-
The Classification and Formation Rate of Swift/BAT Gamma-Ray Bursts Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-19 Juan-Juan Luo, Liang Zhang, Li-Yun Zhang, Yong-Feng Huang, Jia-Quan Lin, Jun-Wang Lu and Xiao-Fei Dong
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are usually classified into long/short categories according to their durations, but controversy still exists in this aspect. Here we reexamine the long/short classification of GRBs and further compare the cosmological distribution and evolution of each potential subclass. A large number of Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) GRBs are analyzed in this study. The Gaussian mixture
-
PDS 70b Shows Stellar-like Carbon-to-oxygen Ratio Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-18 Chih-Chun Hsu, Jason J. Wang, 劲飞 王, Geoffrey A. Blake, Jerry W. Xuan, Yapeng Zhang, Jean-Baptiste Ruffio, Katelyn Horstman, Julianne Cronin, Ben Sappey, Yinzi Xin, Luke Finnerty, Daniel Echeverri, Dimitri Mawet, Nemanja Jovanovic, Clarissa R. Do Ó, Ashley Baker, Randall Bartos, Benjamin Calvin, Sylvain Cetre, Jacques-Robert Delorme, Gregory W. Doppmann, Michael P. Fitzgerald, Joshua Liberman, Ronald
The ~5 Myr PDS 70 is the only known system with protoplanets residing in the cavity of the circumstellar disk from which they formed, ideal for studying exoplanet formation and evolution within its natal environment. Here, we report the first spin constraint and C/O measurement of PDS 70b from Keck/KPIC high-resolution spectroscopy. We detected CO (3.8σ) and H2O (3.5σ) molecules in the PDS 70b atmosphere
-
Protosolar D-to-H Abundance and One Part per Billion PH3 in the Coldest Brown Dwarf Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-18 Melanie J. Rowland, Caroline V. Morley, Brittany E. Miles, Genaro Suarez, Jacqueline K. Faherty, Andrew J. Skemer, Samuel A. Beiler, Michael R. Line, Gordon L. Bjoraker, Jonathan J. Fortney, Johanna M. Vos, Sherelyn Alejandro Merchan, Mark Marley, Ben Burningham, Richard Freedman, Ehsan Gharib-Nezhad, Natasha Batalha, Roxana Lupu, Channon Visscher, Adam C. Schneider, T. R. Geballe, Aarynn Carter, Katelyn
The coldest Y spectral type brown dwarfs are similar in mass and temperature to cool and warm (∼200–400 K) giant exoplanets. We can therefore use their atmospheres as proxies for planetary atmospheres, testing our understanding of physics and chemistry for these complex, cool worlds. At these cold temperatures, their atmospheres are cold enough for water clouds to form, and chemical timescales increase
-
The Newly Discovered Nova Super-remnant Surrounding Recurrent Nova T Coronae Borealis: Will it Light Up during the Coming Eruption? Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-18 Michael M. Shara, Kenneth M. Lanzetta, Alexandra Masegian, James T. Garland, Stefan Gromoll, Joanna Mikolajewska, Mikita Misiura, David Valls-Gabaud, Frederick M. Walter and John K. Webb
A century or less separates the thermonuclear-powered eruptions of recurrent novae (RNe) in the hydrogen-rich envelopes of massive white dwarfs. The colliding ejecta of successive RN events are predicted to always generate very large (tens of parsecs) super-remnants; only two examples are currently known. T CrB offers an excellent opportunity to test this prediction. As it will almost certainly undergo
-
[C ii] Properties and Far-infrared Variability of a z = 7 Blazar Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-18 Eduardo Bañados, Yana Khusanova, Roberto Decarli, Emmanuel Momjian, Fabian Walter, Thomas Connor, Christopher L. Carilli, Chiara Mazzucchelli, Sofía Rojas-Ruiz and Bram P. Venemans
We present millimeter observations of the host galaxy of the most distant blazar known, VLASS J041009.05−013919.88 (hereafter J0410–0139) at z = 7, using Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) observations. The ALMA data reveal a (2.02 ± 0.36) × 1042 erg s−1 [C ii] 158 μm emission line at z = 6.9964 with a [C ii]-inferred star formation rate
-
Double “acct”: A Distinct Double-peaked Supernova Matching Pulsational Pair Instability Models Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-17 C. R. Angus, S. E. Woosley, R. J. Foley, M. Nicholl, V. A. Villar, K. Taggart, M. Pursiainen, P. Ramsden, S. Srivastav, H. F. Stevance, T. Moore, K. Auchettl, W. B. Hoogendam, N. Khetan, S. K. Yadavalli, G. Dimitriadis, A. Gagliano, M. R. Siebert, A. Aamer, T. de Boer, K. C. Chambers, A. Clocchiatti, D. A. Coulter, M. R. Drout, D. Farias, M. D. Fulton, C. Gall, H. Gao, L. Izzo, D. O. Jones, C.-C. Lin
We present multiwavelength data of SN 2020acct, a double-peaked stripped-envelope supernova (SN) in NGC 2981 at ∼150 Mpc. The two peaks are temporally distinct, with maxima separated by 58 rest-frame days and a factor of 20 reduction in flux between. The first is luminous (Mr = −18.00 ± 0.02 mag) and blue (g − r = 0.27 ± 0.03 mag) and displays spectroscopic signatures of interaction with hydrogen-free
-
Energy Dissipation in Strong Collisionless Shocks: The Crucial Role of Ion-to-electron Scale Separation in Particle-in-cell Simulations Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-16 Mohamad Shalaby
Energy dissipation in collisionless shocks is a key mechanism in various astrophysical environments. Its nonlinear nature complicates analytical understanding and necessitates particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. This study examines the impact of reducing the ion-to-electron mass ratio (mr), to decrease computational cost, on energy partitioning in one spatial and three velocity-space dimension PIC
