Astrophysics of Galaxies
On the Missing Red Giants near the Galactic Center
Taeho Kim and Jeremy Goodman
There is a long-acknowledged deficiency of bright red
giants relative to fainter old
stars within a few arc seconds of Sgr A*. We explore whether this could be due to
tidal stripping by the central black hole. This requires putting the
stars onto highly eccentric orbits, for which we evaluate
diffusion by both scalar resonant and non-resonant relaxation of the orbital angular momentum. We conclude that
tidal stripping does not discriminate sufficiently between main-sequence and red
giant stars. While the
tidal loss cone increases with
stellar radius, the rate of
diffusion into the loss cone increases only logarithmically, whereas the lifetime on the red
giant branch decreases more rapidly than $R_*^{-1}$. In agreement with previous studies, we find that
stellar collisions are a more likely explanation for the deficiency of bright red
giants relative to fainter ones.
Read the full abstract ▾
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Evolution of the recent high-accretion state of the recurrent nova T CrB: HST, Swift, NuSTAR, and XMM-Newton observations
G. J. M. Luna, N. P. M. Kuin, K. Mukai et al. (+3 more)
As the recurrent nova T Coronae Borealis (T CrB) approaches its next predicted thermonuclear eruption, it is currently exhibiting a "super-active state" (SAS) characterized by enhanced multiwavelength emission similar to the behavior recorded prior to the 1946 outburst. We present a multiwavelength analysis of the SAS and the subsequent "faint state" using observations from HST, Swift, NuSTAR, and XMM-Newton. Our results indicate that the SAS was driven by an increase in the mass
accretion rate, which caused the
accretion disk's boundary layer to become optically thick. A weighted least squares regression analysis quantifies the
evolution of the
accretion components, displaying a highly significant (4.5$\sigma$) increase in the luminosity of the optically thin cooling flow (L$_{cf}$) and a marginal (2.58$\sigma$) decrease in the optically thick boundary layer luminosity (L$_{bb}$) as the system transitioned into the faint state. We find that this dimming is consistent with an intrinsic change in the
accretion flow rather than
dust obscuration, supported by the lack of infrared excess and the stability of the 2175 Å\ feature. Additionally, a time-series analysis using autoregressive modeling to account for correlated red noise revealed no significant periodicities, thereby disputing the previously reported $\sim$6000 s signal. These findings suggest that the pre-outburst
evolution of T CrB is characterized by significant changes in the
accretion disk structure and boundary layer, providing a self-consistent physical framework for the system's behavior as it approaches eruption.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors G. J. M. Luna, N. P. M. Kuin, K. Mukai, J. L. Sokoloski, K. Page, J. P. Osborne
Astrophysics of Galaxies
A general spectral solver for the axisymmetric Jeans equations: fast dynamical modelling of galaxies with arbitrary anisotropy
Michele Cappellari
Axisymmetric Jeans modelling is widely used to infer
galaxy mass profiles from integral-field kinematics, but existing implementations maintain tractability by adopting highly restricted anisotropy prescriptions. I present a new spectral method that solves the axisymmetric Jeans equations as a two-dimensional boundary-value problem. Remarkably, this breaks the traditional trade-off between model flexibility and computational cost, accommodating completely general anisotropy distributions $\beta(r,\theta)$ while executing significantly faster than standard restrictive techniques. The method relies on three key choices: (i) solving for the intrinsic dispersion $\overline{v_r^2}$ rather than the rapidly varying pressure $\nu\overline{v_r^2}$ to improve numerical conditioning; (ii) working in logarithmic radius to efficiently resolve the large dynamic range of
galaxies, uniquely matching scale-free (power-law) regimes; and (iii) imposing a Robin outer boundary condition that enforces the correct asymptotic decay on a finite computational domain. Orbit integrations in realistic
galaxy potentials motivate spherical
alignment of the velocity ellipsoid as a physically plausible default, though the framework easily adapts to other
alignments. Validated against exact analytic
benchmarks – including new analytic Jeans solutions derived herein – the solver recovers intrinsic second moments with high accuracy, showing radially uniform residuals for power-law tests. In practice, it delivers orders-of-magnitude speed-ups over high-accuracy quadrature schemes and is naturally suited to massive GPU parallelization. Released in the public JamPy package, this enables the routine application of highly general Jeans models to large surveys and the extensive parameter-space exploration required for rigorous uncertainty quantification.
Read the full abstract ▾
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
The FarView Low Frequency Radio Array on the Moon's Far Side: Science and Array Architecture
Jack O. Burns, Judd Bowman, Tzu-Ching Chang et al. (+8 more)
FarView is a proposed low frequency
radio interferometer for deployment on the lunar far side, enabled by the Moon's
radio quiet environment. Operating over 1-50 MHz inaccessible from Earth, FarView will open a new observational window and promote discovery class science in cosmology, heliophysics,
Galactic and
exoplanet astrophysics. The primary science is measurement of the redshifted 21 cm signal from the
Cosmic Dark Ages (z=30-100), identified by the Astro2020 Decadal Survey as a priority cosmology discovery area. FarView will deliver 3D tomographic measurements and precision power spectra of neutral hydrogen in a largely linear regime, enabling tests of inflationary initial conditions,
primordial non Gaussianity, dark matter properties,
neutrino masses, and early dark energy. The reference design consists of 100000 crossed dipole
antennas in a dense core-
halo configuration spanning 200 sq km. A compact 4 km core with 83000 dipoles maximizes sensitivity to large scale cosmological modes, while 20000
halo elements extending to 14 km provide angular resolution and calibration for foreground characterization. Sensitivity forecasts indicate a 10-sigma detection of the Dark Ages 21 cm power spectrum at z=30 over five years of half duty cycle lunar night observations. An FFT-based EPIC beamformer is identified as an efficient signal processing architecture. Beyond cosmology, FarView will enable interferometric imaging of low frequency
solar radio bursts, advancing space weather studies. Additional capabilities include
stellar space weather observations,
Galactic cosmic ray
tomography via free-free absorption, and searches for auroral
radio emission from
exoplanet magnetospheres, a probe of
exoplanet habitability. FarView represents a flagship class opportunity to establish the Moon as a platform for foundational astrophysics while delivering unique observational capabilities.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Jack O. Burns, Judd Bowman, Tzu-Ching Chang, Gregg Hallinan, Alex Hegedus, Nivedita Mahesh, Bang Nhan, Jonathan Pober, Ronald Polidan, Willow Smith, Nithyanandan Thyagarajan
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Reanalyzing DESI DR1: 4. Percent-Level Cosmological Constraints from Combined Probes and Robust Evidence for the Normal Neutrino Mass Hierarchy
Mikhail M. Ivanov, James M. Sullivan, Roger de Belsunce et al. (+4 more)
We present cosmological parameter measurements from the full combination of DESI DR1
galaxy clustering data, described with large-scale structure effective field theory. By incorporating photometric
galaxies and CMB
lensing cross-correlations, and extending the bispectrum likelihood to smaller scales with a consistent one-loop computation, we achieve substantial gains in constraining power. Combined with the latest DESI
baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) data and
cosmic microwave background (CMB) priors on the spectral tilt and
