Table of contents for issue 1, volume 963, The Astrophysical Journal

With two central galaxies engaged in a major merger and a remarkable chain of 19 young stellar superclusters wound around them in projection, the galaxy cluster SDSS J1531+3414 (z = 0.335) offers an excellent laboratory to study the interplay between mergers, active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback, and star formation. New Chandra X-ray imaging reveals rapidly cooling hot (T ∼ 10⁶ K) intracluster gas, with two “wings” forming a concave density discontinuity near the edge of the cool core. LOFAR 144 MHz observations uncover diffuse radio emission strikingly aligned with the “wings,” suggesting that the “wings” are actually the opening to a giant X-ray supercavity. The steep radio emission is likely an ancient relic of one of the most energetic AGN outbursts observed, with 4pV > 10⁶¹ erg. To the north of the supercavity, GMOS detects warm (T ∼ 10⁴ K) ionized gas that enshrouds the stellar superclusters but is redshifted up to +800 km s⁻¹ with respect to the southern central galaxy. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array detects a similarly redshifted ∼10¹⁰M_⊙ reservoir of cold (T ∼ 10² K) molecular gas, but it is offset from the young stars by ∼1–3 kpc. We propose that the multiphase gas originated from low-entropy gas entrained by the X-ray supercavity, attribute the offset between the young stars and the molecular gas to turbulent intracluster gas motions, and suggest that tidal interactions stimulated the “beads-on-a-string” star formation morphology.

Recent observations by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) discovered unexpectedly abundant luminous galaxies at high redshift, posing possibly a severe challenge to popular galaxy formation models. We study early structure formation in a cosmological model with a blue, tilted power spectrum (BTPS) given by with m_s > 1 at small length scales. We run a set of cosmological N-body simulations and derive the abundance of dark matter halos and galaxies under simplified assumptions on star formation efficiency. The enhanced small-scale power allows rapid nonlinear structure formation at z > 7, and galaxies with stellar mass exceeding 10¹⁰M_⊙ can be formed by z = 9. Because of frequent mergers, the structure of galaxies and galaxy groups appears clumpy. The BTPS model reproduces the observed stellar mass density at z = 7–9, and thus eases the claimed tension between galaxy formation theory and recent JWST observations. The large-scale structure of the present-day Universe is largely unaffected by the modification of the small-scale power spectrum. We conduct a systematic study by varying the slope of the small-scale power spectrum to derive constraints on the BTPS model from a set of observations of high-redshift galaxies.

It is commonly accepted that outflows from the central regions of quasars play a substantial role in regulating the global properties of the host galaxy. These outflows are typically detected through blueshifted absorption lines. However, the question remains whether outflows observed with different absorption line types indeed reflect the same environmental or evolutionary stage of the host galaxy. In this study, we use the Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasar catalog and employ the flux ratio of [O II] and [Ne V] emission lines as indicators to compare star formation rates (SFRs) within host galaxies of quasars exhibiting various outflow absorption line types: low-ionization broad absorption line (LoBAL), low-ionization Mini-BAL (LoMini-BAL), low-ionization narrow absorption line (LoNAL), high-ionization broad absorption line (HiBAL), high-ionization Mini-BAL (HiMini-BAL), and high-ionization narrow absorption line (HiNAL). Our findings indicate that the SFR of LoMini-BAL quasars is comparable to that of LoNAL quasars, somewhat less than that of LoBAL quasars, but markedly greater than that of HiBAL quasars. Furthermore, the SFR of HiMini-BAL quasars mirrors that of HiNAL or Non-abs (no associated absorption lines) quasars, but is significantly higher than that of HiBAL quasars. If we consider that differing absorption line types are indicative of the quasar evolution stage, our results propose an inclusive evolution sequence: LoBALs evolve into LoMini-BALs/LoNALs, then progress to HiBALs, and ultimately morph into HiMini-BALs/HiNALs/Non-abs. Concomitantly, the SFR within the host galaxies of quasars appears to decline noticeably nearing the LoNAL phase’s end and rejuvenates before the HiMini-BAL phase.

We consider small-scale jetlike events that might make the solar wind, as has been suggested in recent studies. We show that the events referred to as “coronal jets” and as “jetlets” both fall on a power-law distribution that also includes large-scale eruptions and spicule-sized features; all of the jetlike events could contribute to the solar wind. Based on imaging and magnetic field data, it is plausible that many or most of these events might form by the same mechanism: Magnetic flux cancelation produces small-scale flux ropes, often containing a cool-material minifilament. This minifilament/flux rope erupts and reconnects with adjacent open coronal field, along which “plasma jets” flow and contribute to the solar wind. The erupting flux ropes can contain twist that is transferred to the open field, and these become Alfvénic pulses that form magnetic switchbacks, providing an intrinsic connection between switchbacks and the production of the solar wind.

Observations of linear polarization in the 2–8 keV energy range with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) explore the magnetic field geometry and dynamics of the regions generating nonthermal radiation in relativistic jets of blazars. These jets, particularly in blazars whose spectral energy distribution peaks at X-ray energies, emit X-rays via synchrotron radiation from high-energy particles within the jet. IXPE observations of the X-ray-selected BL Lac–type blazar 1ES 1959+650 on 2022 May 3–4 showed a significant linear polarization degree of Π_x = 8.0% ± 2.3% at an electric-vector position angle ψ_x = 123° ± 8°. However, on 2022 June 9–12, only an upper limit of Π_x ≤ 5.1% could be derived (at the 99% confidence level). The degree of optical polarization at that time, Π_O ∼ 5%, is comparable to the X-ray measurement. We investigate possible scenarios for these findings, including temporal and geometrical depolarization effects. Unlike some other X-ray-selected BL Lac objects, there is no significant chromatic dependence of the measured polarization in 1ES 1959+650, and its low X-ray polarization may be attributed to turbulence in the jet flow with dynamical timescales shorter than 1 day.

We present Chandra ACIS-S imaging spectroscopy results of the extended (15–8″, 300–1600 pc) hard X-ray emission of NGC 5728, the host galaxy of a Compton-thick active galactic nucleus. We find spectrally and spatially resolved features in the Fe Kα complex (5.0–7.5 keV) redward and blueward of the neutral Fe line at 6.4 keV in the extended narrow-line region bicone. A simple phenomenological fit of a power law plus Gaussians gives a significance of 5.4σ and 3.7σ for the red and blue wings, respectively. Fits to a suite of physically consistent models confirm a significance of ≥3σ for the red wing. The significance of the blue wing may be diminished by the presence of rest-frame highly ionized Fe xxv and Fe xxvi lines (1.4σ–3.7σ range). A detailed investigation of the Chandra ACIS-S point-spread function and comparison with the observed morphology demonstrates that these red and blue wings are radially extended (∼5″, ∼1 kpc) along the optical bicone axis. If the wing emission is due solely to redshifted and blueshifted high-velocity neutral Fe Kα, then the implied line-of-sight velocities are +/− ∼0.1c, and their fluxes are consistent with being equal. A symmetric high-velocity outflow is then a viable explanation. This outflow has deprojected velocities ∼100 times larger than the outflows detected in optical spectroscopic studies, potentially dominating the kinetic feedback power.

We previously built a sample of 14,012 extremely variable quasars (EVQs) based on Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and Pan-STARRS1 photometric observations. In this work we present the spectral fitting to their SDSS spectra and study the spectral variation in 1259 EVQs with multiepoch SDSS spectra (after prudently excluding spectra with potentially unreliable spectroscopic photometry). We find a clear “bluer-when-brighter” trend in EVQs, consistent with previous findings of normal quasars and active galactic nuclei. We detect significant intrinsic Baldwin effect (iBeff, i.e., smaller line equivalent width at higher continuum flux in individual active galactic nuclei) in the broad Mg ii and C iv lines of EVQs. Meanwhile, no systematical iBeff is found for the broad Hβ line, which could be attributed to strong host contamination at longer wavelengths. Remarkably, by comparing the iBeff slope of EVQs with archived changing-look quasars, we show that the changing-look quasars identified in the literature are most likely a biased (due to its definition) subpopulation of EVQs, rather than a distinct population of quasars. We also found no significant broad line breathing of Hβ, Mg ii, or C iv, suggesting the broad line breathing in quasars may disappear at longer timescales (∼3000 days).

We present the analysis of new, deep Chandra observations (130 ks) of the galaxy cluster A2495. This object is known for the presence of a triple offset between the peaks of the intracluster medium (ICM), the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG), and the warm gas glowing in Hα line. The new Chandra data confirm that the X-ray emission peak is located at a distance of ∼6.2 kpc from the BCG, and at ∼3.9 kpc from the Hα emission peak. Moreover, we identify two generations of X-ray cavities in the ICM, likely inflated by the central radio galaxy activity. Through a detailed morphological and spectral analysis, we determine that the power of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) outbursts (P_cav = 4.7 ± 1.3 × 10⁴³ erg s⁻¹) is enough to counterbalance the radiative losses from ICM cooling (L_cool = 5.7 ± 0.1 × 10⁴³ erg s⁻¹). This indicates that, despite a fragmented cooling core, A2495 still harbors an effective feedback cycle. We argue that the offsets are most likely caused by sloshing of the ICM, supported by the presence of spiral structures and a probable cold front in the gas at ∼58 kpc east of the center. Ultimately, we find that the outburst interval between the two generations of X-ray cavities is of the order of the dynamical sloshing timescale, as already hinted from the previous Chandra snapshot. We thus speculate that sloshing may be able to regulate the timescales of AGN feedback in A2495, by periodically fueling the central AGN.

We present a comprehensive search and analysis of high-redshift galaxies in a suite of nine public JWST extragalactic fields taken in Cycle 1, covering a total effective search area of . Through conservative (8σ) photometric selection, we identify 341 galaxies at 5 < z < 14, with 109 having spectroscopic redshift measurements from the literature, including recent JWST NIRSpec observations. Our regression analysis reveals that the rest-frame UV size–stellar mass relation follows , similar to that of star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 3, but scaled down in size by ∼0.7 dex. We find a much slower rate for the average size evolution over the redshift range, R_eff ∝ (1 + z)^−0.4±0.2, than that derived in the literature. A fraction (∼13%) of our sample galaxies are marginally resolved even in the NIRCam imaging (≲100 pc), located at ≳1.5σ below the derived size–mass slope. These compact sources exhibit a high star formation surface density Σ_SFR > 10 M_⊙ yr⁻¹ kpc⁻², a range in which only <0.01% of the local star-forming galaxy sample is found. For those with available NIRSpec data, no evidence of ongoing supermassive black hole accretion is observed. A potential explanation for the observed high [O iii]-to-Hβ ratios could be high shock velocities, likely originating within intense star-forming regions characterized by high Σ_SFR. Lastly, we find that the rest-frame UV and optical sizes of our sample are comparable. Our results are consistent with these early galaxies building up their structures inside out and being yet to exhibit the strong color gradient seen at lower redshift.