-
Be Careful in Multimessenger Inference of the Hubble Constant: A Path Forward for Robust Inference Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-16 Michael Müller, Suvodip Mukherjee and Geoffrey Ryan
Multimessenger observations of coalescing binary neutron stars (BNSs) using gravitational-wave (GW) and electromagnetic- (EM) wave signals are a direct probe of the expansion history of the Universe and carry the potential to shed light on the disparity between low- and high-redshift measurements of the Hubble constant H0. To measure the value of H0 with such observations requires pristine inference
-
Can Slow Pulsars in Milky Way Globular Clusters Form via Partial Recycling? Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-16 Kyle Kremer, Claire S. Ye, Craig O. Heinke, Anthony L. Piro, Scott M. Ransom and Frederic A. Rasio
Alongside the population of several hundred radio millisecond pulsars currently known in Milky Way globular clusters, a subset of six slowly spinning pulsars (spin periods 0.3–4 s) are also observed. With inferred magnetic fields ≳1011 G and characteristic ages ≲108 yr, explaining the formation of these apparently young pulsars in old stellar populations poses a major challenge. One popular explanation
-
Bye-bye, Local-in-matter-density Bias: The Statistics of the Halo Field Are Poorly Determined by the Local Mass Density Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-16 Deaglan J. Bartlett, Matthew Ho and Benjamin D. Wandelt
Bias models relating the dark matter field to the spatial distribution of halos are widely used in current cosmological analyses. Many models predict halos purely from the local Eulerian matter density, yet bias models in perturbation theory require other local properties. We assess the validity of assuming that only the local dark matter density can be used to predict the number density of halos in
-
Robust Detection of Hot Intragroup Medium in Optically Selected, Poor Galaxy Groups by eROSITA Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-13 Dawei Li, Taotao Fang, Chong Ge, Teng Liu, Lin He, Zhiyuan Li, Fabrizio Nicastro, Xiaohu Yang, Xiaoxia Zhang and Yun-Liang Zheng
Over the last several decades, extensive research has been conducted on the baryon cycles within cosmic structures, encompassing a broad mass range from dwarf galaxies to galaxy clusters. However, a notable gap in understanding the cosmic baryon cycle is the poor galaxy groups with halo masses around 1013 M⊙. Poor galaxy groups, like our own Local Group, are prevalent throughout the Universe, yet robust
-
The Shape of the Heliosphere Derived from the IBEX Ribbon Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-13 Shuai Zhang, Kaijun Liu, Quanqi Shi, Anmin Tian and Fei Yao
The shape of the heliosphere remains largely uncertain due to the lack of in situ measurements. However, the energetic neutral atom (ENA) ribbon structure discovered by the Interstellar Boundary EXplorer (IBEX) satellite provides a new perspective. The present study reveals that the IBEX ribbon ENA flux, observed over a full solar cycle, correlates well with the solar wind ion flux measured at 1 au
-
Millinovae: A New Class of Transient Supersoft X-Ray Sources without a Classical Nova Eruption Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-12 Przemek Mróz, Krzysztof Król, Hélène Szegedi, Philip Charles, Kim L. Page, Andrzej Udalski, David A. H. Buckley, Gulab Dewangan, Pieter Meintjes, Michał K. Szymański, Igor Soszyński, Paweł Pietrukowicz, Szymon Kozłowski, Radosław Poleski, Jan Skowron, Krzysztof Ulaczyk, Mariusz Gromadzki, Krzysztof Rybicki, Patryk Iwanek, Marcin Wrona and Mateusz J. Mróz
Some accreting binary systems containing a white dwarf (such as classical novae or persistent supersoft sources) are seen to emit low-energy X-rays with temperatures of ∼ 106 K and luminosities exceeding 1035 erg s−1. These X-rays are thought to originate from nuclear burning on the white dwarf surface, either caused by a thermonuclear runaway (classical novae) or a high mass-accretion rate that sustains
-
Detailed Study of Stars and Gas in a z = 8.3 Massive Merger with Extreme Dust Conditions Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-12 Anishya Harshan, Roberta Tripodi, Nicholas S. Martis, Gregor Rihtaršič, Maruša Bradač, Yoshihisa Asada, Gabe Brammer, Guillaume Desprez, Vince Estrada-Carpenter, Jasleen Matharu, Vladan Markov, Adam Muzzin, Lamiya Mowla, Gaël Noirot, Ghassan T. E. Sarrouh, Marcin Sawicki, Victoria Strait and Chris Willott
We present galaxy MACS0416-Y1 at zspec = 8.312 as observed by the CAnadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey. MACS0416-Y1 has been shown to have extreme dust properties; thus, we study the physical properties and star formation histories of its resolved components. Overall, we find that MACS0416-Y1 is undergoing a star formation burst in three resolved clumps. The central clump is less massive compared
-
Potential for Life to Exist and be Detected on Earth-like Planets Orbiting White Dwarfs Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-12 Caldon T. Whyte, L. H. Quiroga-Nuñez, Manasvi Lingam and Paola Pinilla
