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J.P. Magué & B. Ménard

[1]
Title: Tidal stirring of satellites with shallow density profiles prevents them from being too big to fail
Subjects: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)

The "too big to fail" problem is revisited by studying the tidal evolution of populations of dwarf satellites with different density profiles. The high resolution cosmological $\rm \Lambda CDM$ "ErisMod" set of simulations is used. These simulations can model both the stellar and dark matter components of the satellites, and their evolution under the action of the tides of a MW-sized host halo at a force resolution better than 10 pc. The stronger tidal mass loss and re-shaping of the mass distribution induced in satellites with $\gamma=0.6$ dark matter density distributions, as those resulting from the effect of feedback in hydrodynamical simulations of dwarf galaxy formation, is sufficient to bring the circular velocity profiles in agreement with the kinematics of MW's dSphs. In contrast, in simulations in which the satellites retain cusps at $z=0$ there are several "massive failures" with circular velocities in excess of the observational constraints. Various sources of deviations in the conventionally adopted relation between the circular velocity at the half light radius and the one dimensional line-of-sight velocity dispersions are found. Such deviations are caused by the response of circular velocity profiles to tidal effects, which also varies depending on the initially assumed inner density profile, and by the complexity of the stellar kinematics, which include residual rotation and anisotropy. In addition tidal effects naturally induce large deviations in the stellar mass-halo mass relation for halo masses below $\rm 10^9 ~ M_{\odot}$, preventing any reliable application of the abundance matching technique to dwarf galaxy satellites.

[2]
Title: The multiplicity of 250-$μ$m Herschel sources in the COSMOS field
Comments: 12 pages, 7 figures. MNRAS accepted
Subjects: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)

We investigate the multiplicity of extragalactic sources detected by the Herschel Space Observatory in the COSMOS field. Using 3.6- and 24-$\mu$m catalogues, in conjunction with 250-$\mu$m data from Herschel, we seek to determine if a significant fraction of Herschel sources are composed of multiple components emitting at 250 $\mu$m. We use the XID+ code, using Bayesian inference methods to produce probability distributions of the possible contributions to the observed 250-$\mu$m flux for each potential component. The fraction of Herschel flux assigned to the brightest component is highest for sources with total 250-$\mu$m fluxes < 45 mJy; however, the flux in the brightest component is still highest in the brightest Herschel sources. The faintest 250-$\mu$m sources (30-45 mJy) have the majority of their flux assigned to a single bright component; the second brightest component is typically significantly weaker, and contains the remainder of the 250-$\mu$m source flux. At the highest 250-$\mu$m fluxes (45-110 mJy), the brightest and second brightest components are assigned roughly equal fluxes, and together are insufficient to reach 100 per cent of the 250-$\mu$m source flux. This indicates that additional components are required, beyond the brightest two components, to reproduce the observed flux. 95 per cent of the sources in our sample have a second component that contains more than 10 per cent of the total source flux. Particularly for the brightest Herschel sources, assigning the total flux to a single source may overestimate the flux contributed by around 150 per cent.

[3]
Title: Lensing of Fast Radio Bursts as a Probe of Compact Dark Matter
Comments: 6 Pages, 4 Figures. To be submitted to PRL
Subjects: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO); High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE); High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)

The possibility that part of the dark matter is made of massive compact halo objects (MACHOs) remains poorly constrained over a wide range of masses, and especially in the $20-100\, M_\odot$ window. We show that strong gravitational lensing of extragalactic fast radio bursts (FRBs) by MACHOs of masses larger than $\sim20\,M_\odot$ would result in repeated FRBs with an observable time delay. Strong lensing of an FRB by a lens of mass $M_L$ induces two images, separated by a typical time delay $\sim$ few $\times(M_L/30\, M_\odot)$ milliseconds. Considering the expected FRB detection rate by upcoming experiments, such as CHIME, of $10^4$ FRBs per year, we should observe from tens to hundreds of repeated bursts yearly, if MACHOs in this window make up all the dark matter. A null search for echoes with just $10^4$ FRBs, would constrain the fraction $f_{\rm DM}$ of dark matter in MACHOs to $f_{\rm DM}\lesssim 0.08$ for $M_L\gtrsim 20\,M_\odot$.

[4]
Title: A large difference in the progenitor masses of active and passive galaxies in the EAGLE simulation
Comments: Submitted to MNRAS Letters, 5 pages, 5 figures
Subjects: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)

Cumulative number density matching of galaxies is a method to observationally connect descendent galaxies to their typical main progenitors at higher redshifts and thereby to assess the evolution of galaxy properties. The accuracy of this method is limited due to galaxy merging and scatter in the stellar mass growth history of individual galaxies. Behroozi et al. (2013) have introduced a refinement of the method, based on abundance matching of observed galaxies to the Bolshoi dark-matter-only simulation. The EAGLE cosmological hydro-simulation is well suited to test this method, because it reproduces the observed evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function and has a representative sample of passive/active galaxies. We find agreement with the Behroozi et al. (2013) method for the complete sample of main progenitors of z = 0 galaxies, but we also find a strong dependence on the current star formation rate. Passive galaxies with a stellar mass up to 10^10.75 Msun have a completely different median mass history than active galaxies of the same mass. This difference persists if we only select central galaxies. This means that the cumulative number density method should be applied separately to active and passive galaxies. Even then, the typical main progenitor of a z = 0 galaxy already spans two orders of magnitude in stellar mass at z = 2. Any observational analysis using cumulative number density matching therefore needs to be tested on a range of simulations.

[5]
Title: First Limits on the 21 cm Power Spectrum during the Epoch of X-ray heating
Subjects: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO); Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)

We present first results from radio observations with the Murchison Widefield Array seeking to constrain the power spectrum of 21 cm brightness temperature fluctuations between the redshifts of 11.6 and 17.9 (113 and 75 MHz). Three hours of observations were conducted over two nights with significantly different levels of ionospheric activity. We use these data to assess the impact of systematic errors at low frequency, including the ionosphere and radio-frequency interference, on a power spectrum measurement. We find that after the 1-3 hours of integration presented here, our measurements at the Murchison Radio Observatory are not limited by RFI, even within the FM band, and that the ionosphere does not appear to affect the level of power in the modes that we expect to be sensitive to cosmology. Power spectrum detections, inconsistent with noise, due to fine spectral structure imprinted on the foregrounds by reflections in the signal-chain, occupy the spatial Fourier modes where we would otherwise be most sensitive to the cosmological signal. We are able to reduce this contamination using calibration solutions derived from autocorrelations so that we achieve an sensitivity of $10^4$ mK on comoving scales $k\lesssim 0.5 h$Mpc$^{-1}$. This represents the first upper limits on the $21$ cm power spectrum fluctuations at redshifts $12\lesssim z \lesssim 18$ but is still limited by calibration systematics. While calibration improvements may allow us to further remove this contamination, our results emphasize that future experiments should consider carefully the existence of and their ability to calibrate out any spectral structure within the EoR window.

[6]
Title: The Hawaii SCUBA-2 Lensing Cluster Survey: Number Counts and Submillimeter Flux Ratios
Comments: 12 pages, 9 figures. Accepted by ApJ
Subjects: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)

We present deep number counts at 450 $\mu$m and 850 $\mu$m using the SCUBA-2 camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. We combine data for six lensing cluster fields and three blank fields to measure the counts over a wide flux range at each wavelength. Thanks to the lensing magnification, our measurements extends to fluxes fainter than 1 mJy and 0.2 mJy at 450 $\mu$m and 850 $\mu$m, respectively. Our combined data highly constrain the faint end of the number counts. Integrating our counts shows that the majority of the extragalactic background light (EBL) at each wavelength is contributed by faint sources with $L_{\rm IR} < 10^{12} L_{\odot }$, corresponding to luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) or normal galaxies. By comparing our result with the 500 $\mu$m stacking of $K$-selected sources from the literature, we conclude that the $K$-selected LIRGs and normal galaxies still cannot fully account for the EBL that originates from sources with $L_{\rm IR} < 10^{12} L_{\odot }$. This suggests that many faint submillimeter galaxies may not be included in the UV star formation history. We also explore the submillimeter flux ratio between the two bands for our 450 $\mu$m and 850 $\mu$m selected sources. At 850 $\mu$m, we find a clear relation between the flux ratio and the observed flux. This relation can be explained by a redshift evolution, where galaxies at higher redshifts have higher luminosities and star formation rates. In contrast, at 450 $\mu$m, we do not see a clear relation between the flux ratio and the observed flux.

