We investigate the variable star content of the isolated, Local Group, dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy Cetus. Multi-epoch, wide-field images collected with the Very Large Telescope/Visible Multiobject Spectrograph camera allowed us to detect 638 variable stars (630 RR Lyrae stars and eight anomalous Cepheids), 475 of which are new detections. We present a full catalogue of periods, amplitudes and mean magnitudes.
Cetus is an isolated, dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy at a distance of 755kpc. In order to quantify its stellar chemo-kinematical properties, we observed individual red giants branch stars in Cetus with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) FORS2 instrument, in Mask eXchange Unit (MXU) configuration. The kinematic analysis shows that Cetus is a mainly pressure-supported ({sigma}_v_=11.0^+1.6^_-1.3_km/s), dark-matter-dominated system (M_1/2_/L_V_=23.9^+9.7^_-8.9_M_{sun}_/L_{sun}_) with no significant signs of internal rotation. We find Cetus to be a metal-poor system with a significant metallicity spread (median [Fe/H]=-1.71dex, median-absolute-deviation =0.49dex), as expected for its stellar mass. We report the presence of a mild metallicity gradient compatible with those found in other dSphs of the same luminosity; we trace the presence of a stellar population gradient also in the spatial distribution of stars in different evolutionary phases in ancillary photometric data. There are tentative indications of two chemo-kinematically distinct sub-populations, with the more metal-poor stars showing a hotter kinematics than the metal-richer ones. Our results add Cetus to the growing scatter in stellar-dark matter halo properties in low-mass galactic systems. The presence of a metallicity gradient akin to those found in similar systems inhabiting different environments may hint at metallicity gradients in Local Group early-type dwarfs being driven by internal mechanisms.
3C 279 is an archetypal blazar with a prominent radio jet that show broadband flux density variability across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. We use an ultra-high angular resolution technique - global Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) at 1.3mm (230GHz) - to resolve the innermost jet of 3C 279 in order to study its fine-scale morphology close to the jet base where highly variable gamma-ray emission is thought to originate, according to various models. The source was observed during four days in April 2017 with the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) at 230 GHz, including the phased Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), at an angular resolution of ~20uarcsec (at a redshift of z=0.536 this corresponds to ~0.13pc, ~1700 Schwarzschild radii with a black hole mass M_BH_=8x10^8^M_{sun}_). Imaging and model-fitting techniques were applied to the data to parameterize the fine-scale source structure and its variation. We find a multicomponent inner jet morphology with the northernmost component elongated perpendicular to the direction of the jet, as imaged at longer wavelengths. The elongated nuclear structure is consistent on all four observing days and across different imaging methods and model-fitting techniques, and therefore appears robust. Owing to its compactness and brightness, we associate the northern nuclear structure as the VLBI "core". This morphology can be interpreted as either a broad resolved jet base or a spatially bent jet. We also find significant day-to-day variations in the closure phases, which appear most pronounced on the triangles with the longest baselines. Our analysis shows that this variation is related to a systematic change of the source structure. Two inner jet components move non-radially at apparent speeds of ~15c and ~20c (~1.3 and ~1.7uarcsec/day, respectively), which more strongly supports the scenario of traveling shocks or instabilities in a bent, possibly rotating jet. The observed apparent speeds are also coincident with the 3C 279 large-scale jet kinematics observed at longer (cm) wavelengths, suggesting no significant jet acceleration between the 1.3mm core and the outer jet. The intrinsic brightness temperature of the jet components are <~10^10^K, a magnitude or more lower than typical values seen at >=7mm wavelengths. The low brightness temperature and morphological complexity suggest that the core region of 3C279 becomes optically thin at short (mm) wavelengths.
SNe Ia play key roles in revealing the accelerating expansion of the universe, but our knowledge of their progenitors is still very limited. Here we report the discovery of a rigid dichotomy in circumstellar (CS) environments around two subclasses of SNe Ia as defined by their distinct photospheric velocities. For the SNe Ia with high photospheric velocities (HVs), we found a significant excess flux in blue light 60-100 days past maximum, while this phenomenon is absent for SNe with normal photospheric velocity. This blue excess can be attributed to light echoes by circumstellar dust located at a distance of about (1-2)x10^17^cm from the HV subclass. Moreover, we also found that the HV SNe Ia show systematically evolving NaI absorption line by performing a systematic search of variable NaI absorption lines in spectra of all SNe Ia, whereas this evolution is rarely seen in normal ones. The evolving NaI absorption can be modeled in terms of photoionization model, with the location of the gas clouds at a distance of about 2x10^17^cm, in striking agreement with the location of CS dust inferred from B-band light-curve excess. These observations show clearly that the progenitors of HV subclass are likely from single-degenerate progenitor system (i.e., symbiotic binary), while the NV subclass may arise from double-degenerate system.