With recent observations confirming exoplanets orbiting white dwarfs, there is growing interest in exploring and quantifying the habitability of temperate rocky planets around white dwarfs. In this work, the limits of the habitable zone of an Earth-like planet around a white dwarf are computed based on the incident stellar flux, and these limits are utilized to assess the duration of habitability at
-
The XRISM/Resolve View of the Fe K Region of Cyg X-3 Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-11 XRISM Collaboration, Marc Audard, Hisamitsu Awaki, Ralf Ballhausen, Aya Bamba, Ehud Behar, Rozenn Boissay-Malaquin, Laura Brenneman, Gregory V. Brown, Lia Corrales, Elisa Costantini, Renata Cumbee, María Díaz Trigo, Chris Done, Tadayasu Dotani, Ken Ebisawa, Megan E. Eckart, Dominique Eckert, Satoshi Eguchi, Teruaki Enoto, Yuichiro Ezoe, Adam Foster, Ryuichi Fujimoto, Yutaka Fujita, Yasushi Fukazawa
The X-ray binary system Cygnus X-3 (4U 2030+40, V1521 Cyg) is luminous but enigmatic owing to the high intervening absorption. High-resolution X-ray spectroscopy uniquely probes the dynamics of the photoionized gas in the system. In this Letter, we report on an observation of Cyg X-3 with the XRISM/Resolve spectrometer, which provides unprecedented spectral resolution and sensitivity in the 2–10 keV
-
Atmospheric Abundances and Bulk Properties of the Binary Brown Dwarf Gliese 229Bab from JWST/MIRI Spectroscopy Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-11 Jerry W. Xuan, Marshall D. Perrin, Dimitri Mawet, Heather A. Knutson, Sagnick Mukherjee, Yapeng Zhang, Kielan K. W. Hoch, Jason J. Wang, Julie Inglis, Nicole L. Wallack and Jean-Baptiste Ruffio
We present JWST/Mid Infrared Instrument (MIRI) low-resolution spectroscopy (4.75–14 μm) of the first known substellar companion, Gliese 229Bab, which was recently resolved into a tight binary brown dwarf. Previous atmospheric retrieval studies modeling Gliese 229B as a single brown dwarf have reported anomalously high carbon-to-oxygen ratios (C/O) of ≈1.1 using 1–5 μm ground-based spectra. Here, we
-
A New View of the Spiral Structure of the Northern Outer Milky Way in Carbon Monoxide Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-11 Yan Sun, Ji Yang, Shaobo Zhang, Qing-Zeng Yan, Yang Su, Xuepeng Chen, Xin Zhou, Ye Xu, Hongchi Wang, Min Wang, Zhibo Jiang, Ji-Xian Sun, Deng-Rong Lu, Bing-Gang Ju, Xu-Guo Zhang and Min Wang
Based on 32,162 molecular clouds from the Milky Way Imaging Scroll Painting project, we obtain new face-on molecular gas maps of the northern outer Galaxy. The total molecular gas surface density map reveals three segments of spirals, extending 16–43 kpc in length. The Perseus and Outer arms stand out prominently, appearing as quasi-continuous structures along most of their length. At the Galactic
-
ALMA Detection of [O iii] 88 μm at z = 12.33: Exploring the Nature and Evolution of GHZ2 as a Massive Compact Stellar System Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-10 Jorge A. Zavala, Tom Bakx, Ikki Mitsuhashi, Marco Castellano, Antonello Calabro, Hollis Akins, Veronique Buat, Caitlin M. Casey, David Fernandez-Arenas, Maximilien Franco, Adriano Fontana, Bunyo Hatsukade, Luis C. Ho, Ryota Ikeda, Jeyhan Kartaltepe, Anton M. Koekemoer, Jed McKinney, Lorenzo Napolitano, Pablo G. Pérez-González, Paola Santini, Stephen Serjeant, Elena Terlevich, Roberto Terlevich and
We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations on the high-redshift galaxy GHZ2 and report a successful detection of the rest-frame 88 μm atomic transition from doubly ionized oxygen at z = 12.3327 ± 0.0035. Based on these observations, combined with additional constraints on the [O iii] 52 μm line luminosity and previous JWST data, we argue that GHZ2 is likely powered by compact
-
A Magnetic Pressure Difference Rule on Moving Bipolar Pores Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-10 Merlin Malonzo Mendoza and Chia-Hsien Lin
Solar pores are transient dark spots in the continuum images of the Sun. Their dynamics are closely associated with solar magnetic fields and plasma motion. Their motions have been found to be correlated with their magnetic pressure differences. This work is aimed to investigate possible reasons for this correlation. Our examination of 19 pairs of bipolar pores reveals a magnetic pressure difference
-
On the Geometry of the Near-core Magnetic Field in Massive Stars Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-10 R. P. Ratnasingam, P. V. F. Edelmann, D. M. Bowman and T. M. Rogers
It is well-known that the cores of massive stars sustain a stellar dynamo with a complex magnetic field configuration. However, the same cannot be said for the field's strength and geometry at the convective–radiative boundary, which are crucial when performing asteroseismic inference. In this Letter, we present 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of a 7 M⊙ mid-main-sequence star, with particular
-
131 and 304 Å Emission Variability Increases Hours Prior to Solar Flare Onset Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-06 Kara L. Kniezewski, E. I. Mason, Vadim M. Uritsky and Seth H. Garland
Thermal changes in coronal loops are well studied, both in quiescent active regions and in flaring scenarios. However, relatively little attention has been paid to loop emission in the hours before the onset of a solar flare; here, we present the findings of a study of over 50 off-limb flares of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite class C5.0 and above. We investigated the integrated emission
