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The Impact of Molecular Hydrogen Cooling on the Galaxy Formation Threshold Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-07
Ethan O. NadlerWe study the impact of molecular (H2) and atomic (H i) hydrogen cooling on the galaxy formation threshold. We calculate the fraction of dark matter (DM) halos that exceeds a critical mass required for star formation, Mcrit(z), as a function of their peak mass. By convolving analytic halo mass accretion histories (MAHs) with models for Mcrit(z), we predict that halos with peak virial masses below ∼108M⊙
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A Glimpse of the New Redshift Frontier through AS1063 Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-07
Vasily Kokorev, Hakim Atek, John Chisholm, Ryan Endsley, Iryna Chemerynska, Julian B. Muñoz, Lukas J. Furtak, Richard Pan, Danielle Berg, Seiji Fujimoto, Pascal A. Oesch, Andrea Weibel, Angela Adamo, Jeremy Blaizot, Rychard Bouwens, Miroslava Dessauges-Zavadsky, Gourav Khullar, Damien Korber, Ilias Goovaerts, Michelle Jecmen, Ivo Labbé, Floriane Leclercq, Rui Marques-Chaves, Charlotte Mason, KristenWe report the discovery of two galaxy candidates at redshifts between 15.7 < z < 16.4 in James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations from the GLIMPSE survey. These robust sources were identified using a combination of Lyman break selection and photometric redshift estimates. The ultradeep NIRCam imaging from GLIMPSE, combined with the strong gravitational lensing of the AS1063 galaxy cluster, allows
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Shear–Gravity Transition Determines the Steep Velocity Dispersion–Size Relation in Molecular Clouds: Confronting Analytical Formula with Observations Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-06
Yi-Heng Xie and Guang-Xing LiThe velocity dispersion–size relation (σv ∼ Rβ) is a crucial indicator of the dynamic properties of interstellar gas, where the slope is considered as β ∼ 0.5. Recent observations reveal a steep velocity dispersion–size relation with the slope β > 0.6, which cannot be explained by a single mechanism with only gravity (β ∼ 0.5) or shear (β ∼ 1). We present a two-component model to explain the steep
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Embers of Active Galactic Nuclei: Tidal Disruption Events and Quasiperiodic Eruptions Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-06
Ning Jiang and Zhen PanRecent observations have confirmed the direct association between tidal disruption events (TDEs) and quasiperiodic eruptions (QPEs). In addition, TDE hosts and QPE hosts are statistically found to be similar in their morphological properties and in the strong overrepresentation of poststarburst galaxies. Particularly, both of them show an intriguing preference for extending emission line regions, which
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The Importance of Berry Phase in Solar Acoustic Modes Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-06
Armand Leclerc and Guillaume LaibeAn analytic expression for the frequencies of standing waves in stars, applicable to any radial order n, is derived from ray-tracing equations by the mean of Wigner–Weyl calculus. A correction to previous formulas currently employed in asteroseismology is identified as the Berry phase, which accounts for the vectorial nature of wave propagation in stars. Accounting for this quantity significantly improves
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A Lower Mass Estimate for PSR J0348+0432 Based on CHIME/Pulsar Precision Timing Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-06
Alexander Saffer, Emmanuel Fonseca, Scott Ransom, Ingrid Stairs, Ryan Lynch, Deborah Good, Kiyoshi W. Masui, James W. McKee, Bradley W. Meyers, Swarali Shivraj Patil and Chia Min TanThe binary pulsar J0348+0432 was previously shown to have a mass of approximately 2 M⊙, based on the combination of radial-velocity and model-dependent mass parameters derived from high-resolution optical spectroscopy of its white-dwarf companion. We present follow-up timing observations that combine archival observations with data acquired by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME)
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Optical and Near-infrared Contemporaneous Polarimetry of C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-06
Bumhoo Lim, Masateru Ishiguro, Jun Takahashi, Hiroshi Akitakya, Jooyeon Geem, Yoonsoo P. Bach, Sunho Jin, Hangbin Jo, Seungwon Choi, Jinguk Seo, Koji S. Kawabata, Tomoya Hori, Tetsuharu Maruta and Myungshin ImWe conducted contemporaneous optical and near-infrared polarimetric and spectroscopic observations of C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, hereafter T-A) from 2024 October 16 to December 17, covering a wide range of phase angles (20°–123°) and wavelengths (0.5–2.3 μm). We paid special attention to gas contamination in the dust polarization using these data. As a result, we find the maximum polarization degree
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Evidence for Environmental Effects in the z = 4.3 Protocluster Core SPT2349–56 Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-03