The nature of energy generation, transport, and effective dissipation responsible for maintaining a hot solar upper atmosphere is still elusive. The Poynting flux is a vital parameter for describing the direction and magnitude of the energy flow, which is mainly used in solar physics for estimating the upward energy generated by photospheric plasma motion. This study presents a pioneering 3D mapping of the magnetic energy transport within a numerically simulated solar atmosphere. By calculating the Finite Time Lyapunov Exponent of the energy velocity, defined as the ratio of the Poynting flux to the magnetic energy density, we precisely identify the sources and destinations of the magnetic energy flow throughout the solar atmosphere. This energy mapping reveals the presence of transport barriers in the lower atmosphere, restricting the amount of magnetic energy from the photosphere reaching the chromosphere and corona. Interacting kinematic and magnetic vortices create energy channels, breaking through these barriers and allowing three times more energy input from photospheric motions to reach the upper atmosphere than before the vortices formed. The vortex system also substantially alters the energy mapping, acting as a source and deposition of energy, leading to localized energy concentration. Furthermore, our results show that the energy is transported following a vortical motion: the Poynting flux vortex. In regions where these vortices coexist, they favor conditions for energy dissipation through ohmic and viscous heating, since they naturally create large gradients in the magnetic and velocity fields over small spatial scales. Hence, the vortex system promotes local plasma heating, leading to temperatures around a million Kelvins.

Multi-messenger astrophysics has produced a wealth of data with much more to come in the future. This enormous data set will reveal new insights into the physics of core-collapse supernovae, neutron star mergers, and many other objects where it is actually possible, if not probable, that new physics is in operation. To tease out different possibilities, we will need to analyze signals from photons, neutrinos, gravitational waves, and chemical elements. This task is made all the more difficult when it is necessary to evolve the neutrino component of the radiation field and associated quantum-mechanical property of flavor in order to model the astrophysical system of interest—a numerical challenge that has not been addressed to this day. In this work, we take a step in this direction by adopting the technique of angular-integrated moments with a truncated tower of dynamical equations and a closure, convolving the flavor-transformation with spatial transport to evolve the neutrino radiation quantum field. We show that moments capture the dynamical features of fast flavor instabilities in a variety of systems, although our technique is by no means a universal blueprint for solving fast flavor transformation. To evaluate the effectiveness of our moment results, we compare to a more precise particle-in-cell method. Based on our results, we propose areas for improvement and application to complementary techniques in the future.

We present emission maps ( scale, corresponding to 0.18 pc) of the DCN (J = 2 − 1) and DCO⁺ (J = 2 − 1) lines in the 2 mm band toward the Orion KL region obtained with the 2 mm receiver system named B4R installed on the Large Millimeter Telescope. The DCN emission shows a peak at the Orion KL hot core position, whereas no DCO⁺ emission has been detected there. The DCO⁺ emission shows enhancement at the west side of the hot core, which is well shielded from the UV radiation from OB massive stars in the Trapezium cluster. We have derived the abundance ratio of DCN/DCO⁺ at three representative positions where both species have been detected. The gas components with V_LSR ≈ 7.5–8.7 km s⁻¹ are associated with low abundance ratios of ∼4–6, whereas much higher abundance ratios (∼22–30) are derived for the gas components with V_LSR ≈ 9.2–11.6 km s⁻¹. We have compared the observed abundance ratio to our chemical models and found that the observed differences in the DCN/DCO⁺ abundance ratios are explained by different densities.

Stellar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) have recently attracted much attention for their impacts on stellar evolution and surrounding exoplanets. RS CVn-type stars could produce large flares, and therefore may have frequent CMEs. Here we report the capture of a possible CME or chromospheric condensation on the RS CVn-type star II Pegasi (II Peg) using high-resolution spectroscopic observation. Two flares were detected during the observation, and the low limits of the flare energies are of the order of 10³³ erg and 10³⁴ erg, respectively. Using mean spectrum subtraction, the H_α residual shows red asymmetry during the flares, and the redshifted broad emission components are probably caused by chromospheric condensation or coronal rain. Moreover, a far redshifted extra emission component with a high bulk velocity of 429 km s⁻¹ was observed during the second flare and is probably due to a prominence eruption. The velocity greatly exceeds the star’s escape velocity, which means that this eruption can develop into a CME. The CME mass is estimated to be 0.83–1.48 × 10²⁰ g, which is slightly larger than the value expected from solar flare-CME extrapolation. The kinetic energy of CME, derived to be 0.76–1.15 × 10³⁵ erg, is less than the kinetic energy extrapolated from solar events. Additionally, we could not completely rule out the possibility of chromospheric condensation resulting in the far redshifted extra emission. Finally, there is a blueshifted broad component in the subtracted H_α profile derived using synthesized spectral subtraction when no flare happened, and its behavior is associated with the H_α activity features.

While the standard X-ray variability of black hole X-ray binaries (BHXBs) is stochastic and noisy, there are two known BHXBs that exhibit exotic “heartbeat”-like variability in their lightcurves: GRS 1915+105 and IGR J17091–3624. In 2022, IGR J17091–3624 went into outburst for the first time in the NICER/NuSTAR era. These exquisite data allow us to simultaneously track the exotic variability and the corresponding spectral features with unprecedented detail. We find that as in typical BHXBs, the outburst began in the hard state, then continued in the intermediate state, but then transitioned to an exotic soft state, where we identify two types of heartbeat-like variability (Class V and a new Class X). The flux energy spectra show a broad iron emission line due to relativistic reflection when there is no exotic variability, and absorption features from highly ionized iron when the source exhibits exotic variability. Whether absorption lines from highly ionized iron are detected in IGR J17091–3624 is not determined by the spectral state alone, but rather is determined by the presence of exotic variability; in a soft spectral state, absorption lines are only detected along with exotic variability. Our finding indicates that IGR J17091–3624 can be seen as a bridge between the most peculiar BHXB GRS 1915+105 and “normal” BHXBs, because it alternates between the conventional and exotic behaviors of BHXBs. We discuss the physical nature of the absorbing material and exotic variability in light of this new legacy data set.

In a previous work, we investigated the structural and environmental dependence on quenching in the nearby universe. In this work, we extend our investigations to higher redshifts by combining galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and The FourStar Galaxy Evolution surveys. In low density, we find a characteristic Σ_{1 kpc} above which the quenching is initiated as indicated by their population-averaged color. shows only a weak mass dependency at all redshifts, which suggests that the internal quenching process is more related to the physics that acts in the central region of galaxies. In high density, for galaxies at z > 1 is almost indistinguishable from their low-density counterparts. At z < 1, for low-mass galaxies becomes progressively strongly mass dependent, which is due to the increasingly stronger environmental effects at lower redshifts. in low density shows strong redshift evolution with ∼1 dex decrement from z = 2.5–0. It is likely that at a given stellar mass, the host halo is on average more massive and gas-rich at higher redshifts; hence, a higher level of integrated energy from a more massive black hole (BH) is required to quench. As the halo evolves from the cold to hot accretion phase at lower redshifts, the gas is shock-heated and becomes more vulnerable to the feedback processes from active galactic nucleus as predicted by theory. Meanwhile, angular momentum quenching also becomes more effective at low redshifts, which complements a lower level of integrated energy from the BH to quench.

The investigation of mechanisms responsible for the heating of cold solar wind electrons around the Earth’s bow shock is an important problem in heliospheric plasma physics because such heating is vitally required to run the shock drift acceleration at the bow shock. The prospective mechanism for electron heating is magnetic pumping, which considers electron adiabatic (compressional) heating by ultralow-frequency waves and simultaneous scattering by high-frequency fluctuations. Existing models of magnetic pumping have operated with external sources of such fluctuations. In this study, we generalize these models by introducing the self-consistent electron scattering by whistler-mode waves generated due to the anisotropic electron heating process. We consider an electron population captured within a magnetic trap created by ultralow-frequency waves. Periodical adiabatic heating and cooling of this population drives the generation of whistler-mode waves scattering electrons in the pitch-angle space. The combination of adiabatic heating and whistler-driven scattering provides electron acceleration and the formation of a suprathermal electron population that can further participate in the shock drift acceleration.

Measuring the mass–radius relation of individual white dwarfs is an empirically challenging task that has been performed for only a few dozen stars. We measure the white dwarf mass–radius relation using the gravitational redshifts and radii of 135 white dwarfs in wide binaries with main-sequence companions. We obtain the radial velocities of these systems using the main-sequence companion, and subtract these Doppler redshifts from the white dwarfs’ apparent motions, isolating their gravitational redshifts. We use Gaia data to calculate the surface temperatures and radii of these white dwarfs, thereby deriving an empirical gravitational redshift–radius relation. This work demonstrates the utility of low-resolution Galactic surveys to measure the white dwarf equation of state. Our results are consistent with theoretical models, and represent the largest sample of individual white dwarf gravitational redshift measurements to date.

We report timing and spectral studies of the high-mass X-ray binary 4U 1700-37 using Insight-HXMT observations carried out in 2020 during its out-of-eclipse state. We found significant variations in flux on a timescale of kilo-seconds, while the hardness (count rate ratio between 10–30 keV and 2–10 keV) remains relatively stable. No evident pulsations were found over a frequency range of 10⁻³–2000 Hz. During the spectral analysis, for the first time, we took the configuration of different Insight-HXMT detectors’ orientations into account, which allows us to obtain reliable results even if stable contamination exists in the field of view. We found that the spectrum could be well described by some phenomenological models that are commonly used in accreting pulsars (e.g., a power law with a high energy cutoff) in the energy range of 2–100 keV. We found hints of cyclotron absorption features around ∼16 keV or/and ∼50 keV.

Galactic-scale outflows of molecular gas from star-forming galaxies constitute the most direct evidence for the regulation of star formation. In the early Universe (z > 4), such outflows have recently been inferred from gravitationally lensed dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) based on ubiquitous detections of OH absorption extending to more blueshifted velocities than [C ii] or CO emission in spatially integrated spectra. Because these lines are redshifted to submillimeter wavelengths, such measurements require careful corrections for atmospheric absorption lines, and a proper accounting of sometimes large variations in measurement uncertainties over these lines. Taking these factors into consideration, we reanalyze OH and [C ii] data taken with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array for five sources where such data are available, of which four were categorised as exhibiting outflows. Based on their spatially integrated spectra alone, we find statistically significant (≥3σ) OH absorption more blueshifted than [C ii] emission in only one source. By contrast, searching channel maps for signals diluted below the detection threshold in spatially integrated spectra, we find evidence for a separate kinematic component in OH absorption in all five sources in the form of (i) more blueshifted OH absorption than [C ii] emission and/or (ii) a component in OH absorption exhibiting a different spatio-kinematic pattern than in [C ii] emission, the latter presumably tracing gas in a rotating disk. Providing a more complete and accurate assessment of molecular outflows in gravitationally lensed DSFGs, we suggest methods to assess the precision of corrections for atmospheric absorption better and to measure the source continuum in future observations more accurately.

