Developing low-cost, reusable solar observation platforms to advance sustainable heliophysics research

The objective of this paper is to describe a methodology for cheaper solar observation, which would make it available to research institutions of all sizes. This is done through the use of low cost, reusable components, innovative manufacturing and by using high altitude balloons to transport the payload. The aims of the project are to produce clear, sharp images of the solar chromosphere. This proves that it is possible to produce research-grade images without the need for expensive alternatives such as adaptive optics on ground telescopes or satellites. As well as discussing the technical points of the project, the paper will discuss the technical hurdles encountered before this design iteration and how these have been overcome. The other aims of the project are to facilitate students introduction to the space industry and allow them to practice their skills in a practical manner. This is very different from the work done theoretically in the classroom and exposes students to the challenges of working in industrial teams

An environmental analysis of the fast transient AT2018cow and implications for its progenitor and late-time brightness

The nature of the newly discovered fast blue optical transients (FBOTs) is still puzzling astronomers. In this paper we carry out a comprehensive analysis of the molecular gas, ionized gas and stellar populations in the environment of the nearby FBOT AT2018cow based on ALMA, VLT/MUSE and HST/WFC3 observations. A prominent molecular concentration of 6 ($\pm$ 1) $\times$ 10$^6$ $M_\odot$ is found in the vicinity of AT2018cow, which has given rise to two active star-forming complexes with ages of 4 $\pm$ 1 Myr and $\lesssim$2.5 Myr, respectively. Each star-forming complex has a stellar mass of 3 $\times$ 10$^5$ $M_\odot$ and has photoionized a giant H II region with H$\alpha$ luminosity even comparable to that of the 30 Dor mini-starburst region. AT2018cow is spatially coincident with one of the star-forming complexes; however, it is most likely to reside in its foreground since it has a much smaller extinction than the complex. Its progenitor could have been formed at an earlier epoch in this area; if it were from a major star-forming event, the non-detection of the associated stellar population constrains the progenitor's age to be $\gtrsim$10 Myr and initial mass to be $\lesssim$ 20 $M_\odot$. We further find the late-time brightness of AT2018cow is unlikely to be a stellar object. Its brightness has slightly declined from 2 yr to 4 yr after explosion and is most likely to originate from AT2018cow itself due to some powering mechanism still working at such late times.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, submitted to MNRA