adsabs/SciX_UAT_keywords huggingface dataset:
Stellar Migration in Galaxy Disks Using the Chirikov Diffusion Rate

We are reexamining the problem of stellar migration in disk galaxies from a diffusion perspective. We use for the first time the formulation of the diffusion rates introduced by Chirikov, applied to both energy, E, and angular momentum, Lz, in self-consistent N-body experiments. We limit our study to the evolution of stellar disks well after the formation of the bar, in a regime of adiabatic evolution. We show that distribution functions of Chirikov diffusion rates have similar shapes, regardless of the simulations, but different slopes for energy and angular momentum. Distribution functions of derived diffusion timescales, TD, also have the same form for all simulations, but are different for TD(E) and TD(Lz). Diffusion timescales are strongly dependent on Lz. ${T}_{D}(E)\lesssim 1\,\mathrm{Gyr}$ in a Lz range roughly delimited by the set of stellar bar resonances (between the ultraharmonic resonance and the outer Lindblad resonance). Only particles with low Lz have ${T}_{D}({L}_{z})\lesssim 10\,\mathrm{Gyr}$ , I.e., the simulation length. In terms of mass fraction, 35%-42% turn out to diffuse energy in a characteristic timescale shorter than 10 Gyr, I.e., simulations length, while 60%-64% undergo the diffusion of the angular momentum on the same timescale. Both the diffusion of Lz and E are important to grasp the full characterization of the radial migration process, and we show that depending on the spatial region considered, one or the other diffusion dominates.

Keywords: galactic and extragalactic astronomy; galaxy dynamics; n-body simulations; galaxy stellar disks; barred spiral galaxies; dynamical evolution; galaxy evolution
Variability of Massive Stars in M31 from the Palomar Transient Factory

Using data from the (intermediate) Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF), we characterize the time variability of ≈500 massive stars in M31. Our sample is those stars that are spectrally typed by Massey and collaborators, including Luminous Blue Variables, Wolf-Rayets, and warm and cool supergiants. We use the high-cadence, long-baseline (≈5 yr) data from the iPTF survey, coupled with data-processing tools that model complex features in the light curves. We find widespread photometric (R-band) variability in the upper Hertzsprung Russell diagram (or CMD) with an increasing prevalence of variability with later spectral types. Red stars (V - I > 1.5) exhibit larger amplitude fluctuations than their bluer counterparts. We extract a characteristic variability timescale, tch, via wavelet transformations that are sensitive to both continuous and localized fluctuations. Cool supergiants are characterized by longer timescales (>100 days) than the hotter stars. The latter have typical timescales of tens of days but cover a wider range, from our resolution limit of a few days to longer than 100 days. Using a 60 night block of data straddling two nights with a cadence of around 2 minutes, we extracted tch in the range 0.1-10 days with amplitudes of a few percent for 13 stars. Though there is broad agreement between the observed variability characteristics in the different parts of the upper CMD with theoretical predictions, detailed comparison requires models with a more comprehensive treatment of the various physical processes operating in these stars, such as pulsation, subsurface convection, and the effect of binary companions.

Keywords: andromeda galaxy; massive stars; supergiant stars; catalogs; surveys
MAPS: Constraining Serendipitous Time Variability in Protoplanetary Disk Molecular Ion Emission

Theoretical models and observations suggest that the abundances of molecular ions in protoplanetary disks should be highly sensitive to the variable ionization conditions set by the young central star. We present a search for temporal flux variability of HCO+ J = 1-0, which was observed as a part of the Molecules with Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) at Planet-forming Scales ALMA Large Program. We split out and imaged the line and continuum data for each individual day the five sources were observed (HD 163296, AS 209, GM Aur, MWC 480, and IM Lup, with between three and six unique visits per source). Significant enhancement (>3σ) was not observed, but we find variations in the spectral profiles in all five disks. Variations in AS 209, GM Aur, and HD 163296 are tentatively attributed to variations in HCO+ flux, while variations in IM Lup and MWC 480 are most likely introduced by differences in the uv coverage, which impact the amount of recovered flux during imaging. The tentative detections and low degree of variability are consistent with expectations of X-ray flare-driven HCO+ variability, which requires relatively large flares to enhance the HCO+ rotational emission at significant (>20%) levels. These findings also demonstrate the need for dedicated monitoring campaigns with high signal-to-noise ratios to fully characterize X-ray flare-driven chemistry.

