Astronomie

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Cold, Old, and Metal-poor: New Stellar Substructures in the Milky Way's Dwarf Spheroidals
(London : Institute of Physics Publ., 2019) Lora, Veronica; Grebel, Eva K.; Schmeja, Stefan; Koch, Andreas
Dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSph) orbiting the Milky Way are complex objects often with complicated star formation histories and internal dynamics. In this work, we search for stellar substructures in four of the classical dSph satellites of the Milky Way: Sextans, Carina, Leo I, and Leo II. We apply two methods to search for stellar substructure: the minimum spanning tree method, which helps us find and quantify spatially connected structures, and the "brute-force" method, which is able to find elongated stellar substructures. We detected the previously known substructure in Sextans and also found a new stellar substructure within Sextans. Furthermore, we identified a new stellar substructure close to the core radius of the Carina dwarf galaxy. We report a detection of one substructure in Leo I and two in Leo II, but we note that we are dealing with a low number of stars in the samples used. Such old stellar substructures in dSphs could help us shed light on the nature of the dark matter halos, within which such structures form, evolve, and survive.
Structure and mass segregation in Galactic stellar clusters
(Oxford : Oxford Univ. Press, 2017) Dib, Sami; Schmeja, Stefan; Parker, Richard J.
We quantify the structure of a very large number of Galactic open clusters and look for evidence of mass segregation for themostmassive stars in the clusters.We characterize the structure and mass segregation ratios of 1276 clusters in the Milky Way Stellar Cluster (MWSC) catalogue containing each at least 40 stars and that are located at a distance of up to ≈2 kpc from the Sun. We use an approach based on the calculation of the minimum spanning tree of the clusters, and for each one of them, we calculate the structure parameter Q and the mass segregation ratio ΓMSR. Our findings indicate that most clusters possess a Q parameter that falls in the range 0.7-0.8 and are thus neither strongly concentrated nor do they show significant substructure. Only 27 per cent can be considered centrally concentrated with Q values > 0.8. Of the 1276 clusters, only 14 per cent show indication of significant mass segregation (ΓMSR > 1.5). Furthermore, no correlation is found between the structure of the clusters or the degree of mass segregation with their position in the Galaxy. A comparison of the measured Q values for the young open clusters in the MWSC to N-body numerical simulations that follow the evolution of the Q parameter over the first 10 Myr of the clusters life suggests that the young clusters found in the MWSC catalogue initially possessed local mean volume densities of ρ* ≈ 10-100 M⊙ pc-3.
Massive stars reveal variations of the stellar initial mass function in the Milky Way stellar clusters
(Oxford : Oxford Univ. Press, 2016) Dib, Sami; Schmeja, Stefan; Hony, Sacha
We investigate whether the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is universal, or whether it varies significantly among young stellar clusters in the MilkyWay.We propose a method to uncover the range of variation of the parameters that describe the shape of the IMF for the population of young Galactic clusters.These parameters are the slopes in the low and high stellar mass regimes, γ and Γ, respectively, and the characteristic mass, Mch. The method relies exclusively on the high-mass content of the clusters, but is able to yield information on the distributions of parameters that describe the IMF over the entire stellar mass range. This is achieved by comparing the fractions of single and lonely massive O stars in a recent catalogue of the Milky Way clusters with a library of simulated clusters built with various distribution functions of the IMF parameters. The synthetic clusters are corrected for the effects of the binary population, stellar evolution, sample incompleteness, and ejected O stars. Our findings indicate that broad distributions of the IMF parameters are required in order to reproduce the fractions of single and lonely O stars in Galactic clusters. They also do not lend support to the existence of a cluster mass-maximum stellar mass relation. We propose a probabilistic formulation of the IMF whereby the parameters of the IMF are described by Gaussian distribution functions centred around γ = 0.91, Γ = 1.37, and Mch = 0.41 M⊙, and with dispersions of σγ = 0.25, σΓ = 0.60, and σMch = 0.27 M⊙ around these values.
Ion-Acoustic Instabilities in a Multi-Ion Plasma
(New York, NY [u.a.] : Hindawi, 2013) Abraham, Noble P.; Sebastian, Sijo; Sreekala, G.; Jayapal, R.; Anilkumar, C. P.; Chandu, Venugopal
We have, in this paper, studied the stability of the ion-acoustic wave in a plasma composed of hydrogen, positively and negatively charged oxygen ions, and electrons, which approximates very well the plasma environment around a comet. Modelling each cometary component (H+, O+, and O−) by a ring distribution, we find that ion-acoustic waves can be generated at frequencies comparable to the hydrogen ion plasma frequency. The dispersion relation has been solved both analytically and numerically. We find that the ratio of the ring speed (u⊥s) to the thermal spread (vts) modifies the dispersion characteristics of the ion-acoustic wave. The contrasting behaviour of the phase velocity of the ion-acoustic wave in the presence of O− ions for u⊥s > vts (and vice versa) can be used to detect the presence of negatively charged oxygen ions and also their thermalization.
