Papers for Tuesday, Sep 14 2021

We construct a parametric SED model which is able to reproduce the average observed SDSS-UKIDSS-WISE quasar colours to within one tenth of a magnitude across a wide range of redshift $(0<z<5)$ and luminosity $(-22>M_i>-29)$. This model is shown to provide accurate predictions for the colours of known quasars which are less luminous than those used to calibrate the model parameters, and also those at higher redshifts $z>5$. Using a single parameter, the model encapsulates an up-to-date understanding of the intra-population variance in the rest-frame ultraviolet and optical emission lines of luminous quasars. At fixed redshift, there are systematic changes in the average quasar colours with apparent i-band magnitude, which we find to be well explained by the contribution from the host galaxy and our parametrization of the emission-line properties. By including redshift as an additional free parameter, the model could be used to provide photometric redshifts for individual objects. For the population as a whole we find that the average emission line and host galaxy contributions can be well described by simple functions of luminosity which account for the observed changes in the average quasar colours across $18.1<i_\textrm{AB}<21.5$. We use these trends to provide predictions for quasar colours at the luminosities and redshifts which will be probed by the Rubin Observatory LSST and ESA-Euclid wide survey. The model code is applicable to a wide range of upcoming photometric and spectroscopic surveys, and is made publicly available.

Palomar 6 is a moderately metal-poor globular cluster projected towards the Galactic bulge. A full analysis of the cluster can give hints on the early chemical enrichment of the Galaxy and a plausible origin of the cluster. The aim of this study is threefold: a detailed analysis of high-resolution spectroscopic data obtained with the UVES spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the ESO, the derivation of the age and distance of Palomar 6 from Hubble Space Telescope (HST) photometric data, and an orbital analysis to determine the probable origin of the cluster. High-resolution spectra of six red giant stars in the direction of Palomar 6 were obtained at the $8$m VLT UT2-Kueyen telescope equipped with the UVES spectrograph in FLAMES$+$UVES configuration. Spectroscopic parameters were derived through excitation and ionisation equilibrium of \ion{Fe}{I} and \ion{Fe}{II} lines, and the abundances were obtained from spectrum synthesis. From HST photometric data, the age and distance were derived through a statistical isochrone fitting. Finally, a dynamical analysis was carried out for the cluster assuming two different Galactic potentials. Four stars that are members of Pal~6 were identified in the sample, which gives a mean radial velocity of $174.3\pm1.6$ km\,s$^{-1}$ and a mean metallicity of [Fe/H]$\,=-1.10\pm0.09$ for the cluster. We found an enhancement of $\alpha$-elements $0.29<\,$[O,Mg,Si,Ca/Fe]$\,<0.38$ and the iron-peak element Ti of [Ti/Fe]$\,\sim+0.3$. The odd-Z elements show a mild enhancement of [Na,Al/Fe]$\,\sim( +0.3, +0.2)$. The abundances of both first- and second-peak heavy elements are relatively high, with $+0.4<\,$[Y,Zr/Fe]$\,<+0.60$ and $+0.4<\,$[Ba,La/Fe]$\,<+0.5$, respectively. The r-element Eu is also relatively high with [Eu/Fe]$\,\sim +0.6$. One member star presents enhancements in N and Al, with [Al/Fe]$\,>+0.30$, ... $\mathbf{\left[Truncated\right]}$

We present a pilot study of the intracluster light (ICL) in massive clusters using imaging of the $z=0.566$ cluster of galaxies WHL J013719.8-08284 observed by the RELICS project with the HST. We measure the ICL fraction in four optical ACS/WFC filters (F435W, F475W, F606W, and F814W) and five infrared WFC3/IR bands (F105W, F110W, F125W, F140W, and F160W). The ICL maps are calculated using the free of a priori assumptions algorithm CICLE, and the cluster membership is estimated from photometric properties. We find optical ICL fractions that range between $\sim$6\% and 19\% in nice agreement with the values found in previous works for merging clusters. We also observe an ICL fraction excess between 3800 \AA and 4800 \AA, previously identified as a signature of merging clusters at $0.18<z<0.55$. This excess suggests the presence of an enhanced population of young/low-metallicity stars in the ICL. All indicators thus point to WHL J013719.8-08284 as a disturbed cluster with a significant amount of recently injected stars, bluer than the average stars hosted by the cluster members and likely stripped out from infalling galaxies during the current merging event. Infrared ICL fractions are $\sim$50\% higher than the optical ones, which could be signature of an older and/or higher-metallicity ICL population that can be associated with the build-up of the BCG, the passive evolution of young stars, previously injected, or preprocessing in infalling groups. Finally, investigating the photometry of the cluster members, we tentatively conclude that WHL J013719.8-08284 fulfills the expected conditions for a fossil system progenitor.

The tight radial acceleration relation (RAR) obeyed by rotationally supported disk galaxies is one of the most successful a priori prediction of the modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) paradigm on galaxy scales. Another important consequence of MOND as a classical modification of gravity is that the strong equivalence principle (SEP) - which requires the dynamics of a small free-falling self-gravitating system to not depend on the external gravitational field in which it is embedded - should be broken. Multiple tentative detections of this so-called external field effect (EFE) of MOND have been made in the past, but the systems that should be most sensitive to it are galaxies with low internal gravitational accelerations residing in galaxy clusters, within a strong external field. Here, we show that ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) in the Coma cluster do lie on the RAR, and that their velocity dispersion profiles are in full agreement with isolated MOND predictions, especially when including some degree of radial anisotropy. However, including a breaking of the SEP via the EFE seriously deteriorates this agreement. We discuss various possibilities to explain this within the context of MOND, including a combination of tidal heating and higher baryonic masses. We also speculate that our results could mean that the EFE is screened in cluster UDGs. The fact that this would happen precisely within galaxy clusters, where classical MOND fails, could be especially relevant for the nature of the residual MOND missing mass in clusters of galaxies.

In recent years, several analytic models have demonstrated that simple assumptions about halo growth and feedback-regulated star formation can match the (limited) existing observational data on galaxies at z>6. By extending such models, we demonstrate that imposing a time delay on stellar feedback (as inevitably occurs in the case of supernova explosions) induces burstiness in small galaxies. Although supernova progenitors have short lifetimes (~5-30 Myr), the delay exceeds the dynamical time of galaxies at such high redshifts. As a result, star formation proceeds unimpeded by feedback for several cycles and "overshoots" the expectations of feedback-regulated star formation models. We show that such overshoot is expected even in atomic cooling halos, with masses up to ~10^10.5 Msun at z>6. However, these burst cycles damp out quickly in massive galaxies, because large haloes are more resistant to feedback so retain a continuous gas supply. Bursts in small galaxies - largely beyond the reach of existing observations - induce a scatter in the luminosity of these haloes (of ~1 mag) and increase the time-averaged star formation efficiency by up to an order of magnitude. This kind of burstiness can have substantial effects on the earliest phases of star formation and reionization.