Keywords: astrochemistry; protoplanetary disks; pre-main sequence stars; radio astronomy; stellar flares; stellar x-ray flares; young stellar objects; radio spectroscopy
Rapid Imaging Planetary Spectrograph

The Rapid Imaging Planetary Spectrograph (RIPS) was designed as a long-slit high-resolution spectrograph for the specific application of studying atmospheres of spatially extended solar system bodies. With heritage in terrestrial airglow instruments, RIPS uses an echelle grating and order-sorting filter to obtain optical spectra at resolving powers of up to R ~ 127,000. An ultra-narrowband image from the reflective slit jaws is captured concurrently with each spectrum on the same electron-multiplying charge-coupled device detector. The "rapid" portion of RIPS's moniker stems from its ability to capture high frame rate data streams, which enables the established technique known as "lucky imaging" to be extended to spatially resolved spectroscopy. Resonantly scattered emission lines of alkali metals, in particular, are sufficiently bright to be measured within short integration times. RIPS has mapped the distributions of Na and K emissions in Mercury's tenuous exosphere, which exhibits dynamic behavior coupled with the planet's plasma and meteoroid environment. An important application is daylight observation of Mercury with solar telescopes, as the synoptic context of the exosphere's distribution comprises valuable ground-based support for the upcoming BepiColombo orbital mission. As a conventional long-slit spectrograph, RIPS has targeted the Moon's surface-bound exosphere, where structures in line width and brightness are observed as a function of tangent altitude. At the Galilean moons, RIPS can study the plasma interaction with Io and place new constraints on the sputtered atmosphere of Europa, which in turn provides insight into the salinity of Europa's subsurface ocean. The instrumental design and construction are described herein, and these astronomical observations are presented to illustrate the performance of RIPS as a visiting instrument at three different telescope facilities.

Keywords: high resolution spectroscopy; atomic spectroscopy; astronomical instrumentation; planetary atmospheres; exosphere; optical telescopes; mercury (planet); the moon; galilean satellites
Earth Wind as a Possible Exogenous Source of Lunar Surface Hydration

Understanding the sources of lunar water is crucial for studying the history of lunar evolution, as well as the interaction of solar wind with the Moon and other airless bodies. Recent orbital spectral observations revealed that the solar wind is a significant exogenous driver of lunar surficial hydration. However, the solar wind is shielded over a period of 3-5 days per month as the Moon passes through the Earth's magnetosphere, during which a significant loss of hydration is expected. Here we report the temporal and spatial distribution of polar surficial OH/H2O abundance, using Chandrayaan-1 Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) data, which covers the regions inside/outside the Earth's magnetosphere. The data shows that polar surficial OH/H2O abundance increases with latitude, and that the probability of polar surficial OH/H2O abundance remains at the same level when in the solar wind and in the magnetosphere by controlling latitude, composition, and lunar local time. This indicates that the OH/H2O abundance in the polar regions may be saturated, or supplemented from other possible sources, such as Earth wind (particles from the magnetosphere, distinct from the solar wind), which may compensate for thermal diffusion losses while the Moon lies within the Earth's magnetosphere. This work provides some clues for studies of planet-moon systems, whereby the planetary wind serves as a bridge connecting the planet with its moons.