Observed protostellar outflows exhibit a variety of asymmetrical features, including remarkable unipolar outflows and bending outflows. Revealing the formation and early evolution of such asymmetrical protostellar outflows, especially the unipolar outflows, is essential for a better understanding of the star and planet formation because they can dramatically change the mass accretion and angular momentum transport to the protostars and protoplanetary disks. Here we perform three-dimensional nonideal magnetohydrodynamics simulations to investigate the formation and early evolution of the asymmetrical protostellar outflows in magnetized turbulent isolated molecular cloud cores. We find, for the first time to our knowledge, that the unipolar outflow forms even in the single low-mass protostellar system. The results show that the unipolar outflow is driven in the weakly magnetized cloud cores with the dimensionless mass-to-flux ratios of μ = 8 and 16. Furthermore, we find the protostellar rocket effect of the unipolar outflow, which is similar to the launch and propulsion of a rocket. The unipolar outflow ejects the protostellar system from the central dense region to the outer region of the parent cloud core, and the ram pressure caused by its ejection suppresses the driving of additional new outflows. In contrast, the bending bipolar outflow is driven in the moderately magnetized cloud core with μ = 4. The ratio of the magnetic to turbulent energies of a parent cloud core may play a key role in the formation of asymmetrical protostellar outflows.

We report the detection of a pair of massive quiescent galaxies likely in the process of merging at the center of the spectroscopically confirmed, extremely massive protocluster BOSS1244 at z = 2.24 ± 0.02. These galaxies, BOSS1244-QG1 and BOSS1244-QG2, were detected with Hubble Space Telescope grism slitless spectroscopic observations. These two quiescent galaxies are among the brightest member galaxies, with z = 2.223–2.255 in BOSS1244, and reside at redshifts z = 2.244 and z = 2.242, with a half-light radius of 6.76 ± 0.50 kpc and 2.72 ± 0.16 kpc, respectively. BOSS1244-QG1 and BOSS1244-QG2 are separated by a projected distance of about 70 physical kpc, implying that the two galaxies likely merge to form a massive brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) with size and mass similar to the most massive BCGs in the local Universe. We thus infer that BCG formation through dry major mergers may happen earlier than the full assembly of a cluster core, which broadens our previous understanding of the coevolution of mature galaxy clusters and BCGs in the nearby Universe. Moreover, we find a strong density–star formation relation over a scale of ∼18 comoving Mpc in BOSS1244, i.e., star formation activity decreases as density increases, implying that the quenching of star formation in BCGs and their progenitors is likely governed by environment-related processes before the virialization of the cluster core.

The large-scale gaseous shocks in the bulge of M31 can be naturally explained by a rotating stellar bar. We use gas dynamical models to provide an independent measurement of the bar pattern speed in M31. The gravitational potentials of our simulations are from a set of made-to-measure models constrained by stellar photometry and kinematics. If the inclination of the gas disk is fixed at i = 77°, we find that a low pattern speed of 16–20 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹ is needed to match the observed position and amplitude of the shock features, as shock positions are too close to the bar major axis in high Ω_b models. The pattern speed can increase to 20–30 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹ if the inner gas disk has a slightly smaller inclination angle compared with the outer one. Including subgrid physics such as star formation and stellar feedback has minor effects on the shock amplitude, and does not change the shock position significantly. If the inner gas disk is allowed to follow a varying inclination similar to the H i and ionized gas observations, the gas models with a pattern speed of 38 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹, which is consistent with stellar-dynamical models, can match both the shock features and the central gas features.

We report the detection of 21 cm emission at an average redshift in the cross-correlation of data from the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) with measurements of the Lyα forest from eBOSS. Data collected by CHIME over 88 days in the 400–500 MHz frequency band (1.8 < z < 2.5) are formed into maps of the sky and high-pass delay filtered to suppress the foreground power, corresponding to removing cosmological scales with k_∥ ≲ 0.13 Mpc⁻¹ at the average redshift. Line-of-sight spectra to the eBOSS background quasar locations are extracted from the CHIME maps and combined with the Lyα forest flux transmission spectra to estimate the 21 cm–Lyα cross-correlation function. Fitting a simulation-derived template function to this measurement results in a 9σ detection significance. The coherent accumulation of the signal through cross-correlation is sufficient to enable a detection despite excess variance from foreground residuals ∼6–10 times brighter than the expected thermal noise level in the correlation function. These results are the highest-redshift measurement of 21 cm emission to date, and they set the stage for future 21 cm intensity mapping analyses at z > 1.8.

In this study, we treat Earth as an exoplanet and investigate our home planet by means of a potential future mid-infrared space mission called the Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE). We combine thermal spectra from an empirical data set of disk-integrated Earth observations with a noise model for LIFE to create mock observations. We apply a state-of-the-art atmospheric retrieval framework to characterize the planet, assess the potential for detecting the known bioindicators, and investigate the impact of viewing geometry and seasonality on the characterization. Our key findings reveal that we are observing a temperate habitable planet with significant abundances of CO₂, H₂O, O₃, and CH₄. Seasonal variations in the surface and equilibrium temperature, as well as in the Bond albedo, are detectable. Furthermore, the viewing geometry and the spatially and temporally unresolved nature of our observations only have a minor impact on the characterization. Additionally, Earth’s variable abundance profiles and patchy cloud coverage can bias retrieval results for the atmospheric structure and trace-gas abundances. Lastly, the limited extent of Earth’s seasonal variations in biosignature abundances makes the direct detection of its biosphere through atmospheric seasonality unlikely. Our results suggest that LIFE could correctly identify Earth as a planet where life could thrive, with detectable levels of bioindicators, a temperate climate, and surface conditions allowing liquid surface water. Even if atmospheric seasonality is not easily observed, our study demonstrates that next generation space missions can assess whether nearby temperate terrestrial exoplanets are habitable or even inhabited.

The one consistent technique for remotely estimating the magnetic field in plasma has been Faraday rotation. It is only sensitive to the portion of the vector parallel to the propagation path. We show how to remotely detect the portion of the vector that is perpendicular using a modified measurement. Isolating this electromagnetic propagation wave mode to measure the magnetic field enables us to (i) study more about the magnetic field vector in plasma, (ii) reduce error in total electron content measurements, and (iii) discover new magnetic field information from archived data sets. The Appleton–Hartree equation is used to verify a new approach to calculating the phase change to an electromagnetic wave propagating through a plasma at frequencies larger than the gyrofrequency, the cyclotron frequency, and the upper hybrid frequency. Focusing on the perpendicular propagation modes, the simplified equation for the integrated path effect from a perpendicular magnetic field is calculated. The direction of the perpendicular component is unknown, because the magnetic field is squared. Isolating the magnetic term in the equation with dual frequency waves is shown. We also show how to eliminate the magnetic field contribution to total electron content measurements with a similar approach. In combination with Faraday rotation, the degeneracy of the magnetic field vector direction is reduced to a cone configuration.

We numerically construct a series of axisymmetric rotating magnetic wind solutions, aiming at exploring the observation properties of massive white dwarf (WD) merger remnants with a strong magnetic field, a fast spin, and an intense mass loss, as inferred for WD J005311. We investigate the magnetospheric structure and the resultant spin-down torque exerted to the merger remnant with respect to the surface magnetic flux Φ_*, spin angular frequency Ω_* and the mass-loss rate . We confirm that the wind properties for significantly deviate from those of the spherical Parker wind, where v_esc is the escape velocity at stellar surface. For such a rotating magnetic wind sequence, we find (i) a quasiperiodic mass eruption triggered by magnetic reconnection along with the equatorial plane and (ii) a scaling relation for the spin-down torque . We apply our results to discuss the spin-down evolution and wind anisotropy of massive WD merger remnants, the latter of which could be probed by a successive observation of WD J005311 using Chandra.

It is known that solar flares can affect the current system of the middle- and low-latitude ionosphere. Most earlier studies have focused on such effects during their impulsive phases. Recent studies have reported flares with a significant extreme ultraviolet (EUV) late phase, the effects of which on ionospheric currents have not yet been investigated. Here, we examine the solar quiet (Sq) currents and equatorial electrojets during two X-class flares with EUV late phases using data from more than 200 ground magnetometers. Our results indicate that the ionospheric currents could be significantly enhanced during the impulsive phase, while the effects of the EUV late phase may increase the global ionospheric currents, but are often weak and thus could be obscured by a change in solar wind conditions. In the X1.8 flare event on 2012 October 23, besides the solar flare effects, the currents were modulated by solar wind pressure. In the X1.3 flare event on 2014 April 25, the solar wind pressure was weak and stable, and the Sq currents were enhanced compared to nonflare conditions. We also found that even weak changes in the solar wind dynamic pressure, with magnitudes as low as ∼2 nPa, which are often ignored, may have an appreciable impact on the global ionospheric current system.

We report new observations of the cool diffuse gas around 29, 2.3 < z < 6.3 galaxies using deep JWST/NIRCam slitless grism spectroscopy around the sight line to the quasar J0100+2802. The galaxies span a stellar mass range of , and star formation rates (SFRs) of SFR/M_⊙ yr⁻¹ < 2.3. We find galaxies for seven Mg ii absorption systems within 300 kpc of the quasar sight line. The Mg ii radial absorption profile falls off sharply with radius, with most of the absorption extending out to 2–3 R₂₀₀ of the host galaxies. Six out of seven Mg ii absorption systems are detected around galaxies with 9. The Mg ii absorption kinematics are shifted from the systemic redshifts of host galaxies with a median absolute velocity ≈ 135 km s⁻¹ and standard deviation ≈ 85 km s⁻¹. The high kinematic offset and large radial separation (R > 1.3 R₂₀₀), suggest that five out of the seven Mg ii absorption systems are not gravitationally bound to their host galaxy. In contrast, most of the cool circumgalactic medium at z < 1 is gravitationally bound. The high incidence of unbound Mg ii gas in this work suggests that toward the end of reionization, galaxy halos are in a state of remarkable disequilibrium, and are highly efficient in enriching the intergalactic medium. The two strongest Mg ii absorption systems are detected at z ∼ 4.22 and 4.5, the former associated with a merging galaxy system and the latter associated with three kinematically close galaxies. Both of these galaxies reside in local galaxy overdensities, indicating the presence of cool Mg ii absorption in two “protogroups” at z > 4.

We investigate the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photodynamics of gas phase 1- and 2-cyanonaphthalene and cyanobenzene, recently detected in the Taurus molecular cloud, by combining synchrotron radiation and a double imaging electron/ion coincidence setup. The high-resolution threshold photoelectron spectra (TPES) of all three molecules are obtained experimentally from which the adiabatic ionization energies are reported with very high accuracy, particularly for 2-cyanonaphthalene, for which no data exist at this level of precision. Theoretical calculations are performed to compare with the TPES for the ground electronic state of the cations. Furthermore, the different features observed in the extended TPES have been assigned to the different molecular orbitals with the help of the outer valence Green's function calculations. The present experiments also shed light on the kinetic energy distribution of the photoelectrons as a function of the incident photon energy, to describe their contribution to the photoelectric heating effect in the interstellar medium. In this context, we show how kinetic energy distributions can be obtained from our data for any given photon energy, such as the omnipresent Lyα line, or any given interstellar radiation field (ISRF). In addition, from the total ion yields, we estimate the photorates for a few ISRFs. Finally, we discuss the photodissociation of the two cyanonaphthalenes, quoting the activation energies of the dissociation channels with the help of Rice–Ramsperger–Kassel–Marcus modeling. It is observed that CN substitution does not cause any appreciable change to the VUV dissociative photoionization relaxation channel.

