adsabs/SciX_UAT_keywords huggingface dataset:
The Solar Neighborhood. XLIX. New Discoveries and Orbits of M-dwarf Multiples with Speckle Interferometry at SOAR

We present the first results of a multiyear program to map the orbits of M-dwarf multiples within 25 pc. The observations were conducted primarily during 2019-2020 using speckle interferometry at the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope in Chile, using the High-Resolution Camera mounted on the adaptive optics module (HRCam+SAM). The sample of nearby M dwarfs is drawn from three sources: multiples from the RECONS long-term astrometric monitoring program at the SMARTS 0.9 m; known multiples, for which these new observations will enable or improve orbit fits; and candidate multiples flagged by their astrometric fits in Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2). We surveyed 333 of our 338 M dwarfs via 830 speckle observations, detecting companions for 63% of the stars. Most notably, this includes new companions for 76% of the subset selected from Gaia DR2. In all, we report the first direct detections of 97 new stellar companions to the observed M dwarfs. Here we present the properties of those detections, the limits of each nondetection, and five orbits with periods 0.67-29 yr already observed as part of this program. Companions detected have projected separations of 0.″024-2.″0 (0.25-66 au) from their primaries and have ΔI ≲ 5.0 mag. This multiyear campaign will ultimately map complete orbits for nearby M dwarfs with periods up to 3 yr, and provide key epochs to stretch orbital determinations for binaries to 30 yr.

Keywords: speckle interferometry; binary stars; astrometric binary stars; astrometry; m stars; low mass stars
What If Planet Nine Has Satellites?

In the past decade, numerical simulations started to reveal the possible existence of Planet Nine in our solar system. The Planet Nine scenario can provide an excellent explanation for the clustering in orbital elements for Kuiper Belt objects. However, no optical counterpart has been observed so far to verify the Planet Nine scenario. Therefore, some recent studies suggest that Planet Nine could be a dark object, such as a primordial black hole. In this article, we show that the probability of capturing large trans-Neptunian objects by Planet Nine to form a satellite system in the scattered disk region (between the inner Oort Clouds and the Kuiper Belt) is large. By adopting a benchmark model of Planet Nine, we show that the tidal effect can heat up the satellites significantly, which can give sufficient thermal radio flux for observations, even if Planet Nine is a dark object. This provides a new, indirect way for examining the Planet Nine hypothesis and revealing the basic properties of Planet Nine.

Keywords: solar system planets; small solar system bodies; asteroid satellites
Calibrating X-Ray Binary Luminosity Functions via Optical Reconnaissance. I. The Case of M83

Building on recent work by Chandar et al., we construct X-ray luminosity functions (XLFs) for different classes of X-ray binary (XRB) donors in the nearby star-forming galaxy M83 through a novel methodology. Rather than classifying low- versus high-mass XRBs based on the scaling of the number of X-ray sources with stellar mass and star formation rate, respectively, we utilize multiband Hubble Space Telescope imaging data to classify each Chandra-detected compact X-ray source as a low-mass (i.e., donor mass ≲3 M⊙), high-mass (donor mass ≳8M⊙), or intermediate-mass XRB based on either the location of its candidate counterpart on optical color-magnitude diagrams or the age of its host star cluster. In addition to the standard (single and/or truncated) power-law functional shape, we approximate the resulting XLFs with a Schechter function. We identify a marginally significant (at the 1σ-to-2σ level) exponential downturn for the high-mass XRB XLF, at ${\ell }\simeq {38.48}_{-0.33}^{+0.52}$ (in log CGS units). In contrast, the low- and intermediate-mass XRB XLFs, as well as the total XLF of M83, are formally consistent with sampling statistics from a single power law. Our method suggests a non-negligible contribution from low- and possibly intermediate-mass XRBs to the total XRB XLF of M83, i.e., between 20% and 50%, in broad agreement with X-ray-based XLFs. More generally, we caution against considerable contamination from X-ray emitting supernova remnants to the published, X-ray-based XLFs of M83, and possibly all actively star-forming galaxies.