-
An Eccentric Binary with a Misaligned Circumbinary Disk Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-06 Zhecheng Hu, 哲程 胡, Wei Zhu, 伟 祝, Fei Dai, 飞 戴, Ping Chen, 平 陈, Yang Huang, 样 黄, Min Fang, 敏 房 and Richard S. Post
We present spectroscopic and photometric observations of Bernhard-2, which was previously identified as a candidate system that hosts a misaligned circumbinary disk. Our spectroscopic measurements confirm that Bernhard-2 indeed contains an eccentric (e = 0.69 ± 0.08) binary and thus that the periodic variability in the photometric light curve is best explained by the occultation by the misaligned circumbinary
-
Theoretical Studies on the Evolution of Solar Filaments in Response to New Emerging Flux Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-06 Yuhao Chen, Jialiang Hu, Guanchong Cheng, Jing Ye, Zhixing Mei, Chengcai Shen and Jun Lin
New emerging flux (NEF) has long been considered a mechanism for solar eruptions, but the detailed process remains an open question. In this work, we explore how NEF drives a coronal magnetic configuration to erupt. This configuration is created by two magnetic sources of strengths M and S embedded in the photosphere, one electric-current-carrying flux rope (FR) floating in the corona, and an electric
-
Comprehensive Study of Near-Earth Asteroid 2024 MK: Testing Planetary Encounters as a Source for Surface Refreshing Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-06 Lauren E. McGraw, Cristina A. Thomas, Tim A. Lister, Becky J. Williams, Andy S. Rivkin, Bryan Holler and Leslie A. Young
Near-Earth object 2024 MK was discovered on 2024 June 16, less than 2 weeks before it made a sub-lunar-distance close approach. This close approach provided an ideal opportunity to determine how planetary encounters affect asteroid surfaces in preparation for the numerous missions to (99942) Apophis during its close approach in 2029. We collected spectroscopic data before and after its close approach
-
The Small Sizes and High Implied Densities of “Little Red Dots” with Balmer Breaks Could Explain Their Broad Emission Lines without an Active Galactic Nucleus Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-06 Josephine F. W. Baggen, Pieter van Dokkum, Gabriel Brammer, Anna de Graaff, Marijn Franx, Jenny Greene, Ivo Labbé, Joel Leja, Michael V. Maseda, Erica J. Nelson, Hans-Walter Rix, Bingjie Wang, 冰洁 王 and Andrea Weibel
Early JWST studies found an apparent population of massive, compact galaxies at redshifts z ≳ 7. Recently three of these galaxies were shown to have prominent Balmer breaks, demonstrating that their light at λrest ∼ 3500 Å is dominated by a stellar population that is relatively old (∼200 Myr). All three also have broad Hβ emission with σ > 1000 km s−1, a common feature of such “little red dots.” From
-
Silicon Isotopic Composition of Mainstream Presolar SiC Grains Revisited: The Impact of Nuclear Reaction Rate Uncertainties Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-05 Hung Kwan Fok, Marco Pignatari, Benoît Côté and Reto Trappitsch
Presolar grains are stardust particles that condensed in the ejecta or in the outflows of dying stars and can today be extracted from meteorites. They recorded the nucleosynthetic fingerprint of their parent stars and thus serve as valuable probes of these astrophysical sites. The most common types of presolar silicon carbide grains (called mainstream SiC grains) condensed in the outflows of asymptotic
-
Detection of Gas Inflow during the Onset of a Starburst in a Low-mass Galaxy at z = 2.45 Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-05 Erin Coleman, Keerthi Vasan G.C., Yuguang Chen, 昱光 陈, Tucker Jones, Sunny Rhoades, Richard Ellis, Dan Stark, Nicha Leethochawalit, Ryan Sanders, Kris Mortensen, Karl Glazebrook and Glenn G. Kacprzak
The baryon cycle is crucial for understanding galaxy formation, as gas inflows and outflows vary throughout a galaxy’s lifetime and affect its star formation rate. Despite the necessity of accretion for galaxy growth at high redshifts, direct observations of inflowing gas have proven elusive, especially at z ≳ 2. We present a spectroscopic analysis of a galaxy at redshift z = 2.45, which exhibits signs
-
ALMA Observations of the Gamma-Ray Binary System PSR B1259-63/LS 2883 during the 2024 Periastron Passage Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-05 Yutaka Fujita, Akiko Kawachi, Atsuo T. Okazaki, Hiroshi Nagai, Norita Kawanaka and Takuya Akahori
We present observations of the gamma-ray binary PSR B1259-63/LS 2883 with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) at Band 3 (97 GHz), Band 6 (233 GHz), and Band 7 (343 GHz). PSR B1259-63/LS 2883 consists of a pulsar in a highly eccentric orbit around a massive companion star, with the pulsar passing through the circumstellar disk near periastron. Our new data were obtained over several
-
Acceleration of Ultra-high-energy Cosmic Rays in the Kiloparsec-scale Jets of Nearby Radio Galaxies Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-05 Jie-Shuang Wang, 界双 王, Brian Reville, Frank M. Rieger and Felix A. Aharonian
Radio galaxies have long been considered as potential sources of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). Recent analyses of the UHECR spectrum, composition, and arrival directions indicate that the nearest radio galaxy, Centaurus A, could be linked to the reported dipole anisotropy, though the mechanism underlying the acceleration remains elusive. In this Letter, we explore UHECR acceleration in the