Identifying the energy release site in a solar microflare with a jet
(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2023) Battaglia, Andrea Francesco; Wang, Wen; Saqri, Jonas; Podladchikova, Tatiana; Veronig, Astrid M.; Collier, Hannah; Dickson, Ewan C. M.; Podladchikova, Olena; Monstein, Christian; Warmuth, Alexander; Schuller, Frédéric; Harra, Louise; Krucker, Säm
Context. One of the main science questions of the Solar Orbiter and Parker Solar Probe missions deals with understanding how electrons in the lower solar corona are accelerated and how they subsequently access interplanetary space. Aims. We aim to investigate the electron acceleration and energy release sites as well as the manner in which accelerated electrons access the interplanetary space in the case of the SOL2021-02-18T18:05 event, a GOES A8 class microflare associated with a coronal jet. Methods. This study takes advantage of three different vantage points, Solar Orbiter, STEREO-A, and Earth, with observations drawn from eight different instruments, ranging from radio to X-ray. Multi-wavelength timing analysis combined with UV/EUV imagery and X-ray spectroscopy by Solar Orbiter/STIX (Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays) is used to investigate the origin of the observed emission during different flare phases. Results. The event under investigation satisfies the classical picture of the onset time of the acceleration of electrons coinciding with the jet and the radio type III bursts. This microflare features prominent hard X-ray (HXR) nonthermal emission down to at least 10 keV and a spectrum that is much harder than usual for a microflare with γ = 2.9 ± 0.3. From Eartha's vantage point, the microflare is seen near the limb, revealing the coronal energy release site above the flare loop in EUV, which, from STIX spectroscopic analysis, turns out to be hot (i.e., at roughly the same temperature of the flare). Moreover, this region is moving toward higher altitudes over time (∼30akmas-1). During the flare, the same region spatially coincides with the origin of the coronal jet. Three-dimensional (3D) stereoscopic reconstructions of the propagating jet highlight that the ejected plasma moves along a curved trajectory. Conclusions. Within the framework of the interchange reconnection model, we conclude that the energy release site observed above-The-loop corresponds to the electron acceleration site, corroborating that interchange reconnection is a viable candidate for particle acceleration in the low corona on field lines open to interplanetary space.
The LOFAR Tied-Array All-Sky Survey: Timing of 35 radio pulsars and an overview of the properties of the LOFAR pulsar discoveries
(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2023) van der Wateren, E.; Bassa, C.G.; Cooper, S.; Grieβmeier, J.-M.; Stappers, B.W.; Hessels, J.W.T.; Kondratiev, V.I.; Michilli, D.; Tan, C.M.; Tiburzi, C.; Weltevrede, P.; Bak Nielsen, A.-S.; Carozzi, T.D.; Ciardi, B.; Cognard, I.; Dettmar, R.-J.; Karastergiou, A.; Kramer, M.; Künsemöller, J.; Osłowski, S.; Serylak, M.; Vocks, C.; Wucknitz, O.
The LOFAR Tied-Array All-Sky Survey (LOTAAS) is the most sensitive untargeted radio pulsar survey performed at low radio frequencies (119-151 MHz) to date and has discovered 76 new radio pulsars, including the 23.5-s pulsar J0250+5854, which up until recently was the slowest spinning radio pulsar known. In this paper, we report on the timing solutions of 35 pulsars discovered by LOTAAS, which include a nulling pulsar and a mildly recycled pulsar, and thereby complete the full timing analysis of the LOTAAS pulsar discoveries. We give an overview of the findings from the full LOTAAS sample of 76 pulsars, discussing their pulse profiles, radio spectra, and timing parameters. We found that the pulse profiles of some of the pulsars show profile variations in time or frequency, and while some pulsars show signs of scattering, a large majority display no pulse broadening. The LOTAAS discoveries have on average steeper radio spectra and longer spin periods (1.4×), as well as lower spin-down rates (3.1×) compared to the known pulsar population. We discuss the cause of these differences and attribute them to a combination of selection effects of the LOTAAS survey as well as previous pulsar surveys, though we cannot rule out that older pulsars tend to have steeper radio spectra.
The Gaia-ESO Survey: Old super-metal-rich visitors from the inner Galaxy
(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2023) Dantas, M.L.L.; Smiljanic, R.; Boesso, R.; Rocha-Pinto, H.J.; Magrini, L.; Guiglion, G.; Tautvaišiene, G.; Gilmore, G.; Randich, S.; Bensby, T.; Bragaglia, A.; Bergemann, M.; Carraro, G.; Jofré, P.; Zaggia, S.