[7]
Title: Recommended Thermal Rate Coefficients for the C + H$_3^+$ Reaction and Some Astrochemical Implications
Subjects: Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM); Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)

We have incorporated our experimentally derived thermal rate coefficients for C + H$_3^+$ forming CH$^+$ and CH$_2^+$ into a commonly used astrochemical model. We find that the Arrhenius-Kooij equation typically used in chemical models does not accurately fit our data and use instead a more versatile fitting formula. At a temperature of 10 K and a density of 10$^4$ cm$^{-3}$, we find no significant differences in the predicted chemical abundances, but at higher temperatures of 50, 100, and 300 K we find up to factor of 2 changes. Additionally, we find that the relatively small error on our thermal rate coefficients, $\sim15\%$, significantly reduces the uncertainties on the predicted abundances compared to those obtained using the currently implemented Langevin rate coefficient with its estimated factor of 2 uncertainty.

[8]
Title: ALMA Science Verification Data: Millimeter Continuum Polarimetry of the Bright Radio Quasar 3C 286
Comments: 10 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in the ApJ
Subjects: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)

We present full-polarization observations of the compact, steep-spectrum radio quasar 3C~286 made with the ALMA at 1.3~mm. These are the first full-polarization ALMA observations, which were obtained in the framework of Science Verification. A bright core and a south-west component are detected in the total intensity image, similar to previous centimeter images. Polarized emission is also detected toward both components. The fractional polarization of the core is about 17\%, this is higher than the fractional polarization at centimeter wavelengths, suggesting that the magnetic field is even more ordered in the millimeter radio core than it is further downstream in the jet. The observed polarization position angle (or EVPA) in the core is $\sim$\,$39^{\circ}$, which confirms the trend that the EVPA slowly increases from centimeter to millimeter wavelengths. With the aid of multi-frequency VLBI observations, we argue that this EVPA change is associated with the frequency-dependent core position. We also report a serendipitous detection of a sub-mJy source in the field of view, which is likely to be a submillimeter galaxy.

[9]
Title: Markov properties of the magnetic field in the quiet solar photosphere
Subjects: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)

The observed magnetic field on the solar surface is characterized by a very complex spatial and temporal behaviour. Although feature-tracking algorithms have allowed us to deepen our understanding of this behaviour, subjectivity plays an important role in the identification, tracking of such features. In this paper we study the temporal stochasticity of the magnetic field on the solar surface without relying on the concept of magnetic feature nor on subjective assumptions about their identification and interaction. The analysis is applied to observations of the magnetic field on the quiet solar photosphere carried out with the IMaX instrument on-board the stratospheric balloon Sunrise. We show that the joint probability distribution functions of the longitudinal ($B_\parallel$) and transverse ($B_\perp$) components of the magnetic field, as well as of the magnetic pressure ($B^2=B^2_\perp+B^2_\parallel$), verify the necessary and sufficient condition for the Markov chains. Therefore we establish that the magnetic field, as seen by IMaX with a resolution of 0.15''-0.18'' and $33$ sec cadence, can be considered as a memoryless temporal fluctuating quantity.

[10]
Title: Lowering IceCube's Energy Threshold for Point Source Searches in the Southern Sky
Comments: 19 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Subjects: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)

Observation of a point source of astrophysical neutrinos would be a "smoking gun" signature of a cosmic-ray accelerator. While IceCube has recently discovered a diffuse flux of astrophysical neutrinos, no localized point source has been observed. Previous IceCube searches for point sources in the southern sky were restricted by either an energy threshold above a few hundred TeV or poor neutrino angular resolution. Here we present a search for southern sky point sources with greatly improved sensitivities to neutrinos with energies below 100 TeV. By selecting charged-current $\nu_{\mu}$ interacting inside the detector, we reduce the atmospheric background while retaining efficiency for astrophysical neutrino-induced events reconstructed with sub-degree angular resolution. The new event sample covers three years of detector data and leads to a factor of ten improvement in sensitivity to point sources emitting below 100 TeV in the southern sky. No statistically significant evidence of point sources was found, and upper limits are set on neutrino emission from individual sources. A posteriori analysis of the highest-energy ~100 TeV starting event in the sample found that this event alone represents a $2.8\sigma$ deviation from the hypothesis that the data consists only of atmospheric background.

[11]
Title: Uranus evolution models with simple thermal boundary layers
Comments: 13 pages, Accepted to Icarus
Journal-ref: Icarus, Vol. 275, pages 107-116 (2016)
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)

The strikingly low luminosity of Uranus (Teff ~ Teq) constitutes a long-standing challenge to our understanding of Ice Giant planets. Here we present the first Uranus structure and evolution models that are constructed to agree with both the observed low luminosity and the gravity field data. Our models make use of modern ab initio equations of state at high pressures for the icy components water, methane, and ammonia. Proceeding step by step, we confirm that adiabatic models yield cooling times that are too long, even when uncertainties in the ice:rock ratio (I:R) are taken into account. We then argue that the transition between the ice/rock-rich interior and the H/He-rich outer envelope should be stably stratified. Therefore, we introduce a simple thermal boundary and adjust it to reproduce the low luminosity. Due to this thermal boundary, the deep interior of the Uranus models are up to 2--3 warmer than adiabatic models, necessitating the presence of rocks in the deep interior with a possible I:R of $1\times$ solar. Finally, we allow for an equilibrium evolution (Teff ~ Teq) that begun prior to the present day, which would therefore no longer require the current era to be a "special time" in Uranus' evolution. In this scenario, the thermal boundary leads to more rapid cooling of the outer envelope. When Teff ~ Teq is reached, a shallow, subadiabatic zone in the atmosphere begins to develop. Its depth is adjusted to meet the luminosity constraint. This work provides a simple foundation for future Ice Giant structure and evolution models, that can be improved by properly treating the heat and particle fluxes in the diffusive zones.

[12]
Title: Solving the missing GRB neutrinos and the GRB-SN puzzles
Subjects: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)

We argue that any GRB model where the progenitor is made by high relativistic hadronic interactions shock waves, and later on by electron-pairs feeding gamma jets, is necessarily leading to an average high neutrino over photon fluency ratio well above unity, mostly above several thousands. The present observed average highest energy ICECUBE neutrino energy fluency is at most comparable to the gamma-X in GRB one. Therefore no hadronic GRB, Fireball or even any earliest hadronic thin precessing Jet, may fit the observation. We therefore imagine a novel electronic thin spinning and precessing jet, fed in late binary system, able to avoid the overcrowded neutrino tails foreseen in hadronic GRB models. In some occasion such an electronic model may lead to an explosion that shines during a GRB with an (apparent) late SN-like event.

