The Ongoing Battle to End the Gender Pay Gap in the World of Professional Tennis, Basketball, and Soccer and How the Media Remains the Underlying Issue

If you were to Google the following question, “Which tennis player spent the most time ranked number one?” You would be presented with a list of articles highlighting Novak Djokovic’s tennis career and crowning him with the title of longest time spent at the number one position in professional tennis. As of the end of February 2023, Novak Djokovic has held the number one position for 377 consecutive weeks. Interestingly enough, if you were to also Google “How many weeks was Steffi Graf ranked number one?” You would find that during Steffi Graf’s professional tennis career, she also held the number one position in professional tennis for 377 consecutive weeks––a title that Djokovic has only recently accomplished. If you were to Google, again, “Which soccer teams have won the most world cups?” You would be presented with articles only referencing men’s soccer. In fact, you would have to conduct an entirely separate Google search including the words “female” or “women” to find any articles on women’s soccer. None of the above search questions involved any reference to male sports or athletes, yet Google first fed the searcher information directed solely to the male gender. This is a prime example of how the media remains the underlying issue for the gender disparities within professional athletics. This Note addresses the impact that male-domination in the sports and media industries has on the financial opportunities available to female professional athletes. Specifically, this Note provides a thorough analysis of how the media continues to widen the gender pay gap in professional tennis, basketball, and soccer by promoting outdated gender norms that ultimately hinder female athletes’ ability to gain equal opportunities for media coverage, sponsorships, endorsements, and more. The lack of gender equity within the sports and media industries has serious consequences for female professional athletes, and there is a call for major policy changes as a result. This Note not only provides an explanation of the legal remedies available to female athletes facing discrimination, but also proposes a policy change that could help narrow the pay gap by providing female athletes with more opportunities for media coverage

The perturbed sublimation rim of the dust disk around the post-AGB binary IRAS08544-4431

Context: Post-Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) binaries are surrounded by stable dusty and gaseous disks similar to the ones around young stellar objects. Whereas significant effort is spent on modeling observations of disks around young stellar objects, the disks around post-AGB binaries receive significantly less attention, even though they pose significant constraints on theories of disk physics and binary evolution. Aims: We want to examine the structure of and phenomena at play in circumbinary disks around post-AGB stars. We continue the analysis of our near-infrared interferometric image of the inner rim of the circumbinary disk around IRAS08544-4431. We want to understand the physics governing this inner disk rim. Methods: We use a radiative transfer model of a dusty disk to reproduce simultaneously the photometry as well as the near-infrared interferometric dataset on IRAS08544-4431. The model assumes hydrostatic equilibrium and takes dust settling self-consistently into account. Results: The best-fit radiative transfer model shows excellent agreement with the spectral energy distribution up to mm wavelengths as well as with the PIONIER visibility data. It requires a rounded inner rim structure, starting at a radius of 8.25 au. However, the model does not fully reproduce the detected over-resolved flux nor the azimuthal flux distribution of the inner rim. While the asymmetric inner disk rim structure is likely to be the consequence of disk-binary interactions, the origin of the additional over-resolved flux remains unclear. Conclusions: As in young stellar objects, the disk inner rim of IRAS08544-4431 is ruled by dust sublimation physics. Additional observations are needed to understand the origin of the extended flux and the azimuthal perturbation at the inner rim of the disk.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 13 figures, 13 page

Imaging the dust sublimation front of a circumbinary disk

We present the first near-IR milli-arcsecond-scale image of a post-AGB binary that is surrounded by hot circumbinary dust. A very rich interferometric data set in six spectral channels was acquired of IRAS08544-4431 with the new RAPID camera on the PIONIER beam combiner at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). A broadband image in the \textit{H} band was reconstructed by combining the data of all spectral channels using the SPARCO method. We spatially separate all the building blocks of the IRAS08544-4431 system in our milliarcsecond-resolution image. Our dissection reveals a dust sublimation front that is strikingly similar to that expected in early-stage protoplanetary disks, as well as an unexpected flux signal of $\sim$4\% from the secondary star. The energy output from this companion indicates the presence of a compact circum-companion accretion disk, which is likely the origin of the fast outflow detected in H$\alpha$. Our image provides the most detailed view into the heart of a dusty circumstellar disk to date. Our results demonstrate that binary evolution processes and circumstellar disk evolution can be studied in detail in space and over time.Comment: PR @ http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1608