We identify stellar structures in the PHANGS sample of 74 nearby galaxies and construct morphological masks of sub-galactic environments based on Spitzer 3.6 micron images. At the simplest level, we distinguish centres, bars, spiral arms, interarm and discs without strong spirals. Slightly more sophisticated masks include rings and lenses, publicly released but not explicitly used in this paper. We examine trends using PHANGS-ALMA CO(2-1) intensity maps and tracers of star formation. The interarm regions and discs without strong spirals dominate in area, whereas molecular gas and star formation are quite evenly distributed among the five basic environments. We reproduce the molecular Kennicutt-Schmidt relation with a slope compatible with unity within the uncertainties, without significant slope differences among environments. In contrast to early studies, we find that bars are not always deserts devoid of gas and star formation, but instead they show large diversity. Similarly, spiral arms do not account for most of the gas and star formation in disc galaxies, and they do not have shorter depletion times than the interarm regions. Spiral arms accumulate gas and star formation, without systematically boosting the star formation efficiency. Centres harbour remarkably high surface densities and on average shorter depletion times than other environments. Centres of barred galaxies show higher surface densities and wider distributions compared to the outer disc; yet, depletion times are similar to unbarred galaxies, suggesting highly intermittent periods of star formation when bars episodically drive gas inflow, without enhancing the central star formation efficiency permanently. In conclusion, we provide quantitative evidence that stellar structures in galaxies strongly affect the organisation of molecular gas and star formation, but their impact on star formation efficiency is more subtle.

Reionisation-era galaxies often display intense nebular emission lines, both in rest-frame optical ([OIII]+H$\beta$) and ultraviolet (UV; CIII], CIV). How such strong nebular emission is powered remains unclear, with both active galactic nuclei (AGN) and hot stars considered equally viable. The UV continuum slopes of these early systems tend to be very blue ($\beta<-2$), reflecting minimal dust obscuration, young ages, and low metallicities. This contrasts with narrow-lined AGN at $z\sim2-3$, whose UV slopes are significantly redder ($\beta>-1$) than typical star-forming systems in the reionisation era. To investigate the properties of AGN in the reionisation era, we have conducted a search for potential examples of rare analogues with blue continua at intermediate redshift ($z\sim2-3$). Our goals are to determine whether AGN with intense line emission and blue continua exist and thereby to establish the range of rest-frame UV and optical line ratios in this population. In this paper we report the detection of a X-ray luminous AGN at $z=3.21$ (UDS-24561) with extreme [OIII]+H$\beta$ line emission (EW $=1300$ \r{A}) and a blue UV continuum slope ($\beta=-2.34$). MMT/Binospec and Keck/MOSFIRE spectra indicate rest-frame UV line ratios consistent with AGN photoionisation models and rest-frame optical lines with both a narrow component (FWHM $=154$ km$/$s) and extended broad wings (FWHM $=977$ km$/$s), consistent with outflowing gas. We describe how such objects can be identified in future JWST emission line surveys in the reionisation era, thereby providing a valuable census of AGN activity at $z>6$ and understanding their contribution to cosmic reionisation.

We study the destruction of icy interstellar objects by cosmic rays and gas collisions. Using the cosmic-ray flux measured in the local interstellar medium as well as inferred from gamma-ray observations at the different galactocentric radii, we find that cosmic-ray erosion is significant for interstellar objects made of common types of ices. Interestingly, cosmic-ray heating might destroy icy interstellar objects very efficiently such that the initial size of an N$_2$ fragment as suggested by Jackson & Desch (2021) to explain the composition of `Oumuamua should be at least 10 km in size in order to survive the journey of about 0.5 Gyr in the ISM and might be even larger if it originated from a region with an enhanced cosmic-ray flux. The erosion time due to cosmic-ray heating and gas collisions also allows us to set approximate limits on the initial size for other types of icy interstellar objects, e.g. composed of CO, CO$_2$, or CH$_4$. For a given initial size, we constrain the maximum distance to the birth site for interstellar objects with different speeds.

We investigate the flare-frequency distributions of 5 M-dwarfs that experienced superflares with energies in excess of $10^{33}$ erg detected by ASAS-SN. We use K2 and TESS short-cadence observations along with archival ASAS-SN data to categorise the flaring behaviour of these stars across a range of flare energies. We were able to extract a rotation period for 4 of the stars. They were all fast rotators ($P_{\mathrm{rot}} \leq 6 \textrm{d}$), implying relative youth. We find that the flare-frequency distributions for each of the stars are well fit by a power-law, with slopes between $\alpha = 1.22$ and $\alpha= 1.82$. These slopes are significantly flatter than those of fast-rotating M-dwarfs not selected for their superflaring activity, corresponding to an increased number of high energy flares. Despite our specific selection of superflaring stars with shallow flare-rate distributions and more power in higher-energy flares, we find that the implied UV flux is insufficient to deplete the ozone of earth-sized planets in the habitable zone around these stars. Furthermore, we find that the flares detected on the stars in our sample are insufficient to produce the UV flux needed to fuel abiogenetic processes. These results imply that given available models, even M-dwarfs selected for extreme flaring properties may have insufficient UV emission from flares to impact exolife on earth-sized planets in the habitable zones around M-dwarfs.

The detection of two NS--BH mergers by LIGO-Virgo provided the first direct confirmation of the existence of this type of system in the Universe. These detections also imply the existence of pulsar--black hole (PSR--BH) systems. In this analysis, we use the non-detection of any PSR--BH systems in current radio surveys to estimate a 95\% upper limit of $\sim$150 PSR--BH binary systems that are beaming towards the Earth in the Milky Way. This corresponds to a 95\% upper limit of $\mathcal{R}_{\rm LIGO} = 7.6$~yr$^{-1}$ on the merger detection rate for the LIGO-Virgo network scaled to a range distance of 100~Mpc, which is consistent with the rates derived by LIGO-Virgo. In addition, for the first time, we use the merger detection rates estimate by LIGO-Virgo to predict the number of detectable PSR--BH systems in the Milky Way. We find there to be $\left< N_{\rm obs, NSBH, e} \right> = 2^{+5}_{-1}$ and $\left< N_{\rm obs, NSBH, p} \right> = 6^{+7}_{-4}$ detectable PSR--BH systems in the Milky Way corresponding to the event-based and population-based merger detection rates estimated by LIGO-Virgo respectively. We estimate the probability of detecting these PSR--BH systems with current radio pulsar surveys, showing that the Arecibo PALFA survey has the highest probability of detecting a PSR--BH system, while surveys with recently commissioned and planned telescopes are almost guaranteed to detect one of these systems. Finally, we discuss the hurdles in detecting PSR--BH systems and how these can be overcome in the future.