Keywords: solar wind; earth-moon system; planetary magnetospheres; space plasmas; the moon; solar-terrestrial interactions; lunar surface
Detection of CH3C3N in Titan&'s Atmosphere

Titan harbors a dense, organic-rich atmosphere primarily composed of N2 and CH4, with lesser amounts of hydrocarbons and nitrogen-bearing species. As a result of high-sensitivity observations by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Band 6 (∼230-272 GHz), we obtained the first spectroscopic detection of CH3C3N (methylcyanoacetylene or cyanopropyne) in Titan&'s atmosphere through the observation of seven transitions in the $J=64\to 63$ and $J=62\to 61$ rotational bands. The presence of CH3C3N on Titan was suggested by the Cassini Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer detection of its protonated form: C4H3NH+, but the atmospheric abundance of the associated (deprotonated) neutral product is not well constrained due to the lack of appropriate laboratory reaction data. Here, we derive the column density of CH3C3N to be (3.8-5.7) × 1012 cm-2 based on radiative transfer models sensitive to altitudes above 400 km Titan&'s middle atmosphere. When compared with laboratory and photochemical model results, the detection of methylcyanoacetylene provides important constraints for the determination of the associated production pathways (such as those involving CN, CCN, and hydrocarbons), and reaction rate coefficients. These results also further demonstrate the importance of ALMA and (sub)millimeter spectroscopy for future investigations of Titan&'s organic inventory and atmospheric chemistry, as CH3C3N marks the heaviest polar molecule detected spectroscopically in Titan&'s atmosphere to date.

Keywords: saturnian satellites; natural satellites (solar system); radio astronomy; millimeter astronomy; radio spectroscopy; submillimeter astronomy; radiative transfer; planetary atmospheres; atmospheric composition; astrochemistry; chemical abundances; astronomical methods
A Catalog of Very Large Array Sky Survey Epoch 1 Quick Look Components, Sources, and Host Identifications

We announce here the public availability of a catalog of ν ∼ 3 GHz Quick Look observations from the first epoch of the Very Large Array Sky Survey. The catalog consists of three distinct and linkable tables, namely (a) the detected radio components, (b) the host identifications with total source properties for single-component, and close double/triple radio sources (angular separations of <10″), and (c) the Quick Look image metadata. Given the Quick Look images are limited in quality, we include data reliability flagging to improve the scientific usability of this catalog. Using our recommended quality flags, this catalog contains 1.7 × 106 unique radio components with S3 GHz ≳ 1 mJy beam-1, and 6.2 × 105 host IDs (including 20,000 close-double and triple radio sources) reliably detected across the entire sky at δ > -40°. The catalog and an associated User Guide have been produced as part of the Canadian Initiative for Radio Astronomy Data Analysis, and are available at https://cirada.ca/catalogues.

Keywords: radio source catalogs; sky surveys; radio astronomy
New Active Asteroid 2015 VA108: A Citizen Science Discovery

We announce the discovery of activity, in the form of a distinct cometary tail, emerging from main-belt asteroid 2015 VA108. Activity was first identified by volunteers of the Citizen Science project Active Asteroids (a NASA Partner). We uncovered one additional image from the same observing run which also unambiguously shows 2015 VA108 with a tail oriented between the anti-solar and anti-motion vectors that are often correlated with activity orientation on sky. Both publicly available archival images were originally acquired UT 2015 October 11 with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Blanco 4 m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (Chile) as part of the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey. Activity occurred near perihelion and, combined with its residence in the main asteroid belt, 2015 VA108 is a candidate main-belt comet, an active asteroid subset known for volatile sublimation.

Keywords: asteroids; asteroid belt; comet tails
Chondrule Destruction via Dust Collisions in Shock Waves

A leading candidate for the heating source of chondrules and igneous rims is shock waves. This mechanism generates high relative velocities between chondrules and dust particles. We have investigated the possibility of the chondrule destruction in collisions with dust particles behind a shock wave using a semianalytical treatment. We find that the chondrules are destroyed during melting in collisions. We derive the conditions for the destruction of chondrules and show that the typical size of the observed chondrules satisfies the condition. We suggest that the chondrule formation and rim accretion are different events if they are heated by shock waves.

