250 research outputs found
Biperiodic superlattices and the transparent state
Coquelin et al. studied biperiodic semiconductor superlattices, which consist
of alternating cell types, one with wide wells and the other narrow wells,
separated by equal strength barriers. If the wells were identical, it would be
a simply periodic system of half-cells. When asymmetry is introduced,
an allowed band splits at the Bragg point into two disjoint allowed bands. The
Bragg resonance turns into a transparent state located close to the band edge
of the lower(upper) band when the first(second) well is the wider. Analysis of
this system gives insight into how band splitting occurs. Further we consider
semi-periodic systems having half-cells. Surprisingly these have very
different transmission properties, with an envelope of maximum transmission
probability that crosses the envelope of minima at the transparent point.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures Version 2: improved figures using colour, and
some small improvements in the text, in response to referee comments Version
3: incorporates changes which arose in proofs stag
The Interplanetary Network Supplement to the BeppoSAX Gamma-Ray Burst Catalogs
Between 1996 July and 2002 April, one or more spacecraft of the
interplanetary network detected 787 cosmic gamma-ray bursts that were also
detected by the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor and/or Wide-Field X-Ray Camera
experiments aboard the BeppoSAX spacecraft. During this period, the network
consisted of up to six spacecraft, and using triangulation, the localizations
of 475 bursts were obtained. We present the localization data for these events.Comment: 89 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to the Astrophysical Journal
Supplement Serie
The K2 & TESS Synergy II: Revisiting 26 systems in the TESS Primary Mission
The legacy of NASA's K2 mission has provided hundreds of transiting
exoplanets that can be revisited by new and future facilities for further
characterization, with a particular focus on studying the atmospheres of these
systems. However, the majority of K2-discovered exoplanets have typical
uncertainties on future times of transit within the next decade of greater than
four hours, making observations less practical for many upcoming facilities.
Fortunately, NASA's Transiting exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission is
reobserving most of the sky, providing the opportunity to update the
ephemerides for 300 K2 systems. In the second paper of this series, we
reanalyze 26 single-planet, K2-discovered systems that were observed in the
TESS primary mission by globally fitting their K2 and TESS lightcurves
(including extended mission data where available), along with any archival
radial velocity measurements. As a result of the faintness of the K2 sample, 13
systems studied here do not have transits detectable by TESS. In those cases,
we re-fit the K2 lightcurve and provide updated system parameters. For the 23
systems with , we determine the host star parameters
using a combination of Gaia parallaxes, Spectral Energy Distribution (SED)
fits, and MESA Isochrones and Stellar Tracks (MIST) stellar evolution models.
Given the expectation of future TESS extended missions, efforts like the K2 &
TESS Synergy project will ensure the accessibility of transiting planets for
future characterization while leading to a self-consistent catalog of stellar
and planetary parameters for future population efforts.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 29 pages, 9 figures, 12 table
Science Extraction from TESS Observations of Known Exoplanet Hosts
The transit method of exoplanet discovery and characterization has enabled
numerous breakthroughs in exoplanetary science. These include measurements of
planetary radii, mass-radius relationships, stellar obliquities, bulk density
constraints on interior models, and transmission spectroscopy as a means to
study planetary atmospheres. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)
has added to the exoplanet inventory by observing a significant fraction of the
celestial sphere, including many stars already known to host exoplanets. Here
we describe the science extraction from TESS observations of known exoplanet
hosts during the primary mission. These include transit detection of known
exoplanets, discovery of additional exoplanets, detection of phase signatures
and secondary eclipses, transit ephemeris refinement, and asteroseismology as a
means to improve stellar and planetary parameters. We provide the statistics of
TESS known host observations during Cycle 1 & 2, and present several examples
of TESS photometry for known host stars observed with a long baseline. We
outline the major discoveries from observations of known hosts during the
primary mission. Finally, we describe the case for further observations of
known exoplanet hosts during the TESS extended mission and the expected science