The protocluster core SPT2349$-$56 at $z\,{=}\,4.3$ is one of the most actively star-forming regions known, yet constraints on the total stellar mass of this system are highly uncertain. We have therefore carried out deep optical and infrared observations of this system, probing rest-frame ultraviolet to infrared wavelengths. Using the positions of the spectroscopically-confirmed protocluster members, we identify counterparts and perform detailed source deblending, allowing us to fit spectral energy distributions in order to estimate stellar masses. We show that the galaxies in SPT2349$-$56 have stellar masses proportional to their high star-formation rates, consistent with other protocluster galaxies and field submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) around redshift 4. The galaxies in SPT2349$-$56 have on average lower molecular gas-to-stellar mass fractions and depletion timescales than field SMGs, although with considerable scatter. We construct the stellar-mass function for SPT2349$-$56 and compare it to the stellar-mass function of $z\,{=}\,1$ galaxy clusters, finding both to be best described by a Schechter function. We measure rest-frame ultraviolet half-light radii from our {\it HST\/}-F160W imaging, finding that on average the galaxies in our sample are similar in size to typical star-forming galaxies around the same redshift. However, the brightest {\it HST\/}-detected galaxy in our sample, found near the luminosity-weighted centre of the protocluster core, remains unresolved at this wavelength. Hydrodynamical simulations predict that the core galaxies will quickly merge into a brightest cluster galaxy, thus our observations provide a direct view of the early formation mechanisms of this class of object.

Wide binary stars with similar components hosting planets provide a favorable opportunity for exploring the star-planet chemical connection. We perform a detailed characterization of the solar-type stars in the WASP-160 binary system. No planet has been reported yet around WASP-160A while WASP-160B is known to host a transiting Saturn-mass planet, WASP-160B b. For this planet, we also derive updated properties from both literature and new observations. Furthermore, using TESS photometry, we constrain the presence of transiting planets around WASP-160A and additional ones around WASP-160B. The stellar characterization includes, for the first time, the computation of high-precision differential atmospheric and chemical abundances of 25 elements based on high-quality Gemini-GRACES spectra. Our analysis reveals evidence of a correlation between the differential abundances and the condensation temperatures of the elements. In particular, we find both a small but significant deficit of volatiles and an enhancement of refractory elements in WASP-160B relative to WASP-160A. After WASP-94, this is the second stellar pair among the shortlist of planet-hosting binaries showing this kind of peculiar chemical pattern. Although we discuss several plausible planet formation and evolution scenarios for WASP-160A and B that could explain the observed chemical pattern, none of them can be conclusively accepted or rejected. Future high-precision photometric and spectroscopic follow-up, as well as high-contrast imaging observations, of WASP-160A and B, might provide further constraints on the real origin of the detected chemical differences.

For the first time, neon abundance has been derived in the narrow line region from a sample of Seyfert~2 nuclei. In view of this, we compiled from the literature fluxes of optical and infrared (IR) narrow emission lines for 35 Seyfert 2 nuclei in the local universe ($z < 0.06$). The relative intensities of emission lines were used to derive the ionic and total neon and oxygen abundances through electron temperature estimations ($T_{e}$-method). For the neon, abundance estimates were obtained by using both $T_{e}$-method and IR-method. Based on photoionization model results, we found a lower electron temperature [$t_{e}([Ne III])$] for the gas phase where the Ne$^{2+}$ is located in comparison with $t_{3}$ for the O$^{2+}$ ion. We find that the differences (D) between Ne$^{2+}$/H$^{+}$ ionic abundances calculated from IR-method and $T_{e}-$method (assuming $t_{3}$ in the Ne$^{2+}$/H$^{+}$ derivation) are similar to the derivations in star-forming regions (SFs) and they are reduced by a mean factor of $\sim3$ when $t_{e}([Ne III])$ is considered. We propose a semi-empirical Ionization Correction Factor (ICF) for the neon, based on [Ne II]12.81$\mu$m, [\ion{Ne}{iii}]15.56$\mu$m and oxygen ionic abundance ratios. We find that the average Ne/H abundance for the Seyfert 2s sample is nearly 2 times higher than similar estimate for SFs. Finally, for the very high metallicity regime (i.e. [$12+log(O/H) > 8.80$]) an increase in Ne/O with O/H is found, which likely indicates secondary stellar production for the neon.

An important and perhaps dominant source of dust in the martian atmosphere, dust devils play a key role in Mars' climate. Datasets from previous landed missions have revealed dust devil activity, constrained their structures, and elucidated their dust-lifting capacities. However, each landing site and observational season exhibits unique meteorological properties that shape dust devil activity and help illuminate their dependence on ambient conditions. The recent release of data from the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) instrument suite onboard the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover promises a new treasure-trove for dust devil studies. In this study, we sift the time-series from MEDA's Pressure Sensor (PS) and Radiative and Dust Sensors (RDS) to look for the signals of passing vortices and dust devils. We detected 309 vortex encounters over the mission's first 89 sols. Consistent with predictions, these encounter rates exceed InSight and Curiosity's encounter rates by factors of several. The RDS time-series also allows us to assess whether a passing vortex is likely to be dusty (and therefore is a true dust devil) or dustless. We find that about one-third of vortices show signs of dust-lofting, although unfavorable encounter geometries may have prevented us from detecting dust for other vortices. In addition to these results, we discuss prospects for vortex studies as additional data from Mars 2020 are processed and made available.

On average molecular clouds convert only a small fraction epsilon_ff of their mass into stars per free-fall time, but differing star formation theories make contrasting claims for how this low mean efficiency is achieved. To test these theories, we need precise measurements of both the mean value and the scatter of epsilon_ff, but high-precision measurements have been difficult because they require determining cloud volume densities, from which we can calculate free-fall times. Until recently, most density estimates assume clouds as uniform spheres, while their real structures are often filamentary and highly non-uniform, yielding systematic errors in epsilon_ff estimates and smearing real cloud-to-cloud variations. We recently developed a theoretical model to reduce this error by using column density distributions in clouds to produce more accurate volume density estimates. In this letter, we apply this model to recent observations of 12 nearby molecular clouds. Compared to earlier analyses, our method reduces the typical dispersion of epsilon_ff within individual clouds from 0.35 dex to 0.31 dex, and decreases the median value of epsilon_ff over all clouds from ~ 0.02 to ~ 0.01. However, we find no significant change in the ~ 0.2 dex cloud-to-cloud dispersion of epsilon_ff, suggesting the measured dispersions reflect real structural differences between clouds.

Base on {\it Gaia} Second Data Release and the combination of nonparametric bivariate density estimation with the least square ellipse fitting, we derive the shape parameters of the sample clusters. By analyzing the dislocation of the sample clusters, the dislocation $d$ is related to the X-axis pointing toward the Galactic center, Y-axis pointing in the direction of Galactic rotation, and the Z-axis (log(|H|/pc)) that is positive toward the Galactic north pole. This finding underlines the important role of the dislocation of clusters in tracking the external environment of the Milky Way. The orientation ($q_{pm}$) of the clusters with $e_{pm}$~$\geq$~0.4 presents an aggregate distribution in the range of -45$\degr$ to 45$\degr$, about 74\% of them. This probably suggests that these clusters tend to deform heavily in the direction of the Galactic plane. NGC~752 is in a slight stage of expansion in the two-dimensional space and will deform itself morphology along the direction perpendicular to the original stretching direction in the future if no other events occur. The relative degree of deformation of the sample clusters in the short-axis direction decreases as their ages increase. On average, the severely distorted sample clusters in each group account for about 26\%~$\pm$~9\%. This possibly implies a uniform external environment in the range of $|$H$|$~$\leq$~300~pc if the sample completeness of each group is not taken into account.