[13]
Title: Spectroscopic Diagnostics of Solar Magnetic Flux Ropes Using Iron Forbidden Line
Authors: X. Cheng, M. D. Ding
Comments: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letters
Subjects: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR); Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP); Space Physics (physics.space-ph)

In this Letter, we present Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph Fe XXI 1354.08 A forbidden line emission of two magnetic flux ropes (MFRs) that caused two fast coronal mass ejections with velocities of $\ge$1000 km s$^{-1}$ and strong flares (X1.6 and M6.5) on 2014 September 10 and 2015 June 22, respectively. The EUV images at the 131 A and 94 A passbands provided by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on board Solar Dynamics Observatory reveal that both MFRs initially appear as suspended hot channel-like structures. Interestingly, part of the MFRs is also visible in the Fe XXI 1354.08 forbidden line, even prior to the eruption, e.g., for the SOL2014-09-10 event. However, the line emission is very weak and that only appears at a few locations but not the whole structure of the MFRs. This implies that the MFRs could be comprised of different threads with different temperatures and densities, based on the fact that the formation of the Fe XXI forbidden line requires a critical temperature ($\sim$11.5 MK) and density. Moreover, the line shows a non-thermal broadening and a blueshift in the early phase. It suggests that magnetic reconnection at that time has initiated; it not only heats the MFR and, at the same time, produces a non-thermal broadening of the Fe XXI line but also produces the poloidal flux, leading to the ascending of the MFRs.

[14]
Title: X-ray spectral properties of the AGN sample in the northern XMM-XXL field
Comments: published in MNRAS. The full X-ray point-like source catalogue and Table 2,3 can be retrieved from this http URL
Subjects: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)

In this paper we describe and publicly release a catalogue consisting of 8445 point-like X-ray sources detected in the XMM-XXL north survey. For the 2512 AGN which have reliable spectroscopy, we present the X-ray spectral fitting which has been computed with a Bayesian approach. We have also applied an X-ray spectral stacking method to different sub-samples. We confirm the well-known Iwasawa-Taniguchi effect in our luminosity-redshift sub-samples, and argue that such an effect is due to a decrease in the covering factor of a distant obscuring torus with increasing X-ray luminosity. By comparing the distribution of the reflection fraction, the ratio of the normalization of the reflected component to the direct radiation, we find that the low-luminosity, low-redshift sub-sample had systematically higher reflection fraction values than the high-redshift, high-luminosity one. On the other hand, no significant difference is found between samples having similar luminosity but different redshift, suggesting that the structure of the torus does not evolve strongly with redshift. Contrary to previous works, we do not find evidence for an increasing photon index at high Eddington ratio. This may be an indication that the structure of the accretion disc changes as the Eddington ratio approaches unity. Comparing our X-ray spectral analysis results with the optical spectral classification, we find that $\sim20$ per cent of optical type-1 AGN show an X-ray absorbing column density higher than $10^{21.5}\,\rm{cm^{-2}}$, and about 50 per cent of type-2 AGN have an X-ray absorbing column density less than $10^{21.5}\,\rm{cm^{-2}}$. We suggest that the excess X-ray absorption shown in the high-luminosity optical type-1 AGN can be due to small-scale dust-free gas within (or close to) the broad line region, while in the low-luminosity ones it can be due to a clumpy torus with a large covering factor.

[15]
Title: Running the running
Comments: 10+1 pages, 7 figures, 5 tables
Subjects: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO); High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)

We use the recent observations of Cosmic Microwave Background temperature and polarization anisotropies provided by the Planck satellite experiment to place constraints on the running $\alpha_\mathrm{s} = \mathrm{d}n_{\mathrm{s}} / \mathrm{d}\log k$ and the running of the running $\beta_{\mathrm{s}} = \mathrm{d}\alpha_{\mathrm{s}} / \mathrm{d}\log k$ of the spectral index $n_{\mathrm{s}}$ of primordial scalar fluctuations. We find $\alpha_\mathrm{s}=0.011\pm0.010$ and $\beta_\mathrm{s}=0.027\pm0.013$ at $68\%\,\mathrm{CL}$, suggesting the presence of a running of the running at the level of two standard deviations. We find no significant correlation between $\beta_{\mathrm{s}}$ and foregrounds parameters, with the exception of the point sources amplitude at $143\,\mathrm{GHz}$, $A^{PS}_{143}$, which shifts by half sigma when the running of the running is considered. We further study the cosmological implications of this anomaly by including in the analysis the lensing amplitude $A_L$, the curvature parameter $\Omega_k$, and the sum of neutrino masses $\sum m_{\nu}$. We find that when the running of the running is considered, Planck data are more compatible with the standard expectations of $A_L = 1$ and $\Omega_k = 0$ but still hint at possible deviations. The indication for $\beta_\mathrm{s} > 0$ survives at two standard deviations when external datasets such as BAO and CFHTLenS are included in the analysis, and persists at $\sim 1.7$ standard deviations when CMB lensing is considered. We discuss the possibility of constraining $\beta_\mathrm{s}$ with current and future measurements of CMB spectral distortions, showing that an experiment like PIXIE could provide strong constraints on $\alpha_\mathrm{s}$ and $\beta_\mathrm{s}$.

[16]
Title: The first low-mass black hole X-ray binary identified in quiescence outside of a globular cluster
Comments: 13 pages, 6 Figures, Accepted to ApJ
Subjects: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)

The observed relation between the X-ray and radio properties of low-luminosity accreting black holes has enabled the identification of multiple candidate black hole X-ray binaries (BHXBs) in globular clusters. Here we report an identification of the radio source VLA J213002.08+120904 (aka M15 S2), recently reported in Kirsten et al. 2014, as a BHXB candidate. They showed that the parallax of this flat-spectrum variable radio source indicates a 2.2$^{+0.5}_{-0.3}$ kpc distance, which identifies it as lying in the foreground of the globular cluster M15. We determine the radio characteristics of this source, and place a deep limit on the X-ray luminosity of $\sim4\times10^{29}$ erg s$^{-1}$. Furthermore, we astrometrically identify a faint red stellar counterpart in archival Hubble images, with colors consistent with a foreground star; at 2.2 kpc its inferred mass is 0.1-0.2 $M_{\odot}$. We rule out that this object is a pulsar, neutron star X-ray binary, cataclysmic variable, or planetary nebula, concluding that VLA J213002.08+120904 is the first accreting black hole X-ray binary candidate discovered in quiescence outside a globular cluster. Given the relatively small area over which parallax studies of radio sources have been performed, this discovery suggests a much larger population of quiescent BHXBs in our Galaxy, $2.6\times10^4-1.7\times10^8$ BHXBs at $3\sigma$ confidence, than has been previously estimated ($\sim10^2-10^4$) through population synthesis.

[17]
Title: Discovery of $γ$-ray emission from the radio-intermediate quasar III Zw 2: violent jet activity with intraday $γ$-ray variability
Comments: 31 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables
Subjects: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)

III Zw 2 is the prototype of radio-intermediate quasars. Although there is the evidence of possessing strong jet, detection of its $\gamma$-ray emission has not been reported before. In this paper, we carry out a detailed analysis of the latest {\it Pass} 8 {\it Fermi}-LAT data. Although no significant $\gamma$-ray signal is detected in the time-averaged 7-year {\it Fermi}-LAT data of III Zw 2, we have identified two distinct $\gamma$-ray flares with luminosities of $\sim 10^{45}$ erg $\rm s^{-1}$. Multiwavelength data analyses including the optical photometric observations from Yunnan Observatories are also presented and simultaneous optical and $\gamma$-ray flares of III Zw 2 were detected in Nov. 2009. Violent $\gamma$-ray variability with doubling timescale of 2.5 hours was detected in another $\gamma$-ray flare in May 2010, for which the 3-hour $\gamma$-ray peak flux is $\sim 250$ times of the 7-year average flux. Rather similar behaviors are observed in blazars and the blazar model can reasonably reproduce the spectral energy distribution of III Zw 2 in a wide energy range, strongly suggesting that its central engine resembles that of blazars. In view of also its atypical blazar behaviors including its relatively low extended radio emission, short size of the radio jet and high radio turnover frequency, we suggest that III Zw 2 is undergoing an early phase of jet activity and serves as a valuable target for investigating the formation of radio loud active galactic nuclei.

[18]
Title: Multiple gaps with large grain deficit in the protoplanetary disk around TW Hya
Subjects: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)

We report $\sim$3 au resolution imaging observations of the protoplanetary disk around TW Hya at 138 and 230 GHz with the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array. Our observations revealed two deep gaps ($\sim$25--50 %) at 22 and 37 au and shallower gaps (a few %) at 6, 28, and 44 au, as recently reported by Andrews et al. (2016). The central hole with a radius of $\sim3$ au was also marginally resolved. The most remarkable finding is that the power-law index of the dust opacity $\beta$, derived from the spectral index $\alpha$ between bands 4 and 6, peaks at the 22 au gap with $\beta\sim1.7$ and decreases toward the disk center to $\beta\sim0$. Our model fitting suggests that the overall disk structure can be reproduced with the inner hole and the gaps at 22 and 37 au. The most prominent gap at 22~au could be caused by the gravitational interaction between the disk and an unseen planet with a mass of $\lesssim$1.5 $M_\mathrm{Neptune}$ although other origins may be possible. The planet-induced gap is supported by the fact that $\beta$ is enhanced at the 22 au gap, indicating a deficit of $\sim$mm-sized grains within the gap due to dust filtration by a planet. Alternatively, the destruction of large dust aggregates due to the sintering of major volatiles might cause the multiple ring structure. We also find weak sinusoidal patterns with wavelengths of 5--10 au, which may be related to dynamical instabilities within the disk.

[19]
Title: Chemical history of isolated dwarf galaxies of the Local Group: I. dSphs: Cetus and Tucana
Journal-ref: MNRAS 457, 4012-4020 (2016)
Subjects: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)

For the first time, we obtain chemical evolution models (CEMs) for Tucana and Cetus, two isolated dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) of the Local Group. The CEMs have been built from the star formation histories (SFHs) and the metallicity histories, both obtained independently by the LCID project from deep color-magnitude dia- grams. Based on our models, we find that the chemical histories were complex and can be divided into different epochs and scenarios. In particular, during 75 percent of the SFH, the galaxies behaved as closed boxes and, during the remaining 25 percent, either received a lot of primordial gas by accretion or they lost metals through metal-rich winds. In order to discriminate between these two scenarios, abundances ratios in old stars are needed. At t approximately 4.5 Gyr, the galaxies lost most of their gas due to a short-strong, well-mixed wind. We obtain very similar CEMs for both galaxies, although Cetus is twice as massive as Tucana. We conclude that the star formation in both galaxies began with only 1.5 percent of the baryonic mass fraction predicted by lambda CDM.

[20]
Title: The Pan-Pacific Planet Search V. Fundamental Parameters for 164 Evolved Stars
Comments: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal
Subjects: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)

We present spectroscopic stellar parameters for the complete target list of 164 evolved stars from the Pan-Pacific Planet Search, a five-year radial velocity campaign using the 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope. For 87 of these bright giants, our work represents the first determination of their fundamental parameters. Our results carry typical uncertainties of 100 K, 0.15 dex, and 0.1 dex in $T_{\rm eff}$, $\log g$, and [Fe/H] and are consistent with literature values where available. The derived stellar masses have a mean of $1.31^{+0.28}_{-0.25}$ Msun, with a tail extending to $\sim$2 Msun, consistent with the interpretation of these targets as "retired" A-F type stars.

[21]
Title: Analysis of spatially deconvolved polar faculae
Subjects: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)

Polar faculae are bright features that can be detected in solar limb observations and they are related to magnetic field concentrations. Although there is a large number of works studying them, some questions about their nature as their magnetic properties at different heights are still open. Thus, we aim to improve the understanding of solar polar faculae. In that sense, we infer the vertical stratification of the temperature, gas pressure, line of sight velocity and magnetic field vector of polar faculae regions. We performed inversions of the Stokes profiles observed with Hinode/SP after removing the stray light contamination produced by the spatial point spread function of the telescope. Moreover, after solving the azimuth ambiguity, we transform the magnetic field vector to local solar coordinates. The obtained results reveal that the polar faculae are constituted by hot plasma with low line of sight velocities and single polarity magnetic fields in the kilogauss range that are nearly perpendicular to the solar surface. We also found that the spatial location of these magnetic fields is slightly shifted respect to the continuum observations towards the disc centre. We believe that this is due to the hot wall effect that allows detecting photons that come from deeper layers located closer to the solar limb.

[22]
Title: A Monte-Carlo Method for Estimating Stellar Photometric Metallicity Distributions
Comments: 6 pages, 6 Figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ
Subjects: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)

Based on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), we develop a new monte-carlo based method to estimate the photometric metallicity distribution function (MDF) for stars in the Milky Way. Compared with other photometric calibration methods, this method enables a more reliable determination of the MDF, in particular at the metal-poor and metal-rich ends. We present a comparison of our new method with a previous polynomial-based approach, and demonstrate its superiority. As an example, we apply this method to main-sequence stars with $0.2<g-r<0.6$, $6$ kpc$<R<9$ kpc, and in different intervals in height above the plane, $|Z|$. The MDFs for the selected stars within two relatively local intervals ($0.8$ kpc$<|Z|<1.2$ kpc, $1.5$ kpc$<|Z|<2.5$ kpc) can be well-fit by two Gaussians, with peaks at [Fe/H] $\approx-0.6$ and $-1.2$ respectively, one associated with the disk system, the other with the halo. The MDFs for the selected stars within two more distant intervals ($3$ kpc$<|Z|<5$ kpc, $6$ kpc$<|Z|<9$ kpc) can be decomposed into three Gaussians, with peaks at [Fe/H] $\approx-0.6$, $-1.4$ and $-1.9$ respectively, where the two lower peaks may provide evidence for a two-component model of the halo: the inner halo and the outer halo. The number ratio between the disk component and halo component(s) decreases with vertical distance from the Galactic plane, consistent with the previous literature.

[23]
Title: Infalling-Rotating Motion and Associated Chemical Change in the Envelope of IRAS 16293-2422 Source A Studied with ALMA
Subjects: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR); Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)

We have analyzed rotational spectral line emission of OCS, CH3OH, HCOOCH3, and H2CS observed toward the low-mass Class 0 protostellar source IRAS 16293-2422 Source A at a sub-arcsecond resolution (~0".6 x 0".5) with ALMA. Significant chemical differentiation is found at a 50 AU scale. The OCS line is found to well trace the infalling-rotating envelope in this source. On the other hand, the CH3OH and HCOOCH3 distributions are found to be concentrated around the inner part of the infalling-rotating envelope. With a simple ballistic model of the infalling-rotating envelope, the radius of the centrifugal barrier (a half of the centrifugal radius) and the protostellar mass are evaluated from the OCS data to be from 40 to 60 AU and from 0.5 to 1.0 Msun, respectively, assuming the inclination angle of the envelope/disk structure to be 60 degrees (90 degrees for the edge-on configuration). Although the protostellar mass is correlated with the inclination angle, the radius of the centrifugal barrier is not. This is the first indication of the centrifugal barrier of the infalling-rotating envelope in a hot corino source. CH3OH and HCOOCH3 may be liberated from ice mantles due to weak accretion shocks around the centrifugal barrier, and/or due to protostellar heating. The H2CS emission seems to come from the disk component inside the centrifugal barrier in addition to the envelope component. The centrifugal barrier plays a central role not only in the formation of a rotationally-supported disk but also in the chemical evolution from the envelope to the protoplanetary disk.