Chayce Hughes, Ryley Hill, Scott C. Chapman, Manuel Aravena, Melanie Archipley, Veronica J. Dike, Anthony Gonzalez, Thomas R. Greve, Gayathri Gururajan, Chris Hayward, Kedar Phadke, Cassie Reuter, Justin Spilker, Nikolaus Sulzenauer, Joaquin D. Vieira, David Vizgan, George Wang, Axel Weiss and Dazhi ZhouWe present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations of the [C I] 492 and 806 GHz fine-structure lines in 25 dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) at z = 4.3 in the core of the SPT2349–56 protocluster. The protocluster galaxies exhibit a median ratio of 0.94, with an interquartile range of 0.81–1.24. These ratios are markedly different to those observed in DSFGs in the field (across a
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Betatron Cooling of Halo and Strahl Electrons in the Solar Wind Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-03
Weiduo Meng, Jianpeng Guo, Yan Chen, Zelin Wang, Huishan Fu, Yi Wang and Yong WeiIt is widely recognized that adiabatic acceleration plays an essential role in the dynamics of the solar wind electron distribution. Nevertheless, the role of electron adiabatic cooling remains poorly understood, at least from an observational standpoint. Even the betatron cooling has never been verified in the solar wind. Here, we present a distinct event of simultaneous betatron cooling of halo and
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A Possible Four Month Periodicity in the Activity of FRB 20240209A Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-03
Arpan PalFast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration radio transients from distant galaxies. While most FRBs are singular events, repeaters emit multiple bursts, with only two—FRB 121102 and FRB 180916B—showing periodic activity (160 and 16 days, respectively). FRB 20240209A, discovered by CHIME-FRB, is localized to the outskirts of a quiescent elliptical galaxy (z = 0.1384). We discovered a periodicity
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Eclipse Mapping with MIRI: 2D Map of HD 189733b from 8 μm JWST MIRI LRS Observations Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-03
Maura Lally, Ryan C. Challener, Nikole K. Lewis, Julie Inglis, Tiffany Kataria, Heather A. Knutson, Brian M. Kilpatrick, Natasha E. Batalha, Paul Bonney, Ian J. M. Crossfield, Trevor Foote, Gregory W. Henry, David K. Sing, Kevin B. Stevenson, Hannah R. Wakeford and Robert T. ZellemObservations and models of transiting hot Jupiter exoplanets indicate that atmospheric circulation features may cause large spatial flux contrasts across their daysides. Previous studies have mapped these spatial flux variations through inversion of secondary eclipse data. Though eclipse mapping requires high signal-to-noise data, the first successful eclipse map—made for HD 189733b using 8 μm Spitzer
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Time–Frequency Correlation of Repeating Fast Radio Bursts: Correlated Aftershocks Tend to Exhibit Downward Frequency Drifts Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-03
Shotaro Yamasaki and Tomonori TotaniThe production mechanism of fast radio bursts (FRBs)—mysterious, bright, millisecond-duration radio flashes from cosmological distances—remains unknown. Understanding potential correlations between burst occurrence times and various burst properties may offer important clues about their origins. Among these properties, the spectral peak frequency of an individual burst (the frequency at which its emission
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Primordial Origin of Methane on Eris and Makemake Supported by D/H Ratios Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-03
Olivier Mousis, Aaron Werlen, Tom Benest Couzinou and Antoine SchneebergerDeuterium, a heavy isotope of hydrogen, is a key tracer of the formation of the solar system. Recent James Webb Space Telescope observations have expanded the data set of deuterium-to-hydrogen (D/H) ratios in methane on the KBOs Eris and Makemake, providing new insights into their origins. This study examines the elevated D/H ratios in methane on these KBOs in the context of protosolar nebula (PSN)
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Observational Constraints of Radial Migration in the Galactic Disk Driven by the Slowing Bar Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-03
HanYuan Zhang, Vasily Belokurov, N. Wyn Evans, Jason L. Sanders, Yuxi(Lucy) Lu, Chengye Cao, GyuChul Myeong, Adam M. Dillamore, Sarah G. Kane and Zhao-Yu LiRadial migration is an important dynamical effect that has reshaped the Galactic disk, but its origin has yet to be elucidated. In this work, we present evidence that resonant dragging by the corotation of a decelerating bar could be the main driver of radial migration in the Milky Way disk. Using a test particle simulation, we demonstrate this scenario explains the two distinct age–metallicity sequences
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Spin–Orbit Alignment in Merging Binary Black Holes Following Collisions with Massive Stars Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-03
Fulya Kıroğlu, James C. Lombardi, Kyle Kremer, Hans D. Vanderzyden and Frederic A. RasioMerging binary black holes (BBHs) formed dynamically in dense star clusters are expected to have uncorrelated spin–orbit orientations since they are assembled through many random interactions. However, measured effective spins in BBHs detected by LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA hint at additional physical processes that may introduce anisotropy. Here we address this question by exploring the impact of stellar collisions
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Kiloparsec-scale Alignment of a Radio Jet with Cool Gas and Dust in a z ∼ 6 Quasar Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-03