-
Observed Fluctuation Enhancement and Departure from WKB Theory in Sub-Alfvénic Solar Wind Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-05 David Ruffolo, Panisara Thepthong, Peera Pongkitiwanichakul, Sohom Roy, Francesco Pecora, Riddhi Bandyopadhyay, Rohit Chhiber, Arcadi V. Usmanov, Michael Stevens, Samuel Badman, Orlando Romeo, Jiaming Wang, 嘉明 王, Joshua Goodwill, Melvyn L. Goldstein and William H. Matthaeus
Using Parker Solar Probe data from orbits 8 through 17, we examine fluctuation amplitudes throughout the critical region where the solar wind flow speed approaches and then exceeds the Alfvén wave speed, taking account of various exigencies of the plasma data. In contrast to WKB theory for noninteracting Alfvén waves streaming away from the Sun, the magnetic and kinetic fluctuation energies per unit
-
Detection of the Orbital Modulation of Fe Kα Fluorescence Emission in Centaurus X-3 Using the High-resolution Spectrometer Resolve on board XRISM Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-05 Yuto Mochizuki, Masahiro Tsujimoto, Richard L. Kelley, Bert Vander Meulen, Teruaki Enoto, Yutaro Nagai, Chris Done, Pragati Pradhan, Natalie Hell, Katja Pottschmidt, Ken Ebisawa and Ehud Behar
The Fe Kα fluorescence line emission in X-ray spectra is a powerful diagnostic tool for various astrophysical objects to reveal the distribution of cold matter around photoionizing sources. The advent of the X-ray microcalorimeter on board the XRISM satellite will bring new constraints on the emission line. We present one of the first such results for the high-mass X-ray binary Centaurus X-3, which
-
Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays Accelerated by Magnetically Dominated Turbulence Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-04 Luca Comisso, Glennys R. Farrar and Marco S. Muzio
Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs), particles characterized by energies exceeding 1018 eV, are generally believed to be accelerated electromagnetically in high-energy astrophysical sources. One promising mechanism of UHECR acceleration is magnetized turbulence. We demonstrate from first principles, using fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations, that magnetically dominated turbulence accelerates
-
Dominance of 2 Minute Oscillations near the Alfvén Surface Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-03 Zesen Huang, 泽森 黄, Marco Velli, Chen Shi, 辰 时, Yingjie Zhu, 英杰 朱, B. D. G. Chandran, Trevor Bowen, Victor Réville, Jia Huang, 佳 黄, Chuanpeng Hou, 传鹏 侯, Nikos Sioulas, Mingzhe Liu, 明哲 刘, Marc Pulupa, Sheng Huang, 胜 黄 and Stuart D. Bale
Alfvén waves, considered one of the primary candidates for heating and accelerating the fast solar wind, are ubiquitous in spacecraft observations, yet their origin remains elusive. In this study, we analyze data from the first 19 encounters of the Parker Solar Probe and report the dominance of 2 minute oscillations near the Alfvén surface. The frequency-rectified trace magnetic power spectral density
-
Information-theory-based System-level Babcock–Leighton Flux Transport Model–Data Comparisons Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-04 Simon Wing, Jay R. Johnson, Mausumi Dikpati and Yosia I. Nurhan
System-level Babcock–Leighton flux transport model–data comparisons are performed using information theory. The model is run with a maximum meridional flow speed of 16.5 m s−1 with the flow speed systematically varied by 20% (BLFT20) and 50% (BLFT50). Overall, the comparisons show that the models qualitatively capture much of the information flow among the toroidal field (sunspot number), polar field
-
XMM-Newton High-resolution Spectroscopy of EXO 0748–676 after Its Reemergence from a Long Quiescence Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-03 Sayantan Bhattacharya, Sudip Bhattacharyya and Gargi Shaw
EXO 0748–676 is a well-studied, high-inclination, dipping and eclipsing neutron star low-mass X-ray binary that has recently emerged from 16 yr of quiescence into a new outburst. We present results from 55.5 ks of XMM-Newton observation, focusing on high-resolution spectroscopy with the same instrument (the Reflection Grating Spectrometer) that produced significant insights during the previous outburst
-
Fermi-LAT Detection of the Low-luminosity Radio Galaxy NGC 4278 during the LHAASO Campaign Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-03 Ettore Bronzini, Paola Grandi, Eleonora Torresi and Sara Buson
We present a study of the high-energy properties of the compact symmetric object NGC 4278, recently associated with a TeV source by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) collaboration. We conducted a dedicated analysis of a Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) region around NGC 4278, limited to the LHAASO campaign conducted from 2021 March to 2022 October. A statistically significant
-
Partial Alignment of Astrometric Position Excursions of International Celestial Reference Frame Quasars with Radio Jet Structures Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-03 Valeri V. Makarov, Phil Cigan, David Gordon, Megan C. Johnson, Christopher DiLullo and Sébastien Lambert