[24]
Title: Hard X-ray emissions from Cassiopeia A observed by INTEGRAL
Authors: Wei Wang (NAOC), Zhuo Li (PKU)
Comments: 20 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables; accepted for the publication in ApJ
Subjects: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE); Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)

Cassiopeia A (Cas A) as the nearby young remnant of a core-collapse supernova is the best candidate for astrophysical studies in supernova explosion and its environment. We studied hard X-ray emissions from Cas A using the ten-year data of INTEGRAL observations, and first detected non-thermal continuum emission from the source up to 220 keV. The $^{44}$Ti line emissions at 68 and 78 keV are confirmed by our observations with a mean flux of $\sim (2.2\pm 0.4)\times 10^{-5}$ ph cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, corresponding to a $^{44}$Ti yield in Cas A of $(1.3\pm 0.4)\times 10^{-4}$ \ms. The continuum emission from 3 -- 500 keV can be fitted with a thermal bremsstrahlung of $kT\sim 0.79\pm 0.08$ keV plus a power-law model of $\Gamma \sim 3.13\pm 0.03$. The non-thermal emission from Cas A is well fitted with a power-law model without a cutoff up to 220 keV. This radiation characteristic is inconsistent with the diffusive shock acceleration models with the remnant shock velocity of only 5000km s$^{-1}$. The central compact object in Cas A cannot contribute to the emission above 80 keV significantly. Some possible physical origins of the non-thermal emission above 80 keV from the remnant shock are discussed. We deduce that the asymmetrical supernova explosion scenario of Cas A is a promising scenario to produce high energy synchrotron radiation photons, where a part of ejecta with the velocity of $\sim 0.1c$ and opening angle of $\sim10^\circ$ can account for the 100-keV emission, consistent with the "jet" observed in Cas A.

[25]
Title: Variations of the 3-D coronal magnetic field associated with the X3.4-class solar flare event of AR 10930
Comments: 24 pages, 18 figures, 2 tables
Journal-ref: 2014, JGR:Space Physics, 119, 3286-3315
Subjects: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)

The variations of the 3-D coronal magnetic fields associated with the X3.4-class flare of active region 10930 are studied in this paper. The coronal magnetic field data are reconstructed from the photospheric vector magnetograms obtained by the Hinode satellite and using the nonlinear force-free field extrapolation method developed in our previous work (He et al., 2011). The 3-D force-free factor $\alpha$, 3-D current density, and 3-D magnetic energy density are employed to analyze the coronal data. The distributions of $\alpha$ and current density reveal a prominent magnetic connectivity with strong negative $\alpha$ values and strong current density before the flare. This magnetic connectivity extends along the main polarity inversion line and is found to be totally broken after the flare. The distribution variation of magnetic energy density reveals the redistribution of magnetic energy before and after the flare. In the lower space of the modeling volume the increase of magnetic energy dominates, and in the higher space the decrease of energy dominates. The comparison with the flare onset imaging observation exhibits that the breaking site of the magnetic connectivity and site with the highest values of energy density increase coincide with the location of flare initial eruption. We conclude that a cramped positive $\alpha$ region appearing in the photosphere causes the breaking of the magnetic connectivity. A scenario for flare initial eruption is proposed in which the Lorentz force acting on the isolated electric current at the magnetic connectivity breaking site lifts the associated plasmas and causes the initial ejection.

[26]
Title: Cosmic Galaxy-IGM HI Relation at ${\it{z}}\sim 2-3$ Probed in the COSMOS/UltraVISTA $1.6$ deg$^2$ Field
Comments: 9 pages, 8 figures, submitted to ApJ
Subjects: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)

We present spatial correlations of galaxies and IGM neutral hydrogen HI in the COSMOS/UltraVISTA 1.62 deg$^2$ field. Our data consist of 13415 photo-$z$ galaxies at $z\sim2-3$ with $K_s<23.4$ and the Ly$\alpha$ forest absorptions in the background quasar spectra selected from SDSS data with no signature of damped Ly$\alpha$ system contamination. We estimate a galaxy overdensity $\delta_{gal}$ in an impact parameter of 2.5 pMpc, and calculate the Ly$\alpha$ forest fluctuations $\delta_{\langle F\rangle}$ whose negative values correspond to the strong Ly$\alpha$ forest absorptions. We identify a weak anti-correlation between $\delta_{gal}$ and $\delta_{\langle F\rangle}$ with a Spearman's rank correlation coefficient of $-0.39$ suggesting that the galaxy overdensities and the Ly$\alpha$ forest absorptions positively correlate in space at the $\sim90\%$ confidence level. This positive correlation indicates that high-$z$ galaxies exist around an excess of HI gas in the Ly$\alpha$ forest. We find four cosmic volumes, dubbed $A_{obs}$-$D_{obs}$, that have extremely large (small) values of $\delta_{gal} \simeq0.8$ ($-1$) and $\delta_{\langle F\rangle}$ $\simeq0.1$ ($-0.4$), three out of which, $B_{obs}$-$D_{obs}$, significantly depart from the correlation, and weaken the correlation signal. We perform cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, and compare with our observational results. Our simulations reproduce the correlation, agreeing with the observational results. Moreover, our simulations have model counterparts of $A_{obs}$-$D_{obs}$, and suggest that the observations pinpoint, by chance, a galaxy overdensity like a proto-cluster, gas filaments lying on the sightline, a large void, and orthogonal low-density filaments. Our simulations indicate that the significant departures of $B_{obs}$-$D_{obs}$ are produced by the filamentary large-scale structures and the observation sightline effects.

[27]
Title: Application of the MST clustering to the high energy gamma-ray sky. II - Possible detection of gamma-ray emission from blazar candidates in the 1WHSP sample
Comments: 8 pages, 1 figure. Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Science
Subjects: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)

We present the results of a photon cluster search in the 7-years Fermi-Large Area Telescope extragalactic Pass 8 gamma-ray sky by means of the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) algorithm, at energies higher than 10 GeV. We found 16 clusters of photons, corresponding to candidate gamma-ray sources, located very close to infrared-selected sources in the 1WHSP (WISE High Synchrotron Peaked) sample, and therein classified as either "new" or "candidate" blazars. In this paper some properties of the MST clusters and of the associated sources are presented.

[28]
Title: Application of the MST clustering to the high energy gamma-ray sky. III - New detections of gamma-ray emission from blazars
Comments: 10 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Science
Subjects: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)

We present the results of a photon cluster search in the gamma-ray sky observed by the Fermi Large Area Telescope, using the new Pass 8 dataset, at energies higher than 10 GeV. By means of the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) algorithm, we found 25 clusters associated with catalogued blazars not previously known as gamma-ray emitters. The properties of these sources are discussed.

[29]
Title: The multiphase starburst-driven galactic wind in NGC 5394
Comments: 17 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS
Subjects: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)

We present a detailed study of the neutral and ionised gas phases in the galactic wind for the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 5394 based on new integral field spectroscopy obtained with the INTEGRAL fibre system at the William Herschel Telescope. The neutral gas phase in the wind is detected via the interstellar NaI D doublet absorption. After a careful removal of the stellar contribution to these lines, a significant amount of neutral gas (~10^7 Msun) is detected in a central region of ~1.75 kpc size. This neutral gas is blueshifted by ~165 km/s with respect to the underlying galaxy. The mass outflow of neutral gas is comparable to the star formation rate of the host galaxy. Simultaneously, several emission lines (Ha, [NII], [SII]) are also analysed looking for the ionised warm phase counterpart of the wind. A careful kinematic decomposition of the line profiles reveals the presence of a secondary, broader, kinematic component. This component is found roughly in the same region where the NaI D absorption is detected. It presents higher [NII]/Ha and [SII]/Ha line ratios than the narrow component at the same locations, indicative of contamination by shock ionization. This secondary component also presents blueshifted velocities, although smaller than those measured for the neutral gas, averaging to ~ -30 km/s. The mass and mass outflow rate of the wind is dominated by the neutral gas, of which a small fraction might be able to escape the gravitational potential of the host galaxy. The observations in this system can be readily understood within a bipolar gas flow scenario.

[30]
Title: Future measurements of the Lense-Thirring effect in the Double Pulsar
Comments: 6 pages, 3 figures; Contribution to the proceedings of "The Fourteenth Marcel Grossmann Meeting", University of Rome "La Sapienza", Rome, July 12-18, 2015
Subjects: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE); General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)

The Double Pulsar system PSR J0737-3039A/B has proven to be an excellent laboratory for high precision tests of general relativity. With additional years of timing measurements and new telescopes like the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), the precision of these tests will increase and new effects like the Lense-Thirring precession of the orbit will become measurable. Here, we discuss the prospects of measuring the Lense-Thirring effect and thereby constraining the equations of state at supra-nuclear densities in neutron stars using the Double Pulsar.