Fabian Walter, Eduardo Bañados, Chris Carilli, Marcel Neeleman, Thomas Connor, Roberto Decarli, Emanuele Paulo Farina, Yana Khusanova, Chiara Mazzucchelli, Romain Meyer, Emmanuel Momjian, Hans–Walter Rix, Sofía Rojas-Ruiz and Bram VenemansWe present high-angular-resolution (0 068, ∼400 pc) Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) imaging of the [C ii] line and dust continuum emission of PSO J352.4034–15.3373, a radio-loud quasar at z = 5.83. The observations reveal a remarkably close match between the orientation of the [C ii] and thermal dust emission mapped by ALMA and radio synchrotron emission of a radio jet previously
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On the Million-degree Signature of Spicules Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-03
Souvik Bose, Jayant Joshi, Paola Testa and Bart De PontieuSpicules have often been proposed as substantial contributors toward the mass and energy balance of the solar corona. While their transition region (TR) counterpart has unequivocally been established over the past decade, the observations concerning the coronal contribution of spicules have often been contested. This is mainly attributed to the lack of adequate coordinated observations, their small
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X-class Flare on 2023 December 31 Observed by the Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope on Board Aditya-L1 Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-03
Soumya Roy, Durgesh Tripathi, Vishal Upendran, Sreejith Padinhatteeri, A. N. Ramaprakash, Nived V. N., K. Sankarasubramanian, Sami K. Solanki, Janmejoy Sarkar, Rahul Gopalakrishnan, Rushikesh Deogaonkar, Dibyendu Nandy and Dipankar BanerjeeWe present the multiwavelength study of the ejection of a plasma blob from the limb flare SOL2023-12-31T21:36:00 from NOAA 13536 observed by the Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) on board Aditya-L1. We use SUIT observations along with those from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory and Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) on board Solar
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The Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS) Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-02
Steven L. Finkelstein, Micaela B. Bagley, Pablo Arrabal Haro, Mark Dickinson, Henry C. Ferguson, Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe, Dale D. Kocevski, Anton M. Koekemoer, Jennifer M. Lotz, Casey Papovich, Pablo G. Pérez-González, Nor Pirzkal, Rachel S. Somerville, Jonathan R. Trump, Guang Yang, L. Y. Aaron Yung, Adriano Fontana, Andrea Grazian, Norman A. Grogin, Lisa J. Kewley, Allison Kirkpatrick, Rebecca L. LarsonWe present the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey, a 77.2 hr Director’s Discretionary Early Release Science Program. CEERS demonstrates, tests, and validates efficient extragalactic surveys using coordinated, overlapping parallel observations with the JWST instrument suite, including NIRCam and MIRI imaging, NIRSpec low- (R ∼ 100) and medium- (R ∼ 1000) resolution spectroscopy, and
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Exotic Nanophase Iron as a New Agent for Space Weathering on the Moon Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-02
Xiaojia Zeng, Xiaoping Zhang, Yanxue Wu, Wen Yu, Xiongyao Li and Jianzhong LiuNanophase iron (np-Fe) particles in space-weathered lunar regolith are widely concerning as they can change the spectral, chemical, and physical properties of lunar soils. These np-Fe particles were previously believed to be produced from lunar surface materials by space weathering processes, while the source of np-Fe particles from exotic micrometeorite (flux = ∼5 × 108 t/Ma) has been overlooked.
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Space Weathering Properties of Chang’e-6 Soils and Implication for Regolith Evolution of Young Lunar Maria Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-02
Xuejin Lu, Jian Chen, Haijun Cao, Changqing Liu, Ziyi Jia, Chengxiang Yin, Tianwei Wang, Xiaohui Fu, Le Qiao, Xiaojia Zeng, Jiang Zhang and Zongcheng LingLunar soil samples from young maria (formed <3.0 billion years ago (Ga)) preserve key records of recent space weathering history in the Earth–Moon system. China’s Chang’e-6 mission returned the first farside soil samples from a young mare (∼2.8 Ga) at the northeastern South Pole–Aitken basin. We present preliminary results on the space weathering properties of the Chang’e-6 soils. The glassy agglutinate
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Orthogonal Alignment of Galaxy Group Angular Momentum with Cosmic Filament Spines: An Observational Study Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-02
Yu Rong, Peng Wang and Xiao-xiao TangWe investigated the alignment between the angular momenta of galaxy groups and the spines of their associated cosmic filaments. Our results demonstrate a significant tendency for these two orientations to be perpendicular, indicating that the rotation of a galaxy group does not originate from the spin of cosmic filaments. Instead, it is driven by the orbital angular momentum contributed by member galaxies
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Improving Photometric Redshifts of Epoch of Reionization Galaxies: A New Empirical Transmission Curve with Neutral Hydrogen Damping Wing Lyα Absorption Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-04-02