Keywords: x-ray binary stars; luminosity function; hst photometry; late-type galaxies
Magnetospheric Curvature Radiation by Bunches as Emission Mechanism for Repeating Fast Radio Bursts

Coherent curvature radiation as the radiation mechanism for fast radio bursts (FRBs) has been discussed since FRBs were discovered. We study the spectral and polarization properties of repeating FRBs within the framework of coherent curvature radiation by charged bunches in the magnetosphere of a highly magnetized neutron star. The spectra can be generally characterized by multisegmented broken power laws, and evolve as bunches move and the line of sight sweeps. Emitted waves are highly linear polarized and polarization angles are flat across the burst envelopes, if the line of sight is confined to the beam within an angle of 1/γ, while a circular polarization fraction becomes strong for off-beam cases. The spectro-temporal pulse-to-pulse properties can be a natural consequence due to the magnetospheric geometry. We investigate the relationship between drift rate, central frequency, and temporal duration. The radius-to-frequency mapping is derived and simulated within the assumptions of both dipolar and quadrupolar magnetic configurations. The geometric results show that FRBs are emitted in field lines more curved than open field lines for a dipolar geometry. This suggests that there are most likely existing multipolar magnetic configurations in the emission region.

Keywords: radio bursts; radio transient sources; radiative processes; neutron stars; magnetars
ROME/REA: Three-year, Tri-color Timeseries Photometry of the Galactic Bulge

The Robotic Observations of Microlensing Events/Reactive Event Assessment Survey was a Key Project at Las Cumbres Observatory (hereafter LCO) which continuously monitored 20 selected fields (3.76 sq.deg) in the Galactic Bulge throughout their seasonal visibility window over a three-year period, between 2017 March and 2020 March. Observations were made in three optical passbands (SDSS , , ), and LCO's multi-site telescope network enabled the survey to achieve a typical cadence of ∼10 hr in and ∼15 hr in and . In addition, intervals of higher cadence (<1 hr) data were obtained during monitoring of key microlensing events within the fields. This paper describes the Difference Image Analysis data reduction pipeline developed to process these data, and the process for combining the photometry from LCO's three observing sites in the Southern Hemisphere. The full timeseries photometry for all ∼8 million stars, down to a limiting magnitude of i ∼ 18 mag is provided in the data release accompanying this paper, and samples of the data are presented for exemplar microlensing events, illustrating how the tri-band data are used to derive constraints on the microlensing source star parameters, a necessary step in determining the physical properties of the lensing object. The timeseries data also enables a wealth of additional science, for example in characterizing long-timescale stellar variability, and a few examples of the data for known variables are presented.

Keywords: gravitational microlensing; photometry; surveys; open source software; astronomy data analysis
The Seoul National University AGN Monitoring Project. III. Hβ Lag Measurements of 32 Luminous Active Galactic Nuclei and the High-luminosity End of the Size–Luminosity Relation

We present the main results from a long-term reverberation mapping campaign carried out for the Seoul National University AGN Monitoring Project (SAMP). High-quality data were obtained during 2015–2021 for 32 luminous active galactic nuclei (AGNs; i.e., continuum luminosity in the range of 1044–46 erg s‑1) at a regular cadence, of 20–30 days for spectroscopy and 3–5 days for photometry. We obtain time lag measurements between the variability in the Hβ emission and the continuum for 32 AGNs; 25 of those have the best lag measurements based on our quality assessment, examining correlation strength and the posterior lag distribution. Our study significantly increases the current sample of reverberation-mapped AGNs, particularly at the moderate-to-high-luminosity end. Combining our results with literature measurements, we derive an Hβ broadline region size–luminosity relation with a shallower slope than reported in the literature. For a given luminosity, most of our measured lags are shorter than the expectations, implying that single-epoch black hole mass estimators based on previous calibrations could suffer large systematic uncertainties.

