adsabs/SciX_UAT_keywords huggingface dataset:
NuSTAR Observation of LS 5039

LS 5039 is a high-mass γ-ray binary hosting a compact object of unknown type. NuSTAR observed LS 5039 during the entire 3.9-day binary period. We performed a periodic signal search up to 1000 Hz, which did not produce credible period candidates. We do see the 9.05 s period candidate, originally reported by Yoneda et al. using the same data, in the Fourier power spectrum, but we find that the statistical significance of this feature is too low to claim it as a real detection. We did not find significant bursts or quasiperiodic variability either. The modulation with orbital period is clearly seen and remains unchanged over a timescale of 10 years when compared to the earlier Suzaku light curve. The joint analysis of the NuSTAR and Suzaku XIS data shows that the 0.7-70 keV spectrum can be satisfactory described by a single absorbed power-law model with no evidence of a cutoff at higher energies. The slope of the spectrum is anticorrelated with the flux during the binary orbit. If LS 5039 hosts a young neutron star, its X-ray pulsations therefore appear to be outshone by the intrabinary shock emission. The lack of spectral lines and/or an exponential cutoff at higher energies suggests that the putative neutron star is not actively accreting. Although a black hole scenario still remains a possibility, the lack of variability or Fe Kα lines, which typically accompany accretion, makes it less likely.

Keywords: high mass x-ray binary stars; gamma-rays; compact objects; x-ray point sources
Cosmological Information from the Small-scale Redshift-space Distortion

The redshift-space distortion (RSD) in the observed distribution of galaxies is known as a powerful probe of cosmology. Observations of large-scale RSD, caused by the coherent gravitational infall of galaxies, have given tight constraints on the linear growth rate of the large-scale structures in the universe. On the other hand, the small-scale RSD, caused by galaxy-random motions inside clusters, has not been much used in cosmology, but it also has cosmological information because universes with different cosmological parameters have different halo mass functions and virialized velocities. We focus on the projected correlation function w(rp) and the multipole moments ξl on small scales (1.4-30 h-1 Mpc). Using simulated galaxy samples generated from a physically motivated most bound particle (MBP)-galaxy correspondence scheme in the Multiverse Simulation, we examine the dependence of the small-scale RSD on the cosmological matter density parameter Ωm; the satellite velocity bias with respect to MBPs, ${b}_{V}^{s}$ ; and the merger timescale parameter α. We find that α = 1.5 gives an excellent fit to the w(rp) and ξl measured from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-Korea Institute for Advanced Study value-added galaxy catalog. We also define the "strength" of the Fingers of God as the ratio of the parallel and perpendicular size of the contour in the two-point correlation function set by a specific threshold value and show that the strength parameter helps constrain $({{\rm{\Omega }}}_{m},{b}_{V}^{s},\alpha )$ by breaking the degeneracy among them. The resulting parameter values from all measurements are $({{\rm{\Omega }}}_{m},{b}_{V}^{s})=(0.272\pm 0.013,0.982\pm 0.040)$ , indicating a slight reduction of satellite galaxy velocity relative to the MBP. However, considering that the average MBP speed inside halos is 0.94 times the dark matter velocity dispersion, the main drivers behind the galaxy velocity bias are gravitational interactions, rather than baryonic effects.

Keywords: cosmological parameters from large-scale structure; n-body simulations; redshift surveys
A Unifying Model of Mixed Inertial Modes in the Sun

We present an analytical model that unifies many of the inertial waves that have been recently observed on the surface of the Sun, as well as many other modes that have been theoretically predicted—but have yet to be observed—into a single family of mixed inertial modes. By mixed, we mean that the prograde- and retrograde-propagating members of this family have different restoring forces and hence different behavior. Thermal Rossby waves exist as prograde-propagating waves, while the high-frequency retrograde (HFR) wave is one example of a member of the retrograde branch. This family of mixed modes has fully 3D motions that satisfy the anelastic form of the continuity condition. As such, the horizontal velocity is both vortical and divergent with the later flow component associated with a dynamically important radial velocity. The modes are differentiated by the number of nodes in latitude, with the lowest latitudinal order corresponding to the traditional thermal Rossby wave of Busse, the first latitudinal overtone to the mixed mode of Bekki et al., and the second overtone to the HFR wave discovered by Hanson et al. There also exist infinitely more modes of higher latitudinal order whose frequencies increase as the order increases. These higher overtones may correspond to many of the inertial modes that have been recently identified by numerical eigenmode solvers.