baryon density, we find, in $\Lambda$CDM, $H_0=69.08\pm 0.37~\mathrm{km}\,\mathrm{s}^{-1}\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$, $\Omega_m=0.2974\pm 0.0050$, and $\sigma_8 = 0.838\pm 0.017$ ($S_8 = \sigma_8\sqrt{\Omega_m/0.3} =0.834\pm 0.018$). Adding the Pantheon+
supernovae (SNe), we find a $2.2\sigma$ preference for the $w_0w_a$ dynamical dark energy model from low-
redshift data alone, rising to $2.7\sigma$ when exchanging the SNe for Planck CMB data. Combining the full-shape, BAO, CMB, and SNe likelihoods improves the dark energy figure-of-merit by $15\%$ and bounds the
neutrino mass sum to $M_\nu<0.049$ eV ($\Lambda$CDM) and $M_\nu<0.077$ eV ($w_0w_a$CDM) at 95% CL. This is the strongest $w_0w_a$CDM bound to date, $37\%$ tighter than from the background expansion data alone. The preference for the normal
neutrino mass ordering thus holds regardless of the background model: the inverted hierarchy is disfavored at ${\approx}\,3.5\sigma$ in $\Lambda$CDM and ${\approx}\,2.4\sigma$ in $w_0w_a$CDM, with the latter constraint free of the
geometric tension between CMB and BAO that is known to sharpen the $\Lambda$CDM bound.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Mikhail M. Ivanov, James M. Sullivan, Roger de Belsunce, Shi-Fan Chen, Anton Chudaykin, Mark Maus, Oliver H. E. Philcox
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Magnetar fraction in Core-Collapse Supernovae
Celsa Pardo-Araujo, Nanda Rea, Michele Ronchi et al. (+1 more)
Magnetars are extreme
neutron stars powered by ultra-strong
magnetic fields ($\sim10^{14}$ Gauss) and are compelling engines for some of the most powerful extragalactic transients such as Super Luminous
Supernovae, Gamma-Ray Bursts, and Fast
Radio Bursts. Yet their formation rate relative to ordinary
neutron stars remains uncertain, often precluding direct comparisons with the rates of these extragalactic transients. Furthermore, magnetars have been recently shown to be evolutionarily related to other
neutron star classes, complicating the estimate of the exact magnetar fraction within the
neutron star population. We study the magnetar birth fraction in core-collapse
supernovae using
pulsar population synthesis of all isolated
neutron star classes in our
Galaxy, incorporating self-consistently the
Galactic dynamical
evolution,
spin-down and magneto-thermal
evolution. This approach allows us to derive strong constraints from small close-to-complete observational samples. In particular, looking at the age-limited young ($<$2 kyr)
neutron star population in the Milky Way we find 24 detected young
neutron stars, with only 10 of them (41%) being classical rotational powered
pulsars, while the others (59%) are either magnetars or central compact objects, the latter believed to be equally magnetically powered. We further compare the results with the nearby volume-limited class ($<$500 pc) of X-ray Dim Isolated
Neutron stars, old nearby magnetars. We conclude that the observed population of isolated
neutron stars in the
Galaxy can be reproduced only by assuming a core-collapse
supernova rate larger than two, and a larger magnetar fraction than previously inferred. By assuming a bimodal initial
magnetic field ($B_0$) distribution at birth, we find that the magnetar class peaks between $B_0\sim 1-2.5\times10^{14}$ Gauss and represents on average $\sim50$% of the entire
neutron star population.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Celsa Pardo-Araujo, Nanda Rea, Michele Ronchi, Vanessa Graber
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Cis–Trans Rotational Isomerism of Seleno-, Thio-, and Formic Acids and Their Dimers: Chemical Kinetics under Interstellar Conditions
Judith Wurmel and John M. Simmie
Tunnelling reactions of molecules embedded on cryogenic noble-gas
matrices are being used in fundamental studies of how reactivity varies with the nature of the supposedly inert
matrix as well as pointers to the chemistry occurring in the interstellar medium on ice-grains. To these ends we present chemical kinetic rate constants for the cis to trans isomerisation of seleno-, thio- and monomeric formic acids and that of their three dimeric species, based on multidimensional calculations in the gas-phase, from 10~K to 300~K as a guide to the
matrix reactions.
Read the full abstract ▾
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Formation and X-ray emission from hot bubbles in planetary nebulae - III. The impact of [Wolf-Rayet]-type winds
Rogelio Orozco-Duarte, Jesús A. Toalá, S. Jane Arthur et al. (+3 more)
We use radiation-hydrodynamical simulations to investigate the formation and synthetic X-ray emission of hot bubbles within planetary nebulae (PNe) driven by the powerful winds of H-deficient, [Wolf-Rayet]([WR])-type
stars. Our models, based on mesa
stellar evolution tracks for 1–3 M$_{\odot}$ progenitors, adopt a recent mass-loss rate prescription for [WR]
stars and incorporate the enhanced radiative cooling of their C-rich material, comparing the results against standard H-rich PN models. The enhanced mass-loss in the [WR] models leads to an accelerated post-AGB
evolution and a subsequent delay in hot bubble formation compared to their H-rich counterparts, as suggested by a previous work. By computing synthetic X-ray spectra that account for the mixed H-rich and H-deficient gas phases, we find that models incorporating [WR] winds exhibit significantly higher X-ray luminosities ($L_\mathrm{X}$) than their H-rich counterparts, but the emissivity-weighted
plasma temperature of the X-ray-emitting gas converge to values of $T_\mathrm{X} = [1-3] \times 10^{6}$~K, regardless of whether the system follows a [WR]-type or an H-rich post-AGB evolutionary path. Our results reinforce previous suggestions that mixing is a key mechanism in generating the observed soft X-ray emission even for PN hosting [WR] central
stars.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Rogelio Orozco-Duarte, Jesús A. Toalá, S. Jane Arthur, Janis B. Rodríguez-González, Luke Conmy, Rolf Kuiper
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Constraining Nuclear Molecular Gas Content with High-resolution CO Imaging of GOALS Galaxies
James Agostino, Anne M. Medling, Loreto Barcos-Muñoz et al. (+11 more)
We present measurements of the cool molecular gas mass around the
nuclei of two gas-rich mergers, III Zw 035 and IRAS F01364-1042, whose enclosed masses (M$_\mathrm{enc}$) within the central 40-80 pc would be overmassive if attributed entirely to the supermassive black hole mass (SMBH) and compared to SMBH-
galaxy scaling relations. Our gas mass measurements are derived from Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Band 6 long-baseline observations of CO(J=2-1) and 230 GHz continuum emission at 14-20 pc resolution, which probes below the resolving limit of the previous black hole mass measurements. Subtracting molecular gas mass from these enclosed masses is not enough to reconcile with BH-
galaxy relationships, but independently measuring M$_\mathrm{enc}$ using the cold CO(2-1) gas does shift the black holes down to their expected values. Still, these ALMA data reveal respective molecular gas masses of $\sim$3$\times$10$^7$ to $\sim$6$\times$10$^8$ M$_\odot$ within 70 pc of these black holes, which could challenge some black hole
accretion models that assume
nuclear gas like this has no angular momentum.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors James Agostino, Anne M. Medling, Loreto Barcos-Muñoz, Vivian U, Mynor Rodríguez Vásquez, George C. Privon, Claudia Cicone, Lee Armus, Jorge Moreno, Claudio Ricci, Yiqing Song, Christopher C. Hayward, Katherine Alatalo, David B. Sanders
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Unveiling the spectral morphological division of fast radio bursts with CHIME/FRB Catalog 2
Wan-Peng Sun, Yin-Long Cao, Yong-Kun Zhang et al. (+7 more)
Fast
radio bursts (FRBs) are commonly classified into repeating and apparently nonrepeating sources, yet whether this distinction reflects intrinsically different physical populations remains uncertain. Using the Second CHIME/FRB Catalog, we apply an unsupervised machine learning framework combining Uniform
Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP) with density-based clustering to investigate the intrinsic structure of the FRB population in a multi-dimensional parameter space. We find that FRBs are primarily separated into two robust clusters dominated by spectral morphology. One cluster is characterized by narrowband emission and longer durations, while the other exhibits relatively broadband spectra and shorter burst timescales. This classification scheme achieves a recall of 0.94 for known repeaters. Within the repeating population, we further identify a stable subclass of atypical repeaters that are broadband, shorter in duration, and more luminous, resembling nonrepeating bursts. Furthermore, broadband nonrepeaters exhibit systematically higher dispersion measures (by approximately 200 $\text{pc cm}^{-3}$) and isotropic luminosities approximately an order of magnitude larger than those of repeating FRBs. Without invoking catastrophic progenitor scenarios, these differences are naturally explained by instrumental sensitivity limits and distance-dependent selection effects. Our results provide new statistical evidence for a physical connection between repeating and nonrepeating FRBs.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Wan-Peng Sun, Yin-Long Cao, Yong-Kun Zhang, Ji-Guo Zhang, Xiaohui Liu, Yichao Li, Fu-Wen Zhang, Wan-Ting Hou, Jing-Fei Zhang, Xin Zhang
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Modeling the Impact of Unresolved Stellar Companions on Detection Sensitivity in Kepler's Small Planet Occurrence Rates
Galen J. Bergsten, David R. Ciardi, Jessie L. Christiansen et al. (+5 more)
Unresolved
stellar companions can cause both under-estimations in the radii of transiting
planets and over-estimations of their detectability, affecting our ability to reliably measure
planet occurrence rates. To quantify the latter, we identified a control sample of 198 Kepler
stars with sensitivity to Earth-like
planets if they were single
stars, and imaged them with adaptive optics. In 20% of systems, we detected
stellar companions that were close enough to go unresolved in Kepler observations. We calculated the distribution of
planet radius correction factors needed to adjust for these observed companions, along with simulations of undetected companions to which our observations were not sensitive. We then used these correction factors to optimize an occurrence rate model for small close-in
planets while correcting Kepler's detection efficiency for the presence of unresolved companions, and quantified how this correction affects occurrence estimates. Median occurrence rates for small
planets between $2-100$ days increased by an average factor of $1.08-1.19$ (depending on statistical treatments), with the largest differences found for smaller
planets at larger orbital periods. We found that the frequency of Earth-sized
planets in the habitable zone ($\eta_\oplus$) increased by a factor of ${1.18}_{-0.66}^{+0.43}-{1.46}_{-0.83}^{+0.53}$ when accounting for the effect of unresolved companions on Kepler's detection sensitivity.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Galen J. Bergsten, David R. Ciardi, Jessie L. Christiansen, Catherine A. Clark, Ilaria Pascucci, Courtney D. Dressing, Kevin K. Hardegree-Ullman, Michael B. Lund
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Spatially resolved stellar-to-total dynamical mass relation: Radial variations, gradients and profiles of galaxy stellar populations
L. Scholz-Diaz, A. R. Gallazzi, S. Zibetti et al. (+1 more)
Although
galaxy evolution is governed by the interplay between baryonic physics and dark matter
halo assembly, how
halo properties shape observed
galaxies remains unclear. With current challenges in measuring
halo properties, the
stellar-to-total dynamical mass relation is introduced as an alternative metric sensitive to the dark matter content within
galaxies. We explore how spatially resolved
stellar population properties vary across this relation using optical IFS data and photometry from 265 CALIFA
galaxies. Spatially resolved ages and
metallicities, [M/H], are derived using a
Bayesian framework fed with a library of model spectra based on
stochastic star formation and
metallicity histories and
dust attenuation. We study these properties in terms of both
stellar and total dynamical mass, with the latter being enclosed mass within three effective radii from Jeans dynamical modeling. We find that ages and [M/H] measured at different annuli depend on both
stellar and total mass, yet showing distinct radial trends. While the dependence of age on total mass is more prominent in the outskirts, that of [M/H] is significant in the inner parts. This behavior is reflected in the
stellar population profiles and gradients, more strongly for age and connected to morphology. Intermediate-mass early-types have higher
stellar-to-total mass ratios and flatter age profiles with older ages, and steep negative [M/H] profiles, whereas later-types have lower
stellar-to-total mass ratios, negative age profiles with younger ages and shallower negative [M/H] profiles. Moreover, at fixed
stellar mass
galaxies have more negative age gradients and shallower [M/H] ones as total mass increases. Our results show that total dynamical mass is linked to systematic variations in
stellar populations and radial gradients at fixed
stellar mass, suggesting a relevant role of dark matter
halos in shaping
galaxy properties
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors L. Scholz-Diaz, A. R. Gallazzi, S. Zibetti, D. Mattolini
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
SVOM discovery of a strong X-ray outburst of the blazar 1ES~1959+650 and multi-wavelength follow-up with the Neil Gehrels Swift observatory
A. Foisseau, A. Coleiro, S. Komossa et al. (+37 more)
On December 6, 2024, 1ES 1959+650, one of the X-ray brightest blazars known, underwent a high-amplitude X-ray outburst detected by SVOM, the first such discovery with this mission. The source was subsequently monitored with SVOM and Swift from December 2024 to March 2025. We report the detection and multi-wavelength follow-up of this event, and describe the temporal and spectral
evolution observed during the campaign. Data from SVOM/MXT, SVOM/ECLAIRs, and Swift/XRT were analyzed with log-parabola models to track flux and spectral variability. The source was detected in a bright state over the 0.3-50 keV range. During the three months of monitoring, the X-ray flux varied significantly, showing episodes of spectral hardening at high flux levels. The spectral
curvature evolved more irregularly and did not show a clear trend with flux. A shift of the Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) synchrotron peak to higher energies is seen when the flux increases. This constitutes the first blazar outburst discovered in X-rays by SVOM. The coordinated follow-up with Swift provided continuous coverage of the
flare and highlights the strong complementarity of the two missions for time-domain studies of blazars. The
flare shows no clear signatures of either
Fermi I or
Fermi II acceleration, suggesting a mixed
Fermi I/II scenario.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors A. Foisseau, A. Coleiro, S. Komossa, D. Grupe, F. Cangemi, P. Maggi, D. Götz, H.-B. Cai, B. Cordier, N. Dagoneau, Z.-G. Dai, Y.-W. Dong, M. Fernandes Moita, O. Godet, A. Goldwurm, H. Goto, S. Guillot, L. Huang, M.-H. Huang, N. Jiang, C. Lachaud, S. Le Stum, E.-W. Liang, X.-M. Lu, L. Michel, C. Plasse, Y.L. Qiu, J. Rodriguez, L. Tao, S. Schanne, J. Wang, X.-G. Wang, X.-Y. Wang, J. Wei, C. Wu, Y.-W. Yu, J. Zhang, L. Zhang, S.-N. Zhang, S. Zheng
Astrophysics of Galaxies
A multi-wavelength approach of AGN feedback in LINERs: The case of NGC 4438
M. Puig-Subirà, J. Moldón, I. Márquez et al. (+5 more)
The presence of multi-phase
outflows in low ionisation
nuclear emission-line regions (LINERs) has been confirmed to be frequent, but the mechanisms that launch them are still under study. We aim to explore the connections between the ionised gas
outflow,
radio continuum structures and X-ray emission detected in the LINER NGC4438. We analyse L, C and X-band images (from 1.4 to 12 GHz) of the LINER NGC4438, combining high-resolution data from enhanced Multi Element