Context. The solar vicinity is currently populated by a mix of stars with various chemo-dynamic properties, including stars with a high metallicity compared to the Sun. Dynamical processes such as churning and blurring are expected to relocate such metal-rich stars from the inner Galaxy to the solar region. Aims. We report the identification of a set of old super-metal-rich (+0.15 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ +0.50) dwarf stars with low eccentricity orbits (e ≤ 0.2) that reach a maximum height from the Galactic plane in the range ≤0.5-1.5 kpc. We discuss their chemo-dynamic properties with the goal of understanding their potential origins. Methods. We used data from the internal Data Release 6 of the Gaia-ESO Survey. We selected stars observed at high resolution with abundances of 21 species of 18 individual elements (i.e. 21 dimensions). We applied a hierarchical clustering algorithm to group the stars with similar chemical abundances within the complete chemical abundance space. Orbits were integrated using astrometric data from Gaia and radial velocities from Gaia-ESO. Stellar ages were estimated using isochrones and a Bayesian method. Results. This set of super-metal-rich stars can be arranged into five subgroups, according to their chemical properties. Four of these groups seem to follow a chemical enrichment flow, where nearly all abundances increase in lockstep with Fe. The fifth subgroup shows different chemical characteristics. All the subgroups have the following features: median ages of the order of 7-9 Gyr (with five outlier stars of estimated younger age), solar or subsolar [Mg/Fe] ratios, maximum height from the Galactic plane in the range 0.5-1.5 kpc, low eccentricities (e ≤ 0.2), and a detachment from the expected metallicity gradient with guiding radius (which varies between ~6 and 9 kpc for the majority of the stars). Conclusions. The high metallicity of our stars is incompatible with a formation in the solar neighbourhood. Their dynamic properties agree with theoretical expectations that these stars travelled from the inner Galaxy due to blurring and, more importantly, to churning. We therefore suggest that most of the stars in this population originated in the inner regions of the Milky Way (inner disc and/or the bulge) and later migrated to the solar neighbourhood. The region where the stars originated had a complex chemical enrichment history, with contributions from supernovae types Ia and II, and possibly asymptotic giant branch stars as well.
A ∼15 kpc outflow cone piercing through the halo of the blue compact metal-poor galaxy SBS 0335-052E
(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2023) Herenz, E.C.; Inoue, J.; Salas, H.; Koenigs, B.; Moya-Sierralta, C.; Cannon, J.M.; Hayes, M.; Papaderos, P.; Östlin, G.; Bik, A.; Le Reste, A.; Kusakabe, H.; Monreal-Ibero, A.; Puschnig, J.
Context. Outflows from low-mass star-forming galaxies are a fundamental ingredient for models of galaxy evolution and cosmology. Despite seemingly favourable conditions for outflow formation in compact starbursting galaxies, convincing observational evidence for kiloparsec-scale outflows in such systems is scarce. Aims. The onset of kiloparsec-scale ionised filaments in the halo of the metal-poor compact dwarf SBS 0335-052E was previously not linked to an outflow. In this paper we investigate whether these filaments provide evidence for an outflow. Methods. We obtained new VLT/MUSE WFM and deep NRAO/VLA B-configuration 21 cm data of the galaxy. The MUSE data provide morphology, kinematics, and emission line ratios of Hβ/Hα and [O ¯III]λ5007/Hα of the low surface-brightness filaments, while the VLA data deliver morphology and kinematics of the neutral gas in and around the system. Both datasets are used in concert for comparisons between the ionised and the neutral phase. Results. We report the prolongation of a lacy filamentary ionised structure up to a projected distance of 16 kpc at SBHα = 1.5 - 10-18 erg s cm-2 arcsec-2. The filaments exhibit unusual low Hα/Hβ 2.4 and low [Oa ¯III]/Hα ∼ 0.4 - 0.6 typical of diffuse ionised gas. They are spectrally narrow (∼20 km s-1) and exhibit no velocity sub-structure. The filaments extend outwards from the elongated Ha ¯I halo. On small scales, the NHI peak is offset from the main star-forming sites. The morphology and kinematics of Ha ¯I and Ha ¯II reveal how star-formation-driven feedback interacts differently with the ionised and the neutral phase. Conclusions. We reason that the filaments are a large-scale manifestation of star-formation- driven feedback, namely limb-brightened edges of a giant outflow cone that protrudes through the halo of this gas-rich system. A simple toy model of such a conical structure is found to be commensurable with the observations.
DREAM: I. Orbital architecture orrery
(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2023) Bourrier, V.; Attia, O.; Mallonn, M.; Marret, A.; Lendl, M.; Konig, P.-C.; Krenn, A.; Cretignier, M.; Allart, R.; Henry, G.; Bryant, E.; Leleu, A.; Nielsen, L.; Hebrard, G.; Hara, N.; Ehrenreich, D.; Seidel, J.; Dos Santos, L.; Lovis, C.; Bayliss, D.; Cegla, H.M.; Dumusque, X.; Boisse, I.; Boucher, A.; Bouchy, F.; Pepe, F.; Lavie, B.; Rey Cerda, J.; Ségransan, D.; Udry, S.; Vrignaud, T.