Keywords: chondrites; chondrules
Atmospheric and Fundamental Parameters of Eight Nearby Multiple Stars

We present the complete set of atmospheric and fundamental parameters, in addition to the masses, for the individual components of eight stellar systems. The list of the systems, whose orbital solutions were published recently, includes seven binaries (HIP 14524, HIP 16025, HIP 46199, HIP 47791, HIP 60444, HIP 61100, HIP 73085) and one triple system (HIP 28671). The systems were analyzed using a spectrophotometric computational technique known as Al-Wardats method for analyzing binary and multiple stellar systems, which makes use of ATLAS9 line-blanketed plane-parallel model atmospheres. Using these estimated parameters, the positions of the components were located on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, evolutionary tracks and isochrones to estimate their ages, the range depending on the uncertainties in their metallicities. Five systems were found to be pre-main-sequence stars (HIP 14524, HIP 46199, HIP 60444, HIP 61100, HIP 73085), two were main-sequence stars (the zero-age HIP 28671 and the 6.3 Gyr HIP 16025), and one is a subgiant system (HIP 47791) with an age of 1.4 Gyr. Fragmentation is proposed as the most probable formation process for the eight systems. A comparison between the estimated masses and the dynamical ones lead to new dynamical parallaxes for four systems: (28.63 ± 0.56) mas for HIP 14524, (15.6 ± 0.63) mas for HIP 16025, (9.73 ± 0.26) mas for HIP 47791, and (16.53 ± 0.59) mas for HIP 73085. Hence, the orbital solutions were reclassified. We conclude that Gaia DR3 parallaxes are more precise than those given by Gaia DR2 and Hipparcos 2.

Keywords: multiple stars; multiple star evolution; binary stars
Pulsar Timing Signatures of Circumbinary Asteroid Belts

The gravitational pull of a large number of asteroids perturbs a pulsar's motion to a degree that is detectable through precision timing of millisecond pulsars. The result is a low-frequency, correlated noise process, similar in form to the red timing noise known to affect canonical pulsars, or to the signal expected from a stochastic gravitational-wave background. Motivated by the observed fact that many millisecond pulsars are in binary systems, we describe the ways in which the presence of a binary companion to the pulsar would affect the signal produced by an asteroid belt. The primary effect of the companion is to destabilize the shortest-period orbits, cutting off the high-frequency component of the signal from the asteroid belt. We also discuss the implications of asteroid belts for gravitational-wave search efforts. Compared to the signal from a stochastic gravitational-wave background, asteroid-belt noise has a similar frequency and amplitude, and is similarly independent of radio frequency, but is not correlated between different pulsars, which should allow the two kinds of signal to be distinguished.

Keywords: binary pulsars; millisecond pulsars; pulsars; asteroids; gravitational interaction
X-Ray Emission from the Exoplanet Hosting LTT 1445 Triple Star System

JWST will be able to observe the atmospheres of rocky planets transiting nearby M dwarfs. The M-dwarf triple star system LTT 1445, at a distance of 6.86 pc, hosts some of the nearest rocky terrestrial planets. These planets most likely orbit the M 3.5V star LTT 1445A. During a 28.6 ks Chandra ACIS-S3 observation we have: (i) spatially resolved and detected all three stars in the LTT 1445 system; (ii) measured the X-ray luminosity of the individual stars, including LTT 1445A, for the first time; (iii) studied the flux variability of the X-ray sources and found strong variability from the A and C components; and (iv) investigated how the coronal luminosities, temperatures, and volume emission measures vary at different activity levels. Combining these X-ray data with upcoming HST ultraviolet observations will allow a differential emission measure estimation of the star's extreme-ultraviolet spectrum, thereby facilitating modeling of the rocky planets' atmospheres.

