27 research outputs found
The GFCAT: a catalog of ultraviolet variables observed by GALEX with sub-minute resolution
We have performed the first systematic search of the full GALEX data archive
for astrophysical variability on timescales of seconds to minutes by rebinning
data across the whole mission to 30-second time resolution. The result is the
GALEX Flare Catalog (GFCAT) which describes 1426 ultraviolet variable sources,
including stellar flares, eclipsing binaries, Scuti and RR Lyrae
variables, and Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). Many of these sources have never
previously been identified as variable. We have also assembled a table of
observations of ultraviolet flares and accompanying statistics and
measurements, including energies, and of candidate eclipsing stars. This effort
was enabled by a significantly-enhanced version of the gPhoton software for
analyzing time-domain GALEX data; this gPhoton2 package is available to support
follow-on efforts.Comment: accepted in ApJS; data available as a MAST High Level Science Product
via https://dx.doi.org/10.17909/8d57-169
New Time-Resolved, Multi-Band Flares In The GJ 65 System With gPhoton
Characterizing the distribution of flare properties and occurrence rates is
important for understanding habitability of M dwarf exoplanets. The GALEX space
telescope observed the GJ 65 system, composed of the active, flaring M stars BL
Cet and UV Cet, for 15900 seconds (~4.4 hours) in two ultraviolet bands. The
contrast in flux between flares and the photospheres of cool stars is maximized
at ultraviolet wavelengths, and GJ 65 is the brightest and nearest flaring M
dwarf system with significant GALEX coverage. It therefore represents the best
opportunity to measure low energy flares with GALEX. We construct high cadence
light curves from calibrated photon events and find 13 new flare events with
NUV energies ranging from 10^28.5 - 10^29.5 ergs and recover one previously
reported flare with an energy of 10^31 ergs. The newly reported flares are
among the smallest M dwarf flares observed in the ultraviolet with sufficient
time resolution to discern light curve morphology. The estimated flare
frequency at these low energies is consistent with extrapolation from the
distributions of higher-energy flares on active M dwarfs measured by other
surveys. The largest flare in our sample is bright enough to exceed the local
non-linearity threshold of the GALEX detectors, which precludes color analysis.
However, we detect quasi-periodic pulsations (QPP) during this flare in both
the FUV and NUV bands at a period of ~50 seconds, which we interpret as a
modulation of the flare's chromospheric thermal emission through periodic
triggering of reconnection by external MHD oscillations in the corona.Comment: 22 pages, 20 figures, Jupyter Python notebooks to reproduce figures
and tables available on GitHub at
https://github.com/MillionConcepts/gfcat_gj6
A search for rapidly pulsating hot subdwarf stars in the GALEX survey
NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) provided near- and far-UV
observations for approximately 77 percent of the sky over a ten-year period;
however, the data reduction pipeline initially only released single NUV and FUV
images to the community. The recently released Python module gPhoton changes
this, allowing calibrated time-series aperture photometry to be extracted
easily from the raw GALEX data set. Here we use gPhoton to generate light
curves for all hot subdwarf B (sdB) stars that were observed by GALEX, with the
intention of identifying short-period, p-mode pulsations. We find that the
spacecraft's short visit durations, uneven gaps between visits, and dither
pattern make the detection of hot subdwarf pulsations difficult. Nonetheless,
we detect UV variations in four previously known pulsating targets and report
their UV pulsation amplitudes and frequencies. Additionally, we find that
several other sdB targets not previously known to vary show promising signals
in their periodograms. Using optical follow-up photometry with the Skynet
Robotic Telescope Network, we confirm p-mode pulsations in one of these
targets, LAMOST J082517.99+113106.3, and report it as the most recent addition
to the sdBVr class of variable stars.Comment: 11 Pages, 8 Figures, Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Extending Optical Flare Models to the UV: Results from Comparing of TESS and GALEX Flare Observations For M Dwarfs
The ultraviolet (UV) emission of stellar flares may have a pivotal role in
the habitability of rocky exoplanets around low-mass stars. Previous studies
have used white-light observations to calibrate empirical models which describe
the optical and UV flare emission. However, the accuracy of the UV predictions
of models have previously not been tested. We combined TESS optical and GALEX
UV observations to test the UV predictions of empirical flare models calibrated