Radio Linked Interferometer Network (e-MERLIN) and Karl G Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). We produce
radio flux, spectral index maps, and an energetic model that allows us to characterise the source. We incorporate optical integral field spectroscopy (IFS) data (GTC/MEGARA) and Chandra X-ray data, with comparable resolution, to better trace the
outflow, the AGN and their potential connection. We present new L, C, and X-band high-resolution, high-sensitivity
radio images and spectral-index maps that probe $\sim$ 25 pc scales in NGC 4438. These data reveal a close morphological correspondence between the
radio structures and the ionised gas bubble. Using a spatially resolved energetic model based on
radio flux and spectral index, we disentangle the compact AGN emission from the extended bubble for the first time, establishing their distinct physical origins. We measure a kinetic power of $\sim 5\times 10^{44}$ erg s$^{-1}$ for the
radio bubble, exceeding the power of the ionised
outflow by more than three orders of magnitude. Our multi-wavelength analysis indicates that NGC 4438 is undergoing jet-mode feedback, where a low-luminosity, weakly collimated jet impacts the dense northern interstellar medium. This interaction drives shock-ionised gas, produces a moderate velocity
outflow that removes material from the region, and generates thermal X-ray emission coincident with the
radio and H$\alpha$ cavity.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors M. Puig-Subirà, J. Moldón, I. Márquez, J. Masegosa, O. González-Martín, L. Hermosa Muñoz, S. Cazzoli, D. Williams-Baldwin
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Cross-listed from hep-ph
Photon-dark photon oscillation in M87 and Crab Nebula environments
Tanmay Kumar Poddar, Sourov Roy and Pratick Sarkar
Compact astrophysical systems such as
neutron stars and black holes provide powerful laboratories for testing feebly coupled dark
photons (DPs). We investigate light DPs kinetically mixed with the visible
photon that need not be the dark matter, focusing on resonant
photon-DP oscillations in magnetized, modeled
plasma environments. We show that realistic non-monotonic
plasma density profiles generically enhance resonant conversion relative to monotonic models, leading to substantially stronger constraints on the
photon-DP kinetic mixing parameter ($\epsilon$). Using spectral data from the supermassive black hole (SMBH) M87*, extending to the LOFAR band, we derive a bound $\epsilon \simeq 7\times10^{-6}$ at the DP mass $m_{A'} \simeq 5\times10^{-7}\,\mathrm{eV}$ for oscillation distance $3r_{\rm ph}$, where $r_{\rm ph}$ denotes the
photon sphere radius. From the Crab
pulsar-wind Nebula, we obtain an even stronger constraint, $\epsilon \simeq 8\times10^{-7}$ at $m_{A'} \simeq 4\times10^{-9}\,\mathrm{eV}$ for oscillation baselines of order $10^{3}\,\mathrm{km}$, surpassing existing astrophysical limits in realistic
plasma backgrounds. While laboratory and cosmological bounds remain slightly stronger at comparable masses, observation of compact objects with larger surface
magnetic fields and measurements of
photon spectra at lower frequencies would enhance the limits on the
photon-DP coupling by orders of magnitude.
Read the full abstract ▾
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Extreme line profile variations in the repeating changing-look active galactic nucleus IRAS23226-3843
Wolfram Kollatschny, Dirk Grupe, Hartmut Winkler et al. (+7 more)
IRAS23226-3843 has been identified as a highly variable Seyfert
galaxy and even as a changing-look active
galactic nucleus based on optical spectra. Here we present follow-up observations - taken over the past five years - for examining the ongoing photometric and spectral variations in this remarkable
galaxy. We carried out SWIFT observations of IRAS23226-3843 together with new optical spectra taken in 2023 and 2024. In parallel we investigate ASAS-SN photometric data from 2014 till 2025. IRAS23226-3843 stayed on a high continuum flux level in the X-ray as well as in the optical since a historic outburst in 2019. However, it shows strong short-term variations on timescales of a few months. Densely sampled ASAS-SN V-band continuum data from 2014 till 2025 confirm that behavior. IRAS23226-3843 switched from a clear Seyfert 1 type in December 2019 to a Seyfert 1.9/2 type in July 2020 based on its optical spectra. Afterward, it again became a Seyfert 1 type with symmetric broad single-peaked Balmer line profiles in January 2023. These spectra prove the repeating changing-look character of the
galaxy.IRAS23226-3843 exhibits extreme high Balmer decrements Ha\Hb based on their broad line components. The Balmer decrement values are on the order of 10. IRAS23226-3843 successively showed all types of broad line Balmer profiles during the past 25 years over periods of many years: asymmetric single-peaked, double-peaked, as well as single-peaked and symmetric profiles in addition to its Seyfert 1.9/2 transition. These variations are not clearly correlated with continuum and line intensity variations.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Wolfram Kollatschny, Dirk Grupe, Hartmut Winkler, Malte A. Probst, Martin W. Ochmann, Amon Poenitzsch, Norbert Schartel, Salem Wolsing, Stefanie Komossa, Stephen B. Potter
Astrophysics of Galaxies
HE0144-4657: A Carbon-Enhanced Ultra Metal-Poor Star ([Fe/H] ~ -4.1) from the Helmi Stream Disrupted Dwarf Galaxy
Vinicius M. Placco, Guilherme Limberg, Catherine R. Kennedy et al. (+1 more)
We present the discovery of HE0144-4657, an ultra metal-poor, CNO-enhanced
star dynamically associated with the Helmi Stream disrupted
dwarf-
galaxy remnant. This
star was first identified as a carbon-enhanced, metal-poor
star candidate from the Hamburg/ESO objective-prism survey, then followed up with medium- and high-resolution spectroscopy. At [Fe/H]=-4.11, HE0144-4657 is the lowest
metallicity star found in a
stellar stream to date. Its chemistry is consistent with field
halo stars in the same
metallicity regime, and the light-element (atomic number Z<=30) chemical abundance pattern suggests that HE0144-4657 is a bona-fide second-generation
star with a possible Population III progenitor in the 50Msun mass range with low explosion energy. One possible scenario for the origin of HE0144-4657 is that it was formed in an ultra-faint
dwarf galaxy accreted by the Helmi Stream progenitor system before merging with the Milky Way. This discovery provides further evidence for the extragalactic origin of carbon-enhanced ultra metal-poor
stars in the Milky Way and for the specific environments conducive to their formation.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Vinicius M. Placco, Guilherme Limberg, Catherine R. Kennedy, Norbert Christlieb
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Gaia20fnr: A binary-lens microlensing event with full orbital motion revealed by four space telescopes
M. Wicker, Ł. Wyrzykowski, M. Hundertmark et al. (+49 more)
The microlensing event
Gaia20fnr is a long-duration, non-caustic-crossing binary-lens event at high
Galactic latitude. Triggered by a photometric rise detected by the
Gaia space mission, the event was followed up with observations from multiple ground-based facilities and four space
telescopes:
Gaia, NEOWISE, Swift, and TESS. We characterize the
Gaia20fnr microlensing system by determining the physical and orbital properties of the binary lens, the nature of the luminous source, and the kinematics of both the source and the lens. We employed a binary-lens microlensing model including full Keplerian orbital motion and annual microlens parallax to fit the photometric data. The event is best explained by a K2
giant source at $D_{\rm S} = 3.10 \pm 0.10\,\mathrm{kpc}$ lensed by a
stellar binary composed of $M_{\rm L,1} = 0.46 \pm 0.06\,M_\odot$ and $M_{\rm L,2} = 0.52 \pm 0.06\,M_\odot$ at a distance of $D_{\rm L} = 0.54 \pm 0.05\,\mathrm{kpc}$. The light curve exhibits strong signatures of orbital motion and requires a full Keplerian model with a period of $P = 0.67 \pm 0.04\,\mathrm{yr}$ and a radial-velocity semi-amplitude of $K_1 = 16.9 \pm 0.9\,\mathrm{km\,s^{-1}}$.