Keywords: solar convective zone; solar interior; stellar oscillations; internal waves; astrophysical fluid dynamics; hydrodynamics
Quantifying the Hypervolatile Abundances in Jupiter-family Comet 46P/Wirtanen

We present analysis of IR and optical spectroscopy of Jupiter-family comet (JFC) 46P/Wirtanen obtained in 2019 January, when the comet had sufficient geocentric velocity to enable studies of the hypervolatiles CO and CH4, as well as [O ] emission. These species could not be studied near closest approach in mid-December because there was insufficient Doppler shift to separate the cometary emission from their corresponding telluric absorption lines. We employed the [O ] observations as a proxy for the CO2/H2O ratio, as CO2 cannot be observed directly from the ground, and space-based assets sensitive to CO2 were not able to observe 46P during this apparition. We focused our analysis on H2O, CO, CH4, C2H6, CH3OH, and CO2 (via [O ] emission). We detected strong emissions from H2O, C2H6, and CH3OH. Over the 3 nights, we found evidence for changing mixing ratios, mostly due to a variable H2O production rate. In 46P, C2H6 and CH3OH are enriched compared to cometary averages, with mixing ratios relative to H2O of ∼1% and ∼3%, respectively. Measurements of CH4 and CO have been especially rare in JFCs. We report significant 3σ upper limits on CH4/H2O < 0.97% and CO/H2O < 0.54%. They place CH4 being near-average or depleted, and CO being strongly depleted in 46P compared with Oort cloud comets. 46P has comparable CO/H2O to the few other measurements in JFCs, but enriched in C2H6 and CH3OH. Our inferred CO2/H2O mixing ratio is ∼15%, though accounting for systematic uncertainties from the lack of knowledge of [O ] photochemistry means a value between 10% and 20% is likely. The compositional profile of 46P is similar to another small, hyperactive comet: 103P/Hartley 2. The mechanism of CO2-driven water-rich ice grain production proposed for 103P/Hartley 2 may be operating on 46P as well.

Keywords: comets; comae; comet volatiles; short period comets
Tidal Synchronization Trapping in Stars and Planets with Convective Envelopes

Tidal torques can alter the spins of tidally interacting stars and planets, usually over shorter timescales than the tidal damping of orbital separations or eccentricities. Simple tidal models predict that, in eccentric binary or planetary systems, rotation periods will evolve toward a "pseudosynchronous" ratio with the orbital period. However, this prediction does not account for "inertial" waves that are present in stars or gaseous planets with (i) convective envelopes and (ii) even very slow rotation. We demonstrate that tidal driving of inertial oscillations in eccentric systems generically produces a network of stable "synchronization traps" at ratios of orbital to rotation period that are simple to predict but can deviate significantly from pseudosynchronization. The mechanism underlying spin synchronization trapping is similar to tidal resonance locking, involving a balance between torques that is maintained automatically by the scaling of inertial mode frequencies with the rotation rate. In contrast with many resonance locking scenarios, however, the torque balance required for synchronization trapping need not drive mode amplitudes to nonlinearity. Synchronization traps may provide an explanation for low-mass stars and hot Jupiters with observed rotation rates that deviate from pseudosynchronous or synchronous expectations.

Keywords: tides; exoplanet tides; hydrodynamics; hot jupiters; stellar rotation; stellar physics
ULTRASAT: A Wide-field Time-domain UV Space Telescope