Yoshihisa Asada, Guillaume Desprez, Chris J. Willott, Marcin Sawicki, Maruša Bradač, Gabriel Brammer, Florian Dubath, Kartheik G. Iyer, Nicholas S. Martis, Adam Muzzin, Gaël Noirot, Stéphane Paltani, Ghassan T. E. Sarrouh, Anishya Harshan and Vladan MarkovWe present a new analytical model for the attenuation to Epoch of Reionization (EoR) galaxies by proximate neutral hydrogen gas. Many galaxy spectra in the EoR taken by JWST have shown a flux deficit at wavelengths just redward of the Lyman break, and this has been regarded as resulting from Lyα damping wing absorption by the increasing amount of neutral hydrogen in the line of sight. However, previous
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On the Anisotropic Velocity Distribution of Newborn Pickup Ions in the Heliosheath Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-31
Senbei Du, Merav Opher and Marc KornbleuthThe evolution of the velocity distribution of pickup ions is crucial for understanding the energetic neutral atom (ENA) fluxes observed by Interstellar Boundary Explorer. Pickup ions in the heliosheath contain two main components: those transmitted across the heliospheric termination shock and those locally created within the heliosheath. In this work, we discuss the velocity distribution of the latter
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Lyman Continuum Leakers at z > 3 in the GOODS-S Field: Mergers Dominated Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-31
Shuairu Zhu, 帅儒 朱, Zhen-Ya Zheng, Fang-Ting Yuan, Chunyan Jiang and Ruqiu LinUnderstanding the ionizing photon escape from galaxies is essential for studying cosmic reionization. With a sample of 23 Lyman continuum (LyC) leakers (among which eight are high-confidence leakers) at 3 < z < 4.5 in the GOODS-S field, we investigate their morphologies using high-resolution data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope. We find that 20 of the 23 LyC leakers
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Fast Transients from Magnetic Disks around Nonspinning Collapsar Black Holes Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-30
Justin Bopp and Ore GottliebMost black holes (BHs) formed in collapsing stars have low spin, though some are expected to acquire a magnetic accretion disk during the collapse. While such BH disks can launch magnetically driven winds, their physics and observational signatures have remained unexplored. We present global 3D general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of collapsing stars that form slowly spinning BHs with
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The Red Supergiant Progenitor of the Type II Supernova 2024abfl Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-30
Jingxiao Luo, Lifu Zhang, Bing-Qiu Chen, Qiyuan Cheng, Boyang Guo, Jiao Li, Yanjun Guo, Jianping Xiong, Xiangcun Meng, Xuefei Chen, Zhengwei Liu and Zhanwen HanLinkage between core-collapse supernovae and their progenitors is not fully understood and ongoing effort of searching and identifying the progenitors is needed. SN 2024abfl is a recent Type II supernova that exploded in the nearby star-bursting galaxy NGC 2146, which is also the host galaxy of SN 2018zd. From archival Hubble Space Telescope data, we have found a red source (mF814W ∼ 25) near the location
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Black Hole Pulsars and Monster Shocks as Outcomes of Black Hole–Neutron Star Mergers Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-30
Yoonsoo Kim, Elias R. Most, Andrei M. Beloborodov and Bart RipperdaThe merger of a black hole (BH) and a neutron star (NS) in most cases is expected to leave no material around the remnant BH; therefore, such events are often considered as sources of gravitational waves without electromagnetic counterparts. However, a bright counterpart can emerge if the NS is strongly magnetized, as its external magnetosphere can experience radiative shocks and magnetic reconnection
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A Rotational Disruption Crisis for Zodiacal Dust Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-30
Kedron Silsbee, Brandon S. Hensley, Jamey R. Szalay, Petr Pokorný and Jeong-Gyu KimA systematic torque from anisotropic radiation can rapidly spin up irregular grains to the point of breakup. We apply the standard theory of rotational disruption from radiative torques to solar system grains, finding that grains with radii ∼0.03–3 μm at 1 au from the Sun are spun to the point of breakup on timescales ≲1 yr even when assuming them to have an unrealistically high tensile strength of
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Nonlinear and Nonmonotonic Effect of Ocean Tidal Mixing on Exoplanet Climates and Habitability Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-28
Maria Di Paolo, David P. Stevens, Manoj Joshi and Rob A. HallTides play an important role in the circulation and mean state of the Earth’s oceans through inducing significant mixing. On other planets, tidal forcings could be highly amplified compared to Earth, such as planets orbiting relatively close to low-mass host stars, or planets having massive and/or close moons. The former scenario is especially important as, due to their abundance and their observational
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The Discovery of a 41 s Radio Pulsar PSR J0311+1402 with ASKAP Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-28