Gaia20fnr is one of the few microlensing events for which a complete Keplerian binary-lens solution has been derived. The model can be tested with follow-up radial-velocity and high-resolution imaging observations as well as forthcoming
Gaia DR4 and DR5 astrometric time-series data. Its long duration, multi-peak structure, and extensive coverage make it a
benchmark for studying faint nearby low-mass binaries through microlensing.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors M. Wicker, Ł. Wyrzykowski, M. Hundertmark, K. A. Rybicki, P. Zieliński, E. Stonkutė, N. Ihanec, M. Maskoliūnas, E. Bachelet, K. Kruszyńska, M. Dominik, D. A. H. Buckley, I. Gezer, M. Gromadzki, P. Mikołajczyk, K. Kotysz, J. Majumdar, E. Pakštienė, J. Zdanavičius, V. Čepas, U. Jonauskaitė, V. Bozza, A. Cassan, R. Figuera Jaimes, M. Rabus, P. Rota, R. A. Street, Y. Tsapras, J. Wambsganss, S. Awiphan, S. M. Brincat, Z. Budzik, J. W. Davidson Jr., R. Dymock, C. Galdies, V. Godunova, F.-J. Hambsch, M. Jabłonska, T. Kvernadze, M. Larma, M. Makowska, Y. Markus, J. Merc, O. Michniewicz, M. Motylinski, A. Popowicz, M. Radziwonowicz, D. Reichart, A.O. Simon, P. Trzcionkowski, M. Zejmo, S. Zola
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Clumps in High-Redshift Galaxies: Mass Scaling and Radial Trends from JADES
Yongda Zhu, Marcia J. Rieke, Zhiyuan Ji et al. (+20 more)
Massive
star-forming clumps are a prominent feature of high-
redshift galaxies and are thought to trace gravitational fragmentation, feedback, and bulge growth in gas-rich disks. We present a statistical analysis of clumps in $\sim$3600
galaxies spanning $2 \lesssim z \lesssim 8$ from deep JWST/NIRCam imaging in the JADES GOODS–South field. Clumps are identified as residual features after subtracting smooth Sérsic profiles, enabling a uniform, rest-frame optical census of sub-
galactic structure. We characterize their physical properties, size–mass relations, and spatial distributions to constrain models of sub-
galactic structure formation and
evolution. We find that clumps in our sample are typically low-mass ($10^{\sim7-8}M_\odot$), actively
star-forming, and show diverse gas-phase
metallicity,
dust attenuation, and
stellar population properties. Their sizes and average pairwise separations increase with
cosmic time (toward lower
redshift), consistent with inside-out disk growth. The clump mass function follows a power law with slope $\alpha = -1.50_{-0.17}^{+0.19}$, consistent with fragmentation in turbulent disks. We find a deficit of relatively young clumps near
galaxy centers and a radial transition in the size–mass relation: outer clumps exhibit steeper, near-virial slopes ($R_{\rm e}\propto M_*^{\sim 0.3}$), while inner clumps follow flatter trends ($R_{\rm e}\propto M_*^{\sim 0.2}$), consistent with structural
evolution via migration or disruption. These results provide new constraints on the formation, survival, and dynamical
evolution of clumps, highlighting their role in shaping
galaxy morphology during the peak of
cosmic star formation.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Yongda Zhu, Marcia J. Rieke, Zhiyuan Ji, Andrew J. Bunker, Courtney Carreira, A. Lola Danhaive, Qiao Duan, Eiichi Egami, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Kevin Hainline, Benjamin D. Johnson, Zheng Ma, Dávid Puskás, George H. Rieke, Pierluigi Rinaldi, Brant Robertson, Sandro Tacchella, Hannah Übler, Natalia C. Villanueva, Christina C. Williams, Christopher N. A. Willmer, Zihao Wu, Junyu Zhang
Astrophysics of Galaxies
JADES: Evolution of nitrogen abundances in star-forming galaxies from z ~ 1.5-7
Alex J. Cameron, Courtney Carreira, Charlotte Simmonds et al. (+22 more)
We present nitrogen abundance measurements based on the low-ionisation [NII]6583 emission line for 588
galaxies between 1.5<z<7.0 from the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES). We detect the temperature-sensitive [OIII]4363 auroral line in 40
galaxies in our sample, affording $T_e$-based abundances for this subset. We find that the average N/O abundance ratio in our low-
metallicity sample is at least 0.1 dex higher than z ~ 0 samples. In particular, we find significant scatter toward high N/O, with five
galaxies being identified with enhanced nitrogen abundances (log(N/O)>-1.1) at low-
metallicity (12+log(O/H)<8.0) from $T_e$-based measurements. Meanwhile, applying strong-line abundance measurements to the remainder of our sample reveals a further 14 candidate
galaxies passing these abundance cuts, implying that around 13 % of 12+log(O/H)<8.0
galaxies at these
redshifts are nitrogen-enhanced at this level. We find that N/O abundance in low-
metallicity systems correlates with SFR, surface density of SFR, and surface density of
stellar mass at high
redshift, while only in high-
metallicity systems does a correlation with
stellar mass emerge. Despite healthy representation of these `moderately nitrogen-enhanced'
galaxies (-1.1<log(N/O)<-0.6), no
galaxies in our low-
metallicity sample are identified as having log(N/O)>-0.6, abundances that are typical of high-
redshift NIII]- and NIV]-emitters. This demonstrates that the extreme nitrogen enhancements seen in some NIII]- and NIV]-emitters are only attained during the most extreme starbursts. This suggests that these elevated abundances are caused by enrichment from young massive
stars in extreme environments and that the impact of this enrichment pathway is milder, though still important, for high-
redshift systems on the
star-forming main sequence.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Alex J. Cameron, Courtney Carreira, Charlotte Simmonds, Andrew J. Bunker, Aayush Saxena, Stefano Carniani, Stéphane Charlot, Jacopo Chevallard, Emma Curtis-Lake, Kevin Hainline, Ryan Hausen, Xihan Ji, Zhiyuan Ji, Benjamin D. Johnson, Pierluigi Rinaldi, Brant Robertson, Jan Scholtz, Maddie S. Silcock, Sandro Tacchella, James A. A. Trussler, Hannah Übler, Christina C. Williams, Christopher N. A. Willmer, Chris Willott, Joris Witstok
Astrophysics of Galaxies
There Is More to Outshining: 2D Dust Effects on Stellar Mass Estimates at $3 \leq z < 9$ with JWST in the JADES Field
M. Hamed, P. G. Pérez-González, M. Annunziatella et al. (+15 more)
Dust attenuation modifies the observed spectral energy distribution (SED), leading to biases in the properties inferred from integrated SED fitting. As spatially resolved SED modeling becomes feasible for large high-
redshift samples, it is increasingly important to assess how
dust attenuation affects resolved mass estimates. We evaluate the impact of
dust attenuation on
stellar mass estimates derived from integrating spatially resolved SED fitting results. We perform spatially resolved and integrated SED fitting on a sample of 3408