[31]
Title: Molecular line study of massive star forming regions from the RMS survey
Subjects: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)

In this paper we selected a sample of massive star forming regions from the Red MSX Source (RMS) survey, to study star formation activities (mainly outflow and inflow signatures).

[32]
Title: Monitoring the Galactic Centre with Australia Telescope Compact Array
Journal-ref: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, (2016), Volume 458, Issue 3, p.2336-2349
Subjects: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)

The supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), at the centre of the Milky Way undergoes regular flaring activity which is thought to arise from the innermost region of the accretion flow. We performed the monitoring observations of the Galactic Centre to study the flux-density variations at 3mm using the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) between 2010 and 2014. We obtain the light curves of Sgr A* by subtracting the contributions from the extended emission around it, and the elevation and time dependent gains of the telescope. We perform structure function analysis and the Bayesian blocks representation to detect flare events. The observations detect six instances of significant variability in the flux density of Sgr A* in three observations, with variations between 0.5 to 1.0 Jy, which last for 1.5 $-$ 3 hours. We use the adiabatically expanding plasmon model to explain the short time-scale variations in the flux density. We derive the physical quantities of the modelled flare emission, such as the source expansion speed $v_{\mathrm{exp}}$, source sizes, spectral indices, and the turnover frequency. These parameters imply that the expanding source components are either confined to the immediate vicinity of Sgr A* by contributing to the corona or the disc, or have a bulk motion greater than $v_{\mathrm{exp}}$. No exceptional flux density variation on short flare time-scales was observed during the approach and the flyby of the dusty S-cluster object (DSO/G2). This is consistent with its compactness and the absence of a large bow shock.

[33]
Title: Slipping reconnection in a solar flare observed in high resolution with the GREGOR solar telescope
Comments: 6 pages, 5 figures, accepted for Astronomy & Astrophysics
Subjects: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)

A small flare ribbon above a sunspot umbra in active region 12205 was observed on November 7, 2014, at 12:00 UT in the blue imaging channel of the 1.5 m GREGOR telescope, using a 1 A Ca II H interference filter. Context observations from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) onboard Hinode, and the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) show that this ribbon is part of a larger one that extends through the neighboring positive polarities and also participates in several other flares within the active region. We reconstructed a time series of 140 seconds of Ca II H images by means of the multiframe blind deconvolution method, which resulted in spatial and temporal resolutions of 0.1 arcsec and 1 s. Light curves and horizontal velocities of small-scale bright knots in the observed flare ribbon were measured. Some knots are stationary, but three move along the ribbon with speeds of 7-11 km/s. Two of them move in the opposite direction and exhibit highly correlated intensity changes, which provides evidence of a slipping reconnection at small spatial scales.

[34]
Title: Discovery of concentric broken rings at sub-arcsec separations in the HD 141569A gas-rich, debris disk with VLT/SPHERE
Comments: Accepted by A&A. 10 pages, 8 figures
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)

Transition disks correspond to a short stage between the young protoplanetary phase and older debris phase. Along this evolutionary sequence, the gas component disappears leaving room for a dust-dominated environment where already-formed planets signpost their gravitational perturbations. We endeavor to study the very inner region of the well-known and complex debris, but still gas-rich disk, around HD 141569A using the exquisite high-contrast capability of SPHERE at the VLT. Recent near-infrared (IR) images suggest a relatively depleted cavity within ~200 au, while former mid-IR data indicate the presence of dust at separations shorter than ~100 au. We obtained multi-wavelength images in the near-IR in J, H2, H3 and Ks bands with the IRDIS camera and a 0.95-1.35 micrometers spectral data cube with the IFS. Data were acquired in pupil-tracking mode, thus allowing for angular differential imaging. We discovered several new structures inside 1", of which the most prominent is a bright ring with sharp edges (semi-major axis: 0.4") featuring a strong north-south brightness asymmetry. Other faint structures are also detected from 0.4" to 1" in the form of concentric ringlets and at least one spiral arm. Finally, the VISIR data at 8.6 micrometers suggests the presence of an additional dust population closer in. Besides, we do not detect companions more massive than 1-3 mass of Jupiter. The performance of SPHERE allows us to resolve the extended dust component, which was previously detected at thermal and visible wavelengths, into very complex patterns with strong asymmetries ; the nature of these asymmetries remains to be understood. Scenarios involving shepherding by planets or dust-gas interactions will have to be tested against these observations.

[35]
Title: A young SNR illuminating nearby Molecular Clouds with cosmic rays
Authors: Y. Cui (1), G. Pühlhofer (1), A. Santangelo (1) ((1) Institut für Astronomie und Astrophysik, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen)
Comments: 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Subjects: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)

The Supernova Remnant (SNR) HESS J1731-347 displays strong non-thermal TeV gamma-ray and X-ray emission, thus the object is at present time accelerating particles to very high energies. A distinctive feature of this young SNR is the nearby (~30 pc in projection) extended source HESS J1729-345, which is currently unidentified but is in spatial projection coinciding with known molecular clouds (MC). We model the SNR evolution to explore if the TeV emission from HESS J1729-345 can be explained as emission from runaway hadronic cosmic rays (CRs) that are illuminating these MCs. The observational data of HESS J1729-345 and HESS J1731-347 can be reproduced using core-collapse SN models for HESS J1731-347. Starting with different progenitor stars and their pre-supernova environment, we model potential SNR evolution histories along with the CR acceleration in the SNR and the diffusion of the CRs. A simplified 3-dimensional structure of the MCs is introduced based on 12CO data, adopting a distance of 3.2 kpc to the source. A Monte Carlo-based diffusion model for the escaping CRs is developed to deal with the inhomogeneous environment. The fast SNR forward shock speed as implied from the X-ray data can easily be explained when employing scenarios with progenitor star masses between 20 and 25 solar masses, where the SNR shock is still expanding inside the main sequence (MS)-bubble at present time. The TeV spectrum of HESS J1729-345 is satisfactorily fitted by the emission from the highest-energy CRs that have escaped the SNR, using a standard galactic CR diffusion coefficient in the inter-clump medium. The TeV image of HESS J1729-345 can be explained with a reasonable 3-dimensional structure of MCs. The TeV emission from the SNR itself is dominated by leptonic emission in this model. We also explore scenarios where the shock is starting to encounter the dense MS progenitor wind bubble shell.

[36]
Title: Calibrating High Redshift Ia Supernovae using the Distance Duality Relation
Authors: Jarah Evslin
Subjects: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)

Using only Ia supernova (SN) observations, it is not possible to distinguish the evolution of the SN absolute magnitude M_B from an arbitrary evolution of the Hubble parameter H(z). Using Etherington's distance-duality relation, which relates the angular and luminosity distances, together with the observed angular baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) scale at any redshift z, one may calibrate M_B(z). This calibration involves a scale which depends on the cosmological model, however the evolution of M_B(z) between two redshifts with BAO observations is independent of this scale. The line of sight BAO scale can be used to extend this calibration to redshifts near z. As an application, using BOSS BAO at z=0.32 and 2.34, JLA supernova at low z and Hubble Space Telescope SN at z>1.7, we find that M_B(2.34)-M_B(0.32)=-0.11$\pm$ 0.16. This statistically insignificant downwards shift results from Malmquist bias and brighter than expected high z SN. Replacing BOSS data with the best fit Planck LCDM BAO expectations, we find a shift of -0.26$\pm$ 0.15. With the SN that will be observed by the James Webb Space Telescope, such a calibration at z=2.34 will be more precise, and it will serve as an anchor for cosmological analyses with the SN that it will observe at yet higher z.