Yuanming Wang, 远明 王, Pavan A. Uttarkar, Ryan M. Shannon, Yu Wing Joshua Lee, Dougal Dobie, Ziteng Wang, Keith W. Bannister, Manisha Caleb, Adam T. Deller, Marcin Glowacki, Joscha N. Jahns-Schindler, Tara Murphy, Reshma Anna-Thomas, N. D. R. Bhat, Xinping Deng, Vivek Gupta, Akhil Jaini, Clancy W. James and John TuthillThe emerging population of long-period radio transients (LPTs) shows both similarities and differences with normal pulsars. A key difference is that their radio emission is too bright to be powered solely by rotational energy. Various models have been proposed (including both white dwarf or neutron star origins), and their nature remains uncertain. Known LPTs have minutes-to-hours-long spin periods
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Formation of the Dark Matter–Deficient S0 Galaxy NGC 4111 under the Tidal Interactions Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-28
Mei Ai, Ming Zhu, Nai-ping Yu, Jin-long Xu, Xiao-lan Liu, Yingjie Jing, Qian Jiao, Yao Liu, Chuan-peng Zhang, Jie Wang and Peng JiangWe present high-sensitivity and large-scale atomic hydrogen (H i) observations toward lenticular (S0) galaxy NGC 4111 using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope. The column-density map shows that NGC 4111 and seven other different types of galaxies share a huge H i gas complex. The data also suggest that NGC 4111 is interacting with seven galaxies. Moreover, we identified a rotating
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Quantitative Exploration of the Similarity of Gamma-Ray Pulsar Light Curves Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-28
C. R. García and Diego F. TorresWe introduce and apply a methodology based on dynamic time warping to compare the whole set of gamma-ray light curves reported in the Third Fermi-Large Area Telescope Pulsar Catalogue. Our method allows us to quantitatively measure the degree of global similarity between two light curves beyond comparing indicators such as how many peaks there are, what their separation is, and their width and height
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Moving Plasma Structures and Possible Driving Mechanisms of Solar Microflares Observed with High-resolution Coronal Imaging Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-28
Qingmei Wang, Yi Bi, Hongfei Liang, JiaYan Yang and Liufan GongSolar microflares are ubiquitous in the solar corona, yet their driving mechanisms remain a subject of ongoing debate. Using high-resolution coronal observations from the Solar Orbiter’s Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI), we identified about a dozen distinct moving plasma structures (hereafter, “ tiny ejections”) originating from the centers of three homologous microflares out of four successive events
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Single-pulse-based Interstellar Scintillation Studies of RRATs Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-28
Zi-wei Wu, Wei-wei Zhu, Zi-yao Fang, Qiu-yang Fu, Ji-guang Lu, Ling-qi Meng, Chen-Chen Miao, Xue-li Miao, Jia-rui Niu, Rukeya Rejiefu, Xun Shi, Chao Wang, Meng-yao Xue, Mao Yuan, You-ling Yue, Chun-feng Zhang, Zhen Zhang, Shi-jun Dang and Yu-lan LiuThe nature of irregularly spaced pulses of rotating radio transients (RRATs) complicates interstellar scintillation studies. In this Letter, we report the primary scintillation parameters of a sample of RRATs using pairwise correlations of pulse spectra. Moreover, from the measured scintillation velocities, we constrain their transverse velocities. We also find a reduced modulation index, m = 0.13
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The Einstein Probe Transient EP240414a: Linking Fast X-Ray Transients, Gamma-Ray Bursts, and Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transients Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-27
Joyce N. D. van Dalen, Andrew J. Levan, Peter G. Jonker, Daniele Bjørn Malesani, Luca Izzo, Nikhil Sarin, Jonathan Quirola-Vásquez, Daniel Mata Sánchez, Antonio de Ugarte Postigo, Agnes P. C. van Hoof, Manuel A. P. Torres, Steve Schulze, Stuart P. Littlefair, Ashley Chrimes, Maria E. Ravasio, Franz E. Bauer, Antonio Martin-Carrillo, Morgan Fraser, Alexander J. van der Horst, Pall Jakobsson, Paul O’BrienDetections of fast X-ray transients (FXTs) have accrued over the last few decades. However, their origin has remained mysterious. Rapid progress is now being made thanks to timely discoveries and localizations with the Einstein Probe mission. Early results indicate that FXTs may frequently, but not always, be associated with gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Here, we report on the multiwavelength counterpart
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A New Approach to the Low-frequency Stochastic Gravitational-wave Background: Constraints from Quasars and the Astrometric Hellings–Downs Curve Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-27
Jeremy DarlingWe present new astrometric constraints on the stochastic gravitational-wave background and construct the first astrometric Hellings–Downs curve using quasar proper motions. From quadrupolar vector spherical harmonic fits to the Gaia proper motions of 1,108,858 quasars, we obtain a frequency-integrated upper limit on the gravitational-wave energy density, (95% confidence limit), for frequencies between
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Cross Helicity and the Helium Abundance as an In Situ Metric of Solar Wind Acceleration Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-26
B. L. Alterman and Raffaella D’AmicisThe two-state solar wind paradigm is based on observations showing that slow and fast solar wind have distinct properties like helium abundances, kinetic signatures, elemental composition, and charge-state ratios. Nominally, the fast wind originates from solar sources that are continuously magnetically open to the heliosphere like coronal holes while the slow wind is from solar sources that are only