galaxies at $3 \leq z < 9$ from the GOODS South field, combining deep NIRCam from the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) and HST/ACS imaging from GOODS and CANDELS. We compare
galaxy-integrated properties derived from fitting the summed SED with those obtained from spatially resolved SED modeling. Using a two-component
dust attenuation model with a variable slope, we investigate how the
dust attenuation slope, A(V), and
stellar population properties contribute to discrepancies in the resulting
stellar mass estimates. Resolved
stellar masses are systematically higher than integrated estimates, with a median offset of +0.24 dex. Resolved analyses recover higher
dust attenuations ($\Delta A(V)\approx +0.08$ mag), lower birth cloud fractions ($\Delta\mu \approx -0.28$), and grayer attenuation curves ($\Delta\delta_{\mathrm{ISM}} = +0.08$), arising from preferential sampling of compact
star-forming regions. Integrated fits underestimate
stellar ages by $\sim23\%$ at $z < 5$ and 31$\%$ at $z \gtrsim 5$. The
stellar mass offset correlates strongly with the age difference and the attenuation slope difference, indicating that age-dependent outshining and spatially varying
dust geometry are primary drivers of the discrepancy between resolved and integrated
stellar masses.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors M. Hamed, P. G. Pérez-González, M. Annunziatella, L. Colina, I. Shivaei, M. Perna, A.J. Bunker, K. Małek, S. Arribas, J. Álvarez-Márquez, C.N.A. Willmer, H. Übler, R. Bhatawdekar, J. Chevallard, E. Curtis-Lake, Z. Ji, P. Rinaldi, C.C. Williams
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Undermassive Hosts of $z = 4-6 $ AGN from JWST/NIRCam Image Decomposition with CONGRESS, FRESCO, and JADES
Zheng Ma, Eichi Egami, Yongda Zhu et al. (+18 more)
In the local Universe, supermassive black hole (SMBH) masses strongly correlate with their host-
galaxies'
stellar masses ($M_{*}$), but
galaxies hosting faint AGN recently found by JWST may deviate from this relation. To constrain the M$_{\text{BH}}$-M$_{*}$ relation at high
redshift, we performed AGN-host image decomposition for 17 low-luminosity AGN
galaxies at $z$ $\sim$ 4-6 using NIRCam images in the JADES GOODS-N field. These sources are identified as AGNs from broad H$\alpha$ emission lines detected by the CONGRESS and FRESCO surveys. We used galfit+MCMC to fit spatial profiles in 7 wide-band images and detected extended emission in 9 sources out of 17. The close spatial
alignment between the extended components and the AGN centers indicates that this emission likely originates from the host
galaxies. These sources are extended at 0.9-2.0~$\mu$m, suggesting significant host-
galaxy light in the rest-frame UV. For the sources with the host detection, the
stellar mass inferred based on image decomposition result can be 1-2 dex lower than the results without image decomposition. The BH-to-
stellar mass ratio spans $M_{\text{BH}}/M_\ast$ $\sim$ 0.01-1.48, placing them well above the local $M_{\text{BH}}$-$M_\ast$ relation. In contrast, the host-
galaxy size-mass relation broadly agrees with previous measurements. Our results suggest that the host
galaxies of these faint AGN are either genuinely under-massive compared to their black hole masses, or too compact to be spatially resolved.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Zheng Ma, Eichi Egami, Yongda Zhu, Fengwu Sun, Jianwei Lyu, Junyu Zhang, Christopher N. A. Willmer, Andrew J. Bunker, Stefano Carniani, Emma Curtis-Lake, Ryan Hausen, Xihan Ji, Zhiyuan Ji, Ignas Juodžbalis, Roberto Maiolino, George H. Rieke, Pierluigi Rinaldi, Yang Sun, Sandro Tacchella, Hannah Übler, Christina C. Williams
Astrophysics of Galaxies
JADES: Discovery of Large Reservoirs of Small Dust Grains in the Circumgalactic Medium of Massive Galaxies at $z\sim3.5$ through Deep JWST/NIRCam Imaging and Grism Spectroscopy
Fengwu Sun, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Francesco D'Eugenio et al. (+23 more)
Using JWST NIRCam imaging and grism spectroscopy from the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) Origins Fields, we report spectroscopic
redshift measurements of 1,445 emission-line
galaxies at $z=0-9$. Within this sample, we identify two prominent
galaxy protoclusters at $z = 3.47$ and 3.69, each anchored by massive dusty
star-forming
galaxies (DSFGs). In the vicinity of these systems, we discover seven background
galaxies at $z=3.6 - 6$ that simultaneously exhibit strong rest-frame optical emission lines (e.g., [O III] and H$\alpha$) and unusually reddened UV-to-optical continua. We attribute this reddening to
dust extinction arising from the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of the foreground DSFGs at projected separations of 7-30 kpc. We infer a high
dust column density ($\gtrsim 10^{-1}$ Msun/kpc^2), substantially exceeding those measured in low-
redshift halos and those predicted by hydrodynamical simulations like IllustrisTNG and FIRE-2. The steep extinction curves, comparable to or steeper than that of the SMC, indicate a dominant population of small
dust grains in the high-
redshift CGM. We conclude that DSFGs at this epoch host large reservoirs of dusty CGM enriched to
solar metallicity. These extended
dust components are largely invisible to (sub-)millimeter interferometers such as ALMA because of their low surface brightness. We discuss the physical processes in
dust transport that might be key to reproducing our observations, including
galaxy mergers, cool-phase gas
outflows,
dust shattering, sputtering and radiation pressure. Finally, we caution that foreground CGM
dust extinction may redden background
galaxies at intermediate
redshifts to mimic Lyman-break
galaxies at $z\gtrsim10$.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Fengwu Sun, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Francesco D'Eugenio, Kevin Hainline, Jakob M. Helton, Benjamin D. Johnson, Xiaojing Lin, Marcia Rieke, Brant Robertson, Sandro Tacchella, Andrew J. Bunker, Jacopo Chevallard, Emma Curtis-Lake, Eiichi Egami, Ryan Hausen, Zhiyuan Ji, Jianwei Lyu, Roberto Maiolino, Pierluigi Rinaldi, Yang Sun, James A. A. Trussler, Christina C. Williams, Christopher N. A. Willmer, Joris Witstok, Zihao Wu, Yongda Zhu
Astrophysics of Galaxies
JADES: A Prominent Galaxy Overdensity Candidate within the First 500 Myr
Zihao Wu, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Benjamin D. Johnson et al. (+20 more)
We report a
galaxy overdensity candidate at $z\approx10.5$ in the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES). This overdensity contains 18
galaxies with consistent photometric
redshifts within 8 comoving Mpc in projection. The
galaxy number density is four times higher than the field expectation, accounting for one-third of comparably bright
galaxies and nearly 50% of the total
star formation rate at $10<z_\mathrm{phot}<12$ in the GOODS-S field.