The Ultraviolet Transient Astronomy Satellite (ULTRASAT) is scheduled to be launched to geostationary orbit in 2027. It will carry a telescope with an unprecedentedly large field of view (204 deg2) and near-ultraviolet (NUV; 230–290 nm) sensitivity (22.5 mag, 5σ, at 900 s). ULTRASAT will conduct the first wide-field survey of transient and variable NUV sources and will revolutionize our ability to study the hot transient Universe. It will explore a new parameter space in energy and timescale (months-long light curves with minutes cadence), with an extragalactic volume accessible for the discovery of transient sources that is >300 times larger than that of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) and comparable to that of the Vera Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time. ULTRASAT data will be transmitted to the ground in real time, and transient alerts will be distributed to the community in <15 minutes, enabling vigorous ground-based follow up of ULTRASAT sources. ULTRASAT will also provide an all-sky NUV image to >23.5 AB mag, over 10 times deeper than the GALEX map. Two key science goals of ULTRASAT are the study of mergers of binaries involving neutron stars, and supernovae. With a large fraction (>50%) of the sky instantaneously accessible, fast (minutes) slewing capability, and a field of view that covers the error ellipses expected from gravitational-wave (GW) detectors beyond 2026, ULTRASAT will rapidly detect the electromagnetic emission following binary neutron star/neutron star–black hole mergers identified by GW detectors, and will provide continuous NUV light curves of the events. ULTRASAT will provide early (hour) detection and continuous high-cadence (minutes) NUV light curves for hundreds of core-collapse supernovae, including for rarer supernova progenitor types.

Keywords: near ultraviolet astronomy; space telescopes; time domain astronomy; gravitational wave sources; supernovae; gamma-ray bursts; cosmology; exoplanets; active galactic nuclei; tidal disruption; galaxies; solar system astronomy
The Branching Ratio of LIGO Binary Black Holes

Formation of binary black holes (BBHs) detected by gravitational-wave observations could be broadly divided into two categories: those formed through field binary evolution and those assembled dynamically in dense stellar systems. The branching ratio of the BBHs refers to the contribution of each channel. The dynamical assembly channel would predict a symmetric distribution in the effective spins of the BBHs while field formation predicts BBHs to have positive effective spins. By modeling these two populations based on their effective spin distribution we show that in the 10 BBHs detected by LIGO/Virgo the contribution of the dynamically assembled BBHs is more than about 50% with 90% confidence. This result is based on the assumption that the field binaries are born with positive effective spins not restricted to have small values.

Keywords: ligo; black hole physics; high energy astrophysics
The Breakthrough Listen Search for Intelligent Life: A Laser Search Pipeline for the Automated Planet Finder

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence has traditionally been conducted at radio wavelengths, but optical searches are well-motivated and increasingly feasible due to the growing availability of high-resolution spectroscopy. We present a data analysis pipeline to search Automated Planet Finder (APF) spectroscopic observations from the Levy Spectrometer for intense, persistent, narrow-bandwidth optical lasers. We describe the processing of the spectra, the laser search algorithm, and the results of our laser search on 1983 spectra of 388 stars as part of the Breakthrough Listen search for technosignatures. We utilize an empirical spectra-matching algorithm called SpecMatch-Emp to produce residuals between each target spectrum and a set of best-matching catalog spectra, which provides the basis for a more sensitive search than previously possible. We verify that SpecMatch-Emp performs well on APF-Levy spectra by calibrating the stellar properties derived by the algorithm against the SpecMatch-Emp library and against Gaia catalog values. We leverage our unique observing strategy, which produces multiple spectra of each target per night of observing, to increase our detection sensitivity by programmatically rejecting events that do not persist between observations. With our laser search algorithm, we achieve a sensitivity equivalent to the ability to detect an 84 kW laser at the median distance of a star in our data set (78.5 ly). We present the methodology and vetting of our laser search, finding no convincing candidates consistent with potential laser emission in our target sample.

Keywords: search for extraterrestrial intelligence; technosignatures; stellar spectral lines; astrobiology; stellar classification; high resolution spectroscopy
Quasi-periodic Oscillations of the X-Ray Burst from the Magnetar SGR J1935-2154 and Associated with the Fast Radio Burst FRB 200428

The origin(s) and mechanism(s) of fast radio bursts (FRBs), which are short radio pulses from cosmological distances, have remained a major puzzle since their discovery. We report a strong quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) of ~40 Hz in the X-ray burst from the magnetar SGR J1935+2154 and associated with FRB 200428, significantly detected with the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (Insight-HXMT) and also hinted at by the Konus-Wind data. QPOs from magnetar bursts have only been rarely detected; our 3.4σ (p-value is 2.9e-4) detection of the QPO reported here reveals the strongest QPO signal observed from magnetars (except in some very rare giant flares), making this X-ray burst unique among magnetar bursts. The two X-ray spikes coinciding with the two FRB pulses are also among the peaks of the QPO. Our results suggest that at least some FRBs are related to strong oscillation processes of neutron stars. We also show that we may overestimate the significance of the QPO signal and underestimate the errors of QPO parameters if QPO exists only in a fraction of the time series of an X-ray burst that we use to calculate the Leahy-normalized periodogram.