[37]
Title: Comparing SSN Index to X-ray Flare and Coronal Mass Ejection Rates from Solar Cycles 22-24
Comments: 17 pages, accepted to Solar Physics
Subjects: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)

The newly revised sunspot number series allows for placing historical geoeffective storms in the context of several hundred years of solar activity. Using statistical analyses of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) X-ray observations from the past ~30 years and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) catalog (1996-present), we present sunspot-number-dependent flare and CME rates. In particular, we present X-ray flare rates as a function of sunspot number for the past three cycles. We also show that the 1-8 AA X-ray background flux is strongly correlated with sunspot number across solar cycles. Similarly, we show that the CME properties (e.g., proxies related to the CME linear speed and width) are also correlated with sunspot number for SC 23 and 24. These updated rates will enable future predictions for geoeffective events and place historical storms in the context of present solar activity.

[38]
Title: A HIFI view on circumstellar H2O in M-type AGB stars: radiative transfer, velocity profiles, and H2O line cooling
Subjects: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR); Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)

We aim to constrain the temperature and velocity structures, and H2O abundances in the winds of a sample of M-type AGB stars. We further aim to determine the effect of H2O line cooling on the energy balance in the inner circumstellar envelope. We use two radiative-transfer codes to model molecular emission lines of CO and H2O towards four M-type AGB stars. We focus on spectrally resolved observations of CO and H2O from HIFI. The observations are complemented by ground-based CO observations, and spectrally unresolved CO and H2O observations with PAC. The observed line profiles constrain the velocity structure throughout the circumstellar envelopes (CSEs), while the CO intensities constrain the temperature structure in the CSEs. The H2O observations constrain the o-H2O and p-H2O abundances relative to H2. Finally, the radiative-transfer modelling allows to solve the energy balance in the CSE, in principle including also H2O line cooling. The fits to the line profiles only set moderate constraints on the velocity profile, indicating shallower acceleration profiles in the winds of M-type AGB stars than predicted by dynamical models, while the CO observations effectively constrain the temperature structure. Including H2O line cooling in the energy balance was only possible for the low-mass-loss-rate objects in the sample, and required an ad hoc adjustment of the dust velocity profile in order to counteract extreme cooling in the inner CSE. H2O line cooling was therefore excluded from the models. The constraints set on the temperature profile by the CO lines nevertheless allowed us to derive H2O abundances. The derived H2O abundances confirm previous estimates and are consistent with chemical models. However, the uncertainties in the derived abundances are relatively large, in particular for p-H2O, and consequently the derived o/p-H2O ratios are not well constrained.

[39]
Title: ElEvoHI: a novel CME prediction tool for heliospheric imaging combining an elliptical front with drag-based model fitting
Comments: accepted for publication in ApJ
Subjects: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)

In this study, we present a new method for forecasting arrival times and speeds of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) at any location in the inner heliosphere. This new approach enables the adoption of a highly flexible geometrical shape for the CME front with an adjustable CME angular width and an adjustable radius of curvature of its leading edge, i.e. the assumed geometry is elliptical. Using, as input, STEREO heliospheric imager (HI) observations, a new elliptic conversion (ElCon) method is introduced and combined with the use of drag-based model (DBM) fitting to quantify the deceleration or acceleration experienced by CMEs during propagation. The result is then used as input for the Ellipse Evolution Model (ElEvo). Together, ElCon, DBM fitting, and ElEvo form the novel ElEvoHI forecasting utility. To demonstrate the applicability of ElEvoHI, we forecast the arrival times and speeds of 21 CMEs remotely observed from STEREO/HI and compare them to in situ arrival times and speeds at 1 AU. Compared to the commonly used STEREO/HI fitting techniques (Fixed-$\Phi$, Harmonic Mean, and Self-similar Expansion fitting), ElEvoHI improves the arrival time forecast by about 2 hours to $\pm 6.5$ hours and the arrival speed forecast by $\approx 250$ km s$^{-1}$ to $\pm 53$ km s$^{-1}$, depending on the ellipse aspect ratio assumed. In particular, the remarkable improvement of the arrival speed prediction is potentially beneficial for predicting geomagnetic storm strength at Earth.

[40]
Title: The Gaia-ESO Survey: the selection function of the Milky Way field stars
Comments: 18 pages, 19 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS (April 25, 2016)
Subjects: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA); Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)

The Gaia-ESO Survey was designed to target all major Galactic components (i.e., bulge, thin and thick discs, halo and clusters), with the goal of constraining the chemical and dynamical evolution of the Milky Way. This paper presents the methodology and considerations that drive the selection of the targeted, allocated and successfully observed Milky Way field stars. The detailed understanding of the survey construction, specifically the influence of target selection criteria on observed Milky Way field stars is required in order to analyse and interpret the survey data correctly. We present the target selection process for the Milky Way field stars observed with VLT/FLAMES and provide the weights that characterise the survey target selection. The weights can be used to account for the selection effects in the Gaia-ESO Survey data for scientific studies. We provide a couple of simple examples to highlight the necessity of including such information in studies of the stellar populations in the Milky Way.

[41]
Title: On the possible wind nebula of magnetar Swift J1834.9-0846: a magnetism-powered synchrotron nebula
Authors: H. Tong
Subjects: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)

Recently, the magnetar Swift J1834.9$-$0846 is reported to have a possible wind nebula. It is shown that both the magnetar and its wind nebula are understandable in the wind braking scenario. The magnetar's rotational energy loss rate is not enough. The required particle luminosity should be about $10^{36} \,\rm erg \,s^{-1}$ to $10^{38} \,\rm erg \,s^{-1}$. It is obtained in three different approaches: considering wind braking of Swift J1834.9$-$0846; the spectral and spatial observations of the wind nebula; and an empirical upper bound on wind nebula X-ray luminosity. The nebula magnetic field is be about $10^{-4} \,\rm G$. The possible wind nebula of Swift J1834.9$-$0846 should be a magnetar wind nebula. It is powered by the magnetic energy release of the magnetar.

[42]
Title: Brans-Dicke inflation in light of the Planck 2015 data
Subjects: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO); General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)

We study inflation in the Brans-Dicke gravity as a special model of the scalar-tensor gravity. We obtain the inflationary observables containing the scalar spectral index, the tensor-to-scalar ratio, the running of the scalar spectral index and the equilateral non-Gaussianity parameter in terms of the general form of the potential in the Jordan frame. Then, we compare the results for various inflationary potentials in light of the Planck 2015 data. Our study shows that in the Brans-Dicke gravity, the power-law, inverse power-law and exponential potentials are ruled out by the Planck 2015 data. But, the hilltop, Higgs, Coleman-Weinberg and natural potentials can be compatible with Planck 2015 TT,TE,EE+lowP data at 95\% CL. Moreover, the D-brane, SB SUSY and displaced quadratic potentials can be in well agreement with the observational data since their results can lie inside the 68\% CL region of Planck 2015 TT,TE,EE+lowP data.

[43]
Title: Kepler K2 Observations of Sco X-1: Orbital Modulations and Correlations with Fermi GBM and MAXI
Authors: R. I. Hynes, B. E. Schaefer, Z. A. Baum, C.-C. Hsu, M. L. Cherry (Louisiana State University), S. Scaringi (Max Planck Institute für Extraterrestriche Physik)
Comments: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, In press
Subjects: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)

We present a multi-wavelength study of the low-mass X-ray binary Sco X-1 using Kepler K2 optical data and Fermi GBM and MAXI X-ray data. We recover a clear sinusoidal orbital modulation from the Kepler data. Optical fluxes are distributed bimodally around the mean orbital light curve, with both high and low states showing the same modulation. The high state is broadly consistent with the flaring branch of the Z diagram and the low state with the normal branch. We see both rapid optical flares and slower dips in the high state, and slow brightenings in the low state. High state flares exhibit a narrow range of amplitudes with a striking cut-off at a maximum amplitude. Optical fluxes correlate with X-ray fluxes in the high state, but in the low state they are anti-correlated. These patterns can be seen clearly in both flux-flux diagrams and cross-correlation functions and are consistent between MAXI and GBM. The high state correlation arises promptly with at most a few minutes lag. We attribute this to thermal reprocessing of X-ray flares. The low state anti-correlation is broader, consistent with optical lags of between zero and 3 ~min, and strongest with respect to high energy X-rays. We suggest that the decreases in optical flux in the low state may reflect decreasing efficiency of disc irradiation, caused by changes in the illumination geometry. These changes could reflect the vertical extent or covering factor of obscuration or the optical depth of scattering material.

