We present a spectroscopic analysis of nearly 8000 late-type dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Using the H{alpha} emission line as an activity indicator, we investigate the fraction of active stars as a function of spectral type and find a peak near type M8, confirming previous results.
4854 UBVRI photometric data on the BL Lacertae object S5 0716+71 taken from 8 Observatories in the period 1994-2001 are presented; a table for each optical band is given, containing the observation time, the source magnitude, the error on the source magnitude, and a label indicating the Observatory where the observation was done.
Supernova (SN) light echoes could be a powerful tool for determining distances to galaxies geometrically, Sparks (1994ApJ...433...19S). In this paper we present CCD photometry of the environments of 64 historical supernovae, the first results of a program designed to search for light echoes from these SNe. We commonly find patches of optical emission at, or close to, the sites of the supernovae. The color distribution of these patches is broad, and generally consistent with stellar population colors, possibly with some reddening. However there are in addition patches with both unusually red and unusually blue colors. We expect light echoes to be blue, and while none of the objects are quite as blue in V-R as the known light echo of SN 1991T, there are features that are unusually blue and we identify these as candidate light echoes for follow-on observations.
We have surveyed a complete extent of Leo A --an apparently isolated gas-rich low-mass dwarf irregular galaxy in the Local Group. The B, V, and I passband CCD images (typical seeing ~0.8") were obtained with the Subaru Telescope equipped with the Suprime-Cam mosaic camera. The wide-field (20'x24') photometry catalog of 38856 objects (V~16-26mag) is presented. This survey is also intended to serve as "a finding chart" for future imaging and spectroscopic observation programs of Leo A.
We describe a survey for variable QSOs carried out for 15 years with the UK Schmidt telescope, using IIIaJ plates exposed behind a Schott GG395 filter. Objects brighter than B=21.0 on a reference plate and displaying a peak to peak amplitude of variability larger than B=0.35mag are selected. Plates in U, V, R and I were also obtained.
We present analysis and spot solutions based on yet unpublished B and V photoelectric observations on the active binary system SV Cam, carried out at Piszkesteto Mountain Station of Konkoly Observatory Budapest. The present spot solutions are based on the observed light curves in September 1993 and July 1994. Comparison of recent and older spot solutions - taken from the literature - suggests long term differences, but these divergences might be caused by some differences of the applied computational methods.
Detection of the IceCube-170922A neutrino coincident with the flaring blazar TXS 0506+056, the first and only ~3{sigma} high-energy neutrino source association to date, offers a potential breakthrough in our understanding of high-energy cosmic particles and blazar physics. We present a comprehensive analysis of TXS 0506+056 during its flaring state, using newly collected Swift, NuSTAR, and X-shooter data with Fermi observations and numerical models to constrain the blazar's particle acceleration processes and multimessenger (electromagnetic (EM) and high-energy neutrino) emissions. Accounting properly for EM cascades in the emission region, we find a physically consistent picture only within a hybrid leptonic scenario, with {gamma}-rays produced by external inverse-Compton processes and high-energy neutrinos via a radiatively subdominant hadronic component. We derive robust constraints on the blazar's neutrino and cosmic-ray emissions and demonstrate that, because of cascade effects, the 0.1-100keV emissions of TXS 0506+056 serve as a better probe of its hadronic acceleration and high-energy neutrino production processes than its GeV-TeV emissions. If the IceCube neutrino association holds, physical conditions in the TXS 0506+056 jet must be close to optimal for high-energy neutrino production, and are not favorable for ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray acceleration. Alternatively, the challenges we identify in generating a significant rate of IceCube neutrino detections from TXS 0506+056 may disfavor single-zone models, in which {gamma}-rays and high-energy neutrinos are produced in a single emission region. In concert with continued operations of the high-energy neutrino observatories, we advocate regular X-ray monitoring of TXS 0506+056 and other blazars in order to test single-zone blazar emission models, clarify the nature and extent of their hadronic acceleration processes, and carry out the most sensitive possible search for additional multimessenger sources.