Multi-wavelength VLTI study of the puffed-up inner rim of a circumbinary disc

The presence of stable, compact circumbinary discs of gas and dust around post-asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) binary systems has been well established. We focus on one such system: IRAS 08544-4431. We present an interferometric multi-wavelength analysis of the circumstellar environment of IRAS 08544-4431. The aim is to constrain different contributions to the total flux in the H, K, L, and N-bands in the radial direction. The data from VLTI/PIONIER, VLTI/GRAVITY, and VLTI/MATISSE range from the near-infrared, where the post-AGB star dominates, to the mid-infrared, where the disc dominates. We fitted two geometric models to the visibility data to reproduce the circumbinary disc: a ring with a Gaussian width and a flat disc model with a temperature gradient. The flux contributions from the disc, the primary star (modelled as a point-source), and an over-resolved component are recovered along with the radial size of the emission, the temperature of the disc as a function of radius, and the spectral dependencies of the different components. The trends of all visibility data were well reproduced with the geometric models. The near-infrared data were best fitted with a Gaussian ring model while the mid-infrared data favoured a temperature gradient model. This implies that a vertical structure is present at the disc inner rim, which we attribute to a rounded puffed-up inner rim. The N-to-K size ratio is 2.8, referring to a continuous flat source, analogues to young stellar objects. By combining optical interferometric instruments operating at different wavelengths we can resolve the complex structure of circumstellar discs and study the wavelength-dependent opacity profile. A detailed radial, vertical, and azimuthal structural analysis awaits a radiative transfer treatment in 3D to capture all non-radial complexity.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in A&A Letter

Imaging Young Stellar Objects with VLTi/PIONIER

Contains fulltext : 127869.pdf (preprint version ) (Open Access

Sparse aperture masking interferometry survey of transitional discs: Search for substellar-mass companions and asymmetries in their parent discs

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from EDP Sciences via the DOI in this record.Context. Transitional discs are a class of circumstellar discs around young stars with extensive clearing of dusty material within their inner regions on 10s of au scales. One of the primary candidates for this kind of clearing is the formation of planet(s) within the disc that then accrete or clear their immediate area as they migrate through the disc. Aims. The goal of this survey was to search for asymmetries in the brightness distribution around a selection of transitional disc targets. We then aimed to determine whether these asymmetries trace dynamically-induced structures in the disc or the gap-opening planets themselves. Methods. Our sample included eight transitional discs. Using the Keck/NIRC2 instrument we utilised the Sparse Aperture Masking (SAM) interferometry technique to search for asymmetries indicative of ongoing planet formation. We searched for close-in companions using both model fitting and interferometric image reconstruction techniques. Using simulated data, we derived diagnostics that helped us to distinguish between point sources and extended asymmetric disc emission. In addition, we investigated the degeneracy between the contrast and separation that appear for marginally resolved companions. Results. We found FP Tau to contain a previously unseen disc wall, and DM Tau, LkHα330, and TW Hya to contain an asymmetric signal indicative of point source-like emission. We placed upper limits on the contrast of a companion in RXJ1842.9-3532 and V2246 Oph. We ruled the asymmetry signal in RXJ1615.3-3255 and V2062 Oph to be false positives. In the cases where our data indicated a potential companion we computed estimates for the value of McM˙ c and found values in the range of 10−5 − 10−3M2 J yr−1 . Conclusions. We found significant asymmetries in four targets. Of these, three were consistent with companions. We resolved a previously unseen gap in the disc of FP Tau extending inwards from approximately 10 au.We acknowledge support from a STFC Rutherford Fellowship and Grant (ST/J004030/1, ST/K003445/1), Marie Sklodowska-Curie CIG grant (Ref. 618910), and Philip Leverhulme Prize (PLP-2013-110). We additionally acknowledge support from NASA KPDA grants (JPL-1452321, 1474717, 1485953, 1496788). The authors wish to recognise and acknowledge the very significant cultural role and reverence that the summit of Mauna Kea has always had within the indigenous Hawaiian community. We are most fortunate to have the opportunity to conduct observations from this mountain. Some of the data presented herein were obtained at the W.M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W.M. Keck Foundatio

High Angular Resolution and Young Stellar Objects: Imaging the Surroundings of MWC 158 by Optical Interferometry

This book is a collection of 19 articles which reflect the courses given at the Collège de France/Summer school “Reconstruction d'images − Applications astrophysiques“ held in Nice and Fréjus, France, from June 18 to 22, 2012. The articles presented in this volume address emerging concepts and methods that are useful in the complex process of improving our knowledge of the celestial objects, including Earth