Published analyses of very long baseline interferometry data for the sources included in the third International Celestial Reference Frame catalog have revealed object-specific, excess astrometric variability and quasi-coherent trajectories as functions of time. A fraction of these sources show markedly elongated distributions of positions on the sky measured with diurnal observations. Here we apply
-
Two Novel Hot Jupiter Formation Pathways: How White Dwarf Kicks Shape the Hot Jupiter Population Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-03 Alexander P. Stephan, David V. Martin, Smadar Naoz, Nathan R. Hughes and Cheyanne Shariat
The origin of Hot Jupiters (HJs) is disputed between a variety of in situ and ex situ formation scenarios. One of the early proposed ex situ scenarios was the Eccentric Kozai–Lidov (EKL) mechanism combined with tidal circularization, which can produce HJs with the aid of a stellar or planetary companion. However, observations have revealed a lack of stellar companions to HJs, which challenges the importance
-
Evaluation of Several Explanations of the Strong X-Ray Polarization of the Black Hole X-Ray Binary 4U 1630-47 Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-02 Henric Krawczynski, Yajie Yuan, Alexander Y. Chen, Kun Hu, Nicole Rodriguez Cavero, Sohee Chun, Ephraim Gau, James F. Steiner and Michal Dovčiak
The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer observations of the X-ray binary 4U 1630–47 in the high soft state revealed high linear polarization degrees (PDs) rising from 6% at 2 keV to 10% at 8 keV. We discuss in this Letter three different mechanisms that impact the polarization of the observed X-rays: the reflection of gravitationally lensed emission by the accretion disk, reprocessing of the emission
-
Reliable Transmission Spectrum Extraction with a Three-parameter Limb-darkening Law Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-02 Rosa E. Keers, Alexander I. Shapiro, Nadiia M. Kostogryz, Ana Glidden, Prajwal Niraula, Benjamin V. Rackham, Sara Seager, Sami K. Solanki, Yvonne C. Unruh, Valeriy Vasilyev and Julien de Wit
Stellar limb darkening must be properly accounted for to accurately determine the radii of exoplanets at various wavelengths. The standard approach to address limb darkening involves either using laws with coefficients from modeled stellar spectra or determining the coefficients empirically during light-curve fitting of the data. Here, we test how accurately three common laws—quadratic, power, and
-
FAST H i 21 cm Study of Blueberry Galaxies Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-02 Yogesh Chandola, Chao-Wei Tsai, D. J. Saikia, Guodong Li, Di Li and Yin-Zhe Ma
Green Peas (GPs) and blueberry galaxies (BBs) are thought to be local analogs (z < 0.1) of high redshift Lyα emitters. H i study of these can help us understand the star formation in the primordial Universe. In this Letter, we present the results of H i 21 cm study of 28 high specific star formation rate (sSFR ≳ 10−8yr −1) BBs at z ≲ 0.05 with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope
-
The Impact of Shear on Disk Galaxy Star Formation Rates Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-02 Xena Fortune-Bashee, Jiayi Sun, 嘉懿 孙 and Jonathan C. Tan
Determining the physical processes that control galactic-scale star formation rates is essential for an improved understanding of galaxy evolution. The role of orbital shear is currently unclear, with some models expecting reduced star formation rates and efficiencies with increasing shear, e.g., if shear stabilizes gas against gravitational collapse, while others predicting enhanced rates, e.g., if
-
Three Quenched, Faint Dwarf Galaxies in the Direction of NGC 300: New Probes of Reionization and Internal Feedback Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-12-02 David J. Sand, Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil, Michael G. Jones, Ananthan Karunakaran, Jennifer E. Andrews, Paul Bennet, Denija Crnojević, Giuseppe Donatiello, Alex Drlica-Wagner, Catherine Fielder, David Martínez-Delgado, Clara E. Martínez-Vázquez, Kristine Spekkens, Amandine Doliva-Dolinsky, Laura C. Hunter, Jeffrey L. Carlin, William Cerny, Tehreem N. Hai, Kristen B.W. McQuinn, Andrew B. Pace and Adam Smercina
We report the discovery of three faint and ultrafaint dwarf galaxies—Sculptor A, Sculptor B, and Sculptor C—in the direction of NGC 300 (D = 2.0 Mpc), a Large Magellanic Cloud–mass galaxy. Deep ground-based imaging with Gemini/GMOS resolves all three dwarf galaxies into stars, each displaying a red giant branch indicative of an old, metal-poor stellar population. No young stars or H i gas are apparent
-
A Repeating Fast Radio Burst Source in a Low-luminosity Dwarf Galaxy Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-11-29 Danté M. Hewitt, Mohit Bhardwaj, Alexa C. Gordon, Aida Kirichenko, Kenzie Nimmo, Shivani Bhandari, Ismaël Cognard, Wen-fai Fong, Armando Gil de Paz, Akshatha Gopinath, Jason W. T. Hessels, Franz Kirsten, Benito Marcote, Vladislavs Bezrukovs, Richard Blaauw, Justin D. Bray, Salvatore Buttaccio, Tomas Cassanelli, Pragya Chawla, Alessandro Corongiu, William Deng, Hannah N. Didehbani, Yuxin Dong, Marcin
We present the localization and host galaxy of FRB 20190208A, a repeating source of fast radio bursts (FRBs) discovered using CHIME/FRB. As part of the Pinpointing REpeating ChIme Sources with EVN dishes repeater localization program on the European VLBI Network (EVN), we monitored FRB 20190208A for 65.6 hr at ∼1.4 GHz and detected a single burst, which led to its very long baseline interferometry