The distribution of close-in exoplanets is shaped by a complex interplay between atmospheric and dynamical processes. The Desert-Rim Exoplanets Atmosphere and Migration (DREAM) program aims at disentangling those processes through the study of the hot Neptune desert, whose rim hosts planets that are undergoing, or survived, atmospheric evaporation and orbital migration. In this first paper, we use the Rossiter-McLaughlin revolutions (RMR) technique to investigate the orbital architecture of 14 close-in planets ranging from mini-Neptune to Jupiter-size and covering a broad range of orbital distances. While no signal is detected for the two smallest planets, we were able to constrain the sky-projected spin-orbit angle of six planets for the first time, to revise its value for six others, and, thanks to constraints on the stellar inclination, to derive the 3D orbital architecture in seven systems. These results reveal a striking three-quarters of polar orbits in our sample, all being systems with a single close-in planet but of various stellar and planetary types. High-eccentricity migration is favored to explain such orbits for several evaporating warm Neptunes, supporting the role of late migration in shaping the desert and populating its rim. Putting our measurements in the wider context of the close-in planet population will be useful to investigate the various processes shaping their architectures.
The Gaia-ESO survey: Mapping the shape and evolution of the radial abundance gradients with open clusters
(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2023) Magrini, L.; Viscasillas Vázquez, C.; Spina, L.; Randich, S.; Romano, D.; Franciosini, E.; Recio-Blanco, A.; Nordlander, T.; D'orazi, V.; Baratella, M.; Smiljanic, R.; Dantas, M.L.L.; Pasquini, L.; Spitoni, E.; Casali, G.; Van Der Swaelmen, M.; Bensby, T.; Stonkute, E.; Feltzing, S.; Sacco, G.G.; Bragaglia, A.; Pancino, E.; Heiter, U.; Biazzo, K.; Gilmore, G.; Bergemann, M.; Tautvaišienė, G.; Worley, C.; Hourihane, A.; Gonneau, A.; Morbidelli, L.
Context. The spatial distribution of elemental abundances and their time evolution are among the major constraints to disentangling the scenarios of formation and evolution of the Galaxy. Aims. In this paper we used the sample of open clusters available in the final release of the Gaia-ESO survey to trace the Galactic radial abundance and abundance-to-iron ratio gradients, and their time evolution. Methods. We selected member stars in 62 open clusters, with ages from 0.1 to about 7 Gyr, located in the Galactic thin disc at galactocentric radii (RGC) from about 6 to 21 kpc. We analysed the shape of the resulting [Fe/H] gradient, the average gradients [El/H] and [El/Fe] combining elements belonging to four different nucleosynthesis channels, and their individual abundance and abundance ratio gradients. We also investigated the time evolution of the gradients dividing open clusters in three age bins. Results. The [Fe/H] gradient has a slope of −0.054 dex kpc−1. It can be better approximated with a two-slope shape, steeper for RGC ≤ 11.2 kpc and flatter in the outer regions. We saw different behaviours for elements belonging to different channels. For the time evolution of the gradient, we found that the youngest clusters (age < 1 Gyr) in the inner disc have lower metallicity than their older counterparts and that they outline a flatter gradient. We considered some possible explanations, including the effects of gas inflow and migration. We suggest that the most likely one may be related to a bias introduced by the standard spectroscopic analysis producing lower metallicities in the analysis of low-gravity stars. Conclusions. To delineate the shape of the ‘true’ gradient, we should most likely limit our analysis to stars with low surface gravity log g > 2.5 and microturbulent parameter ξ < 1.8 km s−1. Based on this reduced sample, we can conclude that the gradient has minimally evolved over the time-frame outlined by the open clusters, indicating a slow and stationary formation of the thin disc over the last 3 Gyr. We found a secondary role of cluster migration in shaping the gradient, with a more prominent role of migration for the oldest clusters.
X-ray emission from a rapidly accreting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy at z = 6.56
(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2023) Wolf, J.; Nandra, K.; Salvato, M.; Buchner, J.; Onoue, M.; Liu, T.; Arcodia, R.; Merloni, A.; Ciroi, S.; Di Mille, F.; Burwitz, V.; Brusa, M.; Ishimoto, R.; Kashikawa, N.; Matsuoka, Y.; Urrutia, T.; Waddell, S.G.H.
