in the Lyα Forest from the BOSS DR12 Quasar Sample

We measure the effective optical depth in the Lyα forest using 40,035 quasar spectra from the Twelfth Data Release (DR12) of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey of Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV. A rigorous selection based on spectral index and the equivalent width of the C IV emission line is applied to choose seven uniform samples with minimal intrinsic variations across redshifts. Modeling the redshift evolution of the effective optical depth with a power law, τeff = τ0(1+z)γ, produces τ0=(5.54 ± 0.64)× 10-3 and γ =3.182± 0.074. The 2.2% precision estimate on γ is dominated by systematic errors, likely arising from the bias and uncertainties in spectral index estimates. Even after incorporating the systematic errors, this work provides the most precise estimates of optical depth parameters to date. Finally, using the reconstructed Lyα forest continuum to directly measure the transmitted flux ratio as a function of redshift, we find deviations of less than 2.5% from the predictions from the global model and no convincing evidence for signal associated with He II reionization.

Keywords: cosmology; surveys
The JWST PEARLS View of the El Gordo Galaxy Cluster and of the Structure It Magnifies

The massive galaxy cluster El Gordo (z = 0.87) imprints multitudes of gravitationally lensed arcs onto James Webb Space Telescope Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) images. Eight bands of NIRCam imaging were obtained in the "Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science" ("PEARLS") program. Point-spread function-matched photometry across Hubble Space Telescope and NIRCam filters supplies new photometric redshifts. A new light-traces-mass lens model based on 56 image multiplicities identifies the two mass peaks and yields a mass estimate within 500 kpc of (7.0 ± 0.30) × 1014 M ⊙. A search for substructure in the 140 cluster members with spectroscopic redshifts confirms the two main mass components. The southeastern mass peak that contains the brightest cluster galaxy is more tightly bound than the northwestern one. The virial mass within 1.7 Mpc is (5.1 ± 0.60)×1014 M ⊙, lower than the lensing mass. A significant transverse velocity component could mean the virial mass is underestimated. We contribute one new member to the previously known z = 4.32 galaxy group. Intrinsic (delensed) positions of the five secure group members span a physical extent of ~60 kpc. 13 additional candidates selected by spectroscopic/photometric constraints are small and faint, with a mean intrinsic luminosity ~2.2 mag fainter than L *. NIRCam imaging admits a fairly wide range of brightnesses and morphologies for the group members, suggesting a more diverse galaxy population in this galaxy overdensity.

Keywords: strong gravitational lensing; galaxy clusters; high-redshift galaxy clusters
60 Candidate High-velocity Stars Originating from the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy in Gaia EDR3

Using proper motions from Gaia Early Data Release 3 (Gaia EDR3) and radial velocities from several surveys, we identify 60 candidate high-velocity stars with a total velocity greater than 75% of the escape velocity that probably originated from the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy (Sgr) by orbital analysis. Sgr's gravity has little effect on the results and the Large Magellanic Cloud's gravity has a nonnegligible effect on only a few stars. The closest approach of these stars to the Sgr occurred when the Sgr passed its pericenter (~38.2 Myr ago), which suggests they were tidally stripped from the Sgr. The positions of these stars in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram and the chemical properties of 19 of them with available [Fe/H] are similar to the Sgr stream member stars. This is consistent with the assumption of their accretion origin. Two of the 60 are hypervelocity stars, which may also be produced by the Hills mechanism.

Keywords: high-velocity stars; stellar dynamics; sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy; stellar abundances; hertzsprung russell diagram
Absorption Troughs of Lyα Emitters in HETDEX