The Milky Way spiral arms are well established from star counts as well as from the locus of molecular clouds and other young objects, however, they have only recently started to be studied from a kinematics point of view. Using the kinematics of thin disc stars in Gaia EDR3 around the extended solar neighbourhood, we create x-y projections coloured by the radial, residual rotational, and vertical Galactocentric velocities ($U,\Delta V,W$). The maps are rich in substructures and reveal the perturbed state of the Galactic disc. We find that local differences between rotational velocity and circular velocity, $\Delta V$, display at least five large-scale kinematic spirals; two of them closely follow the locus of the Sagittarius-Carina and Perseus spiral arms, with pitch angles of 9.12$^{\circ}$ and 7.76$^{\circ}$, and vertical thickness of $\sim400$ pc and $\sim600$ pc, respectively. Another kinematic spiral is located behind the Perseus arm and appears as a distortion in rotation velocities left by this massive arm but with no known counterpart in gas/stars overdensity. A weaker signal close to the Sun's position is present in our three velocity maps, and appears to be associated with the Local arm. Our analysis of the stellar velocities in the Galactic disc shows kinematic differences between arms and inter-arms, that are in favour of Milky Way spiral arms that do not corotate with the disc. Moreover, we show that the kinematic spirals are clumpy and flocculent, revealing the underlying nature of the Milky Way spiral arms.

Fuzzy dark matter (FDM), a scalar particle coupled to the gravitational field without self-interaction whose mass range is $m \sim 10^{-24} - 10^{-20}\ \rm{eV}$, is one of the promising alternative dark matter candidates to cold dark matter. The quantum interference pattern, which is a unique structure of FDM, can be seen in halos in cosmological FDM simulations. In this paper, we first provide an analytic model of the sub-galactic matter power spectrum originating from quantum clumps in FDM halos, in which the density distribution of the FDM is expressed by a superposition of quantum clumps whose size corresponds to the de Broglie wavelength of the FDM. These clumps are assumed to be distributed randomly such that the ensemble averaged density follows the halo profile such as the Navarro-Frenk-White profile. We then compare the sub-galactic matter power spectrum projected along the line of sight around the Einstein radius to that measured in the strong lens system SDSS J0252+0039. While we find that the current observation provides no useful constraint on the FDM mass, we show that future deep, high spatial resolution observations of strong lens systems can tightly constrain FDM with the mass around $10^{-22}\ \rm{eV}$.

Theories of modified gravity generically violate the strong equivalence principle, so that the internal dynamics of a self-gravitating system in free fall depends on the strength of the external gravitational field (the external field effect). We fit rotation curves (RCs) from the SPARC database with a model inspired by Milgromian dynamics (MOND), which relates the outer shape of a RC to the external Newtonian field from the large-scale baryonic matter distribution through a dimensionless parameter $e_{\rm N}$. We obtain a $>4\sigma$ statistical detection of the external field effect (i.e. $e_{\rm N}>0$ on average), confirming previous results. We then locate the SPARC galaxies in the cosmic web of the nearby Universe and find a striking contrast in the fitted $e_{\rm N}$ {values} for galaxies in underdense versus overdense regions. Galaxies in an underdense region between 22 and 45 Mpc from the celestial axis in the northern sky have RC fits consistent with $e_{\rm N}\simeq0$, while those in overdense regions adjacent to the CfA2 great wall and the Perseus-Pisces supercluster return $e_{\rm N}$ that are a factor of two larger than the median for SPARC galaxies. We also calculate independent estimates of $e_{\rm N}$ from galaxy survey data and find that they agree with the $e_{\rm N}$ inferred from the RCs within the uncertainties, the chief uncertainty being the spatial distribution of baryons not contained in galaxies or clusters.

S-type asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are thought to be intermediates in the evolution of oxygen- to carbon-rich AGB stars. The chemical compositions of their circumstellar envelopes are also intermediate, but have not been studied in as much detail as their carbon- and oxygen-rich counterparts. We aim to determine the abundances of AlCl and AlF from rotational lines, which have been observed for the first time towards an S-type AGB star, W Aql. In combination with models based on PACS observations, we aim to update our chemical kinetics network based on these results. We analyse ALMA observations towards W Aql of AlCl in the ground and first two vibrationally excited states and AlF in the ground vibrational state. Using radiative transfer models, we determine the abundances and spatial abundance distributions of Al$^{35}$Cl, Al$^{37}$Cl, and AlF. We also model HCl and HF emission and compare these models to PACS spectra to constrain the abundances of these species. AlCl is found in clumps very close to the star, with emission confined within 0.1$^{\prime\prime}$ of the star. AlF emission is more extended, with faint emission extending 0.2$^{\prime\prime}$ to 0.6$^{\prime\prime}$ from the continuum peak. We find peak abundances, relative to H$_2$, of $1.7\times 10^{-7}$ for Al$^{35}$Cl, $7\times 10^{-8}$ for Al$^{37}$Cl and $1\times 10^{-7}$ for AlF. From the PACS spectra, we find abundances of $9.7\times 10^{-8}$ and $\leq 10^{-8}$, relative to H$_2$, for HCl and HF, respectively. The AlF abundance exceeds the solar F abundance, indicating that fluorine synthesised in the AGB star has already been dredged up to the surface of the star and ejected into the circumstellar envelope. From our analysis of chemical reactions in the wind, we conclude that AlF may participate in the dust formation process, but we cannot fully explain the rapid depletion of AlCl seen in the wind.

Increasing evidence suggests that, similar to their low-mass counterparts, high-mass stars form through a disk-mediated accretion process. At the same time, formation of high-mass stars still necessitates high accretion rates, and hence, high gas densities, which in turn can cause disks to become unstable against gravitational fragmentation. We study the kinematics and fragmentation of the disk around the high-mass star forming region AFGL 2591-VLA 3 which was hypothesized to be fragmenting based on the observations that show multiple outflow directions. We use a new set of high-resolution (0.19 arcsec) IRAM/NOEMA observations at 843 micron towards VLA 3 which allow us to resolve its disk, characterize the fragmentation, and study its kinematics. In addition to the 843 micron continuum emission, our spectral setup targets warm dense gas and outflow tracers such as HCN, HC$_3$N and SO$_2$, as well as vibrationally excited HCN lines. The high resolution continuum and line emission maps reveal multiple fragments with subsolar masses within the inner 1000 AU of VLA 3. Furthermore, the velocity field of the inner disk observed at 843 micron shows a similar behavior to that of the larger scale velocity field studied in the CORE project at 1.37 mm. We present the first observational evidence for disk fragmentation towards AFGL 2591-VLA 3, a source that was thought to be a single high-mass core. While the fragments themselves are low-mass, the rotation of the disk is dominated by the protostar with a mass of 10.3$\pm 1.8~M_{\odot}$. These data also show that NOEMA Band 4 can obtain the highest currently achievable spatial resolution at (sub-)mm wavelengths in observations of strong northern sources.

Carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen are the fourth, sixth, and third most abundant elements in the Sun. Their abundances remain hotly debated due to the so-called solar modelling problem that has persisted for almost $20$ years. We revisit this issue by presenting a homogeneous analysis of $408$ molecular lines across $12$ diagnostic groups, observed in the solar intensity spectrum. Using a realistic 3D radiative-hydrodynamic model solar photosphere and LTE (local thermodynamic equilibrium) line formation, we find $\log\epsilon_{C} = 8.47\pm0.02$, $\log\epsilon_{N} = 7.89\pm0.04$, and $\log\epsilon_{O} = 8.70\pm0.04$. The stipulated uncertainties mainly reflect the sensitivity of the results to the model atmosphere; this sensitivity is correlated between the different diagnostic groups, which all agree with the mean result to within $0.03$ dex. For carbon and oxygen, the molecular results are in excellent agreement with our 3D non-LTE analyses of atomic lines. For nitrogen, however, the molecular indicators give a $0.12$ dex larger abundance than the atomic indicators, and our best estimate of the solar nitrogen abundance is given by the mean: $7.83$ dex. The solar oxygen abundance advocated here is close to our earlier determination of $8.69$ dex, and so the present results do not significantly alleviate the solar modelling problem.

We show that the so-called "post-Born" effects of weak lensing at 4th order are equivalent to lens-lens couplings in the Born Approximation. We demonstrate this by explicitly showing the equivalence of the canonical weak lensing approach at 4th order using the anisotropy remapping method, to that of the 4th order calculation of the lens-lens coupling effects using the Boltzmann equation approach that was first developed in [Phys. Rev. D89, 123006]. Furthermore, we argue that to incorporate true "post-Born" effects, i.e. taking into account non-straight photon paths, require the addition of a photon deflection term which has not been taken into account in the canonical formalism nor the Boltzmann method.

Aims. The catalog of Stars With ExoplanETs (SWEET-Cat) was originally introduced in 2013. Since then many more exoplanets have been confirmed, increasing significantly the number of host stars listed there. A crucial step toward a comprehensive understanding of these new worlds is the precise and homogeneous characterization of their host stars. Better spectroscopic stellar parameters along with new results from Gaia eDR3 provide updated and precise parameters for the discovered planets. A new version of the catalog, whose homogeneity in the derivation of the parameters is key to unraveling star-planet connections, is available to the community. Methods. We made use of high-resolution spectra for planet-host stars, either observed by our team or collected through public archives. The spectroscopic stellar parameters were derived for the spectra following the same homogeneous process using ARES and MOOG (ARES+MOOG) as for the previous SWEET-Cat releases. We re-derived parameters for the stars in the catalog using better quality spectra and/or using the most recent versions of the codes. Moreover, the new SWEET-Cat table can now be more easily combined with the planet properties listed both at the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia and at the NASA exoplanet archive to perform statistical analyses of exoplanets. We also made use of the recent GAIA eDR3 parallaxes and respective photometry to derive consistent and accurate surface gravity values for the host stars. Results. We increased the number of stars with homogeneous parameters by more than 40\% (from 645 to 928). We reviewed and updated the metallicity distributions of stars hosting planets with different mass regimes comparing the low-mass planets (< 30M$_{\oplus}$) with the high-mass planets. The new data strengthen previous results showing the possible trend in the metallicity-period-mass diagram for low-mass planets.

Astrotourism brings new opportunities to generate sustainable socio-economic development, preserve cultural heritage, and inspire and educate the citizens of the globe. This form of tourism can involve many different activities, such as visiting observatories or travelling to remote areas to experience an evening under a pristine, dark night sky. Together, our UK-Namibian collaboration is working to develop and showcase astrotourism in Namibia, and to enhance the possibility for astrotourism worldwide.

We report the detailed spectral measurements over a wide frequency range of three pulsars: J1741-3016, J1757-2223 and J1845-0743, using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope, which allowed us to identify them as a new gigahertz-peaked spectra pulsars. Our results indicate that their spectra show turnovers at frequencies of 620 MHz, 640 MHz and 650 MHz, respectively. Our analysis proves that wide-band observations improve the estimation of the spectral nature using a free-free thermal absorption model and thus allow a more accurate approximation of the maximum energy in the spectrum. While there is no evidence as of yet that these objects are associated with a supernova remnant or pulsar wind nebula, they are good targets for looking for interesting environments in the future, more sensitive sky surveys.

Emission from an accretion disc around compact objects, such as neutron stars and black holes, is expected to be significantly polarized. The polarization can be used to put constraints on geometrical and physical parameters of the compact sources -- their radii, masses and spins -- as well as to determine the orbital parameters. The radiation escaping from the innermost parts of the disc is strongly affected by the gravitational field of the compact object and relativistic velocities of the matter. The straightforward calculation of the observed polarization signatures involves computationally expensive ray-tracing technique. At the same time, having fast computational routines for direct data fitting becomes increasingly important in light of the currently observed images of the accretion flow around supermassive black hole in M87 by the Event Horizon Telescope, infrared polarization signatures coming from Sgr A*, as well as for the upcoming X-ray polarization measurements by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer and enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry mission. In this work, we obtain an exact analytical expression for the rotation angle of polarization plane in Schwarzschild metric accounting for the effects of light bending and relativistic aberration. We show that the calculation of the observed flux, polarization degree and polarization angle as a function of energy can be performed analytically with high accuracy using approximate light-bending formula, lifting the need for the pre-computed tabular models in fitting routines.

Supernova remnants are known to accelerate cosmic rays (CRs) on account of their non-thermal emission of radio waves, X-rays, and gamma rays. However, the ability to accelerate CRs up to PeV-energies has yet to be demonstrated. The presence of cut-offs in the gamma-ray spectra of several young SNRs led to the idea that PeV energies might only be achieved during the very initial stages of a remnant's evolution. We use the time-dependent acceleration code RATPaC to study the acceleration of cosmic rays in supernovae expanding into dense environments around massive stars, where the plentiful target material might offer a path to the detection of gamma-rays by current and future experiments. We performed spherically symmetric 1-D simulations in which we simultaneously solve the transport equations for cosmic rays, magnetic turbulence, and the hydrodynamical flow of the thermal plasma in the test-particle limit. We investigated typical parameters of the circumstellar medium (CSM) in the freely expanding winds around red supergiant (RSG) and luminous blue variable (LBV) stars. The maximum achievable energy might be limited to sub-PeV energies despite strong magnetic fields close to the progenitor star that enhance turbulence-damping by cascading: we find a maximum CR energy of 100-200 TeV, reached within one month after explosion. The peak luminosity for a LBV progenitor is 1e43 erg/s (1e42 erg/s) at GeV (TeV) energies and, for a RSG progenitor, 1e41 erg/s (1e40 erg/s). All calculated SNe reach their peak gamma-ray luminosity after <~1 month and then fade at a rate ~1/t as long as the SN shock remains in the freely expanding wind of the progenitor. Potentially detectable gamma-ray signals can be expected in the Fermi-LAT waveband weeks to months after an explosion into a freely expanding wind.