[44]
Title: Testing LSST Dither Strategies for Survey Uniformity and Large-Scale Structure Systematics
Authors: Humna Awan (1), Eric Gawiser (1), Peter Kurczynski (1), R. Lynne Jones (2), Hu Zhan (3), Nelson D. Padilla (4), Alejandra M. Muñoz Arancibia (4,5), Alvaro Orsi (6), Peter Yoachim (2) ((1) Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, (2) Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, (3) Key Laboratory of Space Astronomy and Technology, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, (4) Instituto de Astrofísica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, (5) Instituto de Física y Astronomía, Universidad de Valparaíso, (6) Centro de Estudios de Fisica del Cosmos de Aragon)
Comments: 16 pages, 11 figures, 1 table. Submitted to ApJ
Subjects: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will survey the southern sky from 2022-2032 with unprecedented detail. Given that survey observational strategy can lead to artifacts in the observed data, we investigate the effects of telescope-pointing offsets (called dithers) on the $r$-band coadded 5$\sigma$ depth yielded after the 10-year survey. We analyze this survey depth for several geometric patterns of dithers (e.g., random, hexagonal lattice, spiral) with amplitude as large as the radius of the LSST field-of-view, implemented on different timescales (per season, per night, per visit). Our results illustrate that per night and per visit dither assignments are more effective than per season. Also, we find that some dither geometries (e.g. hexagonal lattice) are particularly sensitive to the timescale on which the dithers are implemented, while others like random dithers perform well on all timescales. We then model the propagation of depth variations to artificial fluctuations in galaxy counts, which are a systematic for large-scale structure studies. We calculate the bias in galaxy counts induced due to the observing strategy, accounting for photometric calibration uncertainties, dust extinction, and magnitude cuts; uncertainties in this bias limit our ability to account for structure induced by the survey strategy. We find that after 10 years of the LSST survey, the best observing strategies lead to uncertainties in the bias smaller than the minimum statistical floor for a galaxy catalog as deep as $r$$<27.5; of these, a few bring the uncertainties close to the floor for r$$<$25.7 after only one year of survey.

[45]
Title: The GeV counterpart of VER J2019+407 in the northern shell of the supernova remnant G78.2+2.1 ($γ$ Cygni)
Comments: 8 pages and 4 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ
Subjects: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)

Analysis of gamma-ray emission from the supernova remnant G78.2+2.1 ($\gamma$ Cygni) with 7.2 years of cumulative data from the Fermi-LAT telescope shows a distinct hard, bright and extended component to the north of the shell coincident with the known TeV source VER J2019+407. In the GeV-TeV energy range its spectrum is best described by a broken power-law with indices 1.8 below a break energy of 71 GeV and 2.5 above the break. A broadband spectral energy distribution is assembled and different scenarios for the origin of the gamma-rays are explored. Both hadronic and leptonic mechanisms are able to account for the GeV-TeV observations. In the leptonic framework, a superposition of inverse Compton and nonthermal bremsstrahlung emissions is needed whereas the hadronic scenario requires a cosmic ray population described by a broken power-law distribution with a relatively hard spectral index of $\sim1.8$ below a break particle energy of 0.45 TeV. In addition, the neutrino flux expected from cosmic ray interactions is calculated.

[46]
Title: THEO Concept Mission: Testing the Habitability of Enceladus's Ocean
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)

Saturn's moon Enceladus offers a unique opportunity in the search for life and habitable environments beyond Earth, a key theme of the National Research Council's 2013-2022 Decadal Survey. A plume of water vapor and ice spews from Enceladus's south polar region. Cassini data suggest that this plume, sourced by a liquid reservoir beneath the moon's icy crust, contain organics, salts, and water-rock interaction derivatives. Thus, the ingredients for life as we know it-- liquid water, chemistry, and energy sources-- are available in Enceladus's subsurface ocean. We have only to sample the plumes to investigate this hidden ocean environment. We present a New Frontiers class, solar-powered Enceladus orbiter that would take advantage of this opportunity, Testing the Habitability of Enceladus's Ocean (THEO). Developed by the 2015 Jet Propulsion Laboratory Planetary Science Summer School student participants under the guidance of TeamX, this mission concept includes remote sensing and in situ analyses with a mass spectrometer, a sub-mm radiometer-spectrometer, a camera, and two magnetometers. These instruments were selected to address four key questions for ascertaining the habitability of Enceladus's ocean within the context of the moon's geological activity: (1) How are the plumes and ocean connected? (2) Are the abiotic conditions of the ocean suitable for habitability? (3) How stable is the ocean environment? (4) Is there evidence of biological processes? By taking advantage of the opportunity Enceladus's plumes offer, THEO represents a viable, solar-powered option for exploring a potentially habitable ocean world of the outer solar system.

[47]
Title: Water loss from Earth-sized planets in the habitable zones of ultracool dwarfs: Implications for the planets of TRAPPIST-1
Comments: Submitted in MNRAS. 11 pages
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)

Ultracool dwarfs (UCD) encompass the population of extremely low mass stars (later than M6-type) and brown dwarfs. Because UCDs cool monotonically, their habitable zone (HZ) sweeps inward in time. Assuming they possess water, planets found in the HZ of UCDs have experienced a runaway greenhouse phase too hot for liquid water prior to entering the HZ. It has been proposed that such planets are desiccated by this hot early phase and enter the HZ as dry, inhospitable worlds. Here we model the water loss during this pre-HZ hot phase taking into account recent upper limits on the XUV emission of UCDs and using 1D radiation-hydrodynamic simulations. We address the whole range of UCDs but also focus on the planets b, c and d recently found around the $0.08~M_\odot$ dwarf TRAPPIST-1.
Despite assumptions maximizing the FUV-photolysis of water and the XUV-driven escape of hydrogen, we find that planets can retain significant amounts of water in the HZ of UCDs, with a sweet spot in the $0.04$-$0.06~M_\odot$ range. With our assumptions, TRAPPIST-1b and c can lose as much as 4 Earth Ocean but planet d - which may be inside the HZ depending on its actual period - may have kept enough water to remain habitable depending on its initial content. TRAPPIST-1 planets are key targets for atmospheric characterization and could provide strong constraints on the water erosion around UCDs.

[48]
Title: First hard X-ray observations of the blazar S5 0716+714 with NuSTAR during a multiwavelength campaign
Journal-ref: MNRAS (2016) 458 2350W
Subjects: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)

We report the results of a multifrequency campaign targeting S5 0716+714 in the flaring state of the source observed in 2015 January and February. The observations have been performed using the following instruments: Fermi/Large Area Telescope (LAT), Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, X-ray Telescope and Ultraciolet/Optical Telescope. The elevated flux level was visible in all frequencies and the outburst consists of five sub-flares. In this paper we focus on the analysis of the X-ray observations both in the soft and hard regimes for data collected with NuStar and Swift/XRT. This is the first time, when hard X-ray observations of the source collected with NuStar are reported. The studies reveal both low- and high-energy components clearly visible in the energy band, with the break energy of 8 keV, which is the highest break energy ever reported for S5 0716+714. The second part of this work is concentrated on multifrequency observations collected during the flaring activity period. The variability patterns recorded during the period are characterized using a fractional variability amplitude and description of the flare profiles. The correlation studies reveal strong and significant relation between the optical, ultraviolet and gamma-ray observations, and no time lag is found for any of the studied relations.