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A Recent Supermassive Black Hole Binary in the Galactic Center Unveiled by the Hypervelocity Stars Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-26
Chunyang Cao, F. K. Liu, Shuo Li, Xian Chen and Ke WangWhen a binary of early-type stars from the young stellar populations in the Galactic center (GC) region is scattered to the vicinity of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) Sgr A*, one of the components would be tidally ejected as an early-type hypervelocity star (HVS) and the counterpart would be captured on a tight orbit around Sgr A*. Dozens of B-type HVSs moving faster than the Galactic escape speed
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Density Fluctuation–Mach Number Scaling in Compressible, High Plasma Beta Turbulence: In Situ Space Observations and High-Reynolds Number Simulations Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-26
Riddhi Bandyopadhyay, James R. Beattie and Amitava BhattacharjeeUnderstanding the nature of compressible fluctuations in a broad range of turbulent plasmas, from the intracluster medium to the solar wind, has been an active field of research in the past decades. Theoretical frameworks for weakly compressible magnetohydrodynamical turbulence in an inhomogeneous background magnetic field predict a linear scaling of the normalized mass density fluctuation (δρ/ρ0)
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Inhomogeneous Dust Biases Photometric Redshifts and Stellar Masses for LSST Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-26
ChangHoon Hahn and Peter MelchiorSpectral energy distribution (SED) modeling is one of the main methods to estimate galaxy properties, such as photometric redshifts, z, and stellar masses, M*, for extragalactic imaging surveys. SEDs are currently modeled as light from a composite stellar population attenuated by a geometrically homogeneous foreground dust screen. This is despite evidence from simulations and observations that find
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Mass-dependent Radial Distribution of Single and Binary Stars in the Pleiades and Their Dynamical Implications Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-26
Rongrong Liu, Zhengyi Shao and Lu LiThe Pleiades is a young open cluster that has not yet dynamically relaxed, making it an ideal target to observe various internal dynamical effects. By employing a well-defined sample of main-sequence (MS) cluster members, including both MS single stars and unresolved MS+MS binaries, we revisited their individual masses and mass functions and quantified the mass dependence of their radial distributions
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Multipoint Observations of Magnetic Reconnection in the Martian Magnetotail Triggered by an Interplanetary Magnetic Field Rotation Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-26
Yuanzheng Wen, Jasper S. Halekas, Han-Wen Shen, Abigail R. Azari, David A. Brain, Yaxue Dong, David L. Mitchell, Christian X. Mazelle, Jared R. Espley and James P. McFaddenThe induced magnetosphere of Mars is highly dynamic, driven by both the upstream solar wind and the planet’s crustal magnetic fields. This variability can occur on timescales much shorter than a single spacecraft orbit, making it difficult to distinguish between spatial and temporal variations in the induced magnetosphere. In this study, we utilize simultaneous multipoint observations from the Mars
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Streams, Shells, and Substructures in the Accretion-built Stellar Halo of NGC 300 Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-26
Catherine E. Fielder, David J. Sand, Michael G. Jones, Denija Crnojević, Alex Drlica-Wagner, Paul Bennet, Jeffrey L. Carlin, William Cerny, Amandine Doliva-Dolinsky, Laura C. Hunter, Ananthan Karunakaran, Guilherme Limberg, Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil, Andrew B. Pace, Sarah Pearson, Adam Smercina, Kristine Spekkens, Tjitske Starkenburg, Jay Strader, Guy S. Stringfellow, Erik Tollerud, Clecio R. Bom, JulioWe present deep optical observations of the stellar halo of NGC 300, an LMC-mass galaxy, acquired with the DEEP subcomponent of the DECam Local Volume Exploration survey using the 4 m Blanco Telescope. Our resolved star analysis reveals a large, low surface brightness stellar stream (MV ∼ −8.5; [Fe/H] = −1.4 ± 0.15) extending more than 40 kpc north from the galaxy’s center. We also find other halo
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A JWST Panchromatic Thermal Emission Spectrum of the Warm Neptune Archetype GJ 436b Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-25
Sagnick Mukherjee, Everett Schlawin, Taylor J. Bell, Jonathan J. Fortney, Thomas G. Beatty, Thomas P. Greene, Kazumasa Ohno, Matthew M. Murphy, Vivien Parmentier, Michael R. Line, Luis Welbanks, Lindsey S. Wiser and Marcia J. RiekeGJ 436b is the archetype warm Neptune exoplanet. The planet’s thermal emission spectrum was previously observed via intensive secondary eclipse campaigns with Spitzer. The atmosphere has long been interpreted to be extremely metal-rich, out of chemical equilibrium, and potentially tidally heated. We present the first panchromatic emission spectrum of GJ 436b observed with JWST’s NIRCAM (F322W2 and
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MIRI-LRS Spectrum of a Cold Exoplanet around a White Dwarf: Water, Ammonia, and Methane Measurements Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-25
