A list of the previously discussed papers can be found here .
The point-spread function of the integral-field unit (IFU) mode of the JWST's NIRSpec is heavily under-sampled, creating resampling noise seen as low-frequency sinusoidal-like artifacts, or "wiggles". These artifacts in the data are not corrected in the JWST data pipeline, and significantly impact the science that can be achieved at a single-pixel level. We present WICKED (WIggle Corrector Kit for NIRSpEc Data), a tool designed to empirically remove wiggles. WICKED uses the Fast Fourier Transform to identify wiggle-affected spaxels across the data cube. Spectra are modeled with a mix of integrated aperture and annular templates, a power-law, and a second-degree polynomial. The method works across all medium- and high-resolution NIRSpec gratings: F070LP, F100LP, F170LP, and F290LP. WICKED can recover the true overall spectral shape up to a factor of 3.5x better compared to uncorrected spectra. It recovers the equivalent width of absorption lines within 5% of the true value-~3x better than uncorrected spectra and ~2x better than other methods. WICKED significantly improves kinematic measurements, recovering the line-of-sight velocity (LOSV) within 1% of the true value -- more than 100x better than uncorrected spectra at S/N ~40. As a case study, we applied WICKED to G235H/F170LP IFU data of the elliptical galaxy NGC5128, finding good agreement with previous studies. In wiggle-affected regions, the uncorrected spectrum showed stellar LOSV and velocity dispersion differences compared to the WICKED-cleaned spectrum, of ~17x and ~36x larger than the estimated uncertainties, respectively. Wiggles in NIRSpec IFU data can introduce severe biases in spectral shape, line measurements, and kinematics to values larger than the typical uncertainties. WICKED provides a robust, user-friendly solution, enabling precise single-pixel studies and maximizing JWST's potential.
This study provides a detailed analysis of fourteen distant interplanetary shocks observed by the Solar Wind Around Pluto (SWAP) instrument onboard New Horizons. These shocks were observed with a pickup ion data cadence of approximately 30 minutes, covering a heliocentric distance range of ~52-60 au. All the shocks observed within this distance range are fast-forward shocks, and the shock compression ratios vary between ~1.2 and 1.9. The shock transition scales are generally narrow, and the SW density compressions are more pronounced compared to the previous study of seven shocks by McComas et al. (2022). A majority (64%) of these shocks have upstream sonic Mach numbers greater than one. In addition, all high-resolution measurements of distant interplanetary shocks analyzed here show that the shock transition scale is independent of the shock compression ratio. However, the shock transition scale is strongly anti-correlated with the shock speed in the upstream plasma frame, meaning that faster shocks generally yield sharper transitions.
Observations of GeV gamma-ray emission from the well-studied mixed-morphology supernova remnant (SNR) W44 by Fermi-LAT and AGILE imply that it is a site of significant cosmic ray acceleration. The spectral energy distribution (SED) derived from the GeV data suggest that the gamma-ray emission likely originates from the decay of neutral pions generated by cosmic-ray interactions. It is essential to measure the SED of W44 in the X-ray and very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray bands to verify the hadronic origin of the emission and to gauge the potential contributions from leptonic emission. We report an upper-limit of the nonthermal X-ray flux from W44 of 5 $\times$ 10$^{-13}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ in the 0.5 - 8.0 keV band based on $\sim$ 300 ks of XMM-Newton observations. The X-ray upper limit is consistent with previously estimated hadronic models, but in tension with the leptonic models. We estimate the VHE flux upper limit of $\sim$ 1.2 $\times$ 10$^{-12}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ in the 0.5 - 5.0 TeV range from W44 using data from the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS). Our non-detection of W44 at VHE wavlengths is in agreemnent with observations from other imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) and is perhaps consistent with the evolutionary stage of the SNR.
The Hubble tension has emerged as a critical crisis in cosmology, with the cause remaining unclear. Determining the Hubble constant ($H_0$) independently of cosmological models and distance ladders will help resolve this crisis. In this letter, we for the first time use 47 gravitational-wave (GW) standard sirens from the third Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog to calibrate distances in the strong lensing system, RXJ1131-1231, and constrain $H_0$ through the distance-sum rule, with minimal cosmological assumptions. We assume that light propagation over long distances is described by the Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker metric and that geometrical optics holds, but we do not need to assume the universe's contents or the theory of gravity on cosmological scales. Fixing $\Omega_K=0$, we obtain $H_0=73.22^{+5.95}_{-5.43}$ ${\rm km}~{\rm s}^{-1}~{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$ and $H_0=70.40^{+8.03}_{-5.60}$ ${\rm km}~{\rm s}^{-1}~{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$ by using the deflector galaxy's mass model and kinematic measurements to break mass-sheet transform, respectively. When $\Omega_K$ is not fixed, the central value of $H_0$ increases further. We find that our results are still dominated by statistical errors, and at the same time, we notice the great potential of using GW dark sirens to provide calibration, owing to their higher redshifts. When using 42 binary black holes and RXJ1131-1231, we obtain a $8.46 \%$ $H_0$ constraint precision, which is better than that from the bright siren GW170817 using the Hubble law by about $40\%$. In the future, as the redshift range of GW dark sirens increases, more and more SGLTDs can be included, and we can achieve high-precision, model-independent measurements of $H_0$ without the need for GW bright sirens.
Sterile neutrinos can influence the evolution of the universe, and thus cosmological observations can be used to search for sterile neutrinos. In this study, we utilized the latest baryon acoustic oscillations data from DESI, combined with the cosmic microwave background data from Planck and the five-year supernova data from DES, to constrain the interacting dark energy (IDE) models involving both cases of massless and massive sterile neutrinos. We consider four typical forms of the interaction term $Q=\beta H \rho_{\rm de}$, $Q=\beta H \rho_{\rm c}$, $Q=\beta H_{0} \rho_{\rm de}$, and $Q=\beta H_{0} \rho_{\rm c}$, respectively. Our analysis indicates that the current data provide only a hint of the existence of massless sterile neutrinos (as dark radiation) at about the $1\sigma$ level. In contrast, no evidence supports the existence of massive sterile neutrinos. Furthermore, in IDE models, the inclusion of (massless/massive) sterile neutrinos has a negligible impact on the constraint of the coupling parameter $\beta$. The IDE model of $Q=\beta H \rho_{\rm c}$ with sterile neutrinos does not favor an interaction. However, the other three IDE models with sterile neutrinos support an interaction in which dark energy decays into dark matter.