Galaxies in the overdensity more frequently have close companions or substructure, with one-third showing such features within 1 kpc at consistent photometric
redshifts, implying enhanced interactions. Most
galaxies have
stellar masses of 0.6-3$\times10^8 M_\odot$, half-light radii of $\sim200$ pc, and
star formation rates (SFRs) of $\sim5 M_\odot \mathrm{yr^{-1}}$. Their
stellar masses and SFRs are slightly higher than those of field
galaxies, but remain broadly consistent with typical high-
redshift scaling relations. Two compact objects show possible Balmer breaks, suggestive of evolved
stellar populations or little red dots (LRDs). We find tentative evidence for a spatially varying Ly$\alpha$ transmission inferred photometrically, consistent with an emerging ionized bubble. This overdensity provides a rare opportunity for probing the environmental impact on
galaxy evolution and the onset of
cosmic reionization within the first 500 Myr.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Zihao Wu, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Benjamin D. Johnson, Kevin Hainline, William M. Baker, Andrew J. Bunker, Alex J. Cameron, Emma Curtis-Lake, A. Lola Danhaive, Ryan Hausen, Jakob M. Helton, Zhiyuan Ji, Tobias J. Looser, Roberto Maiolino, Petra Mengistu, Pierluigi Rinaldi, Brant E. Robertson, Fengwu Sun, Sandro Tacchella, James A. A. Trussler, Christina C. Williams, Christopher N. A. Willmer, Joris Witstok
Astrophysics of Galaxies
JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) Data Release 5: Photometrically Selected Galaxy Candidates at z > 8
Kevin N. Hainline, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Lily Whitler et al. (+34 more)
We present a sample of 2081 sources selected at photometric
redshift $z_{\mathrm{phot}} > 8$ across the JADES DR5 data release in GOODS-S and GOODS-N over a total area of 469 square arcmin. These sources range from $M_{\mathrm{UV}} = -22$ to $M_{\mathrm{UV}} = -16$, with 19 objects at $z_{\mathrm{phot}} > 14$. We estimate the UV slopes for the full sample from fits to the photometry and find evidence for a steepening of the relationship between the UV continuum slope and $M_{\mathrm{UV}}$ to higher
redshifts, a result that differs from prior analyses of brighter samples in the literature. We provide evidence that over one quarter of our sources have evidence for being morphologically extended, with many
galaxies showing multiple bright
knots or clumps even out to $z \sim 13 - 14$, an indication of how
galaxies at
Cosmic Dawn are growing and evolving. We discuss JADES-GN+189.15982+62.28899, a GOODS-N F200W dropout
galaxy at $z_{\mathrm{phot}} \sim 15 - 18$ which has been observed spectroscopically with JWST/NIRSpec in prism mode, resulting in a very low signal-to-noise spectrum that is consistent with the photometry and rules out a number of low-
redshift solutions for the source. Finally, we use a subsample of 123 objects in our sample with spectroscopic
redshifts to explore the usage of alternate fitting templates and a prescription for Ly-$\alpha$ damping wing absorption, finding that both produce significant improvements to the estimated photometric
redshifts.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Kevin N. Hainline, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Lily Whitler, Brant Robertson, Benjamin D. Johnson, Peter Jakobsen, David Puskas, Sandro Tacchella, Jakob M. Helton, Zihao Wu, Santiago Arribas, William M. Baker, Andrew J. Bunker, Alex J. Cameron, Stefano Carniani, Courtney Carreira, Stephane Charlot, Jacopo Chevallard, Emma Curtis-Lake, Francesco D'Eugenio, Qiao Duan, Eiichi Egami, Ryan Hausen, Zhiyuan Ji, Tobias J. Looser, Roberto Maiolino, Petra Mengistu, Pablo G. Perez-Gonzalez, Marcia Rieke, Pierluigi Rinaldi, Fengwu Sun, James A. A. Trussler, Hannah Ubler, Christina C. Williams, Christopher N. A. Willmer, Chris Willott, Joris Witstok
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) Data Release 5: Wisp Subtraction with the Non-negative Matrix Factorization Algorithm
Zihao Wu, Benjamin D. Johnson, Daniel J. Eisenstein et al. (+8 more)
Wisps are among the most prominent scattered light artifacts in JWST/NIRCam imaging. They often appear in certain regions of the detectors and contaminate observations at surface-brightness levels relevant for faint-source photometry. We introduce a new subtraction method that uses the non-negative
matrix factorization (NMF)
algorithm to model and remove wisps. Using deep NIRCam observations from the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) and other programs, we construct multi-component, filter- and detector-specific wisp templates that capture the wisp structures and their exposure-to-exposure morphological variations. Wisps in individual exposures are represented as non-negative linear combinations of these templates, consistent with their additive nature and reducing degeneracies relative to single-template scaling. Compared to existing approaches, our method delivers lower residual root mean square in wisp-affected regions and reduces photometric bias and scatter to levels consistent with clean detector areas. The NMF wisp templates are readily applicable to other
datasets and are publicly released to support future NIRCam extragalactic surveys.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Zihao Wu, Benjamin D. Johnson, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Phillip Cargile, Kevin Hainline, Ryan Hausen, Pierluigi Rinaldi, Brant E. Robertson, Sandro Tacchella, Christina C. Williams, Christopher N. A. Willmer
Astrophysics of Galaxies
JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) Data Release 5: Catalogs of inferred morphological properties of galaxies from JWST/NIRCam imaging in GOODS-N and GOODS-S
Courtney Carreira, Brant E. Robertson, A. Lola Danhaive et al. (+26 more)
We present morphological parameters and their uncertainties for all sources detected in JWST/NIRCam imaging in GOODS-N and GOODS-S from the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) catalogs. We model the surface brightness profiles of these sources with single-component Sérsic profiles, performing
Bayesian inference of
galaxy structural parameters. We fit each of the $>10^5$ sources with every available JWST/NIRCam wide-band filter individually, amounting to over 3 million Sérsic profiles computed. We provide catalogs of this morphological information, building one of the largest extragalactic morphological
datasets to date, which we share alongside imaging and photometry from the JADES Data Release 5. With this information, we analyze the rest-frame optical
redshift evolution of the effective radius and the surface luminosity density within a radius of 1 kiloparsec, $\Sigma_{\text{1 kpc}}$, for 24,692
galaxies at $z>1$. We find $r_{\text{eff}} \propto (1+z)^{-0.635 \pm 0.013}$ kpc, while $\Sigma_{\text{1 kpc}}$ is relatively constant across time. Additionally, we explore bulge-disk decomposition on a subset of 8,390
