8 research outputs found
Science with the Daksha High Energy Transients Mission
We present the science case for the proposed Daksha high energy transients
mission. Daksha will comprise of two satellites covering the entire sky from
1~keV to ~MeV. The primary objectives of the mission are to discover and
characterize electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave source; and to
study Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs). Daksha is a versatile all-sky monitor that can
address a wide variety of science cases. With its broadband spectral response,
high sensitivity, and continuous all-sky coverage, it will discover fainter and
rarer sources than any other existing or proposed mission. Daksha can make key
strides in GRB research with polarization studies, prompt soft spectroscopy,
and fine time-resolved spectral studies. Daksha will provide continuous
monitoring of X-ray pulsars. It will detect magnetar outbursts and high energy
counterparts to Fast Radio Bursts. Using Earth occultation to measure source
fluxes, the two satellites together will obtain daily flux measurements of
bright hard X-ray sources including active galactic nuclei, X-ray binaries, and
slow transients like Novae. Correlation studies between the two satellites can
be used to probe primordial black holes through lensing. Daksha will have a set
of detectors continuously pointing towards the Sun, providing excellent hard
X-ray monitoring data. Closer to home, the high sensitivity and time resolution
of Daksha can be leveraged for the characterization of Terrestrial Gamma-ray
Flashes.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures. Submitted to ApJ. More details about the mission
at https://www.dakshasat.in
A Gendered Approach to Awareness of Climate-resilient Agricultural Practices
Over the years climate change has become a global issue and its impact on agriculture has a distressful effect on the production of food grains and the lives of the growers. Therefore, in this fast-evolving world being aware of the rapid changes has become the necessity of the hour. And keeping in view the present condition this study had been conducted in the Ganjam District of Odisha to understand the extent of awareness of Climate Resilient Agricultural Practices. A total of 200 male and female respondents,100 each respectively were selected for the study. The findings revealed that most of the respondents i.e. 68.00 per cent male and 64.00 per cent female were partially aware, though it is also seen that (20.00%) female and (13.00%) male was unaware of climate-resilient agricultural practices which is evident that more females are unaware regarding the issues. Further, it was observed that Education, Information Source Utilization, Land Holding, and Type of family have a significant and positive relationship with the awareness of female respondents. The findings of this research would focus on creating more awareness among the people regarding the impacts of climate change and the benefits of adopting climate-resilient agricultural practices
Opacity of the highly ionized lanthanides and the efect on the early kilonova
We investigate the effect of the presence of lanthanides (Z = 57–71) on the kilonova at t ∼ 1 hr after the neutron star merger for the first time. For this purpose, we calculate the atomic structures and the opacities for selected lanthanides: Nd (Z = 60), Sm (Z = 62), and Eu (Z = 63). We consider the ionization degree up to 10th (XI), applicable for the ejecta at t ∼ a few hours after the merger, when the temperature is T ∼ 105 K. We find that the opacities for the highly ionized lanthanides are exceptionally high, reaching exp 1000 cm g k ~ 2 -1 for Eu, due to the highly dense energy levels. Using the new opacity, we perform radiative transfer simulations to show that the early light curves become fainter by a (maximum) factor of four, in comparison to lanthanide-free ejecta at t ∼ 0.1 days. However, the period at which the light curves are affected is relatively brief owing to the rapid time evolution of the opacity in the outermost layer of the ejecta. We predict that for a source at a distance of ∼100 Mpc, UV brightness for lanthanide-rich ejecta shows a drop to ∼21–22 mag at t ∼ 0.1 days and the UV peaks around t ∼ 0.2 days with a magnitude of ∼19 mag. Future detection of such a kilonova by an existing UV satellite like Swift or the upcoming UV satellite ULTRASAT will provide useful constraints on the abundance in the outer ejecta and the corresponding nucleosynthesis conditions in the neutron star mergers
Follow-up Survey for the Binary Black Hole Merger GW200224_222234 Using Subaru/HSC and GTC/OSIRIS
The LIGO/Virgo detected a gravitational wave (GW) event, named GW200224_222234 (also known as S200224ca) and classified as a binary-black hole coalescence, on 2020 February 24. Given its relatively small localization skymap (71 deg ^2 for a 90% credible region; revised to 50 deg ^2 in GWTC-3), we performed target-of-opportunity observations using the Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) in the r 2 and z bands. Observations were conducted on 2020 February 25 and 28 and March 23, with the first epoch beginning 12.3 hr after the GW detection. The survey covered the highest-probability sky area of 56.6 deg ^2 , corresponding to a 91% probability. This was the first deep follow-up ( m _r ≳ 24, m _z ≳ 23) for a binary-black hole merger covering >90% of the localization. By performing image subtraction and candidate screening including light-curve fitting with transient templates and examples, we found 22 off-nucleus transients that were not ruled out as the counterparts of GW200224_222234 with our Subaru/HSC data alone. We also performed GTC/OSIRIS spectroscopy of the probable host galaxies for five candidates; two are likely to be located within the 3D skymap, whereas the others are not. In conclusion, 19 transients remain as possible optical counterparts of GW200224_222234; but we could not identify a unique promising counterpart. If there are no counterparts in the remaining candidates, the upper limits of the optical luminosity are erg s ^−1 and erg s ^−1 in the r 2 and z bands, respectively, at ∼12 hr after GW detection. We also discuss improvements in the strategies of optical follow-ups for future GW events