CfAIR2 is a large, homogeneously reduced set of near-infrared (NIR) light curves (LCs) for Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) obtained with the 1.3m Peters Automated InfraRed Imaging TELescope. This data set includes 4637 measurements of 94 SNe Ia and 4 additional SNe Iax observed from 2005 to 2011 at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory on Mount Hopkins, Arizona. CfAIR2 includes JHKs photometric measurements for 88 normal and 6 spectroscopically peculiar SN Ia in the nearby universe, with a median redshift of z~0.021 for the normal SN Ia. CfAIR2 data span the range from -13 days to +127 days from B-band maximum. More than half of the LCs begin before the time of maximum, and the coverage typically contains ~13-18 epochs of observation, depending on the filter. We present extensive tests that verify the fidelity of the CfAIR2 data pipeline, including comparison to the excellent data of the Carnegie Supernova Project. CfAIR2 contributes to a firm local anchor for SN cosmology studies in the NIR. Because SN Ia are more nearly standard candles in the NIR and are less vulnerable to the vexing problems of extinction by dust, CfAIR2 will help the SN cosmology community develop more precise and accurate extragalactic distance probes to improve our knowledge of cosmological parameters, including dark energy and its potential time variation.
We present multi-band optical photometry of 94 spectroscopically confirmed Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) in the redshift range 0.0055-0.073, obtained between 2006 and 2011. There are a total of 5522 light-curve points. We show that our natural-system SN photometry has a precision of <~0.03mag in BVr'i', <~0.06mag in u', and <~0.07mag in U for points brighter than 17.5mag and estimate that it has a systematic uncertainty of 0.014, 0.010, 0.012, 0.014, 0.046, and 0.073mag in BVr'i'u'U, respectively. Comparisons of our standard-system photometry with published SN Ia light curves and comparison stars reveal mean agreement across samples in the range of ~0.00-0.03mag. The current sample of low-z SNe Ia is now sufficiently large to remove most of the statistical sampling error from the dark-energy error budget.
The ZCAT database contains the CfA Redshift Catalog, which incorporates much of the latest velocity data from the Whipple Observatory and other sources, as well as velocities from earlier compilations such as the "Second Reference Catalog" of de Vaucouleurs, de Vaucouleurs, and Corwin; the "Index of Galaxy Spectra" of Gisler and Friel; and the "Catalog of Radial Velocities of Galaxies" of Palumbo, Tanzella-Nitti, and Vettolani. It includes BT magnitudes, some UGC numbers, and increased "accuracy" in the velocity source information. The data presented here have primarily been assembled for the purpose of studying the large scale structure of the universe, and, as such, are nearly complete in redshift information, but are not necessarily complete in such categories as diameter, magnitude, and cross-references to other catalogues. The original HEASARC version was constructed based on an earlier version of the catalog and was released on November 15, 1996. The HEASARC created the current version of ZCAT in February 2001 based on CDS/ADC Catalog VII/193, "The CfA Redshift Catalogue", Version June 1995, tables <a href="https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/VII/193/zcat.dat">https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/VII/193/zcat.dat</a> and zbig.dat. The former table contains the main body of the CFA Redshift Catalog (57536 objects) and entries from it are distinguishable in the current database by having either listed radial velocity values but not redshifts or neither, while the latter table contains 1202 high-redshift galaxies (distinguishable in the current database by their having listed redshift values but not radial velocities). This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .
The Center for Astrophysics (CfA) Redshift Survey South Galactic Cap (CFA2S) Catalog contains redshifts for a sample of about 4300 galaxies with blue (Zwicky B(0) type) magnitude <= 15.5 covering the range from 20 h to 4h in right ascension and from -2.5 deg to 90 deg in declination. This sample is complete for all galaxies in the merge of the Zwicky et al. and Nilson catalogs in the south Galactic cap. Redshifts for 2964 of these were measured as part of the second CfA Redshift Survey. The data reveal large voids in the foreground and background of the Perseus-Pisces Supercluster. The largest of these voids lies at a mean velocity ~ 8000km/s, has diameter of ~ 5000km/s, and is enclosed by a complex of dense structures. The large structure known as the Perseus-Pisces Supercluster forms the near side of this complex. On the far side of this large void, at a mean velocity of ~ 12000km/s, there is another coherent dense wall. The structures in this survey support the view that galaxies generally lie on surfaces surrounding or nearly surrounding low-density regions or voids. This table was created by the HEASARC in March 2005 based on CDS table J/ApJS/121/287/cfa2s.dat.gz This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .