Papers for Wednesday, Sep 04 2024

The observation that accelerated cosmic expansion is dominant since the Mega-parsec cosmic structure became nonlinear seems like an extraordinary coincidence, unless the acceleration is somehow driven by the emergence of the structure. That has given rise to the controversial concept of a gravitational backreaction through which inhomogeneity becomes a driver of accelerated expansion. The standard route when studying strongly inhomogeneous cosmological models is to take either a perturbative approach or a spatial averaging approach. Here we argue that because backreaction is in fact a nonlinear multiscale phenomenon, perturbative approaches may have a limited validity. The alternative is the proposed averaging approach. In this paper we demonstrate that the implied backreaction terms are artificial, that is gauge dependent, which may easily cause ambiguous estimates of its significance. In the current study, we forward a formal fully geometric framework of cosmic foliations in the context of relativistic cosmology. Here we show that fixing a foliation of spacetime determines a choice of gauge. Addressing the correspondence between the metric tensor and the foliation allows us to clarify the theoretical implications of choosing a foliation. Within the context of backreaction, this formalism allows us to discuss the complications of averaging. It reveals that spatial averaging can induce artificial backreaction terms that arise from any specific choice of gauge. Averaging methods presented so far all encounter this problem. Within our foliation framework, we can produce a gauge invariant method of averaging by considering a group of proper time foliations which any cosmic observe can agree upon. We demonstrate that this implies the gauge invariance of the averaging procedure. This makes it applicable to standard cosmological simulations.

We present a numerical method for the analysis of mutual coupling effects in large, dense and irregular arrays with identical antennas. Building on the Method of Moments (MoM), our technique employs a Macro Basis Function (MBF) approach for rapid direct inversion of the MoM impedance matrix. To expedite the reduced matrix filling, we propose an extension of the Steepest-Descent Multipole expansion which remains numerically stable and efficient across a wide bandwidth. This broadband multipole-based approach is well suited to quasi-planar problems and requires only the pre-computation of each MBF's complex patterns, resulting in low antenna-dependent pre-processing costs. The method also supports arrays with arbitrarily rotated antennas at low additional cost. A simulation of all embedded element patterns of irregular arrays of 256 complex log-periodic antennas completes in just 10 minutes per frequency point on a current laptop, with an additional minute per new layout.

While astronomers often assume that exoplanets are perfect spheres when analyzing observations, the subset of these distant worlds that are subject to strong tidal forces and/or rapid rotations are expected to be distinctly ellipsoidal or even triaxial. Since a planet's response to these forces is determined in part by its interior structure, measurements of an exoplanet's deviations from spherical symmetry can lead to powerful insights into its composition and surrounding environment. These shape deformations will imprint themselves on a planet's phase curve and transit lightcurve and cause small (1s-100s of parts per million) deviations from their spherical-planet counterparts. Until recently, these deviations were undetectable in typical real-world datasets due to limitations in photometric precision. Now, however, current and soon-to-come-online facilities such as JWST will routinely deliver observations that warrant the consideration of more complex models. To this end we present squishyplanet, a JAX-based Python package that implements an extension of the polynomial limb-darkened transit model presented in Agol et al. 2020 to non-spherical (triaxial) planets, as well as routines for modeling reflection and emission phase curves.

We present a set of photometric catalogs primarily aimed at providing the community with a comprehensive database for the study of galaxy populations in the high redshift Universe. The set gathers data from eight JWST NIRCam observational programs, targeting the Abell 2744 (GLASS-JWST, UNCOVER, DDT2756 and GO3990), EGS (CEERS), COSMOS and UDS (PRIMER), and GOODS North and South (JADES and NGDEEP) deep fields, for a total area of $\sim$0.2 sq. degrees. Photometric estimates are obtained by means of well-established techniques, including tailored improvements designed to enhance the performance on the specific dataset. We also include new measurements from HST archival data, thus collecting 16 bands spanning from 0.44 to 4.44 $\mu$m. A grand total of $\sim$530 thousand sources is detected on stacks of NIRCam 3.56 and 4.44 $\mu$m mosaics. We assess the photometric accuracy by comparing fluxes and colors against archival catalogs. We also provide photometric redshift estimates, statistically validated against a large set of robust spectroscopic data. The catalogs are publicly available on the Astrodeep website.

Optically thick non-thermal synchrotron sources notably produce linear polarization vectors being parallel to projected magnetic field lines on the observer's screen, although they are perpendicular in well-known optically thin cases. To elucidate the complex relationship between the vectors and fields and to investigate the energy and spatial distribution of non-thermal electrons through the images, we perform polarization radiative transfer calculations at submillimeter wavelengths. Here the calculations are based on semi-analytic force-free jet models with non-thermal electrons with a power-law energy distribution. In calculated images, we find a $90^\circ$-flip of linear polarization (LP) vectors at the base of counter-side (receding) jet near a black hole, which occurs because of large optical depths for synchrotron self-absorption effect. The $90^\circ$-flip of LP vectors is also seen on the photon ring at a high frequency, since the optical depth along the rays is large there due to the light bending effect. In addition, we see the flip of the sign of circular polarization (CP) components on the counter jet and photon ring. Furthermore, we show that these polarization flips are synthesized with large values in the spectral index map, and also give rise to outstanding features in the Faraday Rotation Measure (RM) map. Since the conditions of flipping depend on the magnetic field strength and configuration and the energy distribution of electrons, we can expect that the polarization flips will provide us with an observational evidence for the presence of non-thermal electrons around the black hole, and a clue to the magnetically driving mechanism of plasma jets.

The circumgalactic medium (CGM) is a vital element in galaxies, as it mediates the baryon cycle essential for regulating galaxy activity. It is also highly complex due to the intricate distributions of temperature, density, metallicity, and ionization that make the CGM a multiphase medium. Therefore, learning about the CGM requires combining various observational techniques. This contribution starts by reviewing how absorption spectroscopy, together with modeling of the ionization conditions, yields critical insights into the underlying physical properties of the CGM. Next, the rapidly growing application of imaging and integral field spectroscopy for studying the halo gas in emission, using hydrogen and metal lines as tracers, is examined. Finally, the essential role of the CGM in galaxy evolution is highlighted by considering current studies that directly link galaxies to their halo gas. The novel dimension of how the environment affects the CGM and alters the evolution of galaxies is also investigated.

Euclid will cover over 14000 $deg^{2}$ with two optical and near-infrared spectro-photometric instruments, and is expected to detect around ten million active galactic nuclei (AGN). This unique data set will make a considerable impact on our understanding of galaxy evolution and AGN. In this work we identify the best colour selection criteria for AGN, based only on Euclid photometry or including ancillary photometric observations, such as the data that will be available with the Rubin legacy survey of space and time (LSST) and observations already available from Spitzer/IRAC. The analysis is performed for unobscured AGN, obscured AGN, and composite (AGN and star-forming) objects. We make use of the spectro-photometric realisations of infrared-selected targets at all-z (SPRITZ) to create mock catalogues mimicking both the Euclid Wide Survey (EWS) and the Euclid Deep Survey (EDS). Using these catalogues we estimate the best colour selection, maximising the harmonic mean (F1) of completeness and purity. The selection of unobscured AGN in both Euclid surveys is possible with Euclid photometry alone with F1=0.22-0.23, which can increase to F1=0.43-0.38 if we limit at z>0.7. Such selection is improved once the Rubin/LSST filters (a combination of the u, g, r, or z filters) are considered, reaching F1=0.84 and 0.86 for the EDS and EWS, respectively. The combination of a Euclid colour with the [3.6]-[4.5] colour, which is possible only in the EDS, results in an F1-score of 0.59, improving the results using only Euclid filters, but worse than the selection combining Euclid and LSST. The selection of composite ($f_{\rm AGN}$=0.05-0.65 at 8-40 $\mu m$) and obscured AGN is challenging, with F1<0.3 even when including ancillary data. This is driven by the similarities between the broad-band spectral energy distribution of these AGN and star-forming galaxies in the wavelength range 0.3-5 $\mu m$.

The merging black hole binaries detected by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) gravitational-wave observatories, may help us shed light on how such binaries form. In addition, these detections can help us probe the hypothesized primordial black holes, a candidate for the observed abundance of dark matter. In this work, we study the black-hole mass distribution obtained from the LVK binary black hole merger events. We obtain that distribution by first associating a skewed normal distribution to each event detected with a signal to noise ratio (SNR) $>$ 8 and then summing all such distributions. We also simulate black hole binaries from two separate populations of merging binaries. One of these is a stellar-origin population that follows a mass-distribution similar to the zero-age mass function of stars. The second population of black holes follows a Gaussian mass-distribution. Such a distribution could approximate a population of black hole binaries formed from earlier black hole mergers in dense stellar environments, or binaries of primordial black holes. For those populations, we evaluate the number of detectable events and fit their combination to the LVK observations. In our work, we rely on a wide range of stellar-origin black-hole mass distributions. We find that the observed LVK events can be fitted much better by the combination of such a stellar-origin mass distribution and a Gaussian distribution, than by the stellar-origin mass distribution alone.

We propose a comprehensive survey of giant planets ranging from close-in highly irradiated hot Jupiters to young, wide-orbit directly imaged planets. The combination of two established techniques for probing planetary atmospheric compositions (time-series transit observations and high-contrast spectroscopy) will provide an unprecedented window into gaseous planet compositions across a range of equilibrium temperatures (100-2000 K), orbital separations (0.1-100 au), and system ages (10 Myr-1 Gyr). To-date, compositional measurements of both transiting and directly imaged planets suggest two distinct formation pathways: star-like formation for directly imaged planets and planet-like formation for transiting planets. By leveraging the combined technical and theoretical expertise of the transiting and direct imaging communities, we can obtain a holistic view of giant planet formation, migration, accretion, and evolution. From the results of this comprehensive program, we will begin to answer one of the fundamental outstanding questions in our understanding of giant planets: where and how in the protoplanetary disk do giant planets form?

Aims: To unveil the influence of galaxy-galaxy interactions on material transport driven by galactic bars towards the central regions of active galactic nuclei (AGN) galaxies and assess the efficiency of the combined mechanisms of interactions and bars in fueling massive black holes, we examine barred active galaxies in paired systems. Methods: Our study targets barred AGN galaxies in pairs with projected separations $r_{p}< 100 \rm \,kpc \,h^{-1}$ and relative radial velocities of $\Delta V< 500 \rm \,km \,s^{-1}$ within $z<0.1$, using Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data. To quantify the impact of interactions, we also created a control sample of barred active galaxies without companions, matched in redshift, absolute r-band magnitude, stellar mass, color, and stellar age. We assessed galactic bar structures through two-dimensional image modeling, considering their wide range of shapes and sizes that may affect material transport ability. Results: We found that nuclear activity, measured by $Lum[OIII]$, increases as projected separations between galaxy pair members decrease. Barred AGN galaxies in close pairs ($r_p<$ 25 kpc $h^{-1}$) show significantly higher nuclear activity compared to the control sample. Barred galaxies with close companions exhibit enhanced nuclear activity across all luminosity, stellar mass, and color ranges. Barred AGN with longer bars show more efficient nuclear activity than those with shorter bars, with a pronounced effect in close pair systems. Nuclear activity increases as pair separations decrease. Barred AGNs in close pairs undergoing major interactions show a substantial excess of high $Lum[OIII]$ values, reflecting increased accretion onto central black holes. These findings suggest that nearby galaxy companions enhance gas flows driven by galactic bars, amplifying central nuclear activity and influencing black hole accretion.

Globular clusters (GCs) are sites of extremely efficient star formation, and recent studies suggest they significantly contributed to the early Milky Way's stellar mass build-up. Although their role has since diminished, GCs' impact on the Galaxy's initial evolution can be traced today by identifying their most chemically unique stars--those with anomalous nitrogen and aluminum overabundances and oxygen depletion. While they are a perfect tracer of clusters, be it intact or fully dissolved, these high-[N/O], high-[Al/Fe] GC-origin stars are extremely rare within the current Galaxy. To address the scarcity of these unusual, precious former GC members, we train a neural network (NN) to identify high-[N/O], high-[Al/Fe] stars using low-resolution Gaia BP/RP spectra. Our NN achieves a classification accuracy of approximately $\approx99\%$ and a false positive rate of around $\approx7\%$, identifying 878 new candidates in the Galactic field. We validate our results with several physically-motivated sanity checks, showing, for example, that the incidence of selected stars in Galactic GCs is significantly higher than in the field. Moreover, we find that most of our GC-origin candidates reside in the inner Galaxy, having likely formed in the proto-Milky Way, consistent with previous research. The fraction of GC candidates in the field drops at a metallicity of [Fe/H]$\approx-1$, approximately coinciding with the completion of spin-up, i.e. the formation of the Galactic stellar disk.

Understanding how stars form, evolve and impact molecular clouds is key to understanding why star formation is such an inefficient process globally. In this paper, we use the infrared bright fraction, $f_\text{IRB}$ (the fraction of a given molecular cloud that appears bright against the 8 $\mu$m Milky Way background) as a proxy for time evolution to test how cloud properties change as star formation evolves. We apply this metric to 12,000 high-mass star-forming molecular clouds we identify using the Herschel-Hi-GAL survey between $|l|<70^\circ$ on the Milky Way plane. We find clouds are not static while forming stars. Instead, molecular clouds continuously gain mass while star formation progresses. By performing principal component analysis on the cloud properties, we find that they evolve down two paths distinguished by their mass gain. Most clouds (80%) gain four times more mass as a function of $f_\text{IRB}$. The remaining 20% experience an extreme period of growth, growing in mass by a factor of 150 on average and during this period, they initially gain mass fast enough to outpace their star formation. For all clouds, it is only after half their area becomes star forming that mass loss occurs. We expect stellar feedback and potentially galactic shear is responsible. By analysing cloud positions, we suggest that the rate of mass growth may be linked to the larger galactic environment. Altogether, these results have strong implications on how we assess star forming ability on cloud scales when assuming molecular cloud masses are fixed in time.

We simulate the geometric albedo spectra of hot Jupiter exoplanets HD 209458 b and WASP-43 b, based on global climate model (GCMs) post-processed with kinetic cloud models. We predict WASP-43 b to be cloudy throughout its dayside, while HD 209458 b has a clear upper atmosphere around the hot sub-solar point, largely due to the inclusion of strong optical absorbers TiO and VO in the GCM for the latter causes a temperature inversion. In both cases our models find low geometric albedos - 0.026 for WASP-43b and 0.028 for HD 209458 b when averaged over the CHEOPS bandpass of 0.35 - 1.1 microns - indicating dark daysides, similar to the low albedos measured by observations. We demonstrate the strong impact of clouds that contain Fe-bearing species on the modelled geometric albedos; without Fe-bearing species forming in the clouds, the albedos of both planets would be much higher (0.518 for WASP-43 b, 1.37 for HD 209458 b). We conclude that a cloudy upper or mid-to-lower atmosphere that contains strongly absorbing Fe-bearing aerosol species, is an alternative to a cloud-free atmosphere in explaining the low dayside albedos of hot Jupiter atmospheres such as HD 209458 b and WASP-43 b.

Luminous accretion disks around black holes are expected to have densities of $\sim 10^{15-22}\,$cm$^{-3}$, which are high enough such that plasma physics effects become important. Many of these effects have been traditionally neglected in the calculation of atomic parameters, and therefore from photoionization models, and ultimately also from X-ray reflection models. In this paper, we describe updates to the atomic rates used by the XSTAR code, which is in turn part of the XILLVER disk reflection model. We discuss the effect of adding necessary high density corrections into the XILLVER code. Specifically, we find that the change of recombination rates play an important role, dominating the differences between model versions. With synthetic spectra, we show that even in a highly ionized state, high density slabs can produce strong iron ($\sim$6.5-9$\,$keV) and oxygen ($\sim0.6-0.8\,$keV) resonance features. The significant iron emission could address the problem of the supersolar iron abundances found in some sources.

After leaving the Sun's corona, the solar wind continues to accelerate and cools, but more slowly than expected for a freely expanding adiabatic gas. We use in situ measurements from the Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter spacecrafts to investigate a stream of solar wind as it traverses the inner heliosphere. The observations show heating and acceleration of the the plasma between the outer edge of the corona and near the orbit of Venus, in connection to the presence of large amplitude Alfvén waves. Alfvén waves are perturbations in the interplanetary magnetic field that transport energy. Our calculations show the damping and mechanical work performed by the Alfvén waves is sufficient to power the heating and acceleration of the fast solar wind in the inner heliosphere.

The work considers the modelling of nearby supernova (SN) effects on Earth's biosphere via cosmic rays (CRs) accelerated by shockwaves. The rise of the radiation background on Earth resulted from the external irradiation by CR high-energy particles and internal radiation in organisms by the decay of cosmogenic ${}^{14}$C is evaluated. We have taken into account that the CR flux near Earth goes up steeply when the shockwave crosses the Solar System, while in previous works the CR transport was considered as purely diffusive. Our simulations demonstrate a high rise of the external ionization of the environments at Earth's surface by atmospheric cascade particles that penetrate the first 70-100 m of water depth. Also, the cosmogenic ${}^{14}$C decay is able to irradiate the entire biosphere and deep ocean organisms. We analyzed the probable increase in mutation rate and estimated the distance between Earth and an SN, where the lethal effects of irradiation are possible. Our simulations demonstrate that for SN energy of around $10^{51}$ erg the lethal distance could be $\sim$ 18 pc.

The baryon cycle is crucial for understanding galaxy formation, as gas inflows and outflows vary throughout a galaxy's lifetime and affect its star formation rate. Despite the necessity of accretion for galaxy growth at high redshifts, direct observations of inflowing gas have proven elusive especially at $z\gtrsim2$. We present spectroscopic analysis of a galaxy at redshift $z=2.45$ which exhibits signs of inflow in several ultraviolet interstellar absorption lines, with no clear outflow signatures. The absorption lines are redshifted by $\sim$250 km sec$^{-1}$ with respect to the systemic redshift, and C IV shows a prominent inverse P-Cygni profile. Simple stellar population models suggest that this galaxy has a low metallicity ($\sim$5\% solar), with a very young starburst of age $\sim$4 Myr dominating the ultraviolet luminosity. The gas inflow velocity and nebular velocity dispersion suggest an approximate halo mass of order $\sim 10^{11}M_{\odot}$, a regime in which simulations predict that bursty star formation is common at this redshift. We conclude that this system is likely in the beginning of a cycle of bursty star formation, where inflow and star formation rates are high, but where supernovae and other feedback processes have not yet launched strong outflows. In this scenario, we expect the inflow-dominated phase to be observable (e.g., with net redshifted ISM absorption) for only a short timescale after a starburst onset. This result represents a promising avenue for probing the full baryon cycle, including inflows, during the formative phases of low-mass galaxies at high redshifts.

As pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) transition into the detection era of the stochastic gravitational wave background (GWB), it is important for PTA collaborations to review, and possibly revise, their observing campaigns. The source of the GWB is unknown, and it may take years to pin down its nature. An astrophysical ensemble of supermassive binary black holes is one very likely source for the GWB. Evidence for such a background should come in the form of detectable anisotropies in the GWB and resolvable binary signals. A ``single source'' would be a boon for gravitational astrophysics, as such a source would emit gravitational waves for millions of years in the PTA frequency band. Earlier studies have shown that the observational strategies for finding single sources are somewhat different than for finding the statistical correlations needed for the detection of a stochastic background. Here we present generic methods for studying the effects of various observational strategies, taking advantage of detector sensitivity curves, i.e., noise-averaged, frequency-domain detection statistics. The statistical basis for these methods is presented along with myriad examples of how to tune a detector towards single, deterministic signals or a stochastic background. The importance of the uncorrelated half of the GWB, i.e. the pulsar-term, will be discussed as one of the most important sources of noise in the observational era of PTAs.

We report the first spatially resolved detection of the near-infrared [C I] $\lambda$8727 emission from the outer pair of low-ionization structures in the planetary nebula NGC 7009 from data obtained by the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer integral field unit. This atomic carbon emission marks the transition zone between ionized and neutral gas, and for the first time offers direct evidence that LISs are photodominated regions. The outer LIS pair exhibits intense [C I] $\lambda$8727 emission, but He I $\lambda$8733 is absent. Conversely, the inner pair of knots shows both lines, likely due to the host nebula emission. Furthermore, the [C I] $\lambda$8727 line is absent in the host nebula emission, but He I $\lambda$8733 is present. Although the origin of the [C I] $\lambda$8727 line is still debated, its detection supports the scenario of photoevaporated dense molecular clumps.

Low-ionisation structures (LISs) are commonly found in planetary nebulae (PNe) but they are still poorly understood. The recent discovery of unforeseen molecular hydrogen gas (H2) has changed what we think we know about these microstructures and PNe. For an overall understanding of LISs, an [Fe II] 1.644$\mu$m imagery survey in PNe with LISs was carried out with the aim to detect the [Fe II] 1.644$\mu$m emission line, a common tracer of shocks. We present the first detection of [Fe II] 1.644$\mu$m line directly associated with the LISs in four out of five PNe. The theoretical H I 12-4 recombination line is also computed either from the Br$\gamma$ or the H$\beta$ line and subtracted from the observed narrowband line fluxes. [Fe II] 1.644$\mu$m flux ranges from 1 to 40x10$^{-15}$ ergs cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ and the surface brightness from 2 to 90x10$^{-5}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ sr$^{-1}$. The R(Fe)=[Fe II] 1.644$\mu$m/Br$\gamma$ line ratio is also computed and varies between 0.5 and 7. In particular, the [Fe II] 1.644$\mu$m line is detected in NGC 6543 (R(Fe)<0.15), the outer pairs of LISs in NGC 7009 (R(Fe)<0.25), the jet-like LISs in IC 4634 (R(Fe)$\sim$1) and in several LISs in NGC 6571 (2<R(Fe)<7). The low R(Fe) in NGC 6543 is attributed to the UV radiation from the central star. Contrarily, the higher values in NGC 6571 and IC 4634 are indicative to shocks. The moderate R(Fe) in NGC 7009 likely indicates the contribution of both mechanisms.

Context. Turbulence is a key component of molecular cloud structure. It is usually described by a cascade of energy down to the dissipation scale. The power spectrum for subsonic incompressible turbulence is $k^{-5/3}$, while for supersonic turbulence it is $k^{-2}$. Aims. We aim to determine the power spectrum in an actively star-forming molecular cloud, from parsec scales down to the expected magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wave cutoff (dissipation scale). Methods. We analyze observations of the nearby NGC 1333 star-forming region in three different tracers to cover the different scales from $\sim$10 pc down to 20 mpc. The largest scales are covered with the low density gas tracer $^{13}$CO (1-0) obtained with single dish, the intermediate scales are covered with single-dish observations of the C$^{18}$O (3-2) line, while the smallest scales are covered in H$^{13}$CO$^+$ (1-0) and HNC (1-0) with a combination of NOEMA interferometer and IRAM 30m single dish observations. The complementarity of these observations enables us to generate a combined power spectrum covering more than two orders of magnitude in spatial scale. Results. We derive the power spectrum in an active star-forming region spanning more than 2 decades of spatial scales. The power spectrum of the intensity maps shows a single power-law behavior, with an exponent of 2.9$\pm$0.1 and no evidence of dissipation. Moreover, there is evidence for the power-spectrum of the ions to have more power at smaller scales than the neutrals, which is opposite from theoretical expectations. Conclusions. We show new possibilities of studying the dissipation of energy at small scales in star-forming regions provided by interferometric observations.

The research of the properties of neutron stars with dark energy is a particularly interesting yet unresolved problem in astrophysics. We analyze the influence of dark energy on the equation of state, the maximum mass, the surface gravitational redshift, and the Keplerian frequency for the traditional neutron star and the hyperon star matter within the relativistic mean field theory, using the GM1 and TM1 parameter sets by considering the two flavor symmetries of SU(6) and SU(3) combined with the observations of PSR J1614-2230, PSR J0348+0432, PSR J0030+0451, RX J0720.4-3125, and 1E 1207.4-5209. It is found that the existence of dark energy leads to the softened equations of state of the traditional neutron star and the hyperon star. The radius of a fixed-mass traditional neutron star (or hyperon star) with dark energy becomes smaller, which leads to increased compactness. The existence of dark energy can also enhance the surface gravitational redshift and the Keplerian frequency of the traditional neutron stars and the hyperon stars. The growth of the Keplerian frequency may cause speeding up of the spin rate, which may provide a possible way to understand and explain the pulsar glitch phenomenon. Specifically, we infer that the mass and the surface gravitational redshift of PSR J1748-2446ad without dark energy for the GM1 (TM1) parameter set are 1.141 $M_\odot$ (1.309 $M_\odot$) and 0.095 (0.105), respectively. The corresponding values for the GM1 (TM1) parameter set are 0.901 $M_\odot$ (1.072 $M_\odot$) and 0.079 (0.091) if PSR J1748-2446ad contains dark energy with $\alpha=0.05$. PSR J1748-2446ad may be a low-mass pulsar with a lower surface gravitational redshift under our selected models.

We construct a semi-analytical model that describes the convective core mass evolution of massive stars experiencing mass loss during the main-sequence stage. We first conduct a suite of 1D stellar evolution calculations to build insight into how convective core masses behave under idealized mass loss. Based on these simulations, we find several universal relations between global properties of the star that hold regardless of the mass loss history. By combining these relations, we construct a semi-analytic framework that can predict the convective core mass evolution for arbitrary mass loss histories and hence the helium core mass at the end of the main sequence. Our formulae improve upon existing methods for predicting the core mass in rapid population synthesis codes.

The systematic analysis of the correlations between diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) is extended to weak DIBs through the comprehensive catalogue of the Apache Peak Observatory (APO) of 559 DIBs in 25 lines of sight with diverse interstellar properties. The main results are the following: 1) An extension of the number of DIBs identified to be related to C2, that is, those that need very shielded interstellar regions for their carriers to survive UV photo-dissociation. Based on the correlations with the reference C2 and zeta DIBs, anticorrelations with UV-favoured (sigma) DIBs, and the strength ratios in shielded and unshielded sight lines, we propose 12 new C2 candidates and 34 possible "C2-related" DIBs (mostly at lambda < 5950 A ) in addition to the ~20 known confirmed C2 DIBs. With these additions, the census of C2 DIBs might approach completion. 2) We discovered that the intensities of a large set of poorly studied DIBs are strongly enhanced in one or two of the sight lines of HD 175156 and HD 148579. This tentative class, denoted "chi" for the time being, might include up to 50-100 members, half at lambda > 6000 A , and a number of C2 DIBs. These possible enhancements might reflect specific formation processes of their carriers that are yet to be identified in the interstellar medium of these two sight lines. The possible matches of the wavelength of five very broad DIBs, including three "chi" DIBs, with the strong bands that were recently measured by action spectroscopy might favour some long carbon chains and rings as carriers of some DIBs. These correlations and findings justify further theoretical and laboratory efforts for improving our understanding of the complex physics, spectroscopy, and chemistry of the various carbon chains and rings, and their possible formation and destruction in the diffuse interstellar medium.

The confirmation of massive quiescent galaxies emerging within the first billion years of the universe poses intriguing questions about the mechanisms of galaxy formation. There must be highly efficient process at work to shut down star formation in galaxies at cosmic dawn. I present the detection of neutral outflowing gas in a massive ($M_\ast = 1.2\times 10^{11} M_\odot$) recently quenched AGN-host galaxy at $z=4$ as a evidence that AGN-driven outflows could be one such mechanism. Based on JWST spectrum, the star formation rate of this has been declining with a rapid e-folding timescale of $\sim50$~Myrs. The current specific star formation rate is $5\times10^{-11}$ yr$^{-1}$, roughly 40 times lower than that of the star-forming main sequence at comparable redshifts. Emission line ratios of [NeIII]/[OII] and [OIII]/H$\beta$ emission indicate the presence of an AGN. A series of FeII and MgII absorption lines appear blueshifted by $\sim250$ km~s$^{-1}$ relative to the stellar continuum, suggesting an outflow of neutral gas. The estimate mass outflow rate is approximately 7 times greater than star formation rate derived from the stellar continuum, implying that the suppression of star formation is likely due to gas being depleted by the AGN-driven outflow. This galaxy represents the most distant example of its kind known to date. This study offers a compelling explanation for the existence of massive quiescent galaxies in the first billion years of the universe.

The progenitors of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have long been an unresolved issue. GRB 230703A stands out as an exceptionally bright event, belonging to the long-duration GRBs but also exhibiting a late emission component reminiscent of a kilonova. Together with the similar events GRBs 060614 and 211211A, they make up a new sub-group of GRBs with intriguing progenitors. If such long-duration merger-type GRBs originated from the coalescence of a white dwarf (WD) with a neutron star (NS) or a black hole (BH), as proposed in the recent literature, then the larger tidal disruption radius of the WD, together with a non-negligible residual orbital eccentricity, would make repeated partial tidal disruptions inevitable. This may modulate the mass accretion and jet launching process at the NS or BH, resulting in a quasi-periodic modulation (QPM) in the light curve of the GRB, on the orbital period. The detection of potential QPMs during the early episode of prompt emission of these three GRBs supports this scenario, and the relatively slow QPM ($>$ 1 s) suggests that the lighter object can not be a NS. We propose that the progenitor system of GRBs 230307A, 060614, and 211211A consist of a WD of mass 1.3 $M_\odot$, 0.9 $M_\odot$ and 1.4 $M_\odot$, respectively, and a NS (or BH). After several cycles of modulations, the WD is completely destructed, and the accretion of the remaining debris dominates the extended emission episode.

"PeVatrons" refer to astrophysical sources capable of accelerating particles to energies around $10^{15}$ electron volts and higher, potentially contributing to the cosmic ray spectrum in the knee region. Recently, LHAASO has discovered a large number of PeVatrons, allowing us to investigate in greater depth the contributions of these sources to cosmic rays above the knee region. However, high-energy gamma rays undergo attenuation due to interactions with the interstellar radiation field and cosmic microwave background radiation, requiring corrections to restore the true spectral characteristics at the source. In this study, using interstellar radiation field model extracted from galprop code, we quantitatively calculated the spectral absorption effects of sources listed in the first LHAASO source catalog, with some sources showing absorption reaching 30\% at 100 TeV and 80\% at 3 PeV. We also calculated the high energy gamma ray absorption effects of Galactic microquasars, which are potential PeVatrons. By calculating the absorption effects, it will help differentiate the radiation mechanisms of the acceleration sources.

A significant proportion of exoplanets have been detected with highly tilted or even polar orbits relative to their host stars' equatorial planes. These unusual orbital configurations are often linked to post-disk secular interactions among multiple bodies. However, many aspects remain elusive. In this study, we investigate the role of disk-induced spin-orbit misalignments in shaping architecture of multi-planet systems, taking into account the combined effect of the host star's oblateness and the full-space disk potential. We demonstrate that large mutual planetary inclinations can arise from a saddle-center bifurcation occurring during the photoevaporation of the disk. This bifurcation triggers an instant, non-adiabatic transition in the planet's libration. Following this process, the orbital evolution diverges into several distinct patterns. Notably, in scenarios involving a near-polar primordial misalignment, the orbit, consistently librating about a coplanar equilibrium axis, can be captured by an orthogonal equilibrium during the decay of the stellar oblateness. However, the orbit will be eventually recaptured by the coplanar equilibrium, aligned or anti-aligned with the orientation of the outer orbit, resulting in either a prograde or retrograde inner-outer orbit configuration. Additionally, general relativity contributes to maintaining eccentricity stability within these dynamic scenarios. Through the proposed mechanism, we can provide a plausible explanation for the unique, near-perpendicular and likely retrograde orbit architecture observed in the HD 3167 system, enhancing our understanding of exoplanetary system dynamics.

The galaxy M87 is one of the prime targets for high resolution radio imaging pursuing the ringlike shadow of its supermassive black hole, the innermost regions of accretion flow, and the formation of the relativistic jet. However, it remains challenging to observe both jointly. Only recently, global mm-VLBI array (GMVA)+ALMA observations at 86 GHz in 2018 were able to reconstruct the M87 black hole shadow and the extended jet emission simultaneously. In order to analyze the ring and jet of M87, conventional CLEAN algorithms were mainly employed alongside the RML method SMILI in the previous work. To test the robustness of the reconstructed structures of M87 GMVA+ALMA observations at 86GHz, we estimate the ring diameter, width, and the extended jet emission with the possible central spine by two different novel imaging algorithms: resolve and DoG-HiT. Overall reconstructions are consistent with the results reported in the previous paper. The ring structure of the M87 is resolved at higher resolution and the posterior distribution of M87 ring features is explored. The resolve images show that the ring diameter is 60.9 +- 2.2 muas and width is 16.0 +- 0.9 muas. The ring diameter is 61.0 muas and width is 20.6 muas by DoG-HiT. The ring diameter is therefore in agreement with the estimation (64+4-8 muas) by SMILI and the geometrical modeling. Two bright spots in the ring are reconstructed by four independent imaging methods, the substructure in the ring is therefore most likely originated from the data. A consistent limb-brightened jet structure is reconstructed by resolve and DoG-HiT, albeit with a less pronounced central spine. Modern data-driven imaging methods confirm the ring and jet structure in M87, complementing traditional VLBI methods with novel perspectives on the significance of recovered features. They confirm the result of the previous report.

At the XXXth General Assembly in Vienna in 2018, Resolution A1 called for a mid-term review of the IAU Strategic Plan 2020-2030 in time for the General Assembly in 2024. This report constitutes the 2024 mid-term review of the Strategic Plan, which was presented at the 110th Executive Committee meeting in April 2024.

We present new scaling relations for the isotropic phase-space distribution functions (DFs) and energy distributions of simulated dark matter haloes. These relations are inspired by those for the singular isothermal sphere with density profile $\rho(r)\propto r^{-2}$, for which the DF satisfies $f(E) \propto r_{\max}^{-2}(E)$ and the energy distribution satisfies $dM/dE \propto r_{\max}(E)$, with $r_{\max}(E)$ being the radius where the gravitational potential equals energy $E$. For the simulated haloes, we find $f(E)\propto r_{\max}^{-2.08}(E)$ and $dM/dE \propto r_{\max}(E)$ across broad energy ranges. In addition, the proportionality coefficients depend on the gravitational constant and the parameters of the best-fit Navarro-Frenk-White density profile. These scaling relations are satisfied by haloes over a wide mass range and provide an efficient method to approximate their DFs and energy distributions. Understanding the origin of these relations may shed more light on halo formation.

TeV haloes are a recently discovered class of very high energy gamma-ray emitters. These sources consist of extended regions of multi-TeV emission, originally observed around the two well-known and nearby pulsars, Geminga and PSR B0656+14 (Monogem), and possibly, with different degrees of confidence, around few more objects with similar age. Since their discovery, TeV haloes have raised much interest in a large part of the scientific community, for the implications their presence can have on a broad range of topics spanning from pulsar physics to cosmic ray physics and dark matter indirect searches. In this article, we review the reasons of interest for TeV haloes and the current status of observations. We discuss the proposed theoretical models and their implications, and conclude with an overlook on the prospects for better understanding this phenomenon.

The study of exoplanets at different evolutionary stages can shed light on their formation, migration, and evolution. The determination of exoplanet properties depends on the properties of their host stars. It is therefore important to characterise the host stars for accurate knowledge on their planets. Our final goal is to derive, in a homogeneous and accurate way, the stellar atmospheric parameters and elemental abundances of ten young TESS transiting planet-hosting GK stars followed up with the HARPS-N at TNG spectrograph within the GAPS programme. We derived stellar kinematic properties, atmospheric parameters, and abundances of 18 elements. Lithium line measurements were used as approximate age estimations. We exploited chemical abundances and their ratios to derive information on planetary composition. Elemental abundances and kinematic properties are consistent with the nearby Galactic thin disk. All targets show C/O<0.8 and 1.0<Mg/Si<1.5, compatible with silicate mantles made of a mixture of pyroxene and olivine assemblages. The Fe/Mg ratios, with values of $\sim$0.7-1.0, show a propensity for the planets to have big (iron) cores. All stars hosting very low-mass planets show Mg/Si values consistent with the Earth values, thus demonstrating their similar mantle composition. Hot Jupiter host stars show a lower content of O/Si, which could be related to the lower presence of water content. We confirm a trend found in the literature between stellar [O/Fe] and total planetary mass, implying an important role of the O in shaping the mass fraction of heavy elements in stars and their disks. The detailed host star abundances provided can be employed for further studies on the composition of the planets within the current sample, when their atmospheres will be exploited.