Maël Voyer, Quentin Changeat, Pierre-Olivier Lagage, Pascal Tremblin, Rens Waters, Manuel Güdel, Thomas Henning, Olivier Absil, David Barrado, Anthony Boccaletti, Jeroen Bouwman, Alain Coulais, Leen Decin, Adrian M. Glauser, John Pye, Alistair Glasse, René Gastaud, Sarah Kendrew, Polychronis Patapis, Daniel Rouan, Ewine F. van Dishoeck, Göran Östlin, Tom P. Ray and Gillian WrightThe study of the atmosphere of exoplanets orbiting white dwarfs is a largely unexplored field. With WD 0806-661 b, we present the first deep dive into the atmospheric physics and chemistry of a cold exoplanet around a white dwarf. We observed WD 0806-661 b using JWST’s Mid-InfraRed Instrument Low-Resolution Spectrometer, covering the wavelength range from 5 to 12 μm, and the Imager, providing us with
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FAST Discovery of a Gas-rich and Ultrafaint Dwarf Galaxy: KK153 Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-24
Jin-Long Xu, Ming Zhu, Nai-Ping Yu, Chuan-Peng Zhang, Xiao-Lan Liu, Mei Ai and Peng JiangBased on a high-sensitivity H i survey using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope, we identified an isolated H i cloud with a system velocity of ∼127.0 km s−1, which is associated with an optical galaxy KK153 in space. The H i gas of KK153 shows a typical disk-galaxy structure. Using the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation, we obtained that the distance to KK153 is 2.0 Mpc. Adopting
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The Miscibility of Hydrogen and Water in Planetary Atmospheres and Interiors Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-24
Akash Gupta, Lars Stixrude and Hilke E. SchlichtingMany planets in the solar system and across the Galaxy have hydrogen-rich atmospheres overlying more heavy element-rich interiors with which they interact for billions of years. Atmosphere–interior interactions are thus crucial to understanding the formation and evolution of these bodies. However, this understanding is still lacking in part because the relevant pressure–temperature conditions are extreme
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Detection of [C i] Emission in Nebular Spectra of a Peculiar Type Ia Supernova 2022pul Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-20
Jialian Liu, Xiaofeng Wang, Yi Yang, Alexei V. Filippenko, Thomas G. Brink, WeiKang Zheng, Jujia Zhang, Gaici Li and Shengyu YanSN 2022pul gains special attention due to its possible origin as a super-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf (WD) explosion (also called a 03fg-like Type Ia supernova), which shows prominent [O i], [Ne i], and [Ca ii] lines in its late-time spectra taken at ∼+300 days after the time of peak brightness. In this Letter, we present new optical observations of this peculiar object, extending up to over 500
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The JCMT BISTRO Survey: Magnetic Fields Align with Orbital Structure in the Galactic Center Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-20
Janik Karoly, Derek Ward-Thompson, Kate Pattle, Steven N. Longmore, James Di Francesco, Anthony Whitworth, Doug Johnstone, Sarah Sadavoy, Patrick M. Koch, Meng-Zhe Yang, Ray Furuya, Xing Lu, Motohide Tamura, Victor P. Debattista, David Eden, Jihye Hwang, Frédérick Poidevin, Bijas N., Szu-Ting Chen, Eun Jung Chung, Simon Coudé, Sheng-Jun Lin, Yasuo Doi, Takashi Onaka, Lapo Fanciullo, Tie Liu, GuangxingWe present the magnetic field in the dense material of the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way, traced in 850 μm polarized dust emission as part of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope B-fields in STar-forming Region Observations survey. We observe a highly ordered magnetic field across the CMZ between Sgr B2 and Sgr C that is strongly preferentially aligned with the orbital gas flows within
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Eccentricities of Close Stellar Binaries Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-20
Yanqin Wu, Sam Hadden, Janosz Dewberry, Kareem El-Badry and Christopher D. MatznerOrbits of stellar binaries are in general eccentric. These eccentricities encode information about their early lives. Here, we use thousands of main-sequence binaries from the Gaia DR3 catalog to reveal that binaries inward of a few astronomical units exhibit a simple Rayleigh distribution with a mode of σe ≃ 0.3. We find the same distribution for binaries from M to A spectral types, and from tens
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Broadband γ-Ray Spectrum of Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-20
Zhen Cao, F. Aharonian, Y. X. Bai, Y. W. Bao, D. Bastieri, X. J. Bi, Y. J. Bi, W. Bian, A. V. Bukevich, C. M. Cai, W. Y. Cao, Zhe Cao, J. Chang, J. F. Chang, A. M. Chen, E. S. Chen, H. X. Chen, Liang Chen, Long Chen, M. J. Chen, M. L. Chen, Q. H. Chen, S. Chen, S. H. Chen, S. Z. Chen, T. L. Chen, X. B. Chen, X. J. Chen, Y. Chen, N. Cheng, Y. D. Cheng, M. C. Chu, M. Y. Cui, S. W. Cui, X. H. Cui, Y.The core-collapse supernova remnant (SNR) Cassiopeia A (Cas A) is one of the brightest galactic radio sources with an angular radius of . Although no extension of this source has been detected in the γ-ray band, using more than 1000 days of LHAASO data above ∼0.8 TeV, we find that its spectrum is significantly softer than those obtained with Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs), and its flux near
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Spectropolarimetry of SN 2023ixf Reveals Both Circumstellar Material and an Aspherical Helium Core Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-20