The space density of X-ray-luminous, blindly selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) traces the population of rapidly accreting super-massive black holes through cosmic time. It is encoded in the X-ray luminosity function, whose bright end remains poorly constrained in the first billion years after the Big Bang as X-ray surveys have thus far lacked the required cosmological volume. With the eROSITA Final Equatorial-Depth Survey (eFEDS), the largest contiguous and homogeneous X-ray survey to date, X-ray AGN population studies can now be extended to new regions of the luminosity-redshift space (L2-10 keV > 1045 erg s-1 and z > 6). Aims. The current study aims at identifying luminous quasars at z > 5:7 among X-ray-selected sources in the eFEDS field in order to place a lower limit on black hole accretion well into the epoch of re-ionisation. A secondary goal is the characterisation of the physical properties of these extreme coronal emitters at high redshifts. Methods. Cross-matching eFEDS catalogue sources to optical counterparts from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys, we confirm the low significance detection with eROSITA of a previously known, optically faint z = 6:56 quasar from the Subaru High-z Exploration of Low-luminosity Quasars (SHELLQs) survey. We obtained a pointed follow-up observation of the source with the Chandra X-ray telescope in order to confirm the low-significance eROSITA detection. Using new near-infrared spectroscopy, we derived the physical properties of the super-massive black hole. Finally, we used this detection to infer a lower limit on the black hole accretion density rate at z > 6. Results. The Chandra observation confirms the eFEDS source as the most distant blind X-ray detection to date. The derived X-ray luminosity is high with respect to the rest-frame optical emission of the quasar.With a narrow Mgii line, low derived black hole mass, and high Eddington ratio, as well as its steep photon index, the source shows properties that are similar to local narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies, which are thought to be powered by young super-massive black holes. In combination with a previous high-redshift quasar detection in the field, we show that quasars with L2-10 keV > 1045 erg s-1 dominate accretion onto super-massive black holes at z _ 6.
Alpha tensor and dynamo excitation in turbulent fluids with anisotropic conductivity fluctuations
(Berlin : Wiley-VCH Verl., 2023) Gressel, Oliver; Rüdiger, Günther; Elstner, Detlef
A mean-field theory of the electrodynamics of a turbulent fluid is formulated under the assumption that the molecular electric conductivity is correlated with the turbulent velocity fluctuation in the (radial) direction, (Formula presented.). It is shown that for such homogeneous fluids a strong turbulence-induced field advection anti-parallel to (Formula presented.) arises almost independently of rotation. For rotating fluids, an extra (Formula presented.) effect appears with the known symmetries and with the expected maximum at the poles. Fast rotation, however, with Coriolis number exceeding unity suppresses this term. Numerical simulations of forced turbulence using the nirvana code demonstrate that the radial advection velocity, (Formula presented.), always dominates the (Formula presented.) term. We show finally with simplified models that (Formula presented.) dynamos are strongly influenced by the radial pumping: for (Formula presented.) the solutions become oscillatory, while for (Formula presented.) they become highly exotic if they exist at all. In conclusion, dynamo models for slow and fast solid-body rotation on the basis of finite conductivity–velocity correlations are unlikely to work, at least for (Formula presented.) dynamos without strong shear.
Discovery of magnetic fields in five DC white dwarfs
(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2023) Berdyugin, Andrei V.; Piirola, Vilppu; Bagnulo, Stefano; Landstreet, John D.; Berdyugina, Svetlana V.
About half of white dwarfs (WDs) evolve to the DC state as they cool; the others become DQ or (temporarily?) DZ WDs. The recent magnetic survey of the local 20 pc volume has established a high frequency of magnetic fields among WDs older than 2-3 Gyr, demonstrating that in low-and average-mass WDs, the effects of magnetism become more common as they age, and the fields on average become stronger. However, the available statistics of WDs older than about 5 Gyr do not clearly establish how fields evolve beyond this age. We are carrying out a survey to clarify the occurrence of magnetism in DC-type WDs in order to better understand this late evolution. We use broadband filter polarimetry, arguably the most efficient way to detect magnetic fields in featureless WDs via continuum circular polarization. Here we report the discovery of a magnetic field in five DC WDs (of 23 observed), almost doubling the total sample of known magnetic WDs belonging to the DC spectral class.
Effects of solar evolution on finite acquisition time of Fabry-Perot interferometers in high resolution solar physics
(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2023) Schlichenmaier, R.; Pitters, D.; Borrero, J.M.; Schubert, M.