Keywords: magnetars; soft gamma-ray repeaters; astronomical methods; time domain astronomy; x-ray bursts
Dynamical Regimes of Polar Vortices on Terrestrial Planets with a Seasonal Cycle

Polar vortices are common planetary-scale flows that encircle the pole in the middle or high latitudes and are observed in most of the solar system's planetary atmospheres. The polar vortices on Earth, Mars, and Titan are dynamically related to the mean meridional circulation and exhibit a significant seasonal cycle. However, the polar vortex's characteristics vary between the three planets. To understand the mechanisms that influence the polar vortex's dynamics and dependence on planetary parameters, we use an idealized general circulation model with a seasonal cycle in which we vary the obliquity, rotation rate, and orbital period. We find that there are distinct regimes for the polar vortex seasonal cycle across the parameter space. Some regimes have similarities to the observed polar vortices, including a weakening of the polar vortex during midwinter at slow rotation rates, similar to Titan's polar vortex. Other regimes found within the parameter space have no counterpart in the solar system. In addition, we show that for a significant fraction of the parameter space, the vortex's potential vorticity latitudinal structure is annular, similar to the observed structure of the polar vortices on Mars and Titan. We also find a suppression of storm activity during midwinter that resembles the suppression observed on Mars and Earth, which occurs in simulations where the jet velocity is particularly strong. This wide variety of polar vortex dynamical regimes that shares similarities with observed polar vortices, suggests that among exoplanets there can be a wide variability of polar vortices.

Keywords: atmospheric circulation; solar system terrestrial planets; exoplanet atmospheres; exoplanet atmospheric variability; planetary climates
Fast Fourier Transformation Based Evaluation of Microlensing Magnification with Extended Source

The extended source effect on microlensing magnification is nonnegligible and must be taken into account for an analysis of microlensing. However, the evaluation of the extended source magnification is numerically expensive because it includes the two-dimensional integral over the source profile. Various studies have developed methods to reduce this integral down to the one-dimensional-integral- or integral-free form, which adopt some approximations or depend on the exact form of the source profile, e.g., a disk or linear/quadratic limb-darkening profile. In this paper, we develop a new method to evaluate the extended source magnification based on fast Fourier transformation (FFT), which does not adopt any approximations and is applicable to any source profiles. Our implementation of the FFT based method enables the fast evaluation of the extended source magnification as fast as ~1 ms (CPU time on a laptop) and guarantees an accuracy better than 0.3%. The FFT based method can be used for the template fitting to a huge data set of light curves from the existing and upcoming surveys.

Keywords: gravitational microlensing; publicly available software
New Horizons Observations of the Cosmic Optical Background

We used existing data from the New Horizons Long-range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) to measure the optical-band (0.4 ≲ λ ≲ 0.9 μm) sky brightness within seven high-Galactic latitude fields. The average raw level measured while New Horizons was 42-45 au from the Sun is 33.2 ± 0.5 nW m-2 sr-1. This is ∼10× as dark as the darkest sky accessible to the Hubble Space Telescope, highlighting the utility of New Horizons for detecting the cosmic optical background (COB). Isolating the COB contribution to the raw total required subtracting scattered light from bright stars and galaxies, faint stars below the photometric detection limit within the fields, and diffuse Milky Way light scattered by infrared cirrus. We removed newly identified residual zodiacal light from the IRIS 100 μm all-sky maps to generate two different estimates for the diffuse Galactic light. Using these yielded a highly significant detection of the COB in the range 15.9 ± 4.2 (1.8 stat., 3.7 sys.) nW m-2 sr-1 to 18.7 ± 3.8 (1.8 stat., 3.3 sys.) nW m-2 sr-1 at the LORRI pivot wavelength of 0.608 μm. Subtraction of the integrated light of galaxies fainter than the photometric detection limit from the total COB level left a diffuse flux component of unknown origin in the range 8.8 ± 4.9 (1.8 stat., 4.5 sys.) nW m-2 sr-1 to 11.9 ± 4.6 (1.8 stat., 4.2 sys.) nW m-2 sr-1. Explaining it with undetected galaxies requires the assumption that the galaxy count faint-end slope steepens markedly at V > 24 or that existing surveys are missing half the galaxies with V < 30.

