Study of X-ray emission from the old open cluster, M67

We present an X-ray analysis of a 4 Gyr old open cluster, M67, using archival XMM-Newton data. The aim of this study was to find new X-ray members of M67, and to use the updated member list for studying X-ray variability, and derive the X-ray luminosity functions (XLFs) of different stellar types and compare them with other star clusters of similar age. We report the detection of X-ray emission from 25 members of M67, with membership based primarily on their proper motion, of which one X-ray source is a new member. Supplementing this study with previous ROSAT and Chandra studies of M67, and using the most recent proper motion study by Vereshchagin et al., we have compiled a revised list of X-ray emitting members of M67 consisting of 43 stars. Sixteen of these are known RS CVn type binaries having orbital periods $<$ 10 days, and near-circular orbits, 5 are contact binaries with orbital periods $<$ 6 hours, 5 are yellow and blue stragglers, 2 are Algol-type binaries, and one source is a cataclysmic variable. Fourteen members do not have any orbital information and cannot be classified. Fourteen of the X-ray sources detected do not have any optical counterpart down to a magnitude of $V\simeq22$, and their membership is uncertain. Finally, we report the X-ray luminosity functions of RS CVn type and other types of stars in M67 and compare them with other open clusters of intermediate-to-old age.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

A GMRT 150 MHz search for variables and transients in Stripe 82

We have carried out a dedicated transient survey of 300 deg2 of the SDSS Stripe 82 region using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) at 150 MHz. Our multi-epoch observations, together with the TGSS survey, allow us to probe variability and transient activity on four different time-scales, beginning with 4 h and up to 4 yr. Data calibration, RFI flagging, source finding, and transient search were carried out in a semi-automated pipeline incorporating the SPAM recipe. This has enabled us to produce superior-quality images and carry out reliable transient search over the entire survey region in under 48 h post-observation. Among the few thousand unique point sources found in our 5σ single-epoch catalogues (flux density thresholds of about 24, 20, 16, and 18 mJy on the respective time-scales), we find <0.08 per cent, 0.01 per cent, <0.06 per cent, and 0.05 per cent to be variable (beyond a significance of 4σ and fractional variability of 30 per cent) on time-scales of 4 h, 1 d, 1 month, and 4 yr, respectively. This is substantially lower than that in the GHz sky, where ∼1 per cent of the persistent point sources are found to be variable. Although our survey was designed to probe a superior part of the transient phase space, our transient search did not yield any significant candidates. The transient (preferentially extragalactic) rate at 150 MHz is therefore <0.005 on time-scales of 1 month and 4 yr, and <0.002 on time-scales of 1 d and 4 h, beyond 7σ detection threshold. We put these results in perspective with the previous studies and give recommendations for future low-frequency transient surveys

Time-resolved optical/near-IR polarimetry of V404 Cyg during its 2015 outburst

We present optical and near-IR linear polarimetry of V404 Cyg during its 2015 outburst and in quiescence. We obtained time resolved r'-band polarimetry when the source was in outburst, near-IR polarimetry when the source was near quiescence and multiple wave-band optical polarimetry later in quiescence. The optical to near-IR linear polarization spectrum can be described by interstellar dust and an intrinsic variable component. The intrinsic optical polarization, detected during the rise of one of the brightest flares of the outburst, is variable, peaking at 4.5 per cent and decaying to 3.5 per cent. We present several arguments that favour a synchrotron jet origin to this variable polarization, with the optical emission originating close to the jet base. The polarization flare occurs during the initial rise of a major radio flare event that peaks later, and is consistent with a classically evolving synchrotron flare from an ejection event. We conclude that the optical polarization flare represents a jet launching event; the birth of a major ejection. For this event we measure a rather stable polarization position angle of -9 degrees E of N, implying that the magnetic field near the base of the jet is approximately perpendicular to the jet axis. This may be due to the compression of magnetic field lines in shocks in the accelerated plasma, resulting in a partially ordered transverse field that have now been seen during the 2015 outburst. We also find that this ejection occurred at a similar stage in the repetitive cycles of flares.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication by MNRA