The next-generation neutrino telescope IceCube-Gen2 is planned to include a surface detector array consisting of scintillation detectors and radio antennas for the detection of cosmic-ray air showers. Prototype stations, each comprising 8 scintillator panels and 3 SKALA antennas, have been deployed to various locations. One of these stations is located at the site of the Pierre Auger Observatory, situated within the most densely instrumented part of the surface detector array, which features a spacing of 433 meters. In this contribution, we present first results from this prototype station, including the observation of the Galactic noise, and the first coincident detection of air showers between the prototype radio antennas and the water-Cherenkov detectors of the Pierre Auger Observatory.

We model the duration of the propeller stage in wide binary systems with neutron stars and calculate the time of accretion onset for various propeller models. We apply our modeling to the symbiotic X-ray binary SWIFT J0850.8-4219. Unless a propeller with a very slow spin-down is operating, it is very improbable to find a system similar to SWIFT J0850.8-4219 at the propeller stage. Then we model the evolution of a neutron star in a binary with a solar-like companion. We calculate for which orbital separations and magnetic fields a neutron star can start to accrete while the companion is still on the Main sequence. We demonstrate that for the magnetic field $B\lesssim10^{12}$~G neutron stars at the orbital separation $a\gtrsim 1$~AU do not reach the propeller stage. In the case of a slow propeller spin-down, neutron stars never start to accrete. For the more rapid propeller spin-down, a neutron star can start to accrete or spend a long time at the propeller stage depending on the parameters.

An important current problem regarding the characterization of the central engine of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) consists in determining the parameters of the black holes (BHs) hosted at their cores, especially their mass. Therefore, we aim to apply a full general relativistic method to estimate the parameters of the central supermassive BHs hosted at the center of the IC 2560 and UGC 3193 galaxies. In order to achieve this aim we implement a general relativistic BH rotation curves' method and estimate the BH parameters by fitting megamaser astrophysical data available in the literature with the help of a Bayesian statistical method. We calculate the mass of the aforementioned BHs, their positions on the sky as well as the recession velocities of the host galaxies. On the basis of our estimations, we compute for the first time the BH mass of the UGC 3193 AGN. We also calculate the gravitational redshift of the closest maser to these BHs, a general relativistic effect produced by the curvature of spacetime that has no Newtonian analogue.

The main challenge in detecting ultra-high energy (UHE) neutrinos is discriminating a neutrino-induced shower in the background of showers initiated by ultra-high energy nuclei. The resulting shower development from neutrinos exhibits different characteristics from hadron-induced showers because neutrinos penetrate the atmosphere more deeply than hadrons. This study focuses on simulations of highly inclined neutrino-induced showers above $75^\circ$ zenith angles, exploring an extensive energy range from $1 \text{EeV}$ to $120 \text{EeV}$. These simulated showers have different ranges of interaction depths corresponding to each zenith angle, presenting diverse detection challenges. Our methodology utilises timing data from radio antennas for the shower front calculation for extensive air showers induced by neutrinos and nuclei. Furthermore, we incorporate signals obtained from Water Cherenkov detectors and the spatial distribution of stations registering signals in both Water Cherenkov detectors and radio antennas. We aim to classify neutrino-induced showers and background events stemming from nuclei by harnessing a decision tree classifier employing the Gini impurity method. Our framework yields excellent accuracy for separating the neutrinos from the background. The findings of this study offer significant advancements in the domain of UHE neutrino detection, shedding light on astrophysical phenomena associated with these elusive particles amidst the complex background of UHE nuclei.

Radio interferometry is a powerful technique that allows astronomers to create high-resolution images of astronomical objects. The distribution of radio telescopes in an interferometer is a critical factor that determines the resolution and sensitivity of the instrument. Traditionally, radio telescopes are distributed in a linear or circular array. However, recent work has shown that using a golden spiral distribution can improve the resolution and sensitivity of an interferometer. In this paper, the author proposes the use of a golden spiral distribution for radio interferometry, showing that a golden spiral distribution can provide a significant improvement in resolution, up to a factor of eight, compared to a linear or circular distribution. The author also proposes that a golden spiral distribution can improve the sensitivity of an interferometer; it may provide a more uniform distribution of radio telescopes than a linear or circular distribution (a known propety of spiral distributions).

Population III stars are characterized by extremely low metallicities as they are thought to be formed from a pristine gas in the early Universe. Although the existence of Population III stars is widely accepted, the lack of direct observational evidence hampers the study of the nature of the putative stars. In this article, we explore the possibilities of constraining the nature of the oldest stars by using the luminosity function of their remnants -- white dwarfs. We study the formation and evolution of white dwarf populations by following star formation in a Milky Way-like galaxy using the semi-analytic model A-SLOTH. We derive the white dwarf luminosity function by applying a linear Initial-Final Mass Relation and Mestel's cooling model. The obtained luminosity function is generally in agreement with available observations and theoretical predictions -- with an exponential increase to a maximum of Mabs = 16 and a sudden drop for Mabs > 16. We explore the uncertainties of our model and compare them to the observational estimates. We adopt two different models of the initial mass function of Population III stars to show that the faint end of the luminosity function imprints the signature of Population III remnants. If the feature is detected in future observations, it would provide a clue to Population III stars and would also be an indirect evidence of low- to intermediate-mass Population III stars. We discuss the challenges and prospects for detecting the signatures.

Using photospheric vector magnetograms obtained by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board the Solar Dynamic Observatory and a magnetic connectivity-based method, we compute the magnetic helicity and free magnetic energy budgets of a simple bipolar solar active region (AR) during its magnetic flux emergence phase which lasted $\sim$47 hrs. The AR did not produce any coronal mass ejections (CMEs) or flares with an X-ray class above C1.0 but it was the site of 60 jet events during its flux emergence phase. The helicity and free energy budgets of the AR were below established eruption-related thresholds throughout the interval we studied. However, in addition to their slowly-varying evolution, each of the time profiles of the helicity and free energy budgets showed discrete localized peaks, with eight pairs of them occurring at times of jets emanating from the AR. These jets featured larger base areas and longer durations than the other jets of the AR. We estimated, for the first time, the helicity and free magnetic energy changes associated with these eight jets which were in the ranges of $0.5-7.1 \times 10^{40}$ Mx$^2$ and $1.1-6.9 \times 10^{29}$ erg, respectively. Although these values are one to two orders of magnitude smaller than those usually associated with CMEs, the relevant percentage changes were significant and ranged from 13% to 76% for the normalized helicity and from 9% to 57% for the normalized free magnetic energy. Our study indicates that occasionally jets may have a significant imprint in the evolution of helicity and free magnetic energy budgets of emerging active regions.

The intrinsic morphology of stellar components within HI-bearing dwarf galaxies remains a topic of uncertainty. Leveraging the galaxy dataset derived from the cross-matched catalog of the Arecibo Legacy Fast Arecibo L-band Feed Array HI 21cm line survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we employ a Markov Chain Monte Carlo methodology and assume a triaxial model to scrutinize the inherent stellar distributions of these HI-bearing dwarf galaxies. Our analysis indicates a preference for oblate-triaxial models with $C<B\lesssim A$, indicative of thick stellar disks, characterizing the stellar components in these HI-bearing dwarfs with stellar masses ranging between $10^7\--10^{9.5}\ M_{\odot}$. The average thickness of the stellar components in HI-bearing dwarf galaxies approximates $C/A\sim 0.4$. Furthermore, we observe that the thickness of the stellar disks exhibits weak or negligible dependence on the stellar masses of HI-bearing galaxies.

Ethanethiol (C$_2$H$_5$SH), a molecule detected in the interstellar medium (ISM), indicates the rich chemistry involving sulfur atoms. However, its behavior at low temperatures remains elusive, particularly the reported transition from an amorphous phase to a crystal. This study employs classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to reproduce the liquid-state properties of ethanethiol and to simulate the initial amorphous state of ethanethiol films deposited on a KBr substrate. The amorphous ethanethiol did not show spontaneous crystallization upon increasing temperature. Also, ethanethiol ice crystals exhibit melting behavior on KBr substrate at elevated temperatures. Our MD simulations of thin ice samples do not show any signature reversible phase change. It will be interesting to continue this study with a thicker sample, which is beyond our current computational means. These findings underscore the complexity of icy mantle morphology on cold ISM dust grains.

In Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) cluster cosmology, two tools are needed to be able to exploit data from large scale surveys in the millimeter-wave domain. An accurate description of the IntraCluster Medium (ICM) pressure profile is needed along with the scaling relation connecting the SZ brightness to the mass. With its high angular resolution and large field of view, The NIKA2 camera, operating at 150 and 260 GHz, is perfectly suited for precise cluster SZ mapping. The SZ Large Program (LPSZ) of the NIKA2 collaboration is dedicated to the observation of a sample of 38 SZ-selected clusters at intermediate to high redshift and observed both in SZ and X-ray. The current status is that all LPSZ clusters have been observed and the analysis toward the final results is ongoing. We present in detail how NIKA2-LPSZ will obtain a robust estimation of the SZ-Mass scaling relation and how it will be used to obtain cosmological constraints.

HERMES (High Energy Rapid Modular Ensemble of Satellites) Pathfinder is a space-borne mission based on a constellation of six nano-satellites flying in a low-Earth orbit (LEO). The 3U CubeSats, to be launched in early 2025, host miniaturized instruments with a hybrid Silicon Drift Detector/GAGG:Ce scintillator photodetector system, sensitive to X-rays and gamma-rays in a large energy band. HERMES will operate in conjunction with Australian Space Industry Responsive Intelligent Thermal (SpIRIT) 6U CubeSat, launched in December 2023. HERMES will probe the temporal emission of bright high-energy transients such as Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), ensuring a fast transient localization in a field of view of several steradians exploiting the triangulation technique. HERMES intrinsically modular transient monitoring experiment represents a keystone capability to complement the next generation of gravitational wave experiments. In this paper we outline the scientific case, development and programmatic status of the mission

We present numerical simulations of planetary systems in star clusters with different initial stellar densities, to investigate the impact of the density on debris disc dynamics. We use LPS+ to combine N-body codes NBODY6++GPU and REBOUND for simulations. We simulate debris discs with and without a Jupiter-mass planet at 50 au, in star clusters with N = 1k - 64k stars. The spatial range of the remaining planetary systems decreases with increasing N. As cluster density increases, the planet's influence range first increases and then decreases. For debris particles escaping from planetary systems, the probability of their direct ejection from the star cluster decreases as their initial semi-major axis (a0) or the cluster density increases. The eccentricity and inclination of surviving particles increase as cluster density increases. The presence of a planet leads to lower eccentricities and inclinations of surviving particles. The radial density distribution of the remaining discs decays exponentially in sparse clusters. We derive a general expression of the gravitational encounter rate. Our results are unable to directly explain the scarcity of debris discs in star clusters. Nevertheless, given that many planetary systems have multiple planets, the mechanism of the planet-cluster combined gravitational influence on the disc remains appealing as a potential explanation.

One of the major challenges for the radio detection of extensive air showers, as encountered by the Giant Radio Array for Neutrino Detection (GRAND), is the requirement of an autonomous radio self-trigger. This work presents the current development of self-triggering techniques at the detection-unit level -- the so-called first-level trigger (FLT) -- in the context of the NUTRIG project. A second-level trigger (SLT) at the array level is described in a separate contribution. Two FLT methods are described, based on a template-fitting algorithm and a convolutional neural network (CNN). In this work, we compare the preliminary offline performance of both FLT methods in terms of signal selection efficiency and background rejection efficiency. We find that for both methods, ${\gtrsim}40\%$ of the background can be rejected if a signal selection efficiency of 90\% is required at the $5\sigma$ level.

This paper is devoted to examining cosmological bouncing scenarios in the framework of the recently proposed symmetric teleparallel gravity (or $f(Q)$ gravity), where the non-metricity scalar $Q$ represents the gravitational interaction. We assume an $f(Q)$ model in the form of $f(Q)=\alpha Q^n$, where $\alpha$ and $n$ are free model parameters. To obtain a bouncing universe, we consider a special form of the scale factor $a(t)$ in terms of cosmic time, specifically $a(t) = (1+\lambda t^2)^{1/3}$, where $\lambda$ is an arbitrary constant. We derive the field equations for the flat FLRW universe and obtain the corresponding exact solution. We investigate the physical behavior of various cosmological parameters such as the deceleration parameter, pressure, and equation of state (EoS) parameter with the energy conditions for our bounce cosmological model. Furthermore, we investigate the behavior of the perturbation terms $\delta_m(t)$ and $\delta(t)$ with respect to cosmic time $t$ using the scalar perturbation approach. We found that although the model exhibits unstable behavior at the beginning for a brief period, it shows mostly stable behavior for most of the time. Finally, we conclude that the EoS parameter crosses the quintom line $\omega=-1$ in the vicinity of the bouncing point $t=0$, which confirms the success of our bounce cosmological model.

The study of cosmic birefringence through Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiments is a key research area in cosmology and particle physics, providing a critical test for Lorentz and CPT symmetries. This paper focuses on an upcoming CMB experiment in the mid-latitude of the Northern Hemisphere, and investigates the potential to detect anisotropies in cosmic birefringence. Applying a quadratic estimator on simulated polarization data, we reconstruct the power spectrum of anisotropic cosmic birefringence successfully and estimate constraints on the amplitude of the spectrum, $A_{\mathrm{CB}}$, assuming scale invariance. The forecast is based on a wide-scan observation strategy during winter, yielding an effective sky coverage of approximately 23.6%. We consider two noise scenarios corresponding to the short-term and long-term phases of the experiment. Our results show that with a small aperture telescope operating at 95/150GHz, the $2\sigma$ upper bound for $A_{\mathrm{CB}}$ can reach 0.017 under the low noise scenario when adopting the method of merging multi-frequency data in map domain, and merging multi-frequency data in spectrum domain tightens the limit by about 10%.A large-aperture telescope with the same bands is found to be more effective, tightening the $2\sigma$ upper limit to 0.0062.

The possibility of observing spectral features in exoplanet atmospheres with space missions like JWST and ARIEL necessitates the accurate modelling of cloud particle opacities. In exoplanet atmospheres, cloud particles can be made from multiple materials and be considerably chemically heterogeneous. Therefore, assumptions on the morphology of cloud particles are required to calculate their opacities. The aim of this work is to analyse how different approaches to calculate the opacities of heterogeneous cloud particles affect cloud particle optical properties. We calculate cloud particle optical properties using seven different mixing treatments: four effective medium theories (EMTs: Bruggeman, Landau-Lifshitz-Looyenga (LLL), Maxwell-Garnett, and Linear), core-shell, and two homogeneous cloud particle approximations. We study the mixing behaviour of 21 commonly considered cloud particle materials for exoplanets. To analyse the impact on observations, we study the transmission spectra of HATS-6b, WASP-39b, WASP-76b, and WASP-107b.Materials with large refractive indices, like iron-bearing species or carbon, can change the optical properties of cloud particles when they comprise less than 1\% of the total particle volume. The mixing treatment of heterogeneous cloud particles also has an observable effect on transmission spectroscopy. Assuming core-shell or homogeneous cloud particles results in less muting of molecular features and retains the cloud spectral features of the individual cloud particle materials. The predicted transit depth for core-shell and homogeneous cloud particle materials are similar for all planets used in this work. If EMTs are used, cloud spectral features are broader and cloud spectral features of the individual cloud particle materials are not retained. Using LLL leads to less molecular features in transmission spectra compared to Bruggeman.

Triton and Pluto are believed to share a common origin, both forming initially in the Kuiper Belt but Triton being later captured by Neptune. Both objects display similar sizes, densities, and atmospheric and surface ice composition, with the presence of volatile ices N2, CH4 and CO. Yet their appearance, including their surface albedo and ice distribution strongly differ. What can explain these different appearances? A first disparity is that Triton is experiencing significant tidal heating due to its orbit around Neptune, with subsequent resurfacing and a relatively flat surface, while Pluto is not tidally activated and displays a pronounced topography. Here we present long-term volatile transport simulations of Pluto and Triton, using the same initial conditions and volatile inventory, but with the known orbit and rotation of each object. The model reproduces, to first order, the observed volatile ice surface distribution on Pluto and Triton. Our results unambiguously demonstrate that obliquity is the main driver of the differences in surface appearance and in climate properties on Pluto and Triton, and give further support to the hypothesis that both objects had a common origin followed by a different dynamical history.

The original model of axion natural inflation produces a tensor-to-scalar ratio above the experimental limit. Aligned axion inflation admits inflationary trajectories that originate near a saddle point of the two-field potential, and terminate due to the instability of the orthogonal direction. The phenomenology of these solutions is within the current constraints, and a range of parameters will be probed by the next stage CMB experiments. We provide the analytic solution for these trajectories and very compact analytic expressions for the associated phenomenology. For parameters leading to the observed value for the scalar spectral tilt the extension of the inflationary trajectory is sub-Planckian. However, one eigenvalue of the axion kinetic matrix (in the basis that diagonalizes the potential) is trans-Planckian. Finally, we discuss the post-inflationary evolution after the instability. In some cases, the fields reach a second inflationary valley, connected to a minimum. Multiple stages of inflation might be a more general occurrence in multiple-field inflationary models with trajectories starting next to critical points.