Keywords: cosmic background radiation; diffuse radiation; population iii stars; galaxy formation
Patchy Nightside Clouds on Ultra-hot Jupiters: General Circulation Model Simulations with Radiatively Active Cloud Tracers

The atmospheres of ultra-hot Jupiters have been characterized in detail through recent phase curve and low- and high-resolution emission and transmission spectroscopic observations. Previous numerical studies have analyzed the effect of the localized recombination of hydrogen on the atmospheric dynamics and heat transport of ultra-hot Jupiters, finding that hydrogen dissociation and recombination lead to a reduction in the day-to-night contrasts of ultra-hot Jupiters relative to previous expectations. In this work, we add to previous efforts by also considering the localized condensation of clouds in the atmospheres of ultra-hot Jupiters, their resulting transport by the atmospheric circulation, and the radiative feedback of clouds on the atmospheric dynamics. To do so, we include radiatively active cloud tracers into the existing MITgcm framework for simulating the atmospheric dynamics of ultra-hot Jupiters. We take cloud condensate properties appropriate for the high-temperature condensate corundum from CARMA cloud microphysics models. We conduct a suite of general circulation model (GCM) simulations with varying cloud microphysical and radiative properties, and we find that partial cloud coverage is a ubiquitous outcome of our simulations. This patchy cloud distribution is inherently set by atmospheric dynamics in addition to equilibrium cloud condensation, and causes a cloud greenhouse effect that warms the atmosphere below the cloud deck. Nightside clouds are further sequestered at depth due to a dynamically induced high-altitude thermal inversion. We post-process our GCMs with the Monte Carlo radiative transfer code gCMCRT and find that the patchy clouds on ultra-hot Jupiters do not significantly impact transmission spectra but can affect their phase-dependent emission spectra.

Keywords: exoplanet atmospheres; hot jupiters; planetary atmospheres; atmospheric clouds
The Kinematic and Chemical Properties of the Close-in Planet Host Star 8 UMi

A recent study by Hon et al. reported that a close-in planet around the red clump star, 8 UMi, should have been engulfed during the expansion phase of its parent star's evolution. They explained the survival of this exoplanet through a binary-merger channel for 8 UMi. The key to testing this formation scenario is to derive the true age of this star: is it an old "imposter" resulting from a binary merger, or a genuinely young red clump giant? To accomplish this, we derive kinematic and chemical properties for 8 UMi using astrometric data from Gaia DR3 and the element-abundance pattern measured from a high-resolution (R ∼ 75,000) spectrum taken by SOPHIE. Our analysis shows that 8 UMi is a normal thin-disk star with orbital rotation speed of V ϕ = 244.96 km s‑1, and possesses a solar metallicity ([Fe/H] = ‑0.05 ± 0.07) and α-element-abundance ratio ([α/Fe] = +0.01 ± 0.03). By adopting well-established relationships between age and space velocities/elemental abundances, we estimate a kinematic age of ${3.50}_{-2.00}^{+3.00}$ Gyr, and a chemical age of ${3.25}_{-1.50}^{+2.50}$ Gyr from [C/N] and 3.47 ± 1.96 Gyr from [Y/Mg] for 8 UMi, respectively. These estimates are consistent with the isochrone-fitting age ( ${1.90}_{-0.30}^{+1.15}$ Gyr) of 8 UMi, but are all much younger than the timescale required in a binary-merger scenario. This result challenges the binary-merger model; the existence of such a closely orbiting exoplanet around a giant star remains a mystery yet to be resolved.

Keywords: planet hosting stars; chemical abundances; stellar evolution; galaxy kinematics