[ABRIDGED]We study the carbon abundances with a twofold objective. On the one hand, we want to evaluate the behaviour of carbon in the context of Galactic chemical evolution. On the other hand, we focus on the possible dependence of carbon abundances on the presence of planets and on the impact of various factors (such as different oxygen lines) on the determination of C/O elemental ratios. We derived chemical abundances of carbon from two atomic lines for 757 FGK stars in the HARPS-GTO sample. The abundances were derived with the code MOOG using automatically measured EWs and a grid of Kurucz ATLAS9 atmospheres. Oxygen abundances, derived using different lines, were taken from previous papers in this series and updated with the new stellar parameters. We find that thick- and thin-disk stars are chemically disjunct for [C/Fe] across the full metallicity range that they have in common. Moreover, the population of high-$\alpha$ metal-rich stars also presents higher and clearly separated [C/Fe] ratios than thin-disk stars up to [Fe/H]\,$\sim$\,0.2\,dex. The [C/O] ratios present a general flat trend as a function of [O/H] but this trend becomes negative when considering stars of similar metallicity. We find tentative evidence that stars with low-mass planets at lower metallicities have higher [C/Fe] ratios than stars without planets at the same metallicity, in the same way as has previously been found for $\alpha$ elements. Finally, the elemental C/O ratios for the vast majority of our stars are below 0.8 when using the oxygen line at 6158A however, the forbidden oxygen line at 6300A provides systematically higher C/O values. Moreover, by using different atmosphere models the C/O ratios can have a non negligible difference for cool stars. Therefore, C/O ratios should be scaled to a common solar reference in order to correctly evaluate its behaviour.

Observations of reconnection jets in the solar corona are emerging as a possible diagnostic to study highly elusive coronal heating. Such nanojets can be observed in coronal loops and they have been linked to nanoflares. However, while models successfully describe the bilateral post-reconnection magnetic slingshot effect that leads to the jets, observations reveal that nanojets are unidirectional, or highly asymmetric, with only the jet travelling inward with respect to the coronal loop's curvature being clearly observed. The aim of this work is to address the role of the curvature of the coronal loop in asymmetric reconnection jets. In order to do so, we first use a simplified analytical model where we estimate the post-reconnection tension forces based on the local intersection angle between the pre-reconnection magnetic field lines and on their post-reconnection retracting length towards new equilibria. Second, we use a simplified numerical magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model to study how two opposite propagating jets evolve in curved magnetic field lines. Our analytical model demonstrates that in the post-reconnection reorganised magnetic field, the inward directed magnetic tension is inherently stronger (up to 3 orders of magnitude) than the outward directed one and that, with a large enough retracting length, a regime exists where the outward directed tension disappears, leading to no outward jet at large, observable scales. Our MHD numerical model provides support for these results proving also that in the following time evolution the inward jets are consistently more energetic. The degree of asymmetry is also found to increase for small-angle reconnection and for more localised reconnection regions. This work shows that the curvature of the coronal loops plays a role in the asymmetry of the reconnection jets and inward directed jets are more likely to occur and more energetic.

Primordial black holes (PBHs) may form in the early stages of the Universe via the collapse of large density perturbations. Depending on the formation mechanism, PBHs may exist and populate today the galactic halos and have masses in a wide range, from about 10^{-14}Msun up to thousands, or more, of solar masses. Gravitational microlensing is the most robust and powerful method to constrain primordial black holes (PBHs), since it does not require that the lensing objects be directly visible. We calculate the optical depth and the rate of microlensing events caused by PBHs eventually distributed in the Milky Way halo, towards some selected directions of observation. Then we discuss the capability of Euclid, a space-based telescope which might perform microlensing observations at the end of its nominal mission, to probe the PBH populations in the Galactic halo.

We study the formation of black holes from subhorizon and superhorizon perturbations in a matter dominated universe with 3+1D numerical relativity simulations. We find that there are two primary mechanisms of formation depending on the initial perturbation's mass and geometry -- via $\textit{direct collapse}$ of the initial overdensity and via $\textit{post-collapse accretion}$ of the ambient dark matter. In particular, for the latter case, the initial perturbation does not have to satisfy the hoop conjecture for a black hole to form. In both cases, the duration of the formation the process is around a Hubble time, and the initial mass of the black hole is $M_\mathrm{BH} \sim 10^{-2} H^{-1} M_\mathrm{Pl}^2$. Post formation, we find that the PBH undergoes rapid mass growth beyond the self-similar limit $M_\mathrm{BH}\propto H^{-1}$, at least initially. We argue that this implies that most of the final mass of the PBH is accreted from its ambient surroundings post formation.

We investigate the feasibility and demonstrate the merits of using Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) profiles to retrieve seasonal height variations of CO2 snow/ice cap in Mars' polar areas by applying a co-registration strategy. We present a prototype analysis on the research region of [85.75{\deg}S, 86.25{\deg}S, 300{\deg}E, 330{\deg}E] that is located on the residual south polar cap. Our method comprises the recomputation of MOLA footprint coordinates with an updated Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) ephemeris and a revised Mars rotation model. The reprocessed MOLA dataset at the South Pole of Mars (poleward of 78{\deg}S) is then self-registered to form a coherent reference digital terrain model (DTM). We co-register segments of reprocessed MOLA profiles to the self-registered MOLA reference DTM to obtain the temporal height differences at either footprints or cross-overs. Subsequently, a two-step Regional Pseudo Cross-over Adjustment (RPCA) procedure is proposed and applied to post-correct the aforementioned temporal height differences for a temporal systematic bias and other residual errors. These pseudo cross-overs are formed by profile pairs that do not necessarily intersect, but are connected through the underlaying DTM. Finally, CO2 snow/ice temporal height variation is obtained by median-filtering those post-corrected temporal height differences. The precision of the derived height change time series is ~4.9 cm. The peak-to-peak height variation is estimated to be ~2 m. In addition, a pronounced "pit" (transient height accumulation) of ~0.5 m in magnitude centered at Ls=210{\deg} in southern spring is observed. The proposed method opens the possibility to map the seasonal CO2 snow/ice height variations at the entire North and South polar regions of Mars.

The KM3NeT collaboration is constructing two large neutrino detectors in the Mediterranean Sea: ARCA, located near Sicily and aiming at neutrino astronomy, and ORCA, located near Toulon and designed for neutrino oscillation studies. The two detectors, together, will have hundreds of Detection Units (DUs) with 18 Digital Optical Modules (DOMs) maintained vertical by buoyancy, forming a large 3D optical array for detecting the Cherenkov light produced after the neutrino interactions. To properly reconstruct the direction of the incoming neutrino, the position of the DOMs must be known precisely with an accuracy of less than 10 cm. For this purpose, there are acoustic and orientation sensors inside the DOMs. An Attitude Heading Reference System (AHRS) chip provides the components values of the Acceleration and Magnetic field in the DOM, from which it is possible to calculate Yaw, Pitch, and Roll for each floor of the line. A piezo sensor detects the signals from fixed acoustic emitters on the seafloor, so as to position it by trilateration. Data from these sensors are used as an input to reconstruct the shape of the entire line based on a DU Line Fit mechanical model. This proceeding presents an overview of the KM3NeT monitoring system, as well as the line fit model and a selection of results.