Sparse aperture masking interferometry survey of transitional discs. Search for substellar-mass companions and asymmetries in their parent discs

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from EDP Sciences via the DOI in this record.Context. Transitional discs are a class of circumstellar discs around young stars with extensive clearing of dusty material within their inner regions on 10s of au scales. One of the primary candidates for this kind of clearing is the formation of planet(s) within the disc that then accrete or clear their immediate area as they migrate through the disc. Aims. The goal of this survey was to search for asymmetries in the brightness distribution around a selection of transitional disc targets. We then aimed to determine whether these asymmetries trace dynamically-induced structures in the disc or the gap-opening planets themselves. Methods. Our sample included eight transitional discs. Using the Keck/NIRC2 instrument we utilised the Sparse Aperture Masking (SAM) interferometry technique to search for asymmetries indicative of ongoing planet formation. We searched for close-in companions using both model fitting and interferometric image reconstruction techniques. Using simulated data, we derived diagnostics that helped us to distinguish between point sources and extended asymmetric disc emission. In addition, we investigated the degeneracy between the contrast and separation that appear for marginally resolved companions. Results. We found FP Tau to contain a previously unseen disc wall, and DM Tau, LkHα330, and TW Hya to contain an asymmetric signal indicative of point source-like emission. We placed upper limits on the contrast of a companion in RXJ 1842.9-3532 and V2246 Oph. We ruled the asymmetry signal in RXJ 1615.3-3255 and V2062 Oph to be false positives. In the cases where our data indicated a potential companion we computed estimates for the value of McṀc and found values in the range of 10−5−10−3 M2J yr−1. Conclusions. We found significant asymmetries in four targets. Of these, three were consistent with companions. We resolved a previously unseen gap in the disc of FP Tau extending inwards from approximately 10 au.We acknowledge support from a STFC Rutherford Fellowship and Grant (ST/J004030/1, ST/K003445/1), Marie Sklodowska-Curie CIG grant (Ref. 618910), and Philip Leverhulme Prize (PLP-2013-110). We additionally acknowledge support from NASA KPDA grants (JPL-1452321, 1474717, 1485953, 1496788). The authors wish to recognise and acknowledge the very significant cultural role and reverence that the summit of Mauna Kea has always had within the indigenous Hawaiian community. We are most fortunate to have the opportunity to conduct observations from this mountain. Some of the data presented herein were obtained at the W.M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W.M. Keck Foundation

A high-mass protobinary system with spatially resolved circumstellar accretion disks and circumbinary disk

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from American Astronomical Society via the DOI in this record.High-mass multiples might form via fragmentation of self-gravitational disks or alternative scenarios such as disk-assisted capture. However, only few observational constraints exist on the architecture and disk structure of high-mass protobinaries and their accretion properties. Here we report the discovery of a close (57.9 ± 0.2mas=170au) high-mass protobinary, IRAS17216-3801, where our VLTI/GRAVITY+AMBER near-infrared interferometry allows us to image the circumstellar disks around the individual components with 3milliarcsecond resolution. We estimate the component masses to 20 and 18M⊙ and find that the radial intensity profiles can be reproduced with an irradiated disk model, where the inner regions are excavated of dust, likely tracing the dust sublimation region in these disks. The circumstellar disks are strongly misaligned with respect to the binary separation vector, which indicates that the tidal forces did not have time to realign the disks, pointing towards a young dynamical age of the system. We constrain the distribution of the Br and CO-emitting gas using VLTI/GRAVITY spectro-interferometry and VLT/CRIRES spectro-astrometry and find that the secondary is accreting at a higher rate than the primary. VLT/NACO imaging shows L′-band emission on 3 − 4× larger scales than the binary separation, matching the expected dynamical truncation radius for the circumbinary disk. The IRAS17216-3801 system is 3× more massive and 5× more compact than other high-mass multiplies imaged at infrared wavelengths and the first high-mass protobinary system where circumstellar and circumbinary dust disks could be spatially resolved. This opens exciting new opportunities for studying star-disk interactions and the role of multiplicity in high-mass star formation.We thank the GRAVITY consortium and the Science Verification team, which is composed of ESO employees and GRAVITY consortium members (https://www.eso.org/sci/activities/vltsv/gravitysv.html). We acknowledge support from an STFC Rutherford fellowship/grant (ST/J004030/1, ST/K003445/1), Marie Sklodowska-Curie CIG grant (#618910), Philip Leverhulme prize (PLP-2013-110), and ERC Starting grant (Grant Agreement #639889)