Context. The Visible Tunable Filter (VTF) imaging spectropolarimeter will be operated at the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) in Hawaii. Due to its capability in resolving dynamic fine structure of smaller than 0.05 arcsec, the finite acquisition time of typically 11 s affects the measurement process and potentially causes errors in deduced physical parameters. Aims. We estimate these errors and investigate ways of minimising them. Methods. We mimicked the solar surface using a magnetohydrodynamic simulation with a spatially averaged vertical field strength of 200 G. We simulated the measurement process scanning through successive wavelength points with a temporal cadence of 1 s. We synthesised Fe 1617.3 nm for corresponding snapshots. In addition to the classical composition of the line profile, we introduce a novel method where the intensity in each wavelength point is normalised using the simultaneous continuum intensity, and then multiplied by the temporal mean of the continuum intensity. Milne-Eddington inversions were used to infer the line-of-sight velocity, vlos, and the vertical (longitudinal) component of the magnetic field, Blos. Results. We quantify systematic errors, defining the temporal average of the simulation during the measurement as the truth. We find that with the classical composition of the line profiles, errors exceed the sensitivity for vlos, and in filigree regions also for Blos. The novel method that includes normalisation reduces the measurement errors in all cases. Spatial binning without reducing the acquisition time decreases the measurement error slightly. Conclusions. The evolutionary timescale in inter-granular lanes, in particular in areas with magnetic features (filigree), is shorter than the timescale within granules. Hence, depending on the science objective, fewer accumulations could be used for strong magnetic field in inter-granular lanes and more accumulations could be used for the weak granular magnetic fields. As a key result of this investigation, we suggest including the novel method of normalisation in corresponding data pipelines.
Astraeus - VI. Hierarchical assembly of AGN and their large-scale effect during the Epoch of Reionization
(Oxford : Oxford Univ. Press, 2022) Trebitsch, Maxime; Hutter, Anne; Dayal, Pratika; Gottlöber, Stefan; Legrand, Laurent; Yepes, Gustavo
In this work, the sixth of a series, we use the seminumerical rAdiative tranSfer coupling of galaxy formaTion and Reionization in N-body dark-matter simUlationS (ASTRAEUS) framework to investigate the nature of the sources that reionized the Universe. We extend ASTRAEUS, which already couples a galaxy formation semi-analytical model with a detailed seminumerical reionization scheme, to include a model for black-hole formation, growth, and the production of ionizing radiation from associated active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We calibrate our fiducial AGN model to reproduce the bolometric luminosity function at z ≃ 5, and explore the role of the resulting AGN population in reionizing the Universe. We find that in all the models yielding a reasonable AGN luminosity function, galaxies dominate overwhelmingly the ionizing budget during the Epoch of Reionization, with AGN accounting for 1-10 per cent of the ionizing budget at z = 6 and starting to play a role only below z ≾ 5.
Combining magneto-hydrostatic constraints with Stokes profiles inversions: III. Uncertainty in the inference of electric currents
(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2023) Borrero, J.M.; Pastor Yabar, A.
Electric currents play an important role in the energy balance of the plasma in the solar atmosphere. They are also indicative of non-potential magnetic fields and magnetic reconnection. Unfortunately, the direct measuring of electric currents has traditionally been riddled with inaccuracies. Aims. We study how accurately we can infer electric currents under different scenarios. Methods. We carry out increasingly complex inversions of the radiative transfer equation for polarized light applied to Stokes profiles synthesized from radiative three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations. The inversion yields the magnetic field vector. B. from which the electric current density, ./, is derived by applying Ampere's law. Results. We find that the retrieval of the electric current density is only slightly affected by photon noise or spectral resolution. However, the retrieval steadily improves as the Stokes inversion becomes increasingly elaborated. In the least complex case (a Milne- Eddington-like inversion applied to a single spectral region), it is possible to determine the individual components of the electric current density (jx, jy, jz) with an accuracy of cr = 0.90 - l.OOdex, whereas the modulus (|[/
The Bimodal Absorption System Imaging Campaign (BASIC). I. A Dual Population of Low-metallicity Absorbers at z < 1
(London : Institute of Physics Publ., 2023) Berg, Michelle A.; Lehner, Nicolas; Howk, J. Christopher; O’Meara, John M.; Schaye, Joop; Straka, Lorrie A.; Cooksey, Kathy L.; Tripp, Todd M.; Prochaska, J. Xavier; Oppenheimer, Benjamin D.; Johnson, Sean D.; Muzahid, Sowgat; Bordoloi, Rongmon; Werk, Jessica K.; Fox, Andrew J.; Katz, Neal; Wendt, Martin; Peeples, Molly S.; Ribaudo, Joseph; Tumlinson, Jason
The bimodal absorption system imaging campaign (BASIC) aims to characterize the galaxy environments of a sample of 36 H i-selected partial Lyman limit systems (pLLSs) and Lyman limit systems (LLSs) in 23 QSO fields at z ≲ 1. These pLLSs/LLSs provide a unique sample of absorbers with unbiased and well-constrained metallicities, allowing us to explore the origins of metal-rich and low-metallicity circumgalactic medium (CGM) at z < 1. Here we present Keck/KCWI and Very Large Telescope/MUSE observations of 11 of these QSO fields (19 pLLSs) that we combine with Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys imaging to identify and characterize the absorber-associated galaxies at 0.16 ≲ z ≲ 0.84. We find 23 unique absorber-associated galaxies, with an average of one associated galaxy per absorber. For seven absorbers, all with <10% solar metallicities, we find no associated galaxies with log M ⋆ ≳ 9.0 within ρ/R vir and ∣Δv∣/v esc ≤ 1.5 with respect to the absorber. We do not find any strong correlations between the metallicities or H i column densities of the gas and most of the galaxy properties, except for the stellar mass of the galaxies: the low-metallicity ([X/H] ≤ −1.4) systems have a probability of 0.39 − 0.15 + 0.16 for having a host galaxy with log M ⋆ ≥ 9.0 within ρ/R vir ≤ 1.5, while the higher metallicity absorbers have a probability of 0.78 − 0.13 + 0.10 . This implies metal-enriched pLLSs/LLSs at z < 1 are typically associated with the CGM of galaxies with log M ⋆ > 9.0 , whereas low-metallicity pLLSs/LLSs are found in more diverse locations, with one population arising in the CGM of galaxies and another more broadly distributed in overdense regions of the universe. Using absorbers not associated with galaxies, we estimate the unweighted geometric mean metallicity of the intergalactic medium to be [X/H] ≲ −2.1 at z < 1, which is lower than previously estimated.