Keywords: m dwarf stars; stellar x-ray flares; planet hosting stars
Investigating the Martian Surface at Decametric Scale: Population, Distribution, and Dimension of Heterogeneity from Radar Statistics

Building on one decade of theory and methodology maturation, we investigate the coherent and incoherent components of the response of the Martian surface to nadir-looking orbital radar. We apply a reflectometry technique known as radar statistical reconnaissance to Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Shallow Radar data over a test region with a large dynamic range in echo strength. This technique provides a set of statistical parameters describing the heterogeneity of the surface and near-surface structure, presumably at a scale of ~15 m. We discuss the physical meanings of these parameters related to surface and near-surface properties. Most (but not all) investigated terrains have a dominantly coherent surface return, a characteristic that is not necessarily indicative of a smooth surface. The observed behavior of the coherent and incoherent power components of the echo matches signal growth with increasing surface roughness. This finding allows us to identify smooth and level terrains that we use as a reference to approximate the surface height and slope variations of other regions. Nearly systematic mismatches between the SHARAD and MOLA-pulse-width roughness illustrate the complementarity of these data sets from their respective sensitivity range, and advocate for the use of self-affine radar backscattering models to account for roughness variations at different scales. Our methodology provides a wealth of surface properties assessment based on radar scattering with quasi-global coverage, without a dependence on other data, and at a decametric horizontal scale relevant to subregional geology investigation and landing site reconnaissance.

Keywords: mars; planetary surfaces; remote sensing
A Meteor of Apparent Interstellar Origin in the CNEOS Fireball Catalog

The earliest confirmed interstellar object, 'Oumuamua, was discovered in the solar system by Pan-STARRS in 2017, allowing for a calibration of the abundance of interstellar objects of its size ~100 m. This was followed by the discovery of Borisov, which allowed for a similar calibration of its size ~0.4-1 km. One would expect a much higher abundance of significantly smaller interstellar objects, with some of them colliding with Earth frequently enough to be noticeable. Based on the CNEOS catalog of bolide events, we identify the ~0.45 m meteor detected at 2014 January 8 17:05:34 UTC as originating from an unbound hyperbolic orbit. The U.S. Department of Defense has released an official letter stating that "the velocity estimate reported to NASA is sufficiently accurate to indicate an interstellar trajectory," which we rely on here as confirmation of the object's interstellar trajectory. Based on the data provided by CNEOS, we infer that the meteor had an asymptotic speed of v ∞ ~ 42.1 ± 5.5 km s-1 outside of the solar system. Note that v ∞ here refers to the velocity of the meteor outside the solar system, not the velocity of the meteor outside the atmosphere. Its origin is approximately toward R.A. 49.°4 ± 4.°1 and decl. 11.°2 ± 1.°8, implying that its initial velocity vector was 58 ± 6 km s-1 away from the velocity of the local standard of rest (LSR).

Keywords: meteors; interstellar objects
Detection of Radio Thermal Emission from the Kuiper Belt Object (486958) Arrokoth during the New Horizons Encounter

The New Horizons spacecraft encountered the Kuiper Belt object (KBO) Arrokoth (486958), originally designated as 2014 MU69 and formerly called "Ultima Thule," on 2019 January 01. At 43.3 au from the Sun and 44.4 au from Earth, this was the most distant spacecraft reconnaissance of a solar system body to date. The Radio Science Experiment (REX) on New Horizons performed radiometry measurements of the KBO's thermal emission at λ = 4.2 cm in two observation slots, one before (dayside) and one after (nightside) the point of closest approach. Owing to the small size of the target, the intensity of the thermal emission was expected to be only marginally detectable. The KBO was not detected on approach because of unexpectedly large variations in the REX system temperature. A brightness temperature T b = 29 ± 5 K was derived for the nightside observation, considerably less than the predicted equilibrium temperature of ~50 K derived for Arrokoth on the dayside. A model explaining this day-night contrast is used to constrain the global values of emissivity, thermal inertia, and electrical skin depth of the KBO. In particular, models with small values of thermal inertia and small values of electrical skin depth are excluded. Relatively high values of the effective radio emissivity (E eff > 0.8) provide better agreement with the REX observation.

Keywords: classical kuiper belt objects; small solar system bodies; radio continuum emission; planetary surfaces