Under the hypothesis of gravitational redshift induced by the central supermassive black hole and based on line widths and shifts of redward-shifted Hβ and Hα broad emission lines for more than 8000 Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR7 active galactic nuclei (AGNs), we measure the virial factor in determining supermassive black hole masses. The virial factor had been believed to be independent of accretion radiation pressure on gas clouds in broad-line regions (BLRs) and only dependent on the inclination effects of BLRs. The virial factor measured spans a very large range. For the vast majority of AGNs (>96%) in our samples, the virial factor is larger than the f = 1 usually used in the literature. The f-correction makes the percent of high-accreting AGNs decrease by about 100 times. There are positive correlations of f with the dimensionless accretion rate and Eddington ratio. The redward shifts of Hβ and Hα are mainly of gravitational origin, confirmed by a negative correlation between the redward shift and the dimensionless radius of the BLR. Our results show that radiation pressure force is a significant contributor to the measured virial factor, containing the inclination effects of the BLR. The usually used values of f should be corrected for high-accreting AGNs, especially high-redshift quasars. The f-correction increases their masses by 1–2 orders of magnitude, which will make it more challenging to explain the formation and growth of supermassive black holes at high redshifts.

Focusing on the redshift space observations with plane-parallel approximation and relying on the rotational dependency of the general definition of excursion sets, we introduce the so-called conditional moments of the first derivative (cmd) measures for the smoothed matter density field in three dimensions. We derive the perturbative expansion of cmd for the real space and redshift space where peculiar velocity disturbs the galaxies’ observed locations. Our criteria can successfully recognize the contribution of linear Kaiser and Finger-of-God effects. Our results demonstrate that the cmd measure has significant sensitivity for pristine constraining the redshift space distortion parameter β = f/b and interestingly, the associated normalized quantity in the Gaussian linear Kaiser limit has only β dependency. Implementation of the synthetic anisotropic Gaussian field approves the consistency between the theoretical and numerical results. Including the first-order contribution of non-Gaussianity perturbatively in the cmd criterion implies that the N-body simulations for the Quijote suite in the redshift space have been mildly skewed with a higher value for the threshold greater than zero. The non-Gaussianity for the perpendicular direction to the line of sight in the redshift space for smoothing scales R ≳ 20 Mpc h⁻¹ is almost the same as in the real space. In contrast, the non-Gaussianity along the line-of-sight direction in the redshift space is magnified. The Fisher forecasts indicate a significant enhancement in constraining the cosmological parameters Ω_m, σ₈, and n_s when using cmd + cr jointly.

We present new 1.5–8.5 GHz Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations and 0.32–1.26 GHz Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT) observations of J0354−1340, which is the only known radio-quiet (RQ) or radio-intermediate (RI) narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy with a 100 kpc, two-sided radio jet. A parsec-scale, one-sided jet in the southeastern direction from the core emission is found in the VLBA observations, while the kiloparsec-scale jet observed with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and GMRT is in the south–north direction. Core spectra on parsec and kiloparsec scales are presented in combination with archival VLA Sky Survey observations at 3.0 GHz and VLA C-configuration observations at 5.5 GHz. The parsec-scale emission dominates the kiloparsec-scale emission above ∼5 GHz, and the spectrum is inverted due to synchrotron self-absorption. This indicates a compact synchrotron source with a size of ∼0.04 pc, which is associated with either the jet base or the corona. A subkiloparsec-scale jet, which is unresolved on scales of ∼3″, probably dominates the emission below ∼5 GHz. Future radio observations can explore the jet structure between the parsec and 100 kpc scales, the origin of their direction mismatch, and the parsec-scale jet proper motion. It remains to be explored how common such large-scale jets are in RQ or RI active galactic nuclei.

We develop an analytic model for the mass of the first stars forming in the centers of primordial gas clouds as a function of host halo mass, redshift, and degree of rotation. The model is based on the estimation of key timescales determining the following three processes: the collapse of the gas cloud, the accretion onto the protostellar core, and the radiative feedback of the protostellar core. The final stellar mass is determined by the total mass accreted until the radiative feedback halts the accretion. The analytic estimation, motivated by the result of the full numerical simulations, leads to algebraic expressions allowing an extremely fast execution. Despite its simplicity, the model reproduces the stellar mass scale and its parameter dependencies observed in state-of-the-art cosmological zoom-in simulations. This work clarifies the basic physical principles undergirding such numerical treatments and provides a path to efficiently calibrating numerical predictions against eventual observations of the first stars.

The orbital architectures of short-period exoplanet systems are shaped by tidal dissipation in their host stars. For low-mass M dwarfs whose dynamical tidal response comprises a dense spectrum of inertial modes at low frequencies, resolving the frequency dependence of tidal dissipation is crucial to capturing the effect of tides on planetary orbits throughout the evolutionary stages of the host star. We use nonperturbative spectral methods to calculate the normal mode oscillations of a fully convective M dwarf modeled using realistic stellar profiles from MESA. We compute the dissipative tidal response composed of contributions from each mode, as well as nonadiabatic coupling between the modes, which we find to be an essential component of the dissipative calculations. Using our results for dissipation, we then compute the evolution of circular, coplanar planetary orbits under the influence of tides in the host star. We find that orbital migration driven by resonance locking affects the orbits of Earth-mass planets at orbital periods P_orb ≲ 1.5 days and of Jupiter-mass planets at P_orb ≲ 2.5 days. Due to resonantly driven orbital decay and outward migration, we predict a dearth of small planets closer than P_orb ∼ 1 day and similarly sparse numbers of more massive planets out to P_orb ∼ 3 days.

An initial theoretical attempt to explain the observed decrease of the polytropic/adiabatic index γ in the solar corona has been accomplished. The chemical reactions of the ionization–recombination processes in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) of a solar plasma cocktail containing heavy elements are found to cause 1.1 < γ ≤ 5/3 in the quiet solar atmosphere. It is also shown that the quiet solar atmosphere is in LTE, justifying this theoretical study. This result is obtained by numerically solving the Saha equation and subsequently using a newly derived equation for calculation of the polytropic index from thermodynamic partial derivatives of the enthalpy and pressure with respect to density and temperature. In addition, a comparison measured from spectroscopic observations of propagating slow magnetohydrodynamic waves in coronal loops shows that LTE ionization accounts for a very small part of the observed decrease of γ, meaning that the solar plasma in the active region is not in LTE as expected. However, the observed dependency of higher polytropic index at higher temperatures is confirmed by the current theoretical approach. It is concluded that in order to account for the polytropic index decrease in the active regions of the solar corona, it is necessary for kinetic non-LTE ionization calculations to be performed.

Using an idealized climate model incorporating seasonal forcing, we investigate the impact of rotation rate on the abundance of clouds on an Earth-like aquaplanet, and the resulting impacts upon albedo and seasonality. We show that the cloud distribution varies significantly with season, depending strongly on the rotation rate, and is well explained by the large-scale circulation and atmospheric state. Planetary albedo displays nonmonotonic behavior with rotation rate, peaking at around 1/2Ω_E. Clouds reduce the surface temperature and total precipitation relative to simulations without clouds at all rotation rates, and reduce the dependence of total precipitation on rotation rate, causing nonmonotonic behavior and a local maximum around 1/8Ω_E; these effects are related to the impacts of clouds on the net atmospheric and surface radiative energy budgets. Clouds also affect the seasonality. The influence of clouds on the extent of the winter Hadley cell and the intertropical convergence zone is relatively minor at slow rotation rates (<1/8Ω_E), but becomes more pronounced at intermediate rotation rates, where clouds decrease their maximum latitudes. The timing of seasonal transitions varies with rotation rate, and the addition of clouds reduces the seasonal phase lag.

It is exceedingly rare to find quiescent low-mass galaxies in the field at low redshift. UGC 5205 is an example of such a quenched field dwarf (M_⋆ ∼ 3 × 10⁸ M_⊙). Despite a wealth of cold gas (M_HI ∼ 3.5 × 10⁸ M_⊙) and UV emission that indicates significant star formation in the past few hundred megayears, there is no detection of Hα emission—star formation in the last ∼10 Myr—across the face of the galaxy. Meanwhile, the near equal-mass companion of UGC 5205, PGC 027864, is starbursting (which has an Hα equivalent width > 1000 Å). In this work, we present new Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array 21 cm line observations of UGC 5205, showing that the lack of star formation is caused by an absence of H i in the main body of the galaxy. The H i of UGC 5205 is highly disturbed; the bulk of the H i resides in several-kiloparsec–long tails, while the H i of PGC 027864 is dominated by ordered rotation. We model the stellar populations of UGC 5205 to show that, as indicated by the UV and Hα emission, the galaxy underwent a coordinated quenching event ∼100–300 Myr ago. The asymmetry of outcomes for UGC 5205 and PGC 027864 demonstrate that major mergers can both quench and trigger star formation in dwarfs. However, because the gas remains bound to the system, we suggest that such mergers only temporarily quench star formation. We estimate a total quenched time of ∼560 Myr for UGC 5205, consistent with established upper limits on the quenched fraction of a few percent for dwarfs in the field.

Iron Kα (Fe Kα) emission is observed ubiquitously in active galactic nuclei (AGN), and it is a powerful probe of their circumnuclear environment. Examinations of the emission line play a pivotal role in understanding the disk geometry surrounding black holes. It has been suggested that the torus and the broad-line region (BLR) are the origins of emission. However, there is no universal location for the emitting region relative to the BLR. Here, we present an analysis of the narrow component of the Fe Kα line in the Seyfert AGN MCG-5-23-16, one of the brightest AGN in X-rays and in Fe Kα emission, to localize the emitting region. Spectra derived from Chandra/HETGS observations show asymmetry in the narrow Fe Kα line, which has only been confirmed before in the AGN NGC 4151. Models including relativistic Doppler broadening and gravitational redshifts are preferred over simple Gaussians and measure radii consistent with R ≃ 200–650 r_g. These results are consistent with those of NGC 4151 and indicate that the narrow Fe Kα line in MCG-5-23-16 is primarily excited in the innermost part of the optical BLR, or X-ray BLR. Characterizing the properties of the narrow Fe Kα line is essential for studying the disk geometries of the AGN population and mapping their innermost regions.

The lifetime of millimeter-sized dust grains, such as chondrules, in the nominal solar nebula model is limited to ∼10⁵ yr, due to an inward drift driven by gas drag. However, isotopic and petrological studies of primitive meteorites indicate a discrepancy of ≳10⁶ yr between the formation time of chondrules and that of chondritic parent bodies. Therefore, chondrules should survive for ≳10⁶ yr in the solar nebula against the inward drift without subsequent growth (i.e., planetesimal formation). Here, we investigate the conditions of the solar nebula that are suitable for the long lifetime of chondrule-sized dust particles. We take the turbulent strength, the radial pressure gradient force, and the disk metallicity of the solar nebula as free parameters. For 1 mm radius chondrules to survive and keep their size for ≳10⁶ yr, the suitable condition is a weak turbulence (α ∼ 10⁻⁶), a flat radial profile (η ≲ 10⁻³), and a high metallicity (Z ∼ 0.1). This condition is qualitatively consistent with the characteristics of protoplanetary disks suggested by recent observations. We eventually propose that planetesimal formation may be induced by disk evolution, e.g., the inside-out dispersal of the gas component due to the disk wind.

During solar flares, spectral lines formed in the photosphere have been shown to exhibit changes to their profiles despite the challenges of energy transfer to these depths. Recent work has shown that deep-forming spectral lines are subject to significant contributions from regions above the photosphere throughout the flaring period, resulting in a composite emergent intensity profile from multiple layers of the atmosphere. We employ radiative–hydrodynamic and radiative transfer calculations to simulate the response of the solar/stellar atmosphere to electron beam heating and synthesize spectral lines of Fe i to investigate the line-of-sight velocity fields information available from Doppler shifts of the emergent intensity profile. By utilizing the contribution function to deconstruct the line profile shape into its constituent sources, we show that variations in the line profiles are primarily caused by changes in the chromosphere. Up-flows in this region were found to create blueshifts or false redshifts in the line core dependent on the relative contribution of the chromosphere compared to the photosphere. In extreme solar and stellar flare scenarios featuring explosive chromospheric condensations, redshifted transient components can dominate the temporal evolution of the profile shape, requiring a tertiary component consideration to fully characterize. We conclude that deep-forming lines require a multicomponent understanding and treatment, with different regions of the spectral line being useful for probing individual regions of the atmosphere’s velocity flows.

The atmospheric dynamics of tidally locked hot Jupiters is characterized by strong equatorial winds. Understanding the interaction between global circulation and chemistry is crucial in atmospheric studies and interpreting observations. Two-dimensional (2D) photochemical transport models shed light on how the atmospheric composition depends on circulation. In this paper, we introduce the 2D photochemical (horizontal and vertical) transport model, VULCAN 2D, which improves on the pseudo-2D approaches by allowing for nonuniform zonal winds. We extensively validate our VULCAN 2D with analytical solutions and benchmark comparisons. Applications to HD 189733 b and HD 209458 b reveal a transition in mixing regimes: horizontal transport predominates below ∼0.1 mbar, while vertical mixing is more important at higher altitudes above 0.1 mbar. Motivated by the previously inferred carbon-rich atmosphere, we find that HD 209458 b with supersolar carbon-to-oxygen ratio (C/O) exhibits pronounced C₂H₄ absorption on the morning limb but not on the evening limb, due to horizontal transport from the nightside. We discuss when a pseudo-2D approach is a valid assumption and its inherent limitations. Finally, we demonstrate the effect of horizontal transport in transmission observations and its impact on the morning−evening limb asymmetry with synthetic spectra, highlighting the need to consider global transport when interpreting exoplanet atmospheres.

We present NICER observations of the accreting X-ray pulsar 1A 0535+262 during its faint state (≲6 × 10³⁶ erg s⁻¹), observed in several type I and type II outbursts. We discovered a transition of temporal and spectral properties around the luminosity L_t = 3.3 × 10³⁵ erg s⁻¹, below which spectra are relatively soft and the pulse profiles have only a narrow peak. The spectra are harder and a secondary hump gradually appears in the pulse profiles when L ≳ L_t. We discuss possible physical mechanisms for this transition, including different Comptonization seed photons, the disappearance of gas shocks on the neutron star surface, and the combination of plasma and vacuum polarization effects.

The radii of low-mass stars are observed to be inflated above standard model predictions, especially in magnetically active stars. Typically, the empirical relative radius inflations ΔR/R are ≤10% but in (rare) cases may be ≥20%. Our magneto-convective stellar models have already replicated many empirical ΔR/R values. Here, we ask: is there any theoretical upper limit on the amount of such inflation? We use our magneto-convective model to compute ΔR/R using empirically plausible values of the surface field strength parameter δ. Inside each model, the maximum internal field is set to a particular value: B_ceil = 10, or 100 kG, or 1 MG. When B_ceil = 10 kG, peak inflation with ΔR/R ≈ 90% occurs in stars with masses of 0.7 M_⊙. With B_ceil = 100 kG, peak inflation with ΔR/R ≈ 140% occurs in stars with M ≈ 0.5 M_⊙. But with B_ceil = 1 MG, we find no peak in ΔR/R as a function of δ; instead, the larger δ is, the larger ΔR/R becomes, reaching 300%–350% in the case of the largest δ considered. Thus, magneto-convective modeling can accommodate ΔR/R values which are considerably larger than any reported empirical inflations. We find that a maximum occurs in ΔR/R as a function of δ only in model stars where the field reaches its maximum strength B_ceil inside the convective envelope. Moreover, our models of completely convective stars undergo smaller amounts of relative radius inflation than models with radiative cores, a result consistent with some previous reports.

We present a strong lensing analysis of COOL J1241+2219, the brightest known gravitationally lensed galaxy at z ≥ 5, based on new multiband Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging data. The lensed galaxy has a redshift of z = 5.043, placing it shortly after the end of the “Epoch of Reionization,” and an AB magnitude z_AB = 20.47 mag (Khullar et al.). As such, it serves as a touchstone for future research of that epoch. The high spatial resolution of HST reveals internal structure in the giant arc, from which we identify 15 constraints and construct a robust lens model. We use the lens model to extract the cluster mass and lensing magnification. We find that the mass enclosed within the Einstein radius of the z = 1.001 cluster lens is , significantly lower than other known strong lensing clusters at its redshift. The average magnification of the giant arc is 〈μ_arc〉 = , a factor of greater than previously estimated from ground-based data; the flux-weighted average magnification is 〈μ_arc〉 = . We update the current measurements of the stellar mass and star formation rate (SFR) of the source for the revised magnification to 9.7 ± 0.3 and SFR = M_⊙ yr⁻¹, respectively. The powerful lensing magnification acting upon COOL J1241+2219 resolves the source and enables future studies of the properties of its star formation on a clump-by-clump basis. The lensing analysis presented here will support upcoming multiwavelength characterization with HST and JWST data of the stellar mass assembly and physical properties of this high-redshift lensed galaxy.

Lyman limit systems (LLSs) are dense hydrogen clouds with high enough H i column densities to absorb Lyman continuum photons emitted from distant quasars. Their high column densities imply an origin in dense environments; however, the statistics and distribution of LLSs at high redshifts still remain uncertain. In this paper, we use self-consistent radiative transfer cosmological simulations from the Cosmic Reionization on Computers (CROC) project to study the physical properties of LLSs at the tail end of cosmic reionization at z ∼ 6. We generate 3000 synthetic quasar sight lines to obtain a large number of LLS samples in the simulations. In addition, with the high physical fidelity and resolution of CROC, we are able to quantify the association between these LLS samples and nearby galaxies. Our results show that the fraction of LLSs spatially associated with nearby galaxies increases with H i column density. Moreover, we find that LLSs that are not near any galaxy typically reside in filamentary structures connecting neighboring galaxies in the intergalactic medium (IGM). This quantification of the distribution and association of LLSs to large-scale structure informs our understanding of the IGM–galaxy connection during the “Epoch of Reionization,” and provides a theoretical basis for interpreting future observations.

Voyager 1 and 2 are only the two spacecraft that have arrived and passed through the heliospheric boundaries. Based on the plasma data from the Voyager 2 spacecraft, the electron quasi-thermal noise (QTN) is investigated by using of the electron population model consisting of a core with Maxwellian distribution and a halo with kappa distribution. The power spectra of the electron QTN is calculated at different heliocentric distances from 1 to 110 au. The parametric dependence of the QTN power spectra and the effective Debye length on the model parameters, such as the density ratio and temperature ratio of the halo to the core, kappa index and the antenna length, are discussed further. The results show that the electron QTN spectrum consists of a plateau in the low frequency band f < f_pt, a prominent peak at the plasma frequency f_pt, and a rapid decreasing part in the high frequency band f > f_pt. The QTN plateau level basically falls down outwards until the termination shock crossing at about 84 au, after which the plateau rebounds a little near the heliopause. Although the model parameters can be very variable, the QTN plateau level does not present more than the double change in a fairly wide range of the model parameters. The presented results can be useful for future deep-space explorations in the heliosphere and can provide valuable references for the design of onboard detectors.

Understanding the high-energy emission processes and variability patterns are two of the most challenging research problems associated with relativistic jets. In particular, the long-term (months to years) flux variability at very high energies (VHE >50 GeV) has remained an unexplored domain so far. This is possibly due to the decreased sensitivity of the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) above a few GeV, hence low photon statistics, and observing constraints associated with the ground-based Cherenkov telescopes. This paper reports the results obtained from the 0.05−2 TeV Fermi-LAT data analysis of a sample of 29 blazars with the primary objective to explore their months-to-year-long very high-energy (VHE) flux variability behavior. This systematic search has led to, for the first time, the detection of significant flux variations in five blazars at the >99% confidence level, whereas eight of them exhibit variability, albeit at a lower confidence level (∼95%–99%). A comparison of the 0.05–2 TeV flux variations with that observed at 0.1–50 GeV band has revealed similar variability behavior for most of the sources. However, complex variability patterns that are not reflected contemporaneously in both energy bands were also detected, thereby providing tantalizing clues about the underlying radiative mechanisms. These results open up a new dimension to unravel the VHE emission processes operating in relativistic jets, hence sowing the seeds for their future observations with the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array.

Blazars are the brightest and most abundant persistent sources in the extragalactic γ-ray sky. Due to their significance, they are often observed across various energy bands, where the data of which can be used to explore potential correlations between emission at different energies, yielding valuable insights into the emission processes of their powerful jets. In this study we utilized IR data at 3.4 and 4.6 μm from the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer Reactivation Mission, spanning 8 yr of observations, X-ray data from the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory collected throughout the satellite’s lifetime, and 12 years of γ-ray measurements from the Fermi Large Area Telescope’s all-sky survey. Our analysis reveals that the IR spectral slope reliably predicts the peak frequency and maximum intensity of the synchrotron component of blazar spectral energy distributions, provided it is uncontaminated by radiation unrelated to the jet. A notable correlation between the IR and γ-ray fluxes was observed, with the BL Lacertae subclass of blazars displaying a strong correlation coefficient of r = 0.80. IR band variability is more pronounced in flat spectrum radio quasars than in BL Lacertae objects, with mean fractional variability values of 0.65 and 0.35, respectively. We also observed that the synchrotron peak intensity of intermediate-high-energy-peaked objects can forecast their detectability at very high γ-ray energies. We used this predicting power to identify objects in current catalogs that could meet the detection threshold of the Cerenkov Telescope Array extragalactic survey, which should encompass approximately 180 blazars.