Pulsar candidates towards Fermi unassociated sources

We report on a search for steep spectrum radio sources within the 95 per cent confidence error ellipses of the Fermi unassociated sources from the Large Area Telescope (LAT). Using existing catalogues and the newly released Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope all-sky survey at 150 MHz, we identify compact radio sources that are bright at MHz frequencies but faint or absent at GHz frequencies. Such steep spectrum radio sources are rare and constitute a sample of pulsar candidates, selected independently of period, dispersion measure, interstellar scattering and orbital parameters. We find point-like, steep spectrum candidates towards 11 Fermi sources. Based on the gamma-ray/radio positional coincidence, the rarity of such radio sources, and the properties of the 3FGL sources themselves, we argue that many of these sources could be pulsars. They may have been missed by previous radio periodicity searches due to interstellar propagation effects or because they lie in an unusually tight binary. If this hypothesis is correct, then renewed gamma-ray and radio periodicity searches at the positions of the steep spectrum radio sources may reveal pulsations

A mildly relativistic wide-angle outflow in the neutron-star merger event GW170817

GW170817 was the first gravitational wave detection of a binary neutron-star merger. It was accompanied by radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum and localized to the galaxy NGC 4993 at a distance of 40 megaparsecs. It has been proposed that the observed γ-ray, X-ray and radio emission is due to an ultra-relativistic jet launched during the merger, directed away from our line of sight. The presence of such a jet is predicted from models that posit neutron-star mergers as the central engines that drive short hard γ-ray bursts. Here we report that the radio light curve of GW170817 has no direct signature of an off-axis jet afterglow. Although we cannot rule out the existence of a jet pointing elsewhere, the observed γ-rays could not have originated from such a jet. Instead, the radio data require a mildly relativistic wide-angle outflow moving towards us. This outflow could be the high-velocity tail of the neutron-rich material dynamically ejected during the merger or a cocoon of material that breaks out when a jet transfers its energy to the dynamical ejecta. The cocoon model explains the radio light curve of GW170817 as well as the γ-rays and X-rays (possibly also ultraviolet and optical emission), and is therefore the model most consistent with the observational data. Cocoons may be a ubiquitous phenomenon produced in neutron-star mergers, giving rise to a heretofore unidentified population of radio, ultraviolet, X-ray and γ-ray transients in the local Universe

A Case Study of On-the-Fly Wide-Field Radio Imaging Applied to the Gravitational-wave Event GW 151226

We apply a newly-developed On-the-Fly mosaicing technique on the NSF's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) at 3 GHz in order to carry out a sensitive search for an afterglow from the Advanced LIGO binary black hole merger event GW 151226. In three epochs between 1.5 and 6 months post-merger we observed a 100 sq. deg region, with more than 80% of the survey region having a RMS sensitivity of better than 150 uJy/beam, in the northern hemisphere having a merger containment probability of 10%. The data were processed in near-real-time, and analyzed to search for transients and variables. No transients were found but we have demonstrated the ability to conduct blind searches in a time-frequency phase space where the predicted afterglow signals are strongest. If the gravitational wave event is contained within our survey region, the upper limit on any late-time radio afterglow from the merger event at an assumed mean distance of 440 Mpc is about 1e29 erg/s/Hz. Approximately 1.5% of the radio sources in the field showed variability at a level of 30%, and can be attributed to normal activity from active galactic nuclei. The low rate of false positives in the radio sky suggests that wide-field imaging searches at a few Gigahertz can be an efficient and competitive search strategy. We discuss our search method in the context of the recent afterglow detection from GW 170817 and radio follow-up in future gravitational wave observing runs.Comment: 11 pages. 6 figures. 1 table. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Physical properties of z > 4 submillimeter galaxies in the COSMOS field