Keywords: active galactic nuclei; black holes; reverberation mapping
A Matched Survey for the Enigmatic Low Radio Frequency Transient ILT J225347+862146

Discovered in 2011 with LOFAR, the 15 Jy low-frequency radio transient ILT J225347+862146 heralds a potentially prolific population of radio transients at <100 MHz. However, subsequent transient searches in similar parameter space yielded no detections. We test the hypothesis that these surveys at comparable sensitivity have missed the population due to mismatched survey parameters. In particular, the LOFAR survey used only 195 kHz of bandwidth at 60 MHz, while other surveys were at higher frequencies or had wider bandwidth. Using 137 hr of all-sky images from the Owens Valley Radio Observatory Long Wavelength Array, we conduct a narrowband transient search at ~10 Jy sensitivity with timescales from 10 minutes to 1 day and a bandwidth of 722 kHz at 60 MHz. To model the remaining survey selection effects, we introduce a flexible Bayesian approach for inferring transient rates. We do not detect any transient and find compelling evidence that our nondetection is inconsistent with the detection of ILT J225347+862146. Under the assumption that the transient is astrophysical, we propose two hypotheses that may explain our nondetection. First, the transient population associated with ILT J225347+862146 may have a low all-sky density and display strong temporal clustering. Second, ILT J225347+862146 may be an extreme instance of the fluence distribution, of which we revise the surface density estimate at 15 Jy to 1.1 × 10-7 deg-2 with a 95% credible interval of (3.5 × 10-12, 3.4 × 10-7) deg-2. Finally, we find a previously identified object coincident with ILT J225347+862146 to be an M dwarf at 420 pc.

Keywords: radio transient sources; radio interferometry; non-thermal radiation sources; bayesian statistics; m dwarf stars
Shock Heating of Directly Transmitted Ions

Collisionless shock heats ions very efficiently. Ion heating is a nonadiabatic process and the downstream temperature is not proportional to the upstream temperature. Ion distributions just behind the shock transition are gyrophase dependent and gradually gyrotropize. With the increase of the Mach number the contribution of reflected ions into ion heating gradually increases. Yet, directly transmitted ions may remain responsible for most of the downstream temperature. Direct transmission allows analytical treatment within the approximation of a narrow shock. We determine the gyrophase-dependent distribution just behind the magnetic jump, the gyrotropic distribution farther behind the shock, and establish the relation with the magnetic compression and the maximum overshoot magnetic field.

Keywords: shocks; planetary bow shocks; interplanetary shocks
Two Massive Close Binaries with Twin Components in the Nearby Galaxy M31

Massive contact binaries contain two early-type stars that have filled their respective critical Roche lobes and share a common envelope. Their formation and evolution are still unknown. Searching for massive binaries in special evolutionary stages is required to solve this problem. Many massive binaries in the Andromeda galaxy (M31) have been found out and they provide an ideal laboratory to explore the formation of massive contact binaries and to test evolutionary models in massive binaries. By analyzing the light curves of two massive binaries containing twin components, M31V J00452011+4145037 (hereafter J004520) and M31V J00450522+4138462 (hereafter J004505), observed by Vilardell et al., we found that J004520 is a semidetached binary with a mass ratio of 0.924 and a lobe-filling secondary, while J004505 is a deep-contact binary with a mass ratio of 0.974 and a fill-out factor of 88%. Both of them evolved from originally detached binaries via case A mass transfer and are at a critical evolutionary state with the shortest possible period and the highest possible mass ratio (q = 1). The evolution of J004520 has passed the critical state and cannot evolve into a contact binary, while J004505 is just close to the key state. The asymmetric light curve of J004505 is explained by the presence of a hot spot on the less-massive component caused by mass transfer from the more-massive one; the same conclusion can be obtained from the O - C curve. These results support the conclusion that massive contact binaries are formed from mass transfer between the two components and only some systems can evolve into the contact stage.