The MUSE Hubble Ultra Deep Field surveys: Data release II
(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2023) Bacon, Roland; Brinchmann, Jarle; Conseil, Simon; Maseda, Michael; Nanayakkara, Themiya; Wendt, Martin; Bacher, Raphael; Mary, David; Weilbacher, Peter M.; Krajnović, Davor; Boogaard, Leindert; Bouché, Nicolas; Contini, Thierry; Epinat, Benoît; Feltre, Anna; Guo, Yucheng; Herenz, Christian; Kollatschny, Wolfram; Kusakabe, Haruka; Leclercq, Floriane; Michel-Dansac, Léo; Pello, Roser; Richard, Johan; Roth, Martin; Salvignol, Gregory; Schaye, Joop; Steinmetz, Matthias; Tresse, Laurence; Urrutia, Tanya; Verhamme, Anne; Vitte, Eloise; Wisotzki, Lutz; Zoutendijk, Sebastiaan L.
We present the second data release of the MUSE Hubble Ultra-Deep Field surveys, which includes the deepest spectroscopic survey ever performed. The MUSE data, with their 3D content, amazing depth, wide spectral range, and excellent spatial and medium spectral resolution, are rich in information. Their location in the Hubble ultra-deep field area, which benefits from an exquisite collection of ancillary panchromatic information, is a major asset. This update of the first release incorporates a new 141-h adaptive-optics-assisted MUSE eXtremely Deep Field (MXDF; 1 arcmin diameter field of view) in addition to the reprocessed 10-h mosaic (3 × 3 arcmin2) and the single 31-h deep field (1 × 1 arcmin2). All three data sets were processed and analyzed homogeneously using advanced data reduction and analysis methods. The 3σ point-source flux limit of an unresolved emission line reaches 3.1 × 10-19 and 6.3 × 10-20 erg s-1 cm-2 at 10-and 141-h depths, respectively. We have securely identified and measured the redshift of 2221 sources, an increase of 41% compared to the first release. With the exception of eight stars, the collected sample consists of 25 nearby galaxies (z < 0.25), 677 [O II] emitters (z = 0.25-1.5), 201 galaxies in the MUSE redshift desert range (z = 1.5-2.8), and 1308 Lyα emitters (z = 2.8-6.7). This represents an order of magnitude more redshifts than the collection of all spectroscopic redshifts obtained before MUSE in the Hubble ultra-deep field area (i.e., 2221 versus 292). At high redshift (z > 3), the difference is even more striking, with a factor of 65 increase (1308 versus 20). We compared the measured redshifts against three published photometric redshift catalogs and find the photo-z accuracy to be lower than the constraints provided by photo-z fitting codes. Eighty percent of the galaxies in our final catalog have an HST counterpart. These galaxies are on average faint, with a median AB F775W magnitude of 25.7 and 28.7 for the [O II] and Lyα emitters, respectively. Fits of their spectral energy distribution show that these galaxies tend to be low-mass star-forming galaxies, with a median stellar mass of 6.2 × 108 M· and a median star-formation rate of 0.4 M· yr-1. We measured the completeness of our catalog with respect to HST and found that, in the deepest 141-h area, 50% completeness is achieved for an AB magnitude of 27.6 and 28.7 (F775W) at z = 0.8-1.6 and z = 3.2-4.5, respectively. Twenty percent of our catalog, or 424 galaxies, have no HST counterpart. The vast majority of these new sources are high equivalent-width z > 2.8 Lyα emitters that are detected by MUSE thanks to their bright and asymmetric broad Lyα line. We release advanced data products, specific software, and a web interface to select and download data sets.