yield.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in PAS
IPN localizations of Konus short gamma-ray bursts
Between the launch of the \textit{GGS Wind} spacecraft in 1994 November and
the end of 2010, the Konus-\textit{Wind} experiment detected 296 short-duration
gamma-ray bursts (including 23 bursts which can be classified as short bursts
with extended emission). During this period, the IPN consisted of up to eleven
spacecraft, and using triangulation, the localizations of 271 bursts were
obtained. We present the most comprehensive IPN localization data on these
events. The short burst detection rate, 18 per year, exceeds that of many
individual experiments.Comment: Published versio
TESS Discovery of an ultra-short-period planet around the nearby M dwarf LHS 3844
Data from the newly-commissioned \textit{Transiting Exoplanet Survey
Satellite} (TESS) has revealed a "hot Earth" around LHS 3844, an M dwarf
located 15 pc away. The planet has a radius of and
orbits the star every 11 hours. Although the existence of an atmosphere around
such a strongly irradiated planet is questionable, the star is bright enough
(, ) for this possibility to be investigated with transit and
occultation spectroscopy. The star's brightness and the planet's short period
will also facilitate the measurement of the planet's mass through Doppler
spectroscopy.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to ApJ Letters. This letter makes use
of the TESS Alert data, which is currently in a beta test phase, using data
from the pipelines at the TESS Science Office and at the TESS Science
Processing Operations Cente
A new analysis of the short-duration, hard-spectrum GRB 051103, a possible extragalactic soft gamma repeater giant flare
GRB 051103 is considered to be a candidate soft gamma repeater (SGR) extragalactic giant magnetar flare by virtue of its proximity on the sky to M81/M82, as well as its time history, localization and energy spectrum. We have derived a refined interplanetary network localization for this burst which reduces the size of the error box by over a factor of 2. We examine its time history for evidence of a periodic component, which would be one signature of an SGR giant flare, and conclude that this component is neither detected nor detectable under reasonable assumptions. We analyse the time-resolved energy spectra of this event with improved time and energy resolution, and conclude that although the spectrum is very hard its temporal evolution at late times cannot be determined, which further complicates the giant flare association. We also present new optical observations reaching limiting magnitudes of R > 24.5, about 4-mag deeper than previously reported. In tandem with serendipitous observations of M81 taken immediately before and 1 month after the burst, these place strong constraints on any rapidly variable sources in the region of the refined error ellipse proximate to M81. We do not find any convincing afterglow candidates from either background galaxies or sources in M81, although within the refined error region we do locate two UV bright star-forming regions which may host SGRs. A supernova remnant (SNR) within the error ellipse could provide further support for an SGR giant flare association, but we were unable to identify any SNR within the error ellipse. These data still do not allow strong constraints on the nature of the GRB 051103 progenitor, and suggest that candidate extragalactic SGR giant flares will be difficult, although not impossible, to confir
The Faint Optical Afterglow and Host Galaxy of GRB 020124: Implications for the Nature of Dark Gamma-Ray Bursts
We present ground-based optical observations of GRB 020124 starting 1.6 hours
after the burst, as well as subsequent Very Large Array (VLA) and Hubble Space
Telescope (HST) observations. The optical afterglow of GRB 020124 is one of the
faintest afterglows detected to date, and it exhibits a relatively rapid decay,
, followed by further steepening. In addition,
a weak radio source was found coincident with the optical afterglow. The HST
observations reveal that a positionally coincident host galaxy must be the
faintest host to date, R>29.5 mag. The afterglow observations can be explained
by several models requiring little or no extinction within the host galaxy,
A_V~0-0.9 mag. These observations have significant implications for the
statistics of the so-called dark bursts (bursts for which no optical afterglow
is detected), which are usually attributed to dust extinction within the host
galaxy. The faintness and relatively rapid decay of the afterglow of GRB
020124, combined with the low inferred extinction indicate that some dark
bursts are intrinsically dim and not dust obscured. Thus, the diversity in the
underlying properties of optical afterglows must be observationally determined
before substantive inferences can be drawn from the statistics of dark bursts.Comment: Submitted to ApJ; 13 pages; 4 tables; 5 figure
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