We investigate the physical properties of a sample of six submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) in the COSMOS field, spectroscopically confirmed to lie at redshifts z> 4. While the redshifts for four of these SMGs were previously known, we present here two newly discovered z_(spec)> 4 SMGs. For our analysis we employ the rich (X-ray to radio) COSMOS multi-wavelength datasets. In particular, we use new data from the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT) 325 MHz and 3 GHz Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to probe the rest-frame 1.4 GHz emission at z = 4, and to estimate the sizes of the star formation regions of these sources, respectively. We find that only oneSMG is clearly resolved at a resolution of 0''̣6 × 0''̣7 at 3 GHz, two may be marginally resolved, while the remaining three SMGs are unresolved at this resolution. Combining this with sizes from high-resolution (sub-)mm observations available in the literature for AzTEC 1 and AzTEC 3 we infer a median radio-emitting size for our z> 4 SMGs of (0''̣63 ± 0''̣12) × (0''̣35 ± 0''̣05) or 4.1 × 2.3 kpc^2 (major × minor axis; assuming z = 4.5) or lower if we take the two marginally resolved SMGs as unresolved. This is consistent with the sizes of star formation regions in lower-redshift SMGs, and local normal galaxies, yet higher than the sizes of star formation regions of local ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). Our SMG sample consists of a fair mix of compact and more clumpy systems with multiple, perhaps merging, components. With an average formation time of ~280 Myr, as derived through modeling of the UV IR spectral energy distributions, the studied SMGs are young systems. The average stellar mass, dust temperature, and IR luminosity we derive are M⋆ ~ 1.4 × 10^(11) M⊙, T_(dust) ~ 43 K, and L_(IR) ~ 1.3 × 10^(13)L⊙, respectively. The average L_(IR) is up to an order of magnitude higher than for SMGs at lower redshifts. Our SMGs follow the correlation between dust temperature and IR luminosity as derived for Herschel-selected 0.1 4 SMGs put them at the high end of the L_(IR)–T_(dust) distribution of SMGs, and that our SMGs form a morphologically heterogeneous sample. Thus, additional in-depth analyses of large, statistical samples of high-redshift SMGs are needed to fully understand their role in galaxy formation and evolution

A GMRT 150 MHz Search for Variables and Transients in Stripe 82

We have carried out a dedicated transient survey of 300 deg$^2$ of the SDSS Stripe 82 region using the Giant Meterwavelength Radio Telescope (GMRT) at 150 MHz. Our multi-epoch observations, together with the TGSS survey, allow us to probe variability and transient activity on four different timescales, beginning with 4 hours, and up to 4 years. Data calibration, RFI flagging, source finding and transient search were carried out in a semi-automated pipeline incorporating the SPAM recipe. This has enabled us to produce superior-quality images and carry out reliable transient search over the entire survey region in under 48 hours post-observation. Among the few thousand unique point sources found in our 5$\sigma$ single-epoch catalogs (flux density thresholds of about 24 mJy, 20 mJy, 16 mJy and 18 mJy on the respective timescales), we find $<$0.08%, 0.01%, $<$0.06% and 0.05% to be variable (beyond a significance of 4$\sigma$ and fractional variability of 30%) on timescales of 4 hours, 1 day, 1 month and 4 years respectively. This is substantially lower than that in the GHz sky, where $\sim$1% of the persistent point sources are found to be variable. Although our survey was designed to probe a superior part of the transient phase space, our transient sources did not yield any significant candidates. The transient (preferentially extragalactic) rate at 150 MHz is therefore $<$0.005 on timescales of 1 month and 4 years, and $<$0.002 on timescales of 1 day and 4 hours, beyond 7$\sigma$ detection threshold. We put these results in the perspective with the previous studies and give recommendations for future low-frequency transient surveys.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures. Published in MNRAS; doi: 10.1093/mnras/stz291