Manisha Shrestha, Sabrina DeSoto, David J. Sand, G. Grant Williams, Jennifer L. Hoffman, Paul S. Smith, Callum McCall, Justyn R. Maund, Iain A. Steele, Klaas Wiersema, Jennifer E. Andrews, Nathan Smith, Christopher Bilinski, Peter Milne, Ramya M. Anche, K. Azalee Bostroem, Griffin Hosseinzadeh, Jeniveve Pearson, Douglas C. Leonard, Brian Hsu, Yize Dong, 一泽 董, Emily Hoang, Daryl Janzen, Jacob E. JencsonWe present multi-epoch optical spectropolarimetric and imaging polarimetric observations of the nearby Type II supernova (SN) 2023ixf discovered in M101 at a distance of 6.85 Mpc. The first imaging polarimetric observations were taken +2.33 days (60085.08 MJD) after the explosion, while the last imaging polarimetric data points (+73.19 and +76.19 days) were acquired after the fall from the light-curve
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Self-consistent Multidimensional Penrose Process Driven by Magnetic Reconnection Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-20
Filippo Camilloni and Luciano RezzollaAstronomical observations and numerical simulations are providing increasing evidence that resistive effects in plasmas around black holes (BHs) play an important role in determining the phenomenology observed from these objects. In this spirit, we present a general approach to the study of a Penrose process driven by plasmoids that are produced at reconnection sites along current sheets. Our formalism
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Decay of Turbulent Upper-hybrid Waves in Weakly Magnetized Solar Wind Plasmas Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-19
F. J. Polanco-Rodríguez, C. Krafft and P. SavoiniLarge-scale and long-term two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of high resolution are performed for the first time to study the dynamics of electrostatic decay of upper-hybrid wave turbulence generated by electron beams into Langmuir/ -mode ( ) waves in weakly to moderately magnetized plasmas, in conditions relevant to type III solar radio bursts. Simulations use parameters characteristic of
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A Massive H i-absorption-selected Galaxy at z ≈ 2.356 Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-19
B. Kaur, N. Kanekar, M. Neeleman, Y. Zhu, J. X. Prochaska, M. Rafelski and G. BeckerWe use the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array to detect CO(1–0), CO(3–2), and rest-frame 349 GHz continuum emission from an H i-selected galaxy, DLA1020+2733g, at z ≈ 2.3568 in the field of the z = 2.3553 damped Lyα absorber (DLA) toward QSO J1020+2733. The VLA CO(1–0) detection yields a molecular gas mass of (2.84 ± 0.42) × 1011 × (αCO/4.36)
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Upper Limits on the Mass of Cool Gas in the Circumgalactic Medium of Dwarf Galaxies Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-19
Yakov Faerman, Yong Zheng, 永 郑 and Benjamin D. OppenheimerWe use H i absorption measurements to constrain the amount of cool (≈104 K), photoionized gas in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of dwarf galaxies with M* = 106.5−9.5M⊙ in the nearby Universe (z < 0.3). We show analytically that volume-filling gas gives an upper limit on the gas mass needed to reproduce a given H i column density profile. We introduce a power-law density profile for the gas distribution
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3D MC. I. X-Ray Tomography Begins to Unravel the 3D Structure of a Molecular Cloud in our Galaxy’s Center Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-19
Samantha W. Brunker, Cara Battersby, Danya Alboslani, Maïca Clavel, Daniel L. Walker, Dani Lipman, H Perry Hatchfield and Régis TerrierAstronomers have used observations of the Galactic gas and dust via infrared, microwave, and radio to study molecular clouds in extreme environments such as the Galactic center. More recently, X-ray telescopes have opened up a new wavelength range in which to study these molecular clouds. Previous flaring events from Sgr A* propagate X-rays outwards in all directions, and these X-rays interact with
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Discovery of a Low-mass Strong-lens System in SMACS J0723.3−7327 Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-19
Limeng Deng, Yiping Shu, Lei Wang, Guoliang Li, Gabriel Bartosch Caminha, Jiang Dong, Zizhao He, Han Qu and Ruibiao LuoWe report the discovery of an intriguing, low-mass galaxy-scale strong-lens system in the SMACS J0723.3−7327 galaxy cluster. By modeling James Webb Space Telescope imaging and Very Large Telescope Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer spectroscopic data, we find that the lens is cluster member galaxy at z = 0.397 with an Einstein radius of 0 424 ± 0 012, stellar mass of M* = (3.3 ± 0.8) × 1010 M⊙, half-light
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The Large-scale Structure Supplies the Formation of Gas-star Misaligned Galaxies Astrophys. J. Lett. (IF 8.8) Pub Date : 2025-03-19
Min Bao, Yanmei Chen, Qiusheng Gu, Huiyuan Wang, Yong Shi and Peng WangUsing the integral field unit data from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory survey, we build a sample of gas-star misaligned galaxies. The large-scale environment of misaligned galaxies is dominated by filaments and clusters, while it is less dense relative to the gas-star aligned control galaxies. The direction of the large-scale structure (LSS) is defined by its minor axis ( )