The Hobby–Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) is designed to detect and measure the redshifts of more than 1 million Lyα emitting galaxies (LAEs) 1.88 < z < 3.52. In addition to its cosmological measurements, these data enable studies of Lyα spectral profiles and the underlying radiative transfer. Using the roughly half a million LAEs in the HETDEX Data Release 3, we stack various subsets to obtain the typical Lyα profile for the z ∼ 2–3 epoch and to understand their physical properties. We find clear absorption wings around Lyα emission, which extend ∼2000 km s‑1 both redward and blueward of the central line. Using far-UV spectra of nearby (0.002 < z < 0.182) LAEs in the COS Legacy Archive Spectroscopic Survey treasury and optical/near-IR spectra of 2.8 < z < 6.7 LAEs in the Multi Unit Spectroscopic-Wide survey, we observe absorption profiles in both redshift regimes. Dividing the sample by volume density shows that the troughs increase in higher-density regions. This trend suggests that the depth of the absorption is dependent on the local density of objects near the LAE, a geometry that is similar to damped Lyα systems. Simple simulations of Lyα radiative transfer can produce similar troughs due to absorption of light from background sources by H I gas surrounding the LAEs.

Keywords: high-redshift galaxies; diffuse radiation
Ground-based Transmission Spectroscopy with VLT FORS2: Evidence for Faculae and Clouds in the Optical Spectrum of the Warm Saturn WASP-110b

We present a ground-based optical transmission spectrum for the warm Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-110b from two transit observations made with the FOcal Reducer and Spectrograph on the Very Large Telescope. The spectrum covers the wavelength range from 4000-8333 Å, which is binned in 46 transit depths measured to an averaged precision of 220 parts per million (ppm) over an averaged 80 Å bin for a Vmag = 12.8 star. The measured transit depths are unaffected by a dilution from a close A-type field dwarf, which was fully resolved. The overall main characteristic of the transmission spectrum is an increasing radius with wavelength and a lack of the theoretically predicted pressure-broadened sodium and potassium absorption features for a cloud-free atmosphere. We analyze archival high-resolution optical spectroscopy and find evidence for low to moderate activity of the host star, which we take into account in the atmospheric retrieval analysis. Using the AURA retrieval code, we find that the observed transmission spectrum can be best explained by a combination of unocculted stellar faculae and a cloud deck. Transmission spectra of cloud-free and hazy atmospheres are rejected at a high confidence. With a possible cloud deck at its terminator, WASP-110b joins the increasing population of irradiated hot-Jupiter exoplanets with cloudy atmospheres observed in transmission.

Keywords: exoplanet atmospheres
Eliminating Massive Martian Dust Storms from Images of Tianwen-1 via Deep Learning

Dust storms may remarkably degrade the imaging quality of Martian orbiters and delay the progress of mapping the global topography and geomorphology. To address this issue, this paper presents an approach that reuses the image dehazing knowledge obtained on Earth to resolve the dust-removal problem on Mars. In this approach, we collect remote-sensing images captured by Tianwen-1 and manually select hundreds of clean and dusty images. Inspired by the haze formation process on Earth, we formulate a similar visual degradation process on clean images and synthesize dusty images sharing a similar feature distribution with realistic dusty images. These realistic clean and synthetic dusty image pairs are used to train a deep model that inherently encodes the irrelevant features of dust and decodes them into dust-free images. Qualitative and quantitative results show that dust storms can be effectively eliminated by the proposed approach, leading to obviously improved topographical and geomorphological details of Mars.

Keywords: martian satellites; mars
Detectability of Supermassive Dark Stars with the Roman Space Telescope

Supermassive dark stars (SMDS) are luminous stellar objects formed in the early Universe at redshift z ∼ 10–20, made primarily of hydrogen and helium, yet powered by dark matter. We examine the capabilities of the Roman Space Telescope (RST), and find it able to identify ∼106 M ⊙ SMDSs at redshifts up to z ≃ 14. With a gravitational lensing factor of μ ∼ 100, RST could identify SMDS as small as ∼104 M ⊙ at z ∼ 12 with ∼106 s exposure. Differentiating SMDSs from early galaxies containing zero metallicity stars at similar redshifts requires spectral, photometric, and morphological comparisons. With only RST, the differentiation of SMDS, particularly those formed via adiabatic contraction with M ≳ 105 M ⊙ and lensed by μ ≳ 100, is possible due to their distinct photometric signatures from the first galaxies. Those formed via dark matter capture can be differentiated only by image morphology: i.e., point object (SMDSs) versus extended object (sufficiently magnified galaxies). By additionally employing James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) spectroscopy, we can identify the He II λ1640 absorption line, a smoking gun for SMDS detection. Although RST does not cover the required wavelength band (for z emi ≳ 10), JWST does; hence, the two can be used in tandem to identify SMDS. The detection of SMDS would confirm a new type of star powered by dark matter and may shed light on the origins of the supermassive black holes powering bright quasars observed at z ≳ 6.