galaxies in the JADES deep imaging covering the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, finding the effective radius of the bulge-components to increase marginally with time, whereas the disk-component sizes evolve as $r_{\text{eff,disk}} \propto (1+z)^{-1.091 \pm 0.043}$. Future work modeling multi-component surface brightness profiles will enable further analysis of the morphological
evolution of
galaxies across
cosmic time.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Courtney Carreira, Brant E. Robertson, A. Lola Danhaive, Zhiyuan Ji, Marcia Rieke, Sandro Tacchella, Natalia C. Villanueva, Christopher N. A. Willmer, Zihao Wu, Yongda Zhu, William M. Baker, Andrew J. Bunker, Alex J. Cameron, Jacopo Chevallard, Emma Curtis-Lake, Qiao Duan, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Kevin Hainline, Ryan Hausen, Benjamin D. Johnson, Roberto Maiolino, Petra Mengistu, Dávid Puskás, Pierluigi Rinaldi, Yang Sun, James A. A. Trussler, Hannah Übler, Anavi Uppal, Christina C. Williams
Astrophysics of Galaxies
JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) Data Release 5: Photometric Catalog
Brant E. Robertson, Benjamin D. Johnson, Sandro Tacchella et al. (+34 more)
JADES Data Release 5 (DR5) photometric catalogs and describes the methodologies used for source detection, deblending, photometry, uncertainty estimation, and catalog curation. The catalogs are constructed from 35 space-based imaging mosaics obtained with JWST/NIRCam, JWST/MIRI, HST/ACS, and HST/WFC3, combining approximately 1250 hours of JADES imaging with extensive additional public JWST and HST observations in the GOODS fields. Sources are identified using custom signal-to-noise-based detection and deblending
algorithms optimized for the depth, resolution, and complex point-spread-function structure of JWST imaging. Source centroids, shapes, and photometric apertures are determined using a new fast two-dimensional Gaussian regression method applied to detection-image profiles. We provide forced circular-aperture photometry, ellipsoidal Kron photometry, and curve-of-growth measurements for every source in every band. We introduce a new pixel-level regression framework to model photometric uncertainties as a function of aperture size and local mosaic properties, accounting for correlated noise in heterogeneous JWST mosaics. Photometric
redshifts are computed using template-based fitting applied to both small-aperture photometry on unconvolved images and Kron photometry on common-PSF mosaics. The JADES DR5 catalogs supersede previous JADES photometric releases, and are publicly released through the Mikulski Archive for Space
Telescopes and an interactive web interface.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Brant E. Robertson, Benjamin D. Johnson, Sandro Tacchella, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Kevin Hainline, Stacey Alberts, Santiago Arribas, William M. Baker, Andrew J. Bunker, Alex J. Cameron, Stefano Carniani, Courtney Carreira, Jacopo Chevallard, Chiara Circosta, Emma Curtis-Lake, A. Lola Danhaive, Qiao Duan, Eiichi Egami, Ryan Hausen, Jakob M. Helton, Zhiyuan Ji, Roberto Maiolino, Pablo G. Pérez-González, Dávid Puskás, Marcia Rieke, Pierluigi Rinaldi, Fengwu Sun, Yang Sun, Hannah Übler, James A. A. Trussler, Natalia C. Villanueva, Lily Whitler, Christina C. Williams, Christopher N. A. Willmer, Chris Willott, Zihao Wu, Yongda Zhu
Astrophysics of Galaxies
JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) Data Release 5: MIRI Coordinated Parallels in GOODS-S and GOODS-N
Stacey Alberts, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Andrew J. Bunker et al. (+19 more)
Medium to ultra-deep mid-infrared imaging surveys with the James Webb Space
Telescope (JWST)'s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) are reframing our view of the early Universe, from the emergence of ultra-red dusty and quiescent
galaxies to the epoch of reionization to the first
galaxies. Here we present the MIRI coordinated parallels component of the JADES program, which obtained ultra-deep (155 ks) imaging at $7.7 \mu$m over $\sim10$ arcmin$^2$ as well as medium depth ($\sim5-15$ ks) imaging at $7.7, 12.8$, and $15 \mu$m over $\sim36$, 25, and 22 arcmin$^2$, respectively, in the GOODS-S and GOODS-N fields. This paper describes the data reduction, which combines the official JWST Calibration Pipeline with custom steps to optimize flagging of warm/hot pixels and optimize background subtraction. We further introduce a new step to address artifacts caused by persistence from saturating sources. The final, fully reduced JADES/MIRI mosaics are being released as part of JADES Data Release 5, along with prior-based forced photometry using NIRCam detection images, providing critical rest-frame near-infrared and optical constraints on early
galaxy populations.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Stacey Alberts, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Andrew J. Bunker, Emma Curtis-Lake, Qiao Duan, Kevin Hainline, Ryan Hausen, Jakob M. Helton, Zhiyuan Ji, Benjamin D. Johnson, Jianwei Lyu, Jane Morrison, Pablo G. Perez-Gonzalez, George H. Rieke, Marcia Rieke, Pierluigi Rinaldi, Brant Robertson, Yang Sun, Sandro Tacchella, Christina C. Williams, Christopher N. A. Willmer, Zihao Wu
Astrophysics of Galaxies
JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) Data Release 5: NIRCam Imaging in GOODS-S and GOODS-N
Benjamin D. Johnson, Brant E. Robertson, Daniel J. Eisenstein et al. (+30 more)
We present the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) imaging products of the fifth data release (DR5) of the James Webb Space
Telescope (JWST) Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES). The JADES survey is one of the most ambitious programs yet conducted on JWST, producing deep infrared imaging and multiobject spectroscopy on the GOODS-S and GOODS-N extragalactic deep fields in order to explore
galaxies to the earliest epoch. Here we describe the NIRCam data reduction procedures that result in deep and well-characterized mosaics in up to 18 filters covering 469 arcmin$^2$, with 250 arcmin$^2$ having at least 8 filters of coverage. This release contains the full NIRCam imaging of JADES, over 800 JWST mission hours, as well as co-reductions of 19 other programs in these two premier deep fields. We perform detailed tests on the final data products, thereby characterizing the photometric properties, point-spread function, and astrometric
alignment. We release mosaics for individual programs (or epochs, depending on scheduling) and the mosaics combining data from all programs in order to facilitate photometric variability studies and the deepest possible photometry.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Benjamin D. Johnson, Brant E. Robertson, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Sandro Tacchella, Dávid Puskás, Qiao Duan, Zihao Wu, Kevin Hainline, Marcia Rieke, Chris Willott, Christopher N. A. Willmer, James A. A. Trussler, Stacey Alberts, Santiago Arribas, William M. Baker, Andrew J. Bunker, Alex J. Cameron, Stefano Carniani, Courtney Carreira, Phillip A. Cargile, Emma Curtis-Lake, Eiichi Egami, Ryan Hausen, Jakob M. Helton, Zhiyuan Ji, Roberto Maiolino, Pablo G. Pérez-González, Pierluigi Rinaldi, Fengwu Sun, Yang Sun, Natalia C. Villanueva, Christina C. Williams, Yongda Zhu