We present and discuss ultraviolet and optical photometry from the Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope, X-ray limits from the X-Ray Telescope on Swift, and imaging polarimetry and ultraviolet/optical spectroscopy with the Hubble Space Telescope, all from observations of ASASSN-15lh. It has been classified as a hydrogen-poor superluminous supernova (SLSN I), making it more luminous than any other supernova observed. ASASSN-15lh is not detected in the X-rays in individual or co-added observations. From the polarimetry we determine that the explosion was only mildly asymmetric. We find the flux of ASASSN-15lh to increase strongly into the ultraviolet, with an ultraviolet luminosity 100 times greater than the hydrogen-rich, ultraviolet-bright SLSN II SN 2008es. We find that objects as bright as ASASSN-15lh are easily detectable beyond redshifts of ~4 with the single-visit depths planned for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. Deep near-infrared surveys could detect such objects past a redshift of ~20, enabling a probe of the earliest star formation. A late rebrightening-most prominent at shorter wavelengths-is seen about two months after the peak brightness, which is itself as bright as an SLSN. The ultraviolet spectra during the rebrightening are dominated by the continuum without the broad absorption or emission lines seen in SLSNe or tidal disruption events (TDEs) and the early optical spectra of ASASSN-15lh. Our spectra show no strong hydrogen emission, showing only Ly{alpha} absorption near the redshift previously found by optical absorption lines of the presumed host. The properties of ASASSN-15lh are extreme when compared to either SLSNe or TDEs.
Swift intensive accretion disk reverberation mapping of four AGN yielded light curves sampled ~200-350 times in 0.3-10keV X-ray and six UV/optical bands. Uniform reduction and cross-correlation analysis of these data sets yields three main results: (1) The X-ray/UV correlations are much weaker than those within the UV/optical, posing severe problems for the lamp-post reprocessing model in which variations in a central X-ray corona drive and power those in the surrounding accretion disk. (2) The UV/optical interband lags are generally consistent with {tau}{propto}{lambda}^4/3^ as predicted by the centrally illuminated thin accretion disk model. While the average interband lags are somewhat larger than predicted, these results alone are not inconsistent with the thin disk model given the large systematic uncertainties involved. (3) The one exception is the U band lags, which are on average a factor of ~2.2 larger than predicted from the surrounding band data and fits. This excess appears to be due to diffuse continuum emission from the broad-line region (BLR). The precise mixing of disk and BLR components cannot be determined from these data alone. The lags in different AGN appear to scale with mass or luminosity. We also find that there are systematic differences between the uncertainties derived by Just Another Vehicle for Estimating Lags In Nuclei (JAVELIN) versus more standard lag measurement techniques, with JAVELIN reporting smaller uncertainties by a factor of 2.5 on average. In order to be conservative only standard techniques were used in the analyses reported herein.
We present the detection of persistent soft X-ray radiation with L_x_~10^41^-10^42^erg/s at the location of the extremely luminous, double-humped transient ASASSN-15lh as revealed by Chandra and Swift. We interpret this finding in the context of observations from our multiwavelength campaign, which revealed the presence of weak narrow nebular emission features from the host-galaxy nucleus and clear differences with respect to superluminous supernova optical spectra. Significant UV flux variability on short timescales detected at the time of the rebrightening disfavors the shock interaction scenario as the source of energy powering the long-lived UV emission, while deep radio limits exclude the presence of relativistic jets propagating into a low-density environment. We propose a model where the extreme luminosity and double-peaked temporal structure of ASASSN-15lh is powered by a central source of ionizing radiation that produces a sudden change in the ejecta opacity at later times. As a result, UV radiation can more easily escape, producing the second bump in the light curve. We discuss different interpretations for the intrinsic nature of the ionizing source. We conclude that, if the X-ray source is physically associated with the optical-UV transient, then ASASSN-15lh most likely represents the tidal disruption of a main-sequence star by the most massive spinning black hole detected to date. In this case, ASASSN-15lh and similar events discovered in the future would constitute the most direct probes of very massive, dormant, spinning, supermassive black holes in galaxies. Future monitoring of the X-rays may allow us to distinguish between the supernova hypothesis and the hypothesis of a tidal disruption event.