Red Giant stars host solar-like oscillations which have mixed character, being sensitive to conditions both in the outer convection zone and deep within the interior. The properties of these modes are sensitive to both core rotation and magnetic fields. While asteroseismic studies of the former have been done on a large scale, studies of the latter are currently limited to tens of stars. We aim to produce the first large catalogue of both magnetic and rotational perturbations. We jointly constrain these parameters by devising an automated method for fitting the power spectra directly. We successfully apply the method to 302 low-luminosity red giants. We find a clear bimodality in core rotation rate. The primary peak is at $\delta \nu_{\mathrm{rot}}$ = 0.32 $\mu$Hz, and the secondary at $\delta \nu_{\mathrm{rot}}$ = 0.47 $\mu$Hz. Combining our results with literature values, we find that the percentage of stars rotating much more rapidly than the population average increases with evolutionary state. We measure magnetic splittings of 2$\sigma$ significance in 23 stars. While the most extreme magnetic splitting values appear in stars with masses > 1.1M$_{\odot}$, implying they formerly hosted a convective core, a small but statistically significant magnetic splitting is measured at lower masses. Asymmetry between the frequencies of a rotationally split multiplet has previously been used to diagnose the presence of a magnetic perturbation. We find that of the stars with a significant detection of magnetic perturbation, 43\% do not show strong asymmetry. We find no strong evidence of correlation between the rotation and magnetic parameters.

Aims. Using HARPS spectroscopic data obtained by the RedDots campaign, as well as archival data from HARPS and CARMENES, supplemented with ASH2 and T90 photometry, we aim to search for additional planets around the three M dwarfs GJ 832, GJ 674, and Ross 128. We also aim to determine limits on possible undetected, habitable planets. We investigate (i) the reliability of the recovered orbital eccentricities and (ii) the reliability of Bayesian evidence as a diagnostic for selecting the best model. Methods. We employed Markov-chain Monte Carlo, nested sampling, and Gaussian process (GP) analyses to fit a total of 20 different models. We used the residuals to create grids for injection-recovery simulations to obtain detection limits on potentially undiscovered planets. Results. Our refined orbital elements for GJ 832 b, GJ 674 b, and Ross 128 b confirm (GJ 832, GJ 674) or increase (Ross 128) prior eccentricity determinations. No additional planets were found in any of the systems. The detection limits obtained for all three systems are between 30 and 50 cm/s for orbital periods in the range of 1 to 10 000 days. Using N-body simulations, we find that undiscovered secondary planets are unlikely (Ross 128) or incapable (GJ 674) of having caused the observed eccentricities of the known planets. We find that the eccentricity of GJ 832 b is not significantly different from zero. Conclusions. GJ 832 b, GJ 674 b, and Ross 128 b retain their status as hosting lonely and (for the latter two) eccentric planets. Finally, our results show that Bayesian evidence, when used in conjunction with GP, is not a robust diagnostic for selecting the best model in cases of low-activity stars. In such cases, we advise an inspection of the shapes of the posterior distributions and to ensure that relevant simulations are performed to assess the validity of the perceived best model.

Molecular line emissions are commonly used to trace the distribution and properties of molecular Interstellar Medium (ISM). However, the emissions are heavily blended on the Galactic disk toward the inner Galaxy because of the relatively large line widths and the velocity overlaps of spiral arms. Structure identification methods based on voxel connectivity in PPV data cubes often produce unrealistically large structures, which is the ``over-linking'' problem. Therefore, identifying molecular cloud structures in these directions is not trivial. We propose a new method based on Gaussian decomposition and graph theory to solve the over-linking problem, named ISMGCC (InterStellar Medium Gaussian Component Clustering). Using the MWISP ${}^{13}\mathrm{CO}~(1-0)$ data in the range of $13.5^{\circ} \leq l \leq 14.5^{\circ}, |b| \leq 0.5^{\circ}$, and $-100\leq V_{\mathrm{LSR}} \leq +200~\mathrm{km~s^{-1}}$, our method identified three hundred molecular gas structures with at least 16 pixels. These structures contain $92\%$ of the total flux in the raw data cube. Meanwhile, these structures show single-peaked line profiles on more than $93\%$ of their pixels. This indicates that the ISMGCC method could distinguish gas structures in crowded regions with minimal flux loss.

Pulsar timing arrays have reported a compelling evidence of a nanohertz stochastic gravitational wave background. However, the origin of the signal remains undetermined, largely because its spectrum is bluer for an astrophysical source and can be explained by cosmological models. In this letter, we derive theoretically accurate expressions for the Fourier bin variances and correlation of pulsar timing residuals, and demonstrate their outstanding agreement with astrophysical simulations. In contrast, we show that a common power law traditionally used to interpret a stochastic gravitational wave background spectrum is generally faced with systematic errors, one of which is the illusion of a bluer signal. This hints at a conservative solution, supportive of an astrophysical source, to the observed correlated common spectrum process in pulsar timing arrays.

Short-period gas giant planets have been shown to be significantly rarer for host stars less massive than the Sun. We report the discovery of two transiting giant planets - TOI-2379 b and TOI-2384 b - with low-mass (early M) host stars. Both planets were detected using TESS photometry and for both the transit signal was validated using ground based photometric facilities. We confirm the planetary nature of these companions and measure their masses using radial velocity observations. We find that TOI-2379 b has an orbital period of 5.469 d and a mass and radius of $5.76\pm0.20$ M$_{J}$ and $1.046\pm0.023$ R$_{J}$ and TOI-2384 b has an orbital period of 2.136 d and a mass and radius of $1.966\pm0.059$ M$_{J}$ and $1.025\pm0.021$ R$_{J}$. TOI-2379 b and TOI-2384 b have the highest and third highest planet-to-star mass ratios respectively out of all transiting exoplanets with a low-mass host star, placing them uniquely among the population of known exoplanets and making them highly important pieces of the puzzle for understanding the extremes of giant planet formation.

The external environments surrounding molecular clouds vary widely across galaxies such as the Milky Way, and statistical samples of clouds from surveys are required to understand them. We present the Perseus Arm Molecular Survey (PAMS), a James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) survey of $^{13}$CO and C$^{18}$O ($J$=3$-$2) of several molecular cloud complexes including W5 and NGC 7538 in the outer Perseus spiral arm situated at $\ell \approx 110^{\circ}$ and $\ell \approx 135^{\circ}$, with a total survey area of $\sim$6 deg$^2$. The PAMS data have an effective resolution of 17.2 arcsec, and rms sensitivity of $T_\rm{mb} = 0.7$ K in 0.3 km/s channels. We present a first look at the data, and compare the PAMS regions in the Outer Galaxy with Inner Galaxy regions from the CO Heterodyne Inner Milky Way Plane Survey (CHIMPS), incorporating archival $^{12}$CO (3$-$2) data. By comparing the various CO data with maps of H$_2$ column density from $\textit{Herschel}$, we find that the CO-to-H$_2$ column density $X$-factors do not vary significantly between Galactocentric radii of 4 and 10 kpc, and present representative values of $X_{^{12}\rm{CO} 3-2}$ and $X_{^{13}\rm{CO} 3-2}$. We find that the emission profiles, size-linewidth and mass-radius relationships of $^{13}$CO-traced structures are similar between the Inner and Outer Galaxy. Although PAMS sources are more massive than their Inner Galaxy counterparts for a given size scale, the discrepancy can be accounted for by the Galactic gradient in gas-to-dust mass ratio, uncertainties in the $X$-factors, and selection biases. We have made the PAMS data publicly available, complementing other CO surveys targeting different regions of the Galaxy in different isotopologues and transitions.

The role of radio mode AGN feedback on galaxy evolution is still under debate. In this study, we utilize a combination of radio continuum observations and optical integral field spectroscopic (IFS) data to explore the impact of radio AGN on the evolution of their host galaxies at both global and sub-galactic scales. We construct a comprehensive radio-IFS sample comprising 5578 galaxies with redshift z < 0.15 by cross-matching the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) with the MaNGA survey. We revisit the tight linear radio continuum - star formation relation and quantify its intrinsic scatter, then use the relation to classify 616 radio-excess AGN with excessive radio luminosities over that expected from their star formation rate. Massive radio AGN host galaxies are predominantly quiescent systems, but the quenching level shows no correlation with the jet luminosity. The mass assembly histories derived from the stellar population synthesis model fitting agree with the cosmological simulations incorporating radio-mode AGN feedback models. We observe that radio AGN hosts grow faster than a control sample of galaxies matched in stellar mass, and the quenching age (~ 5 Gyr) is at larger lookback times than the typical radio jet age (< 1 Gyr). By stacking the spectra in different radial bins and comparing results for radio AGN hosts and their controls, we find emission line excess features in the nuclear region of radio AGN hosts. This indicates that radio AGN are ionizing the surrounding interstellar medium in the vicinity of the nucleus. We also find that ongoing star formation in the outer regions of the galaxy is weaker if a radio jet is detected. Our findings support the scenario that the observed present-day radio AGN activity is not responsible for the past quenching of their hosts, but may help the host galaxies maintain quiescence through ionizing and heating the surrounding gas.

We use NIRCam imaging from the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) to study the ionising properties of a sample of 15721 galaxies at $3 \leq z_{\rm{phot}} \leq 9$, 90\% complete in stellar mass down to log(M$_{\star}$/[M$_{\odot}$])$\approx 7.5$. Out of the full sample, 1620 of the galaxies have spectroscopic redshift measurements from the literature. We use the spectral energy distribution fitting code \texttt{Prospector} to fit all available photometry and infer galaxy properties. We find a significantly milder evolution of the ionising photon production efficiency (\xion\/) with redshift and UV magnitude than previously reported. Interestingly, we observe two distinct populations in \xion\/, distinguished by their burstiness (given by SFR$_{10}$/SFR$_{100}$). Both populations show the same evolution with $z$ and M$_{\rm{UV}}$, but have a different \xion\/ normalisation. We convolve the more representative $\log(\xi_{\rm{ion}} (z,\text{M}_{\rm{UV}}))$ relations (accounting for $\sim96$\% of the sample), with luminosity functions from literature, to place constraints on the cosmic ionising photon budget. By combining our results, we find that one of our models can match the observational constraints from the \lya\/ forest at $z\lesssim6$. We conclude that galaxies with M$_{\rm{UV}}$ between $-16$ and $-20$, adopting a reasonable escape fraction, can produce enough ionising photons to ionise the Universe, without exceeding the required ionising photon budget.

We present cosmological constraints from weak lensing with the Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) first-year (Y1) data, using a simulation-based inference (SBI) method. % We explore the performance of a set of higher-order statistics (HOS) including the Minkowski functionals, counts of peaks and minima, and the probability distribution function and compare them to the traditional two-point statistics. The HOS, also known as non-Gaussian statistics, can extract additional non-Gaussian information that is inaccessible to the two-point statistics. We use a neural network to compress the summary statistics, followed by an SBI approach to infer the posterior distribution of the cosmological parameters. We apply cuts on angular scales and redshift bins to mitigate the impact of systematic effects. Combining two-point and non-Gaussian statistics, we obtain $S_8 \equiv \sigma_8 \sqrt{\Omega_m/0.3} = 0.804_{-0.040}^{+0.041}$ and $\Omega_m = 0.344_{-0.090}^{+0.083}$, similar to that from non-Gaussian statistics alone. These results are consistent with previous HSC analyses and Planck 2018 cosmology. Our constraints from non-Gaussian statistics are $\sim 25\%$ tighter in $S_8$ than two-point statistics, where the main improvement lies in $\Omega_m$, with $\sim 40$\% tighter error bar compared to using the angular power spectrum alone ($S_8 = 0.766_{-0.056}^{+0.054}$ and $\Omega_m = 0.365_{-0.141}^{+0.148}$). We find that, among the non-Gaussian statistics we studied, the Minkowski functionals are the primary driver for this improvement. Our analyses confirm the SBI as a powerful approach for cosmological constraints, avoiding any assumptions about the functional form of the data's likelihood.

In this study, we examine thermal conductivity and the thermal Hall effect in electron-ion plasmas relevant to hot neutron stars, white dwarfs, and binary neutron star mergers, focusing on densities found in the outer crusts of neutron stars and the interiors of white dwarfs. We consider plasma consisting of single species of ions, which could be either iron $\isotope[56]{Fe}$, carbon $\isotope[12]{C}$, helium $\isotope[4]{He}$, or hydrogen $\isotope[1]{H}$ nuclei. The temperature range explored is from the melting temperature of the solid $T\sim10^9$~K up to $10^{11}$~K. This covers both degenerate and non-degenerate electron regimes. We find that thermal conductivity increases with density and temperature for which we provide analytical scaling relations valid in different regimes. The impact of magnetic fields on thermal conductivity is also analyzed, showing anisotropy in low-density regions and the presence of the thermal Hall effect characterized by Leduc-Righi coefficient. The transition from degenerate to non-degenerate regime is characterized by a minimum ratio of thermal conductivity to temperature, which is analogous to the minimum observed already in the case of electrical conductivity.

Ethanolamine (NH2CH2CH2OH) has recently been identified in the molecular cloud G+0.693-0.027, situated in the SgrB2 complex in the Galactic center. However, its presence in other regions, and in particular in star-forming sites, is still elusive. Given its likely role as a precursor to simple amino acids, understanding its presence in the star-forming region is required. Here, we present the experimentally obtained temperature-dependent spectral features and morphological behavior of pure ethanolamine ices under astrochemical conditions in the 2 - 12 micro meter (MIR) and 120 - 230 nm (VUV) regions for the first time. These features would help in understanding its photochemical behavior. In addition, we present the first chemical models specifically dedicated to ethanolamine. These models include all the discussed chemical routes from the literature, along with the estimated binding energies and activation energies from quantum chemical calculations reported in this work. We have found that surface reactions: CH2OH + NH2CH2 --> NH2CH2CH2OH and NH2 + C2H4OH --> NH2CH2CH2OH in warmer regions (60-90 K) could play a significant role in the formation of ethanolamine. Our modeled abundance of ethanolamine complements the upper limit of ethanolamine column density estimated in earlier observations in hot core/corino regions. Furthermore, we provide a theoretical estimation of the rotational and distortional constants for various species (such as HNCCO, NH2CHCO, and NH2CH2CO) related to ethanolamine that have not been studied in existing literature. This study could be valuable for identifying these species in the future.

The Herschel observations unveiled the complex organisation of the interstellar medium in networks of parsec-scale filaments over the past decade. At the same time, networks of fibers have been recognised describing the gas structures in star-forming regions at sub-parsec scales. We aim to investigate the dense gas organisation prior to the formation of stars in sample of 7 star-forming regions within Orion. This EMERGE Early ALMA Survey includes OMC-1/-2/-3/-4 South, LDN 1641N, NGC 2023, and the Flame Nebula, all surveyed at high spatial resolution (4.5'' or $\sim2000$ au) in N$_2$H$^+$ (1$-$0) using ALMA+IRAM-30m observations. We systematically investigated the star-forming gas spatial distribution, its column density variations, its thermal structure, and its internal motions in a wide range of environments. From the analysis of the gas kinematics, we identified and characterised a total of 152 velocity-coherent fibers in our survey, which appear to be the preferred organisational unit for the dense gas in low-, intermediate- and high-mass star-forming regions alike. Despite the uneven density of fibers within these sub-parsec networks, the masses and lengths of these objects show similar distributions and consistent median values, as well as (trans-)sonic motions, in all of our targets. The comparison between the fiber line masses and virial line masses suggests the majority of these objects to be sub-virial. Those fibers closer to the virial condition, however, also have the most protostars associated to them, proving to be intimately connected to star formation. Finally, the surface density of fibers is linearly correlated with the total dense gas mass throughout roughly one order of magnitude in both parameters. These findings demonstrate how the formation and evolution of fibers networks can explain the current star formation properties of their host region.

Star-formation rates (SFR) in galaxies offer a view of various physical processes across them and are measured using various tracers, such as H$\alpha$ and UV. Different physical mechanisms can affect H$\alpha$ and UV emission, resulting in a discrepancy in the corresponding SFR estimates ($\Delta SFR$). We investigate the effects of ram pressure on the SFR measurements and $\Delta SFR$ across 5 galaxies from the GASP survey caught in the late stages of gas stripping due to ram pressure. We probe spatially resolved $\Delta SFR$ at pixel scales of 0.5 kpc, and compare disks to tails, and regions dominated by the dense gas to diffuse ionized gas (DIG) regions. The regions dominated by dense gas show similar SFR values for UV and H$\alpha$ tracers, while the regions dominated by the DIG show up to 0.5 dex higher SFR(UV). There is a large galaxy-by-galaxy variation in $\Delta SFR$, with no difference between the disks and the tails. We discuss the potential causes of variations in $\Delta SFR$ between the dense gas and DIG areas. We conclude that the dominant cause of discrepancy is recent variations in star formation histories, where star formation recently dropped in the DIG-dominated regions leading to changes in $\Delta SFR$. The areal coverage of the tracers shows areas with H$\alpha$ and no UV emission; these areas have LINER-like emission (excess in $[OI\lambda\,6300]/H\alpha$ line ratio), indicating that they are ionized by processes other than star-formation.

We present a comprehensive analysis of the photometric and spectroscopic evolution of SN~2021foa, unique among the class of transitional supernovae for repeatedly changing its spectroscopic appearance from hydrogen-to-helium-to-hydrogen-dominated (IIn-to-Ibn-to-IIn) within 50 days past peak brightness. The spectra exhibit multiple narrow ($\approx$ 300--600~km~s$^{-1}$) absorption lines of hydrogen, helium, calcium and iron together with broad helium emission lines with a full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) of $\sim 6000$~km~s$^{-1}$. For a steady, wind-mass loss regime, light curve modeling results in an ejecta mass of $\sim 8$ M$_{\odot}$ and CSM mass below 1 M$_{\odot}$, and an ejecta velocity consistent with the FWHM of the broad helium lines. We obtain a mass-loss rate of $\approx 2$ M$_{\odot} {\rm yr}^{-1}$. This mass-loss rate is three orders of magnitude larger than derived for normal Type II SNe. We estimate that the bulk of the CSM of SN~2021foa must have been expelled within half a year, about 15 years ago. Our analysis suggests that SN~2021foa had a helium rich ejecta which swept up a dense shell of hydrogen rich CSM shortly after explosion. At about 60 days past peak brightness, the photosphere recedes through the dense ejecta-CSM region, occulting much of the red-shifted emission of the hydrogen and helium lines, which results in observed blue-shift ($\sim -3000$~km~s$^{-1}$). Strong mass loss activity prior to explosion, such as those seen in SN~2009ip-like objects and SN~2021foa as precursor emission, are the likely origin of a complex, multiple-shell CSM close to the progenitor star.

We present the discovery of a low-density planet transiting TOI-5688 A b, a high-metallicity M2V star. This planet was discovered as part of the search for transiting giant planets ($R \gtrsim8$ M$_\oplus$) through the Searching for GEMS (Giant Exoplanets around M-dwarf Stars) survey. The planet TOI-5688 A b was discovered with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), and characterized with ground-based transits from Red Buttes Observatory (RBO), the Table Mountain Observatory of Pomona College, and radial velocity (RV) measurements with the Habitable-Zone Planet Finder (HPF) on the 10 m Hobby Eberly Telescope (HET) and NEID on the WIYN 3.5 m telescope. From the joint fit of transit and RV data, the mass of the planet is $124\pm24$ M$_\oplus$ and the radius is $10.4\pm0.7$ R$_\oplus$. This planet has a density of $0.61^{+0.20}_{-0.15}$ g/cm${}^3$, and is on a $\sim2.95$ day orbit around its host star. The spectroscopic and photometric analysis of the host star TOI-5688 A shows that it is a high metallicity ([Fe/H] $ = 0.47\pm0.16$ dex) M2V star, favoring the core-accretion formation pathway as the likely formation scenario for this planet. In this paper, we analyze potential mechanisms of planet formation in the context of the formation of TOI-5688 A b. Additionally, observations with Gaia suggest the presence of a wide-separation binary companion, TOI-5688 B, which has a projected separation of $\sim5"$ (1110 AU) and is an M4V. This makes TOI-5688 A b part of a growing number of GEMS in wide-separation binary systems.

'Bare' active galactic nuclei (AGN) are a subclass of Type 1 AGN that show little or no intrinsic absorption. They offer an unobscured view of the central regions of the AGN and therefore serve as ideal targets to study the relativistic reflection features originating from the innermost regions of the accretion disc. We present a detailed broadband spectral analysis ($0.3 - 70$ keV) of one of the most luminous bare AGN in the local universe, RBS 1124 ($z= 0.208$) using a new, co-ordinated high signal-to-noise observation obtained by $\textit{XMM-Newton}$ and $\textit{NuSTAR}$. The source exhibits a power-law continuum with $\Gamma \sim$ 1.8 along with a soft excess below 2 keV, a weak neutral iron line and curvature at high energies ($\sim 30$ keV). The broadband spectrum, including the soft excess and the high-energy continuum, is well fit by the relativistic reflection model when the accretion disc is allowed to have densities of log$(n_{\rm e}$/cm$^{-3}$) $\gtrsim 19.2$. Our analysis therefore suggests that when high-density effects are considered, relativistic reflection remains a viable explanation for the soft excess.

Context. Globular clusters (GCs) are suggested to host many stellar-mass black holes (BHs) at their centers, thus resulting in ideal testbeds for BH formation and retention theories. BHs are expected to play a major role in GC structural and dynamical evolution and their study has attracted a lot of attention. In recent years, several works attempted to constrain the BH mass fraction in GCs typically by comparing a single observable (for example mass segregation proxies) with scaling relations obtained from numerical simulations. Aims. We aim to uncover the possible intrinsic degeneracies in determining the BH mass fraction from single dynamical parameters and identify the possible parameter combinations that are able to break these degeneracies. Methods. We used a set of 101 Monte Carlo simulations sampling a large grid of initial conditions. In particular, we explored the impact of different BH natal kick prescriptions on widely adopted scaling relations. We then compared the results of our simulations with observations obtained using state-of-the-art HST photometric and astrometric catalogs for a sample of 30 Galactic GCs. Results. We find that using a single observable to infer the present-day BH mass fraction in GCs is degenerate, as similar values could be attained by simulations including different BH mass fractions. We argue that the combination of mass-segregation indicators with GC velocity dispersion ratios could help us to break this degeneracy efficiently. We show that such a combination of parameters can be derived with currently available data. However, the limited sample of stars with accurate kinematic measures and its impact on the overall errors do not allow us to discern fully different scenarios yet.

For stars hosting Circumstellar Habitable Zone (CHZ) exoplanets, we investigate the time-evolution of their ultraviolet habitable zone (UHZ), the annular region around a star where an exoplanet could experience a suitable ultraviolet environment for the presence and emergence of life, and the possible intersection of the UHZ with the CHZ. To estimate their UV luminosity evolution, and therefore the evolution of their UHZ, we analyse Swift-UV/Optical telescope observations and adopt the near-UV luminosity evolutionary tracks derived using GALEX observations of young moving groups. We find that an intersection between CHZ and UHZ could exist (or have existed) around all stars of our sample at different epochs, except for the coldest M-dwarfs (temperature < 2800 K, e.g. Trappist-1). For hotter M-dwarfs the formation of RNA precursors through cyanosulfidic chemistry triggered by near-UV radiation could occur during the first 1-2 Gyrs. The radial-extension and time-duration of the CHZ-UHZ intersection increase with the stellar effective temperature and the exoplanet atmospheric transmissivity at near-UV wavelengths. Within our sample, Proxima Centauri represents a golden target for the quest of life outside the Solar system because it experienced a long-lasting and more extended, compared to similar M-dwarfs, CHZ-UHZ intersection.

The stellar shells surrounding an elliptical galaxy, as remnants of a dwarf galaxy disrupted during merging, reveal the distribution of energy and angular momentum of the progenitor dwarf galaxy. We develop a semi-analytical model to describe the changes of energy $\Delta E_i$ and angular momentum $\Delta Lz_i$ for particles during the first infall. We show that these changes, induced by the self-gravity of the progenitor, are important in broadening the initial energy distribution of the Plummer or Hernquist progenitor model. Consequently, these changes are crucial in shaping the shells. In the free fall stage following the disintegration of the progenitor potential, particles are no longer bound by self-gravity but move within the gravitational potential of the target galaxy. We investigate the relationship between the radial period and the energy of particles undergoing radial motion. We show that an accurate model of the energy range of the dwarf galaxy at disruption is essential to predict the number of observable shells.

Given the growth in the variety and precision of astronomical datasets of interest for cosmology, the best cosmological constraints are invariably obtained by combining data from different experiments. At the likelihood level, one complication in doing so is the need to marginalise over large-dimensional parameter models describing the data of each experiment. These include both the relatively small number of cosmological parameters of interest and a large number of "nuisance" parameters. Sampling over the joint parameter space for multiple experiments can thus become a very computationally expensive operation. This can be significantly simplified if one could sample directly from the marginal cosmological posterior distribution of preceding experiments, depending only on the common set of cosmological parameters. In this paper, we show that this can be achieved by emulating marginal posterior distributions via normalising flows. The resulting trained normalising flow models can be used to efficiently combine cosmological constraints from independent datasets without increasing the dimensionality of the parameter space under study. We show that the method is able to accurately describe the posterior distribution of real cosmological datasets, as well as the joint distribution of different datasets, even when significant tension exists between experiments. The resulting joint constraints can be obtained in a fraction of the time it would take to combine the same datasets at the level of their likelihoods. We construct normalising flow models for a set of public cosmological datasets of general interests and make them available, together with the software used to train them, and to exploit them in cosmological parameter inference.

The scientific community employs complicated multiphysics simulations to understand the physics in Solar, Stellar, and Interstellar media. These must be tested against known solutions to ensure their validity. Several well-known tests exist, such as the Sod shock tube test. However, a test for nonlinear diffusivity is missing. This problem is highly relevant in the Solar atmosphere, where various events release energy that subsequently diffuses by Spitzer thermal conductivity. The aim is to derive an analytical solution for nonlinear diffusivity in 1D, 2D, and 3D, which allows for a nonzero background value. The solution will be used to design a test for numerical solvers and study Spitzer conductivity in the Solar atmosphere. There existed an ideal solution assuming zero background value. We perform an analytical first-order perturbation of this solution. The first-order solution is first tested against a dedicated nonlinear diffusion solver, whereupon it is used to benchmark the single- and multifluid radiative magnetohydrodynamics code Ebysus, used to study the Sun. The theory and numerical modeling are used to investigate the role of Spitzer conductivity in the transport of energy released in a nanoflare. The derived analytical solution models nonlinear diffusivity accurately within its region of validity and approximately beyond. Various numerical schemes in the Ebysus code have been found to model Spitzer conductivity correctly. The energy from a representative nanoflare has been found to diffuse 9 Mm within the first second of its lifetime due to Spitzer conductivity alone, strongly dependent on the electron density. The analytical first-order solution is a step forward in ensuring the physical validity of intricate simulations of the Sun. Additionally, since the derivation and argumentation are general, they can easily be followed to treat other nonlinear diffusion problems.

We investigate the large-angle distribution of the gamma-ray bursts (GRB) from the updated FERMI/GBM catalogue, to probe the statistical isotropy of these astrophysical transient events. We also study the angular distribution of the GRB fluence, as a way to explore if this radiative feature shows some preferred direction on the sky that can suggest their origin. Our model-independent approach performs a directional analysis of the updated FERMI/GBM catalogue. The statistical significance of our results is obtained by comparison with a large set of statistically isotropic samples of cosmic objects, with the same features of the FERMI data. Our analyses confirm that the angular distribution of the FERMIGRB is statistically isotropic on the celestial sphere. Moreover, analysing the directional distribution of the FERMIGRB fluence, that is, the median GRB fluence in a set of directions that scans the celestial sphere, we found that this astrophysical property exhibits a net dipolar structure with a directional preference for latitudes near the galactic plane. However, additional studies show that this directional preference, indeed, is not correlated with the Milky Way galactic plane, suggesting that the GRB, and its fluence dipolar structure, are extra-galactic in origin. Interestingly, the analyses of the BATSE Channel 4 fluence data, that is, those GRB from BATSE with energy $>$ 300 keV, reveal that its dipole direction is very well aligned with the cosmic microwave background dipole.

The observed dispersion measures (DMs) of fast radio bursts (FRBs) are a good indicator of the amount of ionized material along the propagation paths. In this work, we present a forecast of He II reionization detection using the DM and redshift measurements of FRBs from the upcoming Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Assuming a model of the Universe in which \he reionization occurred at a specific redshift $z_{\rm re}$, we analyze what extent the signal-to-noise ratio ($\mathrm{S/N}$) for the detection of the amplitude of reionization can be achieved in the era of SKA. Using $10^{6}$ mock FRB data from a one-year observation of the second phase of SKA, we find that the $\mathrm{S/N}$ for detecting He II reionization can approach the $32-50\sigma$ level and the uncertainty on the reionization redshift can be constrained to be $\sigma(z_{\rm re})\approx 0.022-0.031$, depending on the assumed FRB redshift distribution. We also examine the influence of different fiducial $z_{\rm re}$ values, finding that this effect has a modest impact on the forecasts. Our results demonstrate the potentially remarkable capability of SKA-era FRBs in constraining the epoch of He II reionization.

The [O III] $\lambda\lambda\ 4960,5008$ emission lines in the optical spectra of galaxies and quasars have been widely used to investigate the possible variation of the fine-structure constant $\alpha$ over cosmic time. In this work, we utilize the Large Sky Area Multi-object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) quasar survey, for the first time, to measure the relative $\alpha$ variation $\Delta\alpha/\alpha$ in time through the [O III] doublet method. From the LAMOST Data Release 9 quasar catalog, we refine a sample of 209 quasar spectra with strong and narrow [O III] emission lines over a redshift range of $0<z<0.8$. Analysis on all of the 209 spectra obtains $\Delta\alpha/\alpha = (0.5 \pm 3.7) \times 10^{-4}$, which suggests that there is no evidence of varying $\alpha$ on the explored cosmological timescales. Assuming a linear variation, the mean rate of change in $\Delta\alpha/\alpha$ is limited to be $(-3.4 \pm 2.4)\times 10^{-13}$ $\mathrm{yr^{-1}}$ in the last 7.0 Gyr. While our LAMOST-based constraint on $\Delta\alpha/\alpha$ is not competitive with those of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) quasar observations, our analysis serves to corroborate the results of SDSS with another independent survey.

We study the radial transport of cold gas within simulated disk galaxies at cosmic noon, aiming at distinguishing between disk instability and accretion along cold streams from the cosmic web as its driving mechanism. Disks are selected based on kinematics and flattening from the VELA zoom-in hydro-cosmological simulations. The radial velocity fields in the disks are mapped, their averages are computed as a function of radius and over the whole disk, and the radial mass flux in each disk as a function of radius is obtained. The transport directly associated with fresh incoming streams is identified by selecting cold gas cells that are either on incoming streamlines or have low metallicity. The radial velocity fields in VELA disks are found to be highly non-axisymmetric, showing both inflows and outflows. However, in most cases, the average radial velocities, both as a function of radius and over the whole disk, are directed inwards, with the disk-averaged radial velocities typically amounting to a few percent of the disk-averaged rotational velocities. This is significantly lower than the expectations from various models that analytically predict the inward mass transport as driven by torques associated with disk instability. Under certain simplifying assumptions, the latter typically predict average inflows of more than $10\%$ of the rotational velocities. Analyzing the radial motions of streams and off-stream material, we find that the radial inflow in VELA disks is dominated by the stream inflows themselves, especially in the outer disks. The high inward radial velocities inferred in observed disks at cosmic noon, at the level of $\sim \! 20\%$ of the rotational velocities, may reflect inflowing streams from the cosmic web rather than being generated by disk instability.

The radial gradient of gas-phase metallicity is a powerful probe of the chemical and structural evolution of star-forming galaxies, closely tied to disk formation and gas kinematics in the early universe. We present spatially resolved chemical and dynamical properties for a sample of 26 galaxies at $0.5 \lesssim z \lesssim 1.7$ from the MSA-3D survey. These innovative observations provide 3D spectroscopy of galaxies at a spatial resolution approaching JWST's diffraction limit and a high spectral resolution of $R\simeq2700$. The metallicity gradients measured in our galaxy sample range from $-$0.05 to 0.02 dex~kpc$^{-1}$. Most galaxies exhibit negative or flat radial gradients, indicating lower metallicity in the outskirts or uniform metallicity throughout the entire galaxy. We confirm a tight relationship between stellar mass and metallicity gradient at $z\sim1$ with small intrinsic scatter of 0.02 dex~kpc$^{-1}$. Our results indicate that metallicity gradients become increasingly negative as stellar mass increases, likely because the more massive galaxies tend to be more "disky". This relationship is consistent with the predictions from cosmological hydrodynamic zoom-in simulations with strong stellar feedback. This work presents the effort to harness the multiplexing capability of JWST NIRSpec/MSA in slit-stepping mode to map the chemical and kinematic profiles of high-redshift galaxies in large samples and at high spatial and spectral resolution.

The intensity spectra recovered from the spectroscopic photographic plates were compared with the CCD spectra, and we found the difference between the two was 2.5%.The measurements were taken using a commercial flatbed scanner instead of a microdensitometer. The results indicate that the following two statements are inaccurate: (1) Correct measurement of spectroscopic plates requires a microdensitometer, and a commercial flatbed scanner is insufficient; (2) The spectrophotometric accuracy of spectroscopic plate is approximately 10% accurate. These results will encourage the creation and publication of a digital archive of spectroscopic plates. This paper presents the measurement of spectroscopic plates, the method of recovering intensity spectra from photographic density spectra, the results of comparison with CCD spectra, and discusses the causes of the high accuracy spectra obtained with a commercial flatbed scanner.

We present the results of a four-year velocity-resolved reverberation mapping (RM) campaign of the changing-look active galactic nucleus (CL-AGN) NGC 4151 during its outburst phase. By measuring the time lags of the \ha, \hb, \hg, \hei, and \heii\ emission lines, we confirm a stratified broad-line region (BLR) structure that aligns with predictions from photoionization models. Intriguingly, we observed an ``anti-breathing" phenomenon, where the lags of broad emission lines decreased with increasing luminosity, contrary to the typical expectation. This anomaly may be attributed to the influence of the ultraviolet-optical lag or non-virialized motions in the BLR gas. Velocity-resolved RM and ionization mapping analyses revealed rapid and significant changes in the BLR geometry and kinematics on timescales within one year, which cannot be interpreted by any single mechanism, such as an inhomogeneous BLR, variations in radiation pressure, or changes in the illuminated ionizing field. Additionally, the \hb\ lags of NGC 4151 and other CL-AGNs agree with the radius-luminosity relationship established for AGNs with low accretion rates, implying that the CL phenomenon is more likely driven by intrinsic changes in the accretion rate rather than obscuration. These findings provide new insights into the complex internal processes of CL-AGNs and highlight the importance of long-term, multi-line RM for understanding BLR structures, geometry, and kinematics.

At the dawn of the gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow era, a Cepheid-like correlation was discovered between time variability V and isotropic-equivalent peak luminosity Liso of the prompt emission of about a dozen long GRBs with measured redshift available at that time. Soon afterwards, the correlation was confirmed against a sample of about 30 GRBs, despite being affected by significant scatter. Unlike the minimum variability timescale (MVT), V measures the relative power of short-to-intermediate timescales. We aim to test the correlation using about two hundred long GRBs with spectroscopically measured redshift, detected by Swift, Fermi, and Konus/WIND, for which both observables can be accurately estimated. For all the selected GRBs, variability was calculated according to the original definition using the 64-ms background-subtracted light curves of Swift/BAT (Fermi/GBM) in the 15-150 (8-900) keV energy passband. Peak luminosities were either taken from literature or derived from modelling broad-band spectra acquired with either Konus/WIND or Fermi/GBM. The statistical significance of the correlation has weakened to <~2%, mostly due to the appearance of a number of smooth and luminous GRBs characterised by a relatively small V. At odds with most long GRBs, 3 out of 4 long-duration merger candidates have high V and low Liso. Luminosity is more tightly connected with shortest timescales measured by MVT rather than short-to-intermediate ones, measured by V. We discuss the implications on internal dissipation models and the role of the e+- photosphere. We identified a few, smooth GRBs with a single broad pulse and low V, that might have an external shock origin, in contrast with most GRBs. The combination of high variability (V>~0.1), low luminosity (Liso<~10^51 erg s^-1) and short MVT (<~ 0.1 s) could be a good indicator for a compact binary merger origin.

We report on the analysis of a multiphase Lyman limit system (LLS) at $z=0.39047$ identified towards the background quasar FBQS J0209-0438. The O VI doublet lines associated with this absorber have a different profile from the low ionization metals and the H I. The Ly$\alpha$ has a very broad H I ($b \approx 150$ km s$^{-1}$) component well-aligned with one of the O VI components. The Doppler $b$-parameters for the broad H I and O VI indicate gas with $T= (0.8-2.0)\times 10^6$ K, and a total hydrogen column density that is an order of magnitude larger than the cooler phase of gas responsible for the LLS. Observations by VLT/MUSE show two moderately star-forming galaxies within $\rho \lesssim 105$ kpc, and $|\Delta v|\lesssim 130$ km s$^{-1}$ of the absorber, one of them a dwarf galaxy ($M_*\approx 10^6$ M$_\odot$) overlapping with the quasar PSF, and the other a larger galaxy ($R_{1/2}\approx 4$ kpc) with $M_*\approx 3\times 10^{10}$ M$_\odot$ and $M_h\approx 7\times 10^{11}$ M$_\odot$, and the dwarf galaxy within its virial radius. Though the absorption is aligned with the extended major axis of the larger galaxy, the line-of-sight velocity of the absorbing gas is inconsistent with corotating accretion. The metallicity inferred for the LLS is lower than the gas phase [O/H] of the two galaxies. The mixture of cool and warm/hot gas phases for the absorbing gas and its proximity and orientation to the galaxy pair points to the LLS being a high-velocity gas in the combined halo environment of both galaxies.

The gamma-ray halo surrounding Geminga suggests a notable reduction in cosmic-ray diffusion. One potential explanation for this phenomenon is the projection effect of slow diffusion perpendicular to the average magnetic field (represented by the diffusion coefficient $D_\perp$) within an anisotropic diffusion framework. In this context, the diffusion coefficient parallel to the mean field ($D_\parallel$) may remain substantial, allowing electrons and positrons ($e^\pm$) generated by Geminga to effectively propagate towards Earth along magnetic field lines, potentially leading to an observable $e^\pm$ flux. This study initially establishes the fundamental parameters of the anisotropic model based on the morphology and spectral observations of the Geminga halo, and subsequently forecasts the $e^\pm$ flux generated by Geminga at Earth's location. Our findings indicate that the $e^-+e^+$ spectrum obtained by DAMPE can provide critical constraints on the anisotropic diffusion model: to ensure that the projected spectrum does not surpass the observational data, the Alfvén Mach number of the turbulent magnetic field ($M_A$) should not fall below 0.75, corresponding to $D_\parallel/D_\perp\lesssim3$ given $D_\perp=D_\parallel M_A^4$. This suggests that a substantial reduction in $D_\parallel$ relative to the Galactic average may still be necessary. Additionally, our analysis reveals that within the anisotropic diffusion framework, Geminga could generate a distinct peak around 1 TeV in the $e^-+e^+$ spectrum, potentially accounting for the anomalous 1.4 TeV excess tentatively detected by DAMPE.

We describe the physical mechanisms of launching and acceleration of wind from an active galactic nucleus (AGN) accretion disk. We focus on the radiation line force driven and magnetic driven wind models, which operate on the accretion disk scale. We review the investigation histories of the two mechanisms and the most new results obtained recently. The ultra-fast outflows (UFOs) found in the hard X-ray bands are believed to directly originate from AGN accretion disks. We review the theoretical works applying the two mechanisms of wind to explain the UFOs. We briefly introduce the propagation of winds on a large scale which is important for AGN wind feedback study. Finally, the roles of wind in AGN feedback are briefly reviewed.

The Canis Major (CMa) region is known for its prominent arc-shaped morphology, visible at multiple wavelengths. This study integrates molecular gas data with high-precision astrometric parameters of young stellar objects (YSOs) from Gaia DR3 to provide the first three-dimensional (3D) insights into the dynamical evolution and star formation history of the CMa region. By utilizing the average distances and proper motions of the YSOs as proxies for those of the molecular clouds (MCs), we confirm the presence of a slowly expanding shell-like morphology in the CMa region, with the estimated radius of 47$\pm$11 pc and expansion velocity of 1.6$\pm$0.7 km/s. Further, the dynamical evolution of the shell supports its expansion, with an expansion timescale of $\sim$4.4 Myr obtained by the traceback analysis assuming constant velocities. Finally, a momentum estimate suggests that at least 2 supernova explosions (SNe) are needed to power the observed expanding shell, reinforcing the previous hypothesis of multiple SNe events. This study effectively combines the CO data with the astrometric data of YSOs from Gaia, offering significant support for the future studies on the 3D morphology and kinematics of MCs.

H2CO is a ubiquitous molecule in the ISM and in the gas phase of prestellar cores, and is likely present in ice mantles, but its main desorption mechanism is unknown. In this paper our aim is to quantify the desorption efficiency of H2CO upon cosmic-ray impact in order to determine whether cosmic-ray induced sputtering could account for the H2CO abundance observed in prestellar cores. Using a heavy-ion beam as a cosmic-ray analogue at the GANIL accelerator, we irradiated pure H2CO ice films at 10 K under high vacuum conditions and monitored the ice film evolution with infrared spectroscopy and the composition of the sputtered species in the gas phase using mass spectrometry. We derived both the effective and intact sputtering yield of pure H2CO ices. We find that H2CO easily polymerises under heavy-ion irradiation in the ice, and is also radiolysed into CO and CO2. In the gas phase, the dominant sputtered species is CO and intact H2CO is only a minor species. We determine an intact sputtering yield for pure H2CO ices $2.5\times 10^3$ molecules ion$^{-1}$ for an electronic stopping power of $S_e\sim2830$ eV ($10^{15}$ molecules cm$^{-2}$)$^{-1}$. The corresponding cosmic-ray sputtering rate is $\Gamma_\mathrm{CRD}=1.5\times 10^{-18}\zeta$ molecules cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, where $\zeta$ is the rate of cosmic-ray ionisation of molecular hydrogen in the ISM. In the frame of a simple steady-state chemical model of freeze-out and non-thermal desorption, we find that this experimental cosmic-ray sputtering rate is too low (by an order of magnitude) to account for the observed H2CO gas-phase abundance we derived in the prestellar core L1689B. We find however that this abundance can be reproduced if we assume that H2CO diluted in CO or CO2 ices co-desorbs at the same sputtering rate as pure CO or pure CO2 ices.

MICADO is a first-generation instrument for the ELT. It will provide diffraction-limited imaging in standard, astrometric, and coronagraphic modes and long-slit spectroscopy at near-infrared wavelengths. The core of the MICADO instrument is its cryostat, which cools the internal optical and mechanical subsystems to 80 K. Following a light ray entering the cryostat through the entrance window, the first mechanism it encounters is the Focal Plane Mechanism. It consists of two independent movable devices mounted in one assembly: the aperture wheel and the focal plane wheel. The primary purpose of the aperture wheel is to rapidly block the light path, which is needed to mitigate persistence on the detectors. The focal plane wheel holds field stops, calibration masks, slits, and coronagraphs. The positioning requirements for the wheel are dominated by the coronographic masks demanding a 15 $\mu$m RMS repeatability. To fulfill this specification and avoid mechanical wear in the drive, a novel magnetically coupled gear system was developed at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE). A magnetically coupled worm gear uses magnetic forces to transmit torque from the motor to the driven component without direct mechanical contact. This paper describes the design and performance of the magnetic drive and the first results of the focal plane wheel prototype tests in a cryogenic environment.

Neutrinos with energies beyond PeV (extremely high energy, EHE) are produced in interaction of the highest energy cosmic rays. One contribution to the EHE neutrino flux is expected to arise from so-called cosmogenic neutrinos generated in ultra high energy cosmic ray interactions with cosmic microwave background photons. Observation of cosmogenic neutrinos can probe the nature of cosmic rays beyond the energies for resonant photo-pion production (GZK cutoff). The IceCube detector instruments a cubic kilometer of the South Pole ice to detect Cherenkov light emitted by charged particles produced in neutrino interactions. In the future IceCube-Gen2 will increase the effective detection volume for EHE neutrinos by adding radio antennas to the in-ice detector. In this contribution we present new constraints on the EHE neutrino flux above $5 \times 10^6$ GeV using 12.6 years of IceCube data. The differential upper limit constrains the all-flavor EHE neutrino flux at 1 EeV to below a level of $E^2 \Phi \sim 10^{-8} \, \mathrm{GeV} \, \mathrm{cm}^{-2} \, \mathrm{s}^{-1} \, \mathrm{sr}^{-1}$. Additionally, we also describe the projected sensitivity of the IceCube-Gen2 radio array, which will reach fluxes about 1.5 orders of magnitude smaller than the current limits at 1 EeV.

Studying the magnetic field properties on the solar surface is crucial for understanding the solar and heliospheric activities, which in turn shape space weather in the solar system. Surface Flux Transport (SFT) modelling helps us to simulate and analyse the transport and evolution of magnetic flux on the solar surface, providing valuable insights into the mechanisms responsible for solar activity. In this work, we demonstrate the use of machine learning techniques in solving magnetic flux transport, making it accurate. We have developed a novel Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs)-based model to study the evolution of Bipolar Magnetic Regions (BMRs) using SFT in one-dimensional azimuthally averaged and also in two-dimensions. We demonstrate the efficiency and computational feasibility of our PINNs-based model by comparing its performance and accuracy with that of a numerical model implemented using the Runge-Kutta Implicit-Explicit (RK-IMEX) scheme. The mesh-independent PINNs method can be used to reproduce the observed polar magnetic field with better flux conservation. This advancement is important for accurately reproducing observed polar magnetic fields, thereby providing insights into the strength of future solar cycles. This work paves the way for more efficient and accurate simulations of solar magnetic flux transport and showcases the applicability of PINNs in solving advection-diffusion equations with a particular focus on heliophysics.

Vegetation can modify the planetary surface albedo via the Charney mechanism, as plants are usually darker than the bare surface of the continents. We updated ESTM (Earth-like Surface Temperature Model) to incorporate the presence, distribution and evolution of two dynamically competing vegetation types that resemble grasslands and trees (the latter in the double stages of life: adults and seedlings). The newly developed model was applied to estimate how the climate-vegetation system reaches equilibrium across different rocky planetary configurations, and to assess its impact on temperature and habitability. With respect to a world with bare granite continents, the effect of vegetation-albedo feedback is to increase the average surface temperature. Since grasses and trees exhibit different albedos, they affect temperature to different degrees. The ultimate impact on climate depends on the outcome of the competition between these vegetation types. The change in albedo due to vegetation extends the habitable zone and enhances the overall planetary habitability beyond its traditional outer edge. This effect is especially relevant for planets that have a larger extension of continents than Earth. For Earth, the semi-major axis d = 1.04 UA represents the turning point where vegetation enhances habitability from h = 0.0 to h = 0.485 (in the grass-dominance case), to h = 0.584 (in the case of coexistence between grasses and trees), and to h = 0.612 (in the tree-dominance case). This illustrates the transition from a snowball state to a planet with intermediate habitability at the outer edge of the circumstellar habitability zone.

We investigate the redshift evolution of the concentration-mass relationship of dark matter haloes in state-of-the-art cosmological hydrodynamic simulations and their dark-matter-only counterparts. By combining the IllustrisTNG suite and the novel MillenniumTNG simulation, our analysis encompasses a wide range of box size ($50 - 740 \: \rm cMpc$) and mass resolution ($8.5 \times 10^4 - 3.1 \times 10^7 \: \rm M_{\odot}$ per baryonic mass element). This enables us to study the impact of baryons on the concentration-mass relationship in the redshift interval $0<z<7$ over an unprecedented halo mass range, extending from dwarf galaxies to superclusters ($\sim 10^{9.5}-10^{15.5} \, \rm M_{\odot}$). We find that the presence of baryons increases the steepness of the concentration-mass relationship at higher redshift, and demonstrate that this is driven by adiabatic contraction of the profile, due to gas accretion at early times, which promotes star formation in the inner regions of haloes. At lower redshift, when the effects of feedback start to become important, baryons decrease the concentration of haloes below the mass scale $\sim 10^{11.5} \, \rm M_{\odot}$. Through a rigorous information criterion test, we show that broken power-law models accurately represent the redshift evolution of the concentration-mass relationship, and of the relative difference in the total mass of haloes induced by the presence of baryons. We provide the best-fit parameters of our empirical formulae, enabling their application to models that mimic baryonic effects in dark-matter-only simulations over six decades in halo mass in the redshift range $0<z<7$.

We used 3D maps of 862nm DIB equivalent width (EW) and extinction, DIB catalogues, and measured parameters of dust extinction law and dust emission to study relationships between DIB and extinction level, total-to-selective extinction ratio Rv, dust emission spectral index beta. We revisited the link between several DIBs and the 220nm absorption bump. The ratio, DIBn862, between the 862nm DIB carrier density and the extinction density is increasing in low density clouds, confirming with local values the line-of-sight data. A fitted power law ranks this DIB in the high increase range among the 20 bands measured toward SDSS targets. Using map-integrated 862nm DIB EWs and extinctions along the paths to APOGEE targets with proxies R'v for Rv, we found that DIBn862 increases with R'v for low to moderate extinctions (Av<2-3 mag). Based on stars outside the thin disk, DIBn862 is found to be globally anti-correlated with the Planck opacity spectral index beta. In the light of a recent result on the variability of the carbon/silicate ratio in dust grains as a source of the Rv-beta anti-correlation, it suggests that DIBn862 increases with this ratio, in agreement with the carbonaceous nature of carriers and recent evidences for a spatial correlation between DIBn862 and carbon-rich ejecta of AGBs. At higher Av, both trends disappear. We found that two factors explain the absence of clear results on the link between the UV absorption bump height and DIBs: the correlation disappears when we move from sigma- to zeta-type DIBs and/or from single-cloud lines of sight to paths crossing multiple clouds distant from each other. We show examples of simple models of the bump height based on DIBs. We found an anti-correlation between DIBn and the bump width, similarly disappearing from sigma- to zeta-type DIBs. This suggests that a fraction of the bump is generated outside the dense molecular clouds.

We analysed six primary transits of the ultra-hot Jupiter KELT-9,b obtained with the HARPS-N high-resolution spectrograph in the context of the Global Architecture of Planetary Systems (GAPS2) project, to characterise the atmosphere via single-line analysis. We extracted the transmission spectrum of each individual line by comparing the master out-of-transit spectrum with the in-transit spectra and computing the weighted average of the tomography in the planet reference frame. We corrected for the centre-to-limb variation and the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect by modelling the region of the star disc obscured by the planet during the transit and subtracting it from the master-out spectrum. We detected all six observable lines of the Balmer series within the HARPS-N wavelength range, from H$\alpha$ to H$\zeta$, with a significance exceeding 5$\sigma$. We focussed on metal species, detecting Na I, Ca I, Ca II, Fe I, Fe II, Mg I, Ti II, Sc II, and Cr II lines. This is the first detection in the atmosphere of an exoplanet of H$\epsilon$ and H$\zeta$ lines, as well as of individual lines of Sc II and Cr II. Our detections are supported by a comparison with published synthetic transmission spectra of KELT-9b obtained accounting for non-local thermodynamic equilibrium effects. The results underline the presence of a systematic blueshift due to night-side to day-side winds. The single-line analysis allowed us not only to assess the presence of atomic species in the atmosphere of KELT-9 b, but also to further characterise the local stratification of the atmosphere. Coupling the height distribution of the detected species with the velocity shift retrieved, we acknowledged the height distribution of night-side to day-side winds. Moreover, the study of the rotational broadening of different species supports the prediction of a tidally locked planet rotating as a rigid body.

Proto-neutron stars have both high-density and relatively high-temperature in them. This study analyses how the equation of state changes with temperature, which is relevant for proto-neutron stars. We determine an equation of state for the proto-neutron stars in the relativistic mean field model in which the coupling parameters are density-dependent. The equation of state considerably affects the mass-radius curve, thereby affecting the f-mode oscillation frequency. Temperature makes the equation of state stiffer at relatively low and intermediate densities, thereby making the star less compact and the mass-radius curve flatter. The f-mode frequency for low and intermediate-mass neutron stars decreases with temperature and thus should be easier to detect. The universal relation (connecting f-mode frequency, mass and radius) changes non-linearly with temperature. The parameters defining the universal relation ($\omega M = a(T) \left(\frac{M}{R}\right) + b(T)$) becomes temperature dependent with the coefficients following a parabolic relation with temperature.

We present near-infrared observations, acquired with the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on board of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), of a Ly$\alpha$ double-clumped emitting nebula at $z \approx 3.25$ associated with a damped Ly$\alpha$ absorber (DLA). With the WFC3/F160W data we observe the stellar continuum around $3600$ $\mathring{\rm A}$ in the rest frame for a galaxy embedded in the West clump of the nebula, $G_{\rm W}$, for which we estimate a star formation rate SFR$_{G_{\rm W}} = 5.0 \pm 0.4$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ and maximum stellar mass M$_{G_{\rm W}} < 9.9 \pm 0.7 \times 10^9$ M$_\odot$. With the enhanced spatial resolution of HST, we discover the presence of an additional faint source, $G_{\rm E}$, in the center of the East clump, with a star formation rate of SFR$_{G_{\rm E}} = 0.70 \pm 0.20$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ and maximum stellar mass M$_{G_{\rm E}} < 1.4 \pm 0.4 \times 10^9$ M$_\odot$. We show that the Ly$\alpha$ emission in the two clumps can be explained by recombination following in-situ photoionization by the two galaxies, assuming escape fractions of ionizing photons of $\lesssim 0.24$ for $G_{\rm W}$ and $\lesssim 0.34$ for $G_{\rm E}$. The fact that $G_{\rm W}$ is offset by $\approx 8$ kpc from the West clump does not fully rule out the presence of additional fainter star-forming sources that would further contribute to the photon budget inside this $\approx 10^{12}$ M$_\odot$ galaxy group that extends over a region encompassing over $30 \times 50$ kpc.

This work is a continuation of the work of Kopylova and Kopylov (2016) to build a fundamental plane (FP) of groups and clusters of galaxies -- here a sample of galaxies systems is increased from 94 to 172 objects. We have studied the ratios between the basic characteristics of groups and clusters of galaxies according to the archival data of SDSS, 2MASX and NED catalogs. Measured parameters ($\log L_K$, $\log R_e$ and $\log \sigma$) of clusters of galaxies determine the fundamental plane in the near infrared region: $L_K \propto R_e^{0.77\pm0.09} \sigma^{1.44\pm0.12}$. The form of the FP of groups/clusters is consistent with the FP of the early -- types of galaxies (SDSS, $r$-band) determined in the same way. Direct regression relative to the padius $\log r_e$ in the kpc gives a projection of the FP -- $\log R_e=0.98(\pm0.06)\,\log \sigma-0.56(\pm0.04)<\log \langle I_e \rangle+3.57(\pm0.07)$, that can be used to determine the distances of the systems of galaxies. The root-mean-square deviation of the FP zero-point is 0.07 which is equal to the 16\% error in determining the distance of the group or cluster of galaxies. For the first time, we measured the peculiar velocities of the superclusters of galaxies. The mean peculiar velocity of the 5 superclusters of galaxies relative to the CMB is $+75\pm360$~km~s$^{-1}$.

Well-balanced reconstruction techniques have been developed for stellar hydrodynamics to address the challenges of maintaining hydrostatic equilibrium during evolution. I show how to adapt a simple well-balanced method to the piecewise parabolic method for hydrodynamics. A python implementation of the method is provided.

The Euclid mission, designed to map the geometry of the dark Universe, presents an unprecedented opportunity for advancing our understanding of the cosmos through its photometric galaxy cluster survey. This paper focuses on enhancing the precision of halo bias (HB) predictions, which is crucial for deriving cosmological constraints from the clustering of galaxy clusters. Our study is based on the peak-background split (PBS) model linked to the halo mass function (HMF); it extends with a parametric correction to precisely align with results from an extended set of $N$-body simulations carried out with the OpenGADGET3 code. Employing simulations with fixed and paired initial conditions, we meticulously analyze the matter-halo cross-spectrum and model its covariance using a large number of mock catalogs generated with Lagrangian Perturbation Theory simulations with the PINOCCHIO code. This ensures a comprehensive understanding of the uncertainties in our HB calibration. Our findings indicate that the calibrated HB model is remarkably resilient against changes in cosmological parameters including those involving massive neutrinos. The robustness and adaptability of our calibrated HB model provide an important contribution to the cosmological exploitation of the cluster surveys to be provided by the Euclid mission. This study highlights the necessity of continuously refining the calibration of cosmological tools like the HB to match the advancing quality of observational data. As we project the impact of our model on cosmological constraints, we find that, given the sensitivity of the Euclid survey, a miscalibration of the HB could introduce biases in cluster cosmology analyses. Our work fills this critical gap, ensuring the HB calibration matches the expected precision of the Euclid survey. The implementation of our model is publicly available in this https URL.

We present the first comprehensive source catalog (UVIT DR1) of ultraviolet (UV) photometry in four far-UV (FUV $\sim$1300$-$1800 Å) and five near-UV (NUV $\sim$2000$-$3000 Å) filters of the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) on board {\em AstroSat}. UVIT DR1 includes bright UV sources in 291 fields that UVIT detected during its first two years of pointed observation, encompassing an area of 58 square degrees. We used the {\sc ccdlab} pipeline to reduce the L1 data, source-extractor for source detection, and four photometric procedures to determine the magnitudes of the detected sources. We provided the 3$\sigma$ and 5$\sigma$ detection limits for all the filters of UVIT. We describe the details of observation, source extraction methods, and photometry procedures applied to prepare the catalog. In the final UVIT DR1 catalog, we have point sources, extended sources, clumps from nearby galaxies, There are 239,520 unique sources in the combined UVIT DR1, of which 70,488 sources have FUV magnitudes, and 211,410 have NUV magnitudes. We cross-matched and compared non-crowded sources of UVIT with the {\em Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)} and {\em Gaia} source catalogs. We provide a clean catalog of the unique sources in various UVIT filters that will help further multi-wavelength scientific analysis of the objects.

Long and skinny molecular filaments running along Galactic spiral arms are known as "bones", since they make up the skeleton of the Milky Way. However, their origin is still an open question. Here, we compare spectral images of HI taken by FAST with archival CO and Herschel dust emission to investigate the conversion from HI to H$_2$ in two typical Galactic bones, CFG028.68-0.28 and CFG047.06+0.26. Sensitive FAST HI images and an improved methodology enabled us to extract HI narrow self-absorption (HINSA) features associated with CO line emission on and off the filaments, revealing the ubiquity of HINSA towards distant clouds for the first time. The derived cold HI abundances, [HI]/[H$_2$], of the two bones range from $\sim$(0.5 to 44.7)$\times10^{-3}$, which reveal different degrees of HI-H$_2$ conversion and are similar to that of nearby, low-mass star forming clouds, Planck Galactic cold clumps and a nearby active high-mass star forming region G176.51+00.20. The HI-H$_2$ conversion has been ongoing for 2.2 to 13.2 Myr in the bones, a timescale comparable to that of massive star formation therein. Therefore, we are witnessing young giant molecular clouds with rapid massive star formation. Our study paves the way of using HINSA to study cloud formation in Galactic bones, and more generally, in distant giant molecular clouds, in the FAST era.

Barium (Ba) stars are chemically peculiar stars that show enhanced surface abundances of heavy elements produced by the slow-neutron-capture process, the so-called s-process. These stars are not sufficiently evolved to undergo the s-process in their interiors, so they are considered products of binary interactions. Ba stars form when a former Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) companion, which is now a white dwarf, pollutes them with s-process-rich material through mass transfer. This paper presents a detailed chemical characterization of two newly discovered Ba giants. Our main goal is to confirm their status as extrinsic s-process stars and explore potential binarity and white dwarf companions. We obtained high-resolution spectra with UVES on the Very Large Telescope to determine the chemical properties of the targets. We perform line-by-line analyses and measure 22 elements with an internal precision up to 0.04 dex. The binary nature of the targets is investigated through radial velocity variability and spectral energy distribution fitting. We found that both targets are enhanced in all the measured s-process elements, classifying our targets as Ba giants. This is the first time they are classified as such in the literature. Additionally, both stars present a mild enhancement in Eu, but less than in pure s-process elements, suggesting that the sources that polluted them were pure s-process sources. Finally, we confirmed that the two targets are RV variable and likely binary systems. The abundances in these two newly discovered polluted binaries align with classical Ba giants, providing observational constraints to better understand the s-process in AGB stars.

The structure of the low redshift Universe is dominated by a multi-scale void distribution delineated by filaments and walls of galaxies. The characteristics of voids; such as morphology, average density profile, and correlation function, can be used as cosmological probes. However, their physical properties are difficult to infer due to shot noise and the general lack of tracer particles used to define them. In this work, we construct a robust, topology-based void finding algorithm that utilizes Persistent Homology (PH) to detect persistent features in the data. We apply this approach to a volume limited sub-sample of galaxies in the SDSS I/II Main Galaxy catalog with the $r$-band absolute magnitude brighter than $M_r=-20.19$, and a set of mock catalogs constructed using the Horizon Run 4 cosmological $N$-body simulation. We measure the size distribution of voids, their averaged radial profile, sphericity, and the centroid nearest neighbor separation, using conservative values for the threshold and persistence. We find $32$ topologically robust voids in the SDSS data over the redshift range $0.02 \leq z \leq 0.116$, with effective radii in the range $21 - 56 \, h^{-1} \, {\rm Mpc}$. The median nearest neighbor void separation is found to be $\sim 57 \, h^{-1} \, {\rm Mpc}$, and the median radial void profile is consistent with the expected shape from the mock data.

Core-collapse supernovae are explosions of massive stars at the end of their evolution. They are responsible for metal production and for halting star formation, having a significant impact on galaxy evolution. The details of these processes depend on the nature of supernova progenitors, but it is unclear if Type Ic supernovae (without hydrogen or helium lines in their spectra) originate from core-collapses of very massive stars (> 30 Msun) or from less massive stars in binary systems. Here we show that Type II (with hydrogen lines) and Ic supernovae are located in environments with similar molecular gas densities, therefore their progenitors have comparable lifetimes and initial masses. This supports a binary interaction for most Type Ic supernova progenitors, which explains the lack of hydrogen and helium lines. This finding can be implemented in sub-grid prescriptions in numerical cosmological simulations to improve the feedback and chemical mixing.

Quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) are an extreme X-ray variability phenomenon associated with low-mass supermassive black holes. First discovered in the nucleus of the galaxy GSN 069, they have been so far securely detected in five other galaxies, including RX J1301.9+2747. When detected, the out-of-QPE emission (quiescence) is consistent with the high-energy tail of thermal emission from an accretion disk. We present the X-ray and radio properties of RX J1301.9+2747, both in quiescence and during QPEs. We analyse X-ray data taken during five XMM-Newton observations between 2000 and 2022. The last three observations were taken in coordination with radio observations with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. We also make use of EXOSAT, ROSAT, and Chandra archival observations taken between 1983 and 2009. XMM-Newton detected 34 QPEs of which 8 have significantly lower amplitudes than the others. No correlated radio/X-ray variability was observed during QPEs. In terms of timing properties, the QPEs in RX J1301.9+2747 do not exhibit the striking regularity observed in the discovery source GSN 069. In fact there is no clear repetition pattern between QPEs: the average time separation between their peaks is about four hours, but it can be as short as one, and as long as six hours. The QPE spectral properties of RX J1301.9+2747 as a function of energy are however very similar to those of GSN 069 and of other QPE sources. The quiescent emission of RX J1301.9+2747 is more complex than that of GSN 069, as it requires a soft X-ray excess-like component in addition to the thermal emission from the accretion disk. Its long-term X-ray quiescent flux variations are of low-amplitude and not strictly monotonic, with a general decay over $\sim 22$ years. We discuss our observational results in terms of some of the ideas and models that have been proposed so far for the physical origin of QPEs.

Cosmic magnification on the observed galaxy overdensity is a promising weak gravitational lensing tracer. Current cosmic magnification reconstruction algorithms, ABS (Analytical method of Blind Separation) and cILC (constrained Internal Linear Combination), intend to disentangle the weak lensing signal using the magnification response in various flux bins. In this work, we reveal an unrecognized systematic bias arising from the difference between galaxy bias and the galaxy-lensing cross-correlation bias, due to the mismatch between the weak lensing kernel and the redshift distribution of photometric objects. It results into a galaxy-lensing degeneracy, which invalidates ABS as an exact solution. Based on the simulated cosmoDC2 galaxies, we verify that the recovered weak lensing amplitude by ABS is biased low by $\sim10\%$. cILC, including a modified version proposed here, also suffers from systematic bias of comparable amplitude. Combining flux and color information leads to significant reduction in statistical errors, but fails to eliminate the aforementioned bias. With the presence of this newly found systematic, it remains a severe challenge in blindly and robustly separating the cosmic magnification from the galaxy intrinsic clustering.

We present a comprehensive X-ray analysis and spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting of WISEA J171419.96+602724.6, an extremely luminous type 2 quasar at $z$ = 2.99. The source was suggested as a candidate Compton-thick (column density N$_{\rm H}>$1.5 $\times$ 10$^{24}$ cm$^{-2}$) quasar by a short XMM-Newton observation in 2011. We recently observed the source with deep NuSTAR and XMM-Newton exposures in 2021 and found that the source has a lower obscuration of N$_{\rm H}\sim$5 $\times$ 10$^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$ with an about four times lower flux. The two epochs of observations suggested that the source was significantly variable in X-ray obscuration, flux, and intrinsic luminosity at 2-3~$\sigma$ in less than 2.5 years (in the source rest frame). We performed SED fitting of this source using CIGALE thanks to its great availability of multiwavelength data (from hard X-rays to radio). The source is very luminous with a bolometric luminosity of $L_{\rm BOL}\sim$ 2.5 $\times$ 10$^{47}$ erg s$^{-1}$. Its host galaxy has a huge star formation rate (SFR) of $\sim$1280 Solar mass yr$^{-1}$ and a huge stellar mass of $\sim$1.1 $\times$ 10$^{12}$ Solar mass. The correlation between the SFR and stellar mass of this source is consistent with what was measured in the high-$z$ quasars. It is also consistent with what was measured in the main-sequence star-forming galaxies, suggesting that the presence of the active nucleus in our target does not enhance or suppress the SFR of its host galaxy. The source is an Infrared hyper-luminous, obscured galaxy with significant amount of hot dust in its torus and shares many similar properties with hot, dust obscured galaxies.

The Milky Way (MW) is surrounded by dozens of satellite galaxies, with six-dimensional (6D) phase space information measured for over 80% of this population. The spatial distribution of these satellites is an essential probe of galaxy formation and for mapping the MW's underlying dark matter distribution. Using measured 6D phase space information of known MW satellites, we calculate orbital histories in a joint MW+LMC potential, including the gravitational influence of the LMC on all satellites, on the MW's center of mass, and dynamical friction owing to both galaxies, to investigate the evolution of the MW's cumulative radial profile. We conclude radial profiles become more concentrated over time when we consider the LMC's gravitational influence and the group infall of LMC-associated satellites. The MW's radial distribution is consistently more concentrated at present-day, 1 Gyr, and 2 Gyr ago compared to recent surveys of nearby MW-like systems. Compared to MW-mass hosts in cosmological, zoom-in simulations, we find the MW's radial profile is also more concentrated than those of simulated counterparts; however, some overlap exists between simulation results and our analysis of the MW's satellite distribution 2 Gyr ago, pre-LMC infall. Finally, we posit radial profiles of simulated MW-mass analogs also hosting an LMC companion are likely to evolve similarly to our results, such that the accretion of a massive satellite along with its satellites will lead to a more concentrated radial profile as the massive satellite advances toward its host galaxy.

In situ observations by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) have revealed new properties of the proton velocity distributions, including hammerhead features that suggest non-isotropic broadening of the beams. The present work proposes a very plausible explanation for the formation of these populations through the action of a proton firehose-like instability triggered by the proton beam. The quasi-linear (QL) theory proposed here shows that the resulting right-hand (RH) waves have two consequences on the protons: (i) reduce the relative drift between the beam and the core, but above all, (ii) induce a strong perpendicular temperature anisotropy, specific to the observed hammerhead ion strahl. Moreover, the long-run QL results suggest that these hammerhead distributions are rather transitory states, still subject to relaxation mechanisms, of which instabilities like the one discussed here are very likely involved.

Ground-based observations of Very High Energy (VHE) gamma rays from extreme astrophysical sources are significantly influenced by atmospheric conditions. This is due to the atmosphere being an integral part of the detector when utilizing Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs). Clouds and dust particles diminish atmospheric transmission of Cherenkov light, thereby impacting the reconstruction of the air showers and consequently the reconstructed gamma-ray spectra. Precise measurements of atmospheric transmission above Cherenkov observatories play a pivotal role in the accuracy of the analysed data, among which the corrections of the reconstructed energies and fluxes of incoming gamma rays, and in establishing observation strategies for different types of gamma-ray emitting sources. The Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC) telescopes and the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), both located on the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM), La Palma, Canary Islands, use different sets of auxiliary instruments for real-time characterisation of the atmosphere. In this paper, historical data taken by MAGIC LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) and CTAO FRAM (F/Photometric Robotic Telescope) are presented. From the atmospheric aerosol transmission profiles measured by the MAGIC LIDAR and CTAO FRAM aerosol optical depth maps, we obtain the characterisation of the clouds above the ORM at La Palma needed for data correction and optimal observation scheduling.

The Italian Spring Accelerometer (ISA) is a three axis mass-spring accelerometer, one of the payloads of the BepiColombo joint space mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). At launch in October 2018, BepiColombo started its seven-year cruise as a stack of three different modules, overall named Mercury Composite Spacecraft (MCS). The spacecraft will provide BepiColombo the necessary Delta V to reach Mercury with its electric thrusters and along with one, two and six gravity assists, respectively with Earth, Venus and Mercury. The accelerometer is accommodated on the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) module and, jointly with the Ka-band Transponder (KaT) tracking data, will primarily serve the BepiColombo Radio Science Experiment (BC-RSE). During the second Venus swing-by, strong tidal effect and external perturbations was expected to act on the spacecraft and to become detectable by ISA. The swing-by had a closest approach of about 550 km and the gravity gradient expected on the IDA sensing elements was perfectly measured. Hence, in this paper, the first direct Gravity Gradient effect detection generated by an extraterrestrial body is shown. Nevertheless, around the closest approach, the measurements evidenced a spurious acceleration event lasting for several minutes. This work, exploiting information on the Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS) commanded torques, focuses and analyses this ISA acceleration signal, ascribing it to a net force really acting on the MCS spacecraft. Furthermore, using an estimation method, the application point of the force is confined to an area close to the MPO radiator.

The search for biosignatures in potentially habitable exoplanets is one of the major astrophysics' drivers for the coming decades, and the prime science goal of the HWO NASA mission, a large UV-Optical-IR space telescope to be launched in the 2040s. To reach this goal, it will be equipped with state-of-the-art high-contrast spectro-imaging capabilities enabling the detection of exoplanets 10^10 times fainter than their host stars, a formidable challenge given today's best detection limits at ~10^-6 contrast levels. This goal puts stringent constraints on the entire observatory, and demands the optimization at the system level to leverage the performance of individual sub-systems. However, while image processing techniques are a key asset to reach the ultimate performance, the science and technological definition of the mission concepts mostly rely on the coronagraph and wavefront control to reject the starlight, assuming a conservative gain of ~10 in sensitivity from image processing, extrapolated from performance obtained with classical techniques on Hubble observations. In the ESCAPE project, we investigate integrated solutions for optimizing the observing methods and data processing techniques with future space telescopes, making use of their wavefront sensors and deformable mirrors. The Roman Space Telescope, scheduled for launch in 2026, will be a critical milestone to demonstrate key technologies ahead of HWO with the Coronagraph instrument, and is thus a unique opportunity to also test and validate innovative image processing techniques. Here we present the rational, methodology, and timeline of the ESCAPE project.