Keywords: dark matter; primordial galaxies; strong gravitational lensing; early universe; infrared photometry; massive stars
Magnetic Fields in Giant Filaments Probed by the Velocity Gradient Technique: Regular Magnetic Field Interrupted by Magnetization Gaps

We study the magnetic field structures in six giant filaments associated with the spiral arms of the Milky Way by applying the velocity gradient technique (VGT) to the 13CO spectroscopic data from the GRS, FUGIN, and SEDIGSM surveys. Unlike dust-polarized emission, the VGT allows us to separate the foreground and background using the velocity information, from which the orientation of the magnetic field can be reliably determined. We find that in most cases the magnetic fields stay aligned with the filament bodies, which are parallel to the disk midplane. Among these, G29, G47, and G51 exhibit smooth magnetic fields, and G24, G339, and G349 exhibit discontinuities. The fact that most filaments have magnetic fields that stay aligned with the Galactic disk midplane suggests that Galactic shear may be responsible for shaping the filaments. The fact that the magnetic field can stay regular at the resolution of our analysis (≲10 pc), where the turbulence crossing time is short compared to the shear time, suggests that turbulent motion cannot effectively disrupt the regular orientation of the magnetic field. The discontinuities found in some filaments can be caused by processes including filament reassembly, gravitational collapse, and stellar feedback.

Keywords: interstellar medium; interstellar magnetic fields; interstellar dynamics
Systematic KMTNet Planetary Anomaly Search. VII. Complete Sample of q < 10-4 Planets from the First 4 yr Survey

We present the analysis of seven microlensing planetary events with planet/host mass ratios q < 10-4: KMT-2017-BLG-1194, KMT-2017-BLG-0428, KMT-2019-BLG-1806, KMT-2017-BLG-1003, KMT-2019-BLG-1367, OGLE-2017-BLG-1806, and KMT-2016-BLG-1105. They were identified by applying the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) AnomalyFinder algorithm to 2016-2019 KMTNet events. A Bayesian analysis indicates that all the lens systems consist of a cold super-Earth orbiting an M or K dwarf. Together with 17 previously published and three that will be published elsewhere, AnomalyFinder has found a total of 27 planets that have solutions with q < 10-4 from 2016-2019 KMTNet events, which lays the foundation for the first statistical analysis of the planetary mass-ratio function based on KMTNet data. By reviewing the 27 planets, we find that the missing planetary caustics problem in the KMTNet planetary sample has been solved by AnomalyFinder. We also find a desert of high-magnification planetary signals (A ≳ 65), and a follow-up project for KMTNet high-magnification events could detect at least two more q < 10-4 planets per year and form an independent statistical sample.

Keywords: gravitational microlensing exoplanet detection
Estimating Galaxy Parameters with Self-organizing Maps and the Effect of Missing Data

The current and upcoming large data volume galaxy surveys require the use of machine-learning techniques to maximize their scientific return. This study explores the use of Self-Organizing Maps (SOMs) to estimate galaxy parameters with a focus on handling cases of missing data and providing realistic probability distribution functions for the parameters. We train an SOM with a simulated mass-limited lightcone assuming a ugrizY JHK s +IRAC data set, mimicking the Hyper Suprime-Cam Deep joint data set. For parameter estimation, we derive SOM likelihood surfaces considering photometric errors to derive total (statistical and systematic) uncertainties. We explore the effects of missing data, including which bands are particularly critical to the accuracy of the derived parameters. We demonstrate that the parameter recovery is significantly better when the missing bands are "filled in" rather than if they are completely omitted. We propose a practical method for such recovery of missing data.