-
Quantitative Constraint on the Contribution of Resolved Gamma-Ray Sources to the Sub-PeV Galactic Diffuse Gamma-Ray Flux Measured by the Tibet ASγ Experiment Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-11-28 S. Kato, M. Anzorena, D. Chen, K. Fujita, R. Garcia, J. Huang, G. Imaizumi, T. Kawashima, K. Kawata, A. Mizuno, M. Ohnishi, T. Sako, T. K. Sako, F. Sugimoto, M. Takita, Y. Yokoe
Motivated by the difference between the fluxes of sub-PeV Galactic diffuse gamma-ray emission (GDE) measured by the Tibet ASγ experiment and the LHAASO collaboration, our study constrains the contribution to the GDE flux measured by Tibet ASγ from the sub-PeV gamma-ray sources in the first LHAASO catalog plus the Cygnus Cocoon. After removing the gamma-ray emission of the sources masked in the observation
-
Black Hole Scaling Relations in the Dwarf-galaxy Regime with Gaia-Sausage/Enceladus and ωCentauri Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-11-28 Guilherme Limberg
The discovery of fast moving stars in Milky Way’s most massive globular cluster, ωCentauri (ωCen), has provided strong evidence for an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH). However, ωCen is known to be the stripped nuclear star cluster (NSC) of an ancient, now-destroyed, dwarf galaxy. The best candidate to be the original host progenitor of ωCen is the tidally disrupted dwarf Gaia-Sausage/Enceladus
-
Slow Rotation for the Super-puff Planet Kepler-51d Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-11-28 Caleb Lammers, Joshua N. Winn
Super-puffs are low-density planets of unknown origin and composition. If they form by accreting nebular gas through a circumplanetary disk, one might expect super-puffs to be spinning quickly. Here, we derive upper limits on the rotational oblateness of the super-puff Kepler-51d, based on precise transit observations with the NIRSpec instrument on board the James Webb Space Telescope. The absence
-
An Extreme Radio Fluctuation of Pulsar B1929+10 Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-11-27 Zhengli Wang, Shunshun Cao, Jiguang Lu, Yulan Liu, Xun Shi, Jinchen Jiang, Enwei Liang, Weiyang Wang, Heng Xu, Renxin Xu
We report the detection of an extreme flux decrease accompanied by clear dispersion measure (DM) and rotation measure (RM) variations for pulsar B1929+10 during the 110 minute radio observation with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope. The radio flux decreases by 2–3 orders of magnitude within a rapid timescale of about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, the variations of DM and RM are approximately
-
The Truncated Circumgalactic Medium of the Large Magellanic Cloud* ∗ Based on archival observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained from the Data Archive at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555. Archival funding was associated with program 17053. Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-11-27 Sapna Mishra, Andrew J. Fox, Dhanesh Krishnarao, Scott Lucchini, Elena D’Onghia, Frances H. Cashman, Kathleen A. Barger, Nicolas Lehner, Jason Tumlinson
The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is the nearest massive galaxy to the Milky Way (MW). Its circumgalactic medium (CGM) is complex and multiphase, containing both stripped H i structures like the Magellanic Stream and Bridge and a diffuse warm corona seen in high-ion absorption. We analyze 28 active galactic nucleus sight lines passing within 35 kpc of the LMC with archival Hubble Space Telescope/Cosmic
-
Cross-field Diffusion Effects on Particle Transport in a Solar Coronal Flux Rope Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-11-27 Edin Husidic, Nicolas Wijsen, Luis Linan, Michaela Brchnelova, Rami Vainio, Stefaan Poedts
Solar energetic particles associated with solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are key agents of space weather phenomena, posing severe threats to spacecraft and astronauts. Recent observations by Parker Solar Probe indicate that the magnetic flux ropes of a CME can trap energetic particles and act as barriers, preventing other particles from crossing. In this Letter, we introduce the novel
-
Observational Signatures of Dust Traffic Jams in Polar-aligning Circumbinary Disks Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-11-27 Jeremy L. Smallwood, Rebecca Nealon, Hsi-Wei Yen, Christophe Pinte, Cristiano Longarini, Hossam Aly, Min-Kai Lin
Misaligned circumbinary disks will produce dust traffic jams during alignment or antialignment to the binary orbital plane. We conduct a hydrodynamical simulation of an initially misaligned circumbinary disk undergoing polar alignment with multiple dust species. Due to differential precession between the gas and dust components, multiple dust traffic jams are produced within the disk during polar alignment
-
X-Ray Weak Active Galactic Nuclei from Super-Eddington Accretion onto Infant Black Holes Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-11-27 Piero Madau, Francesco Haardt