Keywords: eclipsing binary stars; early stellar evolution; contact binary stars; andromeda galaxy
Hidden Treasures in the Unknown 3CR Extragalactic Radio Sky: A Multiwavelength Approach

We present the analysis of multiwavelength observations of seven extragalactic radio sources, listed as unidentified in the Third Cambridge Revised Catalog (3CR). X-ray observations, performed during Chandra Cycle 21, were compared to Very Large Array (VLA), Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, and Pan-STARRS observations in the radio, infrared, and optical bands, respectively. All sources in this sample lack a clear optical counterpart, and are thus missing their redshift and optical classification. In order to confirm the X-ray and infrared radio counterparts of core and extended components, here we present for the first time radio maps obtained manually reducing VLA archival data. As in previous papers on the Chandra X-ray snapshot campaign, we report X-ray detections of radio cores and two sources, out of the seven presented here, are found to be members of galaxy clusters. For these two cluster sources (namely, 3CR 409 and 3CR 454.2), we derived surface brightness profiles in four directions. For all seven sources, we measured X-ray intensities of the radio sources and we also performed standard X-ray spectral analysis for the four sources (namely, 3CR 91, 3CR 390, 3CR 409, and 3CR 428) with the brightest nuclei (more than 400 photons in the 2″ nuclear region). We also detected extended X-ray emission around 3CR 390 and extended X-ray emission associated with the northern jet of 3CR 158. This paper represents the first attempt to give a multiwavelength view of the unidentified radio sources listed in the 3CR catalog.

Keywords: x-ray astronomy; active galaxies; radio continuum emission
Short- and Mid-term Periodicities Observed in Neutron Monitor Counting Rates throughout Solar Cycles 20-24

This paper examines the short- and mid-term periodicities (≲2 yr) in the cosmic-ray flux along 55 yr, from 1964 to 2019. The cosmic-ray flux has been computed by averaging the counting rates, in typified units, of a set of selected neutron monitors. This builds a representative virtual neutron monitor, named the global neutron monitor. The relevant discovered periodicities are ~13.5, ~27, ~46-64, ~79-83 day; Rieger-type (~134-190 days); ~225-309 day; and ~1.06-1.15, ~1.31-1.40, and ~1.75-2.20 yr periods. The same analyses have been applied to the sunspot number (SSN) with the aim to compare the discovered periodicities and look for possible origins of these periodicities. Two main results have been achieved: the periodicities of 77-83 days, 134-190 days (Rieger type), 225-309 days, ~1.3 yr, and ~1.7 yr could be related to the solar dynamo, and an inversely linear relationship has been found between the average of the SSN versus the duration time for each solar cycle of the ~1.75-2.20 yr period.

Keywords: cosmic rays; wavelet analysis; sunspot number
The Infrared Medium-deep Survey. VII. Faint Quasars at z ∼ 5 in the ELAIS-N1 Field

The intergalactic medium (IGM) at z ∼ 5 to 6 is largely ionized, and yet the main source for the IGM ionization in the early universe is uncertain. Of the possible contributors are faint quasars with $-26\lesssim {M}_{1450}\lesssim -23$ , but their number density is poorly constrained at z ∼ 5. In this paper, we present our survey of faint quasars at z ∼ 5 in the European Large-Area Infrared Space Observatory Survey-North 1 (ELAIS-N1) field over a survey area of 6.51 deg2 and examine if such quasars can be the dominant source of the IGM ionization. We use the deep optical/near-infrared data of the ELAIS-N1 field as well as the additional medium-band observations to find z ∼ 5 quasars through a two-step approach using the broadband color selection, and spectral energy distribution fitting with the medium-band information included. Adopting Bayesian information criterion, we identify 10 promising quasar candidates. Spectra of three of the candidates are obtained, confirming all of them to be quasars at z ∼ 5 and supporting the reliability of the quasar selection. Using the promising candidates, we derive the z ∼ 5 quasar luminosity function at -26 ≲ M1450 ≲ -23. The number density of faint z ∼ 5 quasars in the ELAIS-N1 field is consistent with several previous results that quasars are not the main contributors to the IGM-ionizing photons at z ∼ 5.