Keywords: galaxy evolution; galaxy properties; astrostatistics techniques; astronomy data analysis
Observational Constraints on Close Binary Star Evolution. I. Putative Contact Binaries with Long Periods and High Mass Ratios

Evolutionary and structural models for contact binary stars make quantitative predictions about the distribution of systems in the mass ratio (q)-orbital period (P) plane. Specifically, contact binaries containing primaries with convective envelopes are predicted to be absent at mass ratios larger than a critical threshold that is a function of orbital period and total mass. We test this prediction by characterizing candidate contact binaries that appear to have mass ratios in violation of this threshold. We obtained quadrature-phase echelle spectra (R ≈ 31,000) for 18 close binaries (0.65 day < P < 2.00 days) in the Kepler field, from which we extracted radial velocity profiles for each system. Use of a joint Markov Chain Monte Carlo fitting routine on the Kepler light curves and the radial velocity profiles allows us to retrieve all fundamental system and component parameters. Of the 18 systems, only one is a contact binary, and both components likely have radiative-not convective-envelopes. The 17 remaining systems are detached binaries (eight) or semidetached binaries (four) with ellipsoidal variations, rotating variables (four), or pulsating variables (one). Therefore, none of the systems are in violation of the theoretical mass ratio thresholds for low-mass contact binaries. The 12 noncontact binaries follow a T 2/T 1-q relation significantly weaker than expected for main-sequence components, suggesting radiative heating of the secondaries. Most of the secondaries have radii larger than main-sequence expectations, a possible consequence of heating. Four secondaries fill their Roche lobes, while none of the primaries do, possibly indicating prior mass-ratio reversal.

Keywords: contact binary stars; close binary stars; multiple star evolution; stellar evolutionary tracks; stellar evolutionary models; ellipsoidal variable stars
Discovery of a Planar Black Hole Mass Scaling Relation for Spiral Galaxies

Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are tiny in comparison to the galaxies they inhabit, yet they manage to influence and coevolve along with their hosts. Evidence of this mutual development is observed in the structure and dynamics of galaxies and their correlations with black hole mass (M •). For our study, we focus on relative parameters that are unique to only disk galaxies. As such, we quantify the structure of spiral galaxies via their logarithmic spiral-arm pitch angles (ϕ) and their dynamics through the maximum rotational velocities of their galactic disks (v max). In the past, we have studied black hole mass scaling relations between M • and ϕ or v max, separately. Now, we combine the three parameters into a trivariate M •-ϕ-v max relationship that yields best-in-class accuracy in prediction of black hole masses in spiral galaxies. Because most black hole mass scaling relations have been created from samples of the largest SMBHs within the most massive galaxies, they lack certainty when extrapolated to low-mass spiral galaxies. Thus, it is difficult to confidently use existing scaling relations when trying to identify galaxies that might harbor the elusive class of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs). Therefore, we offer our novel relationship as an ideal predictor to search for IMBHs and probe the low-mass end of the black hole mass function by utilizing spiral galaxies. Already with rotational velocities widely available for a large population of galaxies and pitch angles readily measurable from uncalibrated images, we expect that the M •-ϕ-v max fundamental plane will be a useful tool for estimating black hole masses, even at high redshifts.

Keywords: astrostatistics; galaxy evolution; hubble classification scheme; intermediate-mass black holes; late-type galaxies; regression; scaling relations; spiral galaxies; spiral pitch angle
AT2020caa: A Type Ia Supernova with a Prior Outburst or a Statistical Fluke?

We recently discovered an extragalactic transient, AT2020caa, from the Zwicky Transient Facility alert stream using the community broker ANTARES. This transient apparently exhibited two outbursts within one year (between 2020 and 2021). Based on a decade-long historical light curve of the candidate host galaxy, we rule out activity from the galaxy nucleus to explain these outbursts. The measured peak magnitudes (assuming the known spectroscopic redshift of the candidate host galaxy) put AT2020caa in the realm of thermonuclear supernovae (SNe) or luminous core-collapse SNe. A handful of the latter are known to show prior outbursts (POs), thought to be linked to mass loss in massive stars. Using Gemini/GMOS, we obtained a spectrum of the current outburst that shows it to be a Type Ia supernova. We examine the nature of AT2020caa's PO seen a year earlier and conclude that it is likely a separate SN within the same galaxy.

Keywords: supernovae