A simple model for the X-ray weakness of James Webb Space Telescope–selected broad-line active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is proposed under the assumption that the majority of these sources are fed at super-Eddington accretion rates. In these conditions, the hot inner corona above the geometrically thin disk that is responsible for the emission of X-rays in “normal” AGNs will be embedded instead in a funnel-like
-
JWST/MIRI Detection of [Ne v], [Ne vi], and [O iv] Wind Emission in the O9 V Star 10 Lacertae Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-11-27 David R. Law, Calum Hawcroft, Linda J. Smith, Alexander W. Fullerton, Christopher J. Evans, Karl D. Gordon, Nimisha Kumari, Claus Leitherer
We report the detection of broad, flat-topped emission in the fine-structure lines of [Ne v], [Ne vi], and [O iv] in mid-infrared spectra of the O9 V star 10 Lacertae obtained with James Webb Space Telescope/Mid-Infrared Instrument. Optically thin emission in these high ions traces a hot, low-density component of the wind. The observed line fluxes imply a mass-loss rate of >3 × 10−8 M⊙ yr−1, which
-
Composition and Provenance of the Chang′e-6 Lunar Samples: Insights from the Simulation of the Impact Gardening Process Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-11-26 Yanze Su, Luyuan Xu, Meng-Hua Zhu, Xing-Li Cui
In 2024 June, China’s Chang′e-6 (CE-6) mission successfully returned 1935.3 grams of samples from the lunar farside for the first time. The origin and composition of the unique samples could offer valuable insights into fundamental questions on the Moon’s evolutional history. Besides the local materials of mare basalts, a certain quantity of foreign ejecta materials are expected in the samples, while
-
Ionized Gas Kinematics with FRESCO: An Extended, Massive, Rapidly Rotating Galaxy at z = 5.4 Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-11-26 Erica Nelson, Gabriel Brammer, Clara Giménez-Arteaga, Pascal A. Oesch, Rohan P. Naidu, Hannah Übler, Jasleen Matharu, Alice E. Shapley, Katherine E. Whitaker, Emily Wisnioski, Natascha M. Förster Schreiber, Renske Smit, Pieter van Dokkum, John Chisholm, Ryan Endsley, Abigail I. Hartley, Justus Gibson, Emma Giovinazzo, Garth Illingworth, Ivo Labbe, Michael V. Maseda, Jorryt Matthee, Alba Covelo Paz
With the remarkable sensitivity and resolution of JWST in the infrared, measuring rest-optical kinematics of galaxies at z > 5 has become possible for the first time. This study pilots a new method for measuring galaxy dynamics for highly multiplexed, unbiased samples by combining FRESCO NIRCam grism spectroscopy and JADES medium-band imaging. Here we present one of the first JWST kinematic measurements
-
Solar System Migration Points to a Renewed Concept: Galactic Habitable Orbits Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-11-26 Junichi Baba, Takuji Tsujimoto, Takayuki R. Saitoh
Astrophysical evidence suggests that the Sun was born near 5 kpc from the Galactic center, within the corotation radius of the Galactic bar, around 6–7 kpc. This presents challenges for outward migration due to the Jacobi energy constraint, preventing stars from easily overcoming the corotation barrier. In this study, we use test particle simulations to explore two possible migration pathways for the
-
Detection of Hidden Emissions in Two Rotating Radio Transients with High Surface Magnetic Fields Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-11-26 S. B. Zhang, X. Yang, J. J. Geng, Y. P. Yang, X. F. Wu
Rotating radio transients (RRATs) are neutron stars emitting sporadic radio pulses. The unique emission of RRATs has been proposed to resemble those of known pulsar types, such as extreme nulling pulsars or pulsars with giant pulses. However, the presence of additional radiation beyond these sporadic pulses remains unclear. Through high-sensitivity observations and extended tracking, we detected the
-
A 2.9 hr Periodic Radio Transient with an Optical Counterpart Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-11-26 N. Hurley-Walker, S. J. McSweeney, A. Bahramian, N. Rea, C. Horváth, S. Buchner, A. Williams, B. W. Meyers, Jay Strader, Elias Aydi, Ryan Urquhart, Laura Chomiuk, T. J. Galvin, F. Coti Zelati, Matthew Bailes
We present a long-period radio transient (GLEAM-X J0704−37) discovered to have an optical counterpart, consistent with a cool main-sequence star of spectral type M3. The radio periodicity occurs at the longest period yet found, 2.9 hr, and was discovered in archival low-frequency data from the Murchison Widefield Array. High time resolution observations from MeerKAT show that pulsations from the source
-
GRB 240529A: A Tale of Two Shocks Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2024-11-21 Tian-Rui Sun, Jin-Jun Geng, Jing-Zhi Yan, You-Dong Hu, Xue-Feng Wu, Alberto J. Castro-Tirado, Chao Yang, Yi-Ding Ping, Chen-Ran Hu, Fan Xu, Hao-Xuan Gao, Ji-An Jiang, Yan-Tian Zhu, Yongquan Xue, Ignacio Pérez-García, Si-Yu Wu, Emilio Fernández-García, María D. Caballero-García, Rubén Sánchez-Ramírez, Sergiy Guziy, I. Olivares, Carlos Jesus Pérez del Pulgar, A. Castellón, S. Castillo, Ding-Rong Xiong
Thanks to the rapidly increasing time-domain facilities, we are entering a golden era of research on gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). In this Letter, we report our observations of GRB 240529A with the Burst Optical Observer and Transient Exploring System, the 1.5 m telescope at Observatorio de Sierra Nevada, the 2.5 m Wide Field Survey Telescope of China, the Large Binocular Telescope, and the Telescopio Nazionale