Stealth coronal mass ejection (CMEs) are eruptions from the Sun that are not associated with appreciable low-coronal signatures. Because they often cannot be linked to a well-defined source region on the Sun, analysis of their initial magnetic configuration and eruption dynamics is particularly problematic. In this manuscript, we address this issue by undertaking the first attempt at predicting the magnetic fields of a stealth CME that erupted in 2020 June from the Earth-facing Sun. We estimate its source region with the aid of off-limb observations from a secondary viewpoint and photospheric magnetic field extrapolations. We then employ the Open Solar Physics Rapid Ensemble Information (OSPREI) modelling suite to evaluate its early evolution and forward-model its magnetic fields up to Parker Solar Probe, which detected the CME in situ at a heliocentric distance of 0.5 AU. We compare our hindcast prediction with in-situ measurements and a set of flux rope reconstructions, obtaining encouraging agreement on arrival time, spacecraft crossing location, and magnetic field profiles. This work represents a first step towards reliable understanding and forecasting of the magnetic configuration of stealth CMEs and slow, streamer-blowout events.

We present the velocity dispersion and dynamical mass estimates for 270 galaxy clusters included in the first Planck Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) source catalogue, the PSZ1. Part of the results presented here were achieved during a two-year observational program, the ITP, developed at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (La Palma, Spain). In the ITP we carried out a systematic optical follow-up campaign of all the 212 unidentified PSZ1 sources in the northern sky that have a declination above $-15^\circ$ and are without known counterparts at the time of the publication of the catalogue. We present for the first time the velocity dispersion and dynamical mass of 58 of these ITP PSZ1 clusters, plus 35 newly discovered clusters that are not associated with the PSZ1 catalogue. Using Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) archival data, we extend this sample, including 212 already confirmed PSZ1 clusters in the northern sky. Using a subset of 207 of these galaxy clusters, we constrained the $M_{\rm SZ}$--$M_{\rm dyn}$ scaling relation, finding a mass bias of $(1-B) = 0.83\pm0.07$(stat)$\pm0.02$(sys). We show that this value is consistent with other results in the literature that were obtained with different methods (X-ray, dynamical masses, or weak-lensing mass proxies). This result cannot dissolve the tension between primordial cosmic microwave background anisotropies and cluster number counts in the $\Omega_{\rm M}$--$\sigma_8$ plane.

We present multi-epoch, parsec-scale core brightness temperature observations of 447 AGN jets from the MOJAVE and 2cm Survey programs at 15 GHz from 1994 to 2019. The brightness temperature of each jet over time is characterized by its median value and variability. We find that the range of median brightness temperatures for AGN jets in our sample is much larger than the variations within individual jets, consistent with Doppler boosting being the primary difference between the brightness temperatures of jets in their median state. We combine the observed median brightness temperatures with apparent jet speed measurements to find the typical intrinsic Gaussian brightness temperature of (4.1 +- 0.6)*10^10 K, suggesting that jet cores are at or below equipartition between particle and magnetic field energy in their median state. We use this value to derive estimates for the Doppler factor for every source in our sample. For the 309 jets with both apparent speed and brightness temperature data, we estimate their Lorentz factors and viewing angles to the line of sight. Within the BL Lac optical class, we find that high-synchrotron-peaked (HSP) BL Lacs have smaller Doppler factors, lower Lorentz factors, and larger angles to the line of sight than intermediate and low-synchrotron-peaked (LSP) BL Lacs. We confirm that AGN jets with larger Doppler factors measured in their parsec-scale radio cores are more likely to be detected in gamma rays, and we find a strong correlation between gamma-ray luminosity and Doppler factor for the detected sources.

We present a large suite of cosmological simulations, the FORGE (F-of-R Gravity Emulator) simulation suite, which is designed to build accurate emulators for cosmological observables in galaxy clustering, weak gravitational lensing and galaxy clusters, for the $f(R)$ gravity model. The total of 200 simulations explore the cosmological parameter space around the Planck(2018) cosmology with a Latin hypercube, for 50 combinations of $\bar{f}_{R0}$, $\Omega_m$, $\sigma_8$ and $h$ with all other parameters fixed. For each parameter combination, or node, we ran four independent simulations, one pair using $1024^3$ particles in $500 h^{-1} Mpc$ simulation boxes to cover small scales, and another pair using $512^3$ simulation particles in $1500 h^{-1} Mpc$ boxes for larger scales. Each pair of initial conditions are selected such that sample variance on large scales is minimised on average. In this work we present an accurate emulator for the matter power spectrum in $f(R)$ gravity trained on FORGE. We have verified, using the cross-validation technique, that the emulator accuracy is better than $2.5\%$ for the majority of nodes, particularly around the center of the explored parameter space, up to scales of $k = 10 h Mpc^{-1}$. We have also checked the power spectrum emulator against simulations which are not part of our training set and found excellent agreement. Due to its high accuracy on small scales, the FORGE matter power spectrum emulator is well suited for weak lensing analysis and can play a key tool in constraining $f(R)$ gravity using current and future observational data.

Using a sample of 67 galaxies from the MIGHTEE Survey Early Science data we study the HI-based baryonic Tully-Fisher relation (bTFr), covering a period of $\sim$one billion years ($0 \leq z \leq 0.081 $). We consider the bTFr based on two different rotational velocity measures: the width of the global HI profile and $\rm V_{out}$, measured as the outermost rotational velocity from the resolved HI rotation curves. Both relations exhibit very low intrinsic scatter orthogonal to the best-fit relation ($\sigma_{\perp}=0.07\pm0.01$), comparable to the SPARC sample at $z \simeq 0$. The slopes of the relations are similar and consistent with the $ z \simeq 0$ studies ($3.66^{+0.35}_{-0.29}$ for $\rm W_{50}$ and $3.47^{+0.37}_{-0.30}$ for $\rm V_{out}$). We find no evidence that the bTFr has evolved over the last billion years, and all galaxies in our sample are consistent with the same relation independent of redshift and the rotational velocity measure. Our results set up a reference for all future studies of the HI-based bTFr as a function of redshift that will be conducted with the ongoing deep SKA pathfinders surveys.

Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) detection statistic has wide-spread applications. A potential event is recorded when the SNR from a specific template exceeds a threshold set by a desired false positive rate. In template bank searches, the generalization of the SNR statistic is the SNR-max statistic, defined as the maximum of the absolute value of SNRs from individual template matching. While individual SNR realizations are Gaussian distributed, SNR-max probability distribution is non-Gaussian. Moreover, as the individual template-bank SNRs are computed using the same network data streams, SNRs become correlated between templates. Cross-template correlations have sizable effect on the SNR-max probability distribution, and the threshold SNR-max values. Computing threshold SNR-max values for large banks is computationally prohibitive and we develop analytic approaches to computing properties of SNR-max statistic. This is done for nearly orthogonal template banks and for banks with cross-template correlation coefficients "squeezed" about the most probable cross-template correlation value. Since cross-template correlation coefficients quantify similarity of templates, increasing correlations decrease SNR-max thresholds for specific values of false positive rates. Increasing the number of templates in the bank increases the SNR-max thresholds. Our derivations are carried out for networks that may exhibit colored noise and cross-node correlations. Specific applications are illustrated with a dark matter search with atomic clocks and a ''toy'' planar network with cyclic rotational symmetry.

Superconducting detectors have been proposed as outstanding targets for the direct detection of light dark matter scattering at masses as low as a keV. We study the prospects for directional detection of dark matter in isotropic superconducting targets from the angular distribution of excitations produced in the material. We find that dark matter scattering produces initial excitations with an anisotropic distribution, and further show that this directional information can be preserved as the initial excitations relax. Our results demonstrate that directional detection is possible for a wide range of dark matter masses, and pave the way for light dark matter discovery with bulk superconducting targets.

The conventional misalignment mechanism for scalar dark matter depends on the initial field value, which governs the oscillation amplitude and present-day abundance. We present a mechanism by which a feeble (Planck-suppressed) coupling of dark matter to a fermion in thermal equilibrium drives the scalar towards its high-temperature potential minimum at large field values, dynamically generating misalignment before oscillations begin. Unlike conventional misalignment production, the dark matter abundance is dictated by microphysics and not by initial conditions. As an application of the generic mechanism, we discuss a realistic scenario in which dark matter couples to the muon.

Collisional Penrose process received much attention when Banados, Silk and West (BSW) pointed out the possibility of test-particle collisions with arbitrarily high centre-of-mass energy in the vicinity of the horizon of an extremally rotating black hole. However, the energy that can be extracted from the black hole in this promising, if simplified scenario, called BSW effect, turned out to be subject to unconditional upper bounds. And although such bounds were not found for the electrostatic variant of the process, this version is also astrophysically unfeasible, since it requires a maximally charged black hole. In order to deal with these deficiencies, we revisit the unified version of the BSW effect concerning collisions of charged particles in the equatorial plane of a rotating electrovacuum black-hole spacetime. Performing a general analysis of energy extraction through this process, we explain in detail how the seemingly incompatible limiting cases arise. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the unconditional upper bounds on the extracted energy are absent for arbitrarily small values of the black hole electric charge. Therefore, our setup represents an intriguing simplified model for possible highly energetic processes happening around astrophysical black holes, which may spin fast, but can have only a tiny electric charge induced via interaction with an external magnetic field.

False vacuum decay in quantum mechanical first order phase transitions is a phenomenon with wide implications in cosmology, and presents interesting theoretical challenges. In the standard approach, it is assumed that false vacuum decay proceeds through the formation of bubbles that nucleate at random positions in spacetime and subsequently expand. In this paper we investigate the presence of correlations between bubble nucleation sites using a recently proposed semi-classical stochastic description of vacuum decay. This procedure samples vacuum fluctuations, which are then evolved using classical lattice simulations. We compute the two-point function for bubble nucleation sites from an ensemble of simulations, demonstrating that nucleation sites cluster in a way that is qualitatively similar to peaks in random Gaussian fields. We qualitatively assess the phenomenological implications of bubble clustering in early Universe phase transitions, which include features in the power spectrum of stochastic gravitational waves and an enhancement or suppression of the probability of observing bubble collisions in the eternal inflation scenario.

In many cosmologies dark matter clusters on sub-kiloparsec scales and forms compact subhalos, in which the majority of Galactic dark matter could reside. Null results in direct detection experiments since their advent four decades ago could then be the result of extremely rare encounters between the Earth and these subhalos. We investigate alternative and promising means to identify subhalo dark matter interacting with Standard Model particles: (1) subhalo collisions with old neutron stars can transfer kinetic energy and brighten the latter to luminosities within the reach of imminent infrared, optical, and ultraviolet telescopes; we identify new detection strategies involving single-star measurements and Galactic disk surveys, and obtain the first bounds on self-interacting dark matter in subhalos from the coldest known pulsar, PSR J2144-3933, (2) subhalo dark matter scattering with cosmic rays results in detectable effects, (3) historic Earth-subhalo encounters can leave dark matter tracks in paleolithic minerals deep underground. These searches could discover dark matter subhalos weighing between gigaton and solar masses, with corresponding dark matter cross sections and masses spanning tens of orders of magnitude.

We assume that ultra dense neutron stars are endowed with a distribution of electric charge and study the twin star solutions and their properties resulting from a first order transition from confined hadronic to deconfined quark phases. Two distinct phenomenological treatments for the phase transition are considered and the values for the maximum gravitational masses of the hadronic and hybrid configurations are estimated for different values of the total electric charge. We demonstrate that stable compact charged twin stars exist, with charged stars being more massive than their neutral counterparts, and that the standard ${2.2}{M_{\odot}}$ constraint is surpassed for large values of the electric charge. In particular, our results suggest that the unknown compact object of $\approx {2.6}{M_{\odot}}$ measured in the GW190814 event might be a charged star.

We first show that the effective non-relativistic theory of gravitationally interacting, massive integer-spin fields (spin-$0$, $1$, and $2$ in particular) is described by a $2s+1$ component Schr\"{o}dinger-Poisson action, where $s$ is the spin of the field. We then construct $s+1$ distinct, gravitationally supported solitons in this non-relativistic theory from identically polarized plane waves. Such solitons are extremally polarized, with macroscopically large spin, but no orbital angular momentum. These $s+1$ solitons form a basis set, out of which partially polarized solitons can be constructed. All such solitons are ground states, have a spherically symmetric energy density but not field configurations. We discuss how solitons in higher-spin fields can be distinguished from scalar solitons, and potential gravitational and non-gravitational probes of them.

In magnetospheric missions, burst mode data sampling should be triggered in the presence of processes of scientific or operational interest. We present an unsupervised classification method for magnetospheric regions, that could constitute the first-step of a multi-step method for the automatic identification of magnetospheric processes of interest. Our method is based on Self Organizing Maps (SOMs), and we test it preliminarily on data points from global magnetospheric simulations obtained with the OpenGGCM-CTIM-RCM code. The dimensionality of the data is reduced with Principal Component Analysis before classification. The classification relies exclusively on local plasma properties at the selected data points, without information on their neighborhood or on their temporal evolution. We classify the SOM nodes into an automatically selected number of classes, and we obtain clusters that map to well defined magnetospheric regions. We validate our classification results by plotting the classified data in the simulated space and by comparing with K-means classification. For the sake of result interpretability, we examine the SOM feature maps (magnetospheric variables are called features in the context of classification), and we use them to unlock information on the clusters. We repeat the classification experiments using different sets of features, we quantitatively compare different classification results, and we obtain insights on which magnetospheric variables make more effective features for unsupervised classification.