HETDEX Public Source Catalog 1: 220 K Sources Including Over 50 K Lyα Emitters from an Untargeted Wide-area Spectroscopic Survey
(London : Institute of Physics Publ., 2023) Mentuch Cooper, Erin; Gebhardt, Karl; Davis, Dustin; Farrow, Daniel J.; Liu, Chenxu; Zeimann, Gregory; Ciardullo, Robin; Feldmeier, John J.; Drory, Niv; Jeong, Donghui; Benda, Barbara; Bowman, William P.; Boylan-Kolchin, Michael; Chávez Ortiz, Óscar A.; Debski, Maya H.; Dentler, Mona; Fabricius, Maximilian; Farooq, Rameen; Finkelstein, Steven L.; Gawiser, Eric; Gronwall, Caryl; Hill, Gary J.; Hopp, Ulrich; House, Lindsay R.; Janowiecki, Steven; Khoraminezhad, Hasti; Kollatschny, Wolfram; Komatsu, Eiichiro; Landriau, Martin; Niemeyer, Maja Lujan; Lee, Hanshin; MacQueen, Phillip; Mawatari, Ken; McKay, Brianna; Ouchi, Masami; Poppe, Jennifer; Saito, Shun; Schneider, Donald P.; Snigula, Jan; Thomas, Benjamin P.; Tuttle, Sarah; Urrutia, Tanya; Weiss, Laurel; Wisotzki, Lutz; Zhang, Yechi
We present the first publicly released catalog of sources obtained from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX). HETDEX is an integral field spectroscopic survey designed to measure the Hubble expansion parameter and angular diameter distance at 1.88 < z < 3.52 by using the spatial distribution of more than a million Lyα-emitting galaxies over a total target area of 540 deg2. The catalog comes from contiguous fiber spectra coverage of 25 deg2 of sky from 2017 January through 2020 June, where object detection is performed through two complementary detection methods: one designed to search for line emission and the other a search for continuum emission. The HETDEX public release catalog is dominated by emission-line galaxies and includes 51,863 Lyα-emitting galaxy (LAE) identifications and 123,891 [O ii]-emitting galaxies at z < 0.5. Also included in the catalog are 37,916 stars, 5274 low-redshift (z < 0.5) galaxies without emission lines, and 4976 active galactic nuclei. The catalog provides sky coordinates, redshifts, line identifications, classification information, line fluxes, [O ii] and Lyα line luminosities where applicable, and spectra for all identified sources processed by the HETDEX detection pipeline. Extensive testing demonstrates that HETDEX redshifts agree to within Δz < 0.02, 96.1% of the time to those in external spectroscopic catalogs. We measure the photometric counterpart fraction in deep ancillary Hyper Suprime-Cam imaging and find that only 55.5% of the LAE sample has an r-band continuum counterpart down to a limiting magnitude of r ∼ 26.2 mag (AB) indicating that an LAE search of similar sensitivity to HETDEX with photometric preselection would miss nearly half of the HETDEX LAE catalog sample. Data access and details about the catalog can be found online at http://hetdex.org/. A copy of the catalogs presented in this work (Version 3.2) is available to download at Zenodo doi:10.5281/zenodo.7448504.
A Highly Magnified Gravitationally Lensed Red QSO at z = 2.5 with a Significant Flux Ratio Anomaly
(London : Institute of Physics Publ., 2023) Glikman, Eilat; Rusu, Cristian E.; Chen, Geoff C.-F.; Chan, James Hung-Hsu; Spingola, Cristiana; Stacey, Hannah; McKean, John; Berghea, Ciprian T.; Djorgovski, S. G.; Graham, Matthew J.; Stern, Daniel; Urrutia, Tanya; Lacy, Mark; Secrest, Nathan J.; O’Meara, John M.
We present the discovery of a gravitationally lensed dust-reddened QSO at z = 2.517, identified in a survey for QSOs by infrared selection. Hubble Space Telescope imaging reveals a quadruply lensed system in a cusp configuration, with a maximum image separation of ∼1.″8. We find that, compared to the central image of the cusp, the neighboring brightest image is anomalous by a factor of ∼7-10, which is the largest flux anomaly measured to date in a lensed QSO. Incorporating high-resolution Very Large Array radio imaging and submillimeter imaging with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, we conclude that a low-mass perturber is the most likely explanation for the anomaly. The optical through near-infrared spectrum reveals that the QSO is moderately reddened with E(B − V) ≃ 0.7-0.9. We see an upturn in the ultraviolet spectrum due to ∼1% of the intrinsic emission being leaked back into the line of sight, which suggests that the reddening is intrinsic and not due to the lens. The QSO may have an Eddington ratio as high as L/L Edd ≈ 0.2. Consistent with previous red QSO samples, this source exhibits outflows in its spectrum, as well as morphological properties suggestive of it being in a merger-driven transitional phase. We find a host galaxy stellar mass of log M ⋆ / M ⊙ = 11.4 , which is higher than the local M BH versus M ⋆ relation but consistent with other high-redshift QSOs. When demagnified, this QSO is at the knee of the luminosity function, allowing for the detailed study of a more typical moderate-luminosity infrared-selected QSO at high redshift.

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