Keywords: quasars; reionization; active galactic nuclei; active galaxies; sky surveys; early universe; observational astronomy; near infrared astronomy
Revisiting γ-Ray Emission of the Supernova Remnant RCW 103

We analyze more than 15 yr of γ-ray data obtained with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi) for the region of the young supernova remnant (SNR) RCW 103, since the nearby source 4FGL J1616.2‑5054e, counterpart to HESS J1616‑518 and ≃13' away from the SNR, is determined to be extended in the more recent Fermi-LAT source catalog. Different templates for 4FGL J1616.2‑5054e and RCW 103 are tested, and we find that a point source (PS) with a power-law (PL) spectrum at the southern limb of the SNR best describes the detected γ-ray emission. The photon index of the PL emission is Γ ≃ 2.31 (or α ≃ 2.4 in a log-parabola model), softer than the previously reported Γ ≃ 2.0 when the counterpart to HESS J1616‑518 was considered to be a PS (which likely caused misidentification of extended emission at RCW 103). In order to produce the γ-ray emission in a hadronic scenario, we estimate that protons with an index ∼2.4 PL energy distribution are needed. These results fit with those from multiwavelength observations that have indicated the remnant at the southern limb is interacting with a molecular cloud.

Keywords: gamma-rays; supernova remnants
Afterglow Polarizations in a Stratified Medium with Effect of the Equal Arrival Time Surface

The environment of a γ-ray burst has an important influence on the evolution of jet dynamics and its afterglow. Here we investigate the afterglow polarizations in a stratified medium with the equal arrival time surface (EATS) effect. Polarizations of multiband afterglows are predicted. The effects of the parameters of the stratified medium on the afterglow polarizations are also investigated. We found the influences of the EATS effect on the afterglow polarizations become important for off-axis detections and polarization degree (PD) bumps move to later times with the EATS effect. Even if the magnetic field configurations, jet structure, and observational angles are fixed, polarization properties of the jet emission could still evolve. Here, we assume a large-scale ordered magnetic field in the reverse-shock region and a two-dimensional random field in the forward-shock region. Then, PD evolution is mainly determined by the evolution of the f 32 parameter (the flux ratio between the reverse-shock region and forward-shock region) at the early stage and by the evolution of the bulk Lorentz factor γ at the late stage. Through the influences on the f 32 or γ, the observational energy band, observational angles, and the parameters of the stratified medium will finally affect the afterglow polarizations.

Keywords: gamma-ray bursts; magnetic fields
Doppler Constraints on Planetary Companions to Nearby Sun-like Stars: An Archival Radial Velocity Survey of Southern Targets for Proposed NASA Direct Imaging Missions

Directly imaging temperate rocky planets orbiting nearby, Sun-like stars with a 6 m class IR/O/UV space telescope, recently dubbed the Habitable Worlds Observatory, is a high-priority goal of the Astro2020 Decadal Survey. To prepare for future direct imaging (DI) surveys, the list of potential targets should be thoroughly vetted to maximize efficiency and scientific yield. We present an analysis of archival radial velocity data for southern stars from the NASA/NSF Extreme Precision Radial Velocity (EPRV) Working Group's list of high-priority target stars for future DI missions (drawn from the HabEx, LUVOIR, and Starshade Rendezvous studies). For each star, we constrain the region of companion mass and period parameter space we are already sensitive to based on the observational baseline, sampling, and precision of the archival radial velocity (RV) data. Additionally, for some of the targets, we report new estimates of magnetic activity cycle periods, rotation periods, improved orbital parameters for previously known exoplanets, and new candidate planet signals that require further vetting or observations to confirm. Our results show that for many of these stars we are not yet sensitive to even Saturn-mass planets in the habitable zone, let alone smaller planets, highlighting the need for future EPRV vetting efforts before the launch of a DI mission. We present evidence that the candidate temperate super-Earth exoplanet HD 85512b is most likely due to the star's rotation, and report an RV acceleration for δ Pav that supports the existence of a distant giant planet previously inferred from astrometry. * This paper includes data gathered with the 6.5 m Magellan Telescopes located at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile.

Keywords: exoplanet astronomy; exoplanet systems; radial velocity