CMEs are one of the main drivers of space weather. However, robust and efficient numerical modeling of the initial stages of CME propagation and evolution process in the sub-Alfvenic corona is still lacking. Based on the highly efficient quasi-steady-state implicit MHD coronal model (Feng et al. 2021; Wang et al. 2022a), we further develop an efficient and time-accurate coronal model and employ it to simulate the CME's evolution and propagation. A pseudo-time marching method, where a pseudo time, tau, is introduced at each physical time step to update the solution by solving a steady-state problem on tau, is devised to improve the temporal accuracy. Moreover, an RBSL flux rope whose axis can be designed in an arbitrary shape is inserted into the background corona to trigger the CME event. We call it the SIP-IFVM coronal model and utilize it to simulate a CME evolution process from the solar surface to 20 Rs in the background corona of CR 2219. It can finish the CME simulation covering 6 hours of physical time by less than 0.5 hours (192 CPU cores, 1 M cells) without much loss in temporal accuracy. Besides, an ad hoc simulation with initial magnetic fields artificially increased shows that this model can effectively deal with time-dependent low-beta problems (beta<0.0005). Additionally, an Orszag-Tang MHD vortex flow simulation demonstrates that the pseudo-time-marching method adopted in this coronal model is also capable of simulating small-scale unsteady-state flows. The simulation results show that this MHD coronal model is very efficient and numerically stable and is promising to timely and accurately simulate time-varying events in solar corona with low plasma beta.

The elemental abundances of stars reflect the complex enrichment history of the galaxy. To explore and explain the metal enrichment history of the cosmic environment near our solar system, we study the evolution of $^{56} \mathrm{Fe}$ abundance over time and [Mg/Fe] versus [Fe/H] evolution in the solar neighborhood. Core-collapse supernovae make the dominant contribution in the early stages, while Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) have a delayed and dominant impact in the later stages. In this work, we consider the nucleosynthesis contribution of neutrino-dominated accretion flows (NDAFs) formed at the end of the lives of massive stars. The results show that the [Fe/H] gradually increases over time and eventually reaches $\rm [Fe/H]=0$ and above, reproducing the chemical enrichment process in the solar neighborhood. Before the onset of SNe Ia, the ratio of $^{56} \mathrm{Fe}$ mass to the total gas mass increases by a factor of at most $\sim 1.44$ when NDAFs are taken into account. We find that by including NDAF in our models, the agreement with the observed metallicity distribution of metal-poor stars in the solar neighborhood ($\rm < 1~kpc$) is improved, while not significantly altering the location of the metallicity peak. This inclusion can also reproduce the observed evolutionary change of [Mg/Fe] at [Fe/H] $\sim -1.22$, bringing the ratio to match the solar abundance. Our results provide an extensive understanding of metallicity evolution in the solar environments by highlighting the nucleosynthesis contribution of NDAF outflows in the solar neighborhood.

Neutrinos at ultrahigh energies can originate both from interactions of cosmic rays at their acceleration sites and through cosmic-ray interactions as they propagate through the universe. These neutrinos are expected to have a low flux which drives the need for instruments with large effective areas. Radio observations of the inclined air showers induced by tau neutrino interactions in rock can achieve this, because radio waves can propagate essentially unattenuated through the hundreds of kilometers of atmosphere. Proposed arrays for radio detection of tau neutrinos focus on either arrays of inexpensive receivers distributed over a large area, the GRAND concept, or compact phased arrays on elevated mountains, the BEACON concept, to build up a large detector area with a low trigger threshold. We present a concept that combines the advantages of these two approaches with a trigger driven by phased arrays at a moderate altitude (1 km) and sparse, high-gain outrigger receivers for reconstruction and background rejection. We show that this design has enhanced sensitivity at 100 PeV over the two prior designs with fewer required antennas and discuss the need for optimized antenna designs.

MHD coronal models are critical in the Sun-to-Earth model chain and the most complex and computationally intensive component, particularly the time-evolving coronal models, typically driven by a series of time-evolving photospheric magnetograms. There is an urgent need to develop efficient and reliable time-evolving MHD coronal models to further improve our ability to predict space weather. COCONUT is a rapidly developing MHD coronal model. Adopting the efficient implicit algorithm makes it suitable for performing computationally intensive time-evolving coronal simulations. This paper aims to extend COCONUT to an efficient time-evolving MHD coronal model. In this MHD model, as usual, an implicit temporal integration algorithm is adopted to avoid the CFL stability restriction and increase computational efficiency by large time steps. The Newton iteration method is applied within each time step to enhance the temporal accuracy. The unstructured geodesic mesh is used for flexibility in mesh division and to avoid degeneracy at the poles. Furthermore, an HLL Riemann solver with a self-adjustable dissipation term accommodates both low- and high-speed flows. A series of time-evolving photospheric magnetograms are utilized to drive the evolution of coronal structures from the solar surface to 25Rs during two Carrington rotations (CRs) around the 2019 eclipse in an inertial coordinate system. It shows that COCONUT can mimic the coronal evolution during a full CR within 9 hours (1080 CPU cores, 1.5M cells). We also compare the simulation results of time-evolving versus quasi-steady-state coronal simulations in the thermodynamic MHD model to validate the time-evolving approach. Additionally, we evaluate the effect of time steps on the simulation results to find an optimal time step that simultaneously maintains high efficiency and necessary numerical stability and accuracy.

The cores of stars are the cosmic furnaces where light elements are fused into heavier nuclei. The fusion of hydrogen to helium initially powers all stars. The ashes of the fusion reactions are then predicted to serve as fuel in a series of stages, eventually transforming massive stars into a structure of concentric shells. These are composed of natal hydrogen on the outside, and consecutively heavier compositions inside, predicted to be dominated by helium, carbon/oxygen, oxygen/neon/magnesium, and oxygen/silicon/sulphur. Silicon and sulphur are fused into inert iron, leading to the collapse of the core and either a supernova explosion or the direct formation of a black hole. Stripped stars, where the outer hydrogen layer has been removed and the internal He-rich layer (in Wolf-Rayet WN stars) or even the C/O layer below it (in Wolf-Rayet WC/WO stars) are exposed, provide evidence for this shell structure, and the cosmic element production mechanism it reflects. The types of supernova explosions that arise from stripped stars embedded in shells of circumstellar material (most notably Type Ibn supernovae from stars with outer He layers, and Type Icn supernovae from stars with outer C/O layers) confirm this scenario. However, direct evidence for the most interior shells, which are responsible for the production of elements heavier than oxygen, is lacking. Here, we report the discovery of the first-of-its-kind supernova arising from a star peculiarly stripped all the way to the silicon and sulphur-rich internal layer. Whereas the concentric shell structure of massive stars is not under debate, it is the first time that such a thick, massive silicon and sulphur-rich shell, expelled by the progenitor shortly before the SN explosion, has been directly revealed.

Molecular clouds are regions of dense gas and dust in space where new stars and planets are born. There is a strong correlation between the distribution of dust and molecular gas in molecular clouds. The present work focuses on the three-dimensional morphological comparisons between dust and gas within 567 molecular clouds identified in previously published catalog. We confirm a sample of 112 molecular clouds, where the cloud morphology based on CO observations and dust observations displays good overall consistency. There are up to 334 molecular clouds whose dust distribution might be related to the distribution of gas. We are unable to find gas structures that correlate with the shape of the dust distribution in 24 molecular clouds. For the 112 molecular clouds where the dust distribution correlates very well with the distribution of gas, we use CO observational data to measure the physical properties of these molecular clouds and compare them with the results derived from dust, exploring the correlation between gas and dust in the molecular clouds. We found that the gas and dust in the molecular clouds have a fairly good linear relationship, with a gas-to-dust ratio (GDR) of $\mathrm{GDR}=(2.80_{-0.34}^{+0.37})\times10^{21}\mathrm{\,cm^{-2}\, mag^{-1}}$. The ratio varies considerably among different molecular clouds. We measured the scale height of dust-CO clouds exhibiting strong correlations, finding $h_{Z} = 43.3_{-3.5}^{+4.0}\mathrm{\,pc}$.

In the age of gravitational-wave (GW) sources and newly discovered local black holes (BH) and neutron stars (NS), understanding the fate of stars is a key question. Not every massive star is expected to successfully explode as a supernova and leave behind a NS; some stars form BHs. The remnant depends on explosion physics but also on the final core structure, often summarized by the compactness parameter or iron core mass, where high values have been linked to BH formation. Several groups have reported similar patterns in these parameters as a function of mass, characterized by a prominent compactness peak followed by another peak at higher masses, pointing to a common underlying physical mechanism. Here, we investigate its origin by computing single-star models from 17 to 50 solar masses with MESA. The first and second compactness increases originate from core carbon and neon burning, respectively, becoming neutrino dominated, which enhances the core contraction and ultimately increases the iron-core mass and compactness. An early core neon ignition during carbon burning, and an early silicon ignition during oxygen burning help counter the core contraction and decrease the final iron core mass and compactness. Shell mergers between C/Ne and O-burning shells further decrease the compactness and we show that they are due to an enhanced entropy production in these layers. We find that the final structure of massive stars is not random but already written in their cores at core helium exhaustion. The same mechanisms determine the final structure of any star in this core mass range, including binary products, though binary interactions systematical shift the range of expected BH formation. Finally, we discuss the role of stellar physics uncertainties and how to apply these findings to studies of GW sources. [Abridged]

We present the first X-ray observation of the energetic millisecond pulsar binary PSR J1431-4715, performed with XMM-Newton and complemented with fast optical multi-band photometry acquired with the ULTRACAM instrument at ESO-NTT. It is found as a faint X-ray source without a significant orbital modulation. This contrasts with the majority of systems that instead display substantial X- ray orbital variability. The X-ray spectrum is dominated by non-thermal emission and, due to the lack of orbital modulation, does not favour an origin in an intrabinary shock between the pulsar and companion star wind. While thermal emission from the neutron star polar cap cannot be excluded in the soft X-rays, the dominance of synchrotron emission favours an origin in the pulsar magnetosphere that we describe at both X-ray and gamma-ray energies with a synchro-curvature model. The optical multi-colour light curve folded at the 10.8h orbital period is double-humped, dominated by ellipsoidal effects, but also affected by irradiation. The ULTRACAM light curves are fit with several models encompassing direct heating and a cold spot, or heat redistribution after irradiation either through convection or convection plus diffusion. Despite the inability to constrain the best irradiation models, the fits provide consistent system parameters, giving an orbital inclination of 59$\pm$6deg and a distance of 3.1$\pm$0.3 kpc. The companion is found to be an F-type star, underfilling its Roche lobe ( f_RL = 73$\pm$4%), with a mass of 0.20$\pm$0.04 M_sun, confirming the redback status, although hotter than the majority of redbacks. The stellar dayside and nightside temperatures of 7500K and 7400K, respectively, indicate a weak irradiation effect on the companion, likely due to its high intrinsic luminosity. Although the pulsar mass cannot be precisely derived, a heavy (1.8-2.2 M_sun) neutron star is favoured

The recurrent nova T Pyxidis has erupted six times since 1890, with its last outburst in 2011, and the relatively short recurrence time between classical nova explosions indicates that T Pyx must have a massive white dwarf accreting at a high rate. It is believed that, since its outburst in 1890, the mass transfer rate in T Pyx was very large due to a feedback loop where the secondary is heated by the hot white dwarf. The feedback loop has been slowly shutting off, reducing the mass transfer rate, and thereby explaining the magnitude decline of T Pyx from $\sim13.8$ (before 1890) to 15.7 just before the 2011 eruption. We present an analysis of the latest $Hubble~Space~Telescope$ (HST) far ultraviolet and optical spectra, obtained 12 years after the 2011 outburst, showing that the mass transfer rate has been steadily declining and is now below its pre-outburst level by about 40%: $\dot{M} \sim 1-3\times 10^{-7}M_\odot$/yr for a WD mass of $\sim 1.0-1.4 M_\odot$, an inclination of $50^\circ - 60^\circ$, reddening $E(B-V)=0.30 \pm 0.05$ and a Gaia DR3 distance of $2860^{+816}_{-471}$~pc. This steady decrease in the mass transfer rate in the $\sim$decade after the 2011 ourbutst is in sharp contrast with the more constant pre-outburst UV continuum flux level from archival international ultraviolet explorer (IUE) spectra. The flux (i.e. $\dot{M}$) decline rate is 29 times faster now in the last $\sim$decade than observed since 1890 to $\sim$2010. The feedback loop shut off seems to be accelerating, at least in the decade following its 2011 outburst. In all eventualities, our analysis confirms that T Pyx is going through an unusually peculiar short-lived phase.

Uranus and Neptune have atmospheres dominated by molecular hydrogen and helium. In the upper troposphere, methane is the third main molecule and condenses, yielding a vertical gradient in CH4. This condensable species being heavier than H2 and He, the resulting change in mean molecular weight due to condensation comes as a factor countering dry and moist convection. As observations also show latitudinal variations in methane abundance, one can expect different vertical gradients from one latitude to another. In this paper, we investigate the impact of this methane vertical gradient on the atmospheric regimes, especially on the formation and inhibition of moist convective storms in the troposphere of ice giants. We develop a 3D cloud-resolving model to simulate convective processes. Using our simulations, we conclude that typical velocities of dry convection in the deep atmosphere are rather low (of the order of 1 m/s) but sufficient to sustain upward methane transport, and that moist convection at methane condensation level is strongly inhibited. Previous studies derived an analytical criterion on the methane vapor amount above which moist convection should be inhibited. We first validate this analytical criterion numerically. We then show that the critical methane abundance governs the inhibition and formation of moist convective storms, and we conclude that the intensity and intermittency of these storms should depend on the methane abundance and saturation. In ice giants, dry convection is weak, and moist convection is strongly inhibited. However, when enough methane is transported upwards, through dry convection and turbulent diffusion, sporadic moist convective storms can form. These storms should be more frequent on Neptune than on Uranus, because of Neptune's internal heat flow. Our results can explain the observed sporadicity of clouds in ice giants.

We explore linear and non-linear dimensionality reduction techniques for statistical inference of parameters in cosmology. Given the importance of compressing the increasingly complex data vectors used in cosmology, we address questions that impact the constraining power achieved, such as: Are currently used methods effectively lossless? Under what conditions do nonlinear methods, typically based on neural nets, outperform linear methods? Through theoretical analysis and experiments with simulated weak lensing data vectors we compare three standard linear methods and neural network based methods. We propose two linear methods that outperform all others while using less computational resources: a variation of the MOPED algorithm we call e-MOPED and an adaptation of Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA), which is a method new to cosmology but well known in statistics. Both e-MOPED and CCA utilize simulations spanning the full parameter space, and rely on the sensitivity of the data vector to the parameters of interest. The gains we obtain are significant compared to compression methods used in the literature: up to 30% in the Figure of Merit for $\Omega_m$ and $S_8$ in a realistic Simulation Based Inference analysis that includes statistical and systematic errors. We also recommend two modifications that improve the performance of all methods: First, include components in the compressed data vector that may not target the key parameters but still enhance the constraints on due to their correlations. The gain is significant, above 20% in the Figure of Merit. Second, compress Gaussian and non-Gaussian statistics separately -- we include two summary statistics of each type in our analysis.

We examine the role of refractory organics as a major C carrier in the outer protosolar nebula and its implications for the compositions of large Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) and CI chondrites. By utilizing Rosetta measurements of refractory organics in comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, we show that they would make up a large fraction of the protosolar C inventory in the KBO-forming region based on the current widely adopted solar abundances. However, this would free up too much O to form water ice, producing solid material that is not sufficiently rock-rich to explain the uncompressed density of the Pluto-Charon system and other large KBOs; the former has been argued as the most representative value we have for the bulk composition of large KBOs (Barr & Schawmb 2016, Bierson & Nimmo 2019). This inconsistency further highlights the solar abundances problem - an ongoing challenge in reconciling spectroscopically determined heavy element abundances with helioseismology constraints. By employing a new dataset from solar CNO neutrinos and solar wind measurements of C, N, and O, we show that the uncompressed density of the Pluto-Charon system can be reproduced over a wide range of scenarios. We show that a lack of sulfates in Ryugu and Bennu samples implies a lower amount of water ice initially accreted into CI chondrite parent bodies than previously thought. These data are found to be consistent with the solar C/O ratio implied by the new dataset. Our predictions can be tested by future neutrino, helioseismology, and cosmochemical measurements.

We present a joint analysis of the CMB lensing power spectra measured from the Data Release 6 of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and Planck PR4, cross-correlations between the ACT and Planck lensing reconstruction and galaxy clustering from unWISE, and the unWISE clustering auto-spectrum. We obtain 1.5% constraints on the matter density fluctuations at late times parametrised by the best constrained parameter combination $S_8^{\rm 3x2pt}\equiv\sigma_8 (\Omega_m/0.3)^{0.4}=0.815\pm0.012$. The commonly used $S_8\equiv\sigma_8 (\Omega_m/0.3)^{0.5}$ parameter is constrained to $S_8=0.816\pm0.015$. In combination with baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements we find $\sigma_8=0.815\pm 0.012$. We also present sound-horizon-independent estimates of the present day Hubble rate of $H_0=66.4^{+3.2}_{-3.7} \,\mathrm{km}\,\mathrm{s}^{-1}\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$ from our large scale structure data alone and $H_0=64.3^{+2.1}_{-2.4}\,\mathrm{km}\,\mathrm{s}^{-1}\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$ in combination with uncalibrated supernovae from Pantheon+. Using parametric estimates of the evolution of matter density fluctuations, we place constraints on cosmic structure in a range of high redshifts typically inaccessible with cross-correlation analyses. Combining lensing cross- and auto-correlations, we derive a 3.3% constraint on the integrated matter density fluctuations above $z=2.4$, one of the tightest constraints in this redshift range and fully consistent with a $\Lambda$CDM model fit to the primary CMB from Planck. Combining with primary CMB observations and using the extended low redshift coverage of these combined data sets we derive constraints on a variety of extensions to the $\Lambda$CDM model including massive neutrinos, spatial curvature, and dark energy. We find in flat $\Lambda$CDM $\sum m_\nu<0.12$ eV at 95% confidence using the LSS data, BAO measurements from SDSS and primary CMB observations.