483 research outputs found
Observations of the Prompt Gamma-Ray Emission of GRB 070125
The long, bright gamma-ray burst GRB 070125 was localized by the
Interplanetary Network. We present light curves of the prompt gamma-ray
emission as observed by Konus-WIND, RHESSI, Suzaku-WAM, and \textit{Swift}-BAT.
We detail the results of joint spectral fits with Konus and RHESSI data. The
burst shows moderate hard-to-soft evolution in its multi-peaked emission over a
period of about one minute. The total burst fluence as observed by Konus is
erg/cm (20 keV--10 MeV). Using the spectroscopic
redshift , we find that the burst is consistent with the ``Amati''
correlation. Assuming a jet opening angle derived from
broadband modeling of the burst afterglow, GRB 070125 is a significant outlier
to the ``Ghirlanda'' correlation. Its
collimation-corrected energy release ergs is
the largest yet observed.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ. Improved
spectral fits and energetics estimate
Discovery of 36 eclipsing EL CVn binaries found by the Palomar Transient Factory
We report the discovery and analysis of 36 new eclipsing EL CVn-type
binaries, consisting of a core helium-composition pre-white dwarf and an
early-type main-sequence companion, more than doubling the known population of
these systems. We have used supervised machine learning methods to search 0.8
million lightcurves from the Palomar Transient Factory, combined with SDSS,
Pan-STARRS and 2MASS colours. The new systems range in orbital periods from
0.46-3.8 d and in apparent brightness from ~14-16 mag in the PTF or
filters. For twelve of the systems, we obtained radial velocity
curves with the Intermediate Dispersion Spectrograph at the Isaac Newton
Telescope. We modelled the lightcurves, radial velocity curves and spectral
energy distributions to determine the system parameters. The radii (0.3-0.7
) and effective temperatures (8000-17000 K) of the
pre-He-WDs are consistent with stellar evolution models, but the masses
(0.12-0.28 ) show more variance than models predicted. This
study shows that using machine learning techniques on large synoptic survey
data is a powerful way to discover substantial samples of binary systems in
short-lived evolutionary stages
Identification of Stellar Flares Using Differential Evolution Template Optimization
We explore methods for the identification of stellar flare events in
irregularly sampled data of ground-based time domain surveys. In particular, we
describe a new technique for identifying flaring stars, which we have
implemented in a publicly available Python module called "PyVAN". The approach
uses the Differential Evolution algorithm to optimize parameters of empirically
derived light-curve templates for different types of stars to fit a candidate
light-curve. The difference of the likelihoods that these best-fit templates
produced the observed data is then used to delineate targets that are well
explained by a flare template but simultaneously poorly explained by templates
of common contaminants. By testing on light-curves of known identity and
morphology, we show that our technique is capable of recovering flaring status
in of all light-curves containing a flare event above thresholds drawn
to include of any contaminant population. By applying to Palomar
Transient Factory data, we show consistency with prior samples of flaring
stars, and identify a small selection of candidate flaring G-type stars for
possible follow-up.Comment: 15 figures, 24 page
A Pilot Search for Gravitational Self-Lensing Binaries with the Zwicky Transient Facility
Binary systems containing a compact object may exhibit periodic brightening
episodes due to gravitational lensing as the compact object transits the
companion star. Such "self-lensing" signatures have been detected before for
white dwarf binaries. We attempt to use these signatures to identify detached
stellar-mass neutron star and black hole binaries using data from the Zwicky
Transient Facility (ZTF). We present a systematic search for self-lensing
signals in Galactic binaries from a subset of high-cadence ZTF data taken in
2018. We identify 19 plausible candidates from the search, although because
each candidate is observed to only brighten once, other origins such as stellar
flares are more likely. We discuss prospects for more comprehensive future
searches of the ZTF data.Comment: 12 pages. Submitted to the Open Journal of Astrophysic
Experimental and Theoretical Cross Sections for Molecular-frame Electron-impact Excitation-ionization of D₂
We present both experimental and theoretical results for the dissociative ionization of D2 molecules induced by electron impact. Cross sections are determined in the molecular frame and are fully differential in the energies and emission angles of the dissociation fragments. Transitions are considered from the X1Σg+ electronic ground state of D2 to the 2sσg, 2pπu and 2pσu excited states of D2+. The experimental results are compared to calculations performed within the molecular four-body distorted-wave framework to describe the multicenter nature of the scattering process. The cross sections reveal a dramatic dependence on both the alignment of the internuclear axis with respect to the direction of the projectile momentum and on the symmetry of the excited dissociating state which is energetically resolved
Zwicky Transient Facility constraints on the optical emission from the nearby repeating FRB 180916.J0158+65
The discovery rate of fast radio bursts (FRBs) is increasing dramatically
thanks to new radio facilities. Meanwhile, wide-field instruments such as the
47 deg Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) survey the optical sky to study
transient and variable sources. We present serendipitous ZTF observations of
the CHIME repeating source FRB 180916.J0158+65, that was localized to a spiral
galaxy 149 Mpc away and is the first FRB suggesting periodic modulation in its
activity. While 147 ZTF exposures corresponded to expected high-activity
periods of this FRB, no single ZTF exposure was at the same time as a CHIME
detection. No optical source was found at the FRB location in 683
ZTF exposures, totalling 5.69 hours of integration time. We combined ZTF upper
limits and expected repetitions from FRB 180916.J0158+65 in a statistical
framework using a Weibull distribution, agnostic of periodic modulation priors.
The analysis yielded a constraint on the ratio between the optical and radio
fluences of , corresponding to an optical energy erg for a fiducial 10 Jy ms FRB (90%
confidence). A deeper (but less statistically robust) constraint of can be placed assuming a rate of Jy ms)= hr and
FRB occurring during exposures taken in high-activity windows. The
constraint can be improved with shorter per-image exposures and longer
integration time, or observing FRBs at higher Galactic latitudes. This work
demonstrated how current surveys can statistically constrain multi-wavelength
counterparts to FRBs even without deliberately scheduled simultaneous radio
observation.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJL, 9 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
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