We report on the spectroscopic confirmation of a massive quiescent galaxy at z_spec = 4.53 in the COSMOS field. The object was first identified as a galaxy with suppressed star formation at z_phot ∼ 4.65 from the COSMOS2020 catalog. The follow-up spectroscopy with Keck/MOSFIRE in the K band reveals faint [O ii] emission and the Balmer break, indicative of evolved stellar populations. We fit the spectral energy distribution using photometry and a spectrum to infer physical properties. The obtained stellar mass is high (M_* ∼ 10^10.8M_⊙) and the current star formation rate is more than 1 dex below that of main-sequence galaxies at z = 4.5. Its star formation history suggests that this galaxy experienced rapid quenching from z ∼ 5. The galaxy is among the youngest quiescent galaxies confirmed so far at z_spec > 3 with z_form ∼ 5.2 (200 Myr ago), which is the epoch when 50% of the total stellar mass was formed. A unique aspect of the galaxy is that it is in an extremely dense region; there are four massive star-forming galaxies at 4.4 < z_phot < 4.7 located within 150 physical kpc from the galaxy. Interestingly, three of them have virial radii that strongly overlap with that of the central quiescent galaxy (∼70 kpc), suggesting that the overdensity region is likely the highest-redshift candidate of a dense group with a spectroscopically confirmed quiescent galaxy at the center. The group provides us with a unique opportunity to gain insights into the role of the group environment in quenching at z ∼ 5, which corresponds to the formation epoch of massive elliptical galaxies in the local Universe.

Flares are intense explosions on the solar and stellar surfaces, and solar flares are sometimes accompanied by filament or prominence eruptions. Recently, a large filament eruption associated with a superflare on a solar-type star EK Dra was discovered for the first time. The absorption of the Hα spectrum initially exhibited a blueshift with the velocity of 510 km s⁻¹, and decelerated in time probably due to gravity. Stellar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were thought to occur, although the filament eruption did not exceed the escape velocity under the surface gravity. To investigate how such a filament eruption can occur and whether CMEs are associated with the filament eruption or not, we perform a one-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation of the flow along an expanding magnetic loop emulating a filament eruption under adiabatic and unsteady conditions. The loop configuration and expanding velocity normal to the loop are specified in the configuration parameters, and we calculate the line-of-sight velocity of the filament eruption using the velocities along and normal to the loop. We find that (i) the temporal variations of the Hα spectrum for EK Dra can be explained by a falling filament eruption in the loop with longer time and larger spatial scales than that of the Sun, and (ii) the stellar CMEs are also thought to be associated with the filament eruption from the superflare on EK Dra, because the rarefied loop unobserved in the Hα spectrum needs to expand faster than the escape velocity, whereas the observed filament eruption does not exceed the escape velocity.

We present a study of a sample of 45 spectroscopically confirmed, UV luminous galaxies at z ∼ 6. They were selected as bright Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) using deep multiband optical images in more than 2 deg² of the sky, and subsequently identified via their strong Lyα emission. The majority of these LBGs span an absolute UV magnitude range from −22.0 to −20.5 mag with Lyα equivalent width (EW) between ∼10 and ∼200 Å, representing the most luminous galaxies at z ∼ 6 in terms of both UV continuum emission and Lyα line emission. We model the spectral energy distributions of 10 LBGs that have deep infrared observations from Hubble Space Telescope, JWST, and/or Spitzer, and find that they have a wide range of stellar masses and ages. They also have high star formation rates ranging from a few tens to a few hundreds of solar mass per year. Five of the LBGs have JWST or HST images, and four of them show compact morphology in these images, including one that is roughly consistent with a point source, suggesting that UV luminous galaxies at this redshift are generally compact. The fraction of our photometrically selected LBGs with strong Lyα emission (EW > 25 Å) is about 0.2, which is consistent with previous results and supports a moderate evolution of the intergalactic medium opacity at the end of cosmic reionization. Using deep X-ray images, we do not find evidence of strong active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity in these galaxies, but our constraint is loose, and we are not able to rule out the possibility of any weak AGN activity.

Gravitational wave (GW) standard siren observations provide a rather useful tool to explore the evolution of the Universe. In this work, we wish to investigate whether dark sirens with neutron star (NS) deformation from third-generation GW detectors could help probe the interaction between dark energy and dark matter. We simulate the GW dark sirens of four detection strategies based on 3 yr observation and consider four phenomenological interacting dark energy (IDE) models to perform cosmological analysis. We find that GW dark sirens could provide tight constraints on Ω_m and H₀ in the four IDE models but do not perform well in constraining the dimensionless coupling parameter β in models of the interaction proportional to the energy density of cold dark matter. Nevertheless, the parameter degeneracy orientations of cosmic microwave background (CMB) and GW are almost orthogonal, and thus, the combination of them could effectively break cosmological parameter degeneracies, with the constraint errors of β being 0.00068–0.018. In addition, we choose three typical equations of state (EoSs) of an NS, i.e., SLy, MPA1, and MS1, to investigate the effect of an NS’s EoS on cosmological analysis. The stiffer EoS could give tighter constraints than the softer EoS. Nonetheless, the combination of CMB and GW dark sirens (using different EoSs of an NS) shows basically the same constraint results of cosmological parameters. We conclude that the dark sirens from 3G GW detectors would play a crucial role in helping probe the interaction between dark energy and dark matter, and the CMB+GW results are basically not affected by the EoS of an NS.

To facilitate new studies of galaxy-merger-driven fueling of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), we present a catalog of 387 AGNs that we have identified in the final population of over 10,000 z < 0.15 galaxies observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-IV (SDSS-IV) integral field spectroscopy survey Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA). We selected the AGNs via mid-infrared Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer colors, Swift/Burst Alert Telescope ultra-hard X-ray detections, NRAO Very Large Array Sky Survey and Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty centimeters radio observations, and broad emission lines in SDSS spectra. By combining the MaNGA AGN catalog with a new SDSS catalog of galaxy mergers that were identified based on a suite of hydrodynamical simulations of merging galaxies, we study the link between galaxy mergers and nuclear activity for AGNs above a limiting bolometric luminosity of 10^44.4 erg s⁻¹. We find an excess of AGNs in mergers, relative to nonmergers, for galaxies with stellar mass ∼10¹¹M_⊙, where the AGN excess is somewhat stronger in major mergers than in minor mergers. Further, when we combine minor and major mergers and sort by merger stage, we find that the highest AGN excess occurs in post-coalescence mergers in the highest-mass galaxies. However, we find no evidence of a correlation between galaxy mergers and AGN luminosity or accretion rate. In summary, while galaxy mergers overall do appear to trigger or enhance AGN activity more than nonmergers, they do not seem to induce higher levels of accretion or higher luminosities. We provide the MaNGA AGN Catalog and the MaNGA Galaxy Merger Catalog for the community here.

The 3D geometries of high-redshift galaxies remain poorly understood. We build a differentiable Bayesian model and use Hamiltonian Monte Carlo to efficiently and robustly infer the 3D shapes of star-forming galaxies in James Webb Space Telescope Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science observations with at z = 0.5–8.0. We reproduce previous results from the Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey in a fraction of the computing time and constrain the mean ellipticity, triaxiality, size, and covariances with samples as small as ∼50 galaxies. We find high 3D ellipticities for all mass–redshift bins, suggesting oblate (disky) or prolate (elongated) geometries. We break that degeneracy by constraining the mean triaxiality to be ∼1 for dwarfs at z > 1 (favoring the prolate scenario), with significantly lower triaxialities for higher masses and lower redshifts indicating the emergence of disks. The prolate population traces out a “banana” in the projected diagram with an excess of low-b/a, large- galaxies. The dwarf prolate fraction rises from ∼25% at z = 0.5–1.0 to ∼50%–80% at z = 3–8. Our results imply a second kind of disk settling from oval (triaxial) to more circular (axisymmetric) shapes with time. We simultaneously constrain the 3D size–mass relation and its dependence on 3D geometry. High-probability prolate and oblate candidates show remarkably similar Sérsic indices (n ∼ 1), nonparametric morphological properties, and specific star formation rates. Both tend to be visually classified as disks or irregular, but edge-on oblate candidates show more dust attenuation. We discuss selection effects, follow-up prospects, and theoretical implications.

We present our sixth set of results from our mid-infrared imaging survey of Milky Way Giant H ii regions with our detailed analysis of NGC 3603, the most luminous giant H ii (GH ii) region in the Galaxy. We used imaging data from the FORCAST instrument on the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) at 20 and 37 μm, which mapped the central ∼85 × 85 infrared-emitting area of NGC 3603 at a spatial resolution of ≲3″. Utilizing these SOFIA data in conjunction with multiwavelength observations from the near-infrared to radio, including Spitzer-IRAC and Herschel-PACS archival data, we investigate the physical nature of individual infrared sources and subcomponents within NGC 3603. For individual compact sources, we used the multiwavelength photometry data to construct spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and fit them with massive young stellar object (MYSO) SED models, and find 14 sources that are likely to be MYSOs. We also detect dust emission from the 3 massive proplyd candidates, as well as from the disk and outflow of the evolved blue supergiant, Sher 25. Utilizing multiwavelength data, we derived luminosity-to-mass ratio and virial parameters for the star-forming clumps within NGC 3603, estimating their relative ages and finding that NGC 3603 is an older GH ii region overall, compared to our previously studied GH ii regions. We discuss how NGC 3603, which we categorize as a cavity-type GH ii region, exhibits a more modest number of MYSOs and molecular clumps when compared to the distributed-type GH ii regions that share similar Lyman continuum photon rates.

We present the probabilistic stellar mass function (pSMF) of galaxies in the DESI Bright Galaxy Survey (BGS), observed during the One-percent Survey. The One-percent Survey was one of DESI’s survey validation programs conducted from 2021 April to May, before the start of the main survey. It used the same target selection and similar observing strategy as the main survey and successfully observed the spectra and redshifts of 143,017 galaxies in the r < 19.5 magnitude-limited BGS Bright sample and 95,499 galaxies in the fainter surface-brightness- and color-selected BGS Faint sample over z < 0.6. We derive pSMFs from posteriors of stellar mass, M_*, inferred from DESI photometry and spectroscopy using the Hahn et al. PRObabilistic Value-Added BGS (PROVABGS) Bayesian spectral energy distribution modeling framework. We use a hierarchical population inference framework that statistically and rigorously propagates the M_* uncertainties. Furthermore, we include correction weights that account for the selection effects and incompleteness of the BGS observations. We present the redshift evolution of the pSMF in BGS, as well as the pSMFs of star-forming and quiescent galaxies classified using average specific star formation rates from PROVABGS. Overall, the pSMFs show good agreement with previous stellar mass function measurements in the literature. Our pSMFs showcase the potential and statistical power of BGS, which in its main survey will observe >100 × more galaxies. Moreover, we present the statistical framework for subsequent population statistics measurements using BGS, which will characterize the global galaxy population and scaling relations at low redshifts with unprecedented precision.

In this study, we consider the effects of ambipolar diffusion during the gravitational collapse of a radiative cooling filamentary molecular cloud. Two separate configurations of magnetic field, i.e., axial and toroidal, are considered in the presence of the ambipolar diffusion for a radiative cooling filament. These configurations lead to two different formulations of the problem. The filament is radiatively cooled and heated by ambipolar diffusion in both cases of magnetic field configurations. The self-similar method is used to solve the obtained equations in each case. We found that the adiabatic exponent and ambipolar diffusivity play very important roles during the gravitational collapse of a cooling filament. The results show that the ambipolar heating significantly increases the temperature in the middle regions of a cooling filament. Furthermore, we found that the ambipolar diffusion has very important effects during the collapse, so that its heating effect is dominant over its dynamical effect in the middle regions of a cooling filament. The obtained results also address some regions where the rate of star formation is more or less compared to the observational reports.

Resolving the environments of massive stars is crucial for understanding their formation mechanisms and their impact on galaxy evolution. An important open question is whether massive stars found in diffuse regions outside spiral arms formed in situ or migrated there after forming in denser environments. To address this question, we use multiresolution measurements of extinction in the Andromeda galaxy (M31) to probe the interstellar medium surrounding massive stars across galactic environments. We construct a catalog of 42,107 main-sequence massive star candidates (M ≥ 8 M_⊙) using resolved stellar photometry from the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) program, plus stellar and dust model fits from the Bayesian Extinction and Stellar Tool (BEAST). We quantify galactic environments by computing surrounding stellar densities of massive stars using kernel density estimation. We then compare high-resolution line-of-sight extinction estimates from the BEAST with 25 pc resolution dust maps from PHAT, measuring the total column density distribution of extinction. Our key finding is that, although the average total column density of dust increases with the density of massive stars, the average line-of-sight extinction toward massive stars remains constant across all environments. This suggests that massive stars have a uniform amount of dust in their immediate environment, regardless of their location in the galaxy. One possible explanation for these findings is that small molecular clouds are still capable of forming massive stars, even if they are not resolvable at 25 pc. These results indicate that massive stars are forming in the sparse regions of M31, as opposed to migrating there.

The Milky Way dust extinction curve in the near-infrared (NIR) follows a power-law form, but the value of the slope, β_NIR, is debated. Systematic variations in the slope of the Milky Way UV extinction curve are known to be correlated with variations in the optical slope (through R_V), but whether such a dependence extends to the NIR is unclear. Finally, because of low dust column densities, the NIR extinction law is poorly understood at high Galactic latitudes where most extragalactic work takes place. In this paper, we construct extinction curves from 56,649 stars with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and Two Micron All Sky Survey photometry, based on stellar parameters from SDSS spectra. We use dust maps to identify dust-free stars, from which we calibrate the relation between stellar parameters and intrinsic colors. Furthermore, to probe the low-dust regime at high latitudes, we use aggregate curves based on many stars. We find no systematic variation of β_NIR across low-to-moderate dust columns (0.02 < E(B − V) ≲ 1), and report average β_NIR = 1.85 ± 0.01, in agreement with the law in the 2019 Fitzpatrick et al. study, but steeper than the Cardelli et al. and 1999 Fitzpatrick laws. Star-to-star scatter in β_NIR is relatively small (σ(β_NIR) = 0.13). We also find no intrinsic correlation between β_NIR and R_V (there is an apparent correlation that is the result of the correlated uncertainties in the two values). These results hold for typical sightlines; we do not probe very dusty regions near the Galactic Center, nor rare sightlines with R_V > 4. Finally, we find R_H = 0.345 ± 0.007 and comment on its bearing on Cepheid calibrations and the determination of H₀.

We present results from the search for astrometric accelerations of stars in ω Centauri using 13 yr of regularly scheduled Hubble Space Telescope WFC3/UVIS calibration observations in the cluster core. The high-precision astrometry of ∼160,000 sources was searched for significant deviations from linear proper motion. This led to the discovery of four cluster members and one foreground field star with compelling acceleration patterns. We interpreted them as the result of the gravitational pull by an invisible companion and determined preliminary Keplerian orbit parameters, including the companion’s mass. For the cluster members, our analysis suggests periods ranging from 8.8 to 19+ yr and dark companions in the mass range of ∼0.7 to ∼1.4M_☉. At least one companion could exceed the upper mass boundary of white dwarfs and can be classified as a neutron star candidate.

We present the results of a Bayesian search for gravitational wave (GW) memory in the NANOGrav 12.5 yr data set. We find no convincing evidence for any gravitational wave memory signals in this data set. We find a Bayes factor of 2.8 in favor of a model that includes a memory signal and common spatially uncorrelated red noise (CURN) compared to a model including only a CURN. However, further investigation shows that a disproportionate amount of support for the memory signal comes from three dubious pulsars. Using a more flexible red-noise model in these pulsars reduces the Bayes factor to 1.3. Having found no compelling evidence, we go on to place upper limits on the strain amplitude of GW memory events as a function of sky location and event epoch. These upper limits are computed using a signal model that assumes the existence of a common, spatially uncorrelated red noise in addition to a GW memory signal. The median strain upper limit as a function of sky position is approximately 3.3 × 10⁻¹⁴. We also find that there are some differences in the upper limits as a function of sky position centered around PSR J0613−0200. This suggests that this pulsar has some excess noise that can be confounded with GW memory. Finally, the upper limits as a function of burst epoch continue to improve at later epochs. This improvement is attributable to the continued growth of the pulsar timing array.

We present a quantum treatment of atom–electron collisions in magnetic fields, demonstrating the significant importance of including the effect of exchange that arises from two interacting electrons. We find strange behaviors that are not encountered in collisions without a magnetic field. In high magnetic fields, exchange can lead to orders of magnitude enhancements of collision cross sections. Additionally, the elastic collision cross sections that involve the ground state become comparable to those involving excited states, and states with large orbits have the largest contribution to the collisions. We anticipate significant changes to spectral line broadening in neutron star surfaces and atmospheres.

Using 20 long-term 3D core-collapse supernova simulations, we find that lower compactness progenitors that explode quasi-spherically due to the short delay to explosion experience smaller neutron star recoil kicks in the ∼100−200 km s⁻¹ range, while higher compactness progenitors that explode later and more aspherically leave neutron stars with kicks in the ∼300−1000 km s⁻¹ range. In addition, we find that these two classes are correlated with the gravitational mass of the neutron star. This correlation suggests that the survival of binary neutron star systems may in part be due to their lower kick speeds. We also find a correlation between the kick and both the mass dipole of the ejecta and the explosion energy. Furthermore, one channel of black hole birth leaves masses of ∼10 M_⊙, is not accompanied by a neutrino-driven explosion, and experiences small kicks. A second channel is through a vigorous explosion that leaves behind a black hole with a mass of ∼3.0 M_⊙ kicked to high speeds. We find that the induced spins of nascent neutron stars range from seconds to ∼10 ms, but do not yet see a significant spin/kick correlation for pulsars. We suggest that if an initial spin biases the explosion direction, a spin/kick correlation would be a common byproduct of the neutrino mechanism of core-collapse supernovae. Finally, the induced spin in explosive black hole formation is likely large and in the collapsar range. This new 3D model suite provides a greatly expanded perspective and appears to explain some observed pulsar properties by default.

Space plasmas are turbulent and maintain different types of critical points or flow nulls. Electron vortex, as one type of flow null structure, is crucial in the energy cascade in turbulent plasmas. However, due to the limited time resolution of the spacecraft observations, one can never analyze the three-dimensional properties of the electron vortex. In the present study, with the advancement of the FOTE-V method and the unprecedented high-resolution measurements from four Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft, we successfully identify the electron vortex and then reconstruct its three-dimensional topology of the surrounding electron flow field. The results of the reconstruction show that the configuration of the electron vortex is elliptical. Comparison between the observation and reconstruction scales of the vortex indicates the reliable reconstruction of the flow velocity. Our study sheds light on the understanding of the topology and property of the electron vortex and its relationship with kinetic-scale magnetic holes.

We observed the nearby radio pulsar B0950+08, which has a 100% duty cycle, using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope. We obtained the polarization profile for its entire rotation, which enabled us to investigate its magnetospheric radiation geometry and the sparking pattern of the polar cap. After we excluded part of the profile in which the linear polarization factor is low (≲30%) and potentially contaminated by jumps in position angle, the rest of the swing in polarization position angle fits a classical rotating vector model (RVM) well. The best-fit RVM indicates that the inclination angle, α, and the impact angle, β, of this pulsar, are 1005 and −332, respectively, suggesting that the radio emission comes from two poles. We find that, in such RVM geometry, either the annular vacuum gap model or the core vacuum gap model would require that the radio emissions come from a high-altitude magnetosphere with heights from ∼0.25 R_LC to ∼0.56 R_LC, with R_LC being the light cylinder radius. Both the main and interpulses’ sparking points are located away from the magnetic pole, which could relate to the physical conditions on the pulsar surface.

A supermassive black hole can launch a relativistic jet when it violently disrupts a star that passes too close. Such jetted tidal disruption events (TDEs) are rare and unique tools to investigate quiescent supermassive black holes, jet physics, and circumnuclear environments at high redshift. The newly discovered TDE AT2022cmc (z ∼ 1.193), providing rich multiband (X-ray, UV, optical, submillimeter, and radio) data, has been interpreted as the fourth on-axis jetted TDE. In this work, we constrain the circumnuclear medium (CNM) density profile with both a closure relation test and detailed forward shock model fit with a Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach to the multiband (optical, submillimeter, and radio) data of AT2022cmc. We find that the CNM density profile of AT2022cmc is n ∝ R^−k with k ∼ 1.68, implying a Bondi accretion in history. Furthermore, our model fit result suggests a two-component jet in AT2022cmc, indicating similar jet physics to well-studied jetted TDE Sw J1644+57.

We present results from conducting a theoretical chemical analysis of a sample of benchmark companion brown dwarfs whose primary star is of type F, G, or K. We summarize the entire known sample of these types of companion systems, termed “compositional benchmarks,” that are present in the literature or recently published as key systems of study in order to best understand brown dwarf chemistry and condensate formation. Via mass balance and stoichiometric calculations, we predict a median brown dwarf atmospheric oxygen sink of by utilizing published stellar abundances in the local solar neighborhood. Additionally, we predict a silicate condensation sequence such that atmospheres with bulk Mg/Si ≲0.9 will form enstatite (MgSiO₃) and quartz (SiO₂) clouds, and atmospheres with bulk Mg/Si ≳0.9 will form enstatite and forsterite (Mg₂SiO₄) clouds. The implications of these results on C/O ratio trends in substellar-mass objects and the utility of these predictions in future modeling work are discussed.

The early solar system contained a short-lived radionuclide, ²⁶Al (its half-life time t_1/2 = 0.7 Myr). The decay energy of ²⁶Al is thought to have controlled the thermal evolution of planetesimals and, possibly, the water contents of planets. Many hypotheses have been proposed for the origin of ²⁶Al in the solar system. One of the possible hypotheses is the “disk injection scenario”: when the protoplanetary disk of the solar system had already formed, a nearby (<1 pc) supernova injected radioactive material directly into the disk. Such a ²⁶Al injection hypothesis has been tested so far with limited setups for disk structure and supernova distance, which have treated disk disruption and ²⁶Al injection separately. Here, we revisit this problem, to investigate whether there are self-consistent conditions under which the surviving disk radius can receive enough ²⁶Al to account for the abundance in the early solar system. We also consider a range of disk masses and structures, ²⁶Al yields from supernova, and a large dust mass fraction η_d. We find that ²⁶Al yields of supernova are required as , which are challenging to achieve with the known possible ²⁶Al ejection and dust mass fraction ranges. Furthermore, we find that even if the above conditions are met, the supernova flow changes the disk temperature, which may not be consistent with the solar system record. Our results place a strong constraint on the disk injection scenario. Rather, we suggest that the fresh ²⁶Al of the early solar system must have been synthesized/injected in other ways.

Estimating the magnetic field strength in the solar corona is crucial for understanding different physical processes happening over diverse spatiotemporal scales. However, the high temperatures and low density of the solar corona make this task challenging. The coronal magnetic field is too weak to produce a measurable splitting of the spectral lines using the Zeeman effect, and high temperature causes spectral lines to become weak and broad, making it difficult to detect the small Zeeman splitting. Coronal magneto-seismology, which combines the theoretical and observed properties of magnetohydrodynamic waves, can be used to infer the magnetic field strength of oscillating structures in the solar corona, which are otherwise difficult to estimate. In this work, we use the Doppler velocity and density data obtained from the Coronal Multichannel Polarimeter on 2016 October 14 to obtain the global map of the coronal magnetic field using Bayesian inference. Two priors are used for plasma density, viz Gaussian and uniform distributions. Bayesian inference provides us with the probability distribution for the magnetic field strength at each location from 1.05 to 1.35 R_⊙. A comparison between the magnetic field obtained using simple inversion and Bayesian inference is also drawn. We find that the values obtained using simple inversion do not always match the maximum posterior estimates obtained using Bayesian inference. We find that the inferred values follow a power-law function for the radial variation of the coronal magnetic field, with the power-law indices for simple and Bayesian inversion being similar.

An important aspect of solar energetic particle (SEP) events is their source populations. Elemental abundance enhancements of impulsive SEP events, originating in presumed coronal reconnection episodes, can be fitted to steep power laws of A/Q, where A and Q are the atomic mass and ionic charge. Since thermal electron energies are enhanced and nonthermal electron distributions arise in the reconnection process, we might expect that ionic charge states Q would be increased through ionization interactions with those electron populations during the acceleration process. The temperature estimated from the SEPs corresponds to the charge state during the acceleration process, while the actual charge state measured in situ may be modified as the SEPs pass through the corona. We examine whether the temperature estimation from the A/Q would differ with various κ values in a κ function representing high-energy tail deviating from a Maxwellian velocity distribution. We find that the differences in the A/Q between a Maxwellian and an extreme κ distribution are about 10%–30%. We fit power-law enhancement of element abundances as a function of their A/Q with various κ values. Then, we find that the derived source region temperature is not significantly affected by whether or not the electron velocity distribution deviates from a Maxwellian, i.e., thermal, distribution. Assuming that electrons are heated in the acceleration region, the agreement of the SEP charge state during acceleration with typical active region temperatures suggests that SEPs are accelerated and leave the acceleration region in a shorter time than the ionization timescale.

Modeling the multiwavelength spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of blazars provides key insights into the underlying physical processes responsible for the emission. While SED modeling with self-consistent models is computationally demanding, it is essential for a comprehensive understanding of these astrophysical objects. We introduce a novel, efficient method for modeling the SEDs of blazars by the mean of a convolutional neural network (CNN). In this paper, we trained the CNN on a leptonic model that incorporates synchrotron and inverse Compton emissions, as well as self-consistent electron cooling and pair creation–annihilation processes. The CNN is capable of reproducing the radiative signatures of blazars with high accuracy. This approach significantly reduces the computational time, thereby enabling real-time fitting to multiwavelength data sets. As a demonstration, we used the trained CNN with MultiNest to fit the broadband SEDs of Mrk 421 and 1ES 1959+650, successfully obtaining their parameter posterior distributions. This novel framework for fitting the SEDs of blazars will be further extended to incorporate more sophisticated models based on external Compton and hadronic scenarios, allowing for multimessenger constraints in the analysis. The models will be made publicly available via a web interface at the Markarian Multiwavelength Data Center to facilitate self-consistent modeling of multimessenger data from blazar observations.

We present molecular line observations of the protostellar outflow associated with HH270mms1 in the Orion B molecular cloud with ALMA. The ¹²CO (J = 3−2) emissions show that the outflow velocity structure consists of four distinct components of low (≲10 km s⁻¹), intermediate (∼10–25 km s⁻¹) and high (≳40 km s⁻¹) velocities in addition to the entrained gas velocity (∼25–40 km s⁻¹). The high- and intermediate-velocity flows have well-collimated structures surrounded by the low-velocity flow. The chain of knots is embedded in the high-velocity flow or jet, which is the evidence of episodic mass ejections induced by time-variable mass accretion. We could detect the velocity gradients perpendicular to the outflow axis in both the low- and intermediate-velocity flows. We confirmed the rotation of the envelope and disk in the ¹³CO and C¹⁷O emission and found that their velocity gradients are the same as those of the outflow. Thus, we concluded that the velocity gradients in the low- and intermediate-velocity flows are due to the outflow rotation. Using observational outflow properties, we estimated the outflow launching radii to be 67.1–77.1 au for the low-velocity flow and 13.3–20.8 au for the intermediate-velocity flow. Although we could not detect the rotation in the jets due to the limited spatial resolution, we estimated the jet launching radii to be (2.36–3.14) × 10⁻² au using the observed velocity of each knot. Thus, the jet is driven from the inner disk region. We could identify the launching radii of distinct velocity components within a single outflow with all the prototypical characteristics expected from recent theoretical works.

Disequilibrium chemistry due to vertical mixing in the atmospheres of many brown dwarfs and giant exoplanets is well established. Atmosphere models for these objects typically parameterize mixing with the highly uncertain K_zz diffusion parameter. The role of mixing in altering the abundances of C-N-O-bearing molecules has mostly been explored for atmospheres with a solar composition. However, atmospheric metallicity and the C/O ratio also impact atmospheric chemistry. Therefore, we present the Sonora Elf Owl grid of self-consistent cloud-free 1D radiative-convective equilibrium model atmospheres for JWST observations, which includes a variation in K_zz across several orders of magnitude and also encompasses subsolar to supersolar metallicities and C/O ratios. We find that the impact of K_zz on the T(P) profile and spectra is a strong function of both T_eff and metallicity. For metal-poor objects, K_zz has large impacts on the atmosphere at significantly higher T_eff than in metal-rich atmospheres, where the impact of K_zz is seen to occur at lower T_eff. We identify significant spectral degeneracies between varying K_zz and metallicity in multiple wavelength windows, in particular, at 3–5 μm. We use the Sonora Elf Owl atmospheric grid to fit the observed spectra of a sample of nine early to late T-type objects from T_eff = 550–1150 K. We find evidence for very inefficient vertical mixing in these objects, with inferred K_zz values lying in the range between ∼10¹ and 10⁴ cm² s⁻¹. Using self-consistent models, we find that this slow vertical mixing is due to the observations, which probe mixing in the deep detached radiative zone in these atmospheres.

The era of the James Webb Space Telescope ushers stellar population models into uncharted territories, particularly at the high-redshift frontier. In a companion paper, we apply the Prospector Bayesian framework to jointly infer galaxy redshifts and stellar population properties from broadband photometry as part of the UNCOVER survey. Here we present a comprehensive error budget in spectral energy distribution (SED) modeling. Using a sample selected to have photometric redshifts higher than 9, we quantify the systematic shifts stemming from various model choices in inferred stellar mass, star formation rate (SFR), and age. These choices encompass different timescales for changes in the star formation history (SFH), nonuniversal stellar initial mass functions (IMF), and the inclusion of variable nebular abundances, gas density, and ionizing photon budget. We find that the IMF exerts the strongest influence on the inferred properties: the systematic uncertainties can be as much as 1 dex, 2–5 times larger than the formal reported uncertainties in mass and SFR, and importantly, exceed the scatter seen when using different SED fitting codes. Although the assumptions on the lower end of the IMF induce degeneracy, our findings suggest that a common practice in the literature of assessing uncertainties in SED-fitting processes by comparing multiple codes is substantively underestimating the true systematic uncertainty. Highly stochastic SFHs change the inferred SFH by much larger than the formal uncertainties, and introduce ∼0.8 dex systematics in SFR averaged over a short timescale and ∼0.3 dex systematics in average age. Finally, employing a flexible nebular emission model causes ∼0.2 dex systematic increase in mass and SFR, comparable to the formal uncertainty. This paper constitutes an initial step toward a complete uncertainty estimate in SED modeling.

Supermassive black holes can experience super-Eddington peak mass fallback rates following the tidal disruption of a star. The theoretical expectation is that part of the infalling material is expelled by means of an accretion disk wind, whose observational signature includes blueshifted absorption lines of highly ionized species in X-ray spectra. To date, however, only one such ultrafast outflow (UFO) has been reported in the tidal disruption event (TDE) ASASSN–14li. Here we report on the discovery of a transient absorption-like signature in X-ray spectra of the TDE AT2020ksf/Gaia20cjk (at a redshift of z = 0.092), following an X-ray brightening ∼230 days after UV/optical peak. We find that while no statistically significant absorption features are present initially, they appear on a timescale of several days and remain detected up to 770 days after peak. Simple thermal continuum models, combined with a power-law or neutral absorber, do not describe these features well. Adding a partial-covering, low-velocity ionized absorber improves the fit at early times but fails at late times. A high-velocity (v_w ∼ 42,000 km s⁻¹), ionized absorber (UFO) provides a good fit to all data. The few-day timescale of variability is consistent with expectations for a clumpy wind. We discuss several scenarios that could explain the X-ray delay, as well as the potential for larger-scale wind feedback. The serendipitous nature of the discovery could suggest a high incidence of UFOs in TDEs, alleviating some of the tension with theoretical expectations.

We present SCUBA-2/POL-2 850 μm polarimetric observations of the circumstellar envelope (CSE) of the carbon-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star IRC+10216. Both far-IR (FIR) and optical polarization data indicate grains aligned with their long axis in the radial direction relative to the central star. The 850 μm polarization does not show this simple structure. The 850 μm data are indicative, albeit not conclusive, of a magnetic dipole geometry. Assuming such a simple dipole geometry, the resulting 850 μm polarization geometry is consistent with both Zeeman observations and small-scale structure in the CSE. While there is significant spectral-line polarization contained within the SCUBA-2 850 μm passband for the source, it is unlikely that our broadband polarization results are dominated by line polarization. To explain the required grain alignment, grain mineralogy effects, due to either fossil silicate grains from the earlier oxygen-rich AGB phase of the star or due to the incorporation of ferromagnetic inclusions in the largest grains, may play a role. We argue that the most likely explanation is due to a new alignment mechanism wherein a charged grain, moving relative to the magnetic field, precesses around the induced electric field and therefore aligns with the magnetic field. This mechanism is particularly attractive as the optical, FIR, and submillimeter-wave polarization of the carbon dust can then be explained in a consistent way, differing simply due to the charge state of the grains.