using optical flare rates of M stars. We find that the canonical 9000 K
blackbody model used by flare studies underestimates the GALEX NUV energies of
field age M stars by up to a factor of 6.50.7 and the GALEX FUV energies
of fully convective field age M stars by 30.610.0. We calculated energy
correction factors that can be used to bring the UV predictions of flare models
closer in line with observations. We calculated pseudo-continuum flare
temperatures that describe both the white-light and GALEX NUV emission. We
measured a temperature of 10,700 K for flares from fully convective M stars
after accounting for the contribution from UV line emission. We also applied
our correction factors to the results of previous studies of the role of flares
in abiogenesis. Our results show that M stars do not need to be as active as
previously thought in order to provide the NUV flux required for prebiotic
chemistry, however we note that flares will also provide more FUV flux than
previously modelled.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in the
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ
The GALEX View of "Boyajian's Star" (KIC 8462852)
The enigmatic star KIC 8462852, informally known as "Boyajian's Star", has
exhibited unexplained variability from both short timescale (days) dimming
events, and years-long fading in the Kepler mission. No single physical
mechanism has successfully explained these observations to date. Here we
investigate the ultraviolet variability of KIC 8462852 on a range of timescales
using data from the GALEX mission that occurred contemporaneously with the
Kepler mission. The wide wavelength baseline between the Kepler and GALEX data
provides a unique constraint on the nature of the variability. Using 1600
seconds of photon-counting data from four GALEX visits spread over 70 days in
2011, we find no coherent NUV variability in the system on 10-100 second or
months timescales. Comparing the integrated flux from these 2011 visits to the
2012 NUV flux published in the GALEX-CAUSE Kepler survey, we find a 3% decrease
in brightness for KIC 8462852. We find this level of variability is
significant, but not necessarily unusual for stars of similar spectral type in
the GALEX data. This decrease coincides with the secular optical fading
reported by Montet & Simon (2016). We find the multi-wavelength variability is
somewhat inconsistent with typical interstellar dust absorption, but instead
favors a R = 5.0 0.9 reddening law potentially from circumstellar
dust.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, ApJ Accepte
Concert recording 2015-11-30
[Track 01]. Danza brasiliera / Jorge Morel -- [Track 02]. Sunburst / Andrew York -- [Track 03]. Ladron broma / Chase Chamberlin -- [Track 04]. Etudes 1, 2, & 3 / Matteo Carcassi -- [Track 05]. Invitation / Bronislaw Kaper -- [Track 06]. Ami etude / Ferdinando Carulli -- Variation (slur study) / Mauro Giuliani -- [Track 07]. Tango / Isaac Albeniz -- [Track 08]. Invention no. 8 / J.S. Bach -- [Track 09]. Don\u27t get around much anymore / Duke Ellington -- [Track 10]. Turnaround / Omette Coleman -- [Track 11]. Julia Florida / Augustin Barrios -- [Track 12]. Estudio 9 / Fernando Sor -- [Track 13]. Billie\u27s bounce / C. Parker -- [Track 14]. Emily / J. Mandel -- [Track 15]. Lagrima, Adelita / F. Tarrega
OpenPlanetary, an "umbrella" non-profit organisation for open planetary science communities
OpenPlanetary, or simply "OP", is an international non-profit organisation that promotes open research in the planetary science and exploration communities: sharing ideas and collaborating on planetary research and data analysis problems, new challenges, and opportunities.
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Mastcam multispectral database from the Curiosity rover’s traverse in the Gale crater, Mars (sols 2302-3672)
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover has continued to explore the lower strata of Mt. Sharp in Gale Crater. Evidence for fluvial, lacustrine, and aeolian paleoenvironments has been found by multiple instruments. Curiosity’s multispectral imaging instrument, Mast Camera (Mastcam), is able to collect reflectance data covering visible to near-infrared wavelengths from 445 nm to 1013 nm. The primary control on Mastcam multispectral variability is the presence and amount of iron oxides. However, Mastcam can still make broad interpretations regarding mineralogy and diagenesis, especially when used in tandem with other instruments. This dataset includes Mastcam spectra from 266 observations, collected from sols 2302 to 3672 in Glen Torridon, Greenheugh pediment, and the clay-sulfate transition. Geologic metadata, like the type of rock surface and its position in stratigraphy, is included with each spectrum in the database, as well as image products (decorrelation and enhanced color stretches) that aided in our analyses, and context images that show where the spectra were extracted from